Berkshire Business Outlook 2019 by New England Newspapers, Inc.

Berkshire Business Outlook 2019 A special publication of The Berkshire Eagle Sunday, March 24, 2019

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Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Berkshire Business Outlook

4 Harnessing the new energy In North Adams, momentum’s building in the city’s center

5 Competition on Spring Street Williams College has a big inﬂuence on Williamstown’s main commercial strip

6 When downtowns click,

certain things usually go right 8 Attractive to outsiders A variety of factors is making downtown Pittsﬁeld a magnet for outside investment

9 Our downtowns — A search

for meaning 10 Providing assistance to grow 1Berkshire’s economic development specialist describes how the agency’s services help business owners

11 A mosaic of cultural cuisine Eateries from all types of cultures spring up in downtowns

12 On the front lines of

development Rich Vinette has been there for all the changes in Lee

13 Howard helps quench North

Adams’ cultural thirst Oncologist winds down with development projects

14 It’s all in the family Isa Ali learns from relatives and gives it back to the community

Section editors Tony Dobrowolski (editorial) Kimberly Kirchner (design and layout)

Writers Erik Bruun, Benjamin Cassidy, Tony Dobrowolski, Dick Lindsey, Haven Orecchio-Egresitz, Kristin Palpini, Larry Parnass, Adam Shanks, Jenn Smith, Scott Stafford

Photographers Ben Garver, Gillian Jones, Stephanie Zollshan.

Additional editors Larry Parnass, Jenn Smith

Berkshire’s downtown areas may be old, but they’re attracting plenty of investment BY TONY DOBROWOLSKI THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE PITTSFIELD — Developers and investors are showing love for Berkshire County downtowns. They are drawn by sturdy and historic architecture and by a chance to cash in on a national trend towards living and working downtown that is attracting millennials and baby boomers alike. Sometimes, love needs a lure. Another incentive is new federally designated economic opportunity zones in Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield, which provide investors with the potential for large tax breaks. Also in the picture are historic tax credits and other state development initiatives. In this year’s Berkshire Business Outlook, we examine the development of the region’s local town and city centers from several perspectives. We look at the amount of outside investment that has come into Pittsfield; recent interest in downtown real estate in North Adams, particularly along Eagle Street; the influence Williams College has on the development of Williamstown center; and the number of ethnic restaurants that have sprung up in city and town centers. We download the best wisdom on ways to promote downtown revitalization. Readers will find profiles of three Berkshire downtown movers and shakers; a question-and-answer with an economic development specialist; and a merchant’s first-hand view of development in his downtown.

Downtown’s time So why have Berkshire downtowns become so popular? “I think one of the things is that people want to live in downtowns,” said Thomas Matuszko, the executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission in Pittsﬁeld. “There’s been a transition from people wanting to live in the suburbs to living in a more compact area where there are different amenities. “You’re able to walk to these things,” he said. “There’s no need to drive. I think the sense of community that you ﬁnd in downtowns is really one of the driving forces behind it.”

In some areas of the country, the urban renewal movements of the 1960s, which were intended to eliminate slums and blight, caused old and historic structures to be demolished and changed the landscape of those downtown areas forever. Urban renewal did have an effect on the Berkshires — Pittsfield’s historic railroad station was demolished in 1968 and later replaced by a supermarket. But most of the Berkshire’s downtowns areas escaped the wrecking ball, which made them ripe for development when living and working downtown began to become popular. “I think what we have in the Berkshires is relatively intact downtowns,” Matuszko said. “Our downtowns in New England, I would say, have retained their character, their historic nature. They’ve retained that quaintness. I don’t think that’s the case in other parts of the country where a lot of development has been more recent in the last 50, 60 or 70 years.” “We’re starting from a better position than many downtowns who are trying to create a sense of place from scratch,” said Laura Brennan, a senior planner for the BRPC. Andy Kitsinger, a professor of architecture at the University of Memphis who has spent his 30-year career as an architect, urban designer, city planner and teacher, writes on downtown and main street development issues. He said the national trend towards living and working downtown started in the 1980s when artists began moving into downtown buildings. “It started to become cool,” he said. “Mainstream investors began to see that there was value in that.” But it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the trend began to blossom. Municipalities modified zoning regulations and adopted state development programs that allowed “mixed use” of residential and commercial spaces in downtown areas. In Pittsfield, the catalyst for downtown development occurred in 2005 when the City Council approved the Arts Overlay District, which allowed both residential and commercial development in downtown structures. As The Eagle put it at the time, the measure replaced an “archaic mixture” of rules that limited downtown buildings to mostly commercial uses

