Berkshire Business Journal May 2023

Berkshire Business Journal

Cannabis market correction

The

BY JIM T HERRIEN PITTSFIELD

The cannabis industry remains strong in Berkshire County, but there are signs a market correction is on the way — one that that could force some businesses to close, revamp their operations or seek to merge or sell to a stronger company.

That is the general consensus among several local operators who commented on the state of cannabis business here after four years of growth. Of course, that expansion occurred with Massachusetts essentially alone in the region offering legal recreational cannabis.

The looming factor today is that neighboring states, like Vermont, New York and Connecticut, are ramping up their cannabis industries, but that really isn’t the most pressing reality signaling a downturn, Berkshire operators said.

Meg Sanders, CEO and co-owner of Canna Provisions in Lee said oversupply in terms of dispensaries and production capacity is more of an obstacle for those launching a new business than the emerging state markets.

Those factors make it “really, really challenging” for a start-up, she said, and Sanders believes 2023 could to be “a washout year” for some businesses.

Companies across the state find themselves struggling — along with the state itself in terms of overestimated cannabis tax revenue — and “all are learning a lesson” as the industry matures, she said. It is a process Sanders said she’s witnessed before.

Having been in the business since 2009

in Colorado, and having consulted in the industry nationally, Sanders said she and co-owner Erik Williams “came into Mas-

sachusetts with an understanding of the potential of what the market might do. We anticipated the possibility of oversup-

ply and way too many stores.

“And I know this for a fact: I wouldn’t want to be opening a cultivation or a retail dispensary right now,” Sanders said. “It would be exponentially more expensive and harder to do that.”

Nate Girard, co-owner of Bloom Brothers in Pittsfield, said his dispensary has benefited from this state’s early start, attributing 60 to 65 percent of his sales to customers coming from New York.

That has begun to change as New York dispensaries open, but there are mitigating factors as well, he said, including the lure of the Berkshires as a tourist destination where visitors come for more than just cannabis.

Massachusetts also now has a well-developed cultivation and product manufacturing sector, providing lower prices and wider selection due to competition, he said, while New York is expected to take several years to reach that point.

For instance, there were fewer than 30 cultivation operations in the state when recreational cannabis dispensaries were rolling out, compared to well over 200 today. Price competition was a factor in lowering costs, operators said, and also in expanding product options.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Meg Sanders is the CEO of Canna Provisions in Lee. She and co-owner Erik Williams have been involved in the cannabis business since 2009.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Tom Winstanley, the chief marketing o cer for Theory Wellness in Great Barrington, said the cannabis market in the Berkshires has changed greatly since the business first came to South County in 2017.

cannabis industry in the Berkshires is still strong, but forces are emerging that may change the the way it operates

Members of Pittsfield’s Transformative Development Initiative are working on redeveloping downtown North Street one project at a time............... 10

Offering incentive for rebirth

Grant program aims to help fill downtown storefronts

By a ina de l apparent a lvarez

PITTSFIELD — A stroll around downtown Pittsfield reveals

15 vacant storefronts. Now, Berkshire Black Economic Council is offering up to $25,000 to businesses willing to move into them.

Beacon Hill in a Berkshires state of mind, Mark says

State senator believes region needs to capitalize on strengths

By Sten Spinella

PITTSFIELD — State Sen. Paul Mark says

the time is now for the Berkshire region to capitalize on its economic strengths and on the remote-work boom post-pandemic.

Speaking in mid-April at an event hosted by 1Berkshire at Berkshire Hills Country Club before some 200 people, the Becket Democrat said the state has been paying attention to the Berkshires, and highlighted the Legislature’s approval of Chapter 90 funds as an example.

While both chambers approved $200 million for Chapter 90, a program that facilitates local aid for transportation, as well as $150 million for transportation/infrastructure grants, the Senate’s version provides $25 million in road money expressly for rural communities.

“It pays results in a very quick turn,” Mark said.

This was Mark’s first address to the greater Berkshire business community since the former long-time state Rep. was elected to the Senate to replace fellow Democrat Adam Hinds in November. He credited Senate President Karen Spilka’s recent visit to North Adams, as well as visits to the region from Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues and Joint Committee on Transportation Chair Brendan Crighton for the state’s recent help to the region.

According to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for 2023-27, the county is facing a lack of workers in priority industries such as hospitality, and a lack of affordable housing is at least partially to blame. The report found that Berkshire County jobs decreased by 7,778 in the last five years and could lose almost 3,000 in the next five years.

Shakespeare & Co. Managing Director Amy Handelsman said, “a lot of us are facing the pressures of a lack of affordable housing.” She asked Mark how he planned to address the issue.

“The governor herself has made it a priority,” Mark said in response. “In the Senate we followed through [on] one of her priorities, which is to separate the Department of Housing from Economic Development, and create a standalone secretary of housing.”

Mark said he supports Governor Maura Healey’s intention to take stateowned property that is not being used and turn that into housing.

“I can think of buildings right here in Pittsfield, right in North Adams, that would be prime for that,” he added.

“There also needs to be recognition that a development that could work in Pittsfield or North Adams might not work in a town like Becket or Peru.”

Former North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright thanked Mark for his work on substance use and mental health issues, and Mark promised that there would be money in the state budget for both causes. The state House released its budget proposal this week, and the state Senate plans to take up the issue in May.

Maryann Hyatt, the president and CEO of Berkshire County Arc, asked Mark about a bill that would raise the minimum salary for direct support workers, or those who work with people with developmental or intellectual disabilities.

“We are having difficulty in the Berkshires and throughout Massachusetts in attracting workers,” he said. “There is the child care element, the education element, then there’s how much we’re able to pay. … We have to make sure that we fully fund, as much as possible, the salaries of workers in organizations like Berkshire Arc.”

A top topic of conversation was the progress of the arts and culture sector’s comeback following its

Thank You Thank You

near-decimation by the pandemic.

“What I’m hearing right now from cultural organizations in our area is that, ‘Yeah, the COVID years were tough, and we’re making it through, but 2023 might be the year that makes or breaks us, because now we’re going to find out, are people coming back to things they used to go to, or has their behavior changed permanently?” Mark said.

“Everything’s coming back,” 1Berkshire President Jonathan Butler told The Eagle at the event. “We have this opportunity where there was a shift in the country of people moving out of urban centers and into rural places. We also have people much more routinely now entering into remote work or hybrid work settings. Those things position us well in the Berkshires.”

Filling out the workforce as a challenge in the Berkshires, Butler said.

“A lot of organizations and businesses aren’t at full bandwidth with hiring, offering 70 percent to 80 percent of their footprint, so this is another summer where there’s a lot of demand to be here in the Berkshires, and we know there’s some limitations based on this staffing crisis,” Butler said.

The hospitality and tourism industry could lose more jobs than any other sector in the state, according to a Special Commission on the Future of Work report. Mark said the region needs to bring all these moving parts together for a sort of sales pitch.

“We need to make sure affordable housing’s available, we need to make sure that there’s transportation systems available to get people to and from jobs, we need to make sure the infrastructure is there, but at the same time, we need to make sure that other places know we’re open for business,” Mark said. “We’re a great place to do business, to work and to live.”

Sten Spinella can be reached at sspinella@ berkshireeagle.com or 860-853-0085.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN Berkshire Black Economic Council Executive Director A.J. Enchill.

In the last six months, Flat Burger Society on McKay Street, and Mission Bar + Tapas and Berkshire General Store, both on North Street, closed their doors. All three businesses are located in Pittsfield’s Downtown District, the area on North Street between Park Square and Maplewood Avenue that also includes Center, McKay and Pearl streets.

Brazzucas, a Brazilian market, is planning to open in the former general store’s space in June. But the other storefronts remain empty. With warmer days and the tourist season coming up, BBEC and Downtown Pittsfield Inc. consider the moment ripe for new businesses.

The grant program, called Vibe North Street, will award either seed funding (up to $7,500) or sapling money (up to $25,000) to interested entrepreneurs. Businesses can apply for either depending on their needs, but the latter is more competitive. The money comes from Mass Development’s Transformative Development Initiative, which is also looking to revitalize downtown North Street. The plan is to divide the funding among four to six applicants.

Once selected, businesses that can persuade their landlords to invest will receive a further matching $2,500 or $5,000 grants available from a pot known as “flexible capital.” Organizers will review applications as they receive them. The first awardees will be announced on May 15.

A.J. Enchill, BBEC’s executive director, asks that applicants lay out how their proposals will complement existing businesses.

“Maybe it’s the case that this business represents a particular culture or demographic that would attract new walks of life to North Street,” he said. “Maybe it’s fitting a need that has been underserved.”

The vision is to turn the district into a multi-stop destination.

“We don’t want people to come to North Street for one thing,” Enchill said, “and then return back home. We want people to go from A to B to C to D.”

Though open to all, organizers give 10 more points (out of 100 possible) to businesses owned by women or people of color.

“We’re hoping to get applications from BIPOC businesses who have been discouraged to apply based on previous experiences with other grants, as well as white-owned companies who hear about it,” he said. (The expression “BIPOC” stands for Black, Indigenous and people of color.)

While the application at present is available only in English, organizers enlisted the Berkshire Immigrant Center’s help with translation. “In that way, when we do have applicants who speak other languages, we can do our best to support them in navigating this process,” Enchill said.

To help answer questions from applicants, BBEC is organizing workshops. For further information and to access the application, go to the Berkshire Black Economic Council website at berkshirebec.org/opportunities/ bbec-grants/

Aina de Lapparent Alvarez can be reached at aalvarez@berkshireeagle.com.

STEN SPINELLA

State Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, addresses the Berkshire business community at a recent gathering at Berkshire Hills Country Club in Pittsfield.

Sowing seeds of progress

Red Shirt Farm to add store, kitchen

By Tony DoBrowolski

LANESBOROUGH — Motorists are often puzzled when they drive by Red Shirt Farm on Williamstown Road.

“This is what they see,” said the small family farm’s owner Jim Schultz. “You don’t have a farm store? We know there’s a need.”

Schultz is solving that problem by building a combination community commercial kitchen/farm store on the road in front of his small 10acre farm. But state legislators and local officials see this project as more than just a building. They see it as another way to tie the Berkshires into agri-tourism and the growing farm-to-table movement.

Plans call for the commercial kitchen to be available to other farmers, food pantries and local organizations interested in making their own products to reduce food insecurity and improve nutrition.

Schultz expects the commercial kitchen/farm store to create two full-time jobs and have two seasonal employees.

Work on the almost $800,000 project has already begun and Schultz expects the 30-footby-40 foot structure to be open by December. He sees the facility as a year round aggregation and distribution hub for products produced by small farms across the Berkshires.

The commercial kitchen will be a licensed facility geared to extending the shelf life, diversity and consumer appeal of local food items.

Local food and agriculture are identified as an important job cluster in Berkshire Blueprint 2.0, 1Berkshire’s updated economic development plan for the county that was released in 2019.

“We don’t want to compete with the industrial farms of the Midwest. That’s not who we are,” said state Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, in late March when the project was announced to the public for the first time. “What we want to do is diversify. We want to be special. We want to give peo-

New look for Starving Artist Cafe

If You Go

Starving Artist Café

40 Main St. Lee, Mass.

413-394-5046

ple a reason that you’re going to eat something that’s local because you know how it was grown.

“It supports our local economy. It supports our local culture. It supports who we are as residents of Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires,” he said. “To see this project come together and hear about all the good work that’s been done it’s amazing.”

Schultz began working on the project a year ago when he joined Entrepreneurship

For All Berkshire County, an organization that helps entrepreneurs develop their business plans. As of late March, he had raised half of the project’s total estimated cost of $734,874 for construction and equipment through grants from a variety of sources, including two state agencies.

He’s hoping to raise an additional $60,000 through a crowdfunding campaign on the Patronicity platform.

Once the new building’s foundation is put into place, Schultz hopes to have the 30-foot-by-40-foot structure constructed and ready for a soft opening by December.

He sees the facility as a yearround aggregation and distribution hub for products produced by small farms across the Berkshires. The commercial kitchen will be a licensed facility geared to extending the shelf life, diversity and consumer appeal of local food

items.

“During COVID we saw what happened with the supply chain,” Schultz said. “There were delays in everything. If you have local food production you have security. We can produce the food that we need.”

Red Shirt Farm is an organic, no-till farm that does not used pesticides or herbicides. Schultz grows vegetables, raises pigs, chickens and turkeys and operates the farm year-round under the community supportive agriculture model, a system where people buy shares in the farm in exchange for a portion of the produce.

Originally from the Boston suburb of Winchester, Schultz originally came to the Berkshires to attend Williams College. A teacher and administrator in the Pittsfield Public Schools for 26 years, Schultz dabbled in farming before entering the profession full-time when he retired in 2015. He believes the time is right for this kind of project.

“People want connection, they want local food, they want good nutrition,” Schultz said. “They want more plantbased diets. There’s a movement to more home-based cooking. They don’t want chemicals on their food.

“We think we have a very strong opportunity,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of people who do what we do.”

By scoTT sTaffor D

LEE — While the rest of the Berkshires were trying to recover from a wild snowstorm in midMarch, the Starving Artist Café was undergoing a serious renovation.

According to owner Emmy Davis, her husband, Ryan Davis, and three other associates spent two days plowing snow, and the rest of the week reformatting the customer service center and installing a new walk-in cooler.

“We needed more space for the kitchen and the coffee prep area,” she said. So they took out part of the former countertop and pushed it further out into the entryway, allowing for a more efficient production process and a more organized customer service experience. Add to that a bigger espresso machine — which allows baristas to make two cups of espresso at the same time — and a fourth crepe burner for more production capacity, the ultimate result is a better product with quicker service times.

But the new walk-in cooler is a really exciting addition, Davis said. It allows the restaurant to double its capacity of refrigeration space, always a valuable commodity in a commercial kitchen.

Davis is looking forward to the summer, when the business gets busy. The increased capacity and efficiency should help things go a bit smoother, she said. But first she needs to hire more staff to handle the seasonal demand.

The dining room doubles as an art gallery with a variety of ex-

Open: Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Closed: Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Sunday Brunch: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Live music: from 11 a.m. — 2 p.m.

hibits focusing on local artists.

Part of the décor includes several pews from a former church down the street, giving the space a more unique ambiance.

The Starving Artist Café has been in the Main Street space for 12 years, since the aging building was restored and reclaimed for Lee businesses.

“We stay busy year-round because we’re right on the main drag,” Davis said. “And in the summer, we’re always busy. We get a lot of people coming in before a show at Tanglewood. And our Sunday musical brunch is really popular.”

Starving Artist Café specializes in crepes. They also offer sandwiches, soups and salads, with ingredients sourced from local farms. Vegan and gluten-free options are available. There is a full coffee menu, along with organic juices, smoothies and teas.

Davis said the mushroom pesto crepe is a popular item, although that changes from time to time. The most popular coffee drink is the latte, especially the maple syrup latte, of course made with locally produced syrup.

The newly installed features already seem to be charming the regular customers. A midafternoon visitor on Friday, a diminutive elderly woman, approached the new ordering counter with a smile, saying, “Ooo, this is new! I like it! It’s very nice.”

Community Health Programs… Care for a Lifetime.

The health and wellbeing of you and your family—at all ages and stages—is at the heart of CHP.

Our multiple locations and two mobile health clinics make getting the care you need easy From medical and dental to nutrition ser vices, we have you covered. Want to know more? Scan the QR code or visit chpbershires.org for more information.

EAGLE FILE PHOTO

Owner Jim Schultz prunes tomatoes at Red Shirt Farm in Lanesborough where he’s working on a project to build a community kitchen/farm store facility.

Renovation allows for better service, faster food and more seating

SCOTT STAFFORD

Emmy Davis, owner of the Starving Artist Cafe, prepares crepe dishes, which is the house specialty.

BIC to open smaller site at Mass MoCA

By Tony DoBrowolski

PITTSFIELD — It’s not easy to get to the Berkshire Innovation Center if you live in the Northern Berkshires, and it’s especially difficult for students who don’t have a car.

But the BIC is solving that problem by bringing its services closer to where these residents reside. The center is planning to open a second, much smaller location, in North Adams in a recently vacated 2,500-square-foot storefront at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

The new facility, BIC Works@MoCA, is expected to open this summer and is the first step in a phased growth plan that the center eventually hopes will allow it to provide easy access to its services for residents who live in other areas of the county.

“We’re trying to get out and meet them where they are,” said the BIC’s Executive Director Ben Sosne.

The BIC currently has no plans to open another facility in Southern Berkshire, although Sosne said the innovation center did put in a proposal for a facility in the former village school in Housatonic when the redevelopment of that building was under consideration.

“We were dabbling in that as a possible southern location,” Sosne said. “I think we will want to one day do that, but we want to do everything at pace.”

BIC Works@MoCA will be located next to Bright Ideas Brewing in a former art gallery that became available when the owners moved to another location in Williamstown, Sosne said. He would like to open the facility this summer.

“We hope to take advantage of the summer crowd,” he said. “I’d like to get the doors open in July and August then have more of the programming ramp up when the students return [in the fall].”

Located in the William Stanley Business Park in Pittsfield, the $13.8 million

Berkshire Innovation Center is a two-story, 23,000-square-foot structure that opened three years ago following more than a decade of planning, which included finding the necessary funds to build it.

The BIC contains classroom, meeting and conference space interspersed with laboratories and high-tech equipment available for use by its 30 member companies, 23 affiliate organizations, and 12 academic institutions. The facility was designed to provide Berkshire County with a gateway to the high-tech economy that has been blossoming in other areas of the state, particularly in and around Boston.

BIC Works@MoCA will be staffed by innovation center personnel and will contain some of the equipment and services

that are available in Pittsfield.

“It will have some of the advanced technologies, a robotic arm, 3D printers and laser printers, some of the technologies that we use with virtual reality,” Sosne said

“We can run similar programming, but also have professional development and field trips,” Sosne said. “It’s much of the same stuff that we have at the BIC, just on a smaller scale.”

According to an executive summary of the expansion plan, BIC Works@MoCA is intended to serve as a gateway into the growing BIC community, a showcase for the cutting-edge technology developed both in the Berkshires and across the state, and as a “launchpad” for new pro-

gramming designed to extend and widen the onramps to technology-focused career paths.

“I’m really excited. It’s something that we’ve been contemplating for quite a while as an organization,” Sosne said, referring to the BIC’s expansion plans. “One of the biggest challenges we see as a countywide organization is about access.

“We do a lot with students and student groups, young students, high school students, college students, and one of the things we’ve noticed is that especially for those that are less privileged, who don’t have a car, don’t drive or have to rely on a friend, that it’s hard to get to the BIC,” he said.

“If you live in North Adams or Housatonic and you want to participate in BIC programming it’s a 40 minute drive each way, which is hard.”

He referred to Mass MoCA as a “perfect location” for such a facility in North Adams due to the foot traffic the museum already receives and its central location in the county’s second largest city.

“I’ve always thought of North Adams as a natural partner because it’s the other city in Berkshire County,” he said.

Mass MoCA is also located on the site of the former Sprague Electric Co., a sprawling factory complex that at its peak was one of northern Berkshire’s largest employers. The site itself represents the confluence of creativity and innovation in the Berkshires that the BIC is part of, Sosne said.

“I’ve worked with Joe Thompson for many years,” said Sosne, referring to Mass MoCA’s former director. “I like [current director] Kristy [Edmunds] and what she’s trying to do.”

Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE BERKSHIRE INNOVATION CENTER

The interior of the 2,500-square-foot former art gallery where the Berkshire Innovation Center plans to open a second location at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams.

Business updates

Greylock Federal Credit Union re-elected three board members during its 88th annual meeting, which took place recently at the Proprietor’s Lodge in Pittsfield.

The organization also honored outgoing board Chair Stanley Walczyk, and recognized Williamstown branch manager Anna Flynn’s 40th anniversary of service.

Gerard Burke and Sheila LaBarbera were each reelected to three-year terms on the board of directors and Kelly Krok to a one-year term.

Burke is the retired president and CEO of Hillcrest Educational Centers; Krok is the senior advance human resource business partner for General Dynamics Mission Systems; and LaBarbera is executive director of the Berkshire County Retirement Board.

