Business Monday from The Republican, June 20, 2011

Start the week informed with Business Monday.

Photo by Mark M. Murray/The RepublicanJake Matroni, an electrictian from Icon West Corp . of Springfield, works on the lighting at the new Mama Iguana's Restaurant in Springfield.

In this week's Business Monday from The Republican:

Friendly's co-founder S. Prestley Blake pens book
If any book deserves a happy ending, it’s “A Friendly Life”, the new autobiography of Friendly Ice Cream Corp. co-founder S. Prestley Blake. Read more »

Springfield Museums help tell Friendly story
The museum opened an exhibit this spring on the early days of Springfield mainstay Friendly Ice Cream Corp. stocked with memorabilia collected, and donated by co-founders Curtis L. Blake and S. Prestley Blake. The museum even has the original counter from that opened at 161 Boston Road on July 8, 1935. Read more »

After 30 years in business, owners Bruce and Meg Cummings of Southampton Antiques are closing their shop to start a new chapter
As they prepare for the move, Bruce and Meg Cummings are selling off hundreds of antiques worth thousands of dollars, including a number of treasures that
they have had in their home since they moved in 30 years ago. Read more »

After Midnight, Easthampton's newest art gallery, opens in Eastworks
The gallery’s owners, Rosemary Barrett and Kevin MacDonald, are both artists who aim to create a business that blurs the line between a shop and a gallery. Read more »

More Business Monday:

• Voices of the Valley: Cheryl Hislop, The Walk-in Closet, Granby

• PeoplesBank pledges $200,000 to tornado relief for Western Massachusetts

• West Springfield company has hearing aid innovation

• Mama Iguana's Restaurant opens in downtown Springfield at former site of Basketball Hall of Fame

• Webster Bank to close 5 Connecticut branches, 6 overall, in restructuring

• National Labor Relations Board shows interest in protecting the right of workers to speak freely on Facebook, Twitter

• Editorial: 'Right to Repair' bill pits car mechanics against high-tech executives

• Commentary: Fixing Medicare deficit cannot be done simply by cutting loose the sickest and the poorest

• Consumer spending in China fades as high inflation slows down once booming Chinese economy

• UConn economic survey predicts decline in jobless rate despite troubling signs in home sales, economy

• Bradley International Airport's board of directors disbanded in favor of Connecticut Airport Authority

Notebooks:

• Western Massachusetts business etc.: Panera Bread raises money for Boys & Girls Club, Mountain Resort to run Bromley Mountain, and more

• Pioneer Valley Business Calendar for June 21 - July 13

• Business bits: Wampanoag tribe interested in greyhound racing, AVEO looks to public stock offering, UMass Dartmouth ordered to pay $300K in discrimination case, and more