Berkshire Business Journal September 2023

Unity, culture on display

A member of the Berkshire Black Economic Council provides thoughts on what this summer’s “I Am Afro” street fair meant to those in attendance. Page 4

Berkshire Business Journal

Dining al fresco

BY LUKE C HINMAN

WILLIAMSTOWN — Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Coyote Flaco, a Mexican restaurant in Williamstown, had only six tables for patrons to eat outside. Over three years later, that number has grown to 24. Outdoor dining has become a classic feature of this eatery on Cold Spring Road.

In the early months of the pandemic, employees of Coyote Flaco brought their own patio furniture to the restaurant to expand the space — which was formerly a parking lot — into a bigger dining area. “We spent our days off fixing it up — gardening, hanging up lights, buying really big potted plants,” said owner Galo Lopez.

Now Coyote Flaco’s outdoor space — once a lifeline for the restaurant when state regulations limited the capacity of indoor dining rooms — remains busy and

is often filled on summer nights when the weather is nice. As early as April, Lopez said, the restaurant received requests to open their patio for the season, especially by immunocompromised customers who still feel uncomfortable dining indoors. And even when temperatures drop into the winter months, Coyote Flaco servers will bundle up and tend to fire pits to keep the outdoor space open as late into the season as possible.

“Our patio had always been pretty popular before the pandemic, but it’s definitely way more now,” Lopez said.

“Our whole business model in the summer has changed to accommodate more tables outside.”

The same is true for many restaurants across Berkshire County: Despite the end of pandemic-era restrictions on dining, outdoor dining has transformed

the restaurant landscape.

Take The Firehouse Café & Bistro in Adams, which had a patio before the onset of the pandemic. Now the outdoor space is more popular than it has ever been, said owner Xavier Jones.

“People will call about outdoor seating asking to sit outside,” he said. The restaurant even needed to add another server to account for demand.

At Electra’s Cafe in Lenox, outdoor dining continues to mitigate losses that have lingered from the pandemic, even after restrictions have been lifted. Before the pandemic, the restaurant served three meals a day, but owner Peter Lepotakis said that staffing shortages forced them to reduce the hours and Electra’s is now open only for breakfast and lunch.

During the pandemic, however, the

restaurant added four tables and a tent, on a patio built on a parking lot in front of the restaurant’s entrance. That increased the eatery’s dining capacity from roughly 40 to 50 seats. Now, even with shorter hours, Electra’s Cafe can serve more patrons when open.

“My sales are not going to be what they were when I was open for dinner, but they’re closer than they would’ve been if I didn’t have the outdoor seating,” Lepotakis said.

A new interest in dining outside has continued to influence restaurant owners, some of whom are reimagining what their dining spaces should look like.

This was a primary topic for Bo Peabody, who co-owns Mezze Bistro & Bar in Williamstown with Nancy Thomas. The partners recently opened another

A sea of tents fills Railroad Street in Great Barrington when patrons dine out there on weekend summer nights.

Originally begun by necessity during the pandemic, outdoor dining has now become a staple at many Berkshire restaurants

Business updates

businesses also plan to occupy previously vacant North Street storefronts.

In February, MassDevelopment awarded $1.52 million in grants to all 13 active TDI Districts’ partnerships through local organizations — including $111,000 to Berkshire Black Economic Council — for small-business support programs. Initiatives include storefront improvement efforts, technical assistance, equipment upgrades, districtwide branding and marketing plans, placemaking and public events, and more.

Information: Visit berkshirebec.org/ opportunities/programming/; email contact@berkshirebec.org; or call 413344-9112.

BCC to offer dental hygiene program

Pittsfield dental practice sold

Doctors Francis McCarthy and Matheau Schiff recently sold their dental practice in Doctors Park at 195 South St. in Pittsfield to Doctor Shakil U. Syed.

Syed is a 2013 graduate of Columbia University School of Dental Medicine who had worked in his brother’s dental practices in New London, Conn. for three years. He then went on to own and operate three of his own practices in the Hartford, Conn. area.

Syed has been active as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves since 2018.

BBEC awards

Vibe Street grants

The Berkshire Black Economic Council has awarded the first four grants in its Vibe North Street storefront recruitment program, which aims to revitalize downtown Pittsfield by supporting businesses relocating to properties within the city’s North Street TDI (Transformative Development Initiative) District.

The four recipients are Guelce Collaborative Marketing, which specializes in website development and management services for small businesses; BB’s Hot Spot LLC, a restaurant that serves Caribbean barbeque and jerk cuisine; Dolce Rose Beauty Supply; and Brazzucas, a Brazilian market.

Brazzucas already has a physical presence on North Street in the space formerly occupied by the former Berkshire General Store. The other three

Berkshire Community College has signed an articulation agreement with Springfield Technical College for a dental hygiene program.

The agreement stipulates that BCC students may complete all 27 credits of their general education classes at BCC and are guaranteed a transfer of those credits to STCC towards an associate in science in dental hygiene degree, provided that students have earned a minimum grade of C in all equivalent courses. Once accepted into STCC, an additional 44 credits are required to complete the associate degree. .

The STCC Dental Hygiene program educates students to become vital members of the dental health profession. The two-year basic core curriculum leading to an associate in science degree follows the guidelines adopted by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation. Information: berkshirecc.edu; email onestop@berkshirecc.ed; or call 413-499-4660.

Katz participates in construction program

McCann Technical School Principal Justin Kratz was one of 12 educators and academic leaders from across the state who were selected to participate in the third annual weeklong Building Advancement Externship Program focusing on construction career tracks for students this summer.

The paid program, sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts in Wellesley, took place from Aug. 14-18.

It provided comprehensive exposure to the regional commercial construction industry to Massachusetts-based high

school and trade school leaders.

Each participant received a stipend of $3,000 to $4,000 provided by the Massachusetts Construction Advancement Program.

Students receive Berkshire Wind Project scholarships

Two recent Mount Greylock Regional High School graduates, Grace Lillie of Hancock and Brodi Rosier of Lanesborough, have each received $1,000 scholarships from the Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation’s Scholarship Program.

The scholarships are awarded to qualifying high school seniors who are planning to attend either a two-or fouryear college or trade school program.

Lillie will attend Berkshire Community College and major in business. Rosier plans to attend Westfield State University.

Based in Ludlow, BWPCC owns and operates the Berkshire Wind Power Project on Brodie Mountain in Hancock and Lanesborough. This is the second year of the agency’s scholarship program.

Berkshire Bank allocates

inaugural sustainability bond

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc., Berkshire Bank’s holding company, has allocated the proceeds from its inaugural $100 million sustainability bond to projects that have created 330 units of affordable and workforce housing and more than 200,000 square feet of green building development.

Berkshire’s Sustainability Bond Report, released in conjunction with this announcement, demonstrates how proceeds were allocated to support affordable housing, workforce housing, green building and financial access and inclusion projects in communities across New England and New York.

The highlights are as follows:

Approximately 41 percent of the bond proceeds were allocated to the development of 330 units of affordable and

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Nazira Vargas and Fabia Raquel Atherton, from left, are the owners of Brazzucas, a Brazilian market in Pittsfield that was one of the first four recipients of Vibe North Street grants from the Berkshire Black Economic Council.

JUSTIN KRATZ

McCann Technical School Principal Justin Kratz was one of 12 educators and academic leaders from across Massachusetts who participated in this summer’s third annual weeklong Building Advancement Externship Program.

Business updates

FROM PAGE 2

workforce housing in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. Approximately 33 percent of the bond proceeds were allocated for the construction of more than 200,000 square feet of green buildings in Massachusetts and New York whose projects are expected to achieve LEED Gold or Platinum, Net Zero emissions and/or are expected to achieve greenhouse gas emissions performance in the top 15 [ercent of their municipal boundaries.

A total of 26 percent of the proceeds were allocated to small businesses located in low-moderate income and/or majority minority census tracts that created jobs, along with the redevelopment and revitalization of a former industrial site within a low-income neighborhood that helped attract new and retain existing businesses and residents.

Timberlyn Heights receives deficiency-free survey

Timberlyn Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation, a 71-bed skilled nursing facility in Great Barrington managed by Bear Mountain Healthcare, has received a deficiency-free survey from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Skilled nursing facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs are inspected annually to evaluate the care and services provided to the residents. Surveyors come into the facility unannounced, interview residents and family members, observe care being delivered, and review medical and other records.

Surveyors determine compliance with regulations governing areas such as quality of care, residents’ rights, confidentiality and quality of service. It is a rigorous review of performance and compliance by the provider and is one quality indicator for individuals and families facing placement decisions.

If each of the many applicable regulations are met, the skilled nursing facility is awarded a “deficiency-free” survey. According to the Massachusetts Senior Care Association less than 5 percent of facilities in Massachusetts earned a deficiency-free designation during the most recent year.

Dewey Memorial Hall awarded grant from Cultural Facilities Fund

Dewey Memorial Hall in Sheffield has received a $35,000 matching grant for feasibility and planning from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund.

The grant will allow the hall to contract with an architectural firm for an Historic Structures Report (including a conditions assessment) and master plan.

“The development of an Historic Structure Report, assessment, and Master Plan are essential next steps in our stewardship and preservation of the hall as an historic building and community resource for the next 150 years,” said Dewey Hall President Beth Carlson in a news release.

Home to over 100 public events per year with an average of 5,000 attendees, Dewey Hall has been a vibrant and vital part of the Sheffield arts and cultural community for decades.

Information: massculturalcouncil.org.

Lee student receives Brighter Future Scholarship

Ella Macchi of Lee, a student at Lee Middle and High School, is among 15 high school and college students from six different states that have received a combined $13,000 in Brighter Future Scholarships from Mountainside treatment center in Canaan, Conn.

In 2021, Mountainside created the scholarship program to foster awareness of addiction among youth and help affected individuals further their education and pursue their dreams and life goals. Due to an abundance of scholarship applications, Mountainside adjusted the original scholarship amount of $10,000 to better support a greater number of individuals in need.

In her submission, Macchi writes about her family member’s substance use disorder and how it’s crucial that we normalize giving individuals who are struggling the support and tools they need to recover.

For information about the scholarship and to read this year’s winning essays, go to mountainside.com/scholarships/brighter-future/.

Fairview named top critical access hospital

Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington has been named one of the country’s top 20 critical access hos-

MOUNTAINSIDE TREATMENT CENTER

Ella Macchi, center, student of Lee High School, was one of 15 high school and college students from six different states that received a combined $13,000 in Brighter Future Scholarships from Mountainside Treatment Center in Canaan, Conn.

pitals for overall performance by the National Rural Health Association, according to Berkshire Health Systems.

An awards ceremony will take place this month at NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

The top 20 CAHs have achieved success in overall performance based on a composite rating from eight indices of strength: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and finance. This group was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2022 top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.

Urgent care provider partners with Berkshire organizations

ConvenientMD, a New Hampshire-based urgent care provider that recently opened a facility at 999 Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield, has formed partnerships with several nonprofit Berkshire organizations to promote health and wellness.

The group is partnering with the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center in Pittsfield, the Dalton Community Recreation Association; Pittsfield Youth Softball; the Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires in Pittsfield, and the Berkshire Family YMCA, which has facilities in North Adams and Pittsfield.

The Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center has been home to Girls Inc. of the Berkshires since 1911. The community center provides early childhood education programs, out-of-school enrichment programs, Girls Inc. programming, youth empowerment services, summer day camps, including those at Camp Stevenson-Wiatwentin, and aquatics programs in Berkshire County.

Berkshire Bank Foundation provides $845K in second quarter investments

Berkshire Bank Foundation provided more than $845,000 in philanthropic investments to organizations in the bank’s five-state coverage area during the second quarter of 2023.

In total, the Berkshire Bank Foundation assisted 190 nonprofit organizations during the second quarter by providing funding to support needs such as food insecurity, health, wellness, homelessness, educational advancement, arts, youth development, culture, diversity and inclusion. The Berkshire Bank Foundation is committed to supporting programs that provide equitable opportunities for economic prosperity.

The Berkshire County recipients include Barrington Stage Company’s Playwright Mentoring Project; the Berkshire County Branch of the NAACP; Berkshire Immigrant Center; Berkshire County Arc; Blackshires Community Empowerment Foundation; and Entrepreneurship for All-Berkshire County.

Also receiving funds were the Elizabeth Freeman Center; Hancock Shaker Village; Literacy Network of South Berkshire; the Western Mass. Women’s Fund and Westside Legends.

Berkshire Community Action Council presents awards

Berkshire Community Action Council presented several awards recently at its annual meeting.

Nicole Rivera was honored as Volunteer of the Year, and state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, as Community Hero of the Year. Joan Chapman-Bartlett was the recipient of the annual Dave Lachowski Service Award. Rivera joined BCAC as VITA bilingual intake spe-

cialist in 2019, serving Spanish speaking Berkshire County residents. She readily began to help translate flyers, and other tax preparation materials. She participated in reaching out to Latinas 413, a local nonprofit, to review documents needed to file for personal income tax returns.

Barrett, who served as mayor of North Adams for 26 years, was elected to the state Legislature in 2017. He has advocated for low-income people in the 1st Berkshire District by introducing and co-sponsoring legislation that supports access to fair and stable utility pricing, education, food security, housing, health care, and the work of community action statewide.

Chapman-Bartlett joined BCAC in 2011 after working at the Center for Ecological Technology. She served as director of BCAC’s weatherization programming for nine years, and is now an advanced energy auditor.

Second Chance Composting opens residential community program

Second Chance Composting of Adams recently opened its new Residential Community Composting Program in North Adams, Williamstown and Adams in partnership with local businesses and organizations. The program also has a location in Cheshire.

Old Stone Mill Zero Waste Maker space at 2A Grove St. in Adams; All Saints Berkshires Episcopal Church at 59 Summer St. in North Adams; and Wild Soul River at 248 Cole Ave. in Williamstown have partnered with Second Chance Composting as community host food scrap drop off locations. The Cheshire location is 1071 South State Road, directly off Route 8. Community members sign up for a membership and for $9.99 per month, receive unlimited dropoff of their household food scraps to one of the Community Host locations.

Second Chance Composting is open to other community host locations as well as expanding into more cities and towns.

Information: secondchancecomposting.com or email info@secondchancecomposting.com.

Nonprofit Center receives four-star ranking from Charity Navigator

The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires in Great Barrington has earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

This rating designates the center as an official “Give with Confidence” charity, indicating that the organization is using its donations effectively based on Charity Navigator’s criteria.

Charity Navigator analyzes nonprofit performance based on four key indicators, referred to as beacons. Currently, nonprofits can earn scores for the Impact & Results, Accountability & Finance, Culture & Community, and Leadership & Adaptability beacons. More information about ratings and charitable giving is available at charitynavigator.org.

The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires was founded in 2016 to help nonprofits connect, learn and grow. A clearinghouse for information and resources, the center now offers 27 programs and services.

1Berkshire selects Berkshire Youth Leadership Program participants

1Berkshire has chosen 27 rising high school juniors from across the county to serve as the 2023-24 class of the Berkshire Youth Leadership Program.

The members of YLP’s 13th class 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 Becket.

Participants include, Emily Alvarez and Vera de Jong of Mount Greylock Regional School; Maryn Cappiello and Will Hakes of Hoosac Valley High School; Bradley Chapman of Drury High School; Persephone Clark of BART Charter Public School; Natalie Cunningham and Mary Haight of Wahconah Regional High School; and Madison Digrigoli, Kaeleigh Heath, Shaffer Kropke and Eleanor Kropke of Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.

The class also includes Catherine Makuc of Mount Everett Regional School; Mia McCluskey of Pittsfield High School; Molly McLear, Emma Meczywor and Griffin Mucci of Hoosac Valley High School; Cassius Osinga and Madeline Rundle of Monument Mountain Regional High School; Leandra Quintero, Daniel Sargent and Elizabeth Wheeler of Wahconah Regional High School; Arthur Millet and Knowl Stroud of Mount Greylock Regional School; and Micah Miles and Jared Senzel of Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.

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I am Afro: Reflections on a street fair

By K amea Q uetti-H all

NORTH ADAMS — The Berkshire Black Economic Council sees art as a primary source of the mission it serves.

Last year, one year after its formation, the BBEC laid out its goals to serve as the Black Arts Council.