Immediately following the meeting, the board of directors held a special organizational meeting to elect officers. Those elected were: Peter Lopez, chair; Kelly Krok, vice chair; Krystle Blake, secretary/financial officer; and JamieEllen Moncecchi, assistant clerk/ recording officer. Allison Bedard was also re-elected to the supervisory committee for a three-year term.

The MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board will hold a workshop for employers and organizations that are interested in working with high school interns. at Berkshire Health Systems Hillcrest Campus, in Pittsfield on May 12. The hours are 9 to 10:30 a.m.

The workshop will provide tips, guidance, and strategies for providing internships to high school students. It is open to professionals interested in starting an internship at their company or looking to enhance their current internship program.

Information/registration:Youth program specialist Kat Toomey, Kat@ masshireberkshire.com, 413-442-7177 ext. 120.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission’s recently completed 2023-27 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy is featured on a website maintained by the National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation to recognize exemplary economic planning work. The website is known as “CEDS Central.”

BRPC’s focus on resiliency is recognized as a best practice, as well as its efforts to make resources available in Spanish. In the coming months, the Berkshire County report will also be the subject of a longer case study published on NADO’s website.

The 2023-27 plan is the third consecutive five-year strategy developed by BRPC and approved by the federal Economic Development Administration.

Maintaining a current development strategy for the region provides context for business owners, nonprofit organizations, municipal leaders, and economic development practitioners, helping to guide decision-making and prioritize needs. Information: tinyurl.com/3s45mf64.

SolaBlock Inc., one of the Berkshire Innovation Center’s member companies, has reached an agreement to sell its solar masonry unit in Israel once operations commence.

The company, which recently moved its headquarters from Easthampton to Pittsfield, is expected to become operational with its first assembly facility in Pittsfield this spring.

The climate-and-construction startup has signed a memorandum of understanding with a partnership headed by Israeli businessman Eran Harish for the exclusive rights to sell the firm’s product in Israel.

Harish has vast experience in fields such as renewable energy, digital health, agritech and cleantech. He has been operating in Israel and the global arena for more than 25 years and has a wide network of business partners and colleagues both locally and internationally.

SolaBlock’s solar masonry units combine premium solar technology with the familiarity of standard masonry bricks and provide renewable energy for customers seeking green energy alternatives. The

company also has an office in Troy, N.Y.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending almost $1.4 million to the commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse Berkshire Medical Center for the cost of testing the public and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $1,390,865 public assistance grant will reimburse the private 302-bed teaching hospital in Pittsfield affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School for the cost of contracting to administer 22,968 COVID-19 tests between September 2020 and January 2021.

The hospital also purchased supplies such as lab coats, masks, gloves, and propane for the testing tent, and contracted to provide security and cleaning services.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $1.6 billion in public assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses. Information: tinyurl.com/4w7tfvxh.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care has reached an agreement to sell the former campus of Southern Vermont College to a New York-based real estate developer that once owned a significant retail property in Pittsfield.

The health care agency has entered into a purchase and sales agreement for the property with Alfred Weissman Real Estate of Harrison, N.Y., which owned the former Pittsfield Plaza shopping complex on West Housatonic Street from 2007 to 2016.

Weissman Real Estate plans to turn the former college campus into a highend lodging destination. SVHC had purchased the 371-acre former college campus in December 2020.

Weissman Real Estate purchased the former Pittsfield Plaza for $2.8 million in 2007, then sold it nine years later for $1.2 million to an Arizona-based real estate developer that turned the property into a U-Haul storage/rental/retail complex.

Numerous Berkshire-based organizations are among the 740 cultural projects, programs and festivals that have received a combined $1.85 million in grant funding from the Mass Cultural Council.

The Cultural Council’s Festivals & Projects program awards $2,500 grants to support publicly available cultural activities taking place between July 1, 2022, and June 30. The program is often an entryway for organizations who have not previously received Mass Cultural Council funding; 52 percent of the fiscal 2023 program’s recipients are receiving a Mass Cultural Council grant for the first time. Eligible projects, festivals, or activities for funding are primarily focused on promoting access, diversity, or education in the arts, humanities, or interpretative sciences and are available to the public in Massachusetts.

The 26 Berkshire-based groups that received funding are located in Adams, Alford, Becket, Cummington, Great Barrington, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Monterey, North Adams, Pittsfield, Sheffield and Windsor.

A THC-infused muscle gel made by The Pass in Sheffield finished first in the topicals category at the recent New England Cannabis Convention in Boston.

The convention is the second largest business-to-business cannabis industry event in the country and the largest in New England.

The NECANN Cup is the second product win for The Pass — its muscle gel also placed third in the topicals, tinctures and capsules category in the High Times Cannabis Cup Massachusetts: People’s Choice Edition event in late 2022.

The Pass is a vertically integrated cannabis and hemp company, producing and processing its own flower locally, offering Pass-branded products at its retail location, and wholesaling those products to cannabis dispensaries across the commonwealth.

Berkshire Community College and Sonoco Plastics of Chatham, N.Y., have formed a partnership to encourage those interested in a career in mechatronics to apply for an apprenticeship at Sonoco,

which is one of the Berkshire Innovation Center’s member companies.

Apprentices will receive full tuition at BCC for its associate degree in mechatronics program provided they complete the apprenticeship.

Mechatronics is a growing field that combines technologies of mechanics and electronics. An interdisciplinary field of study, it encompasses sought-after skills in electro-mechanical systems, machine operation, computing, automation, robotics and advanced manufacturing.

The apprenticeship at Sonoco is a fourto five-year program with extensive onthe-job training and competency requirements for each year.

Participants work 20 to 30 hours per week, with a flexible work schedule, while pursuing an associate of science degree in mechatronics degree at BCC. The degree may be earned in as little as two years.

Information: Rick Sayers, Sonoco Plastics engineering manager, rick.sayers@ sonoco.com.

Berkshire Camino LLC of Lee, an outdoor adventure tour operator that curates walking and hiking tours of the Berkshires, has released its 2023 programming calendar.

The firm will hold eight multi day hiking journeys and over 200 day-hike tours across the Berkshires that are open to the general public from May to October. Thirteen curated day-hike tours are also planned.

Information: berkshirecamino.com.

Integrated Eco Strategy of North Adams has formed a partnership with the Health Product Declaration Collaborative to help owners, architects and builders recognize and avoid toxic chemicals in thousands of building materials and products.

The project combines HPD data with IES software to help reduce the use of these “red list” ingredients like vinyl chloride, which is used in PVC pipe. Vinyl chloride is one of the chemicals that were spilled in the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The collaborative, the nation’s leading nonprofit health information reporting organization, is now continually uploading all HPD information directly to Red2Green, IES’s materials management platform.

HPDC, a nonprofit, 360-plus member association based in Wakefield, represents architects, designers, building owners, manufacturers and others seeking to improve the transparency of building product materials information

IES was founded in 2010 to provide client-focused, high-value, green building services.

The Mass Cultural Council has approved a cultural district for the town of Cummington, which has fewer than 900 residents.

Cummington Center, one of the town’s three villages, is the focal point of the cultural district. Main Street, a preserved and primary point of interest, is one of the district’s most important physical assets. The district is primarily made up of the section of Main Street that runs parallel to the Westfield River and intersects with Route 9 at Fairgrounds Road.

The former Berkshire Trail Elementary School, which was part of the Central Berkshire Regional School District, is located at a key entrance to the district. Municipal leaders are currently conducting a feasibility study to determine a new purpose for the space, including arts and culture.

Berkshire Natural Resources Council has been accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, joining a network of over 450 accredited land trusts across the United States that have demonstrated their commitment to professional excellence and to maintaining the public’s trust in their work.

BNRC, which owns over 12,000 acres that are now protected for public use, was subject to a comprehensive third-party evaluation prior to achieving this distinction. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded accreditation, signifying its confidence that BNRC’s lands will be protected forever. Accredited land trusts steward almost 20 million acres of land — the size of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode

Island combined. BNRC is one of 1,363 land trusts across the United States, according to the Land Trust Alliance’s most recent National Land Trust Census. A complete list of accredited land trusts and more information about the accreditation process and benefits can be found at landtrustaccreditation.org.

Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing in Lee is planning to install nearly 1,500 solar panels on the roof of its 102,000-square-foot facility on Route 102 in Lee to offset 20 percent of the company’s energy consumption.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023.

The company is installing a new roof on its Lee facility with a new TPO membrane and improved insulation to reduce energy waste and prepare for the installation of the solar panels.

BSM’s fill, finish and development site houses several cleanrooms, laboratories, office spaces, an onsite daycare, and a warehouse. It was once the site of a toy warehouse.

BSM is purchasing the panels from Dynamic Energy and working with Eversource to gain interconnection approval by demonstrating that the grid and existing infrastructure can support the new panels.

The company’s day-to-day operations involve significant energy consumption to maintain cleanrooms, operate sterilization equipment and isolators for drug manufacturing, and to keep the lights and heat on for the 112 hours the plant is open each week.

Brightway Insurance, a national insurance chain with 300 franchises in 35 states, opened an office in Pittsfield on April 3.

Brightway, the Joe Lyman Agency, is located at 100 North St., suite 400. Lyman, 47, who lives in Medford, is the youngest son of a franchising family from the greater Boston area that operated The Village Apothecary pharmacies in Billerica and Wilmington for more than 30 years.

A 1994 graduate of the Matignon School in Cambridge, Lyman spent a decade in health insurance before forming his own agency.

He also holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and advertising from Emerson College and a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. He is a member of the Boston Ironsides, a team within the Mark Kendall Bingham International Rugby League.

Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Brightway Insurance was founded in 2008. It is one of the largest privately owned property/casualty insurance distribution companies in the United States.

Julianne Boyd and Anne Nemetz-Carlson will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires at the sixth annual Berkshire Nonprofit Awards on May 23.. Boyd is the founding artistic director of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, and Nemetz-Carlson was the longtime head of Childcare of the Berkshires in Williamstown. Both women retired last year.

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the accomplishments and dedication of the people who work in the nonprofit sector.

Other 2023 Berkshire Nonprofit Award-winners include: Board Leadership, Susan Crofut/Sandisfield Arts Center; Executive Leadership, Leigh Doherty/ Literacy Network; Rock Star, Tyeesha R. Keele-Kedroe/18 Degrees; Samya Rose Stumo Youth Leadership, Florence Afanukoe/Bridge; Unsung Hero, Sheila Dargie/ Berkshire Area Health Education Center; Volunteer, Shirley Edgerton/ROPE/Women of Color Giving Circle/Lift Ev’ry Voice Festival.

Berkshire Health Systems is partnering with the Berkshire Running Foundation to expand the annual Fourth of July road race in Pittsfield with an enhanced community health focus.

The 5K race, which has been held annually since 1985, takes place before the city’s Fourth of July Parade. The Berkshire Running Foundation, an extension of the Berkshire Running Center in Pittsfield, manages and directs running

BUSINESS UPDATES, Page 6

Preserving town’s second home’

West Stockbridge eatery hopes to reopen this month

By Jane K aufman

Heather Earle, owner of Joe’s Diner in Lee, has owned the iconic eatery for more than 10 years. “I do the work,” she said, explaining her continued success. “And I won’t ask my employees to do anything I wouldn’t do.”

By Scott Stafford The Berkshire Eagle

LEE — “One of the things you learn in the restaurant business is that you never change what works.”

That’s what Joe’s Diner owner Heather Earle says when asked why she keeps the Joe’s Diner name after owning the place for more than 10 years.

“Around here, that’s an iconic name,” she said.

When she bought the diner, Earle had been in the restaurant business for 15 years. She says she stayed in the business because she likes it.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’m good at what I do,” she said. “I’ve been doing it for 25 years. You learn different things over time, and I like the challenge.”

Not being one to watch from afar, Earle waits tables, works the counter, cooks, cleans and keeps the books, like a good owner should to foster a successful business.

This week, Earle, 51, is recovering from foot surgery, so she’s whipping around the restaurant on a one-legged scooter, kneeling on it with an elevated foot in a cast, with the other leg free to push the scooter. On a good day Joe’s Diner will serve 150 to 200 people. She doesn’t miss a beat.

“I’m not your typical girlie-girl,” she noted. “I do the work. And I won’t ask my employees to do anything I wouldn’t do. If you want to be successful, you step up to the plate and do what’s gotta get done.”

When she bought the place in January 2013, she kept a lot of the menu items and the décor. There were some changes to reflect the old-time diner era, but most of the wall decorations, daily specials and menu items are the same — as are many of the customers.

In fact, the regular customers are the ones who kept the place going during the pandemic by frequently ordering food to go, when other restaurants were not so lucky.

“It was a big deal that a lot of them came in during that time,” Earle said.

Business updates

FROM PAGE 5

Joe’s Diner opened in 1955, in a space that was once known as Happy’s Diner, by Joseph F. Sorrentino after he left the Army.

The Sorrentino family, including his wife and their seven children, and the other employees, served the workers from all three shifts of the Eagle Mill. The diner was open 24 hours each day.

But by the late 1980s, with the paper industry slowing, Joe’s Diner ended round-the-clock service and closed from midnight to 5 a.m.

In 2000, Sorrentino retired, selling the business to Joe and Pam Langlais.

Joe Langlais died in 2011. In 2013 Earle bought the place. Then Sorrentino died in 2020.

Through the years, the legacy diner has served thousands of customers from a half-dozen generations.

On Tuesday afternoon, friends Fred Lavigne and Jerry LePrevost stopped in for lunch, as they frequently do and have done for decades.

“It’s my second home,” Lavigne said, grinning.

Both of them were close to founder Joe Sorrentino.

“We were big golfing buddies,” LePrevost said. “He was a good friend and we miss him.”

They are well acquainted with the menu, which is part of the reason they keep returning.

“It’s got a diner feel and diner food,” Lavigne said. “What’s not to like?”

For Earle, Joe’s Diner is still a family affair. Her sister, Shelly Swindell, and her fiance, Sergio Fortes, work there, as do another six or so employees. Her son has been known to put in a few hours as well.

Due to a challenging labor market, the diner closes at 5 p.m., but Earle is seeking enough help to reopen for dinner during the summer.

“During the summer it’s crazy here,” she said.

“It’s never-ending.”

The diner seats 41, plus three tables of four out front in the summer.

And aside from day to day business, Earle still has an eye on the road ahead.

“My goal is to make it better, make it my own,” she said. “So I’m going to be here for a while.”

events throughout the Berkshires that raise funds for several organizations.

As the lead sponsor, BHS will support a free, six-week, in-person and online training program for runners who want to hone their skills. This program runs from May 28 to the day of the race, and participants will work with the trainers at Berkshire Running Center, as well as receive support from the wellness team at BHS.

The race will also have a special, new division — a corporate challenge. The goal is to have local businesses sponsor the race and have their own employees participate in a countywide challenge. There will be special mentions, promotions and events around the July 4 race to still be finalized and marketed. Race registration is underway. Information: director@ berkshirerun.org.

The Berkshire Bank Foundation has awarded Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts $20,000 to fund the Berkshire Bank STEM Academy

The program will accept up to 15 incoming first-year students enrolled in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engi-

WEST STOCKBRIDGE

— A pizza oven left on overnight Jan. 20 at Amici ignited a nearby wall causing smoke and water damage to the building’s first and second floors.

The fire caused extensive damage, but some of the building’s tenants are already back at work.

Amici, the casual Italian restaurant on the first floor at 5 Albany Road, is aiming for a late May reopening following the fire.

“Although the restaurant has been sort of the epicenter of this, no one could occupy the building for six weeks because of the damage done to the power,” said Karden Rabin, owner of the building.

He said the fire left significant damage to exterior walls but it also “impacted 75 percent of the circuit panels in my building for the second floor. … So we had … serious electrical repairs to do that took some time.”

Beginning in mid-February about half of the second-floor tenants were able to return, Rabin said. His insurance is helping with costs to the second floor and exterior, which he placed at about $150,000 to $200,000 as an initial estimate.

“It’s unfolding because we find more things as we go,” Rabin said. “What’s been frustrating is that you can only make something like this go so fast. What I’ve been grateful for so far is the tenants have been really patient. The insurance companies have been mostly cooperative. And, you know, I’m very lucky that here in the Berkshires, we have a lot of good tradesmen and contractors. They have been doing their best to show up and help out and get the building back together.”

Situated directly above the kitchen at Amici, Optimal Wellness, owned by Jake Corley, received the most damage. While restoration is ongoing, it is operating out of a different second-floor space.

Octavio Nallin, co-owner of Amici, said damage to the restaurant is still being calculated.

In the meantime, his insurance has been paying its 12 winter employees at Amici, which initially opened in April 2022.

Nallin said the restaurant will install a mechanism to prevent a fire of the sort that happened in January.

“We’re improving the system, so we’re going to have like a gas shutdown,” Nallin said, adding that whenever the kitchen is shut down the gas will be turned off.

He praised the work of firefighters for containing the fire to the pizza station, a small area within the 100-seat restaurant. “So the damage for us was really in a concentrated space.”

Nallin said he was hoping to reopen in March or April, but there were delays.

“We are shooting now for the end of May,” he said.

He said when the restaurant reopens, he and co-owner Bridget Cappo, will be looking to hire additional summer seasonal workers to staff the patio, which seats an additional 80 people.

“The culture that I tried to create at the restaurant is, we are a family,” Nallin said. “We spend more time at work than at our home. … This is just one way that I can show them that that’s true.”

neering, and Mathematics) major or who have expressed an interest in STEM fields. The residential, five-day academy program will run from July 23-27.

Developed to serve low-income and first-generation college students, students are selected based on their responses to surveys taken upon their acceptance to the college.There is additional programming planned throughout the year for the cohort.

The application deadline is July 1. To apply go to forms.office.com/r/X7e1LwD0SG.

The Rotary Club of Pittsfield raised more than $100,000 at its annual auction April 1 at Berkshire Hills Country Club.

Donations continue to come in for the newly established endowment for the Jeffrey Whitehouse/Paul Harris Scholarship for local students.

Over 200 supporters bid on the over $60,000 worth of goods and services donated to the auction. Those supporters bid in excess of $53,000, which will support the club’s community efforts including the Turkey Angels and many local food pantries.

Proceeds will also benefit Rotary-sponsored camperships to several local camps, including Gladys Allen Brigham, Mass Audubon, Berkshire Humane Society and Barrington Stage Company’s KidsAct!

Going forward, the club will be able to offer Paul Harris scholarships of higher denominations thanks to the endowment started in honor of long-serving Rotarian Jeffrey Whitehouse. The night of the auction, paddles raised $44,000, which was matched by an generous anonymous donor for the auction-night endowment total of $88,000.

The club continues to accept tax-deductible donations toward the new scholarship. They can be sent to The Pittsfield Rotary Club Foundation, P.O. Box 78, Pittsfield, MA 01202.

The city of North Adams and its Airport Commission are seeking a qualified applicant for a food service operation in Harriman-and-West Airport’s new administration/terminal building.

This food service operation will have the opportunity to serve the general public as well as the aviation community in space designed for that purpose in the new administration building. The space includes approximately 1,800 square feet of interior space, an 800-square-foot patio to the west of the building, and 325 square feet of office and storage space on the second floor.

The airport is owned and operated by the city of North Adams and the appointed Airport Commission. Information: keade@northadams-ma.gov, 413-672-0011.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT STAFFORD Fred Lavigne, left, and Jerry LePrevost have been eating at Joe’s Diner in Lee for decades. “It’s my second home,” Lavigne said.

GILLIAN JONES

Amici, a casual Italian restaurant in West Stockbridge, is aiming to open in late May following a January fire that caused extensive damage to its building at 5 Albany Road.

Mezze opening new eatery at Jiminy Peak

By Jane K aufman

HANCOCK — The former Powder Hounds Restaurant & Tavern at Jiminy Peak is about to undergo a transformation into an indoor-outdoor restaurant called Bluebird & Co.

Mezze Hospitality Group, co-owned by Nancy Thomas and Bo Peabody, bought the property for $950,000 on April 6 under the name 137 Fine Dining Inc., after the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission approved the liquor license transfer. The property includes more than 14 acres at 137 Brodie Mountain Road.