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Thomas Matuszko, the executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, says people have become interested in downtown living and the centers of Berkshire County’s municipalities have a lot to offer them. and prohibited residences on upper floors. “That was the beginning of the change in the development interest in downtown,” said Deanna Ruffer, Pittsfield’s community development director. “That zoning change, combined with the investment made in streetscape and the investment made in critical anchor projects like the Colonial Theatre, Beacon Cinema and Barrington Stage, helped bring new development interest.” According to Ruffer, assessed property values in Pittsfield’s downtown area have increased 21.5 percent over the last decade. “Which we feel is quite good,” she said. New economic opportunity zones, a creation of the Trump administration’s 2017 tax package, offer possibilities for even more development in Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield. Those three municipalities each have two such zones, and these areas include all of their downtown real estate. The idea behind the program is to steer money to poor areas by offering investors potentially large tax breaks. The Trump administration has yet to finalize the rules that govern them. “It’s just another tool in the toolbox,” Kitsinger said. Business Editor Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224.

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Berkshire Business Outlook 2019 Staff

When old becomes new again

Berkshire Business Outlook | Sunday, March 24, 2019

Table of Contents

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Harnessing the new energy In North Adams, momentum’s building in the city’s center BY ADAM SHANKS THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE NORTH ADAMS — There’s momentum building behind the efforts to revitalize downtown North Adams, local leaders believe. With multiple new retail operations already open or set to open this spring, and work starting on a downtown hotel on Eagle Street, it feels like the city’s center is starting a new chapter, those who track the progress say. “There’s this energy, there’s this momentum that’s palpable,” said Mayor Thomas Bernard. “I think what we’re seeing is something that has been happening for 20 years, really, but seemed to accelerate with the opening of Building Six [at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art] two years ago. That really has felt like the switch-flip moment and a lot has come in that time.” Last year, New York-based investors Michael Gazal and Veselko Buntic proposed a 27-room hotel in the vacant Tower and Porter Building on Eagle Street, and that site is now buzzing with early signs of demolition and renovation. Operating as Eagle Street Holdings LLC, the partners purchased the building at 34-36 Eagle St in 2016. Gaza and Buntic, who also own the Dowlin Block on Main Street, have been exploring residential uses for the upper floors of that vacant building. “Housing on the upper floors of these buildings helps to activate the ground floor,” Bernard said. Nearby, the historic and city-owned Mohawk Theater on Main Street could soon be prime for redevelopment, as Bernard has proposed issuing a request for proposals to see what ideas the private sector may have for its future. The city has always seen ebbs and flows of commercial activity downtown, but North Adams Chamber of Commerce President Glenn Maloney hopes these larger projects might spur sustainable growth among smaller retailers.

‘Starting to feel it’ “It’s tough being a Main Street store owner,” Maloney said. “I think people, regardless of the industry — some of the things that are going on now are happening long enough that everyone is starting to feel it and maybe see how it can directly affect them.” The conversation, from the city’s perspective, has turned to asking how this energy can best be harnessed. One of the groups aiming to both spark and harness momentum has been the NAMAzing Eagle Street Initiative, which was formed by volunteers in an effort to revitalize that historic and iconic downtown street. The group won a $25,000 grant for improvements, ranging from new business signs to new trash receptacles, after it raised more than $25,000 of its own funds from community donations. “Probably the biggest thing I’ve seen since we started is the renewed spirit and energy that the businesses, residents and visitors of Eagle Street have. Especially in the warmer months, there is a really great energy and a level of community that we’ve seen grow,” said Benjamin Lamb, a city councilor who helped spearhead the Eagle Street Initiative. In addition to the hotel renovation and longtime anchors like Desperados, Jack’s Hot Dogs, and Persnickety Toys, Eagle Street has also received interest from smaller retail operations, such as Bohemian Road, an eclectic gift shop that recently moved to the city from Adams. “By taking that historic and present energy and then looking to steward it into the future of North Adams, it has become a fantastic example of what grassroots ingenuity, community volunteerism, and collective passion can inspire,” Lamb said. “It’s inspired new investments, social engagement, and a renewed vein of vibrancy that I think you should expect to see continue to grow.” Bernard expects to see investment continue downtown as new businesses meet existing demands. An example is the new Tres Ninos Taqueria, a

GILLIAN JONES — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

North Adams city officials see renewed economic development occurring in the downtown area on Eagle Street. Mexican restaurant that owner Matt Tatro opened on Marshall Street earlier this year. Tatro started the business last year as a food truck. “We can’t be catering to the occasional visitor, we also have to have things that appeal to folks that are here year round. Food is something that is egalitarian,” Bernard said. MountainOne Bank, already headquartered in North Adams, has further invested in its presence downtown.

“I’m encouraged by the fact that MountainOne is consolidating a lot of their operation into Main Street and using that ground ﬂoor to both bring their business together but bring added life and vitality [downtown],” Bernard said. Adam Shanks can be reached at ashanks@berkshireeagle.com, at @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter, or 413-629-4517.

