Hello everyone!
I hope everyone has had a great week. This week was an exciting one for the district, as we celebrated the grand opening and new beginning of several businesses in our community.
On Wednesday, my team joined Westfield community members for the grand opening and ribbon cutting of Wagner Rug and Flooring’s new location on East Main Street! Congratulations to Nico Paolucci and Joe Wagner. We followed this up on Thursday with ribbon cuttings on Southampton Road for Westfield’s new Hot Table and Starbucks! These two buildings have completed construction and I am sure they’ll be quite busy with their location next to the Pike.
Later on Thursday, we were in Agawam with local officials to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Agawam Public Library! The Library is such a great resource for folks in Agawam, and I hope that folks returning to the library will value and enjoy the building and the maintenance that has been done.
On Friday I got to interact with even more businesses and employers at the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce’s “Legislative Luncheon”. It is always great to have the opportunity to hear from folks about issues impacting their businesses and I am grateful to the Chamber for inviting me and for all their work in our local economy.
This week my team and I also presented $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the City of Agawam for roadway and public infrastructure improvements throughout the city. Mayor Sapelli joined me for the announcement at the Agawam Department of Public Works on Tuesday morning. I look forward to seeing these funds put to use on local infrastructure projects that we all will benefit from!
Today I am joining the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Agawam for their “Greater Springfield Out of the Darkness Walk to Fight Suicide”. With great reverence I will be wearing silver honor beads to represent the importance of mental health and suicide prevention among our military and first responders and veterans. This event is always a powerful way for us to gather and remember the lives we have lost.
This week, my office held office hours on Monday in Holyoke. Next week, we will be in Westfield on Monday from 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Russell on Tuesday from 11:30am to 12:30pm, and Southampton on Wednesday from 10:00am to 11:00am. Please feel free to stop by with any questions or concerns. We are always happy to help!
As always, if there is anything I can do to assist you, please never hesitate to reach out to my office. I can be reached at my email: john.velis@masenate.gov or by phone: (413) 572-3920 and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com where you can also sign up for my newsletter!
Sincerely,
John Velis