“We’re going to stay in our wheelhouse,” Thomas told The Eagle. “Starting with really good products from farms and good cooking-fromscratch techniques that will keep things familiar. But we might add a little twist, a little adventure, some ethnic, world flavor profiles.”

This is Mezze Hospitality Group‘s first venture since selling Allium in Great Barrington five years ago.

Thomas and Peabody said Bluebird & Co. will rely on local patrons, and that the restaurant will not just be based around tourism or skiers. The space is licensed as an 80-seat restaurant inside and about 60 outside. There will be fire pits in all seasons, burgers, steak frites and hot chocolate in winter. Other beverages will include cocktails, natural wines, spirit-free beverages and regional beers.

Thomas said Peabody encouraged her to take a look at

Powder Hounds after it went on the market.

“I fell in love with the site,” Thomas said. “I happened to go there last fall. And it was one of those magical fall days we had last year where the colors of the leaves were incredible. And the day was gorgeous. And the landscape was really outstanding. And I have been wanting to do a project with a

big outdoor space for a while.”

She said the restaurant, which they’re hoping to open in time for the summer solstice in late June, will have two outdoor areas — a more casual space near Bentley Brook, where there are hardwood trees, and a more formal patio near the restaurant where there will be “more waiter table service.”

It was during the COVID pandemic that Thomas began to think about an outdoor space. Their restaurant, Mezze at 777 Cold Spring Road in Williamstown, doesn’t have an ideal site because of its slope and its limited parking.

“An upshot of a pandemic, I think, for everyone was learning to be outside more, and I think the Berkshires in gen-

eral definitely is a place where people want to enjoy the landscape. It’s beautiful here,” she said.

Thomas said a chef and manager have been hired, but that they will be looking to hire a staff of 25 to 30 in May.

Once open, Thomas said she hopes the restaurant will have a clean, contemporary aesthetic. She said there may be programming, such as bands, games and outdoor activities.

Powder Hounds dates back to 1947 — then known as Hansons — and was started by the family of Frederick Kruger, who inherited the business in 1999 and reopened it as Powder Hounds, serving a core clientele of local condo owners from Bentley Brook and Vacation Village, according to a news release.

Peabody began ski racing at Jiminy Peak when he was 10, and continued to do so as a student at Williams College in the early 1990s. Over the years, he has gotten to know the Fairbanks family, who own the resort. He said he never expected to be in the hospitality business in the Berkshires, but since he has been, he’s been attracted to Jiminy Peak.

Peabody, who divides his time between New York City and Williamstown, said he’s looking forward to helping Jiminy Peak flourish.

“There are certain assets in northern Berkshire County that are just really, really important to keep and to sort of build and cherish, and I think Jiminy Peak is one of them.”

Parcel of Sweet Brook Farm preserved

By Sten Spinella

WILLIAMSTOWN — A local nonprofit has acquired 10 acres of agricultural land, preserving it specifically for farming so that it doesn’t become the site of a real estate development.

Williamstown Rural Lands in recent years had been seeking the land, part of Sweet Brook Farm that borders Woodcock and Oblong roads. The property belonged to the ex-wife of the farm’s co-owner, and she wouldn’t budge from the price offered by a developer, $745,000. Rural Lands matched it to complete the sale.

“She had a contract to sell about a year ago,” Rural Lands Executive Director Robin Sears said. “We said, ‘Let’s save this, take it out of the jaws, the clenches, of a developer.’ They would’ve put at least one, maybe two or three houses on that land. We wanted to keep it natural and keep it in farming.”

HISTORY AND PROCESS

The 10 acres had been in the Phelps family for at least a century before the divorce between Pete Phelps and Beth Phelps complicated matters. Sarah Lipinski, the Phelpses’ daughter, who runs Sweet Brook Farm with her husband Darryl Lipinski, said she and her father were resigned to losing access to the 10 acres, and that they figured her mother would eventually sell it.

Once a 10-year state grant that codified use of the land as agricultural ran out in 2021, Lipinski’s mother began receiving offers on the property from real

estate developers. With the purchase, Rural Lands will put the land out to bid, with it probably being leased to a local farmer. If multiple bids qualify, Rural Lands will choose the one whose plans are most harmonious with the group’s mission, Sears said.

Sarah Lipinski told The Eagle that Sweet Brook Farm plans to apply for the lease.

“We’re excited to hopefully pay the lease on that land,” she said, “to invest back into it and rebuild the soil there, grow better grass, and increase our herd with access to that land.”

Though their cows grazed on the land while it wasn’t being used, Lipinski said family members hadn’t been maintaining it because they thought they’d lose it.

“We thought it would be sold,” she said, “and people would buy houses there.”

A yearslong effort for private donations amassed enough money to buy the property.

Along with Rural Lands, the town’s Select Board, Berkshire Natural Resources Council and others helped to raise the money or remove barriers to the sale.

Because of its special tax status for agricultural acreage, the town had the first right of refusal, meaning it could buy with an offer of $745,000. In 2022, Rural Lands successfully lobbied to acquire the town’s right of first refusal.

The Trustees of Reservations, a Massachusetts conservation organization, has agreed to buy the development rights for the

property from Rural Lands, and will then place a farming conservation restriction on the land.

COVETED GROUND

Sears said she loves the land.

“It has a stunning view of Mount Greylock, it looks out across the farms, it’s a beautiful open space, with a stream and maple trees, and it’s on a dirt road with a lot of road frontage,” Sears said. Sears said Rural Lands had a previous appraisal of the real estate value of the land at about $100,000 less than the eventual price. Sarah Lipinski said the agricultural value of the land is still much less than that.

“My dad and Rural Lands paid for an appraisal on that parcel,” She said said. “The agricultural value of that 10 acres is $15,000. That’s what a farmer should pay for that land to raise crops on it. So how can a farm ever compete with a developer willing to spend $745,000? Every farm in the country would be shut down.”

Although the group has now bought only six properties, it owns a total of 19 through private donations. Conserving farmland is not its only priority, though it is one of them.

“Part of our mission is to preserve farmland so that farmers can keep farming,” Sears said. “If there’s imminent risk to the property, if there’s a threat of development, we’re also happy to preserve it.”

Sarah Gardner, a professor of environmental studies at Williams College and the chair of

Williamstown’s Agricultural Commission, said the trend of developing farmland for real estate is a local threat.

“If we want to have farms in Williamstown five or 10 years from now, it’s critical to protect the farmland in town,” Gardner said in a news release announcing the purchase. “Farms can’t compete with homebuyers in the real estate market. There are about 12 farms left in Williamstown, but half are not expected to be in business 10 years out. Most farmers here are in their 60s or 70s, and many lack a successor.”

More than 80 percent of Berkshire County’s farmland is not permanently protected, according to agricultural organization American Farmland Trust.

That organization also found Massachusetts has the second-highest real estate values for farms in the country, and could lose 74,000 acres of farmland by 2040.

Rural Lands said that the 10acre plot protects an important section of Sweet Brook and connecting water systems, while also preserving the pasture, a sugarbush, and a habitat for birds.

“This land has been farmed by my family for eight generations now, I have kids who I hope will be the ninth generation,” Lipinski said. “I wanted Rural Lands to know how committed my husband and I are to continuing this legacy of agriculture in south Williamstown.”

PHOTO PROVIDED

Nancy Thomas stands with Frederick Kruger, former owner of the Powder Hounds restaurant. Mezze Hospitality Group, co-owned by Thomas and Bo Peabody, bought the property in April and plans to open a new restaurant there in June.

GILLIAN JONES

A part of a 10-acre parcel of land on Sweet Brook Farm in South Williamstown which borders Oblong and Woodcock roads was just purchased by the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation in an effort to preserve local farmland.

Hospitality industry feeling hiring crunch

As visitors flock to county, hospitality industry struggles to attract workers

By ClarenCe Fanto

With peak tourism season just around the corner, Liliana Arteaga-Tucker is racing to more than triple her staff of four at Shots Cafe in Lenox.

Most years that wouldn’t be a problem. But the pandemic changed everything.

Young applicants from New York and Boston who had moved here during the pandemic returned to the cities after the worst was over, no longer making it possible for the cafe to remain open until 9 p.m. Since then, she’s been forced to cut back to five days a week.

Currently, she only has two employees besides herself and her husband, Matthew Tucker, to help run the Housatonic Street cafe offering indoor and outdoor seating.

Arteaga-Tucker is not alone — many in Berkshire County’s hospitality cultural industry are feeling the pinch of the workforce shortage.

Hiring challenges stemming from the pandemic have been intensified by a lack of seasonal housing options, said Jonathan Butler, president/CEO of the 1Berkshire regional economic development agency. Another factor is that some young workers are seeking jobs that more closely align with their longterm career goals.

“The Berkshires continues to play catch-up with returning to pre-2020 numbers of workforce traveling here legally with work visas,” Butler said.

“Also, we are facing our own local version of the ‘great resignation’ that no region seems to fully understand.”

On top of all that, he added, “We’re in a hiring economy with almost every sector currently competing for workforce, placing greater pressure on hospitality than was felt prior to the pandemic.”

The high school and college

students who traditionally compete for seasonal jobs at restaurants, inns and shops have been relatively scarce so far. And those in the job market are often seeking hourly pay rates of $20 or more.

That’s the consensus in Lenox and some other towns, especially in South Berkshire, where many restaurants are still on limited days and hours until they can hire enough people.

“Hiring is a challenge across all our business groups — and it isn’t limited to one industry,” said Max Scherff, vice president of hospitality operations at Mill Town Capital based in Pittsfield.

Mill Town’s hospitality industry holdings include Bousquet Mountain, as well as two restaurants, the Central Downtown Inn & Suites in Pittsfield and Gateways Inn & Restaurant in Lenox.

One prominent Lenox restaurateur, Whitney Ash-

er, acknowledged that he has not yet set expanded days and hours for the summer season at his popular Brava and Ombra wine and tapas bars.

Describing hospitality industry hiring as always tough in the Berkshires, Asher — who is also president of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce — said that “you can find some great people with minimal experience, and a few quality people with lots of experience, but there are just not a lot of them out looking at any one time.”

Bottom line: For one opening, out of 10 candidates, one might make it through training to a regular shift. “We’ve had a little more success with wordof-mouth recruiting,” Asher said, “but it’s really just hard.”

At Shakespeare & Company Positions such as tech director, sound supervisor and sound engineers are the hardest to fill, according to Artistic Direc-

tor Allyn Burrows.

“We have a lot to offer, but there’s a really high demand,” he said.

The theater troupe offers competitive pay, he added, and the company does its best to fill applicants’ salary requirements. But the organization has a budget and often the limits don’t match the marketplace.

At Loeb’s Foodtown in Lenox, summer work is often considered a rite of passage for students, said co-owner Bernie Fallon. He puts in up to 85 hours a week, seven days, at the store. The market aims to employ up to 24 people in the summer, four more than in the winter.

He welcomed the idea of the job fair, noting that the full-service market already has a year-round core of full- and part-time employees from Lenox and Lee who also pass the word to family members and acquaintances that seasonal jobs are available.

“Our hope is to add similar positive personalities for cashiers, stocking and for the deli,” he said.

BUCKING THE TREND

Some hospitality businesses said they aren’t feeling the effects of the seasonal labor shortage.

The 1896 House Inn & Country Lodgings on Cold Spring Road in Williamstown typically triples its staff for the summer and fall. Hiring more people for maintenance, to staff the front desk and do housekeeping has been going smoothly for him so far.

Hiring in general has been more challenging over the past few years, said Josh Oring, the inn’s manager, but recently it has felt less difficult. Soon, the ‘6, as it’s called locally, will ramp up hiring for the upcoming season.

“Maybe that’s where we will run into trouble,” he said.

Jim Cervone, co-owner of

Crust and Ayelada, a pizzeria and frozen yogurt shop respectively in Pittsfield, said that his businesses had a pretty consistent group of students who worked year-round. They might pick up a few extra shifts in the summer after they’re done playing lacrosse, baseball or softball, but generally the stores have the help they need.

As a frozen yogurt shop, Ayelada requires more help during the summer, Cervone said, but generally it isn’t a strain. He feels fortunate that’s the case.

He noted that other communities such as Lenox, Stockbridge and Great Barrington typically face more challenges than Pittsfield.

Year-round vs. seasonal staff

Some business owners rely heavily on year-round staff, which makes them less vulnerable to the difficulties with seasons hiring.

Jason Macioge, owner of Bistro Zinc, opened in 1999, and Betty’s Pizza Shack, since 2002, is one of them. He plans to hire several more part-time hosts and bus people, mostly college students returning from last summer.

During the pandemic Macioge paid the staff out of his own pocket. “When we were able to reopen at limited capacity, I still employed everyone at their full-time hours and it was quite costly to me personally,” he said. “I felt I was obliged to do so. People can’t live off of limited unemployment wages.”

Back at full capacity, still keeping his staff employed full-time even in the off-season, Macioge acknowledged that “it is quite costly to do so.

“But when summer rolls around I don’t have to scramble and try to hire and train new people. It is well worth the extra costs of keeping everyone on at full-time hours.”

Reporters Greta Jochem and Matt Martinez contributed to this story.

BEN GARVER

Sebastian Flores, 23, works on custom orders at Shots Cafe in Lenox. The cafe is struggling to find enough workers for the upcoming season.

BEN GARVER

Help wanted signs adorn the entrance of Shots Cafe in Lenox, as does a sign the reflects the limited hours of operation. Shots previously had been open until 9 p.m.

Reprieve for Undermountain Farm

By ClarenCe Fan T o

LENOX

— On the verge of possible foreclosure and subdivision, the historic Undermountain Farm and Equestrian Center has gotten a reprieve — although not a guarantee.

The Sprague Family Trust, owner of the 120-year-old farm with widely admired views overlooking Parsons Marsh, has transferred the property to the HomeFarm at Undermountain, a nonprofit formed in 2021.

The transaction for the site at 400 Undermountain Road was recorded last week at the Berkshire Middle District Registry of Deeds. It was a gift, not a sale, according to the document signed by Tjasa Sprague — thus, no payment was recorded.

Sprague said she hopes to remain involved in restoring the historic farm buildings, where 23 horses are stabled.

The 10-acre center of equestrian facilities and historic farming structures includes stables, a large, covered indoor arena, grazing pastures and riding trails. It’s surrounded by 150 acres of pasture, forest and hayfields.

“The town could have taken the farm from me, but somehow they didn’t,” she said. “The farm is kind of the keystone for all that protected land on Undermountain Road, hundreds of acres.”

Sprague said she is applying to put the farm on the National Register of Historic Places, with support from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

In its mission statement, HomeFarm at Undermountain, a 501©3 nonprofit, states that it teaches “recreational horsemanship and equine husbandry,” and provides therapeutic equine-assisted programs to children and adults. The equestrian center offers lessons, boarding and pony rides. It does not offer trail-riding to the public.

Although the entire property is 158 acres, the gift does not include 61 acres transferred to the Berkshire Natural Resources Council in 2017. The BNRC has held a conservation restriction on that portion of the land since 2016, when it paid $450,000 to the Sprague Family Trust, owner of the site since 1974.

Because of delinquent property taxes and debt service, the farm was in imminent danger of foreclosure, HomeFarm interim Chair Gary Knisely confirmed.

Knisely said the property had been shown to potential developers and told The Eagle he’s hoping to raise about $1 million. That funding could come from preservation-minded community members and government programs in order to cover debt and unpaid taxes, and then lay the groundwork to catch up on deferred maintenance and pursue further restoration of the property. So far, the nonprofit has raised about $150,000, Knisely said, adding he is confident the community will rally behind the farm.

Greylock moving into a larger branch in Lee

By Tony DoBrowolski

PITTSFIELD — Greylock Federal Credit Union has 14 branches, but none have grown as fast as the one in Lee.

Membership has doubled in Lee during the past decade, and because of that Greylock has outgrown its branch at 47 Main St.

So Greylock is moving a short distance to a roomier building at 43 Park St.

The county’s largest credit union is spending $2.2 million to purchase and renovate its new address, which most recently was a branch office for New York state-based Trustco Bank. Greylock paid $950,000 to purchase the building from its previous owner, a limited liability company from West Springfield that had owned the property since 2004 and began leasing it to Trustco in 2007. Before it was a bank, it was a doughnut shop.

The sale closed Jan. 30, according to documents filed at the Middle Berkshire Registry of Deeds. The building is scheduled to reopen as a full-service branch in late 2023. The current branch will stay open until then.

“What we need right now is to see 40 [percent] to 50 percent of the total raised in the next several months so we can start fixing the fences and stabilize the buildings,” Knisely said. “Money is needed to begin to show what this place can look like.”

Unpaid local property taxes covering the years 2019 through 2023 total nearly $120,000, according to town records, as well as close to $8,000 in unpaid sewer and water fees. The nonprofit also has a $150,000 mortgage to pay off.

Knisely pointed out that without the gift from the Sprague Family Trust and the formation of the nonprofit, “the likely result was fated to be a public auction and subsequent housing development on the property zoned for five new homes.”

“What scared us is that the property was already zoned for homes, and I don’t think there would have been any way to stop it,” he said.

Even with the gift, Knisely said, the property might be developed.

“It does, though, give us sufficient breathing room to totally protect this great asset, if we can pay off the debt and the taxes. Then, if we can raise the $1 million, we can stabilize and move on to restoration.”

A three-year payment plan for the real estate taxes is being worked out, HomeFarm Executive Director Lori Pestana stated in a letter to the Board of Assessors. The sewer and water fees would be paid off by the end of this month.

“It is the intention of HomeFarm at Undermountain to not only save this historic property from the threat of foreclosure and development but also to repair and restore the buildings and land from years of neglect,” Pestana wrote.

“This important source of pleasure to the neighbors, townspeople and visitors was very close to being

history — only enjoyed by perusing photo books in the Lenox Library,” Knisely wrote in an email to some community members.

He credited “the generous gift” to the nonprofit from Tjasa Sprague, who is now stepping back from a leadership role to become one of the board directors for HomeFarm at Undermountain.

Pestana and Danica Keena will continue to manage and operate the farm and equestrian center, supervised by the board of directors, which will be expanded to nine members. Knisely wrote that he would remain as interim chair “until an established community leader assumes that role.”

Knisely said he is seeking recommendations to fill out the board. After names of potential members are gathered, recruitment and selection will follow. Then the board will appoint its chair.

The nonprofit is actively seeking donations.

“We look forward to the near future when HomeFarm will be a great community resource for community health, land conservation, historical preservation, and the arts,” Knisely said.

Nearby resident Jonas Dovydenas welcomed the nonprofit’s plans, saying he’s glad to see a scenic piece of Lenox protected along the byway to Tanglewood from Cliffwood Street through Undermountain Road.

“It’s all good, but it’s hard to raise money for all that,” he said, adding he has offered to join the board of directors for HomeFarm at Undermountain. “It’s an important piece of property that should be preserved properly, and I think a horse farm is the right way to go.”

“It’s much more accessible,” Greylock’s President and CEO John Bissell said. “It’s still in the center of Lee. We wanted a drive-in window, and it already had one in it. We also wanted a branch that could be accessible by foot and by car and that allows for community meeting space.”

Greylock’s branch on Main Street has no drive-in window and only 900 square feet. The new branch is more 2,465-square feet.

“In our old space we could only fit about five employees,” Bissell said. “The new one can have eight to 10 employees as well as a meeting room that can accommodate up to 12 people.”

Greylock has operated a branch in Lee since 1998.

“It was an historic branch that was relatively useful for transactions,” Bissell said, “but for building relationships, we need more space.”

The community room will be used partly for Greylock’s financial-literacy programs, which the credit union started several years ago to provide services to members who live in low-income areas that have traditionally been underserved by financial institutions.

Greylock’s $4.5 million renovation of its branch on Kellogg Street in Pittsfield’s Morningside neighborhood in 2019 included the establishment of a community-empowerment center.

Bissell said the community space in the new Lee branch is being created “in the same spirit” as the one on Kellogg Street but “it won’t be as large.” It will be more similar to the space that Greylock provides for those services at its branch in Hudson, N.Y.

“We’ve seen how successful those locations are as a hub for financial education and community engagement,” he said.

Deposits in Lee have also grown faster for Greylock than at any other branch, Bissell said, having increased by $16 million between June 2020 and June 2022, according to figures supplied by the credit union.