Williams College recently spent $5 million to renovate The Log restaurant (left), located in a schoolowned building on Spring Street. The Spring Street Market and Cafe (right) is located in one of the buildings that Williams College owns on Spring Street in Williamstown.

Competition on Spring Street

Berkshire Business Outlook | Sunday, March 24, 2019

SCOTT STAFFORD — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Williams College has a big inﬂuence on Williamstown’s main commercial strip BY SCOTT STAFFORD THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

encompassing views of the Williamstown landscape and of the Spring Street corridor. Being so close to Spring Street’s shops and restaurants, means guests at the new inn will likely frequent those establishments. “Every morning there will be 60 or more people heading to Spring Street,” Puddester said. Taking the new inn’s predicated annual occupancy rate of 62 percent then multiplying that number over 365 days, creates the possibility that an additional 14,000 people could be strolling down Spring Street every year, Puddester said.

Major investments Over the last few years, the college has spent $5 million renovating The Log restaurant at 78 Spring St.; $10 million on the new bookstore and $40 million on the new inn, he said. Williams also paid for the $21 million expansion of the drainage infrastructure at the base of Spring Street that goes through Latham Street and under Water Street, vastly reducing the likelihood of further flooding in that area from severe weather. Williams owns nearly all of the buildings on the east side of Spring Street (the bookstore is on the west side). So when a retail tenant in one of the college-owned buildings leaves, it’s the college that has to find a replacement. How much interest there is in filling those spaces depends on the time of year and the economy. Puddester has to do the best he can to locate a

new business that has a good chance of success, whose wares enhance the offerings on the street and that draws more people into the area. Then he has to determine how much rent to charge a tenant.. It’s hard to judge whether a rental rate is too high or too low. “We don’t want a business to fail because of the rent,” Puddester said. “And it has to have a synergy for driving traffic to Spring Street.” Ken Gietz, the co-owner of Where’d You Get That!?, a curiosity and toy shop on Spring Street, said the college has lived up to the goals stated in a 20-year plan for that area of town that was formulated around 19 years ago. Goetz leases his space from the college. “It worked out almost exactly how they said it would,” he said, referring to the 20-year plan. Hugh Daley, who co-owns two retail spaces on the west side of Spring Street, said Williams is a thoughtful landlord that maintains its properties well. “I think they’ve done a good job of keeping the street full,” Daley said. “I think they’re generally good stewards of the street.” The expected influx of new consumers to Spring Street from the new Williams Inn will just add to the area’s foot traffic, he said. “We’re counting on that inn,” Daley said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll have a great summer and that the street’s just going to grow from there.” Scott Stafford can be reached at sstafford@berkshireeagle.com or 413-629-4517.

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WILLIAMSTOWN — Williams College has been a part of the Williamstown community since it was founded in 1793, and its presence has influenced the town’s growth and development for over 200 years. The liberal arts college currently owns nearly half of the buildings on Spring Street, the town’s main downtown commercial strip, and at the bottom of that roadway is completing construction on a new Williams Inn that is expected to be finished by late summer. Spring Street includes buildings that have both commercial and residential uses. When a space there opens up, the college is interested in not only finding a new tenant, but in bringing one in that can be successful in the existing environment, while enhancing the viability and foot traffic of this commercial corridor, said Frederick Puddester, Williams’ vice president for finance and administration. This comes with challenges because managing retail properties is not as easy as it was 20 years ago, before the internet evolved into a global marketplace. “People have no idea how hard it is to run a retail shop in the age of Amazon,” Puddester said. “So we have to figure out who these people are, what they want to buy and how do we capture that.” Puddester said Spring Street attract three types of customers: About 2,000 Williams College students for eight months of the year; tourists for

five months; and town residents all year long. New tenants need to appeal partly to all three of these groups in order to survive on Spring Street, Puddester said. “If you can capture at least part of all three markets, you’ll do well,” Puddester said. College-owned Spring Street properties that are not specifically used for school functions are fully taxed by the town because they include for-profit operations. Those used for educational purposes are not assessed property tax because as a private college Williams is a nonprofit educational institution. The office of finance and administration at Williams oversees the operation of the school’s taxable Spring Street properties. Williams has recently taken some significant steps to enhance the commercial vitality of Spring Street businesses, Puddester said. In August 2017, the college opened a brand new bookstore near the bottom of Spring Street, moving the Williams Bookstore from its former location on Water Street. The bookstore’s new location means that visitors have to pass other Spring Street businesses in order to get there. “While it serves primarily college students, it brings them through Spring Street to get there, increasing the chances that they might stop in another store for other purchases,” Puddester said. The new Williams Inn, which has 64 guest rooms, is located even farther down Spring Street from the bookstore. This new location provides both

certain things usually go right BY LARRY PARNASS THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE You don’t need a high-priced consultant to know whether a downtown has it going on. Signs are everywhere: In the buzz of street activity, or lack of it. In cheek-by-jowl retailing, or empty storefronts. In the pride residents take in the place, or their hopes for better times. Berkshire County is home to both kinds of downtowns. Great Barrington capitalizes on its ability to draw visitors and residents from the New York City metro area, while of-

