Making News in Business, April 21

The Source+ opens on Pleasant Street in Northampton

NORTHAMPTON — The Source+ opened its first East Coast dispensary in at 58 Pleasant St. on April 20, the cannabis industry holiday.

Simon Nankervis, CEO of The Source+, said the company chose Northampton because the city and its residents “have been leaders in de-stigmatizing cannabis and enabling its community to participate in all of the benefits our products have to provide to patients and customers.”

As one of the first medical dispensaries to open in Nevada in 2015, The Source+ has remained a leader in the state, now with recreational sales, and was the first company to introduce solventless cannabis products to Nevada with the launch of internal product line CAMP.

The Source+ will enter the East Coast with its new location, which spans 5,280 square feet. The showroom displays and offers more than 39 strains of cannabis and a wide selection of brands, including a variety of edibles, concentrates, tinctures and other cannabis products.

The Source+ is open Sunday through Thursday from 12-7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 12-9 p.m.

Mount Holyoke appoints provost, dean of faculty

SOUTH HADLEY — Mount Holyoke College has appointed Lisa Sullivan as provost and dean of faculty.

Sullivan is currently the vice president and R. Michael Shanahan Dean of the Faculty and Willard W. Keith Jr. Fellow in the Humanities and Professor of Economic History at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. She will begin at Mount Holyoke on Aug. 1, 2022.

Sullivan is a historian of the concept of work, specializing in medieval and early American economic history and the history of work ethics. She is particularly interested in the question of meaningful work, a recurring theme in her research.

Sullivan holds a doctorate in economic history and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College. She started her career as an assistant professor of economics at SUNY Fredonia. In 1990, she began work at Harvey Mudd as an assistant professor of economics, was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 1996 and earned the rank of professor in 2006.

Sullivan will succeed Dorothy E. Mosby, who became the interim vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty in August 2020.

Florence Bank
to celebrate
Customers’ Choice grants program

FLORENCE — For 20 years, Florence Bank has awarded grants of up to $5,000 each to dozens of nonprofits chosen by its customers, and at its annual gathering this year, it will once again offer up $100,000 to organizations that support young and old in the community.

At its 20th Annual Customers’ Choice Community Grants gala, to be held Thursday, May 19 at 5 p.m. at Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park, the bank will offer awards to 45 nonprofits and celebrate a total of $1.4 million in community giving through this one channel.

Organizations like Shriners Hospitals for Children in Springfield and the Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Holyoke will receive awards for the first time this year thanks to customer voting.

Florence Bank’s community grants program is an annual offering founded in 2002, and, through it, bank customers are invited to vote for their favorite local nonprofit in hopes it will receive a share of grant funding.

Voting takes place all year long, online at florencebank.com/vote and in bank branches, and each customer has only one vote. To qualify for a community grant, organizations must receive at least 50 votes. In 2021, roughly 6,700 votes were cast, making 45 nonprofits eligible for a grant.

Organizations to receive awards this year range from police, fire, library and school groups to nonprofits that provide food, shelter or support to people living with a serious illness or disability. Leaders of these nonprofits will learn the amount of their award at the May event.

Wondolowski joins the Peace Development Fund

AMHERST — Lora Wondolowski has joined the Peace Development Fund’s Amherst-based staff as the new director of advancement and communication. Wondolowski has an extensive background in leadership training, environmental advocacy, fundraising, organization building, and voter education, throughout her career working for the National Audubon Society, League of Conservation Voters, the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters and most recently leading Leadership Pioneer Valley in Springfield.

As the founding executive director of Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) since 2011, she managed all aspects of LPV’s training programs and development, while growing LPV from a start-up to an established, successful, and productive regional leadership development organization.

Wondolowski brings more than 20 years of experience with grassroots organizing and community outreach work to lead PDF’s development operations and capacity-building training program, the Sustainability Project. She is also involved locally serving on the boards of directors of the Connecticut River Conservancy, Public Health Institute of Western MA, and the United Way of Pioneer Valley.

The Peace Development Fund’s mission is to build the capacity of community-based organizations through grants, training, and other resources as partners in human rights and social justice movements.