HOLYOKE — The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Initiative will mark its 15th year with an evening of exhibits, contests and celebration at the Log Cabin in Holyoke on Wednesday.
An entrepreneur exhibit featuring students who have already started their own businesses, or are on the cusp of doing so, will start at 5 p.m.
Following the exhibition at 6:45 p.m., six local banks will sponsor a live elevator pitch competition for area college students with contestants from 14 area colleges and universities delivering 90-second pitches. The top three winners will receive prizes of $750.Sponsors are Berkshire Bank, Country Bank, KeyBank, PeoplesBank, United Bank Foundation and Westfield Bank.
Caroline Pam of Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland will deliver the keynote speech. She and her husband have expanded their organic farm from 1 acre in 2006 to 50 acres today.
For more information, visit www.hgcf.org.
The Valley Community Development Corporation has landed a $20,671 state grant to provide foreclosure and first-time homebuyer counseling.
The grants are part of $1.5 million being doled out by the state Division of Banks to fund first-time homeownership counseling programs and foreclosure prevention education centers throughout the state.
Ten consumer counseling organization and 11 foreclosure prevention regional centers received funding. The program is in its 10th year.
Foreclosure prevention programming assists homeowners who may be experiencing financial hardship caused by either a loss or reduction in income, a medical issue, or an unexpected life event that can result in a mortgage delinquency.
Consumer and homeownership counseling programs provide prospective homebuyers with resources to determine if homeownership is right for them, and how to navigate the home-buying process.
The Division of Banks supports these programs by fees associated with the licensing of mortgage loan originators.
NORTHAMPTON — The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce has launched a program that rewards people with merit points for shopping at local businesses. Individuals who sign up for Valley Placemaker online or in person during the month of April are eligible to win one of four $50 Northampton gift cards.
One unique aspect of the Valley Placemaker program allows shoppers to redeem their merits for prizes at any of the roughly 25 participating Valley Placemaker businesses — not necessarily at those in which they shopped.
“It doesn’t take long to earn enough merits to redeem them for really cool stuff,” said Suzanne Beck, the chamber’s executive director.
Beck said the program is aimed at giving people another reason to shop in their own communities and combating the urge to buy online.
To create a Valley Placemaker rewards account, shoppers can go to www.valleyplacemaker.co and follow the simple steps.
Valley Placemaker currently has participating businesses in Northampton and Hadley but is attracting interest from business owners in Amherst and Easthampton as well.
SPRINGFIELD — Freedom Credit Union branches are collecting children’s books in April to benefit area children.
Members of the community are encouraged to drop off their donations of new and gently used children’s books at any Freedom Credit Union branch location.
Last year, 40 credit unions in Massachusetts collected over 16,000 books.
SOUTHAMPTON — R. Benjamin Borowski, son of Cindy and Ben Borowski of Southampton, has been named a partner at the law firm of Preti Flaherty in Portland, Maine. Borowski is a member of the firm’s Energy & Telecommunications, Cleantech and Renewable Energy Law, and Climate Strategy Groups.
Prior to joining Preti Flaherty in 2011, he served as a paralegal in Boston, where he researched and analyzed green and Cleantech venture capital firms. Borowski is a graduate of Vermont Law School, where he earned a law degree with a certificate in energy law, and a master’s degree in environmental law and policy. He has been listed as a Super Lawyers “New England Rising Star” for three consecutive years, and in Chambers USA as a 2017 Associate to Watch.
SPRINGFIELD — ValleyCreates has appointed five local community advisors to reinforce commitment to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts in the Pioneer Valley.
Vanessa Pabón-Hernandez, director of community engagement and education for WGBY, will serve as the initiative’s liaison to arts organizations in Hampden County. Vanessa is co-founder of WGBY’s community-based digital storytelling project, TOLD (Telling Our Legacies Digitally) and is the executive producer of WGBY’s award winning bilingual series, Presencia.
Gina Beavers, arts and culture editor for The Valley Advocate, will serve as a liaison to arts and culture organizations in Hampshire and Hampden counties. She hopes to serve as a bridge between artists of color in these counties, and the nonprofits who may afford fund their creative endeavors.
Matthew Glassman, co-artistic director ensemble of Double Edge Theater in Ashfield, and will serve as a liaison to rural arts and culture organizations with a focus on Franklin County. He is invested in community engagement and development in rural communities.
Rosemary Tracy Woods will serve as the ValleyCreates events curator. Woods is the executive director and chief curator of the nonprofit Art for the Soul Gallery in Springfield. She is an experienced arts curator and arts advocate with deep ties to the Springfield community.
Kent Alexander will serve as the initiative’s diversity, equity and inclusion facilitator. He has years of experience conducting anti-racism and social justice-focused workshops, and an extensive theater background, having created over 200 plays addressing issues of workplace diversity.
SPRINGFIELD — Allie Thorpe has been hired as associate director of marketing at Dakin Humane Society, where she will develop strategies that enhance the organization and connect it to the communities that it serves. She will also oversee and implement Dakin’s marketing and communications strategy.
She was formerly communications manager at Stockbridge School of Agriculture in Amherst, and prior to that communications specialist for the Central Hampshire Veteran Services of Northampton, and web producer at Knectar Design, Inc. in Easthampton.
A former assistant public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy, Thorpe earned a master’s degree in communications and information management at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, and a bachelor’s degree at Hampshire College in Amherst.
Thorpe lives in Easthampton.