ﬁcials in communities like Adams, 35 miles to the north, dream of that level of out-of-county investment. “A solid downtown needs people coming and going,” said Thomas Matuszko, executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. “I don’t know what the magic mix is.” He’s right that it takes a bit of magic — at least in the form of ingredients local communities can’t always control. Still, the literature on downtown revivals is ﬁlled with advice. A few years ago, a team in Illinois sorted through books, reports and advisories to develop a list of key attributes of downtown success.

On one level, it’s quite simple. To become a magnet, a downtown must attract visitors. Getting there is the rub.

Key elements In its 2014 report, “Downtown Success Indicators,” the Illinois team pinpointed common attributes of lively, viable municipal centers. The project set out to chart what has worked for smaller cities, since big ones like New York or San Francisco have been studied more, and their successes are hard to duplicate. As Matuszko notes, the point remains to get people downtown.

“So that downtown businesses and services can be more patronized,” the authors of the Illinois study write. Lively downtowns, they observe, “focus on offering experiences that are unique and cannot be replicated in suburban shopping districts.” Here, at a glance, are things that need to go right for a downtown revival, according to the Illinois report, a project of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development and the University of Illinois. Not surprisingly, since commerce is the engine of civic activity, retail factors remain paramount. • Be a shopping mecca. The re-

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When downtowns click,

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Successfully revitalized downtowns have a variety of options and amenities that provide reasons for people to visit. One of those amenities in downtown Pittsﬁeld is the Beacon Cinema on North Street, which opened in 2009.

‘Main’ event

How it’s done Civilis Consultants of Portland, Ore., has identiﬁed the following ingredients — and strategies — of a successful small-city downtown: • DESTINATION BUSINESSES: Downtown districts that hope to emerge need a solid base of destination businesses. Those kinds of places have enough pull on shoppers to get them to make special trips. • RESTAURANTS ABOUND: Without restaurants, a downtown can’t be a magnet. Civilis says businesses can include “staples that become neighborhood hangouts: bakery, breakfast/lunch dining options, pizza place, and a coffee shop.” • BUILD ON STRENGTHS: The consultants say downtown advocates should focus on improving what’s there and connect local instances of commercial success. • SMART MOVES ON TENANTS: Landlords should make leasing decisions to emphasize use of ground ﬂoors. Civilis says that strategy can promote long-term progress for all downtown stakeholders. “Lowering

rent initially to get the correct tenant use in the door is a proven strategy,” Civilis writes. • THINK FEET: “Every business and every building should contribute to a vibrant and active environment for pedestrians,” the consultants say. • THE LOOK: “High ceilings, wood ﬂoors, exposed brick, dramatic window lines, and old world charm are all valuable,” Civilis says. Keep commercial spaces small, even just 900 square feet. “Flexibility is a must to appeal to the widest possible tenant pool.” • KEEP THE FLOW GOING: Empty patches in a main street, through empty lots or vacant storefronts, “kill a retail district and lower its ability to generate sales and foot traffic.” • GET WORD OUT: Civilis says event planning is vital, calling it “a huge part of creating civic identity and driving traffic to the expertise offered by passionate local business owners.” — LARRY PARNASS

Biding time While civic leaders can help set the table for downtown success, through investments like streetscape improvements, they can only do so much, Brennan and Matuszko suggest. It’s not fair to compare progress in downtown revival in Adams with Great Barrington, Matuszko says, because the ﬁrst is a blue-collar town and the other beneﬁts from the sizable second-home population in South County. Adams continues to polish a plan to develop recreational activity on the state’s Greylock Glen property. That project may help Adams execute a great leap forward. “They may just be further behind than other towns,” Matuszko said of Adams. Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-496-6214.

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When it comes to priming the pump for downtown revival, it helps to have a large share of a community’s civic and cultural places located downtown, the Illinois team says. That includes things like courthouses and libraries as well as museums or theater or concert venues. In Pittsﬁeld, the Colonial Theatre and Barrington Stage are essential calling cards, according to Laura Brennan, a senior planner with the regional commission. “You saw a lot of development follow,” she said. “Having that main attraction is important,” Matuszko said. It took decades, but North Adams can now claim a main attraction — the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Sometimes, cities have to pay to hold on to essential pieces of that magic mix. The decision in Pittsﬁeld late last year to forgive $2.55 million in loans to the Beacon Cinema centered on the movie house’s value as a downtown destination able to draw visitors out-