“Our model is really based around financial inclusion,” Bissell said. “Around the county, especially in Lee, we’ve worked to be engaging to the immigrant community. That’s a big part of our growth in many locations, especially in Lee.”

Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@ berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224.

Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@ yahoo.com.

BEN GARVER

Undermountain Farm in Lenox, which was on the verge of foreclosure, has been transferred from a trust.

Pittsfield’s transformation specialists

Julie Copolous and her team are trying to revitalize North Street through the TDI program

By L iam G orman

PITTSFIELD — “Brooklyn of the Berkshires.”

That’s how the Financial Times referred to Pittsfield in 2010.

That was when the city was first beginning to explore the development of the commercial corridor along downtown North Street. Back then, The Financial Times saw Pittsfield as an example of how post-industrial cities can bounce back from economic decline.

A lot has changed in the past 13 years. Downtown Pittsfield has gone through several ups and downs. Some of the small businesses that were originally attracted to Pittsfield by North Street’s potential didn’t last and others failed to pan out. Several vacant storefronts now pockmark the landscape post-COVID.

There have been some recent bright spots — the buzz surrounding the opening of Hot Plate Brewery and the coming expansion of Dottie’s Coffee Lounge are two. Yes, there are fewer businesses on North Street than there were before, but the planning to continue to revitalize the area hasn’t stopped.

Helping to heal some of these post-pandemic wounds is a Mass Development program, known as the Transformative Development Initiative, or TDI, which is available to the state’s 26 Gateway Cities, whose westernmost outpost is Pittsfield. The TDI program has three goals: to stimulate business; drive economic growth; and help communities thrive across the state. It is designed to “accelerate economic growth within focused districts.”

This the second TDI program that has been located in Pittsfield. A similar initiative took place in the Tyler Street area from 2017 to 2019. The current program is designated for the area of downtown Pittsfield located between Dottie’s on the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue to just south of Park Square, according to Julie Copoulos, the current TDI Fellow who has been assigned to Pittsfield.

“North Street has a plethora of incredible community minded entrepreneurs and business owners,” Copoulos said.

In her role as the Pittsfield fellow, Copoulos is the TDI’s on-the-ground point person. She not only helps entrepreneurs navigate the financial opportunities brought by the TDI, she is also helping coordinate the collaboration between businesses and local partners who have a stake in seeing Pittsfield thrive.

“I think often we think of planning as taking place only in City Hall,” Copoulos said, “but TDI is really effective in building this planning from the ground up and engaging residents and community members in it.”

Copoulos started her three-year stint in Pittsfield last fall. She immediately made an impression with the Halloween event, “It’s Alive”. Partly funded by a TDI “Quick Win” grant, the idea was to give people a reason to celebrate the district.

“That event brought over 1,000 people to North Street. That in and of itself is a success,” Copoulos said. “I also think that event was an excellent proof of concept that people are willing to engage with the street.”

FORMER ENTREPRENEUR

Copoulos brings real world experience and expertise to her position as Pittsfield’s TDI Fellow. She knows the ins and outs of small business, having previously run her own enterprise, Small Oven Bakery in Easthampton.

“I think just having the base understanding of the challenges that go along with being an entrepreneur and having a business and trying to balance operations

with business growth, I can come in as a TDI fellow and offer support in some of the growth and strategy channels that businesses who are in the day-to-day operations can’t necessarily see,” she said.

Copolous was also familiar with the TDI program having seen its effects first hand when she served as executive director of the chamber of commerce in Chicopee, which is also a Gateway City.

“My work at the chamber overlapped with a TDI district in Chicopee Center,” Copoulos said. “We were able to accomplish a number of goals including moving properties that had been stuck, including activating vacant spaces. One project in particular that I’m very proud of was a former gas station that we turned into a food truck park.”

While a food truck park might be a very public-facing accomplishment, it’s the behind-the-scenes work with stakeholders in the community that can make TDI a success.

“This is all very partnership driven,” said Copoulos, who meets with the Pittsfield partnership group once a month. “Over the next three years, we’re working to advance community engagement. We want to support small business, arts and culture and real estate development, improve space activation, improve how North Street feels as a pedestrian when you walk up and down it.”

The Pittsfield partnership group includes Allegrone Real Estate Group, Berkshire Bank, the Berkshire Family YMCA and local organizations like the Berkshire Black Economic Council and Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Together, these entities recently launched the Vibe North Street grant program, which is funded by TDI. The grant program offers businesses the opportunity to receive between $7.500 and $25,000 in local TDI funds to help cover the costs of relocating to vacant storefronts along the North Street corridor..

“The potential is to activate between four to six commercial storefronts in our downtown through capital assistance to attract new businesses,” said BBEC President A.J. Enchill. He sees the grant program as an opportunity to revive North Street in time for the summer.

“If the stars align, it should work that during our peak tourist months, we can inspire visitors and residents that visit downtown to see the Pittsfield we’ve all envisioned it to be,” he said.

A recent informational session for Vibe North Street attracted nearly a dozen entrepreneurs including Ashley Mendonca. She and business partner Neil Davis are planning to take over the space on North

Street that formerly hosed Maria’s European Delights, a Eastern European deli that closed at the end of last year. The small storefront housed a fitness facility before it was a deli.

Davis runs another small business, So Cal Shred, that is located above Maria’s. When Davis and Mendonca heard Maria’s was closing they saw an opportunity.

“We plan to open an eatery with quick accessible food items at the front and in the back have an area to sit down,” said Mendonca, who has a background in food services and holds a degree in culinary arts and hospitality from Berkshire Community College. “Our priority is a salad bar because that would be big for

BEN GARVER

The leaders of Pittsfield’s Transformative Development Initiative that is working on revitalizing North Street’s commercial district. From left, Huck Elling, Kim Clancy, Erica Barreto, Jessica Rumlow, Julie Copoulos, Nick Russo, and Rebecca Brien.

The Berkshire’s center of online fulfillment

David Crane owns Excelsior Integrated, the local version of Amazon

By John Townes

LEE — If you’ve ever ordered a product online, even if it was from Amazon or an overseas company, it’s possible that item may have passed through the Berkshires.

There’s a chance that product was actually stored and shipped from the 110,000 square foot headquarters and distribution center that Excelsior Integrated operates in Lee.

Excelsior Integrated utilizes a mix of sophisticated technology and hands-on labor to manage and store inventory, process and pack orders, and handle the logistics of shipping, tracking and delivering products. It provides an array of services for manufacturers, product marketers, e-commerce sites, brick-and-mortar stores, and other clients. It also helps clients operate in this is rapid-paced environment to ensure their products reach consumers in the most cost-effective, timely and accurate way possible.

“It’s a complex business, but basically, our clients provide us with their products, and we store them and dole them out to their customers,” said David Crane, the owner and CEO of Excelsior Integrated, who operates the company with son and business partner, Chris.

The company is headquartered in the former Country Curtains warehouse at 705 Pleasant St. (Route 102) in Lee, but Excelsior Integrated also operates a distribution facility in Fresno, Calif. That facility ships orders to locations in the western United States.

“Having a presence on the West Coast is an advantage for larger clients because it reduces the distance products have to be shipped to customers there,” Crane said.

Excelsior Integrated currently has about 70 clients, which range from small start-ups to established companies, Crane said. They include companies throughout the United States and overseas.

These companies either make products themselves, contract out the manufacturing of items, or market the products of other businesses. Some clients sell products directly to consumers through their own online stores or mail-order operations. They may also market and sell their products through Amazon, Wal Mart or other online retailers. Excelsior also collaborates with companies that wholesale their products to brick-andmortar stores.

Crane declined to identify his clients, but said their products include a mixture of high-value items, technology, and consumer products for a variety of markets. Specific items have included fine art, 3D Printers, smart notebooks, gift cards, bicycles, camera equipment, dried flowers, and medical devices. The businesses range from start-ups to established firms. The majority of Excelsior Integrated’s clients are small or mid-sized businesses.

Excelsior begins working with businesses that are in the early stages of developing products, who are testing and launching campaigns on crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter. These relationships continue as Excelsior’s clients scale up and grow.

“It’s fun working with new companies,” said Crane. “They have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and it’s very satisfying helping them get started and grow.”

Each client will have between 40 and 200 products on site at Excelsior at any given time, Crane said. The average volume of orders shipped for individual clients daily can range from 20 up to 1,000. Volume varies based on circumstances within each company and seasonal fluctuations.

Excelsior Integrated’s operation has many facets, including sophisticated systems for the business aspects of or-

der fulfillment, and a staff that handles the labor-intensive job of packing and shipping.

“The company has always been strong on the technology side, and we use IT extensively to automate business processes,” he said. “At the same time, we don’t use robots to pack and ship orders. That’s very hands-on.”

The company has 35 permanent employees in Lee and 10 in Fresno. Temporary employees are brought in during busy periods.

“We have a great core staff,” said Crane. “It’s like a family.”

DEEP BERKSHIRE ROOTS

Excelsior Integrated has existed in its current incarnation since 2005. It grew out of three companies — Crane & Co., now known as Crane Currency, Excelsior Printing, and Berkshire Information Management.

Excelsior Printing was founded as a print shop in the late 19th century in North Adams. At its peak it was a major operation in that city. In 1967, it was acquired by Crane & Co., the large paper company founded in Dalton which has supplied currency paper to the U.S. government since 1879. David Crane is a member of the Crane family that founded the original Crane & Co. in 1801. Now headquartered in Boston, Crane’s currency operations were sold to a Connecticut-based firm for $800 million in 2018.

Crane & Co. had also operated a stationery division based in North Adams which it sold to its employees in 2015. Ten years earlier, David Crane had purchased Excelsior Printing from the Crane family and established it as an independent business. He bought Excelsior Printing as the demand for printed materials was beginning to decline, while digital and online communications and services were on the rise.

In response to this trend, Excelsior began to focus more on order-fulfillment and digital services. It formed a working relationship with Berkshire Information Systems, a provider of fulfillment, mailing, inventory management and

David Crane is the co-owner and CEO of Excelsior Integrated in Lee. His business, located in the cavernous former Country Curtains warehouse complex in Lee, serves as a fulfillment center for numerous online merchants.

Cannabis

FROM PAGE 1

“Today is very different from when we first opened up our doors in Great Barrington,” said Tom Winstanley, chief marketing director for Theory Wellness in Great Barrington.

“Obviously, being close to the New York border — that had a wide range of advantages in terms of traffic,” Winstanley said. “For a few years we saw a really large demand in a marketplace that had a supply that was not meeting demand. And so we have had a great, wonderful start into the rec market with the Great Barrington store.”

Brendan McKee, co-founder of Silver Therapeutics, which has a dispensary in Williamstown, opened in 2019.

“I think there are obviously pockets of saturation across Massachusetts,” he said. He added that “the first closure of an adult retail actually occurred in Northampton three or four months ago. So I think there is a market correction going on in several ways And then areas with several retail stores are competing

with one

another in more of an intense way relative to the pricing.”

Berkshire County, in fact, has a relatively high number of cannabis licenses, rivaling those of counties with much larger populations, according to figures posted by the state Cannabis Control Commission.

The figures for April show there were

110 licenses in the Berkshires, including 38 retail operations. That compares to

137 in Hampden County with 35 retail; 74 in Hampshire County, 32 retail; and 151 in Middlesex County, 72 retail. The total number of licenses in the Berkshires increased by four from March, including one for an additional retail operation.

Berkshire cannabis facilities have experienced a lot since they began operating in the state. The Berkshire Business Journal spoke to four of them and this is what they said:

BLOOM BROTHERS

Girard said the emerging cannabis industry in the county was strong enough to play a significant role in the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I find that cannabis has created a kind

of hyper-tourism market for the Berkshires at a time when the Berkshires really needed it most,” Girard said, at a time when “a lot of businesses, like hotels, restaurants, were shuttering.”

Dealing with state-imposed pandemic restrictions also led to a greater focus on personalized customer service.

“That resulted in, I think, a much better customer experience,” he said.”

Other than the tourism advantage, Girard said the county benefits from the lower cost of real estate here, compared to large urban areas.

“(An urban area) is probably so unattainable that I as an operator have to look at my options,” he said.

Girard was involved in real estate in the Berkshires when the state legalized cannabis and had a commercial site available in Pittsfield. Cannabis operators from other states soon began calling him about his property, which was in the right zoning location for a cannabis operation, because they wanted to partner with him.

They “were throwing around ludicrous dollar amounts,” he said. “I mean ludicrous amounts.”

Girard said he thought, “I should look

into that as a way to benefit his family and create jobs in the Berkshires.”

Operating Bloom Brothers with his brothers Nick and Ben, and his wife, Mig Girard, he said the company only has a retail store, adding, “That’s what we do best ... We’re more like a concierge-based business, which is why I feel we have connected so well with our customers.”

New Yorkers have made up a large percentage of his customer base but are beginning to peel away, he said.

“At what point do they stop driving here even if ((there is) wider selection and price,” he said. “We are still registering new customers but also losing customers to other states.”

“I would definitely not open another location in the Berkshires, personally,” Girard said of the current market. “I feel the people who are now just opening, they are going to struggle.”

CANNA PROVISIONS

“Cannabis is still a really young industry so it’s not so predictable, I guess,” said Sanders, CEO and co-owner with Williams at Canna Provisions.

The MassHire Berkshire Work force Board thanks Maddie of Lenox Memorial Middle/High School for her work as a student intern!

Here’s what she has to say about her experience and interests:

I am currently a sophomore at Lenox Memorial High School. While I plan on attending college I still have no idea what I want to do with the nex t chapters of my life The Berkshire Work force Board has provided me with the oppor tunit y to explore many different career paths that has allowed me to get one step closer to figuring this out I love to be creative and tr y new things. Interning with the Berkshire Work force Board has given me ample oppor tunities to do just that Usually my days are filled with writing long essays or solving out complex math equations but through this internship I have been able to see where my creativit y takes me My favorite par t of the job so far has been designing new posters and revising old ones. It’s prett y cool to watch this idea in my head come alive and then be used to help others.”

Thank you Maddie!!

SCOTT STAFFORD

Brendan McKee, the co-founder of Silver Therapeutics in Williamstown, opened the first retail marijuana store in Northern Berkshire four years ago. The recent closure of a cannabis store in Northampton has led McKee to believe the local market is changing.

CANNIBIS, Page 13

That makes it difficult to predict what will happen over the next few years, but she said one thing is obvious today.

“There is massive oversupply; there are too many dispensaries,” she said. “it’s just not good. The pie stays the same size.”

In the Berkshires, she said, “Pittsfield has a ton of dispensaries, Great Barrington has a ton of dispensaries. So those are all learning lessons for municipalities that think it’s just like alcohol, that if we have 20 liquor licenses it’s all going to be great, but it is really very different [with cannabis].”

She said the “real challenge is that this isn’t just business as usual because we are federally illegal still. And we have an exorbitant tax rate because we can’t deduct business expenses because of [current federal law]. I can’t deduct marketing. I can’t deduct payroll. It is really, really challenging. I can’t do what a normal liquor store would have in deductions.

“I think only a third of cannabis companies nationally are profitable,” she added.

“Ultimately, I think there is going to be consolidation,” she said. “I think there is going to be probably a stabilization after 2023, but I think ’23 is going to be a tough year for everyone in cannabis. I I think this is going to be the washout year.”

Speaking of neighboring states, Sanders said legalization there is not a negative for the local industry, as some might believe, but “one of the best things we’ve seen.” It creates more potential customers who could come to the Berkshires as tourists or day visitors, she said.

Canna Provisions also is “in active talks with several stores in Massachusetts,” Sanders added, looking for the right partner, while “building up our wholesale to a full suite of products.”

Sanders said they would like to acquire another store in a desirable location, adding, “We wouldn’t start from scratch today in this market.”

Taxes, take “way too much money,” Sanders said, “and I think as other states come online we will have to watch that very carefully to make sure that we are not penalizing so much that people find it attractive to go elsewhere to avoid the tax.”

The chance of legalization on the federal level looks bleak given the make-up of Congress, she said.

“I’m really hoping that we can have a lot more forward thinking about cannabis,” Sanders said. “Realize that the sky has not fallen; we’ve added a ton of

jobs here in Massachusetts. We have added a whole industry that has created a ton of opportunity for people.”

THEORY WELLNESS

“Today is very different from when we first opened up our doors in Great Barrington,” Winstanley said.

Theory opened a medical dispensary in 2017 and a recreational cannabis store in 2019.

“Obviously, being close to the New York border, that had a wide range of advantages in terms of traffic,” he said. “And so we’ve had a great, wonderful start into the rec (recreational) market with the Great Barrington store.

“And now when you take a step back, one of the things you hear is that there are dispensaries everywhere, and that is to some extent very true,” Winstanley said. “The market has adapted and normalized to some extent to demand.”

He added that “the landscape is very different; there is a lot of product in the state, a lot of retail and a lot of competition in the state, and really that is a benefit for all consumers.”

For a time, some thought the industry was “just printing money,” he said. But now operators are “getting to the point of thinking this industry is just as hard as it was on day one.”

As a company, he said, “We are constantly re-evaluating where we are in the marketplace.”

Theory Wellness also has fa-

cilities in other states, including a store in Brattleboro, Vt. and dispensaries in Maine. The firm is close to opening a dispensary in Medford, outside Boston. and is building medical dispensaries in Ohio and New Jersey.

“We have a lot of irons in the fire, and a lot of that was created from the success we found in Massachusetts,” Winstanley said. “We have re-invested a lot of the capital generated.”

Federal legalization would solve a lot of banking-related issues the industry faces, Winstanley said, but probably not with a “one silver bullet reform ... I think see smaller progressive steps before that happens.”

Theory isn’t worried about new and larger markets opening in other states.

“(It) is continuing the path of adoption and normalization of cannabis and cannabis operations,” he said. “That to us is a net positive.”

SILVER THERAPEUTICS

McKee also cited customer service and employee satisfaction as keys for thriving in the cannabis business.

“We still have a bunch of the original team members in Williamstown,” he said. “So it has been a wild ride but it has been wonderful. We certainly see changes as well.”

Ultimately, oversupply “can drive down profitability,” McKee said. “I guess it is not unique because it has happened in other states, but it is happening in Massachusetts at this point in time. In terms of Silver Therapeutics, we are well positioned. We have a shop in Vermont and a lot of our customers are from Vermont.”

McKee lives in Washington, Vt. while regional manager Brian Mullaney resides in Shaftsbury. That made opening a dispensary in Bennington this year, “a natural for us,” McKee said.

“I think we have built a lot of loyalty, and I think that is a credit to the incredible [staff members] that we have,” he said. “I would have to say that our expectations have been exceeded, which is great and it is, again, a testament to the culture and the loyalty we have built in Williamstown.”

Silver Therapeutics also has a cultivation facility and dispensaries in Maine, while a craft growing facility is under construction in Boston.

“We know legalization and adult use in New York will impact our sales,” he said. “That being said, I think there is a product manufacturing that needs to occur that is still going to be several years before that can compete with Massachusetts for the quality of products and variety, and quite frankly cost.”

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Ben, Nate and Nick Girard, from left, run Bloom Brothers, a retail cannabis store in Pittsfield.

BEN GARVER

Meg Sanders, the CEO of Canna Provisions in Lee, said she sees consolidation coming to the cannabis market. “I think only a third of cannabis companies nationally are profitable,” she said.

Pittsfield because no one else does that here.

“When we met with Maria about buying the business, we thought we could really turn this into something,” she said. “Since Maria occupied the location for so long, there are some structural things that need to be taken care of before we open.”

Having worked with Copolulos on a previous revitalization grant, Mendonca sees her as an asset to the community.

“Julie has been such a tremendous resource. Any questions, at any time, she’s answered. We really appreciate her help.”

Mendonca and Davis are able to finance much of the renovation project on their

own, but believe that access to funding from the TDI is crucial. They are hoping to open this month.

“The grant would really get us over the top,” she said. “We have invested a little of our own savings, but being a small business we didn’t want to borrow more than we could afford.”

DPI, an organization of downtown Pittsfield merchants, views the TDI initiative as a huge boost for North Street.