They included festivals and street fairs; Black voices and vendor art spaces; and interactive performance, open mic events and learning beyond the classroom. All of these goals are possible through funding the BBEC received from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Arts Builds Community Initiative.

The idea was to achieve these goals this summer, and on June 17 the BBEC partnered with The First Congregational Church of North Adams to celebrate Juneteenth, by holding the “I Am Afro” Street Fair.

The air was charged with excitement as the community gathered to celebrate unity, culture, and creativity. The event left an indelible mark on the hearts of all who attended. Here are some reflections on how unity and culture were celebrated at this year’s event.

• A Showcase of Talent: One of the most captivating aspects of

the fair was the showcase of local Black vendors and performers.

Creativity and entrepreneurship merged seamlessly as these talented individuals displayed their crafts, artworks, and products.

From Southern-style barbecue to dazzling tooth jewelry and soothing CBD products, the vendors presented a kaleidoscope of Afro culture, reflecting the diversity and richness of their heritage.

On the stage, the performances were nothing short of awe-inspiring, with rappers, comedians, musicians, a karate master, and a playwright infusing the fair with their artistry and passion.

• A Special Place for Children: The fair was an inclusive celebration, with the goal of ensuring that even the youngest members of the community felt welcome and engaged. The dedicated Kids Space provided a safe haven for children to explore their creativity and imagination. Through interactive activities, face painting, and yard games, kids were encouraged to express themselves freely, fostering a sense of pride in their cultural identity.

• Building Bridges: Recognizing the importance of inclusivity, BBEC and The First Congrega-

tional Church placed great emphasis on transportation and accessibility. Arrangements were made to facilitate transportation for attendees from various pickup points including Lee, Pittsfield and Adams, promoting a sense of unity and collaboration among communities. This thoughtful approach reflected the fair’s commitment to bringing people together from all walks of life.

• The Power of Collective Action: At the core of the fair’s success were the dedicated volunteers who selflessly contributed their time and effort. Their enthusiasm and commitment were infectious, spreading a sense of camaraderie and community spirit. Together, they orchestrated a seamless event that left lasting impressions on both visitors and participants.

• Embracing the Spirit: Beyond the captivating performances and vibrant marketplace, I Am Afro became a movement of solidarity. The I Am Afro hats and shirts became a symbol of unity, pride, and celebration of Afro culture. Attendees adorned themselves with these accessories, creating a visual representation of their collective commitment to embracing afro positivity.

• A touching encounter: After the fair, a touching encounter highlighted the profound impact

of I Am Afro on the community. Lynn Rhoads of The First Congregational Church delivered a raffle prize, a planter, to a Black woman living in North Adams. Lynn’s curiosity led her to ask the woman about her thoughts on the fair. Her response struck a chord, revealing the woman’s personal connection to the fair. Having lived in the area her entire life and never seeing an event in North Adams like it, I Am Afro held immense significance for her. The sincerity and emotion in her voice reaffirmed the importance of such events in creating a strong sense of belonging and pride within the community.

• What it meant: I Am Afro: A Street Fair for All the People was not just an event—it was a testament to the power of unity, culture, and collective action. It showcased the talents, creativity, and resilience of the Afro community while embracing diversity and fostering a spirit of togetherness. As the echoes of celebration and reflection continue to resonate, the fair’s impact on the community will undoubtedly endure, inspiring future endeavors and initiatives that celebrate the richness and diversity of Afro culture.

Kamea Quetti-Hall is the communications coordinator for the Berkshire Black Economic Council.

A member of the Berkshire Black Economic Council reflects on the unity and culture that were displayed at an event this summer

BERKSHIRE BLACK ECONOMIC COUNCIL

A group associated with Fanta Vibaz, a Worcester-based organization that promotes and performs African and African-influenced music, plays at the “I Am Afro” street fair that the Berkshire Black Economic Council recently held in partnership with the First Congregational Church of North Adams.

BERKSHIRE BLACK ECONOMIC COUNCIL

Ma’ Leek Adams Powell and Jason Petrah, from left, of Free World Clothing, display their their wares at the recent “I Am Afro” street fair.

Front pages

Preparing for the future: CHP hires new CEO

By John Townes

GREAT BARRINGTON — Like most health care organizations, Community Health Programs Inc. is transitioning from the emergency conditions of the COVID pandemic to more normal operations.

But unlike several of its peers, CHP is undergoing a change in executive leadership at the same time.

On July, 17 Bethany Kieley officially became the new CEO of the non-profit, federally-qualified healthcare organization, which is based in Great Barrington She succeeds Richard Gregg, who had been interim CEO since June 2022. Gregg had served in that position while CHP conducted a nationwide search to replace former CEO Lia Spiliotes, who had led the federally qualified health center since 2015.

At CHP, Kieley oversees a $30 million budget and approximately 240 employees who provide services for over 30,000 residents of Berkshire County and adjacent sections of New York, Vermont and Connecticut.

Kieley formerly served as chief operations officer at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, another federally qualified health center, in New Haven, Conn. Before that she served as vice president of practice operations, programs, and services at ProHealth Physicians network in Connecticut. She has also been chief operating officer of Women’s Care Florida and held administrative roles with medical practices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“Bethany brings an impressive leadership background to CHP, along with a true passion for the work of federally qualified health centers like ours, which provide health care for all,” said Brian Drake, president of the CHP board, in a statement announcing Kieley’s appointment.

Kieley said she applied for the job at CHP for a combination of reasons. She noted that as federally qualified health centers, CHP and Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center share a mission of providing healthcare to underserved and vulnerable populations including those on low incomes and who are uninsured.

Also known as community health centers, federally qualified health centers are a designated category of non-profit providers that receive federal funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. These designated facilities also accept reimbursement from public and private insurance, but they are mandated to provide care to anyone, regardless of ability to pay, race or other factors. They offer discounts for essential services through a sliding scale program that is based on family size and annual household income. They also help the uninsured obtain coverage.

“In my career of over 30 years, my position at Cornell Scott-Hill was my first experience at a federally-qualified community health center,” Kieley said “I felt that I had landed at my place in the healthcare system. It resonated with my values and belief in the goal of making healthcare available to everyone.”

She had a positive experience at Cornell Scott-Hill, but the position at CHP was a logical next step and appealed to her for many reasons.

“In my due diligence, I found that CHP is a small but mighty institution that has a positive impact in the community,” she said. “I was very impressed by the skills of the staff at CHP and their passionate commitment to the goals of quality community health services.”

CHP stands out among federally-qualified providers in several ways, Kieley said.

She said CHP has a broader role than community health centers that are focused more exclusively on the underserved segments of the population. It also serves as a general healthcare provider for the entire community, regardless of socio-economic status.

“People from all income levels, including those with full insurance coverage, choose to come to CHP because of the quality of healthcare it provides,” she

said. “That says a lot for the level of service and the quality of staff here.”

CHP’s programs also extend beyond basic medical and dental care to food security, parent education, playgroups and other forms of personal and family support and social services, she said.

“It takes the approach of whole-person care, recognizing that social determinants also affect people’s health,” Kieley said.

Kieley, who is married to Steven Meris, a retired real-estate attorney who is training to become a health and wellness coach, said CHP’s location was also a factor

“We were familiar with the Berkshires, and knew it is a great place,” she said.

“We’re lovers of the outdoors, and the geography here is amazing. So the opportunity to live here was another attraction.”

CHP began as the Children’s Health Program in 1975. Founder Thomas Whitfield, a Great Barrington pediatrician, saw the need to serve children who had not been receiving healthcare because of rural isolation and other conditions.

Whitfield initially drove around South County to identify and connect with parents to provide medical services. He and the organization’s original director, Linda Small, expanded the program to include parent support and childhood education services. CHP launched a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, and formed the First Steps program to bring early intervention therapy to children with developmental delays or disabilities.

CHP changed its name to Community Health Programs in 2000 when it added services for adults. It was also designated a federally qualified health center at that time.

In 2007, CHP assumed ownership of Barrington OB/GYN, which provides comprehensive women’s health care services. It expanded into Pittsfield in 2008 when Berkshire Health Systems transferred ownership of the Neighborhood Health Center to CHP.

In 2009, CHP acquired eight acres with three buildings on Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington, which became the nonprofit’s administrative center. That facility also houses most of CHP’s South Berkshire programs.

A graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Spiliotes originally came to CHP to oversee the nonprofit organi-

zation’s day-to-day management and assess its needs and structures after former CEO Brian Ayers resigned in November 2015, when questions were raised about the nonprofit’s leadership.

CHP conducted a nationwide search for Ayers’ replacement, but gave the position to Spiliotes on a permanent basis in 2016 after she had served one year as interim CEO. Spiliotes had previously served as interim CEO of Community Health Connections in Fitchburg and had been a partner and senior adviser at Cambridge Management Group in Boston.

During Spiliotes’ tenure, CHP doubled its patient volume and further added to its programs.

Today CHP has nine practice locations in Great Barrington, Lee, Pittsfield, and North Adams, providing primary medical and dental care and short-term behavioral treatment services. It also operates a CHP Mobile Health program which delivers services to locations throughout the Berkshires.

CHP also sponsors support programs, such as WIC and ParentChild+, a free, nationwide mentoring program that helps children up to three years old and their families transition to school. It also sponsors playgroups, nutrition education, free food distributions and other services.

Kieley said she has several priorities as CEO. On a personal level, she said she is focused on familiarizing herself with CHP’s operations in detail.

“First and foremost, I have a commitment to my colleagues to learn all about the organization,” she said. “That includes knowing exactly what CHP does already, and also identifying new opportunities.”

Organizationally, an immediate challenge for CHP is navigating beyond the crisis conditions prompted by the COVID pandemic and adjusting to new realities in its aftermath.

“The pandemic put all health services under tremendous stress with the intense demands on services, resources and staffing,” she said. “CHP was no exception. It was a very difficult time. Fortunately, as more emergency resources were allocated the ability to manage it was improved.”

Although COVID remains a potential threat, the initial crisis has receded with the diminishing number of cases and more treatment and preventative

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STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Bethany Kieley, the new CEO of Community Health Programs, worked for another federally qualified health center in Connecticut before coming to the Berkshires. She saw CHP as a logical next step in her career.

Front pages

Ready for a growth spurt

Four years in, Berkshire Cider Project is expanding its production facility while practicing sustainability and accountability

By Jim Therrien

NORTH ADAMS — Berkshire Cider Project is poised for growth.

A phased-in launch of the company during its first four years of operation now seems poised for a more dramatic take-off.

The company, which released its first ciders in July 2020, has grown so much that it is moving production to a new site secured in North Adams that company co-owners Katherine “Kat” Hand and Matt Brogan, who are a married couple, plan to announce at a later date.

It’s a major step for the growing cidery which has already established a familiar brand, produced some award-winning hard ciders, and recently became certified as a B Corporation, a designation given to firms that reach certain community and environmentally conscious bench marks.

“It has been sort of a phased launch,” said Hand, who serves as Berkshire Cider Project’s general manager. Brogan is the head cidermaker.

“We talk about this phase as the beta test of the business,” she said.

The company plans to leave its tasting room in the Greylock Works Mill on State Road, which Berkshire Cider Project opened in 2021. The former textile mill has become an event venue and business incubator in the Greylock section of North Adams. Right now, cider-making

equipment has to be moved around to allow space for the tasting room when it is open from Thursday through Sunday.

Brogan said the company has simply outgrown its space.

“Sharing one space for production and tasting room presents some challenges,” he said. “on any given day, only one of those things can occupy the space.”

“When the space is set up for the tasting room, all of the cidermaking equipment, back stock and pallets of empty bottles get pushed to the back to make room to set up tables and chairs for guests,” he said. “On Monday morning the team breaks down the tasting room and pushes everything forward to make room for wet, messy production.”

“Everything in the cidery is on wheels, and the set up is always changing depending on what is needed on that day.

“While this has worked well for us to date, all that moving back and forth (with a manual pallet jack) can get tiring,” Brogan said. “It also takes time away from what we really need to be doing — making cider.”

“It also means that our tasting room can only be open a few days a week.” he added. “We need to balance production with revenue, which is a challenge.”

AREA TIES

Brogan is originally from upstate New York. Hand’s family has been in the

B Corp certification

What it is: B Corp certification is a designation that shows a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.

How it’s done: In order to achieve certification, a company must demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above from B Lab’s Standard’s Advisory Council and passing the organization’s risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards. B Lab (www.Bcorporation.net) is a nonprofit network that seeks to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.

First steps: Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction. Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.

What it means: As leaders in the movement for economic systems change, B Corps reap remarkable benefits. They build trust with consumers, communities, and suppliers; attract and retain employees; and draw mission-aligned investors.

As they are required to undergo the verification process every three years in order to recertify, B Corps are by definition also focused on continuous improvement, leading to their long-term resiliency.

Getting started: Check out B Lab’s guides to learn more about the different routes to certification. B Lab’s team may recommend a different pathway once a company has begun the process. Revenue and company size are typical criteria to guide companies to their approach to certification. In some cases, companies might undergo a different approach based on factors such as sector, industry, scoring, and ownership structure.

Source: Bcorporation.net

SYLVIE ROSOKOFF

Katherine “Kat” Hand and Matt Brogan, from left, co-own the Berkshire Cider Project in North Adams, a business that the married couple started from scratch four years ago.

Cider project

Berkshires for nearly 40 years.

“In either of those places, you can’t help but fall in love with apples and orchards and fall.,’ Brogan said.

The couple met in New York City and started making cider there as a hobby.

“Our hobby of making hard cider soon turned into a passion,” Brogan said, “taking over our closets in Brooklyn, and then it took over her parents’ basement here in the Berkshires.”

During this early period, Brogan, an architect and consultant to cultural institutions on building projects, and Hand, who worked in corporate communications and consulted on sustainability, made cider while remaining in those other roles part time, Hand said.

Hand said the couple launched Berkshire Cider Project as small as they could, “trying to test our assumptions. Do we like to make the cider; do people like it, do we like doing it?

“Greylock Works provided the perfect home to test things out at a small scale — make sure we liked being in this business, that people liked what we were making, and that we could make cider at this scale,” Hand said.

“Four years in we have answered those questions and weathered some pretty interesting challenges.”

Brogan said the company’s “stellar staff’ has been critical to Berkshire Cider Project’s success so far.

“We have two assistant cidermakers,” he said. “One full time and one part time. They have both been with us nearly two years now, and are the backbone of our cidermaking.

“We also employ several people in our tasting room on a part-time basis. They give us the flexibility to take a day off here and there, and preserve our own mental health.”

Brianna “Bri” Rousseau, joined Berkshire Cider Project as a part-time employee two years ago, before becoming the firm’s full-time assistant cidermaker in 2022. She’s not surprised that Berkshire Cider Project became certified B Corp earlier this year.

A B Corp is a for-profit corporation that is driven by both mission and profit. Certification is granted by the non-profit organization B Lab. According to Hand, the assessment process is rigorous. Evaluation is done across several categories including the firm’s environment, workers, community, governance and customers to see how the company seeks to have a positive impact through its business model.

“One thing that we are very proud of this year is that we became a B Corp,” Hand said. “Some people describe it as an organic certification but for the whole company. You go through a whole assessment process; they look at your policies and practices and results as they relate to your workers, to your community impacts, governance, environment; there are a whole host of different categories and you have to get a certain score across those categories to become a B Corp.”

Berkshire Cider Project is the second business in the Berkshires to become a B Corp and one of only 78 in Massachusetts to have received the worldwide certification. There were 6,856 certified B Corps spread across 161 industries and 90 countries worldwide as of May.

Among the B Corp-related aspects of the company, the

owners donate 2 percent of revenue to non-profits; more than 30 percent of their cost-of-goods spending is with suppliers within 200 miles; they are woman-owned, and more than 50 percent of the non-managerial workers identify as women.

“The business itself, I feel really grateful to be a part of,” Rousseau said. “Matt and Kat’s vision is so much more than just having a cidery and just making money.”

The certification “really speaks to that in particular, because it is very rigorous to get that sort of certification, and Kat did a lot of the work to make that happen,” Rousseau said.

“I feel really good to be a part of a business that has this vision,” she added. “The vision is community and connections to the community; the vision is sustainability and making sure we are doing our work as responsibility as we can in regard to the community and the environment.”