side of business hours. Cheryl Mirer, executive director of Downtown Pittsfield Inc. told a November audience the Beacon acts as “glue” holding downtown together. It’s great to have natural features like a waterfront, but other known traffic-generators are schools, convention centers and stadiums, the Illinois report notes, though big-time sports halls aren’t common in smaller downtowns. In North Adams, the Hoosic River Revival hopes to reconnect that city with the river’s south branch, which flows largely out of view through the community. Elsewhere efforts to showcase natural places have paid big dividends. Customer traffic to stores and restaurants is a vital piece of the mix, the literature says. And in the most fortunate communities, shoppers come to like an urban center so much they decide to move in. As Brennan points out, that helps a downtown avoid a drop in dynamism after daytime office workers leave at 5 p.m. “Housing is an important factor here,” she said. “So you don’t have to have office workers to support those businesses.” That shift can be measured in the percentage of people living downtown, in the higher density of housing and in the overall increase in available housing units. One red flag, according to the Illinois team, is the presence of physical gaps in retail activity along a main street in a downtown area. That is considered to be an issue in Pittsfield, where the presence of several human-service and nonprofit programs on North Street may dim the route’s appeal to shoppers.

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port says a tipping point on downtown success requires that the right proportion of all retail activity in the community happens downtown and not at the edges, at a mall or along farﬂung commercial routes. • People want in. A healthy downtown sees an increase over time in retail activity. And the mix of businesses that arises needs to be able to attract a variety of shoppers. • People really want in.. The occupancy rate for retail spaces must be high — as high as 97 percent in one study. And once part of the mix, business owners chose to stay, keeping the turnover rate low. Those three factors can be actually counted, though public data isn’t readily available for smaller cities. Other conditions that advance downtown success can be measured as well. The Illinois team found that signs of health include upward trends in the assessed value of property, stepped-up interest among real-estate investors and shifts in downtown employment by sector. That last condition might show that the business mix includes more retail or hospitality jobs. Other signs are rising rents and, in data available through the U.S. Census, growth in income levels of people who choose to live downtown. At the same time, the study notes, crime rates should be seen to be falling, as the presence of more people downtown works to discourage such activity.

Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Berkshire Business Outlook

Attractive to outsiders

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Whaling Properties sold the Greystone Building at the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue in Pittsﬁeld to two New York City-based investors in December. It is one of several buildings in downtown Pittsﬁeld that were recently sold to investors from outside the Berkshires.

A variety of factors are making downtown Pittsﬁeld a magnet for outside investment

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BY TONY DOBROWOLSKI THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

PITTSFIELD — Eight years ago, George Whaling of Whaling Properties of Pittsfield owned seven buildings along the North Street corridor. Now it owns only one. Two other longtime downtown property owners have recently sold their buildings, too. In their places have come a bevy of downtown investors, many from the New York City area who have ties to the Berkshires. But downtown Pittsfield has also attracted investors from as far south as Florida and as far west as Michigan. What’s changed? Property values that have become much higher in metro areas like Boston and New York have caused investors to look more closely at cities like Pittsfield for a better return on their investments. Changes in the makeup of the North Street corridor, including an emphasis on the arts and the conversion of former commercial build-

ings into market-rate housing, are another selling point, investors say. The growth at General Dynamics Advanced Mission Systems, the Berkshires’ low unemployment rate, and outside companies’ willingness to invest in the city also make the county seat attractive to outside investors. Wayfair plans to open a sales and service center this fall that will eventually bring 300 jobs to Pittsﬁeld. On top of that, downtown Pittsﬁeld’s designation as an “opportunity zone” brings the possibility for even more investment. The zones were created by the Trump administration’s 2017 tax law and are designed to aid poor areas by offering investors tax breaks. “It seems like a perfect storm of good things are happening in the area,” said William Gioielli of New Jersey, who with business partner Cole Ungar purchased the Greystone Building on the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue for $2.25 million from Whaling Properties in December.

All these factors have come together at the same time that long-time owners of downtown real estate have begun to pursue other interests. Two long-time downtown landlords who recently sold their buildings are still running their businesses, which remain in properties they used to own. Whaling Properties has lowered its downtown portfolio to focus on investing in mobile home parks, especially in New York state, where company president George Whaling said investments can grow faster. “It’s a shift of equity into a different market class,” Whaling told The Eagle after he sold the Greystone Building.