“The opportunity for the downtown to have access to funding, is so key to revitalization,” managing director Rebecca Brien said. “One of the things that Julie and Mass Development has allowed for us to do is take all of those ‘what if’ questions up. What if we had the money? What if we had the resources? What if we had the drive?

“And now, with her leadership and

her direction, this group of people who are coming together can make all of that “what if” happen,” she said.

Copoulos likes what she’s seen of the North Street area so far.

“I walk up and down North Street every day and knock on doors,” she said. “I’m lucky enough to have very personal and wonderful relationships with many of the business owners on North.”

Those relationships are beginning to pay off.

“Though I’ve only been here for six months, I now feel comfortable enough that when a new grant opportunity comes up I’m able to call through the catalog in my mind and go knock on a door and say, ‘hey, when do you have time to fill out this grant together?’” she said.

That’s how transformation works. One opportunity at a time.

e-commerce services that was based in the Valley Mill in Lee.

In 2011, Crane purchased Berkshire Information Systems and combined the two companies into Excelsior Integrated, which originally operated in both North Adams and Lee. Four years later, Crane sold the North Adams printing operations to Integrity Graphics of Windsor, Conn., which moved the printing firm out of the Berkshires but retained a sales office in North Adams.

Excelsior Integrated then began to grow. To accommodate that growth, Crane purchased the large office and warehouse building on Pleasant Street in Lee that had belonged to the former Country Curtains. The property had served as the distribution center for the long time home furnishings company founded by the Fitzpatrick family of Stockbridge that closed in 2017.

By 2018, Crane had opened its distribution center in Fresno.

“Having a presence and distribution center on the West Coast was beneficial to our larger customers,” explained Crane. “It reduced the distance for orders.”

Locally, he continued to operate Excelsior Integrated at both the former Country Curtains property and the Valley Mill, before consolidating everything on Pleasant Street in 2020.

DRAMATIC

CHANGES

Order fulfillment and sales channels have evolved dramatically since the days when products were shipped only through the U.S. Post Office or by carriers like United Parcel Service. Now endless choices and decisions exist to set up basic strategies and systems.

In addition to the physical aspects of processing, packaging and shipping orders, Excelsior Integrated’s services include the management and administration of inventory control. This includes controls over incoming products to ensure there is a sufficient supply to meet the demand.

Excelsior provides guidance and advisory services to help clients set up and maintain inventory systems, adapt to changing circumstances, and make decisions on individual orders on an ongoing basis.

“We have a strong working relationship with our customers,” said Crane. “We serve as an essential partner in their order-fulfillment operations.”

The specific relationships and nature of services varies among clients. In some instances, clients outsource most of all of these responsibilities to Excelsior. Other clients manage some aspects themselves and utilize Excelsior Integrated for specific support services.

The company has comprehensive individualized information systems that clients can access through an online application called the Excelsior “portal” This allows them to manage their account activity and receive access to detailed real-time data and reports about their inventory, orders, tracking and delivery status, cost analysis, and other factors.

These services are integrated with other systems like online shopping carts, order management platforms, marketplaces, and custom environments.

This creates an automated order processing workflow with consistent re-

al-time data across fulfillment and ecommerce environments. Excelsior will automatically pull orders from the client’s system for fulfillment, and sync delivery confirmations, inventory levels and other pertinent information.

Excelsior Integrated also helps clients keep up with increasingly rapid changes.

“For example, at one time, Amazon was about the only major online retailer,” said Crane. “However, other retailers such as Wal Mart have entered the online market in a big way. This gives companies more options, but it is also more challenging because each of them has their own requirements for vendors regarding pallet preparation, required delivery dates, labelling and other factors.”

Sometimes Excelsior Integrated provides products to retailers like Amazon. But the company also keeps its own inventory so it can fulfill orders for Amazon. With order fulfillment, Excelsior Integrated selects the best shipping and delivery services that are available for sending each product. The company has developed working relations and knowledge of those carriers. One of its goals is to identify the best options for overall shipping procedures and specific orders in terms of price, speed and accuracy.

The COVID-19 pandemic and other economic issues, including the disruption of international supply chains, effected Excelsior Integrated’s inventory management and shipping operations.

“Our customers experienced problems like ships with products from overseas not getting to California, or components not being available,” Crane said.

But the demand for ecommerce actually increased during the pandemic when so many brick and mortar loca-

tions were closed.

“It had already been growing before COVID, and the pandemic bumped that up and accelerated the trend as more people chose to shop online,” Crane said.

Unlike many businesses, Excelsior Integrated was also able to remain open during the pandemic.

“Fortunately we were classified as an essential business,” Crane said. “We had to change the way we do things, such as heightening sanitation protocols and limiting visitors. The worst period was one week in which we lost about 40 percent of our staff due to infections and quaran-

tines, but that was a blip. Overall we were able to operate well. I attribute that to our excellent staff and management, who did a great job in adapting to the protocols.” Those supply chain issues that have hampered the U.S. economy are finally beginning to improve.

“Those were critical for all companies for a while, and there is still some nervousness,” Crane said. “But it’s eased up, and the Christmas season went well. Things are not yet back to where they were in 2019, but overall it’s on the right track and the overall situation is getting much better.”

BEN GARVER

Julie Copoulos is Pittsfield’s fellow in the Transformation Development Initiative, a MassDevelopment program that is working to revitalize North Street once again. She began her three-year stint in Pittsfield last fall.

BEN GARVER

Excelsior Integrated moved to the former Country Curtains complex in Lee after the long time home furnishings business founded by the Fitzpatrick family of Stockbridge closed in 2017.

Berkshire voices

Hope springs eternal in the Berkshires

By L iana Toscanini

GREAT BARRINGTON — With spring finally sprung, I’m feeling particularly optimistic this year. In fact, I’m starting to think there’s hope for this world yet.

It’s a sensation solidified, if not catalyzed, by the quality of nominations that the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires received from all corners of the county in anticipation of the sixth Annual Berkshire Nonprofit Awards, which take place May 23 at Berkshire Hills Country Club in Pittsfield.

This year, the judges were introduced to 11 young, passion-filled individuals, effecting change in and leaving indelible impressions in many subsectors — from food insecurity to social justice. These young people are not unlike late Sheffield resident, Samya Rose Stumo, for whom our Youth Leadership Award is named.

These young leaders are amazing. Only one will receive this year’s Youth Leadership Award, which is given annually in acknowledgement of an individual age 16-to-24 who has contributed meaningfully to the Berkshire nonprofit sector. But each is a leader in their own right who deserves to be congratulated on their respective work in the community at large. These young people have given a combined 32 plus years of collective service to nonprofit organizations throughout the region.

Here is the winner followed by the other nominees:

• Florence Afanukoe. She was selected to receive this year’s award for her leadership of the Bridge youth program, doubling the nonprofit’s capacity, enrollment and growth while meeting her own vision that the model could extend beyond South County to reach kids in Pittsfield.

“She models possibility…and leads by example for [other] youth,” said Gwendolyn VanSant, the director of Multicultural Bridge. Afanukoe is graduating magna cum laude one semester early from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut with a degree in public health.

• Logan Baker. His work as a youth leader at the Berkshire Family YMCA in North Adams has not gone unnoticed.

rington most Monday evenings, welcoming myriad neighbors experiencing food insecurity in their native Spanish, which is a language he mastered while studying abroad. A student at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, he raised $1,400 for holiday turkeys at Thanksgiving.

2023 Nonprofit Award winners

Lifetime achievement: Julianne Boyd, Barrington Stage Company; Anne Nemetz Carlson, Child Care of the Berkshires.

Board Leadership: Susan Crofut, Sandisfield Arts Center.

Executive Leadership: Leigh Doherty, Literacy Network of South Berkshire. Rock Star: Tyeesha R. Keele-Kedroe, 18 Degrees.

• Emma Lezberg. She has worked diligently over five years to serve clients at Berkshire Immigrant Center in Pittsfield by helping local immigrants learn about and access resources they need and deserve through various providers. “From the time Emma was a high school student she has brought integrity, energy, and commitment to the task of making our community more just and compassionate,” Kate Barton, the president of the Berkshire Immigrant Center’s board of directors, said.

Samya Rose Stumo Youth Leadership Award: Florence Afanukoe, Multicultural Bridge.

Unsung Hero: Sheila Dargie, Berkshire Area Health Education Center.

Volunteer: Shirley Edgerton, ROPE, Women of Color Giving Circle, Lift Ev’ry Voice Festival.

“[He] is truly committed to the mission of the (organization)…and works hard to assist all individuals,” said Meaghan Rogers, the local resident who nominated him for the award.

• Deisy Escobar. A first generation Latina growing up in the Berkshires, Escobar wears many hats. Her work at Railroad Street Youth Project in Great Barrington was noticed by a colleague.

“Deisy is the driver of change at her high school…an expert in her own experience,” said Z Estime, the program coordinator of South Berkshire Community Health Coalition.

• Ben Gross. He takes volunteering seriously, as evidenced by his involvement at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire. “[He] is a positive force at school… [and] other students look up to him as a role model,” said Valerie Zantay, a Spanish teacher and tutor in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. Gross is a National Honor Society inductee, jazz-and marching-band member, and varsity athlete at Monument Mountain Regional High School.

• Nicholas Hardcastle. He can be found at The People’s Pantry in Great Bar-

• Dahlia Logan. She has spent her tenure at Monument Mountain Regional High School striving for an improved school culture for all by using her voice to ensure youth-adult partnerships will be sustained after she graduates. She is a member of the school’s student-adult advisory board. “[Dahlia] is a resonant leader, who does so without ego or pretense,” Monument Mountain Guidance Counselor Sean Flynn said.

• Juliana Lopez. She works with a multitude of different populations including those struggling with food insecurity, immigrants, and fellow young people. “Serving others is a fundamental part of who Juliana is,” said state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, of the Mt. Everett High School student’s commitment to causes outside herself and passion for public service

• Lucia Pantano. She is a staunch advocate for others, one who is keenly aware of the social and economic barriers that exist for certain groups — especially teens in Berkshire County. “Lucia is humanistic by nature and cares deeply for her peers, her siblings and her community,” McCann Technical School Counselor Chad O’Neill said. Pantano is a McCann Principal’s Award recipient who has worked with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.

• Jacob Tullo. He is a cancer survi-

vor, volunteer, mentor and talented 3D printing artist who has chosen to pay it forward by supporting and advocating for children with cancer diagnoses even in the midst of his ongoing treatment. “(Jacob) impacts his environment, without being asked, all the time,” said Josh Meczywor, a computer assisted design instructor at McCann Technical School.

• Jacob Shron. He is a well-regarded member of the Monument Mountain Regional High School community where he’s been laser focused on improving student voice and faculty/ student collaboration. “Jacob is simply a person of integrity, an adept listener and problem solver,” said Monument Guidance Counselor Sean Flynn of Shron, a trained facilitator with Up For Learning, a Vermont-based youth empowerment program.

Each of these young people exhibits

the same passion for their own projects as Samya Rose Stumo did for hers, which was revolutionizing global health. Stumo was one of the 157 people who died aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 when it crashed on March 10, 2019. The accident occurred when Stumo was on her way from Ethiopia to Kenya to participate in her inaugural assignment with ThinkWell, a nonprofit that is working to disrupt the status quo in global health development. The 24-year-old’s enthusiasm for making the world a better place, anchored by her love of people and service to others, lives on in the next generation of changemakers nominated in her honor.

We salute them this month.

Common Capital offers small business loans of any size up to $300,000 in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties.

Colorful Resilience

“They were so good with communication, they were very clear with their expectations, they were extremely reasonable with the things they were asking of me and it was actually a very seamless, very positive experience.

I’m really glad that Colorful Resilience exists because of Common Capital.”

Owner Mayrena Guerrero

Elliott Properties

“Common Capital has been a big part of growing our business. Helping out with the accounting, always having ideas and things to help us with infrastructure. Making sure we are making some of the right choices. They’ve also put us in touch with grant money that is out there, that we wouldn’t have otherwise known about.”

Owners Chris Elliott & Cristie Phinney

Common Capital is a nonprofit community loan fund that responsibly lends money to small businesses that are unable to access all the capital they need from other lenders. Please visit our website at www.CommonCapitalMA.org to learn more. CommonCapitalMA .org

Common Capital, Inc. 1780 Main St. | Springfield, MA 01103 413-233-1680 info@commoncapitalma.org

Liana Toscanini is executive director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires in Great Barrington.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NONPROFIT CENTER OF THE BERKSHIRE Florence Afanukoe is this year’s recipient of the Samya Rose Stumo Youth Leadership Award.

Lack of inventory still a factor in local home sales

By Sandra J. Carroll

PITTSFIELD — A new year often brings answers to old problems. But one of the nagging issues that affected the Berkshire housing market in 2022 is still with us.

Lack of inventory continues to hamper Berkshire County’s residential real estate sales.

Sales dropped 30 percent across the Berkshires during the first quarter of 2023, the period between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to the Berkshire County Board of Realtors. The total number of transactions was 197 through the end of March, almost 90 shy of the 280 sales that took place during the same time period last year.

The Berkshire County Board of Realtors tracks only Realtor-assisted transactions.

As March ended, only 434 residential single-family homes were available for sale across the Berkshires. Available properties in the other residential categories coincide with that figure. Only 93 multifamily units, 324 land parcels, and 67 condominiums were on the market county-wide.

This significant lack of inventory of homes for sale continues to impact the sales market. This has kept it a very competitive buyer’s market, despite interest rate fluctuation and some economic uncertainty.

In the Berkshires, the total volume of dollars transacted plunged 38 percent during the first quarter compared to the first three months of 2022, from $123 million to $76 million. This resulted in a 9 percent decrease in the median sales price, from $303,000 last year to $275,000 in 2023.

The dollar volume is leveling out compared to pre-pandemic sales, but

sales are still significantly lower due to the continued inventory issues. Many buyers who would otherwise move into a different type of housing — either up or down — are worried about finding adequate housing to move into if their current home is sold.

During March, we solicited feedback from area Realtors. Despite the lack of inventory, interest in residential real estate remains high. Forty seven percent of those that responded indicated that they saw an increase in calls from potential sellers, while just 26 percent saw seller activity decline. Most saw buyer activity increasing — 58 percent reported a spike in new buyer clients. Thirty two percent said their buyer client base remains stable.

When we asked Berkshire Realtors about their overall confidence in the market over the next three months, 58 percent said they expect an improving market with more listing and buyer activity as spring gets underway. Traditionally, spring is the most robust market for real estate sales in Berkshire County. But the board found during the pandemic years that sales can be consistent year-round.

Nationally, real estate analysts are also predicting good things for the second quarter. The period between April 1 and June 30 is the year’s most active three-month cycle for listings, buyer interest and home sales, according to Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research for the National Association of Realtors.

“Two of the busiest selling months are May and June, with June typically the peak month of the year,” Evangelou said.

Overall, Realtors believe that we’re returning to a more stable market after several years of unsustainable growth.

They still see properties going under contract right away and are still experiencing multiple offer situations, but only for homes that are in traditionally popular price ranges and realistic asking prices.

Efforts to create new housing, incentivize local regulations that would increase habitable space and create sensible zoning laws to help the housing crunch are critical for the short and long term health of our community, both in homeownership and in rental availability.

We talk a lot about the lack of workforce housing in Berkshire County, but here’s an interesting note. Many of our buyers express concerns about local regulations regarding short term rentals and accessory dwelling units. While there is confidence in purchasing real estate when paying a premium there is a desire to ensure the investment is good in the long run.

Pending home sales grew in February for the third consecutive month nationwide, but year-over-year sales are still lower than they were in 2022, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said that pending contracts have turned the corner and will continue trending upwards.

“Mortgage rates have improved in recent weeks after the federal government guaranteed the status of most mortgages amidst uncertainty in the

financial market,” Yun said. “While access to commercial mortgage loans could become increasingly difficult, residential mortgage loans are expected to be more readily available.”

Hopes for a vibrant spring market are also tinged with both hesitation and concern about the stability in the banking industry

If issues in the banking sector persist, “mortgage rates will likely drop faster than expected,” Evangelou said. “I see the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage to be around 6.2 percent this quarter.” (As of mid-April, the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.8 percent).

But the lack of available housing stock still looms large.

“Over the last several weeks, declining rates have brought borrowers back to the market but as the spring homebuying season gets underway, low inventory remains a key challenge for prospective buyers,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said.

Decreasing mortgage rates are a good sign for a potentially active spring market and will ramp up an already hyper competitive marketplace. But lack of inventory is still with us and will continue to remain a nagging concern.

Sandra J. Carroll is the chief executive officer of the Berkshire County Board of Realtors and Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service.

GRAPHIC PROVIDED BY BERKSHIRE COUNTY BOARD OF REALTORS

First quarter sales of residential property in the Berkshires have gone up and down the past few years.

Sanda J. Carroll Real estate

Preparing the next generation of leaders

By Ben SoSne and denniS R eBelo

PITTSFIELD

— The development of the future leaders of the Berkshire high tech economy has begun.

It’s taking place right now at the Berkshire Innovation Center’s new manufacturing academy.

Late last year the BIC, in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to launch the BIC Manufacturing Academy, which is an industry-led training collaboratively learning institute. The academy is designed to address persistent challenges facing the manufacturing economy in the Berkshires through ongoing education, training, and technology assistance.

In creating the academy, we identified three foundational issues that have continued to serve as our north stars. First, our diverse regional firms — manufacturers of plastics, armored vehicles and clear technologies and life science firms — are not only facing a shortage of workers, but their teams are aging, which means more of their key people are retiring. This means that less experienced employees will likely be accelerated into supervisor roles quicker than they traditionally have been. So there is a very real need to support the growth of these younger employees.

Second, many firms have been reluctant or slow to implement new technologies into their operations. Bringing on new technologies is key to making firms more productive and more competitive and can open them up to new lines of business, but these firms need support as they assess and ultimately implement these new technologies.

Third, human skills and engagement of frontline workers matters now more than ever. By engaging in training to reduce cognitive load for employees, lower their frustration by enhancing their problem-solving and promote their communications skills across audiences, the frontline workers’ insights will be heard and positively affect how the whole firm reacts, evolves and performs.

The academy supports the growth and development of the future leaders of our firms, and helps these firms explore new technological solutions, through a comprehensive core training program as well as a curated series of technology workshops. The core training program was developed after countless hours of interviews, meetings and learning from a diverse range of industry partners. It is called Systems Thinking for the Application of Technologies, or STAT. The STAT program answers two key industry needs: developing employee troubleshooting and systems thinking and enhancing human skills. It is a cornerstone to our work.

The STAT Program is a dynamic 24-week initiative that

is broken into three distinct phases. Each phase is six-weeks long, with two-week remote learning breaks scheduled between them. We are calling our very first group of students Cohort #001 to mark the significance of the program. The well-known worldwide management procedure Total Quality Control, now known as Total Quality Management, was devised in Pittsfield by late brothers Armand and Donald Feigenbaum in the 1960’s through their company General Systems. Corp.

Given the influence the processes devised by the Feigenbaum brothers have had on management procedures across the globe, perhaps it would be better to refer to the academy’s work as the rebirth or reclaiming of Pittsfield and the Berkshires as a key place in this new world of advanced manufacturing.

Classes for the STAT Program are held twice a week and offer manufacturing technicians a systematic view and novel approach to troubleshooting in a manufacturing setting. Students who complete this program will develop mastery in the basics of systems thinking, a rich understanding of the role of data analytics, and a framework for better problem solving. At key points in the journey, they will also be introduced to new technologies that may change how their companies produce goods and do business.

The three phases of the STAT Program have been carefully designed to support and reinforce the learning process. Problem solving is approached using a standalone version of the Six-Sigma inspired “DMAIC” framework that consists of five components: Define, Measure,

Analyze, Improve, and Control. This data-driven and sequenced improvement approach is a cycle used to accelerate problem solving to improve varied processes, whatever the type of work or industry might be.

APPLYING PROCEDURES

Students who complete the training will be able to apply these five perspectives to their manufacturing environments to diagnose, analyze, and solve problems of their own. That’s when the learning is converted to real world application. They will learn to define the work problem that needs to be solved, measure the specification of their current work problem using selected principles and practices from the program, analyze the measured data and explore approaches to solve the problem, then engage in improving the work process by implementing the solution(s) to the problem. Over time, they can control the change in order to ensure the work process will be performed consistently. Students will be in constant conversation with their firms and supported by industry instructors and professional coaches.