BERKSHIRES MADE

“We make everything here,” Hand said during a tour of the company’s 1,200-foot space at Greylock Works.

Naturally, it all begins with the apples.

“We don’t have our own orchard; we are an urban cidery, so we work with a lot of local orchards,” Hand said.

Those include Hilltop Orchards and Bartlett Orchards in Richmond, and Windy Hill Farm in Great Barrington.

Brogan and Hand also forage for apples locally and receive donations of apples that people have in their yards. The latter goes into “what we call our community cider project – kind of a crowd-sourced community cider,” Hand said.

Berkshire Cider Project also has established relationships with a variety of cultural institutions in the Berkshires, including Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, the first organization it collaborated with. Hancock Shaker Village’s orchard holds mostly cidermaking varieties of apples.

“It’s pretty exciting; we have a great partnership with them,” Hand said. “We take care of the

orchard; we make a cider just from those apples, and then a portion of sale from that will go back to support the agriculture programs there.”

The couple also collect apples at The Mount in Lenox and are helping to create an orchard on the grounds of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket.

“We also just planted 30 trees at Arrowhead in partnership with them,” Hand said, referring to the headquarters of the Berkshire County Historical Society in Pittsfield, which is located in author Herman Melville’s historic home, the site where he wrote his best known novel, “Moby-Dick”.

“They got a grant to recreate Herman Melville’s orchard, so we partnered with them,” Hand said. “Planning and maintaining the trees.”

cess,” Hand said.

“We make about 3,000 gallons a year. We want to get up to 6,000, but we like, again, being at this scale so we can really experiment,” she said.

Once fermentation begins, “that involves a lot of monitoring things and then the aging process involves moving things from one container to another,” she said. “And then in the spring and summer we are bottling and labeling.”

Fermentation takes from one to three weeks. Then the aging process starts.

“Think about wine,” Hand said. “Wine gets aged a year to multiple years before it is bottled. In that process, flavors are developing, things are changing ... So we are tasting it all along until it reaches that magical moment when it is ready to be bottled.”

For most of the ciders, aging takes six to eight months, with an additional 12 months for champagne.

The company sells most of its cider in standard wine bottles, and also sells kegs for restaurants.

“Today, about 50 percent of the cider is sold through the tasting room, including bottles to go and by the glass,” Hand said. “The other 50 percent goes to local package and grocery stores and restaurants in Berkshire County and in Northampton.”

She adds, “You know, you could make wine from green table grapes but it’s not going to be as refined and interesting as if you had special wine grapes. So, it’s the same thing for apples. We are trying to cultivate more of these cider-making apples here.”

ON THE SHELVES

On the shelves at the moment, “I think we have nine ciders,” she said. “We have a couple of others that are only on draft here; and then I think we have six or seven more that are coming out this year.”

The company offers “a pretty wide variety,” she said, “but I think something that is similar across everything we do is we make only dry ciders, so there is no sugar, and we make sparkling ciders.”

They also make champagne-method ciders that are naturally sparkling.

“One of the benefits of being small, is we can make really fun small-batch ciders,” Hand said.

“We have a really great cider on now that is 100 percent crab apples that were sourced from Mass MoCA — and we made five gallons of that.”

Batches of cider can be five gallons or more the company’s 600-gallon tanks.

“Sometimes we go out to collect apples when we’re foraging, but some, like Windy Hill and Hilltop press the apples onsite and then deliver the juice to us,” Hand said. “Some other places, like Bartlett’s, will deliver us apples and we will press them here.”

LENGTHY PROCESS

“We started fermenting here in the fall of 2019,” Hand said. “We do everything seasonally. Meaning in the fall when the apples are ripe, we are either gathering apples and juice in or we’re foraging and we’re processing.

“The fermentation starts in the fall and that takes a couple of weeks, and then we age everything six to eight months, or even longer for things like our [cider] champagnes — so, it’s much like a wine making pro-

Berkshire Cider Project recently was selected as a finalist for the 2023 Good Food Awards, which recognizes companies from across the country. This year’s contest had more than 2,000 entries. The company also received silver and bronze medals for two of its ciders in the annual Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, which is the world’s largest cider competition.

Hand is proud of those achievements.

“Starting a small business is hard, but having worked in the sustainability field before, I always knew that if we were going to do all this work to start a business, I wanted to be really proud of it,” she said. “I want to feel it is having a positive impact, on us, on our community, on our employees.”

“I’ve worked with companies trying to build that into what they do,” Hand said. “But it is much better to build that at the beginning.”

BERKSHIRE CIDER PROJECT

Katherine “Kat” Hand stands on the site of a new orchard that Berkshire Cider Project is creating at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket.

MILKCRATE

The administrative staff at Berkshire Cider Project celebrate at the firm’s facility in North Adams. From left, assistant cidermaker Caitlin Bunning; co-owner and general manager Katherine “Kat” Hand; co-owner and head cidermaker Matt Brogan; and assistant cidermaker Brianna Rousseau.

100 years of dairy farming

High Lawn Farm celebrates centennial with time capsule, retirement of longtime manager

By Tony DoBrowolski

LEE — Berkshire County was once packed end-to-end with dairy farms. A handful remain, but only one still processes and bottles its own milk — High Lawn Farm.

High Lawn Farm began producing milk and related dairy products in 1923. That date took on added significance Aug. 19 as the farm held a ceremony to honor the centennial anniversary of when the milk producing began. A farm has been located on the site since the mid-19th century.

Among the events that took place that day was the creation of a time capsule that is scheduled to be unearthed 50 years from now. The actual burial of the time capsule will take place

at the farm on a later date.

“We hope some of us will still be here,” said High Lawn Farm Assistant General Manager and Vice President Caitlin Moriarty, when asked why the capsule would not be left in the ground for another 100 years.

The event also included the first public announcement of a managerial change at the farm that has been in the works for a year.

Roberto Laurens, who has been High Lawn Farm’s general manager for 21 years, officially announced that he will retire on Sept. 21. He will be replaced by Moriarty, who has served as High Lawn’s assistant general manager and vice president for the last 4 1/2 years.

Laurens, 62, has actually been with the company for 39

FROM PAGE 5

measures available. “The situation is normalizing, and we’re back to about 90 percent of our pre-pandemic services and finances,” Kieley said.

But the fallout from the pandemic persists as there continue to be issues, including the ending of emergency public support programs and funding that were allocated during that time, such as expanded Medicaid eligibility for patients.

“With the sunsetting of pandemic funds and programs, there’s been a tapering off of that added safety-net,” she said. “That has required adjustments, but we’ve been able to handle them.”

The pandemic did open some new options that could potentially enhance services moving forward. Kieley said.

“For example, we relied more on remote Telehealth services, and we also expanded our mobile services during the

years. He had previously spent 18 years working for a dairy farm in his native Colombia run by the Wilde family, who own High Lawn Farm.

According to Moriarty, High Lawn Farm has thrived under Laurens’ leadership. The farm embraced technology in the 2000s. It added a milk processing plant in 2015 and began making cheese three years later.

“The work Roberto has done is amazing,” Moriarty said. “He really transformed High Lawn Farm.

“I definitely have some big shoes to fill.”

“It was a really, really hard decision,” Laurens said Saturday referring to his decision to retire. “I’m very happy and sad at the same time.

“I love this place,” he said. “It

pandemic,” she said. “Since then, we’ve gone back to the majority of activities being in-person and on site. But we’ve gained new opportunities to provide services remotely when it makes sense. Now the task is finding ways to sustain them.”

Overall, CHP has weathered the pandemic in good shape, according to Kieley.

“We’re coming through the post-pandemic period on a solid financial footing,” she said. “We’re in as good or better shape as comparable community health organizations. Moving forward, it’s a time for growth and continuing to address the needs that existed before the pandemic.”

Several specific initiatives are underway:

• CHP is reestablishing dental services in Great Barrington. “We had to stop providing dental care there temporarily when we lost our lease on the previous facility,” said Kieley. “We’ll be adding mobile dental services this fall. We’ve also selected a site for a new permanent dental facility on our campus in Great Bar-

was a lot of fun. ... I didn’t want to go, but it was time.”

The time capsule ceremony, which was open only to VIPs — representatives of the state Department of Agricultural Resources also attended the event — took place in High Lawn Farm’s museum before the public portion of the program began.

The rest of the program included guided farm tours and samplings of High Lawn Farm’s various dairy products. Moriarty said over 200 people attended the time capsule ceremony, and that more than 500 people were expected to attend the entire ceremony. Visitors were also able to sample dairy concoctions known as “mocktails” that were made by the New England Mobile Dairy Bar.

rington. We expect to start renovations for that this fall and open it next spring or early summer.”

• The nonprofit is currently implementing a $6 million expansion of its dental care services for residents who rely on MassHealth (Medicaid) coverage to pay for their oral health care. This includes expanding the services at CHP’s dental clinics in North Adams and Pittsfield.

• CHP is also establishing a new dental clinic on Depot Street in Adams by acquiring the site of a former practice there. CHP has received an initial grant of $523,756 from HRSA and will dedicate some of its own funds and additional public and private grants for this project.

• CHP is completing an upgrade of the facility at its Lee Family Practice medical clinic and adding staff to it. This will enable that primary care practice to serve an additional 1,500 patients. The expanded clinic is slated to open Sept. 20.

Another ongoing priority is CHP’s family services that are not technically med-

“They’re non-alcoholic, of course,” Moriarty said. “This is a family-friendly event.”

Some members of the public who traveled to the farm for the ceremony had no idea a centennial celebration was taking place.

“We came for the ice cream,” said Robert Bebber of Virginia, who with his friend and fellow Virginian Matt Pampolina, had come to the Berkshires this weekend to visit a friend. “We didn’t even know this was going on. ... It was pretty cool.”

Matt Schweiver, High Lawn Farm’s head cheesemaker, wrote a poem commemorating High Lawn Farm’s 100th birthday that will be placed in the time capsule.

“I write limericks,” Schweiver said, “just for fun.”

ical or dental, such as food security and nutrition, parent education and others. Kieley said they are a core facet of CHP, but they also pose practical challenges.

“Family services is an ever-growing service line,’ she said. “We believe it is vital, However most of those programs are in a unique position because they are not funded by HRSA or other medical reimbursement sources. So they require a significant commitment to additional fund-raising to support them.”

Kieley also focused on staffing at CHP. Like all healthcare organizations, attracting and retaining staff has been an ongoing issue, which was intensified by the pandemic. She said CHP is in a comparatively good position but is actively working to fill positions to meet current needs and accommodate future growth.

“We’re not just a provider of services, “she said. “We’re also a significant employer in the region. A primary goal of mine is for CHP to be a great place for people to work and to stay for the long run.”

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Eager cows look to visitors for head scratches as they tour the grounds at High Lawn Farm in Lee in July. High Lawn celebrated its 100th anniversary with a ceremony last month.

Kieley

Berkshire voices

Why September can be a good time to sell

PITTSFIELD — When is the right time to sell a home?

Determining that time frame requires a homeowner to weigh several significant factors.

Market conditions, seller needs, local trends....all these items come into play. But as summer begins to fade and cool breezes begin to sweep through the Berkshires, county homeowners often reassess their home needs and wisely choose September as the time to sell.

According to sales statistics that the Berkshire County Board of Realtors has compiled over the last decade, September, on average, is the year’s busiest sales month after August.

Many sellers assume that either the spring market rush or July’s influx of second homebuyers result in the biggest, booming sales market in the Berkshires every year. But the numbers show that listing a home after the summer season can be a popular option. Second home owners might not have used their vacation home as much as expected, or those who want to avoid winter maintenance can take advantage of year-end incentives to sell.

Here are several reasons why September can be a month to remember in the Berkshires for prospective home sellers:

• Fall foliage and aesthetic appeal: Berkshire County is renowned for its stunning fall foliage, attracting visitors from far and wide. The picturesque landscapes and vibrant colors during September can make a property more visually appealing, potentially attracting more buyers who want to experience the charm of the region during this time.

Listing photos pop and as the days become shorter there is a natural rhythm that creates a desire to spend more time indoors, creating cozy and comfortable spaces for the upcoming winter.

• Tourism and the attraction of second homes: With the Berkshires being a popular tourist destination, many potential buyers might be interested in acquiring second homes or vacation properties in the area. The fall season showcases the county’s natural beauty, which could be a selling point for those seeking a retreat or investment property. Many also wait for new homes to come on the market after second homeowners decide that perhaps their summer or short-term rental dreams were not as easy to implement as expected.

• A perfect transitional season: September in Berkshire County often offers pleasant weather with cooler temperatures and lower humidity compared to the summer months. This can make the homebuying process more comfortable for both buyers and sellers during property showings and open houses. Choosing to move before the snowy and cold weather hits and settling into a new home before the holiday season is in full swing is ideal. From showings right through a move, in September you can fully examine the property and have an easier move in the crisp weather.

• Market activity: Historically, real estate market activity picks up in the fall as buyers who may have been on vacation during the summer return to their home search. Local buyers also sometimes wait for the bustling, com-

petitive August market to slow so that they have a better opportunity to buy. Active listings on the market are also at their second highest level of the year in September.

• Preparation over the summer: If a homeowner has been preparing a home for sale over the summer months, September could be an opportune time to showcase those improvements and upgrades you’ve made. Fresh paint, landscaping enhancements, and other renovations can enhance the appeal of your property to potential buyers.

• Year-end tax considerations: Buyers and sellers may be motivated to complete a home purchase before the end of the year for tax purposes. This can lead to increased interest from serious buyers who are looking to take advantage of potential tax benefits associated with homeownership.

Even though September is a great time to sell, sellers can also help their agents be successful. Share what you love about the property so the agent can make sure prospective buyers see the home through your eyes. Share the home listing photos on social media and spread the word to your friends and family. Those in your immediate neighborhood may be looking to make a move or have friends and family who have been house hunting for a while.

When pricing the home, look at the most recent market data because trends are shifting quickly. What you think you can get and what the market is reflecting today might be very different. Your agent can guide you. Respect a buyer’s time, knowing that many are frustrated at the extremely tight market and inability to purchase due to high

competition. Get your paperwork in order so that your Realtor can make good suggestions. Do you have a low rate mortgage that is assumable? Do you have solid maintenance records? Is the home clean, decluttered and ready for amazing photos and to hit the market?

If you’re considering selling your home in Berkshire County, it’s advisable to consult with a local real estate professional who has up-to-date knowledge of the market and can provide personalized guidance based on your specific situation and goals. Don’t think the boom of the summer selling season is over with the turning of the leaves. Fall is a beautiful time to sell.

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

FILE PHOTO Berkshire County’s spectacular fall foliage, seen here via drone over the hills north of Dalton near Holiday Brook Farm, is one of the factors that makes September a good time to sell a home in the Berkshires.

Sanda J. Carroll Real estate

Assisting small businesses can help us all

LEE — It’s difficult to overstate the importance of small business to the Berkshire County economy.

It’s also hard to overstate the challenges these enterprises have faced during three years of post-COVID cultural shifts, existential worker shortages, technology disruptions and global business consolidations.

Berkshire County is an economy of small companies. Outside of a handful of cornerstone employers that employ thousands of people — think Berkshire Health Systems, General Dynamics

Patricia Begrowicz

The View from AIM

Advanced Mission Systems, Williams College and others — the vast majority of companies in the county can hold employee meetings in a single conference room.

The federal government defines a small business as a manufacturing company with fewer than 500 employees, or a non-manufacturing business with average annual receipts of less than $7.5 million. That means my company, Onxy Specialty Papers in South Lee, falls well within the definition of a small manufacturer as do other substantial Berkshire companies like Interprint Inc. in Pittsfield, Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing in Lee and Holland Company in Adams.

Politicians have created a gauzy mythology around small business as the “backbone of the economy”. It’s a reference usually made during a campaign stop at a local diner and often as a Rockwell-esque counterpoint to the murkier objectives of “big business.”

The relationship between small companies and public policy is, in fact, a nuanced contrast of sometimes helpful economic-growth resources with burdensome regulations that place immense stress on business owners who are already stretched thin.

But what do we really know about the role that small businesses play in the economic prosperity of the county and of our commonwealth?

