Six small firms land economic equality grants

Berkshire Business Journal

it to Dalton Avenue from its former location on Lyman Street 10 years later. The business, originally known as Imperial Bowling Lanes, was founded in 1960.

Built in 1952, Imperial Bowling Center’s current location was previously a roller skating rink known as Broyles Arena. Pieces of the original roller rink’s floor are visible during the current renovations.

The rink’s instructor in the 1950s, the late Roland Cioni of Lanesborough, held the world’s roller skating speed championship from 1914 until he retired in 1935, and was the first skater selected when the All-American Roller Skating Hall of Fame was formed in 1953, according to Eagle archives.

Robert Ireland, who competed as a professional candlepin bowler for many years, said that he first put Imperial on the market 10 years ago. It’s been on and off several times since then.

“I’m getting old,” said Ireland, when asked why he sold it. “Forty-five years I was in the business. That’s a long time. It was time to get out. My kids weren’t interested.

“I had a few little bites,” over the years, he said, “but nobody wanted to pay the price.” ti, who runs a Sunday night bowling league at Cove Lanes in Great Barrington. “They’re going about it in the right way.”

PITTSFIELD — Six local small-business owners received a $4,000 boost from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Leaders for an Equitable Pittsfield as part of a grant program aimed at supporting economic equality in the commonwealth’s smaller cities.

Awardees, representatives from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank and Leaders for an Equitable Pittsfield gathered last week at the Berkshire Black Economic Council to celebrate the work of the local BIPOC-owned businesses. The grants were a part of the bank’s Leaders for Equitable Local Economies Grant Program, or LELE.

Maria Arias, head of the Maggie Sadoway Immigrant Cooperative, spent much of the pandemic working with the cooperative’s 28 families to sew face masks for the community. She plans to use the grant funds to expand the cooperative’s effort to make comforters and pillows that will be sold to support the cooperative’s families.

Miriam Orengo, one of the co-creators of La Cocineras Latinas, plans to use the grant money to purchase appliances for a food trailer. The appliances will help her meet one of the final requirements in opening a Health Department certified business. Orengo plans to open the trailer, Gustitos Boricuas, this spring.

The renovations are as expensive as they are extensive. The Matheses, who obtained a $1.54 million mortgage on the property with Berkshire Bank according to registry documents, believe they’ve spent around $2 million fixing the alley so far.

The family members, who all live in Pittsfield near the bowling center, have done most of the renovation work themselves. “We gutted it,” Mark said.

“All of us did it all.”

And they chuckle nervously at the amount of money they’ve already spent. “We’re pushing the envelope really hard,” added Kari.

But renovating the bowling alley is more than just a project to them.

“It’s a project,” Kari said, “and it’s a labor of love.”

“I’ve always wanted a bowling alley, pretty much,” Mark said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Even as a kid,” Kari added.

The alley’s former owners, Robert and Rosemary Ireland of Pittsfield, bought the business in 1977 and moved

One of those nibbles came from the Matheses who first approached Ireland in 2021, Mark said, while the family was also considering building its own alley in Pittsfield.

“This started over a year ago with me and my wife doing a lot of research,” Mark said.

Mark said the family looked at the vacant 30,000-square-foot building on West Housatonic Street that the city sold at auction in November and checked out a property on Elm Street. They even asked the city if they could build a bowling alley at the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires.

“It wasn’t an option,” Kari said.

Ireland has a great affection for candlepin bowling, which has deep roots in Massachusetts. It was founded in 1880 by the owner of a Worcester bowling alley. He’d like Imperial to remain a candlepin facility but believes the aficionados of tenpin bowling, who have been without an alley in Pittsfield since Ken’s closed, will enjoy it.

Ken’s was located just up the street on Dalton Avenue.

“I’m sure the people who bowl tenpin will be happy,’” Ireland said. “They should be pretty busy for awhile.”

Jocelyn Guelce founded Guelce Collaborative Marketing to be “a guiding light” to Berkshire County-based small businesses. The grant funds Guelce received will be put toward purchasing professional subscription, marketing and advertising and equipment to launch the collaborative’s GROWTH project.

Ludwig Jean-Louis purchased Elm Street’s Cravins Soft Serve and Frozen Yogurt to follow his entrepreneurial dreams. He ran the business alongside his siblings and cousins through the last summer season. With the new grant money, Jean-Louis plans to repair the Cravins storefront, update some equipment and cover the cost of new marketing and advertising.

Inspired by her time working at Miraval, Ranisha Grice launched her own line of spa products focused on bringing self-care to the Black community. She plans to reinvest her grant into an expanded inventory and new equipment for her business Grice Beauty.

For the past 12 years, Goundo Behanzin has owned and operated Berkshire International Market as a landing space for staples from across the globe. The new grant will help him withstand the increasing cost of ordering these hard-to-find products and allow the store to increase its storage capacity. Behanzin’s application notes that he plans to expand the catalog with additional Indian and Chinese products.