Changing regulations Development in downtown Pittsfield started gaining ground in 2005 when the City Council approved the establishment of an Arts Overlay District along North Street. It allowed commercial and residential uses for buildings that had been zoned mostly for commercial purposes. The influx of outside investment into downtown Pittsfield has happened relatively quickly. Five down-

town buildings, including four on North Street, have been purchased by investors from outside the Berkshires since August 2017. Whaling noted that in New York City, when a new hotel opens in a relatively tough neighborhood, other developers will follow. A similar situation occurred in Pittsfield after the opening of Hotel on North, the city’s first boutique hotel. “I sold 344 North St. to a gentleman who does a lot of real estate in New York City,” Whaling said. “He told me that when the hotel opened up … he wanted something that was close.” “Pittsfield is the county seat,” Whaling said. “In my opinion, it has a much better reputation than it did 15 years ago.” Jodi Tartell, a real estate broker from South Florida, bought the Cooper Center building on the corner of North and Fenn streets for $2.1 million in August 2017. “I was looking for something that I thought would be a good investment, looking for an area with growth, and with all the excitement going on in downtown Pittsfield I thought it would be a good place to invest my

Good demographics

BY ERIK BRUUN GREAT BARRINGTON — Here in downtown Great Barrington we go through waves of boom and bust. Take today. Today we experience both. Some say we are a blossoming downtown. Look at the new Powerhouse Square building! See the beautiful building atop Railroad Street! Our restaurants are a potpourri of culinary delight! And what an ice cream store! Why, only a few years ago somebody at the Smithsonian Magazine, who hardly knows our town at all, declared Great Barrington to be the best small town in America. It was an honor. And a marketing opportunity. Those who struggle to afford to live here in their hometown see a different downtown, one that has forgotten its own. They are among those who notice the empty storefronts that dot Main Street and even our notoriously bustling Railroad Street and in those brand new spaces. Speculation runs rife on what stores will not make it to Memorial Day, the first gust of that warm summer wind known as cash flow. Resentment simmers at what is lost. Great Barrington once built a railroad, made paper for the world, and milked cows to feed our children. Now, that’s done. Brother, can you spare a decaf cappuccino with skim milk? Running a store, or really any business, means navigating the ebb and flow of change, and the tensions that tug at your community. You ride the waves of commerce that support your business, and you live in fear of succumbing to unforeseen change that means missing payroll.

Familiar landmarks In our downtown, what has not changed is the topography. The hills and valleys funnel pretty much everyone in southern Berkshire County on to Main Street, where Routes 7, 23 and 41 overlap for an occasionally trafﬁc-clogged mile. The inevitability of going through Great Barrington nourishes our town from the glorious Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center to the spec-

tacularly restored St. James Church to a fabulous array of toy stores, women’s clothing shops and delicious eateries. Thus, downtown Great Barrington’s threat is not existential. But the malls, big box stores and online shopping cast a dark cloud over every store’s cash register. The question becomes what can we offer that those sources of retail cannot. The answer is meaning. Meaning in and of itself does not come from a Tonka truck or a leather purse (although my 25-year-old daughter might disagree). Meaning comes from the experiences they offer — the opportunities to stare slack-jawed at floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with brightly colored trucks or to go out on the town gloriously accessorized among friends. They forge our identities and place us in the context of that most important thing of all — human contact. We live, work and shop in our downtowns. A vital downtown is defined by the vitality of its people and the opportunities to encounter one and others. Our task in our downtowns is to create settings for joyful experiences. A toy store that recalls a beloved childhood memory. A tree-lined street with a chickadee announcing the coming of spring. A bustling cafe filled with the chatter of friendship and the buzz of romance. We all want to walk in the rays of a beautiful sun. That is what those of us who constitute a downtown can offer, and in so many different ways. For SoCo, an ice cream scoop shop is the cherry on top of the multi-lay-

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Erik Bruun is the CEO and part-owner of SoCo Creamery of Great Barrington, which operates a ice cream parlor on Railroad Street in the heart of one of the Berkshire’s funkiest downtowns. ered sundae of a robust downtown. At Gorham & Norton you can get a chicken salad sandwich for lunch in the very same way you could 50 years ago. And at Carr Hardware, they will patiently advise you on whether semi-gloss or satin is the right type of paint for the white trim in your kitchen. Like an updated Frank Capra movie, you can live a wonderful life in a downtown. So for those who say that retail is dying or conﬁne themselves to shopping online, you will miss the joys that come with life in the towns we call our own. That really is a shame. Erik Bruun lives in Great Barrington and is part-owner of SoCo Creamery on Railroad Street.

H I S TO R I C E AG L E S T R E E T in North Adams, Massachusetts

Shopping • Dining • Cultural Attractions Desperados • Installation Space • Jacks Hot Dog Stand Persnickety Toys • Village Pizza • and many more! www.historiceaglestreet.com