The U.S. Small Business Association reports that small companies make up 99.5 percent of all businesses in Massachusetts. There were 718,467 small businesses in the commonwealth as of 2022, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available. Those companies employed 1.5 million people, or 45.4 percent of all employees in the state. Most small businesses (576,528) are sole proprietorships and have no employees. The bulk of small-business employment in Massachusetts resides with the 124,022 companies with 1-to-19

workers and the 17,917 enterprises with 20-to-499 employees.

The largest number of small businesses (125,528) are found in the professional, scientific, and technical services sectors. Other major small-business sectors include construction, transportation/warehousing, real estate and other services.

The numbers mirror those at Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the statewide business association where I serve as board chair. Eighty-eight percent of AIM’s 3,400 member companies have fewer than 500 employees, with an average of 130 workers across the entire association.

COVID hit small business hard. The number of small enterprises open in Massachusetts as of Nov. 16, 2020, was down 37 percent from that January. The number of open small businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector dropped by 54.6 percent during that same time span while the revenue of these small businesses plummeted by 64.3 percent.

Between March 2020 and March 2021, 30,196 Massachusetts establishments opened and 25,574 closed, a net increase of 4,622. Employment expanded at 38,201 establishments and contracted at

58,335. Small businesses accounted for 29,501 openings and 24,458 closings.

Opening and expanding Massachusetts establishments added 254,295 jobs, while closing and contracting establishments lost 458,441, for a net decrease of 204,146 jobs. Small businesses gained 191,276 jobs and lost 320,427, for a net decrease of 129,151 jobs.

But the economic upheaval did not stop people from starting new ventures.

The Community Reinvestment Act requires large banks to report new small business loans. In 2020, reporting banks issued $2.3 billion in loans to Massachusetts businesses with revenues of $1 million or less. Total reported new lending to businesses through loans of $100,000 or less was $3.4 billion. Total reported new lending to businesses through loans of $1 million or less was $10.9 billion.

The good news is that Berkshire County enjoys a well-developed infrastructure to assist small companies that could otherwise feel isolated in a county with an unusually large geographic area. More than 25 organizations providing resources to small companies participated in the recent Small Business Resource Expo in Dalton that was

sponsored by organizations such as 1Berkshire, the Berkshire Immigrant Center, the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, DEI Outdoors, Entrepreneurship for All-Berkshire County, the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation.

Our larger companies also provide economic oxygen to their smaller neighbors.

General Dynamics, where officials say defense companies have had to accelerate the pace of innovation to work closely and more collaboratively with smaller businesses, this spring conducted a Supplier Day for small companies at the Berkshire Innovation Center. Elegant Stitches and its owner, Alfred Enchill, have made significant connections with larger customers through the AIM Business Connect program.

These dynamics provide the hope that a handful of small companies in Berkshire Counties will become the economic cornerstones of the future.

of directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Patricia Begrowicz, the president of Onyx Specialty Papers in Lee, is chair of the board

BEN GARVER

Alfred Enchill, the owner of Elegant Stitches in Pittsfield, is one of the county’s small-business owners that has made significant connections with larger customers through Associated Industries of Massachusetts’ Business Connect program.

Business voices

The Berkshires: Where wellness and cannabis converge

LEE — The Berkshires, with its panoramic landscapes and towns like Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge, has long been a sanctuary for those in search of wellness and rejuvenation.

But as the tapestry of wellness continues to evolve, it’s becoming clear that the intersection of cannabis and traditional wellness practices offers an exciting new chapter for both businesses and consumers in the Berkshires.

Meg Sanders Cannabis Corner

It’s enlightening to consider that 60 percent of cannabis users now turn to the plant seeking wellness benefits. From aiding sleep to alleviating stress, anxiety, and physical discomforts, cannabis is emerging as a versatile companion in the wellness journey. But how does this tie into the Berkshires, a region famed for massages, yoga, and holistic retreats?

Imagine melding the tranquility of a traditional massage with the therapeutic nuances of THC and CBD in a topical cream. Such a combination transcends the ordinary, offering a holistic

experience that aligns perfectly with the Berkshires’ ethos. And it’s not merely about the act itself, but understanding and catering to the very essence of why visitors are drawn to this region: holistic well-being.

In the Berkshires, wellness is an immersive experience. It isn’t just about resting in a quaint lodge or savoring the local cuisine. Here, visitors immerse themselves in diverse offerings, from engaging in healing arts to undertaking outdoor adventures such as hiking or kayaking. And then, there are gems like Tanglewood, where yoga sessions are elevated into surreal experiences with the Boston Symphony Orchestra rehearsing in the backdrop. Integrating personal cannabis use for such events is commonplace in certain circles, and an opportunity for new experiences for others. In the end, all roads lead back to local cannabis stores with consumers seeking education and guidance, newly vested in the potential to benefit from the

union of cannabis and wellness. Recent collaborations exemplify the promise of this symbiotic relationship between cannabis and traditional wellness businesses. In the heart of our community around our Lee store, three establishments stand out: The Mount in Lenox, with its historical ties to Edith Wharton and its awe-inspiring grounds; the Chambery Inn’s inviting charm in Lee; and the alluring ambiance of the Constance in Lenox. Their recent ventures melded yoga sessions with former staff from the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and sound baths with local woman-owned wellness platform and spirituality app Socreates. They were thoughtful introductions to cannabis and represent more than just events. They’re a testament to the region’s innovative spirit. Attendees of such gatherings have frequently walked away with widened horizons. Yoga novices, introduced through cannabis collaborations, find themselves more deeply exploring wellness. Inversely, seasoned yoga practitioners are discovering the multifac-

eted benefits of cannabis. This cross-pollination of experiences is reshaping the wellness narrative, fostering a deeper and broader understanding of well-being.

For businesses in the Berkshires, this convergence is not just an opportunity —it’s a clarion call. Rather than operating in silos, there’s an impetus to create a holistic experience for the visitors. Whether it’s a restaurant, a retreat, or a cannabis store, the goal should be to amplify the essence of the Berkshires: a sanctuary for holistic well-being.

Furthermore, as these partnerships flourish, a ripple effect is taking shape. By integrating cannabis into traditional wellness offerings, there’s a natural demystification of the plant’s benefits. In a region where visitors are already primed for relaxation and self-discovery, such collaborations serve as a gentle introduction to cannabis, dispelling myths and highlighting its potential.

But beyond the immediate benefits to businesses and consumers, there’s a broader vision at play. By fostering such collab-

orative ventures, the Berkshires can position itself as a pioneering hub where traditional wellness and cannabis coalesce seamlessly. It’s a chance to not only attract a diverse range of visitors but to reshape the region’s identity, blending its rich historical tapestry with a forward-looking approach.

As businesses — both cannabis and non-cannabis — find common ground, they’re doing more than just enhancing their individual offerings. They’re collectively curating an enriched tapestry of experiences that resonate with the evolving needs and curiosities of visitors.

The Berkshires stand on the cusp of an exhilarating era. By embracing the convergence of cannabis and wellness, it isn’t just catering to a trend; it’s setting the pace for the future. And as this collaboration deepens, the Berkshires will undoubtedly further cement its reputation as a beacon for holistic well-being, promising a stronger economy and a shared vision of enduring, collective success.

Meg Sanders is the CEO and cofounder of Canna Provisions in Lee.

Cover story

Marketing is a must for nonprofits

GRRAT BARRINGTON — I learned that marketing and development fundraising go handin-hand when I volunteered for various nonprofits and used my marketing background to help raise awareness and donations for their missions.

At Community Access to the Arts, where I worked for nine years, my title was development and marketing director. In that role, I had the opportunity to explore all the ways that marketing feeds development. Here are some of the things I share when I teach this practical subject:

• Keep your website updated: Review it every six months. Your website is one of the first places people look to learn more about your organization, so it needs to be as robust, correct, and professional as it can be. Use it to clearly describe your value to the community, your need for funding, and the impact that funding will have. Transparency is an important component of a public charity because it encourages faith in and donations to your organization. So consider creating a “documents for public inspection” section. Include your bylaws, Form 990, annual report, conflict of interest policy, equity statement, and strategic plan.

• Prioritize publicity: Public relations legitimizes your organization and creates awareness for your mission. Donors don’t give to organizations they’ve never heard of. Don’t know how to begin? Google “how to write a press release” or study stories about nonprofits in the local news then start sending out releases on a regular basis. There are many topics that count as news including announcements of new board members, an anniversary year, a new program or initiative, any kind of award, a new partnership, or a special event. Local radio stations like WSBS-AM and FM in Great Barrington or cable networks like Pittsfield Community Television love to host nonprofit leaders on their shows. They make it easy and fun, so there’s no need to feel nervous.

• Pump up your social media presence: This is a good way to reach potential donors who gravitate towards this type of media and get most of their information online. It can be difficult to do this if you don’t have a volunteer or staff member that has the skills needed to create effective and consistent social media campaigns. But one thing that’s fairly easy to do is using your phone to shoot a short video that will allow the public to see your work or words in action. An article with information about

suggested video lengths for each platform is available at Hootsuite.com.

• Allocate funds for advertising: Supporting local media is important to sustaining local journalism. Local journalists can excel at telling your stories about newsworthy projects, which ultimately helps your fundraising efforts. Spread out your advertising budget across several mediums to include radio and online. Take advantage of freebies, such as Public Service Announcements offered by public television stations. Consider swapping media placement for sponsorship of your events.

• Get out there and meet people: Join your local chamber of commerce and start attending networking events. Fundraising is a lot easier when you actually know the business owners you’ll be soliciting for advertisements, sponsorships and donations. Other networking options include presenting at luncheons held by local Rotary Clubs or other civic organizations or attending a variety of nonprofit events. Even take your laptop to a popular coffee shop and stay there for a couple of hours. You’d be surprised at the connections that can be made in

such informal settings.

• Print is not dead: Create a printed piece that you can leave behind after attending events. Postcards, business cards, posters or brochures still have their place in the multichannel marketing mix. You never know who will see what you’ve created and pass it on. Other effective marketing pieces include newsletters, annual reports, fact sheets, and rack cards, so-named for their 4-inch-by-9-inch size that fits neatly into the literature racks found in tourist information centers, hotels and lobbies. Sometimes people need to hold something in their hands in order to be convinced that your organization is “legit” and worthy of a donation.

• Create community engagement opportunities: These can include events like open houses, surveys where the community can weigh in, roundtable discussions, house parties and so on. Invite your major stakeholders as well as your legislators and donor prospects. Marketing is one way to keep your supporters informed, impressed and engaged.

• Partner with others to leverage their presence in the community: Collaborations increase reach, aware-

ness, public relations and funding. Some restaurants, for example, will donate a portion of their dinner proceeds to a nonprofit in exchange for the nonprofit inviting their donors to dine for the cause. It’s my favorite kind of win-win. Combine forces with another nonprofit to offer a program, implement a study, or host a panel discussion on a topic near to your organization’s heart. Donors appreciate when organizations work together to serve our community.

While every organization has different marketing needs, nonprofits should consider that investing in marketing can have big payouts and budget accordingly. A good rule of thumb for a marketing allocation is 10 percent of the annual budget. Since there are many low-cost marketing tactics — think free public relations, Public Service Announcements, do it yourself i-phone videos — a minimum investment can go a long way in supporting an organization’s fundraising goals.

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

PHOTO PROVIDED BY NONPROFIT CENTER OF THE BERKSHIRES Liana Toscanini, the executive director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, and WSBS radio host Jesse Stewart, from left, pose at the WSBS studio in Great Barrington. Local radio stations like WSBS frequently provide air time to the heads of Berkshire nonprofit organizations.

Liana Toscanini Nonprofit Notes

Berkshire voices

Accelerating toward the future

By A llison M ik A niewicz A nd BA iley G oodrich

PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Innovation Center is continuing its work with high tech startups.

The BIC recently launched a new accelerator program that is designed to leverage the innovation center and its network to assist early-stage tech startups that are building a physical product and moving toward the manufacturing phase.

By building on and expanding its current offerings, the BIC will provide a full range of resources to the entrepreneurs participating in this program. Those resources include a dedicated workspace, membership to the BIC, full access to the innovation center’s labs, advanced equipment, digital media studio, and internal team of subject matter experts, and broad and curated support from the BIC’s committed member community.

The six firms chosen to participate in the program’s first cohort will also be invited to participate in the BIC Manufacturing Academy, an industry-led training program that started last year in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with support from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and General Dynamics Advanced Mission Systems. The 35-week accelerator program will begin in late September and run through May.

In addition to the direct support the startups will receive from the BIC, they will have extensive access to the vast network of experts that engage with the innovation center regularly. Among the numerous mentors supporting the entrepreneurs and guiding the growth of the program will be Pittsfield native Sam Russo, the co-founder of Dive Technologies, a BIC-member company. Russo will maintain an office at the BIC and serve as the program’s official “Entrepreneur in Residence.” Organizations supporting the program include the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Mill Town Foundation, 1Berkshire, the law firm of Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, and MassMEDIC.

For the first cohort, the review committee has selected six firms from industry sectors prioritized by the Commonwealth and critical to the strength of the regional rural economy. Many have ties to the Berkshires. Here’s who they are: eSki: ESki is a startup company specializing in manufacturing battery electric personal watercrafts, or PWCs. Under

the leadership of founder and CEO Jack Duffy-Protentis, eSki’s mission is to “make waves in the EV industry.” With stricter emissions regulations leading to bans on gasoline powered PWCs, eSki’s electric vehicles offer an eco-friendly alternative, address noise pollution and reduce maintenance and fuel costs. The ES1 battery electric personal watercraft boasts advanced safety features, a longer ride time, and a patented hot-swapping battery system. ESki’s goal is to sell 5,000 units within five years. Information: www. eskipro.com

Fibrocor Therapeutics: Fibrocor Therapeutics is a patient-led, independent, non-profit startup company founded in 2017 at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada. The company is now led by William Newsome, a longtime Berkshire County resident and Berkshire Community College graduate. Specializing in early-stage treatments for fibrotic diseases, the firm utilizes its unique screening technology called Fibrosis-AMD to develop groundbreaking treatments for various fibrotic disorders. Their global team boasts extensive experience and networks worldwide, allowing them to tackle fibrosis on an international scale. Besides their research efforts, Fibrocor Therapeutics also plays an active role in providing education and resources for patients, healthcare professionals, caregivers, and researchers alike. With more than 8,500 members, they are committed to advancing the understand-

ing and treatment of fibrotic diseases. Information: www. fibrocortherapeutics.com

MacFarlane Medical: MacFarlane Medical is a startup company dedicated to revolutionizing insulin delivery. Its aim is to provide a more efficient alternative to daily injections or pumps for insulin-dependent individuals. The company’s solution is a wearable port, which is significantly smaller than existing omnipods and eliminates the need for long tubes and software dependency. The cost-effective model allows users to purchase only 12 boxes of 10 ports per year at $125 each. With a healthy expected profit margin of 42 percent, MacFarlane Medical has received recognition for their entrepreneurial efforts from the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Led by a team of experts including recent UMass graduate Connor MacFarlane, and Christian G. Klaucke, and Danel Zeve, the company has already developed a production-level prototype and is set to conduct safety testing in the near future. MacFarlane Medical is already developing parts with Sinicon Plastics in Dalton, a long-time BIC-member company,

Noble Carbon: Noble Carbon is an innovative startup

specializing in advanced circuit breaker technology that was founded by Berkshire County native Andrew Crane and his longtime friend Jared Lebos. The company’s breakthrough product is a circuit breaker that syncs to the cloud, ensuring a secure and untethered user experience with end-to-end encryption. Powered by three microcontrollers, it has the capability to sense real-time data such as current draw, waveform, and voltage, enabling it to detect and break over currents within 20 milliseconds. The convenience of controlling each circuit through a mobile application allows for easy scheduling, monitoring, and switching. Compatible with legacy panels and fully expandable, these compact breakers only take up 1 inch of space within an electrical panel. Noble Carbon envisions the application of these breakers in households and virtual power plants, promoting energy consciousness, reducing loads and wires, and contributing to climate goals.

