HCC hires manager of alumni relations, annual giving

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College recently welcomed Elizabeth Ollson of Easthampton as its manager of alumni relations and annual giving.

Ollson is a 2018 graduate of HCC and also holds a bachelor’s degree in women, gender, and sexuality studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

She joined HCC’s division of Institutional Advancement in November 2023.

Ollson comes to HCC from Boston College, where she was the senior associate director of annual giving programs. Prior to that, she worked at Amherst College as the Amherst Fund coordinator.

NEPM premieres new weekly radio show on Friday

SPRINGFIELD — A new weekly radio show and podcast about what’s happening in western Massachusetts will add more local news to the region’s public radio station beginning Friday. “The Rundown with Carrie Saldo” premieres Feb. 2 from 9-10 a.m.

Each week, listeners will hear a lively conversation with reporters from newsrooms around western Massachusetts, giving their take on the news and events that shaped the week, and providing analysis, context, insights, and varying perspectives. In-depth interviews and features with local newsmakers, community leaders, and others will round out the second half of the show.

“The Rundown” is produced and hosted by Carrie Saldo, an experienced and award-winning multimedia journalist who’s reported on everything from arts to politics. Her investigations have sought justice for homeless individuals, called attention to racial inequity in the construction industry and sparked an international debate about two Norman Rockwell paintings.

Saldo will be familiar to many public television viewers as the host of “Connecting Point” on NEPM-TV for six of the program’s 13 seasons on air, and as a regular fill-in host on “All Things Considered” on 88.5 NEPM.

ServiceNet names Kuta as a VP

NORTHAMPTON — ServiceNet, a large mental health and human services agency based in Northampton and serving all four counties of western Massachusetts, recently welcomed Michael Kuta as vice president of strategy and program development.

Kuta comes to his new role following 16 years at Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, where he gained a diverse portfolio of progressive management experience. Most recently, he served as the hospital’s Manager of Operations for Behavioral Health and Cardiac Services, a position he assumed soon after the start of the pandemic. Prior to 2020, Kuta had been a supervisor in the Partial Hospitalization Program and before that a Behavioral Health Patient Flow Coordinator.

Kuta’s path to leadership began at Elms College in Chicopee when he shifted his major from accounting to psychology and sociology before graduating in 2007. This merging of skills and interests further came together when he pursued a master’s in health care administration while working his way toward certification as a licensed social work associate.

Belden joins Loomis Communities board as resident member

SPRINGFIELD — Sanford Belden has joined the board of directors for The Loomis Communities as a resident member. He has lived at Loomis Village in South Hadley with this wife since 2018.

Belden retired in 2006 as the CEO of Community Bank System, a large-scale regional financial institution headquartered in Syracuse, New York with 225 bank branches and a variety of other financial service businesses in four states. He has previously served as a senior executive in New York City at a large international bank; at a major national bank headquartered in Minneapolis; and with the Farm Credit Banks, one of the government-sponsored entities.

Belden has served on more than 30 governance boards for both for-profit and not-for-profit entities throughout the U.S., including on the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. Locally, Belden has served as a board member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra; Smith College; Kestrel Land Trust; and Center for Eco-Technology. Additionally, Belden has served as chair of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity.

Belden was born and raised on a farm in Hatfield, which has remained in his family since 1690. He and his wife have three children and nine grandchildren.