Berkshire Business Journal
Groomed for success
Brian and Tyler Fairbank share the responsibilities of the Fairbank Group, including Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock. As business partners, they don’t often disagree, Brian says, but when they do, they talk it out.
Starting at Jiminy Peak, Fairbank Group leaders ventured down many trails
By Jane K aufman
HANCOCK — Known as the mountain man, Brian Fairbank has built a destination of Jiminy Peak, fueling a small city and helping shape Berkshire County.
Now, at 78, he’s on the job every day at Jiminy Peak with his beloved shih tzu, Sophie. He also chairs the Fairbank Group, where his son, Tyler Fairbank, is CEO.
On Sept. 19, the Fairbank Group was honored by 1Berkshire with its 2024 Putting the Berkshires on the Map award for the work father and son have done in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.
Decades after his children finished school, Brian is serving on the board of Berk12, weighing in on the next big changes in public education. He chairs the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, hav-
ing been inducted in 2022. He also serves on the board of Berkshire Natural Resources Council, following his mentor Fred Crane Jr., who founded that organization.
And this spring he presided over a contentious town meeting as Hancock’s moderator, the most divisive he can recall in his 40-odd years at that helm.
Since its inception in 2013, the Fairbank Group has grown, overseeing six ventures — Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort; Cranmore Mountain Resort North Conway; Bromley Vermont’s Sun Mountain; Snowgun Technologies; EOS Ventures, a renewable energy company; and Bullwheel Productions, offering online training for ski resorts.
The Fairbank Group’s homepage states its mission simply: “Enhancing lives, building sustainable futures.”
At work, Brian and Tyler don’t
often disagree. Perhaps that’s because their mission is finely tuned and their vision so closely aligned. When father and son do differ, they talk it out.
“If you’re not busting on somebody, there’s a storm brewing,” Brian says. “And that’s in any relationship. If everything gets quiet, there better be some talking.”
ABOUT TYLER FAIRBANK
Tyler, 55, also has a dog he brings to work, a goldendoodle named Teddy. He has an easy smile, a lower speaking voice, a larger frame and presence than his father. That might play to his affinity for performing with his rocking blues band T-Bone Daddy.
Gigs are on hold following a health crisis in 2017, when he experienced double vision at his son’s college graduation, then symptoms
that appeared to indicate a stroke. He later learned he had a rare malformation in his brain.
At first, surgery wasn’t thought to be an option, but he underwent a craniotomy, an operation lasting more than eight hours at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Since then, he’s worked hard to regain his path to health — relearning how to walk, talk and play guitar. Along the way, he agreed to share his story in a four-minute documentary for the Angioma Alliance, where he serves on the board. Tyler says he’s an “SOB,” a son of the Berkshires. Born at Pittsfield General Hospital, he attended Hancock Elementary School and graduated from Mount Greylock Regional High School, also spending time at Killington Mountain School in Vermont, where he took lessons from
BEN GARVER
House of worship to housing
“It all starts with the bones. If the property has good bones, then you can build on that,” Steve Seltzer said. “I look for something that could be interesting and has a really nice aesthetic to it.”
Former church transformed into multifamily home
By C laire O’Callahan
LEE — Every week for the last five years, Steve Seltzer and Misha Saradoff would pick up lunch from the Starving Artist Creperie and Cafe — two spicy Reuben crepes — and hike up to the old Methodist church on High Street. Inside, they’d sit on overturned milk crates and sketch their vision for the building around them on a crumpled napkin.
Seltzer, 69, bought the property for
$190,000 in 2019. Built as a Methodist church in the early 1900s, the church was more recently home to the Greater Grace Church of God, an offshoot of ”The Bible Speaks.”
At first, the property seemed destined to follow the path of other vacant churches scattered through Berkshire County — given a second life by local developers who buy them up and convert what was once sanctuaries into apartments. But in this case, the town’s zoning said no.
Instead, the church’s newest iteration is a multifamily home.
Five years and nearly a million dollars worth of renovations later, the 6,500-square-foot converted church is listed on the market for $1,495,000.
The building, which Seltzer had originally hoped would house seven apartments conveniently located near Lee’s downtown, is now home to two very large units.
Simply put, the town’s zoning bylaw would permit only four, which
did not make financial sense for him. Seltzer previously listed it in 2022 and 2023 for $2.5 million and $1.7 million. This is the first time the building has been listed since renovation on the main unit was completed three months ago.
These kinds of zoning laws are often attached to buildings in neighborhoods where churches sit vacant and the available housing inventory is low. Those who have had success
BEN GARVER
LEE CHURCH, Page 3
Lee church
both sides to find solutions to the
velopment puzzle.
‘A HOUSE OF GOD’
The church is Seltzer’s most intensive renovation project. He said it’s also his last.
A yoga therapist by trade, Seltzer began renovating houses over two decades ago. His first was in Boston. Since then, he’s renovated nine houses, seven of them in the Berkshires.
“It all starts with the bones. If the property has good bones, then you can build on that,” Seltzer said. “I look for something that could be interesting and has a really nice aesthetic to it.”
When Seltzer first stepped inside the church five years ago, he was enthralled by the vaulted ceiling and sharp, geometric roof lines.
“There’s just something about the feeling of walking into a space that was used as a house of God and living in that space,” Seltzer said. “I’m not a super religious person, but there’s just this sense walking into the space that there’s something that’s bigger than the space itself inside of it.”
With the profit he made from selling his Pittsfield property, Seltzer purchased the church.
Seltzer enlisted his friend and longtime architect Misha Saradoff, and the two began brainstorming. Once they had a loose vision for the space, Seltzer took the remaining money from the Pittsfield property and some savings, and started renovating.
Steve Seltzer is a yoga therapist by trade. He started renovating and flipping houses when he retired — he doesn’t like to sit idle, he said.
AN OBVIOUS SOLUTION
Originally, Seltzer planned to convert the church into seven apartments, with an additional three units in the backyard.
He could point to similar projects across the county. Local developer David Carver has renovated several churches over the past 10 years, including churches in Williamstown, North Adams and Pittsfield.
“[Churches] represent great architecture that is a form of public art. We don’t seem to design and build that way anymore, which makes preserving them even more important,” Carver wrote in an email to The Eagle. He added, “They are also important for the history of the community they represent.”
In 2017, Carver purchased the vacant St. Mary the Morning Star four-building complex in Pittsfield for $500,000. Funding for the project hit a few snags, but with community support, the $8 million renovation concluded in 2020 and the 29 market rate apartments hit the rental market in January 2021.
The apartments, which typi-
“There’s just something about the feeling of walking into a space that was used as a house of God and living in that space,” Steve Seltzer said. Seltzer bought the old Methodist church on High Street in Lee for $190,000 in 2019. Now, he is trying to sell it as a duplex for $1,495,000.
cally rent from $1,800 to $1,900 a month depending on size, are in high demand and usually rented to capacity, Carver said.
For Seltzer, converting the Lee church into apartments seemed like an obvious solution to his questions about how to best fill the space.
The building is conveniently located in walking distance to downtown and tenants would have access to the bus, which stops in Lee. The supermarket is just a four-minute drive or 10-minute bus ride away.
But apartments weren’t in the cards. At least not 10 of them.
The residential zoning district where the church is lo-
cated is designed for single- or two-family homes. Property owners can apply for a special permit to build more units, up to four, said Buck Donovan, chair of the Lee Planning Board. But to qualify, the property must be an acre or larger.
Seltzer’s property is 0.71 acres.
“We try every angle for people to reuse old properties. We get very creative,” Donovan said. “It was above and beyond what could have been worked around.”
Carver told The Eagle that he also faced a series of zoning hurdles with each of his church projects. Like the Lee church, the churches Carver renovated
were located in residential areas — a vestige of their history as monoethnic neighborhood churches, Carver said.
That makes zoning for multiple units challenging, but Carver said through working closely with the town he was able to secure the special permits and zoning variances needed to move forward with the projects.
“Housing is a good fit because there is a strong need and those churches are often in or near residential areas,” he said in the email. “Also, designed correctly some very interesting housing can be created.”
Donovan said Seltzer could
PHOTOS BY BEN GARVER
LEE CHURCH, Page 4
have potentially received a special permit for four apartments, despite the lot size disparity. But Seltzer didn’t apply — four apartments wouldn’t recoup the additional costs that come with a project that surpasses a duplex, such as a required sprinkler system.
“I was extremely disappointed,” Seltzer said. “I wasn’t sure at that point what to do with the building.”
NOT ‘A MONEY MAKER’
Seltzer could have backed out then. There was a condition in the sale that allowed him to cancel the purchase if the town didn’t approve his plan for the apartments.
“I went back and realized I could make one or two beautiful spaces and was kind of challenged by it,” Seltzer said.
That realization led Seltzer to his next idea: He’d live in it himself.
For a while, that was the plan. The extra space would be a yoga studio for him and a pottery workshop and gallery for his partner, an artist.
But as their needs changed, Seltzer realized the building was simply too big for the two of them. And they wanted the freedom to pick up and go, without the guilt of leaving behind a big house, empty and unused.
“We realized that it would be very hard to do justice to the space here and travel at the same time,” Seltzer said. “We decided, and it was a tough decision, that this was not the place where we wanted to be.”
Which left Seltzer once again
at the drawing board. He thought of selling it. He listed it, once in 2022 and again in 2023. Some people showed interest, but no one offered.
“[Renovating a church] isn’t a money maker. So it really becomes about the passion of watching the process unfold,” Seltzer said. “There were definitely times when I’d rather be doing something else with my
time, so I considered selling.”
Seltzer knew he had to keep going. He and Saradoff picked up their spicy Reubens and returned to the milk crates. They tossed ideas back and forth in between bites. In the end, they settled on a two-family home.
One unit would be housed in the old Fellowship Hall, where congregation members once gathered after service. The oth-
“We realized that it would be very hard to do justice to the space here and travel at the same time,” Steve Seltzer said. “We decided, and it was a tough decision, that this was not the place where we wanted to be.”
er unit would be housed in the former sanctuary.
Seltzer completed renovations on the first unit three months ago. At 4,000 square feet, it is the larger of the two.
Walking through the building, one feels that space. Besides the master suite on the first floor is a single room, interrupted only by a floating staircase that leads to a small balcony. The ceiling is high, vaulting above where Seltzer has put a dining table.
The unit, or the “main side” as Seltzer calls it, features four bedrooms and five bathrooms, and multiple small rooms and balconies.
The units have separately metered gas and electricity. The main unit is heated with a heat pump and mini splits.
In the three months since listing, Seltzer has shown the property to a few interested parties. He speculates that it will sell to someone looking for a home and studio, or a second home conveniently located between Boston and New York.
“There’s not been a lot of interest. There’s been some interest,” Seltzer said. “My take on this is that there’s going to be one person who actually falls in love with it.”
Attached to the “main side”— but only accessible through a separate entrance from outside — is the sanctuary. Seltzer removed all but one pew and started setting up the kitchen, but he has left this second 2,500-squarefoot unit largely untouched. Whoever buys the property can transform it to fit their own vision, he said. A gym. A studio. An office. A second dwelling.
PHOTOS BY BEN GARVER
Steve Seltzer has left the sanctuary as a clean state for whomever purchases the property. They could convert it into a second dwelling unit, a gym, studio or office.
Business updates
PITTSFIELD
Berkshire Museum appoints a new CFO
The Berkshire Museum has appointed Julia Marko as chief finance officer.
A resident of Berkshire County, Marko brings a wealth of experience, having most recently served as the director of Finance and Operations at BART Charter Public School in Adams since July 2020. Prior to that, she served as BART’s business manager from January 2017 to July 2020, and worked for several years in the business office of the Pittsfield Public Schools.
Marko joins the senior leadership team at Berkshire Museum during a pivotal time in its history as the museum prepares for a major renovation project later this year. Her extensive background in managing financial operations and strategic planning will be invaluable as the museum embarks on this transformation.
Marko’s role will involve leading and managing the museum’s finance and operations functions, including financial accounting, internal controls, facility operations, guest services, the gift shop, human resources, information technology and overall operations.
Her commitment to the museum’s goals as an inclusive, accessible and diverse institution will be vital in fostering a successful and equitable organization.
GREAT BARRINGTON Donation to help raise $15K for mobile market
Berkshire Grown will raise up to $15,000 for the Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market by matching gifts to the market up to $7,500 thanks to a recent donation in honor of National Farmers Market Week.
The Berkshire Mobile Farmers Market, a collaboration of six local nonprofit organizations, brings fresh, locally grown and produced food to six communities with limited access to fresh food: Adams, Becket, Monterey, North Adams, and two Pittsfield sites.
The market operates on the tiered Fairshare Payment system, which allows shoppers to pay at the level that works for them, based on their current financial situation, either 100 percent of retail, 50 percent of retail, or free.
Berkshire Grown is a local nonprofit organization based in Great Barrington. To support this project and help make farm-fresh, local food available to all Berkshire residents, visit berkshiregrown.org.
PITTSFIELD
Elder Services offices move to new location
Elder Services of Berkshire County has relocated its administrative offices to a central location in the heart of Pittsfield.
The new space at 73 South Church St., previously occupied by Wayfair’s open-concept call center, underwent significant renovations on the first and second floors to construct offices and other spaces for Elder Services’ growing workforce.
The new location offers ground level access, an enhancement for clients and visitors with health and mobility issues as the agency’s former space required a journey to the fourth floor to access services.
“Our staff are excited to have moved into bright, contemporary space in the heart of Pittsfield,” said Executive Director Christopher McLaughlin in a prepared statement. “Our new offices enable easier access for our clients and enough space for our workforce, which continues to grow in response to unprecedented demand for the services we provide.”
The agency is also celebrating its Golden Anniversary. Elder Services was incorporated in 1974 as a private, nonprofit home care corporation with three staff. What was once an agency focused solely on home care support
has grown to offer an extensive list of services including home care, information and referral, caregiver support, SHINE counseling, housing options, long-term care ombudsman advocacy, money management, and the Meals on Wheels senior nutrition program.
To commemorate its anniversary, Elder Services is conducting a $50 for 50 Years campaign. Visit esbci.org to make a donation. All donations support the agency’s mission and help aging individuals remain independent in the homes of their choice.
SPRINGFIELD Berkshire students earn stipends, scholarship
Several Berkshire County students are among the winners of tool stipends and a member scholarship from the Home Builders Foundation, the charitable arm of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Western Massachusetts of Springfield.
Wahconah Regional High School graduate Beau Walton, grandson of Wayne Walton of LP Adams, is one of eight students to be awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Member scholarships are available to members of the Home Builders Association, their family members, their employees, and the families of employees.
Four local students are among nine trade school graduates to be awarded $750 tool stipends. The recipients include Jeffrey LeProvost from Lee High School, Aidan Lind from Taconic High School, Hannah Boisvert from McCann Technical High School, and Joseph Sanchez from Pittsfield High School.
Guidance counselors from vocational and trade schools in the Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire County areas nominate their top senior candidates for this prestigious annual award. The association collaborates with each student to purchase tools tailored to their chosen career path in their respective trades.
To date, the Home Builders Foundation has awarded over $443,250 in scholarships and awards to deserving students since its inception in 1990.
PITTSFIELD
NAMI annual meeting, awards ceremony held
The Berkshire County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness held its annual meeting last month at Zucchini’s Restaurant.
NAMI Berkshire County recently hired a new executive director, Paul Johansen, and also now has office space at 141 North St., Suite 301.