PathogenX: PathogenX is a startup specializing in medical waste management solutions that was founded by Pittsfield native Chuck Berkeley and his wife, Courtney Scott. The couple have developed, manufactured, and distributed their proprietary technology aimed at addressing the challenges associated with the handling of medical waste. The PX2 device renders hazardous waste sterile, unrecognizable, and non-reusable with a simple touch of a button. This transformation complies with all

federal EPA, CDC, and OSHA standards and regulations, making it a safe and reliable option for medical practices. The user-friendly PX2 device can process up to 12 gallons of medical waste per day, converting it into a solid, non-toxic block within approximately 90 minutes. Information: www. pathogenx.com

SQE: which stands for Simulated Quantum Entanglement, is a startup that has developed a quantum secure digital blockchain platform to address data security challenges. Founded by entrepreneurs Hamid Pishdadian, Richard Genga and Akram Khalis and with roots in Rhode Island, SQE was drawn to the Berkshires through personal connections and the energy and excitement the founders found at the BIC. Their platform utilizes the first-ever quantum secure decentralized network, with a patent-pending simulated quantum entanglement technology. By leveraging the power of quantum computing, they aim to overcome vulnerabilities found in current blockchains, as 93 percent of company networks are susceptible to cyberattacks. SQE operates on a decentralized network, utilizing a unique “proof of entanglement” system instead of the traditional proof of stake or proof of work methods. Moreover, their scalable databases are complemented by a digital asset called Quecredit, which can be converted into NFTs, which enables users to trade them as collectibles.

While this is the formal launch of this accelerator program, the BIC has already supported over 20 startups since it opened in February 2020, including a handful that have maintained dedicated space at the innovation center. This program structures and expands the services offered, leverages grant funding to provide the support free of charge, and builds on the success and expertise brought in by the BIC Manufacturing Academy. The program will run annually with the goal of attracting and nurturing new and exciting companies that can work with our local manufacturers and grow and diversify the Berkshires’ regional rural economy.

For information on the BIC’s Stage 2 accelerator program, go to berkshireinnovationcenter.com/accelerator-program.

Allison Mikaniewicz is the marketing & events manager at the Berkshire Innovation Center.

Bailey Goodrich is an intern at the BIC and a rising sophomore at the University of West Florida.

KEN POOLEY

Members of SQE Holdings, one of the six startups selected to participate in the first cohort of a new accelerator program at the Berkshire Innovation Center, mingle during a recent event at the BIC.

Outdoor dining

restaurant, Bluebird & Co., at the base of Jiminy Peak in Hancock.

both a space for picnic tables and an outdoor deck — which will each hold about 40 diners and add to the roughly 80 seats available inside. “We are investing heavily in the outdoor space,” Peabody said.

Mezze’s small patio was never very popular with customers. “It always confounded us because it’s a nice space,” Peabody said.

However, after noticing a spiking interest for Mezze’s outdoor seats during the pandemic — as well as his conversations with the owners of Norte Azul Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Stephentown, N.Y. that found new success during the pandemic by building an outdoor dining space — Peabody reconsidered the configuration of his new venture.

Bluebird & Co. will eventually have

The same is true at Patrick’s Pub in Pittsfield, which has recently expanded its outside dining area.

“I would prefer to sit outside if I can, and it really has nothing to do with COVID,” said owner John McNinch. “So many people tell me that as well.”

motivated by a desire to give “people the experience that they want” — which is increasingly open-air dining — he said. When a table fills outside, the restaurant will close a table inside to avoid overwhelming the kitchen, meaning the new expansion isn’t increasing the restaurant’s capacity, but rather catering to a new interest by customers to sit outside.

The city prioritized outdoor dining in 2020 because it added vitality to local restaurants during the early days of the pandemic, said Ricardo Morales, Pittsfield’s Commissioner of Public Utilities.

“We became more nimble in how we would process an outdoor dining request,” he said.

After McNinch took over ownership of Patrick’s Pub in March 2022, he began to work with the city of Pittsfield to extend the restaurant’s dining area into the road in front of the property. By next year, he hopes to have as many as 12 tables outside.

For McNinch, this expansion is

GRANTS HAVE HELPED

Throughout Pittsfield, the city has worked with restaurants to expand their outdoor dining offerings through the Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program, a Massachusetts initiative that quickly funds municipality’s improvements of outdoor public spaces. The program has awarded $33 million statewide since it started in June 2020.

In practice this meant simplifying the application process for restaurants that wanted to add outdoor seating, speaking directly with applicants, and reducing the amount of sidewalk space in front of restaurants that had to be preserved for pedestrians from six to four feet.

Using grant funding, Pittsfield was also able to expand parklets with new platforms, tables and chairs, and close

FROM PAGE 1 OUTDOOR DINING, Page 15

GILLIAN JONES-HECK

People enjoy outdoor dining at Coyote Flaco on Cold Spring Road in Williamstown.

SAM BREWER

Eating out in the Berkshires becomes more than a culinary experience when Railroad Street in Great Barrington is closed on weekend nights during the summer to allow for outdoor dining. “It’s like a giant street festival,” said Michael Marcus, the owner of Bizen.

Outdoor dining

FROM

sections of city streets to provide more room for restaurants to expand their outdoor seating.

Even as the pandemic receded, the lessons learned from outdoor dining during that time made that practice a continued priority for the city, long after the state’s restrictions were lifted and most patrons were no longer worried about eating inside. Morales said that the city is still reaching out to restaurants to propose ways for them to improve their outdoor dining offerings.

“Outdoor dining spaces bring people into the street where they’re more visible, and it creates an inviting environment,” he said. “The outdoor dining component was a passive component before the pandemic, and now it’s more proactive.”

In Great Barrington, changes to outdoor dining that were made initially to support restaurants when they faced indoor occupancy restrictions have become permanent, successful fixtures of the restaurant landscape.

On Friday and Saturday evenings in the summer, the town continues to close Railroad Street to vehicles, making room for an array of temporary tables. It creates a “wonderful pedestrian mall,” said Michael Marcus, the owner of Bizen Gourmet Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar.

Bizen, one of the restaurants that is located on Railroad Street, can now offer outdoor dining to patrons on weekend nights during the summer. It’s a nice complement to the roughly 100 seats Bizen has inside the restaurant.

But this new dining opportunity has also presented challenges. Marcus said expansion into the street has forced him to reconsider the kind of fine dining experience that Bizen restaurant creates. When patrons eat inside, Marcus said, they can expect “pristine” Japanese tatami rooms where they take off their shoes

and can “slow things down on purpose.”

The chaos of Railroad Street creates the opposite effect.

“It’s not slow food anymore,” he said.

“We’ve gone from elegant dining in a Japanese tatami rooms to gutter dining.”

But that isn’t a bad thing. Following the isolation caused by the pandemic, Mar-

cus said his customers have yearned for a more social dining experience, and the hoopla of Railroad Street on a Friday or Saturday night provides exactly that.

“It’s like a giant street festival, and I think it’s taken the Berkshire community by storm,” he said. “This is what the community wants.”

Having perceived the changing attitudes that their patrons have had for outdoor dining, Berkshire restaurant owners say this is an exciting time for their eateries. Many patrons used to resist dining on open air patios. Now those seats are some of the biggest draws in the house.

GILLIAN JONES-HECK

People enjoy outdoor dining at Coyote Flaco in Williamstown. Outdoor dining has become a staple for this restaurant on Cold Spring Road.

Berkshire voices

Is AI the future for small business?

ing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Maybe you’re thinking, “This sounds great, but where do I start?” The key is to approach AI with curiosity and an open mind. Identify areas in your business where AI could add value. Seek expert guidance if needed, and don’t be afraid to experiment. AI is a dynamic field, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

If you’re ready to dive in today, you can enhance your content creation with ChatGPT, an AI-powered tool that can turn your ideas and outlines into engaging content. For automation, tools like Zapier streamline repetitive tasks,

allowing you to spend valuable time on the important things only you can do.

It’s also essential to keep an eye on the ethical considerations. AI should be used responsibly with respect for privacy and transparency. It’s a powerful tool, but it must be wielded with care.

So go ahead, explore the world of AI. Embrace it as a part of your business toolkit. You might just find that it’s not as daunting as it seems.

It’s a new frontier, and the possibilities are endless.

PITTSFIELD — Artificial intelligence is no longer something to be associated solely with science fiction.

AI is here, and it’s shaping the way businesses operate. What does AI mean for you as a business owner? Let’s take a look.

AI is not about robots taking over the world. It’s about using technology to enhance human abilities. Think of it as a tool, like a calculator that helps you with math. AI can automate repetitive tasks, analyze data, and even predict future trends. It’s not about replacing humans; it’s about working alongside them.

If you’re wondering how AI can benefit your business, here’s where it gets inter-

esting. AI can help you understand your customers better. By analyzing data, AI can uncover patterns and trends that might be invisible to the naked eye. This information can guide your marketing strategies, product development, and customer service.

But it’s not just about data. AI can also help you connect with your customers on a personal level. Chatbots, for example, can provide instant customer support, answering questions and solving problems in real time. It’s like having a 24/7 customer service representative without the added cost. AI is also opening doors to innovation and enabling businesses to explore new products, services, and even business models. It’s fostering creativity and push-

JOE LAMBERTI — FREELANCER, ASSOCIATED PRESS Dr. Stephanie Laggini Fiore, associate vice provost and senior director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, hosts a faculty teaching circle on artificial intelligence recently in Philadelphia, in this file photo.

Kaitlyn Pierce

Kaitlyn Pierce is the founder and chief strategist of PierceSocial, a digital marketing company.

‘Historic day’ for Lee Demolition finally begins on long-awaited Eagle Mill project

By C larenCe Fanto

LEE — Transformational. A historic day for Lee.

That’s how the official start of the town’s biggest development project in decades — the threephase conversion of the abandoned Eagle Mill on West Center Street into affordable housing and possible retail space — was described when the demolition began in late July.

Close to 100 onlookers fell silent as the first of a half dozen 200-year-old row houses on the north end of town began to be torn down by excavators. Several former residents were among the crowd with state and local officials who had offered their remarks along with co-developer Jeffrey Cohen before the first house fell.

“I lived on this street all my life, since I was a baby, for 72 years, in one of the houses that’s going to be torn down,” said Kathy Hall. Her father also ran a barber shop and grocery store on the block. She moved three years ago when her house was acquired for the redevelopment, but still lives a few minutes away. Hall considers the project “wonderful,” even though earlier plans for a community center and a hotel had to be shelved as economic conditions changed.

“It was very busy, very nice, all the families got together in our small community, Italians, Irish, some Scottish across the street,” Hall said. “We all got along great. It was a fun place to live.”

Her sister, Theresa Corbitt, recalled how she met her husband-to-be, a resident at one of the houses. And Corbitt’s daughter pointed out that her grandparents were residents,

Project developer Jeffrey Cohen speaks as demolition finally began for the long-awaited Eagle Mill project in Lee, which had been 10 years in the making. “To get where we are today, it takes more than a village,” Cohen said, “a lot of people working very hard all the time to go through a process that takes years.”

as well as her father as a child.

“As a young girl, I always came here and slept over,” she said, pointing to the second-floor guest room, about to be torn apart by the excavator, where she stayed while attending summer camp.

State and local officials offered their compliments and voiced relief that the long-awaited project by Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC was finally underway.

The project was more than 10 years in the making, Cohen told The Berkshire Eagle, and depended on the gradual release of state and federal tax incentives and grants, with delays caused by the COVID pandemic. His Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC partners are Jon Rudzinski, owner of Rees-Larkin Development in Boston, and Don Wells of DEW Properties, LLC.

The expected price tag for the total project is $60 million to $80 million, Cohen said, including $30 million for phase one, with all financing approved and in place. The final closing expected to take place this month.

He called the demolition of the row houses dating from the 1820s “a historic day, a credibility day for all of us,” telling the crowd at the ceremony that he has been asked whenever he’s in town when the houses would be torn down. Demolition follows “abatement,” meaning removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials, Cohen said.

Built in 1808 with eight additions over the years, the Eagle Mill was one of 25 paper mills in town during the late 1800s. It operated until 2008, when its owner, paper company Schweitzer-Mauduit, closed its four

remaining mills.

Within 18 months, Cohen said, people will be living at the former mill in the new affordable housing units. Two new apartment buildings could be added in phase two, along with first-floor retail space, as well as more apartments on the other side of the street and additional apartment units in the mill’s former machine shop. All told, there will be 131 units of mostly affordable workforce housing, plus six market-rate townhouses fronting on the Housatonic River.

He also singled out Kathy Hall and her husband, Bill — “If it weren’t for Kathy selling us her house, we wouldn’t be standing here today.

“To get where we are today, it takes more than a village,” Cohen said, “a lot of people working very hard all the time to go through a process that takes years.”

He cited state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, for his advocacy, the Adams Community Bank for financing redevelopment costs and the acquisition of the row houses. Cohen also praised Jay Ash, the secretary of housing and economic development during former Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration and Gov. Maura Healey, and state Secretary of State William Galvin for tax incentives, grants and infrastructure enhancements in the town, including a new water pipeline, needed to get the redevelopment started.

Pignatelli, who helped push for the project for the past decade, said he has deemed it “transformational” from the get-go.

“It’s going to preserve some

of the history of the mill that helped build this town, providing affordable housing options for people right in the downtown on the real gateway to the Berkshires,” he said.

The Lenox Democrat had urged state economic development officials to “get the money out the door much quicker and get the shovels in the ground fast. Now, it’s happening. It’s very exciting, and long overdue, quite a game-changer.”

Cohen, a developer for 50 years, also stressed the “most important” role played by the town of Lee.

“I’ve never had an experience working in a town or city where the people at every level have been more cooperative,” he said. “They want to participate, and have their voices heard as we design what we want to do with the town.”

“This is a very significant day, the day we’re about to move into the future,” said Lee Select Board Chairman Bob Jones. “This development is going to change the way we’re perceived and make a whole lot of people’s lives better. This whole end of town is going to be transformed a step into the future. But we need to stop and remember all the lives that have gone through these houses, through these mills, centuries of collective memories.”

Pignatelli said he didn’t believe the town was losing memories, but instead honoring the past while moving toward the future.

As he put it, “this community embraced this project from day one. This is an exciting day, not only for Lee but for the entirety of the Berkshires, for affordable, safe and clean housing opportunities.”

Bartlett’s fields worst-ever crop

Orchard will not offer pick-your-own apples due to devastating May frost

By Jane K au F man

RICHMOND — Thanks to a May 18 frost that nearly wiped out the apple crop in Berkshire County, Bartlett’s Orchard won’t be open for pick-your-own this fall.

The 24-acre orchard announced the decision recently on its Facebook page.

“We look forward to much better weather and a normal crop next year,” the post reads. “We will have some apples that made it through at the higher elevation in the orchard available in our store, and we will be able to make cider.”

Support for the orchard on Facebook included calls for fellow patrons to buy more apple cider doughnuts, which will still be available at the farm store at 575 Swamp Road. “We will support you in other ways. And we look forward to apple picking next year,” one person wrote.

Rick Bartlett, who owns the Richmond orchard with his brother, Ron, said he believes he has just 20 percent of a normal crop, calling it the worst season he’s ever seen. He grew up on the orchard; his father, Francis Bartlett, bought the orchard in 1947. It had been planted in 1925. The average crop is between 7,000 and 8,000 bushels.

The orchard sells only from its own store on site and will end up having to buy apples this season to fill in the gaps.

“Getting apples that are clean enough to be able to sell as fresh fruit over the counter are going to be in short supply,” Bartlett said, predicting that eating ap-

ples may be higher priced this season at the wholesale level.

With a 200-foot elevation difference between the bottom and top of the orchard, the frost affected apple blossoms unevenly.

“Most of the apples are up near the top,” he said, explaining that the coldest air sunk to the valley in what’s an at-

BEN GARVER

mospheric inversion. “Although there’s real oddities down low, overall most things got knocked out.”

He said the orchard has a few Paula Reds, the first variety that is picked each year. They’re showing damage in the form of russeting, or patches of

brown on the skin.

Some Macouns also came through, which probably won’t grow to their normal size, but “most of them don’t have any indication of the freeze.”

He said he’s talked with salesmen who told him they heard from other growers that Macouns fared better than other varieties.

Frost-damaged apples from the orchard will be used to press cider, Bartlett said, but he said the orchard will also have those “to supplement what we have.”

Bartlett has minimal crop insurance to cover the losses, he said.

Meantime, he’s hired three temporary H-2A workers this year. Ordinarily he hires four.

