Nye named new Northampton veterans’ services director

Daniel Nye was appointed by Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra as the next director of veterans’ services following the retirement of Steve Connor after 22 years in the role.
Photo credit: Daniel Nye, Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services

NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has appointed Daniel Nye as the next director of Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services after the previous director, Steve Connor, announced his retirement after 22 years in the position.

“I am excited to promote Daniel Nye to the level of director to fill this essential role in city operations,” said Sciarra in a statement on the announcement. “Dan has four years of municipal experience supporting the communities and veterans of the Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services District. With an additional 18 years of military leadership, Dan is the right person to step into this role.”

Nye has worked as a veterans’ service officer in Northampton since 2022 and has been an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard since 2008, serving in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012. He is a Massachusetts and Nationally Accredited Veterans’ Service Officer, a Massachusetts Certified Veterans Mediator, and a vice president of the Western Massachusetts Veterans’ Service Officers Association.

Nye has his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is in the process of completing his Master of Arts from the American Military University. He grew up in Chesterfield and Williamsburg and currently lives in Williamsburg with his wife and two children. Nye is actively involved in town life within his community, having served in numerous volunteer roles focused on historic preservation and strengthening the community. He has also served as a Cub Scout den leader, supporting his children’s scouting activities and mentoring local youth.

“As a fourth-generation Army veteran and lifelong Hampshire County resident, it is a great honor to have been appointed as the next director of Veterans’ Services,” said Nye. “I’ve been truly fortunate to have served four years under Steve Connor’s leadership and mentorship and look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the veterans of the district in this new role.”

Nye told Reminder Publishing that, before joining as an officer with Veterans’ Services, he was a volunteer on the Williamsburg Veterans Memorial Committee. He said his time there and with Northampton’s department has prepared him for this next step as director.

The Department of Veterans’ Services’ mission is to aid, support and advocate for veterans and/or their dependents in obtaining benefits from federal, state and local programs. The department provides outreach, counseling, medical, employment and other support services. The department serves 14 communities in the Central Hampshire Veterans Services District: Northampton, Amherst, Pelham, Hadley, Williamsburg, Chesterfield, Goshen, Cummington, Worthington, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Hatfield and Granby.

Nye said living in Hampshire County for the majority of his life had made a big difference when it comes to working with and serving the area’s veterans.

“I grew up surrounded by veterans, both in my family and in those communities. Especially World War II, Korea, Vietnam era, the majority of the men in my family had served, and so I think the reality is I grew up around these guys in these places, legions and VFWs, and the community in general, and so while I’d be happy to serve veterans everywhere, I think there’s a really great aspect of it for me to be able to do that within the communities that I know and am part of,” Nye explained. “The ability to talk about shared local things, I think it goes a long way, not just as being a veteran and the comfort that that brings for them, but just knowing that it’s somebody from here, I really do think makes a big difference for a lot of folks.”

Nye said that working under Connor over the last four years also helped him see the effort it takes to connect with the community. He shared that he hopes to not only meet the standard set but, continue to grow services from the department for area veterans.

“When you say veterans’ services in this area, people pretty much automatically connect to Steve. He’s been doing it for over two decades, is super networked in the communities, so obviously huge shoes to fill in that sense, but it’s been great working with him and working for him, because the reality is that he built a culture of collaboration here,” said Nye. “It’s a very people-first organization. We’re really here to help veterans and their families navigate what can be these immense bureaucracies that don’t always make it easy and more often than not make it very difficult to access the benefits just by the nature of being big bureaucracies, and so the focus here under Steve and very much what I liked about it, was just the focus on people and doing what we can.”

Nye added, “We may not know the answer, or we may not be able to help you with this, but we’re going to make sure that you connect with an actual person who can help you with that thing. I think that’s the biggest legacy there, that attitude and culture that he brought to it, and that’s certainly something I’ve done my very best to pick up on and run with.”

The biggest priority for Nye as he steps into the role is to continue to work off the framework that Connor has helped establish for the department, and also expand efforts of outreach and make local veterans aware of what the department can offer. According to Nye, the constant struggle seen in the work is finding new ways of connecting with area veterans to talk about the department’s existence and how the department can help them acquire entitled benefits.

“I think the biggest priority for me is to just keep building those inroads and connecting with people in those communities, because ultimately, that’s how we get more people through the door. That’s really the big focus, continuing to build those relationships and build up the network, because ultimately that’s how you’re going to get people in and that’s how you’re going to take care of people,” Nye said. “Even as a veteran myself, before I did this job and became aware of all these different things, there’s so much information out there … It seems to be the thing that we are all challenged by is just letting people know and really making it common knowledge that we’re the landing pad you want when you want to start trying to figure out, whether it’s a state benefit or federal benefit.”

As of press time, Nye’s appointment to the City Council for confirmation is scheduled to take place during its June 18 meeting. If confirmed, Nye will formally take control of the Department of Veterans’ Services immediately.