The first phase focuses on the principles of DMAIC as a framing tool that illustrates and engages students in ways to enhance their troubleshooting and their problem-solving skills to more effectively approach any problem, from fixing a coffee machine to something far more complex. It is an interactive seminar with a lot of thoughtful exchange, really prompting students to think about their own lives and their work roles.

In the second phase, the students apply the framing tools that they learned from the first phase. This will include both a

hands-on learning component and a computer simulation. The hands-on learning will involve studying and interacting with a micro-manufacturing wind turbine plant located within the BIC which will serve as a testing ground to practice problem-based learning. Through varied problems, students will understand measurement, process mapping, and other tools that hang off the DMAIC framework. Complementing the hands-on learning will be a digital twin, a computer simulation that will allow students to tweak the types of technology that could be deployed in a production line as the process is “leaned out,” controlled, improved, and sustained.

In the third and final phase of the program, students will move from this micro-manufacturing simulation and rethink where they sit within their roles, their group, and their firm and begin to formulate a way to “make their learning count” in their companies. With support from a supervisor in their firm, the students will identify a real-life problem, or opportunity, that they can troubleshoot, and problem solve. Here is where they will be paired with coaches to apply the DMAIC framework to assess actual “pain points” within their firms and propose solutions that will make their firms more productive, efficient, and competitive.

This first cohort includes 14 students from nine regional firms, who were all identified and nominated by their organization’s leadership team. They include Rachel Birch and Michelle Jones from Boyd Biomedical; Robert Smith from Electro Magnetic Applications; Padraic Sullivan and Jason Hover from Spectrum Plastics

Group; Jordan Callahan from Pro Workforce Performance, Inc.; Ricky Reynolds and Matt McInerney from Interprint, Inc., DJ Tanner and Matt Roccabruna from General Dynamics Mission Systems; Garrit Baker from Mativ, formerly Neenah Technical Paper; Mike Decensi and Kenny Loynes from Unistress Corp.; and Luis Ortiz from Sinicon Plastics.

BMA’s primary instructor is Patrick Becker, a proven mentor-teacher from General Dynamics Mission Systems. He will lead the cohort through the technical learning section of this interactive and application-oriented experience. Timothy Butterworth will be playing a pivotal role in the Phase II micro-manufacturing plant simulation section of the experience by not only building the plant but engaging in the problem-based learning approach to this phase with MIT support personnel.

This cohort is historic, and not just because it is the first group to participate in this innovative and transformational educational program. It’s because the program we designed is rooted fundamentally in Total Quality Thinking. That process was born in Pittsfield on the very ground the BIC was built. It is now being included in how our Berkshire regional manufacturing firms most valuable asset, their human capital, can receive a new way of thinking, learning and doing their work. It comes at a time when this matters the most.

Ben Sosne is the executive director of the Berkshire Innovation Center.

Dennis Rebelo is the Berkshire Innovation Center’s chief learning officer.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BERKSHIRE INNOVATON CNTER

Members of the first cohort of the inaugural Berkshire Innovation Center’s Manufacturing Academy receive hands-on instruction during a recent class.

Dennis Rebelo Ben Sosne

The enduring legacy of nostalgia

Tony Dobrowolski Commentary

PITTSFIELD — Baseball season has already begun. But to me, it doesn’t seem as if the season is officially underway until the first summer collegiate baseball game has been played at Wahconah Park.

This year, that milestone occurs May 24 when the Pittsfield Suns open their 2023 Futures League season at home against the Nashua Silver Knights. With that said, we’re going to bypass writing about local business in this space this month to focus on Berkshire nostalgia.

Spectators at Suns games won’t be able to sit in the venerable old park’s wooden grandstand for the second straight year this summer. The city closed the grandstand before last season because it was deemed to be unsafe.

But the good news is there’s finally a plan to do something about it. In March, the Wahconah Park Restoration Committee voted to unanimously recommend the city of Pittsfield hire a Braintree-based company that has designed various stadiums in Florida, Maryland and New York to either restore or renovate the aging 3,100 seat grandstand, which was erected in 1950. The proposal has yet to receive final approval from the Park Commission, but unless something goes terribly wrong at the last minute I believe that it will.

Work on the ball park wouldn’t begin until the end of the 2024 Futures League season, so the temporary seating will have to do for now. But for me, renovating or restoring the site where baseball has been played in Pittsfield since 1892 is the right thing to do.

As my colleague, Howard Herman, wrote last year, Wahconah Park is quirky, but it’s our quirky. It has sun delays. It’s one of the few remaining ballparks in the country that still sports a wooden grandstand. It’s one of the two remaining ballparks in the United States that faces west (the other is in Bakersfield, Calif.). All of these oddities have helped make Wahconah Park part of the summer experience in the Berkshires, like a trip to Tanglewood, or Hancock

Shaker Village, or even the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Mass MoCA is also Berkshires-quirky, by virtue of its existence in the former Sprague Electric Co. factory complex. Placing an art museum in a former industrial complex was a creative way to re-use and continue to showcase a once vital property that had outlived its original purpose. It also combines the old Berkshires with the new. A nod to the past with a look to the future.

The reconstruction or renovation of Wahconah Park should be that way, too. The ballpark should be upgraded to current standards, but in a manner that retains what made it special in the first place. Taking the charm out of what makes Wahconah Park what it is would be a bad idea, in my opinion. Especially in Pittsfield, which still contains the oldest reference to the sport of baseball in North America, a fact that noted baseball historian John Thorn and the late Jim Bouton uncovered way back in 2004. Baseball doesn’t really cut it as a business here. If it did, either of the two independent league baseball teams that gave the city a try after Pittsfield’s New York Penn League franchise left for Troy,

N.Y. after the 2000 season would probably still be playing here. But baseball does work in Pittsfield as a fun, summer diversion, something to relax and enjoy in person after work or on the weekends in June and July during those steamy Berkshire days and nights. A quirky, slightly updated Wahconah Park would provide the perfect atmosphere for that experience.

Professional baseball has a long history in Pittsfield, but summer collegiate baseball is the perfect fit for what Wahconah Park is now. The city’s team deserves a slightly upgraded place to play, and its fans deserve a better, safer grandstand to watch them from. Congressman Richard E. Neal secured a $3 million earmark to fix the grandstand, so funding for this project this time around won’t be a problem.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this project progresses. I hope you are, too.

• If you’re someone who grew up watching baseball in old ballparks, you’re probably familiar with Tupperware. Remember those quirky plastic containers that held all manner of food items, the ones that burped when you sealed them? Well, it might not be long before the only place you can find them

is at tag sales or in museums. Tupperware Brands is flirting with going out of business.

The company, founded in 1946, is struggling financially. In a regulatory filing filed in early April, Tupperware Brands stated there was “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and the the firm has already begun seeking financing to keep going. On April 10, shares of the company fell 50 percent after the firm issued dire warnings about its ability to survive.

In early April, the New York Stock Exchange said Tupperware’s stock could be de-listed because the company hadn’t filed its annual report for 2022. The company responded by saying it planned to file a report within the next 30 days, but couldn’t provide assurance that it would be delivered on time.

According to MarketWatch, the company’s stock fell 98 percent in the 12 month period that ended in April. Net sales in 2022 were $1.3 billion, which is a good sign, but that represented an 18 percent drop from the year before.

Tupperware is struggling with several issues, according to CNN Business. They include a “sharp decline in the number of sellers, a consumer pullback on home products, and a brand that still does not fully connect with younger consumers,” according to Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail.

“The company used to be a hotbed of innovation with problem-solving kitchen gadgets,” Saunders said, “but it has really lost its edge.”

Ouch.

Tupperware Brands is trying to reinvent itself by going into Target, one of the country’s leading discount retail chains. It’s also working on growing the business through multiple retail channels because it wants to get its products in front of consumers who aren’t old enough to remember Tupperware parties.

I’ve got an idea. Let the Pittsfield Suns hold a Tupperware Night at Wahconah Park this summer.

That obviously won’t be enough to save the entire company, so let’s hope Tupperware’s larger strategy works. I’d hate to see it go.

Reforming the estate tax costs little and protects us all

LEE — It’s no secret that people keep leaving the state of Massachusetts because the costs here are so high.

Governor Maura Healey understands this.

“Too many people struggling with a high cost of living, unable to pay rent, unable to think about a down payment, unable to afford child care, gas, groceries,” Healey said, when she unveiled her state tax plan in late March. “It’s such a challenge for so many across our state — small business owners who can’t make it, and many thinking about leaving.”

She added: “Last year, there was a lot of discussion about the estate tax. I think there was a general recognition that we need to do something different in this state. We can’t be the outlier that we are because too many people leave — 100,000 people. More people will leave this week, this month. So, we need to do something.”

The governor’s testimony to the Joint Committee on Revenue spoke to the two objectives she articulated in a speech to Associated Industries of Massachusetts in January — make

Massachusetts more affordable for residents and more competitive for businesses. Her comments also underscore an immutable fact about public policy that taxes matter.

Healey’s $742 million tax package would institute a $600-per-dependent tax credit for parents and caregivers, provide relief for renters and seniors, reduce the short-term capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to 5 percent, and triple the threshold at which the estate tax kicks in to $3 million. The package represents a positive first step at a time when Massachusetts voters recently passed an income surtax that will harm both homeowners and small businesses in Berkshire County and beyond.

A survey by the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants found that 82 percent of CPAs said they have Massachusetts clients who earn more than $1 million a year and have expressed interest in leaving the Bay State in the next year. In cases in which clients said they might flee the state, 61 percent cited Massachusetts tax policy as the primary reason.

Massachusetts simply cannot afford to continue losing the businesses and people we need to drive economic prosperity. The commonwealth has lost 750,000 more people than it has gained during the past three decades and that trend is accelerating. A total of 57,292 Massachusetts residents packed their bags between July 2021 and July 2022, the fifth largest outmigration of any state in the country during that time span.

Reforming the estate tax is a simple step that costs little and protects the middle class, while preventing a flight of wealthy taxpayers from the commonwealth. Massachusetts is not just an outlier on the estate tax, but what former Revenue Commissioner Amy Pitter calls an “an outlier among outliers.”

Only 12 states and the District of Columbia even have an estate tax. Of those, Massachusetts currently shares the lowest exemption level at $1 million with Oregon. But ours is particularly bad policy as it taxes the entire estate rather than assets over the first $1 million, a process known as the “cliff” effect.

The Healey proposal would eliminate all taxes on estates of up to $3 million in net taxable value and would represent $182,000 of tax relief on larger

estates. Under current law, estates with a gross value over $1 million are subject to taxation, starting at a rate of 0.8 percent and growing to a marginal rate of 16 percent.

The proposal to reduce the state tax on short-term capital gains would not have a net effect on the state budget. Capital gains taxes above a threshold of approximately $1.4 billion are not available to the budget under current law and are directed to the state’s rainy-day fund. The estimated $117 million in tax savings would help improve Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness.

Some of the proposal’s other laudable provisions:

• It doubles the statewide cap on the Apprenticeship Tax Credit to $5 million and expands eligible occupations to ensure employers in critical industries can utilize this credit.

• It expands commuter transit benefits to include regional transit passes and bike commuter expenses.

• It extends the expiring Brownfields tax credit program through 2028.

• It expands the dairy tax credit cap from $6 million to $8 million.

It’s also important to note that the commonwealth re-

mains flush with money and in a good position to give taxpayers a break. State tax collections through February were $1.058 billion or 4.7 percent more than collections during the same time period in fiscal 2022 and $572 million, or 2.5 percent higher, than the year-to-date benchmark. The state also has $2.5 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funding along with surplus money.

The governor’s tax proposal and state budget will now go through the Legislature, which developed its own tax-reform proposal last year before shelving the plan as a surge in state revenues triggered an automatic $3 billion income-tax rebate. House Speaker Ronald Mariano said that he and Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz have been discussing “alternatives” to Healey’s tax plan as they prepare the House’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal for release and debate next month.

We’ll see how that plays out.

EAGLE FILE PHOTO

The aging, wooden grandstand at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield is one of the quirky features that has made the ballpark part of the Berkshire summer scene, like a trip to Tanglewood, says columnist Tony Dobrowolski

Patricia Begrowicz, the president and co-owner of Onyx Speciality Papers in Lee, is chair of the board of directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

If you fail to plan you plan to fail

Erik Williams Commentary

LEE — The Massachusetts cannabis market has started to see its first dispensary closures and cultivators shutting down operations, as part of the market constriction and ebbs and flows of supply and demand balances within a maturing local landscape.

This is just the normal course of action for almost every non-limited licensing based legal cannabis market, and we expect to see increased market contraction through 2023. The larger business community here needs to appreciate what that means for the region, because the longterm viability of the cannabis industry here as job creators and a positive force-multiplier to the local economy affects the entire region.

First, a moment of light in what others have come to see as gloomy times: the cannabis industry bubble has not popped. But, it is certainly leaking air, and if credit default swaps for new dispensaries was an option, I would be buying them against almost every new dispensary that opens in 2023.

This isn’t hyperbole or a false alarm. This is a cogent and fair perspective of legal cannabis in Massachusetts right now. But almost nothing that has come out of the market maturity in Massachusetts has been a surprise to me and my team at Canna Provisions in Lee, as we always knew that there would be more competition locally, price fluctuations, and neighboring other states coming online. We have been building and planning for long-term survival. We believe consumers will continue to shop with people who share their values (in the end, every dollar is itself a vote). Where you shop and what you shop for matters even more so when so many businesses are walking the razor’s edge between a bright future or a disaster-to-be. Think “shop local” or supporting the deli who sponsors your kids softball team.

We have seen that first hand in Sheffield where our craft cultivation is located, and in Lee, where I serve on the board of the Lee Chamber of Commerce and our flagship location is located. But this has become a truism for municipalities where legal cannabis is operational across the Bay State at large. If ancillary businesses and services which partner or contract with legal weed in Western Massachusetts, as well as the local non-profits, media platforms, charities, and organizations benefiting from cannabis want whatever good times they’ve enjoyed to continue to roll, it’s vital to understand the financial realities they face.

So let me simplify the matter with stating a number: 78 percent.

That is the effective tax rate we pay to the federal government. Legal cannabis falls under US Tax Code 280 E, stem-

ming from the fact that cannabis is still federally illegal. Which means cannabis businesses are unable to deduct any of the normal business expenses local businesses benefit from, with the exception of costs of goods sold. Our rent, payroll, insurance, overhead, advertising, and so on, none of this is deductible. For any local businesses trying to imagine what the impact is, just picture that for every dollar your business generates, you essentially are left with 22 cents. That’s right. Twenty-two cents, for improvements, capital investments, paying back investors, making donations to local charities and nonprofits — all of it.

But don’t feel bad for us, because in spite of all the above, Canna Provisions is doing this better than most cannabis businesses in the commonwealth. Other stand alone dispensaries, those retail locations without cultivation or manufac-

turing, often find themselves in the high end of an 80 percent tax rate. There has been much math done by almost every major accounting firm with an eye on the local industry (and me personally), which concludes it is all but impossible for a retail only storefront to remain solvent if they are generating less than $6 million in annual revenue.

The business community outside of cannabis has one simple task then, and it’s something you’ve probably been doing for years. Pick good local partners, ideally ones that are positioned well and have the clear eyes to be around long after 2023 and for years to come.

For not for-profits, civic organizations, and advertising partners, it’s important for them to realize that — contrary to popular belief — being in cannabis is not a license to print money. We do not have unlimited dollars to donate or work with. Responsible operators need to make sure that they have a return on investment for every single dollar placed in the market, ever more so now with more and more competition coming online from the glut of Massachusetts dispensaries that continue to open, Connecticut dispensaries coming online, and for the Berkshires, how the slow rollout of New York’s legal market and retailers could impact your revenue.

Those cannabis companies and investors who haven’t taken all this into account or revisited revenue projections in years, it’s time to take a hard look at your plans for the road ahead. Successful long-term cannabis companies have expected and planned for this from the start because they had the long game in mind, and knew the rules of the game unfolding and shifting all around them. I know we have. And we look forward to continuing being a good local business partner and steward of the legal cannabis business landscape in the Berkshires, and all that it stands for.

Erik Williams is the COO and co-founder of Canna Provisions in Lee.

The U.S. dollar’s reserve currency status is being tested

PITTSFIELD — For more than three-quarters of a century, the U.S. dollar has functioned as the world’s reserve currency. That status is now being questioned by various countries.

Back in 1944, delegates from 44 allied countries met in Bretton Woods, N.H. to develop a system to manage foreign exchange that would not disadvantage any country. The delegation decided that the world’s currencies would be pegged to the U.S. dollar, which was in turn pegged to the price of gold.

The gold peg worked until it didn’t. The deficit spending needed to finance the Vietnam War and the Great Society domestic programs caused the U.S. to flood the financial markets with paper money. That created enormous concern for countries holding dollars. The future stability of the dollar was in question, which led to an enormous rush to convert dollar reserves into gold. The demand for gold so outstripped the available store that President Richard Nixon was forced to de-link the dollar from gold, which led to the floating exchange rates that exist today.

The U.S. greenback is essentially the default currency in international trade and a global unit of account. As such every major firm, treasury, and central bank hold a large portion

of their foreign exchange in dollars. Central banks, for example, hold around 59 percent of their reserves in U.S. dollars. Since most holders of dollars want a return on these balances, they usually put those dollars in U.S. government bonds in world financial markets.

However, in recent years many foreign countries perceive that the United States is no longer the oasis of stability it once was.

In terms of its social, political, and economic status, there is much to worry about. The Trump years of putting America first (at the expense of others), U.S.-sponsored tariff trade wars, social unrest, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the ongoing divisions and attacks on U.S. institutions have convinced many nations that they must somehow insulate themselves from further U.S.-generated risks.

Last month, Brazil, for example, which is the largest economy in South America, decided to bypass the dollar altogether in its trading relationship with China. China is Brazil’s largest trading partner with a record $150.5 billion in bilateral trade last year. The two nations will be able to exchange their currencies directly, thereby reducing costs, promoting even more bilateral trade, and facilitating investment, according to the Brazilian Trade and Investment

Promotion Agency.

Efforts are already underway by several other countries to do the same thing. The “BRIC nations” — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — are discussing ways to drop the dollar in their trade relationships. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Iran also want to cut the U.S. dollar out of the oil trade. Like most commodities, oil and gas are traded in U.S. dollars. As such, energy prices usually move in tandem with the rise and fall of the dollar. For energy-importing nations, a rising dollar and rising oil prices are an unnecessary double whammy.

China, our largest competitor, has been working for years to expand the use of its currency, the renminbi (yuan) in international trade. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and China’s aggressiveness toward other countries in Southeast Asia like Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, etc. are dividing the world into two opposing camps. The U.S. and Europe’s use of dollar-denominated trade, tariffs, and sanctions as a political weapon are forcing countries like Russia to use the Chinese currency as a haven.

FUTURE RAMIFICATIONS

The ramifications of these moves could, over time, have a serious impact on the U.S. equity and bond markets. More than 50 percent of sales and earnings of the S&P 500 Index

are generated overseas. Foreign abandonment of the dollar would also result in the sale of U.S. Treasury bonds, which force interest rates higher and bond prices lower.

But don’t confuse a weakening dollar with the end of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. While these threats to the dollar are real, I doubt I will see the dollar relinquish its reserve currency status in my lifetime. The U.S. dollar trades in long cycles of approximately 15 years. Over the last five cycles, the average change of the value of the dollar from high to low was a 50 percent decline in the global purchasing power of the dollar relative to a basket of currencies. A currency’s decline is never in a straight line.

Several currency traders believe the peak of the dollar occurred in October 2022. If so, we are now six months into the next bear cycle for the dollar. The strength of a currency is dependent on the underlying strength of the country that issues it. In the U.S., skyrocketing deficits, inflation, out-ofcontrol spending, plus a host of other problems could explain the decline in the dollar we have seen in the recent past. There are similarities between today and the 1970s.