The guest speaker for this event was local author Kevin O’Hara, who worked for three decades as a psychiatric nurse at Berkshire Medical Center. He shared excerpts from his recent book, “Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward: My 30 Years as a Psychiatric Nurse.”
Each year, NAMI Berkshire County recognizes three award winners in memory of Eunice Zorbo, who along with her husband, was a staunch supporter of NAMI.
This year’s award winners were Rae Langsdale, Eunice E. Zorbo Member of the Year; Pittsfield Police Officer Hunter O’Neill, Eunice E. Zorbo Citizen of the Year; and Dr. Deborah Buccino, Silver Ribbon Mental Health Advocate Award.
The nonprofit’s mission is improve the quality of life for people in Berkshire County with mental illness and their families through support, education and advocacy.
LEE
Boyd Biomedical joins innovation hub
Boyd Biomedical has been selected as a spoke for the Investor Catalyst Hub, a regional hub of ARPANET-H, a nationwide health innovation network launched by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
Based in the Greater Boston area and managed by VentureWell, the hub seeks to accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking and accessible biomedical solutions. It utilizes an innovative hub-and-spoke model designed to reach a wide range of nonprofit organizations and minority-serving institutions.
Boyd Biomedical joins a nationwide network of organizations aligned to ARPA-H’s overarching mission to improve health outcomes through the following research focus areas: health science futures; proactive health; scalable solutions; and resilient systems. Investor catalyst hub spokes represent a broad spectrum of expertise, geographic diversity and community perspectives.
As an Investor Catalyst Hub spoke, Boyd Biomedical gains access to potential funding and flexible contracting for faster award execution compared to traditional government contracts. Spoke membership also offers opportunities to provide input on ARPA-H challenge areas and priorities, along with access to valuable networking opportunities and a robust resource library.
PITTSFIELD
BRTA pilots evening paratransit service
The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority has received funding from Massachusetts Department of Transportation to launch a pilot of evening paratransit service through June 30, 2025.
This evening service is for BRTA paratransit customers traveling to destinations within Pittsfield from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
This project aims to enhance and expand the ability for eligible BRTA paratransit customers that require an accessible vehicle for travel in the evenings.
For more information about this program or any other program, contact the BRTA at info@berkshirerta.com.
LEE
Literacy Network honors John Toole
The Literacy Network recently honored John Toole, LitNet board member and president of Acrisure, formerly the Toole Insurance Agency, at its annual fundraising celebration, A Celebration of Friends at Amici Restaurant in West Stockbridge.
LitNet’s annual celebration is a main source of fundraising for the organization’s year-round, individualized, free tutoring programs in ESOL, U.S. citizenship preparation, adult basic education, and first-generation college support.
In recent years, LitNet has made an effort to make this annual celebration more inclusive to its learner community, 95 percent of which is immigrants working on English skills.
For 44 years, Toole has maintained and grown his family business as president of Toole Insurance Agency, now Acrisure. He has served as chair for the Chesterwood Museum Council, the Lenox Library Association board, and the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, and as president of the Lee Community Development Board.
He is the founder and director of the Brock Wilkerson Memorial Fund, past director of the Brock Trot Road Race, co-founder of the Lee Youth Soccer League, and has coached youth basketball, softball and football. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Literacy Network, and he chairs the Peoples and Operations Committee.
LitNet chose Amici as its venue for the event because of its ties with the restaurant’s co-owner, Octavio Nallin. Nallin, a Brazilian immigrant who has been in the U.S. for over four years, worked on his English with LitNet before opening Amici. He is now working with LitNet to become a U.S. citizen as one of this year’s recipients of the Matthew and Hannah Keator Family Scholarship for New Americans.
PITTSFIELD
Youth Leadership class named 1Berkshire has selected 29 high school juniors from across the Berkshires to serve as its Berkshire Youth Leadership Program Class of 2024-25.
The students were selected through a competitive application process to begin a yearlong leadership development program that kicked off in June with a three-day, two-night retreat held at Camp Chimney Corners in Becket.
The 1Berkshire Youth Leadership Program is focused on helping students develop and grow through career opportunity awareness, leadership skill development, and the design and completion of a nine-month collective-impact project focused on positively impacting the Berkshires.
The 2024-25 participants include Natalie Aldrich, Sophie Alsmaan and Athan Dungey of Wahconah Regional High School; Lauren Bridges, Charlie Keator, Brooklynn Lamke, Connor McCormack, Isabella Pereira, Jo Tessier, and Ben Westlake of Lenox Memorial Middle and High School; and Lilianna Choque, Nyx Hall, Sarah Leedham, and Kylah Rivard of BART Charter Public School.
Also, Nyla Dion of Hoosac Valley Regional High School; Autumn Higa, Francesca Stanmeyer and Sadie Suters of Monument Mountain Regional High School; Isla Kirchner, Ellen Klepetar, Sophia LaMalfa, and James Smith of Pittsfield High School; Maddy Kotek of Lee High School; and Kiera Kristensen, Audrianna Pelkey, Maddie Powell, Charlotte Towler, Mateo Whalen-Loux, and Nina Wied of Mount Greylock Regional School.
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Berkshire Business Journal is
New leader at Red Lion Inn
Here’s what’s in store for the historic Stockbridge property
By C larenCe Fanto
STOCKBRIDGE
— With 30 years of hotel man agement experience in New England, the new general manager of the Red Lion Inn aims to maintain the classic traditions of a leading Berkshire destination.
However, for Stacey Gravanis, an equally high priority is to attract new generations of visitors to the historic 1773 inn, owned by the third generation of the Fitzpatrick family and operated by the affiliated management company, Main Street Hospitality.
“Her biggest challenge is understand ing deeply how our traditions and long heritage are translated into the brand of the Red Lion Inn and kept current and relevant going into the future,” co-owner and Main Street Hospitality CEO Sarah Eustis told The Eagle.
“She will also have the privilege of bal ancing large capital projects and facilities program with top notch guest experienc es and driving new revenues,” Eustis add ed via email. “It is a challenging balance, but we are confident that she is up to the job and has the support of Main Street Hospitality behind her.”
Major infrastructure projects and tech nology upgrades are underway at the inn as part of a five-year plan.
During a conversation in a parlor at the inn, Gravanis, 55, explained that she pur sued the opening at the inn after spotting an ad following the departure of previous General Manager Simon Dewar. It took four interviews — the final one with a gathering of Fitzpatrick family members — to land the job.
“That’s the one I was most nervous about,” she acknowledged. “I came with a very open mind with the understand ing that I had a lot to learn about the inn, and a lot to understand and appre ciate, and I came with a fresh outlook and a lot of excitement.”
She started her new job on July 23. She cited the women-led management of Main Street Hospitality as a major factor for taking the job, in which she works for Eustis and Greta Kipp, the chief operating officer. “Very strong women, that definitely had its appeal,” Gravanis acknowledged.
“We have so much to offer for every style of diner,” Gravanis noted, citing the main dining room, the tavern, the Lion’s Den (with live musical entertainment Wednesday through Sunday nights, a major attraction for local and younger patrons), and the Courtyard, as well as the “incredibly popular” space just beyond the lobby known as The Living Room for afternoon tea and ”Lion Bites.”
Attracting local patrons for dining, along with hotel guests, is another central mission. The executive chef, Jon Sterrett, arrived in summer 2021, telling The Eagle he began his career flipping burgers at a McDonald’s in Pittsburgh, rising to executive chef at the city’s downtown Distrikt Hotel.
His signature dishes at the Red Lion include a “Smashburger” while continuing to offer traditional attractions such as
clam chowder and chicken pot pie.
Gravanis foresees an opportunity “to allow a greater audience to experience the Red Lion Inn, we’re almost a seasonal destination but we’re very wellequipped for corporate retreats.”
As she put it, “the Red Lion Inn’s brand voice roars louder than any I’ve ever worked with. It’s really about maintaining its identity and ensuring that our guests that return year after year are getting that same experience. It’s important to them.”
She also anticipates welcoming the next generation of visitors, reaching out to them with heavy use of social media and the inn’s marketing department.
She anticipates welcoming the next generation of visitors, reaching out to them with heavy use of social media and the inn’s marketing department.
“It’s really very rewarding to see our guests come in with their children and their children’s children,” Gravanis commented. “You don’t see that in branded properties, and it’s part of what makes the Red Lion Inn so special.”
From 2018 to 2023, she was vice president and general manager of the Falcon Hotel Corp./Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, leading 160 employees at a 325-room downtown property.
“Our mission is to create spaces that will enable people to connect in meaningful ways and Stacey embodies that principle as the next steward of the Red Lion Inn,” said Eustis. “She is a seasoned and skilled general manager with a diverse background, and understands the unique character of the inn. It is a privilege to have her contribute to the strong tradition of female leadership at the hotel.”
Gravanis listed “the placement of the furniture, the teapots and an expectation about the very high level of service. It’s ensuring that we maintain the integrity of the tradition, the community, the family that is the Red Lion Inn.”
Gravanis, an Orlando, Fla., native, graduated from Westfield State University while living in Southwick. She started in the industry 33 years ago at the downtown Springfield Marriott and most recently served as general manager at Aimbridge Hospitality, in charge of hotels in Manchester, Conn., and in Worcester.
Gravanis explained that she quickly came to understand “the ownership that our guests take in the Red Lion Inn, how deeply and genuinely they care about this property. That was somewhat surprising, I knew to some degree the loyalty is incredible, like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
She’s anticipating fall foliage to be even busier than summer — “we’re entering our busiest of busy seasons.”
Organization INK buys My Office
The Berkshire Eagle GREAT BARRINGTON — Organization INK Inc., a provider of bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and human resources services in Western Massachusetts and the surrounding area, has acquired My Office LLC, a firm based in Torrington, Conn.
The acquisition, which was finalized on Sept. 2, comes as My Office LLC’s owner, Cynthia Rines, sought to retire after 13 years in business.
The majority of My Office’s
staff, including Cynthia Rines, will join Organization INK, ensuring continuity of service for existing clients and contributing to the expanding regional presence of Organization INK. Clients of My Office can expect a seamless transition, with enhanced access to human resources services, which are not offered by My Office.
My Office LLC provides bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll services to businesses, nonprofits and government
agencies in the northwest corner of Connecticut.
“We are ecstatic that Cynthia and most of her team have decided to join Organization INK,” said Carolann Strickling, CEO of Organization INK. “This acquisition aligns with our strategic goals of expanding our footprint and providing comprehensive financial and human resource services to small business, nonprofits and government agencies throughout New England and Eastern New York.”
Cynthia Rines, who founded My Office LLC in 2011 along with Candace Craig and Roberta Leffingwell, and built it into a trusted firm in Litchfield County, Connecticut, expressed confidence in the transition.
“As I am nearing retirement, I have been looking for the perfect partner to take over My Office LLC. I have found such a partner in Organization INK Inc.,” Rines said. “Organization INK shares my philosophy of providing quality services with a personal
and caring approach.”
The acquisition further solidifies Organization INK’s position as a regional leader in financial solutions, providing businesses with expert bookkeeping, accounting, payroll and human resources services.
Organization INK is based in Great Barrington. With a commitment to personalized service and strong quality control, Organization INK helps clients streamline their operations and achieve their financial goals.
CLARENCE FANTO
Stacey Gravanis has taken the reins as the general manager of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. “I came with a very open mind with the understanding that I had a lot to learn about the inn, and a lot to understand and appreciate, and I came with a fresh outlook and a lot of excitement.”
Purple Plume ends ‘great run’
By C larenCe Fanto
LENOX — “It was a great run,” proclaimed Judie Culver as she contemplates retirement from her Purple Plume women’s clothing and handcrafted jewelry boutique after 43 years in downtown Lenox.
Her Church Street store, which was expected to close Sept. 30 unless a buyer emerged, is tied with The Gifted Child nearby as the second longest survivors in the downtown business center. The retail champion is Glad Rags, with more than 50 years selling women’s clothing in the historic village.
“We’ve weathered a lot of storms,” Culver said during a recent conversation. The store has survived economic downturns in 1987 and 2008, the arrival of shopping malls in Holyoke and Lanesborough, the Lee Premium Outlets and the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the store to close for three months starting in mid-March 2020.
But eager to spend more time enjoying active pursuits such as hiking, biking and kayaking, Culver was in a cheerful, nostalgic mood as she anticipated spending more time with her husband, John, in their longtime West Stockbridge home, and traveling. “I want to spend more time doing outdoor things,” she explained, including tending to her extensive flower gardens.
At 71, Culver explained she wanted to step away “while I’m still healthy enough to enjoy life and I can still reinvent myself and have a third act,” referring to her early career teaching home economics at Taconic High School in Pittsfield starting in 1975 until the city’s Proposition 2 1/2 tax override forced widespread faculty layoffs.
A native of Worcester, Culver graduated from Framingham State College (now Framingham State University) as a clothing and textile major. “I was always into fashion and fabrics,” she recalled, but she didn’t want to compete with her friends applying for jobs in the Boston area.
Fun facts
• Plume is French for feather (for her handcrafted feathered jewelry), and purple is owner Judie Culver’s favorite color. “I was born purple,” she says, “I went to kindergarten in purple outfits. I had toothbrushes that were purple before anyone else did.”
• Store names considered but abandoned included Purple Penguin, Purple Petunia, Purple Pansy and Purple Peacock.
• Her staff of six in summer and four the rest of the year are called “Plumettes.”
• Well over 60 stores have come and gone in downtown Lenox since Culver opened in 1981.
• If Culver hadn’t been laid off from Taconic High, she believes she would have continued her teaching career instead of going into retail and “reinventing” herself.
• Women want to touch clothing and try it on to make sure it’s perfect, and women shop at least nine times more than men, according to Culver, “because shopping isn’t something you do only when you need something. Shopping is an activity.”
• The best advice she received was “to buy what I loved, and it would sell, and it did.They say it takes a village to raise a child — well, it takes everyone to support and grow a business,” Culver stated, thanking her employees and customers.
She remembered driving around Western Massachusetts and loving the Berkshires, so she confined her job search to west of Springfield.
Culver landed at Taconic, met her husband there, who was a math teacher. However, as a result of the job cutbacks, after six years she decided to sell homemade crafts and feather jewelry from a pushcart at the West Stockbridge Farmers Market during the summer of 1981.
Having met Randy Austin at the market, Culver — spending the last $1,000 she had in the bank — joined her to open the Purple Plume and the Gifted Child in the same part of the building now housing Brava, previously the Church Street Cafe.
After several years, Austin bought the Church Street building where her children’s toys, games and clothing business still thrives. Culver relocated to a second spot in the same Church Street Cafe location before moving in 1988 to the present Purple Plume site at 35 Church St.,
Yao has ‘something for everyone’
By C larenCe Fanto
LENOX — For many years, the multiblock downtown “restaurant row” has been vexed by one conspicuous void — Asian cuisine.
So it was no surprise that the recent opening of Yao Asian Fusion Cuisine at 9 Franklin St., offering lunch and dinner seven days a week, was a hit, with sushi and ramen among the main attractions. The location was the home of the Lenox Pizza House decades ago.
The family business is a dream come true for co-owners Xiaoxia Weng, 40, who goes by Wendy, and her chef-husband, Mengyao Chen, who was busy chopping fresh fish for the sushi bar shortly before lunchtime on Wednesday.
If you go . . .