“The only reason we didn’t cut [staffing] more is because of the scattered nature of the apples we’re going to pick, it’s going to be very difficult,” Bartlett said. “We’re running around to a whole tree trying to scavenge every apple we can get out of there.”

In addition, there’s a certain amount of work that has to be done on the orchard, regardless of whether there are apples to pick, including pruning trees.

“We think ahead at this time of the year for the crop next year and how we set up the trees,” Bartlett said. “We have a lot of empty trees.”

To compensate for the losses, Bartlett said he’ll probably try to take on more work off the orchard off season, “and just tighten up everything we do.”

GILLIAN JONES-HECK

With the majority of the apple trees at Bartlett’s Orchards almost bare due to a late spring frost this year, there is no limit on the amount of pruning that workers can accomplish.

BERKSHIRE BLACK ECONOMIC COUNCIL

BBEC networking, workshops ‘priceless’ for participants

By Jane K au F man

PITTSFIELD — Photographer and videographer DeSean Scales launched his business right in the middle of the pandemic.

That was difficult, but navigating the world of a private business owner has proven to be just as daunting for him.

Formed in 2021, DScalesPhotoLab does promotional work for business websites as well as portraiture, automotive and sports photography. Scales, 28, is a Pittsfield native who graduated from Pittsfield High School and has taken some courses at Berkshire Community College.

“My challenges have been transitioning from a hobbyist photographer and trying to be a business owner,” he said. “Learning all the dynamics behind photography and videography comes like second nature to me. I’ve done it for so long. But trying to understand forming the LLC and just everything that’s behind it, there’s a lot more that I would like to learn.”

Scales found his way to his first Berkshire Black Economic Council Minority Business Enterprise Workshop at Proprietor’s Lodge with about 30 other business owners, panelists and representatives from state agencies, including MassHire and the Supplier Diversity Office.

He struck up a conversation with Ludwig Jean-Louis, who owns Cravins Ice Cream on Elm Street in Pittsfield.

Jean-Louis, also a Pittsfield High School graduate, has about 10 part-time employees at the ice cream shop he acquired about a year ago, mostly siblings and cousins.

“I came in hopes to get the minority

business certification, just to have that tag, to help promote myself in other spaces,” said Jean-Louis. “Because I know that once you’re certified in these spaces, you’re more likely to get noticed by other businesses.”

At the event, presenters and panelists discussed opportunities available to Minority Business Enterprise certified businesses, including grants and aid. To qualify for the certificate, the business must be at least 51 percent owned by minority group members and be dominantly controlled by them. The process

can take several months, but the benefits of putting in the work seemed to far outweigh the time and effort for many of the business owners in attendance.

Ranisha Grice, a spa therapist who owns Grice Beauty and creates body oils and skin care, has been in business for three years. She was interested to learn about the opportunities that minority-owned business certification can afford small businesses, “so I can start getting contracts.”

Emmanuel Bilé, co-founder of Choices Mentoring Initiative, which mentors Af-

DEI Outdoors cuts path for diversity

By Greta JoChem

NORTH ADAMS — When Rachel Hailey worked in outdoor education and recreation, she noticed a problem.

“I saw a real gap between who’s represented in the space and who actually wants to participate in the space,” the North Adams resident said.

She talked about the lack of diversity during a presentation at a convention for ropes course professionals several years ago.

“After the presentation, people were coming up and they were saying, ‘We love what you said and how do we do it? What steps can we take?’” Hailey said. “Outdoor organizations, whether they’re conservation organizations or retail or skiing, they all want strategies for how to be more inclusive and have lots of different people feel like they’re welcome.”

In the fall of 2019, she started DEI Outdoors, a consulting group, to help. The business now has clients all over the country ranging from ski mountains, to outdoor retailers, to conservation groups. They do work both in-person and virtually for clients, and DEI Outdoors has grown from just Hailey to have about 10 employees.

It’s grown significantly over the last few years, she said. “It just goes to show the demand for this type of work continues to swell.”

The business offers diversity, equity and inclusion consulting for outdoors organizations and businesses. What that looks like depends, Hailey said.

“The work of fostering diversity can feel really scary sometimes to folks,” she said, “they’re not sure where to start. So we have to meet people where they’re where they’re at.”

DEI Outdoors does trainings and offers audits to see where an organization can improve.

“There’s an old narrative that diversity work is something you plug into the HR department once a month, and you’ve done your quota. But really it’s shifting and changing where diversity, equity and inclusion and culture overlap. They’re inherently linked, and it’s our mission really to work with diversity, equity and inclusion from the ground level, starting with organizational culture.”

If they are working at a ski mountain, for example, they look at its internal culture, Hailey said. “What’s it like to be an employee there? What’s it like to be hired?” she said. “And what’s the retention rate for folks? How do people get promoted? Then we’ll also look at, how are we doing outreach with communities that you want to attract?”

Hailey is also working on a new DEI Outdoors program that she hopes to launch next summer to bring historically marginalized communities to the Berkshires for outdoors experiences. She wants to bring people to the Berkshires and say,

“Look at all these awesome natural resources we have in these beautiful spaces, and do it in a space that feels welcoming, so that folks that don’t normally hike or don’t normally go kayaking or whatever can have that experience in a way that feels authentic for them.”

She’s thinking about bringing people from urban areas like New York City and Boston. Growing up first in Roxbury herself, the most Hailey was exposed to the outdoors was her family’s backyard garden. Then her family moved to Middleborough, and her mom took a job at a YMCA summer camp and Hailey went as a camper.

“It changed everything,” she said. “I realized that being outside was like, I could be free, I could play, I could be adventurous. I didn’t have to worry about what people thought of me or what I looked like. It was a game changer for me. I just realized at some point, I wanted to give this to other folks in a way that was really empowering and impactful.”

rican-American boys ages 10 to 17 at the Tyler Street Lab, was also in attendance.

“As a Black business I hope to see where we can get more support and be part of a community that is oriented somewhat to Black businesses,” Bilé said.

He said he’s already had some businesses and schools reach out to ask how to partner with him. Some of the students travel from as far away as North Adams and Housatonic; others are from Dalton and Pittsfield.

“Our hope is to help them know themselves and the choices that they make and how that impacts their families, their schools and our community so they could also have the opportunities to grow, to be successful citizens,” he said.

David Benle, who works three jobs, came to the event hoping to find ways to grow his day trading business and trainings offered under the name Zone Traders Corp. Benle said he stays up until 3 a.m. to trade currency on the London stock exchange.

When The Berkshire Eagle followed up with Grice, Bilé, Benle and Scales after the session, they all said they plan to put in the time and effort to pursue the state’s minority-owned business certification.

“I didn’t realize how much more opportunity you could gain for your business by acquiring one of those,” Scales said. “Just the various certifications and resources that are available to business owners.”

He also enjoyed meeting successful entrepreneurs.

“For a first experience, it was priceless,” Scales said.

Max closes suddenly

Despite local acclaim, Lenox eatery shuts doors after 8 months

By C larenCe Fanto

LENOX — When Max, the newest entry on the busy downtown dining scene, opened in January at the Whitlock Hotel on Church Street, it was an immediate hit with patrons seeking authentic southern Italian cooking.

But now it’s history — sole proprietor Bridget Cappo closed it suddenly in August.

It’s a cautionary tale of staffing challenges, a lease that required full-service breakfast and dinner five days a week, a dissolved partnership that became untenable for a single mother with three children and resulting stress levels that triggered medical issues.

“I’m pretty proud of the success that it did achieve; it was doing fantastic,” Cappo told The Berkshire Eagle in a recent phone conversation. “Overall, the feedback was incredible; it was a great little restaurant. I gave everything I could to keep it going, and it just became virtually impossible. My health was at risk.”

Cappo became the sole owner following the unexpected dissolution in May of her partnership with noted chef Luigi Iasilli. And by early July, a co-manager had departed.

“I was trying to navigate all the different schedules for my children as a mother, the main priority in my life, and also show up for the ‘child’ that is the restaurant, in the high season,” she said, conceding that she was a newcomer to the industry. “With all the demands, I reached the point that I had to make a decision and prioritize.”

She began closing Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The lease agreement with the inn required breakfast service five days a week, including weekends. Then, Cappo reluctantly broke her company’s lease with the Whitlock Inn.

“I’m very sad about it,” she acknowledged. “The whole thing has come at a great cost, professionally and personally. I’m not a quitter, so it’s really, really hard to reach a point that this could not be sustained.”

Cappo also noted that Max’s customers are “bewildered and confused” since she had to cancel a batch of upcoming reservations.

“We were making good money, people were telling us the service and the food were good,” said the restaurant’s chef, Carlos Gutierrez, who’s now searching for a new position. He said Max was serving 150 to 170 dinners at night on weekends, and 120 to 140 on weekdays.

He agreed that the breakfast requirement was a major stumbling block. Management staffing issues also played a role, according to Gutierrez — “everything was falling apart, we were working with no manager, so everything was like, ‘Hey, what’s happening now.’”

“The space will return to the hotel under my management and we are planning our next steps,” said Jeff Bourdon, general manager of The Whitlock and two other historic downtown Lenox inns, The Dewey and The Constance, for Life House Hotels.

A West Stockbridge resident, Cappo is also the co-owner of Amici there. That restaurant reopened in June after a January kitchen fire. She declined comment on her future status there.

RACHEL HAILEY

Rachel Hailey, founder of DEI Outdoors, started the consulting group in 2019 to help recreational outdoor organizations become more inclusive.

JANE KAUFMAN

Those who attended the Berkshire Black Economic Council networking event gathered to meet and learn about one another’s businesses.

Real estate transactions

Berkshire County Real Estate Transactions for July 3 to 28

ADAMS

Jason Nocher sold property at 11 Crotteau St., Adams, to Karolina Januszewski, $194,000.

Peter Degere sold property at 12 Country Club Ave., Adams, to Michael T. Morris and Mallory B. Field, $170,000.

David B. Barbeau, personal rep. of Celia Helen Barbeau, sold property at 19 Gilead St., Adams, to Dante Birch, $138,000.

Robert D. and Judith King, trustees of the King Family Nominee RT, sold property at Kingsmont Lane, Adams, to Thomas F. and Carolyn M. Chalifoux, $52,500.

Michael G. Zamboni sold property at 36-38 Park St., Adams, to Community Park LLC, $145,000.

Janice Eileen and Joseph H. Dzbenski sold property at 70 East St., Adams, to Kayla Samson, $306,000. Stella Hyndman sold property at 281 West Road, Adams, to Dominique Hyndman, $150,000.

Collene R. Clancy and Jose L. Rosa sold property at 21 Gilead St., Adams, to Ruth L. Graham, $162,000.

Bonnie Beal sold property at 12 Richmond Lane, Adams, to Anthony P. Doyle, trustee of Six Seven Four Housatonic NT, $97,250.

Barbara A. Favreau, Brenda Lawson and Laurie Neyman sold property at 14 Elm St., Adams, to Big Name Investments, $125,000.

Amadeu Almeida sold property at 43 Enterprise St., Adams, to RK Realty Properties LLC, $128,000.

Dennis P., Kerry M. and Michael P. Klein and Kelly

M. Waller sold property at 34 Leonard St., Adams, to Debra Sommer and Elizabeth Alibozek, trustees of the Sommer Hill Irrevocable Trust, $425,000.

Charles A. Markis sold property at 35 Summer St., Adams, to Melanie Maz and Chad E. Worley, $122,500.

Robert A. Davis sold property at 11 First St., Adams, to Melissa Gray, $210,000.

BECKET

Erik P. Kimball and Mary C. Walsh sold property at Mallard Drive, Becket, to Rubia

D. Beraldo and Stephane

Serge Girard, $80,000.

Heide U. Onish sold property at Hamilton Road, Becket, to Louise Heit-Radwell, $19,000.

David R. and Sharon E. Sparkowich sold property at Valley View Road, Becket, to Eric Tippeconnic, $45,000.

Samuel D. and Emily M. Linendoll sold property

at 191 Alan A Dale Drive, Becket, to Angel Heffernan, $200,000.

Billie J. Thibault, personal rep. of the Estate of Robert Gerard Thibault, sold property at 1232 Main St., Becket, to Robert Lewis and Fernanda Onorato Machado Haywood, $334,000.

Sato Knudsen and Leslie A. Wisdom sold property at 307 Gentian Hollow Road, Becket, to Pamela H. Smith, $389,000.

Michael Novak, trustee NVK Land Trust, sold property at Pickerel Close, Becket, to Susan and Michael Paton, $14,000.

Ralph W. and Mary Ann Salemme sold property at Long Bow Lane East, Becket, to Allison Fippinger, $49,000.

Gregory Cohen sold property at 674 Benton Hill Road, Becket, to Daniel M. Evangelisto and Kacey K. Boos, $410,000.

Diane K. Dunn sold property at 384 Silver Leaf Drive, Becket, to Joseph Devereaux and Sarah Leidhold, $395,000.

CHESHIRE

Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 40 Curran Road, Cheshire, to Lacey and Jessica Dixon, $435,000.

Thomas W. Douglas, trustee of the Thomas W. Douglas RVT, sold property at 145 Maple Drive, Cheshire, to Paul V. and Vanessa L. Mazzantini, $439,900.

CLARKSBURG

Donna Bernardi Briggs, personal rep. of Dennis Francis Bernardi, sold property at 175 Middle Road, Clarksburg, to Theresa Louise Cooper, $206,000.

Vijaykumar Sukhadiya sold property at 509 and 511 Houghton St., Clarksburg, to James S. and Megan Dopson, $279,000.

Dalton

Stacie L. Hill sold property at 50 Greenridge Drive, Dalton, to Nadine Hiser, $100,000.

Mare S. and Janet S. Levine sold property at 177 East Housatonic St., Dalton, to Elijah B. Lorono, $380,000.

Margery B. Fischbein, trustee, Margery B. Fischbein Separate Property Trust Agreement, sold property at 9 River Birch Lane, Unit 30, Dalton, to Sweet Boxer Real Estate LLC, $718,500.

Arlene F. Reid sold property at 872 Main St., Dalton, to Kaitlyn Gingras and Nickolas Gaudette, $282,000.

EGREMONT

Kate Lascar and Brian Budak sold property at 17 Mount Washington Road, Egremont, to Jimmy Ng and Wei Lan Wong,

$425,000.

Inn at Sweet Water Farm

LLC sold property at 1 Prospect Lake Road, Egremont, to Black Bear Holdings I LLC, $800,000.

N. Phyllis Scarmozzino sold property at 113 Hillsdale Road, Egremont, to STT LLC, $175,000.

Figrocker Berkshire LLC sold property at 0 & 76 Prospect Lake Road, Egremont, to Cynthia Dale Fiscina, $595,000.

FLORIDA

Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 60 Mohawk Trail, Florida, to Christopher Lingefelt and Amber Rose Funk, $249,900.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Shay Alster, Cristina Shapiro Alster, Dror Price, and Irit Price sold property at 1 Deer Trail Road, Great Barrington, to Jill Faye Bokor, $1,185,000.

Diego Gutierrez and Terri

A. Gutierrez sold property at 123 Front St., Great Barrington, to Michael H. Klein and Khairah Halimah Kain Klein, $650,000.

Mary L. Barnum sold property at 913 Main St., Great Barrington, to Joseph W. Bercier IV and Cassandra R. Bercier, $400,000.

Longest Road LLC sold property at 30 Elm Court, Great Barrington, to Black Opal LLC, $525,000.

Ace Landventures LLC sold property at 78 Christian Hill Road, Great Barrington, to Truman R. Keys and Kevin Batista, $85,000.

Rio Carmen Rayne sold property at 3 Ryan Terrace, Great Barrington, to Emma Fletcher and Erica Randlett-Habarta, $343,500.

Robin H. Ban and Daijiro Ban sold property at 7476 Seekonk Cross Road, Great Barrington, to Mark Eisen and Karen Eisen, $1,600,000.

Suzanne C. Fowle, trustee of Suzanne C. Fowle Revocable Living Trust, sold property at 40 Kirk St., Great Barrington and West Stockbridge, to Samuel K. Schrager & Anastasia M. Whalen, $735,000.

Mahaiwe Triplex Theatre Inc. sold property at 70 Railroad St., Great Barrington, to Triplex Cinema Inc., $1,000,000.

Grandy Holdings LLC sold property at 12, 16 & 18 Rosseter St., Great Barrington, to Drucker/Ring LLC, $800,000.