The way I see it, the real threat to the long-term status of the dollar is entirely in our hands. A worsening of the internal divisions within our

country, continued avoidance of climate change, further declines in education, the continued disappearance of a skilled labor force nationwide, and erosion of trust in our institutions, political and otherwise, could convince more countries over time to devise workarounds in their use of the dollar.

Rather than address the root cause of our problems, we continue to look for stop-gap measures like tariffs, immigration curbs, and more mega-billion-dollar government-sponsored programs in the private sector. And then there are the efforts of the misguided minority in Congress.

Three GOP Congressmen recently introduced a Gold Standard Bill that would repeg the U.S. dollar to a fixed weight of gold bullion to stabilize the dollar. Ghosts of Tricky Dick!

About all that would accomplish would be a meteoric rise in the price of gold and the stocks of gold mining companies in places like — you guessed it — Arizona. Since two of the three congressmen are Arizona Republicans, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who would benefit from that move.

PROVIDED PHOTO

The interior of Canna Provisions shop in Lee. Planning is the key for the owners of Berkshire cannabis facilities who want to stay in business as the marketplace changes, says columnist Erik Williams.

Bill Schmick

Real estate transactions

Berkshire County real estate transactions for March 6-31

ADAMS

Mary E. Martin, personal rep. of Norman J. Daigneault, sold property at 8 Cross St., Adams, to Aaron Leo Prudhomme, $161,500.

Kathy Morrissette, personal rep. of Stephania M. Louison, sold property at 82 Lime St., Adams, to Craig Deane McKelvey, $140,000.

Shane M. and Erik J. Ray sold property at 18 Siara St., Adams, to Melissa Krok, $210,000.

Marcus J. and Beth A. Webb sold property at 23 Columbia St., Adams, to John T. and Barbara Anne Connors, $275,000.

Holly Rogers, personal rep. of Sterling Thomas, sold property at 208 Columbia St., Adams, to D&B Real Estate Ventures LLC, $45,000.

Alexandra Management LLC sold property at 10-12 Richmond St., Adams, to D&B Real Estate Ventures LLC, $70,000.

Dorothy R. and Charles R. Ransford Jr., co-trustees of the 15 Bellevue Avenue NT, sold property at 15-25 Bellevue Ave., Adams, to YT Adams LLC, $270,000.

Amadeu Almeida sold property at 2 River St., Adams, to Stanley Wade Wroblewski, $84,900.

Susan C. Reinhardt, trustee of the Antonietta Mazzantini FT, sold property at 12 Pearl St., Adams, to David and Donna Motta, $217,400.

Edward J. Rysz, personal rep. of the Estate of Dorothy E. Rysz, sold property at 16 West Road, Adams, to Valery M. Da Silva, $209,000.

ALFORD

Richard P. Simon and Kathleen S. Simon, individually; Richard P. Simon, trustee of Richard P. Simon Revocable Living Trust; and Kathleen S. Simon, trustee of Kathleen S. Simon Revocable Living Trust, sold property at 321 West Road, Alford, to Nicole Marie McEnness Giannini, trustee of Nicole Giannini Revocable Trust, $3,170,000.

BECKET

Susan L. Deacon, Edwin N. Alba and Jennifer M. Alba, formerly known as Jennifer M. Deacon, sold property at 816 Main St., Becket, to John Edward Hall Jr. and Amanda Lee Hall, $17,500.

Paula Dubroff sold property at 462 Bonny Rigg Hill Road, Becket, to Jennifer Siller, $520,000.

Thomas J. Cawett sold property at 38 Paw Lane, Becket, to Devon M. Florek, $8,000.

Community LD LLC sold property at Golden Knight Lane, Becket, to Olivia R. Unger, $8,500.

Michael Pease sold property at Hamilton Road, Becket, to Vincent Larouche, $22,500.

Frank Della Rosa Jr. and Linda P. Della Rosa sold property at 115 Hopkins Lane, Becket, to Stuart S. Mayerson, $467,000.

DNC Real Estate LLC sold property at 52 Lyman St., Becket, to Carrie R. Gordon, $270,000.

Barbara T. Boyne sold property at Main Street, Becket, to Community LC LLC, $8,500.

CHESHIRE

Elaine J., James E., David A., and Donald P. Daunais sold property at 574 Outlook Ave., Cheshire, to Christopher Luke and Norah Kirchner Wood, $277,750.

CLARKSBURG

Robert A. and Michelle A. Dufur sold property at 454 North Houghton St., Clarksburg, to Stephen J. Dupont, $180,000.

Jeffrey T. Lincoln sold property at 55-77 Carson Ave, Unit 2, Clarksburg, to Jeremy H. Carroll, $127,000.

Brianna Caranci sold property at 738 River Road, Clarksburg, to Hunter Wick and Kamaree Saldo, $85,000.

DALTON

PennyMac Loan Services LLC sold property at 38 Pease Ave., Dalton, to Mallorey Caron, $160,000.

Chandra Y. Brodeur sold property at 15 View St., Dalton, to Rachel E. Bishop and Eric Magnum, $241,000.

EGREMONT

Louise A. Harvey, James Byrne Jr., Alice Tortoriello, and Kathleen Muscolino, formerly known as Kathleen Silvestri, sold property at 33 Mount Washington Road, Egremont, to Richard J. Kraft and Lisa Natalie Parson, $640,000.

Robyn M. Mack and Erica S. Resnikoff, trustees of A. Donald Whellan Revocable Trust, sold property at 15 Hickory Hill Road, Egremont, to Michael Stephen Dalton and Krista Dalton, $870,000.

FLORIDA

Joni Massari and Nathaniel W. Massari, personal rep. of Linda Anne Mowe, sold property at 249 River Road, Florida, to Marlene Kim, $105,000.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Thomas F. Palivoda, trustee of Pinnacle Realty Trust, sold property at 121 Front St., Great Barrington, to FMST LLC, $160,000.

Joseph A. Lisanti and Judith Cooperstein-Lisanti sold property at 80 Taconic Ave., Unit 9, Oakwood Inn Condominium, Great Barrington, to Kenneth Wishnick and Francine Wishnick, $495,000.

Elise Ring Abrams, trustee of Revana Realty Trust, sold property at 0 Egremont Road, Great Barrington, to John Pollart and Claire Naylor-Pollart, $200,000.

Mary Elizabeth Merritt sold property at 8 Forest Row, Great Barrington, to Janis Bowersox, $300,000.

James B. Ketchen and Susan B. Ketchen sold property at 34 Bridge St., Unit 202, Residences at Powerhouse Square I Condominium, Great Barrington, to David Rich and Wendy M. Rich, $385,000.

Victorine J.G. Torrico and Cathy M. Torrico, trustees of Mountain Realty Trust, sold property at 11 School St., Great Barrington, to Double H Properties LLC, $675,000.

Peter Murphy, personal rep. of the Estate of Adele Kania, sold property at 224 Highland St., Great Barrington, to Wylie A. Goodman, $335,000.

Patricia Boyd, personal rep. of the Estate of Patricia M. Keefner, and Joanne Gagnon, personal rep. of the estate of Thomas F. Keefner, sold property at 26 Pleasant St., Great Barrington, to Shunit Sarid, $594,000.

HANCOCK

Paula Klein sold property at 37 Corey Road, Unit 223, Hancock, to Howard Greenspan, $137,500.

LANESBOROUGH

Susan M. Barnes sold property at 6 Orchard Ave., Lanesborough, to Jason Phillip and Samantha Revett, $150,000.

Glenn A., Jeffrey L., Eric, and Bryan Gurney, heirs of Jean L. Gurney, sold property at 14 Sunset St., Lanesborough, to John R. and Sarah J. Bird, $150,000.

LEE

TMR Realty LLC sold property at 96 Columbia St., Lee, to Jeremy D. and Lynne R. Wells, $290,000.

Deborah Ann Speyer, trustee of the Florence Speyer RVT, sold property at 770 3D Summer St., Lee, to Seth Drew Spyer and Linda Beth Popejoy, trustees of the Seth Drew Speyer Living Trust, $500,000.

Ruby Realty LLC sold property at 180 Forest St., Lee, to Clinton D. Campbell, $285,000.

David B. and Cheryl A. Slosek sold property at Route 20 aka 145 Water St., Lee, to Mayne M. and Lisa P. Slosek, $50,000.

Sandra Dreyfus, trustee of the Sandra Dreyfus 2013 Revocable FT, sold property at 151 Fox Run, Lee, to Jacob LePrevost and Victoria Murphy, $690,000.

William B. Salinetti Jr. and Barbara A. Salinetti sold property at 275 Fairview St., Lee, to Robert Bartini Jr. and Kerry Bartini, $300,000.

Sharon Kleinberg and Patricia Zorn sold property at 880 East St., Unit 6C, Lee, to James D. Burnham and Mindy H. Stern, trustees of the James D. Burnham RVT, $415,000.

Edythe A. Corsino, personal rep. of the Estate of Guy A. Morin, sold property at 491 Chapel St., Lee, to HLP Realty Holdings LLC, $120,000.

Lorraine Elling sold property at 846 East St., Lee, to Mark Connolly, $184,500.

Adams Community Bank sold property at 105 St. James Ave., Lee, to Beth A. Archey, $250,000.

LENOX

Kenneth E. and Carol G. Kelly sold property at 74 King William Road, Lenox, to Philip D. and Sharon A. Cooper, $775,000.

Amy S. Lehman, trustee of the Amy S. Lehman RVT, sold property at 12 Stone Ledge Road, Lenox, to Marc A. and Julie A. Degrigoli, $199,000.

Linda M. Shafiroff, trustee of the Blackwater RT, sold property at 100 Housatonic St., Lenox, to Francine Shelhamer, $260,000.

Charles Brenner sold property at 10A Muirfield Drive, Unit 10A, Lenox, to John Curtis, trustee of the Miriam D. Messing Curtin RVT, $860,000.

Lee Bank, trustee of the John H. Sporck Jr. Revocable Living Trust, sold property at 210 West St.,

Lenox, to Ramon Soto, trustee of the Soto Family Nominee RT, $661,000.

Pieter Ruig and Carla Lewis-Ruig sold property at 203 Walker St., Lenox, to Daniel J. Feldman and Justine A. Hebert, $980,000.

James Messina Jr. sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Unit D10, Lenox, to Douglas C. Robinson, Denise Arseneau Robinson, Melissa R. Kearney, and Lauren R. Tierney, trustees of the Robinson NT, $201,000.

Paul J. Bruzzi and Jessica N. Nyulassy sold property at 75 Sherwood Drive, Lenox, to Joseph Louis Simonson and Saruda Sukprasert Simonson, $768,000.

Linda M. Shafiroff, trustee of the Blackwater RT, sold property at 6 Hynes St., Lenox, to Sawyer M. Stewart, $267,000.

Frank Hughes IV sold property at 57 Under Mountain Road, Lenox, to Terri Joan Kristalsky, $1,050,000.

Robert K. and Linda E. George sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Unit A13, Lenox, to Stephen M. Curley, $95,000.

MONTEREY

James C. Burns sold property at 26 Seven Arts Road aka 26 Seven Arts Lane, Monterey, to Elizabeth Marino, $40,000.

Fairview Hospital sold property at Mount Hunger Road, Monterey, to Berkshire Natural Resources Council Inc., $750,000.

Sandra M. Farnham, trustee of Sandra M. Farnham Nominee Trust, sold property at Mount Hunger Road, Monterey, to Berkshire Natural Resources Council Inc., $820,000.

Donna Buono, individually, and Linda E. Laqueur, trustee of Laqueur Family Nominee Trust, sold property at 94 Brett Road, Monterey, to Steven Good Man, aka Steven R. Goodman, $375,000.

MOUNT WASHINGTON

Frank A. Romano sold property at Plantain Pond Road, Mount Washington, to Vincenzo A. Romano, $260,000.

Edward Kultgen sold property at Garrett Farms Road, Mount Washington, to Peter Kultgen, Katherine Elizabeth Kultgen and Claire Kultgen McDonald, $15,543.33.

NEW MARLBOROUGH

Dina J. Schwartz, trustee of Ronald J. Rosen Revocable Trust, sold property at 109 Underwood Road, New Marlborough, to Paul Casteleiro and Darcy Casteleiro, $599,900.

Michael J. Peretti and Geoffrey House sold property at Mill River Great Barrington Road, New Marlborough, to SFCVR LLC, $195,000.

Elizabeth J. Quigley, trustee of S&G Real Estate Trust, sold property at 65 Adsit Crosby Road, New Marlborough, to Frances Elizabeth Steinert, $1,400,000.

NORTH ADAMS

Cady Street LLC sold property at 466 Union St., North Adams, to Patricia A. Boudreau-Ryan, $130,000.

Aaron A. and Shawn P. Danis sold property at 22 Demond Ave., North Adams, to Dylan Lapinski,

$280,000.

Kondaur Capital Real Property LLC sold property at 74 Washington Ave., North Adams, to Daniel Henrique and Caroline Costa Franco, $149,900.

Lynn M. Pinsonneault, James A. Randall Jr. and Anthony E. Randall sold property at 656 Reservoir Road and Reservoir Road, North Adams, to Mitchell John Bressett, trustee of the 656 Reservoir Road Realty Trust, $115,000.

James M. Pedro, trustee of the 18 Whitcomb Hill Road Trust, sold property at 455 State St., North Adams, to Henry G. Stanley, $70,000.

Pine Cobble Associates Inc. sold property at Curran Highway, North Adams, to Langenback Properties LLC, $35,000.

Raymond G. Pilling sold property at 295 West Main St., North Adams, to Luis J. Beveraggi and Joshua Capella, $85,000.

Edwin L. and Wendy S. Smith sold property at 227 Houghton St., North Adams, to Front Line Solutions LLC, $55,000.

Christine Liebert sold property at 151 Prospect St., North Adams, to Travis Daniel McKelvey, $149,000.

Mary K. Sutherland, Joan Margaret Canty, Douglas Keefe Sutherland, Stuart Allen Sutherland Jr., and Mary Kate Sutherland, formerly known as Mary Kate Supple, sold property at 51 Notch Road, North Adams, to Stephan and Toni D. Boyle, $280,000.

OTIS

Barry A. Smith and Deirdre A. Fedele formerly known as Deirdre A. Smith sold property at Route 23, Otis, to Anthony Shannon and Maura Folmer, $22,500. Bethany Ferraro, individually and as personal rep. of the Estate of Richard Bruce Ferraro and Ryan Ferraro, sold property at 141 Rainbow Road, Otis, to Bethany Ferraro, $110,500.

Kenneth P. Ferris, trustee of the Tamarack Cottage NT, sold property at 356 Pine Road, Otis, to Mark B. and Elizabeth A. Trapani, $390,000.

Patricia A. Terranova sold property at 32 North Main Road, Otis, to Jason R. and Kristen E. Dagruel, $235,000.

Pyenson Realty Corp., formerly known as Otis Poultry Farm Inc., sold property at Route 8 and Ed Jones Road, Otis, to David H. and Suzanne R. Schweitzer, $11,000.

PERU

Connor Pularo sold property at Strong Road, Peru, to Lydia McKnight and Curran Pularo, $19,240. Derek Strzepa sold property at Andes Road, Peru, to Adam B. David and Peter Zwinski, $55,000.

Cara J. Scarpa sold property at Lakeview Road, Peru, to Katie Anne Galt, $2,000.

Paul J. Scarpa and Jennifer L. Vigeant sold property at 15 Lakeview Road, Peru, to Susan Masino and David Galt, $11,000.

PITTSFIELD

Dominic Kirchner II and Michael A. Kirchner sold property at 12

Third St., Pittsfield, to T & D Rental Properties Inc., $132,500.

Allen and Aaron Annecharico, personal reps. of the Estate of Michael C. Annecharico, sold property at 71 Dewey Ave., Pittsfield, to Evelyn and Jacob Kerswell, $62,200.

Central Berkshire Land Development LLC sold property at Churchill Street, Pittsfield, to Katelyn Furlon and Matthew Fenwick, $49,900.

Carol A. Powers, trustee of the Lausier Family Irrevocable Trust of 2011, sold property at 249 Benedict Road, Pittsfield, to Carol A. Powers, $240,000.

Pittsfield Properties Group LLC sold property at 351 West St., Pittsfield, to Nav Holdings LLC, $171,000.

U.S. Bank N.A., trustee, and Timothy J. Rocca sold property at 44 Meleca Ave., Pittsfield, to H1 Coastal LLC, $191,000. Terravet III VBF Master LLC sold property at 730½ Crane Ave., Pittsfield, to Keeper-Pittsfield LLC, $1,180,000.

Jose L. Saldana sold property at 75 Appleton Ave., Pittsfield, to Ingrid Lewis, $370,000.

Patricia A. and Paul C. Bock, trustees of the Patricia A. Bock RVT, sold property at 3 County Court, Pittsfield, to Todd M. and Susan B. Canning, $525,000.

TJLR Onota LLC sold property at 48-50 South John St., Pittsfield, to Jose L. and Jaris B. Bueno, $250,000.

Bartola I. Orellana sold property at 328 Wahconah St., Pittsfield, to Lourdes C. Cruz Orellana, $125,000.

Joseph H. and Christiane Gerard, trustees of the Gerard Family NT, sold property at 75 Alfred Drive, Pittsfield, to Patricia Casey Riley, $300,000.

Amanda J. Cozzaglio sold property at 57 Egremont Ave., Pittsfield, to Paul Tara Postens Schwartz, $265,500.

Stephanie J.M. Filiault, personal rep. of the Estate of Frank Edward Miller Jr., sold property at 36 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, to Hope L. Dillard, $162,700.

Raymond H. and Patricia M. Scheufler sold property at 94 Commonwealth Ave., Pittsfield, to Ann Makowski, $347,000.

Brian J. Lee and Jodi L. Lee, formerly known as Jodi L. Martin, sold property at 31 Santa Maria Place, Pittsfield, to Malila Siv, $115,000.

Richard A. Kluth sold property at 273 Springside Ave., Pittsfield, to Logan Eugene Woodward, $245,000.

Janice Crossley and Robert Mole, personal reps. of the Estate of Judith A. Callahan; and Paul Callahan and Shena Callahan, now known as Shena L. Cachat, sold property at 10 Cummings Ave., Pittsfield, to Michael J. and Shena L. Cachat, $235,000.

James P. Maselan, trustee of the Michael Reyes Irrevocable Trust, sold property at 88 Meadowview Drive, Pittsfield, to Bonnie McCabe, $208,000.

Austin R. Nunn and Heather L. Lusignan sold property at 28 Bryant St., Pittsfield, to Harry Chandler, Judith Gelpi-Chandler and Jason M. Shepard, $290,000.

Michael J. Dellert and Sandra Dellert, formerly known as Sandra D. Levardi, sold property at 32 Overlook Road, Pittsfield, to Sandra Dellert, $57,819.

Katiele C. Braga sold property at 27 Columbus Ave., Pittsfield, to Tony Henriquez, $152,000.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB, trustee, sold property at 28 Anita Drive, Pittsfield, to Eric G. McIntosh, $205,000.

Catherine K. Squires sold property at 76 McArthur St., Pittsfield, to Jessica Barber and John A. McNulty III, $184,000.

C & Z Food Service Inc. sold property at 79-81 Cherry St., Pittsfield, to Huajie Zhu, $63,000.

Pittsfield Properties Group LLC sold property at 61 Orchard St., Pittsfield, to Miron J. and Kimberly G. Kaczala, $164,000.

Liliana C. Gomez sold property at 152 Allengate Ave., Pittsfield, to Zachary M. and Mordecai J. Waegall, $225,000.

David E. Pugh, personal rep. of the Estate of Donna Helen Patrie, sold property at 28 Hopewell Drive, Pittsfield, to Ebenezer Odom Baafi and Felicity Grace Andrus, $265,000.

William A. Ahlen sold property at 5 Ring St., Pittsfield, to Jorge L. Heredia Jr. and Sarah Lampro, $251,000.

Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC and Shawn W. Bertulli sold property at 252 Wahconah St., Pittsfield, to Lakeview Loan Servicing LLC, $97,044.89.

HLP Realty Holdings LLC sold property at 20 Oxford St., Pittsfield, to Santos Mejia and Nancy Constanza-Donis, $218,000.