What: Yao Asian Fusion Cuisine, offering Japanese, Chinese and Thai food
Where: 9 Franklin St., Lenox (off Main St., opposite Haven Cafe & Bakery)
Hours: Open daily year-round, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
Reservations/takeout orders: 413-551-7286
Menu/website: yaolenox.com
quadrupling her previous 500 square-foot space.
“Everything just came together,” Culver remembered, as she sold crafts on consignment from artists before adding fashion jewelry — highly popular in the 1980s — and a line of manufactured gifts as well as clothing.
Her decision to begin planning for retirement was not driven by the pandemic “because I knew I wanted to go out on my own terms.”
This summer, she made the choice not to extend her soon-to-expire lease by another three years.
It wasn’t an easy decision, she emphasized. “I love my store, I love being here, working with fashion, jewelry and passing on knowledge to customers, helping them find accessories and outfits for occasions,” she declared. “But I have a lot of interests, I want to be able to have more time with my husband, family and by myself. All my friends are retired and my husband retired 12 years ago.”
Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com.
“To do any single thing, I have to use my heart, trying to do my best,” Wendy said when asked about her personal key to success.
Yao’s surprisingly lengthy menu of Japanese, Chinese and Thai dishes includes 258 choices — “something for everyone,” Wendy pointed out.
“When I came to Lenox for the first time a few years ago, I felt very comfortable,” said Wendy, who manages the front of house while her husband runs the kitchen and the sushi bar.
“My first feelings were it’s very good for us in our future life,” she said. “My husband loves creating food so much; he’s been doing it for 20 years, doing his best for the customers.”
Food quality and service are paramount — fresh fish is delivered every morning from Japanese markets in Boston and New Jersey, and her husband often drives to the Boston fish markets before dawn. The restaurant is staffed by family members but there’s a job open for a part-time server.
Wendy’s recommendations include miso, duck or chicken ramen (Japanese noodle dishes), O-Toro (fatty tuna) and king salmon from the sushi bar, and yuzu miso black cod from the kitchen entrees.
The couple, who live in Pittsfield, worked at Enso Asian Bistro from 2015 to 2019 at the now-demolished Dakota restaurant site on South Street in Pittsfield, and previously at Hane Sushi in lower Manhattan for 10 years. They met while working together at a New Jersey restaurant
Delivery: Via Door Dash (Yao covers delivery charges)
and have been married for 17 years. They located the long-vacant building opposite the Haven cafe and bakery with the help of sales agent Jamie Nugent of TKG Real Estate. Their company, Jcma LLC, purchased the property, formerly owned by former crypto exec Ryan Salame, for $600,000 last May, according to Middle Berkshire Registry of Deeds records.
They won Select Board approval last May for an all-alcohol on-premises restaurant liquor license.
Ever since, they and other family members have been busy prepping the space with new interior design and decorations for 60 eat-in diners. Yao also offers takeout as well as delivery through DoorDash; the restaurant covers the delivery fee for customers, Wendy said. She or her husband plan to be on the premises for all 74 hours a week that it’s open. They have three children, 10, 15 and 16, attending Mount Greylock Regional School in Williamstown. Their youngest will start attending sixth grade at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School in September 2025.
The restaurant is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“It’s our own restaurant business,” Wendy pointed out. “No holidays.”
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN
Xiaoxia “Wendy” Weng is co-owner of Yao, a new Asian fusion restaurant on Franklin Street in Lenox. She manages the front of house while her husband runs the kitchen and the sushi bar.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
After 43 years in business, Purple Plume owner Judie Culver has decided to retire and is closing the women’s clothing and jewelry boutique in Lenox.
Belvedere Lenox eyes fall opening
By C larenCe Fanto
LENOX — A major hospitality project in the downtown is in its final construction stages and hopes to open in October.
Belvedere Lenox, in the heart of the historic village’s business district on Housatonic Street, will be an event center hosting a range of celebrations, including wedding receptions.
The project was approved by the Select Board in December 2022, and final interior and exterior touches are underway at the 21 Housatonic St. site. It’s the former home of the Casablanca luxury contemporary fashion boutique for men and women, which relocated nearby at 50 Church St.
The events facility will be promoted on a booking site still to be selected, co-owner Scott Shortt told The Eagle this week.
At a recent Select Board meeting, Jeffrey Lynch, attorney for 21 Housatonic Street LLC, noted that liquor and entertainment licenses for the business have been approved by the Select Board.
Lynch, presenting an application to name interior designer Anthony Cinque as the operation’s new manager, pointed out “the unique nature” of the Belvedere Lenox business, which will be open only when it’s booked and scheduled.
“It’s not a regular restaurant open 80 hours a week,” said Lynch.
The “fingers-crossed” October opening for the business will make it “a complement to downtown,” he predicted.
“The building looks beautiful,” Selectman Edward Lane added as the Select Board approved the application.
21 Housatonic Street LLC is a business partnership between Drew Davis, a real estate investor and property owner downtown, and Shortt, the former proprietor of the Kemble Inn. Davis is owner of the Belvedere Lenox building, retooled as a multi-level structure.
The business is leasing the building from Davis’s PVI Lenox Village LLC, which owns the Village Center complex off Main Street. That includes the post office, Nejaime’s Wine Cellars and oth-
er businesses and offices. The existing parking area for Village Center customers remains unaltered.
Belvedere Lenox will have a maximum occupancy of 220, with up to 150 seats indoors and up to 70 more on an outside patio in the warm-weather months.
The venue intends to host wedding rehearsals and receptions, baptisms, bar mitzvahs, other large celebratory gatherings for families and friends, as well as business functions.
The business plan approved by the Select Board allows amplified live and
recorded music indoors, and acoustic music, at times with vocalists without amplification, inside and outside.
The projected indoor operating hours are seven days a week, 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., for booked, scheduled events. The outdoor patio will be open in season during those hours, but amplified recorded music will end by 10 p.m.
“Mr. Davis obviously has invested a lot of money into the town,” Lynch has said. “We think it’s going to be a vibrant space and will enliven the area.”
Shortt explained that the business
was named Belvedere Lenox because in architecture, a belvedere represents a cupola or glass structure that commands a view. The detailing on the building, which includes a full-length cupola, fits the definition, he said. In 2011, Davis purchased the Village Center complex for $1.7 million and acquired three more properties in 2019 from Schulze Lenox Properties LLC for $2.4 million, including the 21 Housatonic St. building and others on Main and Church streets.
Latino market owner putting in the effort
By H eat H er Bellow
GREAT BARRINGTON — Jose Pablo does not have much time for anything but business and his baby girl.
Pablo, 21, runs three small companies. Two are in the Berkshires, his most recent endeavor being Jose’s Mini Latino Market LLC at 177 Main St., at the north end of downtown. The third is in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The mini market is so new — one month old — that he doesn’t yet have his sign up. While he’s waiting on permitting for that, Pablo decided he might as well open shop, and continue to pack it full of pantry staples from Mexico via a wholesaler in New Jersey.
He also flies to Mexico at least twice a month to see about his import/export company there and his four employees on the ground. At the market, he’s selling some of those items, including traditional pottery, clothing and rosaries.
In turn he exports “clothes, shoes, TVs, microwaves, fridges” to Mexico.
The market’s products lean more to Mexican cuisine. But Pablo is also adding favorites from Colombia and Guatemala, and consulting his friends and employees from those countries about what to buy.
On the shelves are beans, rice, bulk corn husks for tamales, and all sorts of snacks and sweets
from Mexico. Fresh-baked Mexican sweet breads, like pan dulce, are imported twice a week from New York City. There is a bin of ripening plantains and bags of pork fat (because customers were asking for it).
His cousin, Denisse Juarez, keeps the market running. This is because the bulk of Pablo’s day is spent working at his third company, A1 Painting Family LLC in the Berkshires, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He has nine
workers on that crew.
And all while living in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and rising daily at 4 a.m. to get to the gym.
“All of this is time management,” said Pablo at the market on Tuesday, when asked how he does it. “So many of my friends who are in businesses, they say it’s a lonely road.”
He didn’t understand that until now, he said. He gets home at 10 p.m. every night
after the more than one-hour drive, “exhausted,” and sometimes he still needs to do payroll and other bookkeeping.
“I don’t even have time to cook,” Pablo said.
His motivation for all this is his 3-month-old daughter, Pablo said. And when he isn’t working, he’s spending as much time as he can with her.
Pablo also sparkles with the joy of success from hard work. He says he’s making “six fig-
ures.” And he has a group of equally ambitious Middle Eastern-American friends in Poughkeepsie who he says “pushed me to become the best version that I can be.”
“One of them,” he said, “just bought a Lamborghini.”
His market will likely grow out of being a “mini.” He wants to eventually move to another space in town to expand and serve traditional Mexican food.
Juarez, his cousin, said that people so far “like his prices.” He opened the market, she said, to serve the Mexican community who has had to travel to Poughkeepsie to buy many of their favorite staples.
“So he was like, ‘I’m going to do a favor for the people so they don’t have to pay [to travel],’” Juarez said.
Pablo said he also started the market in the Berkshires because he already had family here, was working here, and saw that there was only one Latino market in town, and that it wasn’t selling some of what his customers want.
Already Pablo says he’s ready to take on so much more, despite the “tiring” daily grind and the frequent flying to Mexico. Life hasn’t always gone in an easy direction, he said.
“I try to make the best of everything,” he said, “but I know at the end of the tunnel there’s always a light and hard work pays off.”
CLARENCE FANTO
Belvedere Lenox, an events facility in downtown Lenox, is shown in late August during final stages of construction, with an opening anticipated for October. It will host social and business functions with seating for up to 220 guests, and will be open only when events are booked for the Church Street property, formerly the Casablanca boutique.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN
“All of this is time management,” said Jose Pablo of running his three businesses, including Jose’s Mini Latino Market, which opened recently at 177 Main St. in Great Barrington.
Fairbank group
FROM PAGE 1
the slopes.
“Most of the things that I think are worthwhile, that I have endeavored in, have probably been around teaching myself and self-reliance,” he said. “Nobody can carry you. You can’t rely on a good performance last week, even. You’ve got to show up and perform today. So there’s no taking your foot off the gas.”
As a teenager, his first job at Jiminy Peak — by now he’s done most of them — was trail work.
He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He majored in economics and philosophy and enjoyed his friendships. As a young father, he returned to UMass for an MBA.
“In graduate school, I did really well,” he said. “I was like on fire. If I didn’t get an A in the class, I was disappointed with myself.”
As a vice president at Jiminy Peak in
the 1990s, Tyler left the mountain “to prove myself to myself.”
He’s always been pulled between private ventures and enhancing the public good at nonprofits. Eight years after he left Jiminy Peak, he was president of Berkshire Economic Development Corp., 1Berkshire’s predecessor.
“I was working very hard for other people, and I really wanted to work for myself,” he recalled.
CLEAN ENERGY AT JIMINY
In late 2007, Tyler went to dinner with his father and Jiminy Peak business partner Joseph O’Donnell at the Royal Sonesta Boston. The two owners suggested he return to start a clean energy company.
Launching EOS Ventures in 2008 meant exploring a new market sector.
“My career is very eclectic,” he said. “I’ve run not-for-profits. I’ve worked in the ski business. I’ve worked for a global company doing food safety.”
Still, renewable energy was tricky.
FILE PHOTOS
Above, left: Summer sports have become integral to Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort’s business model. Siblings enjoy a ride the Mountain Coaster in 2013. Above, right: Skiing is the mainstay of Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, which has a winter seasonal staff of 750 today. It is one of six ventures owned by the Fairbank Group.
FAIRBANK GROUP, Page 11
Fairbank group
State grants ran out of money at the same time that tax credit deadlines loomed. Then the tax laws changed causing financing to dry up.
“I got shingles,” he said. “It was a very stressful time in life. But somehow in the middle of all of that, it felt pretty much as though this is the right thing to be doing.”
Brian, meanwhile, was financing his son’s renewable energy venture.
“We did like a dozen solar projects in a year,” he said. “We helped install some wind turbines off the coast of Maine, so it was a busy time.”
As the business climate changed, Tyler turned his attention to Cranmore and later Bromley.
“We’re practically geriatric in the renewable energy space now,” Tyler said. “It’s the Wild West and it continues to be. Who knows where it will go and what it will do, but we’ve done so many kinds of things in that space.”
WHAT OTHERS SAY
Betsy Strickler worked for nine years at Jiminy Peak as director of sales and marketing. She calls Brian one of her “first true mentors.” He taught her to take a vision and aspire to it.
“He will never, ever ask someone to do something that he himself has not done, which is both good and bad, because he will jump into the freezing cold reservoir and he will make snow at 4 a.m.,” said Strickler, who now consults in marketing, business development and strategy at Solasta Strategies and serves on the board of 1Berkshire.
“Tyler brings just this process and method to everything,” Strickler continued. “So between the two of them, they really know how to work well together and how to give back to the community in a positive, thoughtful, crazy, awesome way.”
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President James Birge has a favor-
ite story about Tyler, who chaired the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts board when Birge was hired.
“I’ll never forget when he called me to say, ‘Hey, the board just met, you’re the choice, but I can’t talk to you now because it’s a public meeting and I’ve got to talk to the press,’” Birge recalled.
John Bissell, president and CEO of Greylock Federal Credit Union, serves on the 1Berkshire board and the Berkshire Business Roundtable, where Tyler is chair.
“I grew up in the Berkshires, and
the family has always just been at the forefront of innovation and community, and the combination of those two things,” Bissell said. “That’s just a really difficult seasonal business, and [Brian] figured out how to make it work locally. He’s seen as a national leader in a lot of ways.”
Now, with Tyler’s influence, “They’re just always thinking ahead,” Bissell said. At the Berkshire Business Roundtable, for example, Tyler is working on one of Berkshire County’s hottest issues: housing.
“There’s no ego,” Bissell said. “They embrace new people and conversations and ways of thinking.”
Even though Tyler has no formal role at the Berkshire Innovation Center, Executive Director Ben Sosne turns to him when he meets anyone interested in developing clean energy in the Berkshires.
“Tyler knows everybody and has a great working, trusting relationship with all kinds of business leaders,” Sosne said.
JANE KAUFMAN
Tyler Fairbank, CEO of the Fairbank Group, accepts the 2024 Putting the Berkshires on the Map award from 1Berkshire at Pittsfield Municipal Airport. He called it his “hall of fame moment.” Behind him, his father, Brian Fairbank, listens and waits to speak.
FAIRBANK GROUP, Page 12
Fairbank group
FROM PAGE 11
weekends with his children, calls himself a fan.
“It’s part of the reason we live here in the Berkshires and are happy in the Berkshires,” he said.
ENTHRALLED WITH THE BERKSHIRES
Born in Buffalo, Brian Fairbank “got indoctrinated” into the Berkshires by Fred Crane Jr., who hired him to manage Jiminy Peak in 1969. Brian was then 23.
About five years later, a larger ski area made him a job offer.
“Fred Crane was really disappointed that I was considering that and ended up making me a shareholder so that I would feel like I owned part of the rock,” Fairbank told The Eagle. “And it was a small, token amount, but it was enough that it made all the difference.”
He recalled thinking, “I’ve got to stay in the Berkshires. I’ve got to finish the task that I got started here. I can’t walk away from it.”
BREAKING NEW GROUND
Today, Jiminy Peak sleeps more than 2,000 tourists, including its own 309 units as well as at the two nearby timeshares.
“Hancock benefits greatly because we have not impacted the school system significantly at all,” Brian said in
his remarks at the 1Berkshire event.