Krista E. Dalton sold property at 230½ Grove St., Great Barrington, to Aretmis B. Willis, $515,000.

HANCOCK

Stephen Beach sold property at Lebanon Springs Road, Hancock, to Jeffrey M. and Elizabeth K. Weeks,

$115,000.

Todd Scott Wasserman sold property at Corey Road, Unit 814, Hancock, to EJJS LLC, $285,000.

HINSDALE

Constantine Holdings LLC sold property at 382 Maple St., Hinsdale, to Neil and Susan J. Kristjansson, $295,000.

Tina M. Tyska and Danny P. Beckwith sold property at 287 Maple St., Hinsdale, to Wesley Bright and Antonia Luck Buckley, $290,000.

LANESBOROUGH

Donnybrook Inc. sold property at 770 Williamstown Road, Lanesborough, to Mark Louis Brantly and Judy Faye Lew, $1,200,000.

John F. McLaughlin Jr., personal rep. of Helen S. Reilly, sold property at 22 Baglee Ave., Lanesborough, to Trevor and Rachel Johnston, $272,900.

Jennifer L. Renzi sold property at 7 Monica Drive, Lanesborough, to Robert Clayton and Marissa Ryann Rivard, $196,500.

SUMU 3 LLC sold property at 7 Old Williamstown Road, Lanesborough, to Joshua Goerlach, $135,000.

Gary A. Creasey sold property at 3 Park Drive, Lanesborough, to Amber Pitcher, $208,000.

Yan Li sold property at 162 Bailey Road, Lanesborough, to Donna M., Leon and Cecile Housand, $415,000.

LEE

Douglas B. and Sally A. Wilcox sold property at 62 Main St., Lee, to Ryan L. and Emmy K. Davis, $289,000.

Caroline Paige Hinkson, trustee, Caroline Paige Hinkson RVT, sold property at 70 Franklin St., Lee, to Adam Gruver, $552,500.

Daniel P. Sumy sold property at 176 Main St., Lee, to Stephanie A. O’Hara, $550,000.

David F. and Elizabeth A. Fitzgerald sold property at 26 Reservoir Road, Lee, to Ellen Merritt, $285,000. Phyllis L. Linder sold property at 17 Sunshine Ave., Lee, to Holly J. Petell, $279,000.

Florence Pipa-Martin sold property at 565 Meadow St., Lee, to Brian N. and Deborah C. Cox, trustee, Deborah C. Cox RVT, $170,000.

Jeffrey S. Atkin, trustee, Nancy S. Atkin 2001 Trust, sold property at 92 Stockbridge Terrace, Unit 5-A, Lee, to Jeanne Marie Johnson and Jeffrey S. Atkin, trustees, Atkin Family Living Trust of 2011, $870,387.

Kayla M. Corby sold property at 356 Golden Hill Road, Lee, to Daniel and Amanda Schenker, $650,000.

Garrett And Jessica Louzon sold property at 280 Mandalay Road, Lee, to Mustafa Atmaca, $445,000.

Kelly M. Stanard sold property at 95 East Center St., Lee, to LND Investments LLC, $158,500.

Halbert J. and Patti A. Feinberg sold property at 125 Antelope Drive, Lee, to David R. and Jill D. Glehan, $675,000.

LENOX

Robert Jared and Andrew J. Gutmann, trustees, Robert John Gutmann 2017 FT, sold property at 30 Elm St., Lenox, to James V. and Emily Carr Moore, $337,000.

Frederick L. and Nancy E. Hurley sold property at 11 Melville Court, Lenox, to Rosaida Reyes, $1,000,000.

Carole C. Raymond, trustee, Carole C. Raymond RVT, sold property at 12D Muirfield Drive, Lenox, to Ezra and Mary Ann Singer, $785,000.

John D. Reber sold property at 12 Meadow Lane, Lenox, to Samar S. Habl, $275,500.

Judy Zipkowitz sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, to Kevin Walto, $205,000.

Michael Franz Presti sold property at 55 Sherwood Drive, Lenox, to Cassandra Sohn, $700,000.

Joanne and Richard D. Sweeney sold property at East Dugway Road, Lenox, to Ronald and Kathy Wilbanks, $455,000.

MONTEREY

Melissa A. Smith and Joel M. Goldstein sold property at 70 Hupi Woods Circle, Monterey, to Kathleen Jean Sclafani and Michael Anthony Sclafani, $1,000,000.

Tyson F. Whaley sold property at Norwalk Acres, Monterey, to Thomas E. Whaley, $4,100.

Justin F. Kimball and Heather K. Zullinger individually and as personal reps. of the Estate of Barbara D. Resnik, sold property at 7 Point Road, Monterey, to Emily Pearl, $1,195,000.

Peter S. Vallianos sold property at Lake Avenue, Monterey, to Bradley D. Lupiani, $3,000.

NEW MARLBOROUGH

Barbara Nemiroff sold property at 97 Corser Hill Road, New Marlborough, to Jeff D. Diamond and Tracey L. Diamond, $1,262,500.

Crestwood Inc. sold property at 0 Mill River Great Barrington Road, New Marlborough, to James Casteleiro and Julia Casteleiro, $75,000.

Robert H. Parkeharrison and Shana Parkeharrison, co-trustees of Robert H. Parkeharrison Revocable Trust & Shana Parkeharrison Revocable Trust, sold property at 1724 Hartsville

New Marlborough Road, New Marlborough, to Travis Leonard & Stanton Rock Leonard, $872,000.

NORTH ADAMS

Rachel G. Anderson sold property at 578 North Houghton St., North Adams, to Robert and Destinee Noel Manning, $199,500.

Christine A. Girard, trustee of the Hilltop RT, sold property at 78-80 Cliff St., North Adams, to Jackeline Gonzalez, $160,000. Jacqueline Hidalgo and Sourena Parham sold property at 61 Marion Ave., North Adams, to Victoria A. Frey and Peter Leitner, $455,000.

Dana J. Houghton, personal rep. of William Howard Houghton, sold property at 21 Monroe St., North Adams, to Jordan A. and Cassidy A. Chaplin, $244,000.

Donna Bernardi Briggs, personal rep. of Dennis Francis Bernardi, sold property at 171 Daniels Road, North Adams, to Kyle J. Maselli and Nicole L. Sage, $300,000.

Angelo A. Luchi sold property at 53 East Quincy St., North Adams, to Robert S. and Elizabeth H. Rutledge-Shryock, co-trustees of the Robert S. Rutledge-Shryock and Elizabeth H. Rutledge-Shryock RVT FT, $334,000.

1st Cut Construction and Remodeling LLC sold property at 297 Eagle St., North Adams, to Real Estate Investments Northeast LLC, $100,000.

Francis W. and Carole A. Esposito sold property at 123 Marion Ave., North Adams, to Theodore and Nicole Anagnos, $360,000. Real Estate Investments Northeast LLC sold property at 297 Eagle St., North Adams, to Salvador Alcala and Haley Burdick, $285,000.

Robert Clayton and Marissa Rivard sold property at 86 North St., North Adams, to Jesus M. Torres, $191,000.

Donna Bernardi Briggs, personal rep. of Dennis Francis Bernardi, sold property at 45 D St., North Adams, to Jonathan Michael Beaudreau, $300,000.

Frank D. Depaoli Jr. sold property at 11 Burnham St., North Adams, to Scott Berglund, $245,000. New Hope United Methodist Church sold property at 192 State St., North Adams, to Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Inc., $250,000.

HLP Realty Holdings LLC sold property at 99-101 Franklin St., North Adams, to Virginia Lynn Roso, $279,000.

Jason Nocher sold property at 196 Veazie St., North Adams, to Alexandra G. Phaneuf, $188,700. REAL ESTATE,

Real estate

Lynn C. Jordan sold property at 535 Barbour St., North Adams, to Nicholas Tyler Hersey and Josephine Katie Hover, $305,000.

Kurt Collins sold property at 26 Versailles Ave., North Adams, to Shawn Flaherty, $290,000.

DSM Properties LLC sold property at 596 State Road, North Adams, to Paul G. Lymberis, trustee of the 338 Wealth Trust, $180,000.

Alexander Blaisdell sold property at 164 Oak Hill, North Adams, to Kyle Carey and Katelyn Foster, $485,000.

Melinda M. Kirby sold property at 289 Franklin St., North Adams, to Elizabeth Varley and Kevin Higgins, $309,000.

Caleb J. Robert sold property at 897 Church St., North Adams, to Jessica Marie Dubie, 292,900.

OTIS

Gerald G. and Linda Ross Siegel sold property at Route 8, Otis, to Karl D. Laird and Richard J. Kalb II, $100,000.

John V. Rosania Jr., Mary P. Rosania and Shawn Rosania sold property at Route 8, Otis, to Shawn and Gina Rosania, $40,000.

Robert and Michelle Pachomski sold property at Route 8, Otis, to Nicodemo and Grace Scarfo, $79,700.

William S. and Gail F. Orcutt sold property at Route 8, Otis, to Nanci Haddad and Jason J. Blackwell, $53,000.

David R. and Kay A. Rice sold property at 136 Stebbins Road, Otis, to Ryan W. Furches, $270,000.

Christopher M. and Aimee L. Cameron-Browne sold property at 454 Pine Road and Pine Road, Otis, to Equity Trust Co., custodian for the benefit of John A. Pagliaro Jr. and Clyde Owen, $180,000.

David R. and Sharon E. Sparkowich sold property at 14 South Pine St., Otis, to Katrine E. Cohen, trustee, Katrine E. Cohen Trust, $399,000.

PERU

Theodore R. Solarz Jr. and Joy Solarz sold property at 20 Strong Road, Peru, to Michael and Diane Boulerice, $32,500.

PITTSFIELD

Steve J. Perry, trustee R.J.L NT, sold property at 65 Weller Ave., Pittsfield, to Old Westfield Properties LLC, $185,000.

Susan A. Keefe sold property at 32 Grace Terrace, Pittsfield, to Michael McNeil, $100,000.

Jeanne C. Curley sold property at 217 Jason St., Pittsfield, to LND Investments LLC, $92,500.

Donna M. Gniadek and Debra S. Galvagni, personal reps. of the Estate of Edith M. Almstead, sold property at 16 Paula Ave., Pittsfield, to Thomas O. Hoover and Susan Lavelle, $275,000.

Compass Ridge LLC sold property at Cascade Street, Pittsfield, to Aaron Rocha, $170,000.

Robert G. Scott sold property at 44 Harding St., Pittsfield, to Jill Ann Ellert, $320,000.

Stephen J. Yuill, trustee, Shirley H. Yuill 2016 RVT, sold property at 90 Michael Drive, Pittsfield, to Robert and Ann Marie Perry, $328,000.

Taylor C. Johnson sold property at 57 Greendale Ave., Pittsfield, to Talia S. Chestnutt, $160,000.

Mitchell T. and Jordyn L. Scace sold property at 30-32 Scammell Ave., Pittsfield, to Rasheed R. Blake, $290,000.

Nicholas Snyder sold property at 47-49 Hull Ave., Pittsfield, to Andres Giovanni

Huertas and Gloria Escobar, $255,000.

David P. Sturma, trustee 73 Birch Grove NT, sold property at 73 Birch Grove Drive, Pittsfield, to Mitchell T. and Jordyn L. Scace, $319,000.

Lori McHugh sold property at 307-309 Elm St., Pittsfield, to Darvis Lee, $271,000.

Hasmit Kharbanda and Harpal Chawla sold property at 119-121 Robbins Ave., Pittsfield, to Juan Carlos Parra, $142,900.

Gwendolyn A. and Ward A. Fritz, trustees, Carl D. Fritz NT, sold property at 56 Greenings Ave., Pittsfield, to Frank E. Bonnevie III and Kate Fletcher, $302,400.

Michael J. and Michelle A. Kruger sold property at 39 Demont Ave., Pittsfield, to Kyle C. and Amanda L. Watson, $353,000.

Walter Cooper Jr., personal rep. of the Estate of Walter R. Cooper Sr., sold property at 11 Norman Ave., Pittsfield, to HLP Realty Holdings LLC, $95,000.

Robert A. and Jacqueline L. Lyon sold property at 27 Victory Road, Pittsfield, to Timothy M. and Michelle A. Mason, $476,001.

Kathleen A. Reardon sold property at 38 Bernard Ave., Pittsfield, to NAMV Investments LLC, $160,000.

Jeffrey A. Miles sold property at 171 Ridgeway Ave., Pittsfield, to John W. Torra and Marissa Mestre, $179,000.

Diane R. Albrecht and June C. Popp sold property at 22 Lincoln St., Pittsfield, to Sandra E. Paiz, $160,000.

Mint Real Estate LLC sold property at 1035 South St., Pittsfield, to LRE Ventures LLC, $1,750,000.

White Terrace Realty Inc. sold property at 592 North St., Pittsfield, to White Terrace Building LLC, $900,000.

Michael P. and Maryanne Regan, trustees, Michael P. Regan RVT, sold property at 144 Harryel St., Pittsfield, to Tracy Boehme, $390,000.

Debra J. Arpante sold property at 95-97 Dalton Ave. and 59 Dartmouth St., Pittsfield, to Jeffrey Lynch, trustee, 95 Dalton Avenue NT, $190,000.

David M. and Molly B. Lyon-Joseph sold property at 65 Blythewood Drive, Pittsfield, to Ian S. Gunn and Laura K. Donnelly, $948,000.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, trustee, Jessica L. Miller and Thomas R. Pierce Jr. sold property at 102 Pontoosuc Ave., Pittsfield, to Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB, trustee, $71,339.47.

Judith A. Mullett sold property at 330 Connecticut Ave., Pittsfield, to Patricia E. and Lewis K. Reed Jr., $230,000.

Kurt A. Sheerin, Harold J. Sheerin, Hildegard E. Sheerin, John F. Sheerin III, and Heidi E. Jones sold property at 89 Greylock Terrace, Pittsfield, to David Jones and Sara Trova, $190,000.

Robert E. Masoero, trustee, Emilio H. Masoero 2006 FT, sold property at 716 Dalton Division Road, Pittsfield, to Amanda Masoero, $226,000.

Dennis Ladner sold property at 33 Perrine Ave., Pittsfield, to Bethany Frye, $216,000.

David B. and Brandi L. Dahari sold property at 61 Stonehenge Road, Pittsfield, to Bruce D. Warren and Paula D. Goodenough, trustees, Goodenough-Warren Living Trust, $531,850.

Duta Real Estate LLC sold property at 2 Weller Ave., Pittsfield, to Santos Abel Esperanza, $275,000.

Carole Ireland sold property at 97 Acorn St., Pittsfield, to Monica A. Mendez, $300,300.

Lauren Olsen sold property at 14 Clifford St., Unit A6, Pittsfield, to Yash Wagh and Sheetal Manerkar, $188,000.

Samuel Schrager and Anastasia Whalen sold property at 16 Morgan St., Pittsfield, to Paul Andrew Luft and Beth Harris,

$320,000.

Christine J. Cruz sold property at 46-48 Worthington Place, Pittsfield, to Charbonneau Family Ventures LLC, $250,000. Igloo Series III REO LLC sold property at 56 Perrine Ave., Pittsfield, to David O’Brien $120,500.

City of Pittsfield sold property at Lebanon Avenue, Pittsfield, to Berkshire ATACC LLC, $21,300.

Irene T. Mezejewski sold property at 58-60 Stratford Ave., Pittsfield, to Amanda N. Wass, $315,000.

Lewis K. Reed Jr. and Patricia E. Reed sold property at 98 Essex St., Pittsfield, to LND Investments LLC, $155,000.

Patricia A. Simonetta sold property at 101-103 Wahconah St., Pittsfield, to Martin Group Real Estate LLC, $499,000.

Merrilyn J. Wojtkowski sold property at 108 Summer St., Pittsfield, to Ginley LLC, $300,000.

Daniel Hoctor and Christopher Hebert sold property at 5 Richmond Ave., Pittsfield, to Corey Mae Cameron, $195,000.

Robin L. Oliver sold property at 54-56 East Housatonic St., Pittsfield, to Kyle LaRochelle, $280,000.

Stephen A. Momrow sold property at 609 West St., Pittsfield, to Ryan D. Winkles and Kelly M. Galvin, $362,500.

