Happy October Everyone,
I hope everyone has been enjoying the cool fall weather this past week. As a reminder, if you or anyone you know is in need of help with a fuel assistance application, my office is always ready to assist.
I started off my week at the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce’s Workforce Development listening session with other members of Chicopee’s legislative delegation. It was an important opportunity to hear from members of the business community about the challenges that they face as well as the state resources that have assisted them. Informative discussions like this are helpful as my fellow legislators and I begin to think about new legislation to file next session.
Tuesday marked the grand opening of the House of Kooladas in Chicopee where my staff presented a citation on behalf of the Senate. I love seeing new small businesses open in our community and I wish the best of luck to the House of Kooladas as they embark on this journey.
Later that evening, Representative Pease and I attended a Southampton Selectboard meeting to provide an update on our work in the legislature. I always appreciate the invitation from our local municipal officials to join them at these community meetings not only to update them on my work advocating for their community on Beacon Hill but also to discuss new issues and needs that a community has. Thank you Chair Fowles and Town Administrator Szczebak for the invitation!
I started off Wednesday morning with the West of the River Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative breakfast where I met with business and community leaders from Agawam and West Springfield to talk about how the legislature can best work to grow our local economy. Following this, I went over to Holyoke to attend a meeting with other elected officials to hear about Tapestry Health’s plans for the future. Tapestry Health is on the frontlines making a real difference each day with their life saving work sharing harm reduction resources and building relationships with those struggling with addiction in our community.
Thursday, I had the pleasure of touring the Project New Hope’s facility right here in Westfield alongside with representatives of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. All too often our veterans, who deserve the best our country can offer, fall into food insecurity and Project New Hope does the very important work of fighting against this and providing other valuable services to assist our nation’s heroes.
Next week my office will be hosting office hours on Monday, October 7th, at the Agawam COA from 11:00am to 12:00pm, on Tuesday, October 8th, from 10:00am to 11:00am at the Chicopee COA, and again at the West Springfield COA on Wednesday, October 9th, from 11:00am to 12:00pm. If you can’t make office hours, I can always be reached by email, john.velis@masenate.gov, by phone, (413) 572-3920, and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com.
Sincerely,
John Velis