“And for the last 15 years, the tax rate has been $3 per thousand, and I believe it will stay there for a long time to come. We’ve been good community stewards and tried to be strong in our relationship with the town.”
He credited the 80 year-round employees and the 750 winter employees.
WHAT’S NEXT
Looking 30 years ahead, Tyler can imagine some expansion at the Fairbank Group.
“It’s going to be well done,” he said. “That’s the key is its quality not necessarily quantity.”
Brian spoke of the importance of the mission.
“Both of us probably in the last 10 years concluded that our efforts have really been to try and enhance people’s lives,” he said, adding that it’s difficult to do that with 10 ski resorts. “If you’ve got three or four or some number that’s manageable, you can influence people’s lives in a positive manner. And we recognize that’s really the why we do what we do.”
And as to his own immediate plans, he’s staying the course.
“People say to me when are you going to retire, and I say, ‘When they take me out in a box.’ ”
Jiminy Peak timeline
Brian Fairbank offered a list of highlights as he accepted the award from 1Berkshire:
1977: Jiminy Peak’s alpine slide is installed at a cost of $600,000, marking the site’s first foray into summer sports and moving the ski area from five year-round employees to 25.
1985: Fairbank formulates a 10-year master plan, which included the 105-unit Country Inn, a water and sewer system for $6.5 million. It was finally realized in 2006.
1986: Fairbank and business partner Joseph O’Donnell purchase Fred Crane Jr.’s controlling stock interest in Jiminy Peak in a private sale at an undisclosed price.
2000: Jiminy Peak built a high-speed detachable chairlift to its summit for $3.5 million, which Brian Fairbank credits with attracting two timeshare companies to nearby sites: Wyndam’s Bentley Brook and Vacation Village.
2007: Brian Fairbank decided to put a wind turbine on the mountain to power snowmaking at a cost of $4.6 million. As the first in the North American ski market, Fairbank considers Zephyr to be one of his most challenging undertakings. Only through the influence of O’Donnell did Jack Welch at General Electric Co. agree to build it. Bringing the turbine up the mountain off road required five bulldozers.
2010: The Fairbanks and O’Donnell acquired Cranmore Mountain Resort in a deal totaling $9.5 million and invested $10 million over 14 years. The master plan for that North Conway, N.H., resort is now 80 percent complete.
2011: Jiminy Peak assumes management of Bromley Mountain.
2015: Completion of a solar field by NexAmp, making Jiminy Peak the first ski resort in the country to run entirely on clean energy.
2019: Brian Fairbank and O’Donnell repurchase Jiminy Peak’s assets for $18 million. They had sold the resort’s assets for $27 million in 2009 to CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. in a lease agreement that would have allowed them to operate the resort for 40 years.
Sosne, who skis at Jiminy Peak on winter
FILE PHOTO
Jiminy Peak and Nexamp officials celebrate the completion of a 2.3 megawatt solar installation in 2015. Tyler Fairbank launched the clean energy company in 2008.
The wind turbine at Jiminy Peak, known as Zephyr, provides about a third of the electrical demands of Jiminy Peak annually, according to the resort’s website.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN
Inching toward pay equity in arts/culture sector Berkshire voices
By A ron G oldm A n A nd
K risten vA n Ginhoven
Entry- and mid-level arts and culture workers in the Berkshire/Columbia County region struggle to put gas in their cars, find decent housing, access basic health care, feed their families, and as a result, maintain their financial, physical and emotional wellbeing.
These challenges are more pronounced for people of color and other identity groups who have historically experienced oppression. The potential exodus of these workers from the sector and region has a destabilizing effect on institutions, diminishes artistic expression, and threatens the creative economy for which this region is internationally known.
A coalition of 18 (and counting) arts and culture institutions came together a year ago to document and better understand the experiences of entryand mid-level arts and culture workers themselves, and commit to a combination of individual organizational changes and collective systems change efforts. With the release of its first data and recommendations in 2023, the coalition became part of a national pay equity conversation.
The group derives inspiration from innovation in other regions, and in turn helps others see that another reality is possible for arts and culture works struggling to survive.
On Sept. 25, the coalition released its second report (available at npcberkshires. org/payequity), again centering the voices of entry- and mid-level workers themselves, and now also telling the stories of small changes that had ripple effects on staff morale, organizational culture, retention, recruitment, and even productivity and program quality.
According to one response to anonymous survey:
“At this point I feel confident in [my employer’s] steadfast progress in its pay equity initiative… . This affords me a trust and comfort that allows me to focus on my work and the plans that the organization has in regards to its mission instead of working two or three other jobs on top of this one.”
While significant barriers remain within organizations and at the systems level, this budding movement is already starting to show that arts and culture organizations of all sizes can make changes without breaking the bank, and that those changes can be meaningful for individuals, organizations and the sector.
Starting out as a fringe idea, pay equity is quickly evolving into what might become the new normal for the arts and culture sector, for the larger nonprofit sector, and for the regional economy as a whole.
Using a separate survey, employers also provided a laundry list of short-term incremental improvements for entry- and mid-level workers, and long-term planning to get to living wage goals. Employers also report organizational culture changing as a result of these measures.
Improved morale leads to reduced turnover and a corresponding long-term cost reduction that can offset new costs associated with pay equity initiatives.
“Our goal is to get our minimum pay rate up to $20 per hour. I am just starting the budgeting process for 2025, and I will model that in. I hope to make the numbers work. We know that’s just the beginning,” one anonymous employer wrote. “However, I have already seen a difference in morale and teamwork in our organization. We all know we are not
being paid what we are worth, but we all know we are working together to build something that will create enough income to support higher salaries.”
A more detailed inventory of employee and employer responses is contained in the full 2024 report.
Our scan of emerging research and innovation shows that many organizations beyond the region and the arts and culture sector specifically are having similar experiences. In contrast to the notion of a “DEI backlash,” which is certainly having negative impacts, many institutions continue to make real changes and hold themselves accountable in creative ways. Some measures require significant financial commitments from employers, but many effective measures do not.
In terms of legislation and public sector support for pay equity, on July 31, Massachusetts passed a pay transparency bill, requiring employers to include salary bands on job announcements and report compensation and demographic data to help identify wage gaps by race, ethnicity, gender, and job category.
And the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act signed by the governor on Aug. 6 allocated $5 million to assess the feasibility of “seasonal supportive housing for the nonprofit creative economy in Berkshire county.”
Going forward, the coalition will continue to meet quarterly for mutual support, to serve as a clearinghouse for practical strategies, and for mutual accountability. The coalition also will continue to implement short- and long-term organizational pay equity strategies that are identified in this report and the 2023 Pay Equity Report, in the context of each organization’s circumstances. Beyond this function, continued
expansion and progress will require multiyear public and/or private support to sustain and institutionalize the Pay Equity Project. Contingent on additional support, the coalition can commit to the following recommendations, and model them sector-wide:
• Continuing to implement pay equity practices within our organizations, including those named in the 2023 and 2024 Pay Equity Reports.
• Identifying one or more of the structural barriers and systems change priorities identified in Phase 2, including housing, transportation and health care.
• Reporting progress made toward employer and collective systems change.
• Continuing to grow the coalition and movement, and creatively including entry- and mid-level workers themselves in all aspects of the work.
• Documenting and inspiring additional progress toward employer and collective systems changes with a 2025 Pay Equity Report and Pay Equity Summit.
Pay equity is intrinsically valuable. But it also leads to organizational effectiveness, artistic expression that inspires, and a vital creative economy. The Pay Equity Project has come a long way toward these objectives in a short time. Join us! For more information, visit npcberkshires.org/payequity.
Aron Goldman and Kristen van Ginhoven are co-leaders of the Pay Equity Project. Based in Amherst and Brooklyn, N.Y., Goldman is a consultant to funders and nonprofits across the country committed to an equity agenda. He is also a trainer/ adviser for ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities based in New York City. Ginhoven is a Berkshire County-based equity-centered consultant and the executive director of Project SAGE in Lakeville, Conn.
Career center works to close hiring gap
Right now there continues to be more job openings without people to fill them. There are 2.5 job openings for every job seeker. As a result, employers are finding it hard to grow, compete and thrive.
Every day MassHire hears from Berkshire employers of every size and industry that they continue to face challenges to find enough workers to fill open jobs. U.S. data shows 9.8 million job openings, but only 5.9 million unemployed workers.
The good news is that the market continues to stabilize and return to more normal hiring patterns, there is ongoing interest in flexible work schedules, and there’s an uptick in youth hiring. People are also less likely to job hop. The MassHire system is available to help both the employer and job seeker with their workforce needs.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are thousands of people entering the workforce, which is good news. However, the labor force participation rate of 62.8 percent does not match what it was before the pandemic at 63.4 percent. If the percentage of people participating in the labor force was the same as in February 2020, there would be 1.9 million more people in the workforce today. This shortage is impacting all employers in every industry.
So where did the workers go?
There are several factors that have come together to cause the ongoing
shortage. During the pandemic, early retirements and less immigration left the nation in a worker deficit, and boosted unemployment benefits and stimulus payments added to the reluctance of people returning to work. The lack of child care access and new business starts also contributed to the lower labor force, but these trends are changing.
The gap between open jobs and unemployed individuals is slowly narrowing. The current national hiring rate of 3.7 percent is higher than the 2.3 percent national quit rate. In Berkshire County, the July 2024 unemployment rate is 4.3 percent, a tick below the Massachusetts rate of 4.6 percent, compared to 3.3 percent from a year ago. This reflects 65,675 people in the Berkshire labor force with 62,871 employed and 2,804 unemployed.
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
Employers, MassHire is here to support Berkshire businesses at every level of your business cycle and connect to money-saving services and resources offered through state workforce development, economic development, and education partners to help employers grow and thrive. During fiscal 2024, MassHire assisted 777 companies access training resources, job fairs, layoff aversion services, and a variety of marketing, outreach, grant referrals, and vital business insights.
Our mission is simple: YOUR success is our success. Let’s work together to identify and solve your workforce needs. Reach out today to our market maker at Industry@
MassHireBerkshire.com and learn how MassHire can help with your workforce needs.
COMPANY TRAINING
The Berkshire Workforce Board can help your company access Workforce Training Fund resources to help upgrade your workforce by visiting commcorp.org/wtfp and Safety Grants mass.gov/the-diasworkplace-safety-training-grant to reduce the risk of worksite injuries and prevention. Upskilling employees is more than a strategic decision in order to maintain your staff’s competitive edge.
As a job seeker, the MassHire Berkshire Career Center can help you identify your strengths and opportunities for improvement, formulate a career plan, and outline a variety of education and training programs to help get you started! At the Career Center, job seekers, career changers and youth have access to a wide range of free high-quality job search resources and training programs.
There are specialized programs for unemployed, underemployed, veterans, teens and young adults, workers with disabilities, formerly incarcerated, mature workers and DTA and SNAP recipients. There are career fairs and networking opportunities throughout the year to connect to area employers with job openings. Visit MassHire at masshireberkshireCC.com to connect with a career coach today.
The MassHire System has a number of entry-level training programs to help un/underemployed residents
gain skills and find employment within our critical industries. Recruitment is currently underway for:
• Advanced Manufacturing training at McCann Tech, Berkshire Community College and the Berkshire Innovation Center;
• Nursing and medical assistant training in collaboration with Berkshire Health Systems, Integritus Healthcare and CHP Berkshire.
• Hospitality and culinary arts training, as well as early child care education at Berkshire Community College and number of online certificate programs and courses.
• Many additional Berkshire partners offer online credit and noncredit courses and trainings, adult basic education, English speakers of other languages (ESOL), and a variety of other opportunities. Some courses are free while others have a nominal fee.
Every day MassHire hears from Berkshire employers of every size and industry that they continue to face challenges to find enough workers to fill open jobs.
Whether you are an employer, a job seeker, a career changer, new to the Berkshires or a young person, reach out to the MassHire team today to help Berkshire employers and residents thrive!
Heather Boulger is executive director of the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board in Pittsfield.
Heather Boulger Inside the Job Market
How Fed rate affects mortage affordability
The Federal Reserve, often referred to as the Fed, plays a crucial role in shaping the U.S. economy, particularly through its influence on interest rates. One of the most significant ways the Fed’s actions affect everyday Americans is through mortgage rates, which directly impact home affordability and ownership.
The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which banks lend money to one another overnight.
When the Fed adjusts this rate, it indirectly influences the broader economy, including consumer borrowing rates, savings rates, and ultimately mortgage rates. Generally, when the Fed lowers the federal funds rate, borrowing becomes cheaper, leading to lower mortgage rates.
IMPACT ON MORTGAGE RATES
As anticipated, the Fed made an announcement on Sept. 18 to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by a half of a percentage point to 4.75 to 5 percent. It cited progress on inflation and the balance of risks. They are also considering additional adjustments in the near future.
Mortgage rates are typically tied to the yield on the 10-year
Treasury note, which is influenced by the Fed’s rate decisions. When the Fed reduces the federal funds rate, yields on Treasury notes often drop, resulting in lower mortgage rates.
This is good news for the average homebuyer. This decrease in rates makes home loans more affordable for consumers, allowing more individuals to qualify for mortgages.
For example, consider a 30-year fixed mortgage. A reduction in the interest rate from 4 percent to 3 percent might seem like a minor change, but it can lead to substantial savings over the life of the loan.
On a $300,000 mortgage, this reduction in rate can save a borrower nearly $60,000 in interest payments over 30 years. This increase in affordability can lead to more homebuyers entering the market, stimulating demand.
HOME AFFORDABILITY
Home affordability is influenced by several factors, including income, housing prices, and mortgage rates. When mortgage rates are low, monthly payments become more manageable.
For many potential buyers, the ability to afford a home is directly tied to these monthly payments. Lower interest rates can enable buyers to purchase a more expensive home without significantly increasing their monthly financial burden.
In addition to enabling higher-priced purchases, lower mortgage rates can also stabilize housing markets. When homebuyers can afford their monthly payments, they are less likely to default on their loans, which in turn supports property values in the community. Conversely, rising rates can lead to decreased affordability, resulting in fewer buyers in the market and potentially lower home prices.
There can be several positive effects ripple through the housing market with an announcement like this.
Increased buyer demand: Lower rates generally lead to a surge in buyer interest. More people feel financially empowered to enter the housing market, which can stimulate economic growth.
Affordability grows: Existing homeowners benefit as well. if rates continue to fall, some may take the opportunity to refinance their existing mortgages or at lower rates, reducing their monthly payments and freeing up disposable income for other expenses, which can further boost the economy. Homeowners also see impacts on home equity line of credit rates (HELOC)
Enhanced first-time buyer accessibility: First-time homebuyers,
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Re s o u r c e
often the demographic most sensitive to changes in mortgage rates, may find it easier to purchase homes with a lower barrier to entry.
Positive economic impact: Increased homeownership and home improvement contributes to greater consumer spending.
Homeowners tend to spend more on home improvements, furnishings, and local services, supporting jobs and businesses in the community. As prospective homeowners weigh their options, understanding the connection between the Fed’s rate decisions and mortgage affordability is essential in navigating the housing market.
Home affordability is influenced by several factors, including income, housing prices, and mortgage rates. When mortgage rates are low, monthly payments become more manageable.
Sandra J. Carroll is the chief executive officer of the Berkshire County Board of Realtors and the Berkshire County Multiple Listing Service.
i r e c t o r y
Sanda J. Carroll Real estate
Investing is near all-time highs
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. All information provided is general in nature and not intended to be used as personal financial advice.
