Welcome New  

Chamber Member! 

Please join us in welcoming our newest Member!  

June 6: Ribbon Cutting & Grand Opening!

On Thursday, June 6, join the Chamber for the official ribbon cutting of the brand new restaurant: The Maine Attraction in Holland!

The Ribbon Cutting will take place at 4pm. An Open House with treats and giveaways will follow. Here are the details:  

....more TBA

All are welcome! Holland's Maine Attraction is located at the site of the former Team Hoyt's Finish Line on Hamilton Reservoir at 154 Mashapaug Road, Holland. Holland's Maine Attraction features authentic Maine dishes, seafood, ice cream and they're open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  

We hope you will join us in welcoming them! Visit online for hours, the menu and more info!

Reach The Maine Attraction by phone at 413-245-6043.   

North Brookfield Savings Bank Will Host  

June and July Blood Drives

Helping the only Level 1 trauma center in Western Massachusetts maintain outstanding care, North Brookfield Savings Bank is sponsoring blood drives at four of its branches during the months of June, July, August and September. The blood drives will supply much-needed blood to Baystate Medical Center (BMC) of Springfield and will be conducted via BMC's state-of-the-art bloodmobile.

"Bay State Medical Center does incredible work serving people throughout Central and Western Massachusetts, and we're excited to play a role in helping them do that," said Donna Boulanger, President and CEO of North Brookfield Savings Bank. "Every time someone donates blood it has the potential to save several lives."

As an added incentive, donors at the June blood drives in Palmer and Belchertown will receive one-day passes to Six Flags, while supplies last, and donors at the July and August blood drives in West Brookfield and North Brookfield will be given tickets to the Big E; gifts planned for the September blood drives are still being discussed. Snacks and refreshments will also be provided at each blood drive.

To participate, donors must be at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health.

Blood Drives will take place at the following North Brookfield Savings Bank locations on the following dates, between the hours of 12 noon and 5 p.m.

Palmer                           Friday, June 7 and Friday, August 9.

Belchertown               Friday, June 28 and Friday, August 30.

West Brookfield        Friday, July 19 and Friday, September 20.

North Brookfield       Friday, July 26 and Friday, September 27.

To schedule an appointment to donate, contact the appropriate North Brookfield Savings Bank branch location or call Cheryl McGrath of Baystate Health at 413-794-4600. Appointments are optional; donors may simply stop by on the day of the Blood Drive.

"The need for blood is high right now and North Brookfield Savings Bank does an incredible job of bringing the community together to make a difference," said Sue Stockley,BMC Recruiter. "We look forward to continuing to partner with them, and to meeting donors at all the blood drives."

NBSB Promotes Rick Egan to VP/Commercial Loan Officer

North Brookfield Savings Bank is pleased to announce that Rick Egan has been promoted to Vice President/Commercial Loan Officer. Egan will be responsible for developing new and existing commercial lending relationships, informing business customers about available lending products and helping borrowers achieve their financial goals.

Egan previously served as Assistant Vice President/Commercial Loan Officer for NBSB. He has more than 20 years of professional banking experience and is a graduate of the New England School of Advanced Commercial Lending and the Massachusetts Bankers School for Financial Studies.

"Rick's knowledge of commercial lending and his ability to provide a high level of service to the business community was evident from the moment he joined North Brookfield Savings Bank," said Donna Boulanger, NBSB President and CEO. "His promotion is well earned and well deserved."

A resident of Ashburnham, Egan serves on the Board of the Quaboag Valley Business Assistance Corporation (BAC) and is a member of BAC's Technology Grant Subcommittee; is active in the Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce and the Central Mass South Chamber of Commerce; and is a past member of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce, where he was a member of their Ambassador Committee.

"With its focus on customer service and commercial growth, North Brookfield Savings Bank has been a wonderful fit for me," Egan said. "The timing has also been excellent, because right now there are incredible opportunities for businesses of all sizes in Central Massachusetts."

Harrington Hospital has received a Hospital Safety Score of A -- the highest grade -- in a survey of more than 2,500 acute-care hospitals nationwide conducted by The Leapfrog Group, a healthcare rating organization.

The Leapfrog Group rated the nation's acute care (general) hospitals on how safe they are for patients. The score includes data that patient safety experts use to compare hospitals. Publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, The Leapfrog Hospital Survey, and secondary data sources are weighted and then combined to produce a single, consumer-friendly composite letter-grade score.

"Harrington always makes patient safety our top priority," said Harrington President and CEO Edward H. Moore. "We are very pleased to be recognized for our efforts by The Leapfrog Group."

Kathleen Davis, Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety at Harrington, said, "Our score is the result of the hard work of everyone who works at Harrington. We're proud to be able to provide safe care for our patients and a safe environment for our patients, staff and visitors."

The Leapfrog Group calculated Hospital Safety Scores for hospitals nationwide for which there was sufficient publicly available data. Of the 2,514 general hospitals given a Hospital Safety Score, 780 earned an A, 638 earned a B, and 1,096 earned a C or below.

The latest Leapfrog rating is one of a number of quality and patient safety achievements at Harrington HealthCare System recently. Among Harrington's achievements are: 

• Receiving a statewide award by an advisory panel to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) for the exemplary work of its TB Clinic.  

• Receiving a SCORE award for ranking 6th out of 22 small Massachusetts hospitals for providing defect-free stroke care.  

• Ranking among the top 2 percent of all hospitals in the country for short wait times, according to statistics compiled by an influential healthcare publication.  

• Receiving an "A" grade in the two previous Leapfrog patient safety ratings of the nation's acute care hospitals.  

• Winning an award for "Highest and Most Improved" in a key stroke screening indicator -- dysphagia.  

"Hospitals like this that earn an A have demonstrated their commitment to their patients and their community," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "I congratulate Harrington for its safety excellence, and look forward to the day when all hospitals will match this standard."

Calculated under the guidance of The Leapfrog Group's nine-member Blue Ribbon Expert Panel, the Hospital Safety Score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital's overall capacity to keep patients safe from infections, injuries, and medical and medication errors. The panel includes: John Birkmeyer (University of Michigan), Ashish Jha (Harvard University), Lucian Leape (Harvard University), Arnold Millstein (Stanford University), Peter Pronovost (Johns Hopkins University), Patrick Romano (University of California, Davis), Sara Singer (Harvard University), Tim Vogus (Vanderbilt University), and Robert Wachter (University of California, San Francisco).