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Pittsfield’s demographics also make the city more attractive to smaller investors like Steve Oakes,who owns three buildings in downtown Pittsfield and two other structures in the centers of Lee and Lenox. Oakes, who lives in Otis, is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., and began dabbling in local real estate after he sold his New York-based animation company. “You look at a lot of the economic statistics,” Oakes said. “They’re positive for Berkshire County, but they pale in comparison to an urban area like Boston. If I’m an investor, shouldn’t I be where it’s happening? But I’m a small investor, and I like the Berkshires for all the reasons everybody else does.” “I get to dip my toe in the water with a significant real estate investment in a good environment,” he said. Cory Jacobson, owner of Phoenix Theatres of Farmington, Mich., which purchased the Beacon Cinema in December, said he fell in love with Pittsfield while walking around downtown. “Certainly, it’s not a convenience for us to manage from a distance, but I think (Pittsfield) is a diamond in the rough,” he said. “It’s a cool downtown area, and it’s going to grow... You don’t have buildings around like this anymore. They have heritage and character. I think young people, especially millennials, are looking for that kind of atmosphere to move into.” Those features may also help attract investment in Pittsfield’s designation as an opportunity zone. Two city areas have been designated as opportunity zones — downtown Pittsfield and the area in and around Tyler Street in the city’s Morningside neighborhood. They were designated as opportunity zones a year ago, but government officials are still working out the parameters of the program, and no proposals have been filed. “I know there’s a lot of interest in terms of people asking questions about it,” said Tim Burke, the president of Mill Town Capital of Pittsfield, a local firm that has investments in downtown Pittsfield. “Investors really are intrigued by the program … but I haven’t seen a lot of execution on opportunities for investment yet.” Business Editor Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@ berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224.

Our downtowns — A search for meaning

Berkshire Business Outlook | Sunday, March 24, 2019

money,” said Tartell. She owns a second home in the Berkshires and was recently named to the board of directors of Barrington Stage Company. “I can tell you that properties down here in Florida are really overvalued right now,” she said. “It’s hard to get in at a good price point.”

Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Berkshire Business Outlook

Providing assistance to grow 1Berkshire’s economic development specialist describes how the agency’s services help business owners BY HAVEN ORECCHIO-EGRESITZ THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE PITTSFIELD — Economic development in the Berkshires is changing. To ﬁnd out more about those changes, The Eagle recently sat down with Ben Lamb, director of economic development at 1Berkshire Strategic Alliance, the county’s state-designated economic development agency. Here’s what he told us:

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What is your role at 1Berkshire in assisting small businesses?

BEN LAMB: Most directly, we run the Berkshire Starts program, which is really focused on startups and entrepreneurs. We work with MCLA and run the Business Boot Camp. We also do Get Mentored, which is an intensive, ﬁvemonth, mentor program for ﬁve entrepreneurs to help them get really launched into either their current business growth or potential new business. And then, we just do a lot of one-onone with new businesses. Anybody that’s really looking for help, we’re sort of a one-stop-shop for that. The last piece of that sort of ecosystem is the entrepreneurial meetups all over Berkshire County. We do those monthly as an opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators to come together and get to know each other and do some networking and discover new ways that they can work together.

What are the most common mistakes small businesses make before they open? LAMB: One of the more common challenges that we hear from folks coming in is that they haven’t really built out a business plan. A lot of it is building a true model for what your business is going to look like for today, but then also out a few years. You want to be able to do some planning to ﬁgure out what are my actual goals and objectives over the course of time and not just right now. Great ideas are great ideas, but if you don’t have sort of that

strategic planning framework around it, that’s usually where they stumble more regularly than if someone has a more well-built business plan.

Is that something 1Berkshire can help with? LAMB: Yep. We can review them, but a lot of times we act as the connective tissue to get them to the right person. We find that we refer a ton of people to the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center [in Pittsfield], which is a totally free and confidential service for people to utilize.

What kind of businesses do you think Berkshire County needs? LAMB: I think an area that we have a lot of potential growth is in our supply chain businesses. In particular, we just launched Berkshire Blueprint 2.0. One thing that was recognized in the advanced manufacturing sector is that there is room to improve the supply chain mechanism for the larger entity to be able to draw from the local market. That could actually create new innovative business ideas. They might be a small business, but they could be a really successful, niche small business. Those are the types of things we’d like to see more of. We know that the massive employer opportunities are not the businesses that are really being created these days. It’s really these smaller start-ups that can grow and scale accordingly. And for me, it’s not one particular type of business that I’d like to see, but a lot of different kinds of businesses. When you have that, it actually buffers your economic ecosystem because it’s not everyone working on one single thing so once that one single thing phases out you have nothing in your hands.

we’re on this trajectory that started with the (downtown) streetscaping they did and the Beacon Cinema. The Colonial Theatre is another great example, another one of those pearls along the chain. And now that you have the connective pieces between them coming together, it really does mean that we’re building some gravity and momentum. While we’re kind of mid-stream right now, there’s still a lot of momentum and you’re seeing interest and you’re seeing people investing dollars and investing their time and energy. I don’t see that going away. You’ll see the first floor really start to build-up and then you’ll start to see the succeeding floors, whether it’s downtown housing or other operations starting to move into the other levels of these buildings.