The U.S. stock market as measured by the S&P 500 Index sits just a hair away from its recent all-time high. The S&P 500 has closed at an all-time high 38 times this year, most recently on July 16. This is the nature of the U.S. stock market. Since it has historically trended upward over time, it hits new highs regularly.
Despite this upward trend, investing can be fraught with emotion. Two conflicting emotions often emerge when markets are near all-time highs. One emotion is what the kids call FOMO, or fear of missing out. When market momentum is positive, you may feel compelled to buy stocks.
As markets climb, some people feel like they want to get involved. They may be driven to invest more. Markets are near all-time highs because vibes are good. The economy is generally good, and people have high hopes for companies like Apple, Nvidia and Google, just to name a few.
Market prices reflect positive expectations. Recent growth in the share prices of many tech stocks has been driven by increased earnings expectations as companies capitalize on the artificial intelligence craze.
But all-time highs do not al-
ways trigger investors to get more involved. Quite the contrary, you may see all-time highs in the market and become increasingly nervous that a downturn is inevitable. The higher you climb, the harder you fall. Major market meltdowns in history have often come after markets soared to new heights.
Take the example of the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. The market rallied in the ‘90s. From 1997 through 1999, an investment in the S&P 500 more than doubled (ignoring any fees and assuming the reinvestment of dividends).
The growth in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was even more extraordinary, more than tripling in that same three-year period.
1989, over the course of the past 35 years, the level of the S&P 500 has reached all-time closing highs more than 700 times.
The average one-year total return on the S&P 500 after the market closed at an all-time high was more than 13 percent. This is a strongly positive outcome on average, but does it mean that markets will keep going up without a doubt? Of course not.
What if you invested right before the great financial crisis, the bursting dot-com bubble, or Black Monday 1987? The good news for these ill-timed investments is that they all found a way to recover given enough time.
As we now know, the bubble burst in early 2000. From January 2000 through the end of 2003, the Nasdaq index was down an astounding 50 percent. Investors who bought in at the peak felt some serious pain. This is a historical analogy that investors fret about.
This begs the question: should investors embrace all-time highs or fear them? One way to answer this question is to explore average market returns after the market has reached an all-time high. Since
One recent peak, on Jan. 3, 2022, saw a subsequent one-year return of negative 19 percent. After the dot-com peak in March 2000, the one-year return on the S&P 500 was a painful minus 26 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, after the S&P 500 reached a peak in mid-August 2020, the subsequent one-year period saw an increase of 30 percent. These examples reveal a wide range of possible outcomes. Returns have been strongly positive on average after all-time highs, but with extreme outcomes in both directions.
We’re near an all-time high in the stock market. Historical data reveals that it is not to be feared on average. But we also can’t know for sure what the next year looks like.
There is a chance that the market will fall from this elevated level. What happens if you invest at a peak before a big downturn?
What if you invested right before the great financial crisis, the bursting dot-com bubble, or Black Monday 1987? The good news for these ill-timed investments is that they all found a way to recover given enough time.
Looking back at three of the worst days to get invested in the last several decades, we can see that one month and one year later, an investor was worse off. However, markets recovered within a few years. Returns ended up being positive given enough time (see chart). This is not the way that anyone would want to invest, but it is heartening.
These lessons arise time and again when it comes to investing. If an investor is willing to wait, the US stock market has always found a way to earn a positive return historically. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is a valuable lesson.
All-time highs in the stock market have on average seen good returns in the subsequent 12 months. But even if your timing turns out to be terrible, the market has always recovered.
Although the past is no guarantee of the future, even past peaks have been good times to invest, especially for those with a longterm horizon.
Luke Delorme is director of financial planning at Tableaux Wealth in Stockbridge.
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STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN
THC gummies like these being removed from their mold at a Berkshire cannabis dispensary are subject to strict state-level compliance and testing laws. The emergence of largely unregulated hemp-derived THC products poses a significant threat to the legal cannabis market, which continues to navigate excessive taxation, complex regulations and fierce competition in an already saturated landscape, notes columnist Meg Sanders.
Coping with threat of hemp-derived THC
Hemp-derived THC products, often labeled “intoxicating hemp,” are not going away anytime soon.
Despite the frustration this brings to legal cannabis dispensaries in the Berkshires and beyond, it’s a reality the industry must face head-on. These products — largely unregulated in comparison to the strict state-level compliance and testing laws and becoming more widely available — pose a significant threat to the legal cannabis market, which continues to navigate excessive taxation, complex regulations and fierce competition in an already saturated landscape.
to people under the age of 21. While legal cannabis businesses struggle to promote their products due to strict federal regulations on cannabis marketing, intoxicating hemp products are freely promoted on social media and other platforms, putting state-licensed dispensaries at a clear disadvantage.
One of the most significant advantages luring cannabis-derived THC product manufacturers to the hemp-derived THC side of the retail street is the ability to sell directly to consumers, and even ship across state lines.
This matter is an unintended consequence of the loophole enabled by the 2018 Farm Bill. This bill legalized hemp with less than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC, a threshold that lawmakers believed would limit intoxicating substances.
However, producers have found ways to synthesize cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC from hemp-derived CBD, bypassing federal cannabis laws and selling these products directly to consumers, often without the testing and safety standards applied to state-legal cannabis. By March of last year, almost two dozen state attorneys general urged Congress to address risks and dangers posted by unregulated intoxicating hemp products. Adding to this advantage, hemp-derived THC products face fewer advertising restrictions, and are often marketed
This sidesteps the stringent regulations and high taxes that burden state-legal cannabis dispensaries, and if consumers can buy Delta-8 THC gummies or vape cartridges online, often at a lower price and with fewer restrictions compared to cannabis-derived products, and are largely uneducated (and uncaring) about the differences between intoxicating hemp products and legal cannabis ones — it clearly spells trouble for retailers and brands in the cannabis space.
However the lack of regulation surrounding these products raises public health concerns. Hemp-derived THC has often sold in places like gas stations or convenience stores, which don’t adhere to the same rigorous safety standards imposed on cannabis dispensaries.
This creates a significant risk for consumers, as many of these products may not be
tested for potency or contaminants, not to mention brand and industry confusion for consumers. States are already responding to these concerns.
In September 2024, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued emergency regulations banning any detectable THC in hemp-derived food, beverages and dietary products. The move came after increasing reports of health incidents tied to intoxicating hemp products, many of which were being sold without proper oversight. California’s regulations also enforce an age limit of 21 for the purchase of these products and aim to address the risk of these substances being accessed by minors.
Similarly, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that restricts the sale of intoxicating hemp products, requiring manufacturers to comply with the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission guidelines. The new law includes penalties for noncompliance, such as fines and product seizures, aimed at curbing the availability of these products, which pose risks to minors and unregulated sales
None of this however addresses the larger issue facing Berkshire retailers, and keeping an eye on the trends of hemp-derived products is the first step to combating it outright (at one’s own peril), or adapting to shifting market dynamics.
Which is why the legal cannabis market (locally and across the state) needs to anticipate these market shifts. Top selling cannabis brands like Wana and 1906 have already started capitalizing on this loophole
by offering both cannabis and hemp-derived THC products on siloed websites, allowing them to expand their reach to states where traditional cannabis remains illegal.
Large companies like GTI and Curaleaf also are in this camp. Which provides more fodder for dispensaries in the Berkshires to begin adapting to this trend. In other words, for the time being hemp-derived products are here to stay — and we need to adjust our business strategies accordingly.
Massachusetts has strict hemp-based regulations and testing protocols ensuring any hemp derived product in a state legal dispensary was both grown in state, and safe. So for cannabis retailers, the key to staying competitive in this evolving market could mean incorporating hemp-derived THC products into our inventory while ensuring that all products, whether derived from hemp or cannabis, meet rigorous safety standards. This approach would allow dispensaries to maintain consumer trust while catering to a broader audience.
Retailers could follow suit with brands like Wana and explore direct-to-consumer sales models. While the current legal framework makes this difficult for cannabis-derived THC, hemp-derived THC could offer a new revenue stream, allowing businesses to leverage the more lenient advertising and distribution regulations these products enjoy.
The 2024 Farm Bill presents both a challenge and an oppor-
tunity for the cannabis industry. Some lawmakers have introduced amendments to close the hemp-derived THC loophole, potentially altering the definition of hemp to exclude intoxicating cannabinoids. Others argue that regulating these products, rather than banning them, is a more sustainable solution. While the outcome of these legislative battles remains uncertain, what is clear is that cannabis businesses need to stay informed about potential regulatory changes. We need to advocate for policies that create a level playing field for all THC products, regardless of their source, while ensuring that consumer safety remains a top priority.
The rise of hemp-derived THC products has forced us to confront an uncomfortable reality: these products are not just competition—they’re thriving. While the current legal framework creates challenges for state-legal cannabis businesses, it also offers opportunities for those who are willing to adapt.
At Canna Provisions, we remain committed to providing safe, high-quality cannabis products to our customers. But as the market shifts, we must also recognize the value in exploring new business models, advocating for fair regulations, and staying ahead of the curve.
The future of the cannabis industry depends on our ability to innovate, educate, and adapt to these changes, even when the odds seem stacked against us.
Meg Sanders is CEO and co-founder of
Canna Provisions.
Meg Sanders Cannabis Corner
Welcoming another cohort of entrepreneurs
Last year, in an effort to increase access, expand our partnerships, and activate more of the connections that we have built across the commonwealth, the Berkshire Innovation Center launched the “Stage 2 Accelerator Program,” a 35-week, handson and results-oriented program designed to serve early-stage tech startups.
Firms accepted to the program receive a free membership to the BIC, full access to our labs, advanced equipment, educational programming, and digital media expertise, as well as broad and curated support from the BIC team.
Entrepreneurs in the cohort also have access to the BIC Manufacturing Academy (BMA), an initiative built in partnership with MIT and local industry partners with funding support from the US Department of Commerce and MassTech Collaborative, which is gaining national and international attention. The BMA is directed by the BIC’s chief learning officer, Dennis Rebelo, who witnessed during the last cohort the value of the program both to the new firms and our existing industry partners.
“The program is an ideal way to provide technical problem-solving and human skills simulations to Stage 2 Accelerator companies before their actual process, systems, culture and decision-making about internal processes are set,” Rebelo explained. “Entrepreneurs are ripe for learning through the BMA, and their perspectives provide added rich learning for our member companies already engaged in the academy.”
In addition to the BMA and the BIC’s facilities, equipment and software packages, firms in the program
get extensive access to the vast network of experts that engage with the BIC regularly. Among the mentors supporting the entrepreneurs and guiding the growth of the program is Sam Russo, co-founder of Dive Technologies, a firm that leveraged BIC resources to build their autonomous underwater vehicle prior to acquisition by Anduril Industries in 2022. Russo, a Pittsfield native, noted “I learned a tremendous amount as we advanced our product and grew our firm, and I am eager to continue to share my experiences with a new group of entrepreneurs, hopefully helping them grow their businesses right here in the Berkshires.”
In our 2023-24 cohort, we welcomed six young firms — two making medical devices, two in the clean tech space, a biotech firm, and a firm focused on cybersecurity for quantum computing. These firms brought a burst of new energy into the BIC and fully enmeshed themselves in our BIC member community. When the program ended this past June, nearly all of the firms were eager to stay involved and are continuing to leverage the BIC to help bring their products to market.
It is clear that this program presents a unique opportunity to strengthen our regional economy and fuel the growth of new firms and new jobs in sectors prioritized by the commonwealth. As such, we are thrilled to announce and welcome our 2024-25 cohort of entrepreneurs into the experience. Firms accepted into Cohort 2 of the BIC Stage 2 Accelerator are: Revvit (revvit.net) builds lowcost and simple electric vehicle charging at commercial, multifamily, fleet parking and public
properties. The company’s mission is to provide all communities with hyper-convenient EV charging to propel adoption of electric transportation in currently underserved locations. Revvit’s electric vehicle charger utilizes the popular Level 1 (120 volt) charging mode.
Ethos Admissions (ethosadmissions.org) focuses on college and career readiness, helping to prepare the next generation of climate-tech workers. Their program makes a deep connection and commitment to equity with a focus on postsecondary readiness and youth workforce development for marginalized and underserved students in rural and gateway communities.
Solid State Marine (solidstatemarine.com) manufactures solid state lithium batteries for electric watercraft. Their composition eliminates the use of highly unstable liquids, greatly reducing thermal runaway conditions that cause typical lithium batteries to ignite. They are 30 percent smaller than the leading lithium-ion batteries, enabling big boat electronics in all vessels.
Clear Waterways Group has developed a self-contained device that clarifies large bodies of water. The device was developed to mitigate and remediate adverse effects of toxic algae blooms caused by nutrient pollution, and remove and prevent invasive species such as zebra mussels, from spreading in lakes, ponds and rivers.
SuryaTech (suryatechpower. com) integrates battery storage with solar power, and enables faster and more consistent EV charging by storing solar energy for on-demand usage. This stored power can also be fed back into the grid during peak demand, enhancing grid stability and efficiency. This system leverages renewable energy to facilitate rapid charging while reducing reliance on
non-renewable power sources. Overall, it promotes a more sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure, supporting the broader adoption of electric vehicles.
Magnetworks (magnetworks. com) is a community-driven job referral platform and modern job feed that leverages technology and word-of-mouth to transform regional hiring. With automated referral tools and local rewards for successful hires, Magnetworks turns the job search into a collaborative, community-focused effort. The platform empowers employers with simple, automated tools to engage their networks and reward referrals with what the community values most. Recover Hospitality (recoverhospitality.com) is making travel more enjoyable and accessible for individuals who prioritize mental health and well-being. As healthier lifestyles and mindful choices gain momentum, hospitality environments that cater to the nondrinking and sober-curious population can make a significant impact. Recover Hospitality helps unlock the potential of this sizable market through the CXN Hotel Collection: a curated selection of hotels supportive of mental wellbeing.
The partners providing support for this program include: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Mill Town Foundation, 1Berkshire, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp., MassMEDIC, Altium, MathWorks and SolidWorks.
We thank all of our partners for their support of this initiative and look forward to introducing the new firms to our community.
Ben Sosne is executive director of the Berkshire Innovation Center.
BEN GARVER
Entrepreneurs in the Berkshire Innovation Center’s latest cohort of the Stage 2 Accelerator Program receive a free membership to the center, full access to its labs, advanced equipment, educational programming, and digital media expertise, as well as broad and curated support from the BIC team.
Ben Sosne News from the BIC
Real estate transactions
ADAMS
Machelle A. and Norman R. Anderson Jr. sold property at 168 Friend St., Adams, to John P. and Deborah A. Calderara, $325,000.
PNC Bank National Association sold property at 33-35 Grove St., Adams, to Trevor W. Crombie, $100,000.
Michael Kwasniowski, Judy M. Marko and John Clossey, trustees of the MGE Realty Trust, sold property at 26 Overlook Terrace, Adams, to Todd Powers, $125,000.
Jeffrey P. Ciuk and Julie M. Lyon-Sweeny sold property at 70 Friend St., Adams, to Michael W. Estes III, $37,500.
Gabrielle Emery sold property at 10 Liberty St., Adams, to Nestor Guardado, $200,000.
John Fish sold property at 13 Leonard St., Adams, to Olof Szczesny, $135,000.
Alenda M. Baugh-Zelazo sold property at 56 Alger St., Adams, to Melissa Zepka, $318,000.