Stephanie M. Carmel sold property at 112 Somerset Ave., Pittsfield, to CJ Ryan McQuiston and Joshua Michael King, $325,000.

U.S. Bank NA, trustee, Lynn Noring and John M. Kirchner Sr. sold property at 328 First St., Pittsfield, to U.S. Bank NA, trustee, $117,211.19.

Martin Langer and Theresa McNamara, personal reps. of the Estate of Katherine Langer, sold property at 28 Eleanor Road, Pittsfield, to Daniel Hoctor and Christopher Hebert, $360,000.

RICHMOND

Peter V. Alvarez sold property at 17 Pine Grove Drive, Richmond, to Richard Murray and Rachel Bookspan Sobel, $525,000. Jennifer L. Michaels, trustee, Robert L. Goldstein Trust, sold property at 79 View Drive, Richmond, to Gregory J. and Linda Babich, $645,000.

SANDISFIELD

Lisa Fried Greenberg and Steven Ira Fried sold property at 325 Lake Shore Drive, Sandisfield, to Sabrina L. Toback, $750,000.

Carol E. Codling sold property at 6 Roosterville Road, Sandisfield, to Michael Don Dockery, $245,000.

Jeffrey H. Shanklin sold property at 128 Sandisfield Road, Sandisfield, to Douglas Bosworth and Brandon Bosworth, $150,000.

SHEFFIELD

Donna A. Bailey, personal rep. of Estate of Edward A. Coons, sold property at 60 Ashley Falls Road, Sheffield, to Hunter T. Hils, $300,000.

STOCKBRIDGE

Anne Mourier-Defalco sold property at 9 Yale Hill Road, Stockbridge, to Renee Fields, trustee, Renee Fields 2023 RVT Agreement, $885,000.

Christine Pigott Martin sold property at 18 Glendale Middle Road, Stockbridge, to Nikki L. and Bella Carchedi and Wyatt Young, $400,000.

Yale Hill LLC sold property at 16 Yale Hill Road, Stockbridge, to Ludwig M. and Hayley Von Rigal Von Kriegsheim, $945,000.

Kay J. Reynolds sold property at 8 Quiet Knoll Road, Stockbridge, to Brenna Siobhan Liponis, $730,000.

Eric R. and Lisa S. Chamberlain sold property at 19 Church St., Stockbridge, to Jeffrey David Birnbaum and Betty Jo Pheiffer, $1,035,000.

Julie White and Lesley Arlein, trustees, Trust F/B/O Carole-Ann Schonberger under article fourth U/W/O Alfred Schonberger Trust, sold property at 1 Madisons Way, Stockbridge, to William R. Ahern and Candace O. Cihocki-Ahern, $1,050,000. Dean M. NeJame, trustee, CGN Family RVT, sold property at 238 Old Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge, to Reid G. Warner and Lauren A. Fritscher, $606,500.

WASHINGTON

Robert A. and Nancy R. Blessing sold property at 55 Watson Road, Washington, to Austin William Liebenow and Autumn Lampro, $300,000.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE

Pennington C. Pitts sold property at 15 State Line Road, West Stockbridge, to Melanie Diane Thibeault, $350,000. Martha A. Meier sold property at 4 Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, to Stephen R. Groethe and Karen R. Groethe, $822,000.

WILLIAMSTOWN

Eugenia E. and William B. Hamilton Jr., trustees of the Hamilton RVT, sold property at 7 Windflower Way, Williamstown, to Laura Smietanka and Roderick V. Jensen, $506,000.

The President and Trustees of Williams College sold property at Church Street, Williamstown, to Donald Christopher Winters and Amy Gehring Winters, trustees of DCW RVT and AGW RVT, $8,000.

Colleen M. O’Brien sold property at 1301 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, to George E., Weston T. Lozier, Catherine B. Mancuso and Rita M. Daly, $297,000.

160 Water LLC sold property at 160 Water St, Unit 402, Williamstown, to Jennifer T. Thompson, $660,000.

Fanny P. Culleton, trustee of the Fanny P. Culleton 1997 Trust, sold property at 386 Oblong Road, Williamstown, to Heleny Warren Cook, trustee of the Heleny Warren Cook Inter Vivos RVT, $524,900.

Patricia Antoniello sold property at 956 North Hoosac Road, Williamstown, to ENL Madison Trust Company LLC, $341,000.

Paul J. and Amanda J. Lindstrand sold property at 475 Water St., Williamstown, to Camille and Nadav Zafrani, $410,000.

Daniel Turek sold property at 36 Haley St., Williamstown, to Michael Bruce and Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie, $720,000.

Patrick E. and Judith C. Brock sold property at 38 Linden St., Williamstown, to Janine and Benjamin Oliver, $626,000.

Thomas K. Libby, trustee of The Anne L. Atkinson NT, sold property at 170 Berkshire Drive, Williamstown, to John Arthur and Tracy Anne Compton, $542,000.

Orion M. Howard sold property at 128 Stratton Road, Williamstown, to Emily R. Blumenfeld, $665,000.

WINDSOR

Catherine H. Burt and Sandra M. Ellis sold property at Pierce Road, Windsor, to Heather Delaney Reese, trustee of the Super Mega Trust, $19,960.

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

Chuck Leach, the president and CEO of Lee Bank, was recently named the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Business Person of the Year.

Leach, who has been Lee Bank’s president and CEO since 2015, will be honored at the chamber’s Business Person of the Year celebration at 5 p.m. Sept. 13 at Catamount Mountain Resort in South Egremont.

Tickets are $70 per person and are available through the Southern Berkshire Chamber’s business office.

Information/registration: 413-528-4284, www.southernberkshirechamber.com.

Laura Brennan has been appointed assistant director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, which has also promoted three other employees to senior planners. The new senior planners are Marie Brady, Seth Jenkins and Jaymie Zapata Brennan’s new responsibilities will include her former responsibility as the BRPC’s economic development program manager. Since joining the BRPC in 2017, Brennan has coordinated the Berkshire County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and secured Economic Development District status for Berkshire County. She

oversees a Shared Economic Development Planning program through which several municipalities access part-time services.

Brady has been promoted to senior planner in Berkshire Regional Planning Commission’s Public Health Program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master of science degree in health promotion and disease prevention. In her current role at BRPC, Marie manages two youth substance use prevention grants and develops weekly tickborne and foodborne illness dashboards and maintains a flu dashboard throughout flu season.

Jenkins has been promoted to senior planner in the BRPC’s community planning program. He joined BRPC in November 2021 after working as a high school educator at Hoosac Valley High School. Jenkins holds a bachelor of arts degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio and a master of urban and regional planning from Ball State University in Indiana. He has worked with the municipalities of Adams, North Adams, Williamstown, Monterey, West Stockbridge, Lee, and Cheshire on a range of projects.

Zapata has been promoted to senior planner within BRPC’s public health department. In this role, Zapata manages initiatives related to health improvement in the rural areas of the Berkshires, increasing Hepatitis C treatment, and the Gray to Green initiative, which is improving green space in Pittsfield’s

People

Kristen Milano has been named Miss Hall’s School’s first dean of wellness, while Sarah Virden has been named the school’s new dean of students. They both began their new roles July 1.

Milano and Virden also join the Miss Hall’s School Leadership Team, which is responsible for making informed decisions grounded in the school’s mission.

A Berkshire County native, Milano joined Miss Hall’s in 2021 as director of health and wellness. In her new role, she will oversee all aspects of student health and work closely with the deans and other professionals to design and deliver social-emotional learning programs and reimagine the school’s advising program.

Milano holds an Ed.M. in prevention science and practice and a certificate of advanced study in school counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

A longtime Miss Hall’s School resident and administrator, Virden joined the school in 1994 and has held many roles, including director of student activities, director of residential life, assistant dean of students, director of college counseling and most recently director of academic counseling.

In her new role, Virden will oversee all student life programs and collaborate with the deans and other professionals to expand and strengthen the MHS Student Life program. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, Virden also holds

Khan

Mohammad Khan has been named vice president, market manager of Greylock Federal Credit Union and will oversee the financial institution’s branches on Kellogg Street and Allendale in Pittsfield and in Lanesborough.

Khan has served in retail banking for over 18 years, starting his career in 2005. He comes to Greylock from Capital Bank/Chemung Canal Trust in New York’s Capital Region, where he oversaw multiple branches.

Khan and his wife, Hina, have been married for 18 years and reside in Mechanicville, N.Y., with their three sons. Khan is active in the Capital Region Muslim community.

Brian Berkel has joined Berkshire HorseWorks as treasurer of the board of directors while Julianna Damms has been named the organization’s volunteer coordinator.

Berkel is a retired Massachusetts State Police officer. During his 25-year tenure, Berkel served as a detective lieutenant for public order platoon; as a crisis negotiator; forensic child interviewer; troop shift supervisor; and barracks shift supervisor. He has also served as team coordinator for Berkshire County Local Outreach for Suicide Survivors and as a search team member for Berkshire Mountain Search & Rescue.

Damms has been volunteering at the ranch for over a year and a half in var-

ious capacities ranging from the Ranch Life 101 program support to barn maintenance and horse care. As volunteer coordinator she will be spearheading efforts to recruit and educate additional volunteers

Benjamin Lamb has been promoted to vice president of economic development at 1Berkshire, while Kristen Harrington has been promoted to finance and administration coordinator.

Lamb’s promotion follows five years of hard work helping to build the organization’s economic development team and expand the 1Berkshire footprint of activities and overall work. In his new position, Lamb will continue to lead and expand the outreach of 1Berkshire through its economic development in Berkshire

The North Adams resident joined 1Berkshire in 2018 as economic development projects manager and was promoted to director of economic development a short time later.

Harrington, who lives in Pittsfield, joined the former Berkshire Visitors Bureau as a finance associate in 2015 then became an accounting associate a year later when the visitors bureau merged into 1Berkshire. She has been an accounting specialist for 1Berkshire since 2019. In her new position, Harrington will be responsible for office functions that touch all departments.

Bob Chapman of the financial services firm Edward Jones in Pittsfield recently earned the firm’s Frank Finnegan Award for his exceptional achievement in building client relationships.

Chapman was one of only 901 Edward Jones financial advisers to receive the honor.

The award is named after Frank Finnegan, who joined Edward Jones in 1953 in St. Louis after playing professional baseball. He served as a financial adviser for 65 years, contributing to the well-being of his clients, colleagues and community.

“Receiving this award is a real honor. As I partner with clients to make a meaningful difference in their lives, my relationships with them continue to grow,” Chapman said. “It’s a personally and professionally rewarding experience, and I am grateful to those who put their trust in me.”

Edward Jones has more than 15,000 branches throughout North America, including offices in Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield.

The Berkshire Music School has added Geoffrey Carter to teach a new group class; Geoffrey Cunningham to the trumpet faculty; and Sarah Prouty as the program associate.

Carter, who owns the BeatNest music school in Pittsfield, will lead Youth Electronic Music, and a condensed elementary version of the course for children ages 5-9 as part of the summer youth program Adventures in Music. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic production and design from Berklee College School of Music in

Milano

Virden

Cunningham

Lamb

Harrington

Chapman

Carter

Berkel Damms

PEOPLE, Page 23

a master’s degree in leadership and negotiation from Bay Path University.

People

FROM PAGE 22

Boston, worked for a nightclub in the greater Boston area, and has worked with children in the after-school program at the Lenox Community Center.

Prouty

Cunningham is a diversely skilled performer and music educator with over 20 years of experience in the field. He completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at the University of Massachusetts Amherst studying classical trumpet training with Walter Chesnut, and jazz and African American music studies training under the tutelage of Jeff Holmes, Yusef Lateef and Adam Kolker. He also teaches core music theory and other courses at Holyoke and Berkshire community colleges, as well as directing and coaching various performance ensembles, including some of the jazz combos at Amherst College.

Prouty holds a master’s degree of music in vocal performance from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. She has performed with several companies throughout the Northeast and is an alumna of Barrington Stage Company’s Youth Theatre, having played Ariel in the Little Mermaid. Prouty was a cast member in Berkshire Opera Festival’s production of La Bohème at the Colonial Theatre in August.

Jennifer Patton has been named director of education at Berkshire Botanical Garden.

Patton has more than more than two decades of experience in museum education and arts administration, having created,

designed and implemented everything from lesson plans to strategic plans. She most recently served as executive director of Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center, an art museum in Nyack, N.Y., where she gained experience managing exhibitions, budget and program development, and organizational planning. While overseeing pandemic recovery at Basilica Hudson in Hudson, N.Y., she moved to the Berkshires in 2021 with her three children.

A museum educator with a master’s degree in teaching, Patton has run several education departments in diverse communities in the New York metropolitan area. As a scholar of community education with a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, she has researched and written on museums with particular emphasis on post-apartheid South Africa.

Jennifer Newell, Stephanie Kulzer and Melissa Garwacki have all been promoted to supervisor positions at Berkshire County Arc. Newell has been promoted to supervisor of developmental disability residential services; and Kulzer and Garwacki to supervisor of brain injury residential services. Newell began working at BCArc 25 years ago as a relief staff member and has held many different positions at the agency since then. In her new position, she will oversee four BCArc residences, as well as shared

living providers. Newell studied early childhood education in college, and is a certified nursing assistant.

Kulzer began working at BCArc four years ago, also as a relief staff member, and eventually became the site manager of a residential program, which was her most recent position. The certified nurse assistant will oversee four BCArc brain injury residential programs in the Pioneer Valley.

Garwacki began working at BCArc six years ago as a part-time residential staff member. She has since held the positions of residential support staff, assistant site manager, and most recently, site manager. She will oversee four residential programs. Garwacki studied business at Hudson Valley Community College and holds a certification in medical assisting.

Berkshire Grown has named Stephanie Bergman the organization’s first director of development. Bergman, who lives in Egremont, brings more than 20 years of experience with nonprofits to the role, with extensive experience developing, implementing and funding programs that meet critical community needs. She most recently served as director of development for Mass Audubon West, for which she raised $1.13 million for Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox’s first capital campaign, and significantly increased annual operating support.

Berkshire Grown, founded in 2003, supports and promotes local agriculture as a vital part of the Berkshire community, economy and landscape.

Ryan LaBoy was recently appointed music director of the Berkshire Concert Choir for the 2023-24 season. His appointment was effective June 1.

LaBoy holds a master’s degree in choral conducting from the University

LaBoy

of Minnesota, and a bachelor of music degree from Westminster Choir College. He is currently a doctoral candidate in music at Teachers College, Columbia University.

He also serves as the artistic director of the Berkshire Children’s Chorus in Pittsfield and Sheffield, and is an adjunct music faculty member and choir director at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington.

Martha Page has been appointed to Berkshire Agricultural Ventures’ board of directors. With her extensive experience in nonprofit, government and private sector management, Page brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to further strengthen BAV’s mission and impact across the Berkshire-Taconic region.

Page formally served as the executive director of Hartford Food System Inc. in Connecticut, where she spearheaded innovative initiatives to address food security, promote equitable access to nutritious food, and foster community development. Her deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the food system will be invaluable in helping guide BAV’s strategic vision.

“I am so excited to join the board of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures. I have followed the work of this impressive organization and have been a fan for several years,” Page said in a news release. “What they do to ensure strong farms and food businesses in this region resonates so strongly with my ongoing commitment to help build a resilient New England food system.”

Program generously sponsored by:

Smith Bros.-McAndrews Insurance

First Congregational Church of Williamstown • A Better Community MountainOne Bank • Berkshire Educational Resources K-12

MassHire Berkshire Career

Summer 2023 Youth Employment Program

Thank you to our Host Employers!

Abby Malumphy

Aleksei Chang

Andrew Meaney

Brayden Canales

Brooke Tripicco

Cassidy Smith

Charlotte Coody

Cole Schadler

Craig Field

Congrats to our youth participants!

Elizabeth Wheeler

Ely Hochfelder

Emma Meczywor

Hollyann Field

Isabella Zeno

Jacinta Felix

Janayah Jjones

Kathryn Scholz

Katie Aragon Alvarez

Kobby Asare

Kolton Buck

Landon LeClair

Lucas Hamilton

Maddie DiGrigoli

Reagan Shea

Sawyer Moser

Tony Mejias

Wesley Emerson

Newell Kulzer

Garwacki

Page

Patton

Bergman