We are located at 24 S. Pleasant Street in one of downtown Amherst's historic professional buildings near Amherst Cinema and the Jones Library. All service is by appointment. In the early 2000's, the owner of PeopleFirst, Zach Fried, founded Brooklyn-based NYC Mac Support, meeting the demands of busy professionals in both home and corporate environments.
He and his family moved to the Pioneer Valley in 2014, and founded Local Prosperity, incorporating a mission to help small businesses stay competitive, defend against online threats, and revitalize downtowns. We rebranded in 2018 as PeopleFirst, renewing an effort to bring human-focused support to our clients.
He and his family moved to the Pioneer Valley in 2014, and founded Local Prosperity, incorporating a mission to help small businesses stay competitive, defend against online threats, and revitalize downtowns. We rebranded in 2018 as PeopleFirst, renewing an effort to bring human-focused support to our clients.
Services
Life's too short for a slow computer. Our most popular upgrade, an SSD is a game changer for older Macs and PCs, adding years of useful life. You can save upwards of $1000 instead of buying a new one - while enjoying comparable performance. But don't take our word for it - check out the many head to head comparisons on YouTube for Mac or PC.
We promote a proactive defense, helping educate our clients to make effective choices to safeguard personal information. When it's done right, good security doesn't have to be an inconvenience. It's common to have photos spread across multiple devices - unsynced, with duplicates, and vulnerable to loss if things aren't backed up.
We're sorry, but we do not have the facilities to repair mobile devices. For screen replacements, we recommend Green Earth Computers in Northampton. If you have critical information that you need to recover, we partner with DriveSavers, an excellent forensic lab that can recover data in the worst of scenarios.
We can eliminate the travel time associated with tech support to increase efficiency and save costs. PeopleFirst prefers Splashtop for screen sharing; an industry-leading business collaboration services with independently verified security. It's easy to set up and uninstall, and to control when access to your screen is enabled.
Retainers are the best way to account for technical work that cannot be 100% specified at the time of contracting. Just as up front payment is required for purchasing goods online, our remote support services require payment in advance. Unused time does not expire as long as some portion has been used within the last 2 years.
Reviews (10)
Alex Kent
Jan 02, 2022
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Ellen Jg
Nov 14, 2021
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Alex Yu
Sep 12, 2021
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Jefferson Johnson
Sep 02, 2021
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John Hayman
May 10, 2021
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Julie Z. Rosenberg
Feb 25, 2021
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I've been reaching out to Zach on all Mac-related issues for the past 7 or 8 years. He used to live nearby and would make house calls, but now that he's several states away, he's still my go-to guy. I trust him implicitly and have built a rapport with him that makes all interactions with him seamless and efficient. I just had an emergency tech issue and he made himself available on a weekend to help me out. He stayed with me until the issue was properly diagnosed and resolved, which took several days so we could test out different scenarios. It was a networking issue that was specifically impeding
Soraya Schuppert
Nov 23, 2020
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Zach is amazing! He has helped me out of a few jams with my older iMac desktop computer. Just today he got macOS Sierra to load onto my computer when I couldn't do it-after the system told me that I successfully installed it. Zach is a miracle worker. I also think that his prices are very fair and he never pushes things or products that I don't need. I completely trust Zach and team at PeopleFirst. They will assess your needs and do what is right.
Sarah Ferholt
Oct 31, 2020
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Great service. Personable, clear and efficient, Zach offered service and advice that was helpful and specific and comprehensible to me (a non-tech person!). He asked questions that allowed his work to be tailored effectively and economically to me my particular needs so I didn't pay for anything extra and got everything taken care of in one job. Honest and straightforward, consistent fair pricing, and solved my tech issues without stress.
Abby Dallmann
Jun 22, 2020
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Tucker Respess
Dec 12, 2019
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Recently we called on Zach for help and advice on our Macs based on a recommendation from our former but retiring consultant. Zach seems ideal for our small business and personal needs. He is clear about scheduling as well as about work being done, he listens to us and understands our tech limitations, he is efficient, and he provides excellent direction about what performance to expect and what potential problems to watch for and report to him. We look forward to continuing the relationship and breathe a sigh of relief for having found him!