James and Laurie Roy sold property at 10 Godek St., Adams, to Ronald Rice, $123,500.
Anthony B. and Shirley A. Hart sold property at 70 Commercial St., Adams, to Alexander Hart, $87,000.
Joseph Barbieri sold property at 83 Columbia St., Adams, to Thomas A. Ryan, $92,000.
Gregory Thomas Lucia, trustee of the Lucia Family NT, sold property at 2 Beecher St., Adams, to Dana E. and Martha E. Labbee, $70,000.
James J. and Linda Montgomery sold property at 86 Howland Ave., Adams, to Matthew J. Tatro, $237,000.
Jason S. Donaldson, trustee of Coalie RT, sold property at 1 Jordan St., Adams, to Leydet Properties LLC, $115,000.
Decker Enterprises Inc. sold property at 9 Grove St., Adams, to Just Throw Me A Name LLC, $110,000.
ALFORD
Jason K. Cross and Sarah Cross sold property at 388 West Road, Alford, to Dev Null LLC, $1,200,000.
BECKET
Douglas Brandwin, trustee, Gerald Brandwin Trust, and Douglas Brandwin, trustee, Mitchell Brandwin Special Needs Trust, sold property at 77 Sitting Bull Road, Becket, to Nicholas Kasala and Sonja Fudala, $530,000.
Kenneth D. Boudreau and Ramona Mansfield sold property at Wade Inn Road, Becket, to Peter D. Conzett and Pamela Goguen, $72,500. Todd and Shelley Rodman sold property at 123 East Shore Road, Becket, to Amanda Bartolomei, $290,000.
Alyssa Paige sold property at 292 Silver Leaf Drive, Becket, to Michael and Cheryl Folib, $382,000. Robert L. and Gail Weinstein, trustees, Robert L. Weinstein and Gail Weinstein Joint RVT Agreement, sold property at 526 Bonny Rigg Hill Road, Becket, to Anthony Palazzi, $630,000.
Stephen L. and Gail L. Hollander sold property at Bonny Rigg Hill Road, Becket, to Bonny Rigg LLC, $10,000.
Erica F. Puentes, Kurt O. and Patrick P. Bergmann, trustees, Catherine M. Bergmann RVT, sold property at George Carter Road, Becket, to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, $47,000.
John E. and Lynn M. Gauthier sold property at 483 Otis Road, Becket, to Jeanette Vartigian, $485,000. Guy R. Veilleux sold property at Trail Circle, Becket, to Patrick and Denise Chelstowski, $32,000.
Raymond Robert sold property at 51 Maple St., Becket, to Gerald E. Cormier, $210,000.
CHESHIRE
Corey M. Warner sold property at 124 Main St., Cheshire, to John A. and Jennifer M. Trivette, $324,000.
Craig M. Kahn sold property at 764-810 and 828 Wells Road, Cheshire, to John J. Burke and Susan D. Freitag-Burke, $500,000.
Christine A. Hart, personal rep. of Shirley C. Lincoln, sold property at 48 Mill Hill Road, Cheshire, to Wayne Bingle and Nancy McGrath, $149,900. Dennis H. Heath sold property at Jenks Road, Cheshire, to Adam A. and Christine M. Jenks, $85,000.
CLARKSBURG
Matthew D. Thompson sold property at 219 Cross Road, Clarksburg, to Corey Meczywor and Rachel Quackenbush, $328,000.
Daniel K. and Jessica M. Marshburn sold property at 619 East Road, Clarksburg, to Jared Shockcor and Justin Pfaff, $424,900.
DALTON
Lawrence R. and Peter J. Filkins, trustees, Lapede Realty NT, sold property at 150 Barton Hill
Road, Dalton, to Peter R. and Tracie D. Kirchner, $570,000.
Richard E. and Katherine M. Carty sold property at 60 Pleasant St., Dalton, to Billy J. and Elizabeth M. Piantoni, $390,000.
John F., James M., William R., and Matthew C. Loehr, Mary E. Quirk, and Kathleen M. Zink sold property at 83 Ashuelot St., Dalton, to Carly F. Zink, $180,000.
Jean Marie and Marilyn Parel sold property at 488 East Housatonic St., Dalton, to Laurie Martinelli, $230,000.
Christopher J. Duquette and Jacqueline M. McLaughlin, personal reps. of Estate of Mary Jane Duquette, sold property at 1077 South St., Dalton, to Joshua M. and Amber R. Stedman, $248,000.
Warren B. and Wendy J. Smith, trustees, Warren B. Smith and Wendy J. Smith RVT, sold property at 981 South St., Dalton, to Jeffery Ernest Baribeault Jr. and Ariana A. Baribeault, $280,000.
Shane D. and Joellen L. Stedman sold property at 450 Grange Hall Road, Dalton, to Timothy M. Hart and Erin J. Hart, $600,000.
Donald G. Beach sold property at 269 East Housatonic St., Dalton, to Michael Wood, $250,000.
Patricia Hunt and Dylan Bencivenga, trustees, Shea Macpherson Supplemental Needs Trust u/d/t Feb. 2, 2018, sold property at 109 Glennon Ave., Dalton, to Jeannie Alese Ingram, $379,000.
Stacey L. Sears sold property at 99 Central Ave., Dalton, to Shane Sinopoli and Megan Miller, $390,000.
John M. Marley, personal rep. of the Estate of Janet L. Marley, sold property at 39 Sunset Drive, Dalton, to Michelle F. Dietlin-Casella, $267,500.
Edward J. Farley sold property at 17-21 Chamberlain Ave., Dalton, to Matrix Estates LLC, $165,000.
Kevin W. Mathayus sold property at 67 Franklin St., Dalton, to Meredith P. Mathayus, $235,000.
William N. and Linda L. Grabel sold property at 290 Red Barn Road, Dalton, to Julie Fallon Hughes, $745,000.
Alfred G. and Amy R. Gelinas, trustees, Alfred and Amy Gelinas Living Trust, sold property at 80-82 Carson Ave., Dalton, to Abigail Owiredu and Eugenio Lucca Garcia, $316,500.
Mark S. and Lucinda A. Rancourt sold property at 102 North St., Dalton, to Matthew Bryan and Justin Hamrick, $379,000.
EGREMONT
ASWEM Pines LLC sold property at 26 Pine Crest Hill Road, Egremont, to Jeffrey B. Rosen and Karen Z. Rosen, $1,749,000.
FLORIDA
James Pedro sold property at 350 Mohawk Trail., Florida, to Eugene Nici and Jennifer Cessford, $69,000.
Daniel E. Schaedle and Kim E. Hunter-Schaedle sold property at 123 Mohawk Trail, Florida, to Christian Eggleston and Ashley Witto, $315,000. Great Barrington
Patricia J. White and Mary Ann Croker sold property at 530 Main St., Great Barrington, to Robin Berthet and Marvin Cruz, $438,000.
James E. Gop Jr. sold property at 223 North Plain Road, Great Barrington, to Emily M. Carlotta, $65,000.
Leora Kahn sold property at 33 Grove St., Great Barrington, to Brian R. Foster and Amy L. Foster, $635,500.
Estate of Mary E. Langford sold property at 177 Division St., Great Barrington, to Melton Lee Sawyer Jr. and Mark Paul Zustovich, $80,000.
Coblax LLC sold property at 32 Mahaiwe St., Great Barrington, to 32 Mahaiwe LLC, $560,000.
Florence Lenoel sold property at 68 Brush Hill Road, Great Barrington, to Baruland LLC, $817,000.
Mark A. Taylor II and Emily L. Taylor, trustees of Unbreakable Vow 2020 Revocable Trust, sold property at East Mountain Road, Great Barrington, to Patrizia Cappelletto and Tullio Cappelletto, $120,000.
Susan G. Segall sold property at 263 Long Pond Road, Great Barrington, to William M. Sherman and Marla S. Sherman, $2,132,000.
Estate of Paula E. Suters sold property at 24 Hemlock Hill Road, Great Barrington, to Gideon Stryker and Molly Gozlan, $700,000.
Michael Berkowitz and Kristen Palazzo sold property at 15 Higgins St., Great Barrington, to Nelson Fernandez, $800,000.
Daniel J. Bartoni III sold property at 229 Prospect St., Great Barrington, to Gabriel Properties LLC, $238,000.
HANCOCK
Annette J. Woodside, Suzette Anthony, Christine
Nichols-Weigel, Kevin and Paul Nichols sold property at 2309 Hancock Road, Hancock, to Brian Timothy and Haley Nicole Roden, $250,000.
Barrett Bewkes Higgins sold property at Whitman Road, Hancock, to Deborahlin Perry, $75,000. Jane Bewkes and Elwood Davis, trustees of the Eugene Garrett Bewkes III Descendants Trust, sold property at Whitman Road, Hancock, to Deborahlin Perry, $75,000.
Michelangelo Fragale sold property at 37 Corey Road, Unit 614, Hancock, to Matthew Keith Egan and Sookyoung Lee, $137,000.
HINSDALE
Maurice B. Arlos, trustee, Alma R. Arlos Realty Trust, sold property at South Shore Road, Hinsdale, to Joseph M. and Susan R. Horton, $350,000.
Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 125 Commonwealth Ave., Hinsdale, to Christopher R. Hildebrand and Jill D. Benson, $303,000.
LANESBOROUGH
Michael and Erin Macpherson sold property at 0 Silver St., Lanesborough, to Douglas and Cyd Greco, $120,000.
Mountain Stream LLC sold property at Miner Road, Lanesborough, to Giovanni Pena and Ashley Poirier, $95,000.
Mountain Stream LLC sold property at Miner Road, Lanesborough, to James E. Lamonde, $47,500.
LEE
Hannelore Voness and Irving N. Feit sold property at Stockbridge Road, Lee, to the Inhabitants of the Town of Lee, $110,000.
County Mortgage LLC and Howard I. Eisler sold property at 880 East St., Lee, to RLS VOM 16D LLC, $330,000.
Gary W. and Barbara Allen sold property at 250 Summer St., Lee, to David Sheldon Bobrow, $420,000.
T & S Holdings LLC sold property at 1185 Pleasant St., Lee, to The Inhabitants of the Town of Lee, $3,000,000.
Robert M. Johnson sold property at 40 Beaver Dam Road and 357 Leisure Lee Road, Lee, to Frost Bank, trustee, Randall T. Kempner Trust u/w Marion Lee Kempner, $450,000.
Town of Lee sold property at 100 Leisure Lee Road, Lee, to William Glassner, $3,200.
William Glassner sold property at 100 Leisure Lee Road, Lee, to Molly Shifrin and Toni Thomas, $15,000.
WPF LLC sold property at 49 Chanterwood Road, Lee, to Ike & Ally’s Lake House LLC, $4,800,000. U.S. Bank Trust NA, trustee, sold property at 110 Maple St., Lee, to YHWH LLC, $175,000.
Carberry6 LLC sold property at 9 Railroad St., Lee, to Beans In Their Ears LLC, $365,000.
Kathleen M. Hoctor sold property at 100 Maple St., Lee, to Douglas J. Hoctor and Jennifer Donovan, $150,000.
Rachael Mason sold property at 70 Pine St., Lee, to Lauren and Christy C. J. Flores, $368,750.
LENOX
Peter N., Jane, and Nancy R. Greenwald, trustees of the Greenwald Family RVT, sold property at 16 Meadow Lane, Lenox, to Michael D. and Patricia Morris-Beeler, $290,000.
Monica R. Pattangall sold property at 83 West Mountain Road, Lenox, to Francis J. and William A. Vahle, $230,000.
Thomas R. Lehman, trustee, Thomas R. Lehman RVT, and William H. Lehman Jr. sold property at 11 Stone Ledge Road, Lenox, to Edward Park, $160,900.
David Hahn sold property at 15 Post Road, Lenox, to Donna and David M. Lagarce, $546,500.
Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, trustee, and William E. Roosa Jr. and Elizabeth A. Roosa sold property at 169 East Dugway Road, Lenox, to Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, trustee, $219,523.61.
MONTEREY
Julie Forman and David Sterling sold property at 45 Art School Road, Monterey, to Horse Haven LLC, $2,275,000.
Richard J. McCormick and Kris C. Lowe sold property at 83 Main Road, Monterey, to Irwin H. Gelman and Mara Koven-Gelman, $1,075,000.
NEW ASHFORD
Charles J. and Marilyn L. Lamont, trustees of the Lamont FLT, sold property at Roys Road, New Ashford, to Kalvin Dziedziak, $62,000.
NEW MARLBOROUGH
Jennifer White sold property at 2 Pine St., New Marlborough, to Victoria A. Reardon, trustee of Victoria A. Reardon Living Trust, $710,000.
NORTH ADAMS
Richard Astle sold property at 39 Goodrich St., North Adams, to Hailey E. Williams, $250,000. Billy Joe and Elizabeth M. Piantoni sold property
at 34 Whittesley Ave., North Adams, to Paul and Olivia Dalton, $254,000.
Pollen & Epstein Properties 2 LLC sold property at 86 West Main St., North Adams, to Jean Claude Junior Renaud and Marie Monette Valliere, $182,000.
Mary T. Lescarbeau sold property at 318-320 Beaver St., North Adams, to John Robert Carvalho, $190,000.
K G & E Realty Group LLC sold property at 41 Roberts Drive, North Adams, to EH Reinhard LLC, $795,000.
Karen Twarog, personal rep. of Anita Rose Galbo, sold property at 67 Meade Ave., North Adams, to Michael G. Hayes and Jennifer Vanuni, $184,000. John J. and Stacy J. Leclair sold property at 143149 Protection Ave., North Adams, to Jason and Maribeth Garner, trustees of Protection Ave RT, $280,000.
Aubrey Tyner Lawrence and Laurie Aberle sold property at 55 Marion Ave., North Adams, to Susan Stephenson, $470,000.
Anthony Arza sold property at 40 Chase Ave., North Adams, to Louis Matney Jr., $60,000. Jessica Sweeney sold property at Holden Street, Unit 12, North Adams, to Alexis A. Rosasco, $100,000.
Kyle J. Danforth and Emily C. Moulton sold property at 136 North St., North Adams, to Kaitlyn and Michelle Davenport, $254,000.
Chance and Denise Lancaster sold property at 52 Ray St., North Adams, to Allison Shaughnessy, $169,900.
Laura Ephraim and James E. Owens sold property at 47 Holbrook St., North Adams, to Matthew E. Isaac, $350,000.
Edgar Martinez Argueta sold property at 53-55 Prospect St., North Adams, to Madalin Asencio-Sanchez, $50,000.
Maia Robbins-Zust, trustee of Rex Realty Trust, sold property at 49 South St. and 55-57 South St., North Adams, to Cardoso Holdings LLC, $280,000.
OTIS
Brent N. and Robin L. Chadwick sold property at 20 Ray Hubbard Road, Otis, to Andrew and Stephanie Dorsey, $635,000.
John F. Leaberry sold property at Kingsley Road, Otis, to Stephen Gladding, $12,500.
Sydney A. Carl sold property at 1514 Monterey Road, Otis, to Casey M. Carl, $67,000. J. Scott Hansen sold property at West Center Road, Otis, to Susan Moran, $65,000.
Roger Arnow Jr. sold property at New Hollywood Boulevard and Off Toland Road, Otis, to Robert C. Fedor, $27,500.
