Vega to lead WesternMass Economic Development Council
SPRINGFIELD — After a nationwide search that yielded more than 100 applicants, the board of directors for the WesternMass Economic Development Council has named Holyoke native Aaron Vega as its new president and CEO.
“I’m very excited,” Vega said in a statement. “For me now, this role makes total sense on my trajectory, but there’s no way I was planning this. I’m astonished and very thankful to be able to do important work in my home region.”
Flooded with ideas and a developing vision for the WesternMass Economic Development Council, Vega said he looks forward to relationship-building, fostering trust, and creating new supports and connections for all stakeholders.
“I will take what I’ve been doing in Holyoke to a bigger scale,” Vega said. “My plan is to use the first months of next year to be out there listening to mayors, planning directors, people in the business community, developers, manufacturers.”
Vega is tasked with succeeding Rick Sullivan, who has served the WesternMass Economic Development Council for 11 years and will work his last day in the lead role on Dec. 31. Sullivan is credited with furthering regional economic development and, in the last years of his tenure, securing $70 million in state investments for food science, quantum computing and clean tech.
Vega was a Holyoke city councilor for four years before he was elected in 2012 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 5th Hampden District, serving four terms.
Since January 2021, Vega has led the Office of Planning & Economic Development in Holyoke. He currently is the board chair for Mass Humanities and also serves on the boards for New England Public Media, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and MassHire Holyoke Career Center.
‘Fabulous ’40s Films’ continues with ‘Mildred Pierce’ screening
GREENFIELD — The next installment of the “Fabulous ’40s Films with Jonathan Boschen” series will feature the 1945 Joan Crawford classic “Mildred Pierce.” The screening will be held at the Garden Cinemas on Monday, Nov. 3.
Prior to the screening, Boschen, a local film and theater historian, will discuss the backstory of the movie and share additional facts about the film. Boschen’s introduction begins at 6:30 p.m. and the screening will immediately follow.
Admission is $10.50 for adults and $8.50 for children, seniors and students.
Joan Crawford stars as Mildred Pierce in this film noir. The murder mystery follows a determined single mother who builds a restaurant empire to provide for her spoiled daughter, Veda. The movie was adapted from James M. Cain’s novel of the same name.
Bank holding annual Customer Appreciation Week
GREENFIELD — Greenfield Cooperative Bank and its Northampton Cooperative Bank division will host its annual Customer Appreciation Week from Oct. 27 to Nov 1.
Throughout the week, visitors are encouraged to stop by their local Greenfield Cooperative Bank branch to enjoy complimentary snacks and pick up swag giveaways. Each branch will also host a special drawing, where customers can enter for a chance to win a gift card to a local business.
Residents are advised that, due to ongoing construction, the Northfield branch will not be participating in Customer Appreciation Week this year.
Western Mass attorney elected president of National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees
SPRINGFIELD — Attorney Steven Weiss, a shareholder at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin P.C., a regional law firm with offices in Springfield and Northampton, is now bringing his legal expertise to a national stage. Weiss has been elected president of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT), which advocates for and supports the interests of bankruptcy trustees across the country. Weiss, who has served as NABT’s first vice president, assumed the new role on Oct. 1.
He takes on this position at a key time for the profession. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the number of bankruptcy filings in the United States rose 15 percent over the last year.
“I’m excited and honored,” Weiss said in a statement. “It’s a busy time for us in bankruptcy law, and there are not a lot of people who do what we do, so the NABT is really a great resource for the profession as a whole.”
Weiss has been a member of the NABT for more than two decades and is co-chair of the Amicus Committee, which evaluates requests for friend-of-the-court briefs to be filed in cases for which the bankruptcy profession may have an interest.
A resident of Longmeadow, he concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and consumer bankruptcy, reorganization and litigation. He supervises the bankruptcy, reorganization and workout practice at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin.