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Biz Briefs: Carr Hardware Opens New Store in Connecticut
01:57PM / Monday, October 17, 2016
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Carr Hardware has opened its second store in Connecticut.

Expanding again: Pittsfield-based Carr Hardware has opened a new 11,000-square-foot hardware store at 481 Enfield Street, Route 5, in Enfield, Conn. The Enfield location of Carr Hardware emerged from a partnership between Brightwood Hardware formally in Longmeadow, Mass., and Carr Hardware & Supply Co.

Partner Ken Cohn, formerly of Brightwood Hardware, said, "I'm excited to bring a complete hardware store to Enfield, Longmeadow, and the surrounding communities. We were able to keep our staff primarily intact and supplement them with some exceptional talent from our partners at Carr Hardware."
 
This new store was designed based on the Destination True Value model that has been successful at Carr's in North Adams and the newly opened Avon, Conn., locations. Offering more than double the space they had in Longmeadow, Carr Brightwood will have a much larger selection of merchandise that includes some wonderful brands including: Stihl, Carhartt, Milwaukee and Dewalt Tools, Pratt & Lambert Paints, and Weber grills. The new store will also focus on contractors and institutional and government customers, a core niche of Carr Hardware.

Carr Hardware currently operates four locations in Western Massachusetts and one in Avon, Conn.


Hurricane relief: Big Y World Class Markets are partnering with the American Red Cross to raise donations for those affected by Hurricane Matthew. Continuing through Saturday, Oct. 29, Big Y customers and employees will have the opportunity to donate to American Red Cross disaster relief at all Big Y locations throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Donation containers will be available at all Big Y registers. The funds raised will support people in the communities affected by Hurricane Matthew.

Big Y, its customers and employees have a strong tradition of supporting those in need through the American Red Cross. Past relief campaigns include the 2004 Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquakes in Japan, Haiti and Nepal. Most recently, a disaster relief campaign was held in response to the flooding in Louisiana. The 10-plus-year partnership has raised over $445,000 to support both international and domestic disasters.


Volunteer award: Berkshire Bank has been honored by the American Bankers Association for its corporate volunteer efforts through their Community Commitment Awards program.
 
The annual program honors banks for their work in the community in categories ranging from affordable housing to volunteerism. The selection committee, made up of national experts in each category, chose recipients based on the creativity and thoughtfulness of the bank program. Each program had to embody the ideals of corporate social responsibility and demonstrate success in measurable terms.
 
Berkshire Bank received recognition for their Xtraordinary Day, which took place on June 7, 2016. The bank closed all retail locations and operations centers to allow all employees the opportunity to volunteer in the communities they serve. Employees completed 56 group service projects, selected and planned by local employees. Ninety-five percent of Berkshire's employees participated in this Day of Service, directly impacting more than 100,000 individuals. While Berkshire Bank has held volunteer days in the past, this was the first time they closed down all operations to ensure every employee that wanted to participate had the opportunity to do so.

The American Bankers Association made the recognition possible through their ABA Foundation. The ABA is the voice of the nation's $16 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ more than 2 million people, safeguard $12 trillion in deposits and extend more than $8 trillion in loans,


Good work, CHP: Community Health Programs employees will be able to contribute to their patients' care while saving on auto and home insurance under a new arrangement. Whenever a CHP employee owner buys insurance through GoodWorks Insurance, the insurance agency will deposit 20 percent of its commissions in the CHP Special Fund. The fund balance will be donated annually to CHP and used for patient care.

From its health centers in Adams, Great Barrington, Lee, North Adams and Pittsfield, Great Barrington-based CHP provides medical, dental and family services to all, regardless of insurance status or residence. GoodWorks Insurance, an independent insurance agency with offices in Great Barrington, Worcester and Connecticut, donates half of its profits to charity.

Full-time, part-time and seasonal employees are eligible to participate in the group auto and home insurance program developed by GoodWorks Insurance for CHP. Additionally, 20 percent of commissions on individual and business policies referred to GoodWorks Insurance by CHP employees will also go into the Special Fund pool. The commission sharing will apply to all new and renewed policies each year. Accordingly, the fund will be self-sustaining and grow over time.

Serving more than 10,000 clients, with home, auto and business insurance, GoodWorks Insurance has special expertise serving building contractors, nonprofits, fuel dealers, aerospace firms, and manufacturers, providing both insurance and surety bonds. Its local office is at 343 Main St., Great Barrington. More information is online.

 

 

New card management tool: Greylock Federal Credit Union is launching CardValet, a new debit card management and fraud mitigation tool. Debit cardholders simply download the free app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and then they can actively manage their debit cards.

The on/off feature is only one of the safeguards available with CardValet. Using the GPS system in the smart phone, geographic use restrictions can be established. Other controls can restrict usage by merchant and spending limit. Real time alerts create another layer of fraud protection with notice that a transaction was attempted, declined, or both.

Real-time smartphone alerts can be customized based on the types of information each cardholder would like to receive. For example, a cardholder can set up an alert to be notified when a card is used, when a transaction is approved and exceeds any of the permitted use policies, or when a card transaction has been attempted but has been declined based on the parameters established.

CardValet offers cardholders the capability of linking additional accounts to better monitor dependent spending. So, by using the GPS system in their smart phone, geographic use restrictions can be established for college students along with restrictions on merchant type and spending limits.

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