Chu Jose Perez-Martinez, aka Chu Jose Perez, sold property at 51 McArthur St., Pittsfield, to Alejandro Mauricio Romero, $212,000.

Daniel Joseph Landry and Corrina Landry, formerly known as Corrina Marie Hill, sold property at 2 Atlantic Ave., Pittsfield, to Krystal L. Black, $160,000.

Holly Houldsworth-Ketchum sold property at 1160 Churchill St., Pittsfield, to Cindy Borden, $237,000.

Gerard and Regina Giroux sold property at 252 Barker Road, Pittsfield, to Carleen M. Kristensen, $387,000.

Corinne E. Hagan and Pamela A. Ptak, formerly known as Pamela A. Hanna, sold property at 16 Alba Ave., Pittsfield, to Jennifer E. Brennan, $183,334.

Joshua C. Hochberg sold property at 81 Dartmouth St., Unit 305, Pittsfield, to Claudia C. and Max I. Cage, $190,000. Eugene C. and Victoria J. Hayford sold property at 201-203 Brown St., Pittsfield, to Paul Kraft, $205,000.

Carol Goodman Kaufman, Liza Burns, Seth Kaufman, Avi Kaufman, Elana Kaufman Dean, Congregation Beth Israel of Worcester, Kermit S. Goodman, Claire Lipton Zimmers aka Claire Lipton Katz, Nathania E. Lipton, and Stephanie Lipton Lowell aka Stephanie Lipton, trustees of the Leon Lipton RVT, sold properties at Barker Road and Gamwell Avenue, Pittsfield, to City of Pittsfield, $400,000.

Helga K. Pierce sold property at 261 Peck’s Road, Pittsfield, to Chandra Y. Brodeur, $35,000.

Shaun G. Sottile sold property at 27 Clinton Ave., Pittsfield, to Domenic N. Bruno and Alexis Demos, $255,000.

Richard Allen Reynolds sold property at 47 Atwood Ave., Pittsfield, to Sean Peich, $191,000.

Julia A. Whitcomb sold property at 200 Cadwell Road, Pittsfield, to Andrew Francis Newton, $150,000.

Peter A. Dus sold property at 260 Columbus Ave., Pittsfield, to 555 East Street Realty LLC, $150,000.

David A. and Joyce M. Coco sold property at 28 Clinton Ave., Pittsfield, to 28 Clinton Ave LLC, $410,000.

SANDISFIELD

Franklin Woods Investments LLC sold property at Cold Spring Road, Sandisfield, to Philana Rowell, $59,900.

Bonnie L. O’Brien, individually; Bonnie L. O’Brien, administratrix of the Estate of Robert H. O’Brien; Christina O’Brien, Patrick O’Brien and Robert O’Brien Jr. sold property at 6 South Beech Plain Road, Sandisfield, to Ryle W. O’Brien, $270,000.

SAVOY

John H. Staelens Jr. sold property at 358 Loop Road, Savoy, to Tristan Alexander Wroldson Miller, $130,000.

Edward J. Rysz, personal rep. of the Estate of Dorothy E. Rysz, sold property at Scott Road, Savoy, to Robin J. and Kurentsa O. Thompson, $25,000.

SHEFFIELD

Milton C. Weiler III and Micheline Weiler, John D. Lefler, and Judy R. Lefler sold property at 206 East Main St., Sheffield, to HLP Realty Holdings LLC, $265,000.

Edward J. Gulotta and Norma R. Gulotta sold property at 301 Miller Ave., Sheffield, to Little Johnny Mountain LLC, $203,000.

Brent L. Getchell sold property at 184 Silver St., Sheffield, to Jordan Kaye and Samantha Kaye, $515,000.

Samuel G. Stolzar and Tara L. Stolzar sold property at 592 Polikoff Road, Sheffield, to Elisa K. Jones, $395,000.

Amanda E. Wheeler-Ekster, trustee of Janet Elizabeth Chase Nominee Realty Trust, sold property at 371 Berkshire School Road, Sheffield, to Rachel Cunningham, $560,000.

STOCKBRIDGE

Sharon Loraine Weiss sold property at 41 Main St., Unit 8, Stockbridge, to Virginia S. and John C. Hecker, $140,000.

Jeffory L. Wheeler sold property at 6 Averic Road, Stockbridge, to Susan R. Aiken, $225,000.

Kristen J. Kinsella, individually and as personal rep. of the Estate of Raymond W. Kinsella and personal rep. of the Estate of Beverly E. Kinsella, and Karyn R. Kinsella sold property at 17 Cherry Hill Road & Cherry Hill Road, Stockbridge, to James D. Obanhein, $65,000.

TYRINGHAM

Dean E. Wells sold property at Goose Pond Road, Tyringham, to Ferm & Burtt LLC, $140,000.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE

Katherine Anna Williams and Kristen Tenney Williams sold property at 52 Great Barrington Road, West Stockbridge, to HGM Real Estate LLC, $385,000. Sharman I. Dubos and Michael C. Dubos

Sr. sold property at 0 West Center Road, West Stockbridge, to Kenneth C. Benson and Anna K. Benson, $55,000.

WILLIAMSTOWN

Karen E. Kowitz sold property at 101 Petersburg Road, Williamtown, to Bridget M. Rigas, $413,000.

Providencia Medina sold property at 332 North St., Williamstown, to Katarina Otero, $310,000.

Elizabeth R. Costley sold property at 134 Bridges Road, Williamstown, to Deborah C. Gallagher, $200,000.

160 Water LLC sold property at 160 Water St, Unit 20, Williamstown, to Richard A. Colvin and Helen A. Raynham, $885,000. John C. Gamble sold property at 24 Henderson Road, Williamstown, to Michael Steven and Steven Calcagno, $309,000.

WINDSOR

Ingrid Lewis sold property at 1600 North St., Windsor and Cheshire, to Laurie Miles, $415,000.

William V. and Terri L. Heath sold property at Sawmill Road, Windsor, to Christopher Robare, $69,000.

Anthony, Bettina, John A., Catherine D., Richard A., and Maria E. Salatino sold property at 0 Flintstone Road, Windsor, to Tucker Sheran, $30,000.

Sandra L. Lavoie sold property at 1952 Old Route 9, Windsor, to Kevin and Susan Harper, $96,000.

FT — Family Trust

LLC — Limited Partnership

LT — Life Trust

NT — Nominee Trust

RET — Real Estate Trust

RT — Realty Trust

RVT — Revocable Trust

The real estate transactions are provided by the Middle Berkshire, North Berkshire and South Berkshire Registry of Deeds

People in the Berkshires

PITTSFIELD — André Lynch and Julia Marko have been elected to three-year terms on Roots Rising’s board of directors. Roots Rising is an nonprofit organization that empowers youth and builds community through food and farming.

Lynch is the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Berkshire Arts and Technology

(BART) Charter Public School in Adams. He holds a master’s of education degree in educational leadership, with an emphasis on higher education. He previously served as associate dean for equity and inclusion at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y.

Marko has been a volunteer with Roots Rising for several years, working on multiple committees. She is currently the director of finance and operations at BART, and previously worked in the business office of the Pittsfield Public Schools. A first generation college student and a lifelong learner, Marko holds a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology and museum studies from Hampshire College and an MBA from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

DALTON — Scott C. Little, a financial adviser and vice president at Berkshire Money Management, has earned the designation of behavioral financial adviser.

Behavioral financial advisers combine financial knowledge with psychology and neuroscience to increase their ability to coach clients in making rational, values-based decisions.

The BFA program was developed by Think 2 Perform, a Minneapolis-based business management consultant. To earn the certification, advisers must complete two multipart courses on behavioral finance, pass an online proctored exam, and complete 20 hours of continuing education to renew their status every two years.

Little is also a certified elder planning specialist and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

PITTSFIELD — Louise Lydon has been named vice president of institutional advancement at Berkshire Community College.

Lydon will serve as the college’s chief advancement officer, advising BCC President Ellen Kennedy on the management and operation of alumni relations and donor relations.

Other responsibilities include developing, executing and evaluating donor engagement. This includes annual giving, corporate and foundation relations, legacy giving, donor and alumni relations, research and prospect management, advancement services, donor cultivation, stewardship and communications/marketing.

Lydon has spent more than 20 years in higher education advancement roles, working at Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania; George Washington University; and, most recently, as the assistant dean for law advancement at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. At Catholic University, Lydon partnered with university leadership in engaging donors to solicit multimillion-dollar gifts and spearheaded a $36 million comprehensive campaign for the law school. A first-generation college graduate,

Lydon earned a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hill University. She is passionate about providing educational opportunities to students of all backgrounds and experiences. She lives with her husband in Cheshire.

NORTH ADAMS — Christine Meiklejohn, the director of ABI/MFP residential services at Berkshire Family & Individual Resources, was awarded the February 2023 Workforce Hero Award by the Provider’s Council.

The Providers’ Council is a statewide association of primarily nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide human services, health, education and vocational support to residents of the commonwealth. With 220 members, it is the largest human services association in Massachusetts.

“My desire to work with people goes back as far as I can remember. When I was in school, I volunteered in programs for at-risk youth — this is where I got my first taste of what helping people could do,” Meiklejohn said in a news release.

“It did not take long to realize that even a few minutes of attention to someone could change the entire trajectory of their future. I knew back then human services would be for me.”

LEE — Cheryl Martin has joined Lee Bank as the senior vice president of consumer banking. She is based out of the bank’s main office at 75 Park St. in Lee.

Martin was previously employed at Berkshire Bank, where she most recently served as the senior vice president of bank operations.

Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and accounting and an MBA from Bentley University. She has served on the board of the local Dollars for Scholars chapter.

A lifelong Berkshire County resident, Martin lives in Lenox.

GREAT BARRINGTON —

Leigh Davis has been appointed communications and community engagement director for Construct, South Berkshires’ leading affordable housing provider.

Davis has been instrumental in creating real, tangible change in the Southern Berkshires through her position as Construct’s development director as well as her broader advocacy for housing opportunity, according to a news release. At Construct, she was instrumental in acquiring Windflower Inn as a more flexible workforce housing option.

A member of the Great Barrington Select Board, Davis moved to the Southern Berkshires from Ireland in 2009 and has been active as a volunteer for area organizations.

She has also worked in marketing, journalism, housing development and local government roles for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, The Berkshire Eagle, the Eagle Mill redevelopment project and the town of Great Barrington. She has a background in film and television as a studio film editor in Los Angeles and a tenured film professor in Ireland.

LEE — Mindy Brown has been promoted to branch manager of Greylock Federal Credit Union’s branch in Lee.

The position became available when her predecessor, Jennifer O’Neil, was promoted to vice president, market

manager.

Brown will oversee all activities for the Lee branch and will play a pivotal role in the renovations of the office’s future site on Park Street.

She has been with Greylock for 22 years, last serving as Lee’s assistant branch manager. Brown and her husband, Ken, live in Stephentown, N.Y.

PITTSFIELD — Mark Cohn has been appointed development officer of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.

Cohn will be responsible for working in partnership with the executive director, the board of directors, and the development committee to plan and implement the federation’s annual campaign and major gifts fundraising effort.

Cohn, an ordained reform rabbi, previously served as rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was honored with the title of rabbi emeritus upon concluding his service. He has also served as the assistant rabbi of Congregation Schaarai Zedek in Tampa, Fla.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Cohn holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA and a master’s degree in history from Lehigh University. In 1998, he received his rabbinic ordination through Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion having studied in Jerusalem and Cincinnati..

In 2022, Cohn married Rabbi Amy Walik, who serves as the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Springfield.

ADAMS —Dr. Guity Valizadeh, a board certified primary care physician, has been appointed to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center and the provider staff of Adams Internists of BMC. Valizadeh came to the Berkshires from East

Boston Neighborhood Health Center, and previously provided care at the Veterans Administration in Quincy, Boston Medical Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and other health care centers in the Boston area. Her clinical interests include preventative care. She is board certified in internal medicine and received her medical degree from Univeriste libre de Bruxelles Faculte de Medecine in Belgium. Valizdeh completed her residency in internal medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton.

PITTSFIELD — Nicholas Kirchner, Guin Griswold and Lee Rudin will make up the management team at Molari Employment and HealthCare Services, according to President and CEO Gail Molari.

Together the trio have over 85 years of combined experience in the field, Molari said.

Kirchner will serve as COO/CFO, making him responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations as well as the financial aspects of the business community.

Griswold will serve as director of employment services, overseeing Molari’s staffing division, which specializes in providing temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire staffing solutions to clients throughout the Berkshire County region.

Rudin, a registered nurse, will serve as director of health care services leading Molari’s health care division, providing oversight and direction of the company’s caregivers to ensure the highest level of care for clients.

Little

Lynch

Marko

Lydon

Griswold

Meiklejohn

Martin Davis Brown

Cohn

Valizadeh

Kirchner

Rudin

PEOPLE, Page 23

GREAT BARRINGTON — Rania Markham, a care coordinator for CHP Family Services, was recently named a “Rising Star” by the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce for receiving the organization’s Women in Leadership Award.

Markham, a passionate advocate for families of children with disabilities, was among 111 women who were nominated for the award, which she received at the chamber’s first Women in Leadership luncheon.

She leads a weekly online special needs support group for parents and caregivers, and organizes activities and playgroups for families of children with disabilities. She has also developed “IEP 101,” an online training for parents navigating special education programs in public schools.

Markham is completing her master’s degree in social work at Simmons University and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Westfield State University. She has worked for CHP for the past 10 years, assisting family services clients at risk of homelessness and food insecurity. Her son Zachary was diagnosed with autism in 2019.

BENNINGTON, VT. — Physician Assistant Emily Winans D’Amario has joined Southwestern Vermont Medical Center ExpressCare and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians.

D’Amario earned her master’s degree in physician assistant studies from LeMoyne College in New York. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Union College in New York. She is certified by the National Committee on Certification of Physician Assistants.

Most recently, D’Amario has worked as a physician assistant at Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center’s EmUrgentCare and as a patient care technician at St. Peter’s Hospital, also in Albany.

WILLIAMSTOWN — Mike Minnich , John Kelly and Jarod Serwecki have joined Jack Miller Contractors as senior carpenter, carpenter and assistant carpenter, respectively.

Minnich has more than a decade’s worth of experience with a small sawmill building modified pole barns, post-and-beam homes and custom projects. He also spent seven years working with a crew of Danish master carpenters building imported zero-energy Trelleborg homes.

Kelly has been working in the carpentry trade for more than 17 years on new construction and remodels. Promoted from team carpenter to supervisor at B&B Micro Manufacturing in Adams, he worked in collaboration with its team to build 1,000-plus tiny homes. He also served as project manager at Woodland Properties. He received his real estate license in 2016 and his construction supervisor license in 2018.

Hired as a carpenter apprentice, Serwecki has been with JMC since October 2022. While not a complete novice to woodworking, he is new to construction.

GREAT BARRINGTON — Courtney Maxwell has joined Community Access to the Arts as program associate.

CATA has dramatically expanded programs serving people with disabilities and this new staff position will help the organization deepen community partnerships and grow inclusive arts workshops and performances, giving people with disabilities across the Berkshires and Columbia County more opportunities to explore their talents and express themselves creatively.

Maxwell is an artist, art educator and occupational therapist who has worked at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art as a gallery art teacher and as an occupational therapist at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Vermont. She holds a graduate degree in art education from Lesley University in Cambridge, and a graduate degree in occupational therapy from Kean University in Union, N.J.

PITTSFIELD — Sumant Pustake has been promoted to EVP, chief transformation and strategy officer at Berkshire Bank.

A veteran of the banking industry, Pustake has played a critical role developing and overseeing the implementation of Berkshire’s Exciting Strategic Transformation program, according to bank president and COO Sean Gray.

He will lead Berkshire’s transformation initiatives and provides essential support to solve large, complex challenges and drive high company performance. He works closely with senior management to accelerate growth, enable innovation, and meet the organization’s short and longterm objectives.

Pustake previously oversaw Berkshire’s corporate development efforts, where he served as the development

leader and helped define and realize the vision and growth strategy. Prior to joining Berkshire Bank, he served as vice president, head of corporate credit for Commerce Bank and Trust. Pustake holds a master of business administration from the Yale School of Management, a master of finance from Clark University, and a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from the University of Pune.

PITTSFIELD — Richard Wilson has been appointed senior vice president of administration and fi nance at the Brien Center, replacing Jeffrey Pringle, who has retired from the agency.

Wilson has over 25 years of experience in the non-profit sector, with a focus on improving systems and financial sustainability, according to Brien Center president and CEO Christine MacBeth.

He has previously served and consulted in various executive leadership roles for other nonprofits, including the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services, Sound Community Services Inc., Citizen Advocates Inc., Yale University, New York University and New York Medical College.

Wilson holds a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration from New York University and a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in nonprofit finance from New York Medical College.

PITTSFIELD — Devan Gardner has been promoted to assistant vice president, lending systems and project manager at Greylock Federal Credit Union.

In his new role, Gardner will serve as project manager, supporting lending initiatives and new facility development. He will act as primary liaison between Greylock departments,

IT and vendors. He is also a certified credit union financial counselor with Greylock, which means he may provide financial coaching on a variety of topics from budgeting to navigating financial hardship.

Gardner, who lives in Pittsfield, joined the credit union in 2013 and most recently served as Greylock’s lending system and project manager. He is currently earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and project management from Southern New Hampshire University.

GREAT BARRINGTON — Michelle R. Sisk has joined the nutrition team at CHP Berkshires.

In her new role, Sisk will work primarily as a culinary nutritionist with the CHP Nutrition Club, which provides nutrition services to patients of Berkshire Fallon Health Collaborative (MassHealth). She will counsel patients mainly through telehealth, and will also lead culinary nutrition and education programs.

A graduate of Marymount College of Fordham University, Sisk holds a bachelor of science degree in nutrition, and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital. She also earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Williams College, and she holds a certification in adult weight management.

Sisk is also a nutritional counselor at Millbrook School in Millbrook, N.Y. and Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. She also designed and taught an elementary school nutrition curriculum at Salisbury Central School in Lakeville, and she has provided private in-home nutritional counseling to patients. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Connecticut Dietetic Association.

TONY DOBROWOLSKI, Editor 413-496-6224 tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT

KATE TEUTSCH, Director of Ad Services 413-496-6324 kteutsch@berkshireeagle.com

CHERYL GAJEWSKI, Director of Ad Sales 413-841-6789, 413-496-6330 cmcclusky@berkshireeagle.com

Share your news with the Berkshire Business Journal. If you have a company promotion, a new business or a new venture, let the Berkshires know about it. Remember the 5 W’s and that briefer is better. Email text and photos to BBJ@newenglandnewspapers.com.

Provide your expertise in the Berkshire Business Journal. Do you have the answer to a persistent question about business and the Berkshires? Do you have ideas and suggestions on how our business community can grow?

If you have a comment to make about doing business in the Berkshires or if you’re looking to raise an issue with the business community, this is the venue for that. We welcome letters up to 300 words and commentary up to 600 words. Send these to Tony Dobrowolski at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com.

Berkshire Business Journal is published monthly by New England Newspapers Inc., 75 S. Church St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Periodicals postage paid at Pittsfield, MA 01201.

Berkshire Business Journal is delivered free to businesses in Berkshire County via third class mail. Additional distribution is made via dropoff at select area newsstands. The publisher reserves the right to edit, reject or cancel any advertisement at any time. Only publication of an advertisement shall constitute final acceptance of an advertiser’s order. All contents are copyrighted by New England Newspapers Inc.

Pustake

The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank + Love Us and Leave Us

Leader of the Pack

For Renee DeRagon, puppy love isn’t about romance – it ’s all about business Since opening Love Us and Leave Us in 2014, Renee’s Pittsfield-based doggie daycare and boarding facility has become so Paw-pular that she decided to add to her pack with a second location in Lee. So, when look ing for a little scratch to run with her expansion plan, she reached out to business’ best friend, The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank We’ve been lending a paw to local businesses for 130+ years and were happy to give this pack leader the push she needed. We always love a good snuggle with our fur babies, but nothing warms us more than helping local businesses unleash their potential!

For help leading you to your financial future, contac t us today at 413-447-7304.

Renee DeRagon

O wner, Love Us and Leave Us