Polly A. Carlin sold property at 35 Langdon Lane, Otis, to Laurence Dodick-Sperber, trustee, Laurence Dodick-Sperber Management Trust, and Sue Ellen Dodick-Sperber, trustee, Sue Ellen Dodick-Sperber Management Trust, $1,900,000. Judson E. Boardman, trustee, Judson E. Boardman Living Trust, sold property at 1146 East Otis Road, Otis, to Margaret Alexander, $139,000. Robert W. and Rita A. Stevens sold property at Route 8, Otis, to David Richard and Lisa A. Feather, $40,000.
Arthur K. Weise and Kristina Nye sold property at 767 Algerie Road, Otis, to Kurt L. and Sheila M. Gschwind, $1,300,000.
Rosemary Bella, personal rep. of the Estate of Edward John Bella, sold property at New Hollywood Boulevard, Otis, to Robert C. Fedor, $36,000. Michael and Cheryl L. Cunningham sold property at 21-23 Pleasant Drive, Otis, to Andrew and Vincent Mangiere-Geller, $1,800,000.
Roger Arnow Jr. sold property at New Hollywood Boulevard, Otis, to Brian J. Kolodziej, $26,500. Jane Sharpe and Michael J. Considine, personal rep. of the Estate of Karen Lynne Fay, sold property at 2375 North Main Road, Otis, to Timothy M. DuBon and Laureen O. McClure, $350,000.
Annmarie J. Verner sold property at 759 North Main Road, Otis, to Liv Deandrea, $55,000.
PERU
Dustin Hover, personal rep., Estate of Bonnie A. Zabek, sold property at 10 Spruce Drive, Peru, to Shawn Smith, $269,000.
William A. Tatro Jr. sold property at Lafayette Drive, Peru, to Zachary W. Schiller, $47,500.
PITTSFIELD
Marlee Champoux Barry sold property at 176 Churchill St., Pittsfield, to Cody W. and Margaret B. Gavin, $850,000.
Raymond W. Daverin sold property at 8 Berkshire Ave., Pittsfield, to Danielle Tyer, $300,000. Dianna R. Brown and Peter W. Bazan sold property at 51 Preston Ave., Pittsfield, to Jon Kara and Anna Paul Shields, $275,000.
Matthew M. Babeu and Cheyenne M. Crennan sold property at 10 Brookline Ave., Pittsfield, to Julie and Peter Sanders, $281,000.
Real estate
FROM PAGE 19
Timothy R. Wendling, trustee, Richard J. Wendling RVT, sold property at 116 Burke Ave. and Hughes Street, Pittsfield, to Timothy R. Wendling and Raffi J. Krimian, $233,000.
Phylene M. Farrell sold property at 90 Sherwood Drive, Pittsfield, to Lovepreet Singh and Komaljeet Kaur, $453,000.
William T. and Christine E. Ezell sold property at 79 Asci Drive, Pittsfield, to Kenneth and Lauren Dedominici, $359,000.
James A. Barrett, personal rep., Estate of Alfred Barrett, sold property at 138 Second St. and Pond Street, Pittsfield, to Nilson Ardila Castellanos and Modesta Santos Martinez, $235,000.
Aundrea H. Pansecchi sold property at 15 Skyview Drive, Pittsfield, to Dashima K. Boyd, $272,000. Carlos Rigonato and Marcio Joao Da Silva sold property at 139-141 Madison Ave., Pittsfield, to Homero Lara Neto and Tatiana Proetti Esteves Lara, $285,000.
U.S. Bank Trust NA, trustee, sold property at 32 Westminster St., Pittsfield, to Bernice Donkor, $196,000.
Lisa Herbert, Robert A. and Patricia L. Smith sold property at 15-17 Patricia Ave., Pittsfield, to William Smith, $250,000.
Andrea L. Lynch, Francis L. Suppe Jr. and Karen L. Suppe sold property at 45 Dexter St., Pittsfield, to Christopher Stinson and Lisa Marie Coleman, $243,000.
Jean A. Doak, trustee, Doak NT, sold property at 93 Roselyn Drive, Pittsfield, to Thomas G. and Valerie J. Conte-Mesquita, $439,900.
XK Ventures LLC sold property at 406 Elm St., Pittsfield, to Norma L. Barrios Chun, $406,000. George Wahling, trustee, 99 Lyman Street Nominee RT, sold property at 99 Lyman St., Pittsfield, to Brandon P., Cheryl and Kayla Rose Colombari, $310,000.
First On 2nd LLC sold property at 75-77 Second St., Pittsfield, to Andrea Lim-Melendez, $425,000.
Jason J. Collins sold property at 77 Windsor Ave., Pittsfield, to Jessica S. Pousada, $292,000.
George C. and Barbara A. Mendrala sold property at 23 Ridgeway Ave., Pittsfield, to Drake and Kathleen W. Walsh, $342,000.
Robert J. and Carlene J. Arambula, trustees, Carlene J. Arambula Revocable Living Trust, sold property at 74 Livingston Ave., Pittsfield, to Linsday C. and Erin E. DeBrino, $440,000.
Kimberly Haddad sold property at 28 Dutchess Ave., Pittsfield, to Tiffany and Ian Roberts, $190,000.
Timothy and Susan Kelly sold property at 39 Ontario St., Pittsfield to Eric and Teressa Barriere, $360,000.
Pinnacle Property Operations LLC sold property at 78-80 Madison Ave., Pittsfield, to Top Line Properties LLC, $150,000.
Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 69 Perrine Ave., Pittsfield, to Jessica Helena Dinnie and Jeffrey Gromacki, $286,000. Links LLC sold property at 19-21 Dartmouth St., Pittsfield, to Top Line Properties LLC, $199,000. Craig and Tracy Olsen Crawford, trustees, Crawford Family RVT, sold property at 90 Dawes Ave., Pittsfield, to Lance and Kathryn Russell, $675,000.
Elite and Lexi Cobretti sold property at 112 Brown St., Pittsfield, to Michelle Hathaway and Audrey Ryan, $240,000.
Susan A. Cowan sold property at 8 Cobblestone Cove, Pittsfield, to Margaret A. Brown, $325,000. Andrew R. Fricker sold property at 175 Lakeway Drive, Pittsfield, to Colby Baxter Kellogg-Youndt and Bailey Rosen, $202,400.
Kevin W. and Kathryn M. LaPointe sold property at 9 Northbrook Lane, Pittsfield, to Robert M. Johnson and Frederica Scheeder, $885,000.
Peter Brown sold property at 466-468 Fenn St., Pittsfield, to Maures Ithayakumar, $50,000.
Cindy Ann Buck sold property at 19 Cynthia Lane, Pittsfield, to Shannon E. Toomey, Sandra and Joseph Sloane, $405,000.
Wilfrido Euclides Mendez Vanegas and Gladis Magnolia Bravo Saico sold property at 58-60 Curtis Terrace, Pittsfield, to Luis A. Gomez Tamayo, $210,000.
Edward J. LaDouceur Jr. and Constance A. LaDouceur sold property at 52 Curtis Terrace, Pittsfield, to Pablo Xicotencatl-Leon and Joanna Nicole Rivera, $250,000.
Christopher E. and Lori A. Moon sold property at 76 Kenilworth St., Pittsfield, to Camilo and Alexa Bermudez, $410,000.
Camilo H. and Alexa M. Bermudez sold property at 39 Tammie Way, Pittsfield, to Lauren Melle, $650,000.
Marcia Fields Kasuba sold property at 10 Franklin St., Pittsfield, to Thomas Quintman, $297,000. Grace L. Koch sold property at 15 Walden Lane,
Pittsfield, to David H. and Donna M. Darcy, trustees, Darcy Family NT, $377,000.
1Berkshire Strategic Alliance Foundation Inc. sold property at 66 Allen St., Pittsfield, to Elizabeth Freeman Center Inc., $1,030,000.
Gregory J. Viner sold property at 47 Exeter Ave., Pittsfield, to James Ladd Jr., $312,000.
Sean J. McLaughlin, personal rep., Estate of Rosemary T. McLaughlin, sold property at 38 Claremont St., Pittsfield, to Michael M. and Grace Elizabeth Bakaletz, $285,000.
Anthony W. Martin sold property at 19-21 Worthington St., Pittsfield, to T&D Rental Properties Inc., $150,000.
Carol A. Sciola sold property at 133 Elberon Ave., Pittsfield, to Christopher M. Vonberg, $330,000.
Mike A. Bailey sold property at 76 Westchester Ave., Pittsfield, to Lakefront Condominium Complex LLC, $90,000.
RPS Enterprises LLC sold property at 89 Cromwell Ave., Pittsfield, to Ricky J. Barnes and Melissa A. Groat, $70,000.
Cross Development Berkshires LLC sold property at 35-37 Cherry St., Pittsfield, to Parker J. Hoar, $104,000.
Jacob J. Burke and Michaela Craft sold property at 47 Kittredge Road, Pittsfield, to Christopher Collura and Renee Zambo, $472,500.
Thomas J. and Christine A. Barnaby sold property at 270 Newell St., Pittsfield, to Christopher J. and Kirstina M. Percey, $170,000.
Robert E. Quigley Jr. and Elizabeth Brazee sold property at 26-28 Backman Ave., Pittsfield, to Diann M. Noren, $115,000.
SRH Realty LLC sold property at 290 Wahconah St. and Wahconah Street, Pittsfield, to Zhu Huajie, $460,000.
Pamela M. Parsons sold property at 22 Preston Ave., Pittsfield, to Brian W. Hulse, $252,000.
Mildred Pocorobba sold property at 21 Allengate Ave., Pittsfield, to Krystle Skalski and Jade Ramos, $245,000.
Jeffrey Lynch, trustee, 95 Dalton Avenue NT, sold property at 203-205 Pomeroy Ave., Pittsfield, to Robert and Irma Brouillard, $300,000.
Michael G. Brazeau, personal rep. of the Estate of Anne Palma Brazeau, sold property at 32 Velma Ave., Pittsfield, to Iris A. Desilets, $265,000.
Karli M. Cassavant sold property at 143 Stearns Ave., Pittsfield, to Jason Z. Joyner, $275,000.
Paula Walczyk sold property at 139 Hubbard Ave., Pittsfield, to Raymond D. Robert, $185,000.
Daniel J. Oboyski sold property at 19-21 Park St., Pittsfield, to Jonathan Antigua, $179,900.
Janice M. Barry, trustee, Virginia E. Sacco 2020 Trust, sold property at 42 Patricia Ave., Pittsfield, to Brody O. Baumgartner, $242,000.
Michael E. and Barbara C. Ende sold property at 71 South Church St., Pittsfield, to Mari L. Vlach, $335,500.
Mary F. Courtney, conservator of Joanne B. Chelstowski, sold property at 41 Bernard Ave., Pittsfield, to Alexander Nadeau and Anna Luzader, $257,000.
Derrick J. Hatwood sold property at 51-53 Orchard St., Pittsfield to Tony Sonsini, $393,000.
Joseph P. and Chester M. Potash, personal reps. of the Estate of Chester F. Potash, and Joseph P. and Chester M. Potash, personal reps. of the Estate of Gertrude H. Potash, sold property at 19 Summit Ave., Pittsfield, to Duta Real Estate LLC, $85,000.
Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, trustee, sold property at 102 Pontoosuc Ave., Pittsfield, to Robs Estate LLC, $80,000.
Robin L. Northrup, personal rep. of the Estate of Anthony James DiNapoli, sold property at 219 McIntosh Drive, Pittsfield, to Roger H. and Laurie D. Prell, $402,000.
SAVOY
Travis M. Deblois Sr. sold property at 604 Loop Road, Savoy, to Zachariah E. Turner and Ashley M. Wood, $340,000.
Aaron T. Harrington sold property at Center Road, Savoy, to Andrew Cross, $40,000.
Urszula Aseltine sold property at 523 Center Road, Savoy, to Benjamin Chesbro, $180,000.
SHEFFIELD
Sunset Meadow North LLC sold property at 296 South Main St., Sheffield, to Matthews Center LLC, $850,000.
Souie LLC sold property at Home Road, Sheffield, to Lindsey A. Massey, $105,000.
Martin C. Mitsoff and Brece V. Honeycutt sold property at 960 South Undermountain Road, Sheffield, to Seth Mennillo and Sheri Mennillo, $980,000.
Teresa L. Iemolini, trustee of Kradel Family 2011 Irrevocable Trust, sold property at 66 East Stahl Road, Sheffield, to Bradford J. Massa and Michelle L. Amstead, $429,000.
Elena Delgado, trustee of Delgado Nominee Trust, sold property at 403 South Undermountain Road, Dogwood Street and Beech Street, Sheffield, to
Yijie Zhang, $2,300,000.
Eugene G. Eisner and Laurel W. Eisner sold property at 395 North Undermountain Road, Sheffield, to Scott Charles Lizama and Deborah Anne Schneiderman, $790,000.
Shaundra E. Race sold property at 252 Polikoff Road, Sheffield, to Jacob William Race, $345,000.
STOCKBRIDGE
Akalsahai Singh Khalsa and Jennifer Beeson sold property at 2 Laurel Lane, Stockbridge, to Douglas and Marcy Newman, $1,600,000.
Edward J. and Elizabeth J. Schulze sold property at 14 Mahkeenac Road, Stockbridge, to John and Sharon Dwyer, $200,000.
TYRINGHAM
Mark J. Drury sold property at Main Road, Tyringham, to Kyle A. Kemp, $85,000.
WEST STOCKBRIDGE
Susan M. Brennan sold property at East Alford Road, West Stockbridge, to HLP Realty Holdings LLC, $450,000.
Philip D. Brent LLC sold property at 23A Iron Mine Road, West Stockbridge, to Eugene Zacharewicz and Victoria Zacharewicz, $79,000.
Philip D. Brent LLC sold property at Iron Mine Road West Stockbridge, to Blackwater Realty LLC, $190,000.
Jeffrey M. Shepard and Janet M. Shepard sold property at 20 Moscow Road, West Stockbridge, to Daniel V. Gudim, $295,000.
WILLIAMSTOWN
160 Water LLC sold property at 160 Water St., Unit 409, Williamstown, to John W. Sherwood, $155,000.
Glenn D. and Vicky L. Lowry, individually and personal reps. of Laurie Lowry, sold property at 26 Whitman St., Williamstown, to Kevin L. and Diane M. Hallenbeck, trustees of the Kevin L. Hallenbeck RVT of 2005, $770,000.
Helen L. Superneau, personal rep. of Kenneth Allan Kingston, sold property at 106 Summer St., Williamstown, to Melissa Poirot, $76,300.
David R. LaChance and Joan G. Rubel sold property at 186 Stratton Road, Williamstown, to George C. and Barbara A. Mendrala, $505,000.
John Gangemi, trustee of the J. Marvin Gangemi 2003 RVT, sold property at 29 Thistle Path, Unit 29, Williamstown, to Lance Oliver and Ivonne M. Garcia, $387,000.
HCC Orchards LLC sold property at 206 Adams Road, Williamstown, to Garden Properties and Development LLC, $1,500,001.
Paula J. Cicarelli, personal rep. of Lydia Leslie Cicardelli, sold property at 735 Hopper Road, Williamstown, to Ellen H. Blais, $175,000.
Gerard Caprio Jr. and Jeanne M. Marklin sold property at 105 Hill Province Road, Williamstown, to Rasim B. Uras and Alexandra P. Vitins, $1,030,000.
Michael P. and Diane M. Supranowicz sold property at 403 North Hemlock Lane, Williamstown, to Susan Godlonton, $425,000.
J. Andrew Munzer and Marianne I. Demarco sold property at 113 Ballou Lane, Williamstown, to Zachary A. Hettinger and Disha Geriani, $800,000.
