Business Briefs: June 4, 2021

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) elected three new board members during its annual meeting in April. Kat Chang Laznicka, Wally Czajkowski and Jenny Ladd will serve three-year terms.

“CISA’s board is made up of farmers and community members who represent a range of business and community ties,” Philip Korman, executive director of the South Deerfield-based nonprofit, said in a press release. “These three new members bring a diverse set of perspectives and we are excited and honored to have them join the CISA board.”

Chang Laznicka, a first-generation farm, owns and operates Reed Farm, a small-scale poultry farm and licensed poultry processing facility, with her partner, Peter. According to the release, Reed Farm received a Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Food Security Infrastructure grant in 2020 to upgrade and expand the processing facility to meet United States Department of Agriculture specifications.

Czajkowski owns Plainville Farm in Hadley with Mary McNamara, a primarily wholesale operation that grows tobacco and vegetables. According to the release, Czajkowski’s family has farmed in Hadley since the early 1900s.

Ladd, a resident of Northampton, has been a philanthropic advisor as well as a fundraising coach, group facilitator, and trainer on race and class issues. Along with Felice Yeskel, she co-founded Class Action, an organization dedicated to building a world without classism, the release explains. She was also on the founding board of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. Ladd currently co-chairs the Springfield-based Wellspring Cooperative’s Development Committee.

All Bueno y Sano locations in Western Massachusetts, including the one at 2 Elm St. in South Deerfield, will donate 50 percent of all sales on Monday, June 7, to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.

Business hours that day are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the restaurants in Amherst, Northampton, South Deerfield, Springfield and West Springfield. According to a Bueno y Sano press release, dine-in and takeout orders both apply, as well as meals purchased using gift cards.

This is not the first year that Bueno y Sano has supported Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County through its “Bueno Day,” the release states. Last year, the company raised more than $7,500 for youth mentoring programs. The goal is to exceed that amount this year.

“We are grateful to Bob Lowry and the entire team at Bueno y Sano for their enthusiastic support of Big Brothers Big Sisters,” said Jessie Cooley, director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. “Bob has been a ‘Big’ in our program three times, giving so much of his time and energy to the young people in our community. With Bueno Day to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bob is giving back even more and ensuring that more children in our region can be matched with awesome mentors like him.”

Since 1975, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County has been fostering friendships by matching children with a mentor, called a “Big,” the release explains. Bigs spend time with their “Little,” now in person and virtually, creating a valuable connection and empowering the potential inherent within them.