Donald W. Goodrich sold property at 942 North Hoosac Road, Williamstown, to James A. Danforth and Rachel A. Heisler, $320,000.
Robert L. and Amy L. Fox sold property at 234 Sweet Farm Road, Williamstown, to Emily Kloeblen, $220,000.
Alan E. White and Jane Nicholls sold property at 41 Linden St., Williamstown, to Timothy R. and Natasha H. Andenmatten, $605,000.
Comstock Green LLC sold property at 584 Water St., Williamstown, to Green River Meadows LLC, $485,000.
Ruth L. Giordano sold property at 67 Arnold St., Williamstown, to Bonney E. Hartley, $279,000.
WINDSOR
Gleb and Ann Jerebtsov sold property at 1430 Old Route 9, Windsor, to Dylan Wolfgang, $210,000. Shane E. Kasala sold property at 102 Monahan Road, Windsor, to Kyle M. and Dawn Ford, $410,000.
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 offices.
People in the Berkshires
Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum has appointed of four new members to its board of directors: James P. Galli, Kim Jakobowicz, Louis D. Schroeter III, and Jeremy Winchester Galli, also known as JP, is a seasoned professional in the hospitality field with over 25 years of experience. From working with large branded properties to his current position as general manager at Hotel on North, Galli has consistently demonstrated his expertise and dedication to the industry. He is actively involved in his community and currently serves on the boards of the Berkshire Family YMCA and Downtown Pittsfield Inc.
Jakobowicz retired in 2014 after 35 years as a COBOL programmer and project leader for New York state. Most of her state career was spent at the Division of Criminal Justice designing computer systems for local police agencies, and later at the Office of Cyber Security as a project manager overseeing firewall log monitoring for 64 state agencies. She began volunteering as a docent at Ventfort Hall in 2021 and for the last three years has helped out with the flower urns and pots around the property.
Schroeter, now semiretired from the metals industry, started metal fabricating in the carriage house of Sunnyridge in Lenox and named the business Atlantis Iron and Design. He also opened a welding shop in West Stockbridge the same year. The business moved to Richmond in 1973 and incorporated as Atlantis Equipment Corp. In 1986, a plant was built in Stephentown, N.Y. In 1994, the company expanded into Adams and occupied 90,000 square feet of manufacturing space in New York and Massachusetts. Schroeter’s semiretirement allows him to spend time engaging in philanthropy, focused on education for future generations and preserving the icons of the past.
Winchester is an educator, executive and multimodal artist in the performing arts. He is a professor of theater at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where he also serves as the director of Mosaic, the college’s public program for open arts and intersectional culture. Prior to joining the faculty at MCLA in 2016, he was the executive artistic director of the nationally renowned Flint Youth Theatre. Winchester is an affiliated artist with Cape Cod-based Pacific Performance Project/east, maintains an active freelance career with a focus on theatre for equity and social justice, and served for six years on the board of directors of Theatre for Young Audiences USA.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as an important partner of the Lenox Cultural District, Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum was built in 1893 for George and Sarah Morgan, the sister of financier J. Pierpont Morgan.
The Literacy Network welcomes the additions of Sandra Rodriguez Aponte and Jane Lehman to its board of directors.
Aponte, a native Colombian, is a certified public accountant and financial audit specialist. She holds a master’s degree in risk management and has more than 17 years of professional experience. Aponte volunteers as a member of the English
Learners Parent Advisory Council (ELPAC, or CAPEI in Spanish) in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. She supports the improvement of English learner programs for the Latino community in the Berkshires and works to get the Latino community more involved in their children’s educations by strengthening their presence in school district activities.
Aponte has worked on her English with LitNet tutors since June 2021 and is an advanced-level speaker. She also serves on LitNet’s First-Generation College Council, co-leading Free Application for Federal Student Aid and Massachusetts Application for State Financial Aid workshops, and otherwise working on behalf of first-generation college hopefuls and their families.
Lehman is a retired attorney with a bachelor of arts degree from Mount Holyoke and a juris doctor degree from Albany Law School. After a stint as a traditional associate, Lehman worked for a firm that provided research services for other attorneys. She then spent nearly 20 years writing legal treatise material for major publications.
Lehman has served on several nonprofit boards relating to at-risk and underserved populations and social justice issues and is a certified trainer in Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Resolution. She has sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Berkshire Opera and opera companies in Connecticut. She currently sings with the Berkshire Hills Chorus, Berkshire Lyric and the Threshold Choir. She is also a hospice volunteer. The Literacy Network is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that since 1991 has been providing free, individualized support in ESOL, US citizenship test preparation, high school equivalency, and basic education to adult learners in Berkshire County.
The Berkshire Immigrant Center recently welcomed Susan Puddester and Erin Seagrave to its 15-member board of directors. Puddester was born in Canada and grew up in Vermont. After graduating from the University of Vermont, she worked as a geriatric social worker in nursing homes, adult day care and home health. She returned to New England in 2011, after 32 years in Maryland, where she and her husband, Fred, raised their two children.
Immediately after arriving in Williamstown, she became involved with Higher Ground, an organization helping 325 residents of the Spruces Mobile Home Park to relocate after flooding from Hurricane Irene in 2011. She has served on multiple boards including Williamstown Community Chest, Louison House, the Fund for Williamstown, Williamstown Council on Aging, Williamstown Planning Board, and the Williamstown Comprehensive Plan Committee.
She currently works with two immigrant families from Afghanistan, and was present at the birth of their babies.
Seagrave hails from northeast Arkansas, where she spent her childhood meeting people from all over the world through the International Student Center on the Arkansas State University campus, contributing to an appreciation and curiosity for other countries and cultures. She attended ASU, earning her bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in sociology, an education specialist degree in Community College Administration, and a doctor of education degree in Educational Leadership. More recently, she earned several certifications to teach English as a Foreign Language.
Seagrave has worked for 20 years in
higher education institutions with a focus on student success and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging within the academic community. In addition to joining the Berkshire Immigrant Center board, she has also recently joined the board of Berkshire HorseWorks. She lives in Pittsfield and works at Berkshire Community College.
The center also named a new slate of board officers for the 2025 fiscal year: Josh Hochberg, president; Auric Enchill, vice president; Gloria Escobar, secretary; and Dave Russell, treasurer. Biographies for all board members are available at tinyurl.com/8s2vwk2w.
Since 1997, the center has been dedicated solely to serving the unique needs of all local immigrants. For more information or to make a donation, visit berkshireic.org.
WMHT Public Media has announced the addition of Elise Kline as multimedia journalist for “New York NOW,” its Emmy Award-winning public affairs program that airs on PBS stations across New York state.
Kline comes to WMHT from Lilly Broadcasting, where she led its New York State Capitol Bureau and served as multimedia journalist since 2022. In that role, she covered a host of stories and issues that impact New Yorkers, from extensive reporting on policies related to “period poverty” — access to menstrual products — to the 2022 statewide election, with a focus on the governor’s race.
Kline earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies at Emmanuel College in Boston, and her master’s degree in journalism and public affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. There, she reported several long-form stories on protests following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, gun violence and election security.
“New York NOW” airs at 7:30 p.m. Fridays on WMHT in the Capital Region and throughout the weekend on PBS affiliates across New York. The full schedule can be viewed at nynow.wmht. org/schedule/. “New York NOW” is also freely available to stream online and via the PBS video app.
WMHT is a multichannel public communications organization serving Eastern New York and Western New England.
The board of directors of Big Y Foods has appointed John P. Fraro, of Somers, Conn., as vice president of fresh foods and Steve Nordstrom, of Southbridge, as vice president of center store.
Both will report to Michael R. Cormier, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
As vice president of fresh foods, Fraro will be responsible for all aspects of Big Y’s fresh departments including meat, seafood, bakery, deli, kitchen, produce, and floral.
Fraro started his career at Big Y in 2005 as an assistant food service/kitchen manager after having held positions in meat, bakery and deli for two other retailers previously. In 2006, he was appointed sous chef at Big Y’s Fresh Acres Market and later in 2008 as their meal solutions manager.
In 2009, Fraro was appointed junior deli buyer followed by bakery sales manager. From 2014 to 2017, he was a deli then produce sales manager, until his 2017 appointment as director of deli, bakery and kitchen.
In 2017, Fraro was recognized as one of the 40 Under 40 Food Industry Rising Leaders by The Griffin Report of the Northeast and in 2020, he was on The Shelby Report’s list of People to Watch. He completed the National Grocers Association Executive Development
Program and last year he received the 2023 Emerging Leader Award from the Massachusetts Food Association.
As vice president of center store, Nordstrom will be responsible for center store sales, marketing and merchandising programs for grocery, health and beauty care, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, as well as space management. He joined Big Y in 1996 as an assistant grocery manager and later held other roles within the operations division, including store director, sales and merchandising mentor and district director.
In 2014, Nordstrom moved to the sales and marketing department as a sales manager and one year later became director of frozen and dairy. By 2018, he was director of health and wellness, including pharmacies, and in 2020, he was named director of center store followed by senior director of center store in 2023. Nordstrom’s grocery career spans 30 years. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Assumption College.
Based in Springfield, Big Y operates locations throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut including supermarkets, Table & Vine Fine Wines and Liquors and Big Y Express gas and convenience locations with over 10,000 employees.
Berkshire markets include Great Barrington, Lee, North Adams and Pittsfield and gasoline/convenience store locations in Lee and Pittsfield.
Berkshire Bank has announced that Kenneth Seeber has been promoted to managing director of relationship banking.
In this role, Seeber leads the bank’s relationship banking group, which encompasses its small business banking and MyBanker teams. Berkshire’s MyBanker service provides free financial counseling to help consumer, business and non-profit customers navigate the next stage in their financial life. Seeber has been with Berkshire Bank for more than 10 years, most recently as senior vice president and director of small business and relationship banking. Prior to that, he held roles as senior vice president and first vice president helping to lead the MyBanker team.
A resident of Queensbury, N.Y., Seeber earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University.
After an extensive search process, Brian Edward Leach has been named executive director of the Crandell Theatre.
Leach will be welcomed by the community at the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business After Hours reception hosted by the Crandell from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. The event is free and open to the public.
Attendees will enjoy light refreshments and learn more about the Crandell’s upcoming renovation. Reservations are recommended and can be made by visiting crandelltheatre.org or calling 518-392-3445.
Leach has extensive background in arts administration, programming, fundraising and marketing for arts organizations. He was previously managing director of the Colonial Theatre in Westerly, R.I., and marketing director of PICT Classic Theatre and Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Earlier, he served as curator of the art collection housed at Nemacolin Resort in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
“My first priority is to guide the completion of the fundraising campaign for the renovation of the Crandell Theatre and to oversee the year-long construction,” Leach said in a prepared statement. “Working with tremendous support from the board of directors, I look forward to building on the creative programming already taking place to stimulate and entertain Chatham’s moviegoing public while the theater is closed
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and after it reopens.”
MountainOne has announced that President and CEO
Robert J. Fraser has been elected as chair of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, a one-year post that began on July 1.
“I am honored to have been elected to the position of chair by my peers,” said Fraser, who joined MountainOne in 2007 and has served as its president and CEO since 2014. “I truly enjoy working with our members and with the Mass Bankers professional staff team to achieve the strategic priorities for the association.”
Fraser noted that key focus areas already in full swing for 2024-25 include creating greater awareness of the role of banks and their positive impact on communities across the commonwealth and expanding the association’s engagement with the industry’s emerging leaders.
Founded in 1905, the MBA is the only association representing FDIC-insured community, regional and nationwide banks serving consumer and business clients across the Commonwealth.
“Bob is a demonstrated community partner, and we are thrilled to welcome him to this role,” said Kathleen Murphy, president and CEO of the association. “We appreciate his leadership for our organization, especially as we work to continue to support and advance our industry within the Commonwealth.”
MountainOne is a mutual holding company headquartered in North Adams. Products and services are offered at full-service offices in Pittsfield, North Adams, Williamstown, Quincy, Rockland and Scituate.
The Elizabeth Freeman Center’s board of directors has named Divya Chaturvedi as executive director of the agency effective Sept. 16.
She follows in the footsteps of the current executive director, Janis Broderick, who is retiring after 16 years as head of the center — the front line safety net in Berkshire County for people affected by domestic and sexual violence.
Chaturvedi is a seasoned nonprofit professional with diverse, global and multicultural work experience. In addition to her master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Chaturvedi holds a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.
Her extensive work experience includes roles with several United Nations programs, the Ford Foundation, and the Center for Creative Leadership, managing global social impact projects, developing women’s leadership programs, and overseeing gender initiatives across Asia, Africa and the United States. Chaturvedi’s talents in nonprofit management include successful grant writing, effective program implementation and advocacy for social change.
Most recently, Chaturvedi led two Massachusetts nonprofits. She served as executive director of Found in Translation, which gives low-income bilingual women an opportunity to achieve economic security through use of their language skills. Previously she was the co-executive director of a community-based nonprofit, Saheli, serving immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
She currently serves on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as a state commissioner.
During Broderick’s tenure, the center has more than tripled in size, significant-
ly expanding the options available to survivors of domestic, dating and sexual assault. These additional services now include Safeplan advocacy in Central Berkshire District Court; special projects for LGBTQ Access, Disability Justice, and Homelessness Response; two transitional housing grants to help survivor families stay in their homes rather than in shelter; a 10-year grant to develop and deliver sex education that is more inclusive of queer and BIPOC kids; Money School/Escuela de Finanzas, a trauma-informed program to promote economic security and longterm safety for abuse survivors; triple the violence prevention work with youth; and expanded services for immigrants and their children.
According to its mission statement, the Freeman Center works to end the cycle of violence through community mobilization, advocacy and education while promoting social justice and working to end all forms of oppression.
It is accessible 24/7 via its hotline, 866401-2425, offering free and confidential services which address emergency needs, ongoing needs and prevention programs for children and teens.
Adams Community Bank has promoted Laila Boucher to senior vice president. In this role, she will continue to oversee the government banking department and further contribute to the bank’s strategic growth and success.
Boucher has been with Adams Community Bank for over 16 years, during which time she has demonstrated exceptional dedication and expertise. She finely tuned her customer service skills throughout many of the bank’s branches.
She began as a teller and worked up to a branch officer before being promoted to vice president of government
banking development.
In her five years leading the government banking team, she’s been responsible for the expansion and depth of the bank’s treasury management product and service offerings for municipalities. She and her team have achieved significant departmental growth, serving clients throughout Berkshire County and beyond.
Boucher is an active Berkshire Family & Individual Resources (BFAIR) board member and a Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District committee member. She volunteers for various youth activities and was a past recipient of Berkshire Community College’s 40 Under Forty award.
NBT Bank has promoted Amanda Lidstone to Bank Secrecy Act officer.
In this role, Lidstone is responsible for the company’s compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, USA Patriot Act and Office of Foreign Assets Control policies and procedures across its seven-state footprint.
Lidstone joined NBT in August 2023 with the merger of Salisbury Bank and Trust Co. into NBT Bank. She has more than 15 years of experience in compliance and BSA.
Lidstone earned her bachelor’s degree from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and attended the Connecticut School of Finance and Management.
She is a certified regulatory compliance manager, certified AML and fraud professional and certified enterprise risk professional.
Active in her community, Lidstone is vice president of the board of directors for the Housatonic Child Care Center in Salisbury, Conn. Information: nbtbank.com.
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