What will it take for the downtown areas in smaller towns, like Adams, to develop at the rate of Pittsﬁeld?

LAMB: It’s a lot of strategic planning. We’re able to really focus on a regional scale and I think a successful action that can be used to take this strategic planning to a kind of microscale is still bringing in all the players and stakeholders in the community and helping to bring in resources external to the community, but actually doing a true study on what the assets are in their microcosm. Because once you know what those assets are, and you already know what the challenges are, you can start to align those and activate. I think any community of any size beneﬁts from going through that process. It doesn’t have to be a multimillion dollar study, it doesn’t have to have a huge amount of capital behind it, but doing it well and doing it in a way that brings all the key players and stakeholders together, is certainly helpful.

What do you think we need to do to recruit more business owners

Do you think we’ll get to a point where there are no storefront vacancies in downtown Pittsﬁeld? LAMB: At the rate that they’re being developed and you’re seeing people come in, yes. I’m an optimist, by nature, that’s just me, but I really do think

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Ben Lamb is 1Berkshire’s economic development projects manager. In this role, he provides assistance for businesses that are interested in moving into the county’s downtown areas.

LAMB: Those are two different things. When it comes to helping the businesses here, we’re constantly trying to figure out the challenges that they’re facing and workforce tends to be one of the biggest ones. We’re helping them to do workforce recruitment outside of the community, because we also want to increase the population. They do this through online job portals targeting both the local population and also external communities in urban areas — specifically young families, to bring them to the Berkshires. As for bringing them in, it has a lot to do with working with partners, whether it’s Mike Coakley [business development manager] in Pittsfield

or working with any of the Realtors that have properties for commercial development. Trying to help them ﬁgure out, where is the best building for their particular business, because not every building is suited for every business.

What makes Berkshire County a good spot to start a new small business? LAMB: We’re an interesting spot because we’re scrappy and we’re willing to try new things. One of the great things I’ve found in Berkshire County is that we’re willing to try new things and maybe not see that one thing succeed, but it helps to feed the next iteration of what that idea is. You don’t have to have a huge amount of investment to give a go at something, but you could give a go at something and have

it become a great thing. And tap into an ecosystem of experts. You don’t even realize how many potential mentors are here in Berkshire County. That’s a quality of both our history — all the industry that was here and those people who are still here from those industries and have decades of experience — but also the interesting population of folks who might have retired out of a career in ﬁnance or in aeronautics or whatever the case might be and they move to the Berkshires for their next phase of life. They’re also here, and they still want to be engaged, and they want to share the wisdom that they have.

What’s the ﬁrst step that someone looking to open a small business should take?

LAMB: We’re a great first step. So literally you can walk in the front door and 99 percent of the time someone in our office is ready to meet. If not, you can set up a meeting so we can sit down or have a phone call to hear what the person’s thinking. One of the great things we do is connect to a large number of partners and we know what their assets or resources are and how to connect people to them. If you come in the door and we’re not the right person, we likely know who is and we will make that direct introduction, that connection. The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (the Berkshire chapter is located in Pittsfield) is also a great first step. Haven Orecchio-Egresitz can be reached at horecchio@ berkshireeagle.com, @HavenEagle on Twitter and 413-770-6977.

A mosaic of cultural cuisine

Berkshire Business Outlook | Sunday, March 24, 2019

to the Berkshires and to keep the ones we already have?

Eateries from all types of cultures spring up in downtowns BY KRISTIN PALPINI THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Other offerings Other Berkshire County restaurants serving foreign cuisine that doesn’t fall under the big four — French, Italian, Mexican and Asian — include: Austrian food at the Halfinger Haus Restaurant Tavern and Inn in Adams; Peruvian cuisine at Alpamaya Restaurant in Lee; Colombian dishes at La Fogata Restaurante in Pittsfield ; and Korean food at Korean Garden in North Adams. Truc Orient Express in West Stockbridge serves Vietnamese meals, and Mission Bar + Tapas in Pittsfield has Spanish food. And Pera doesn’t have the market cornered on Mediterranean cuisine. Mostly located in Great Barrington, there are restaurants with food from Lebanon (Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine), Greece (Aegean Breeze Restaurant) and Morocco (Tangier Cafe). Karakaya said he’s been successful in the Berkshires because people here are excited to try new flavors, even if some of the menu items are incredibly old — Pera has recipes dating back to the Ottoman Empire. He knows people like his food simply by looking at the day’s receipts, but he’s also noticed some items that used to be unique to his menu appearing at

other restaurants. Pera had a monopoly on lamb burgers for years, Karakaya said, but now he knows of other restaurants with the dish. “It’s our number one food,” he said of the sandwich, which is made with fresh-ground lamb blended with herbs. “People are skeptical, but then they find it’s very good.” Karakaya said he’s happy that the flavors coming out of his restaurant are influencing others, but it also makes his place a little less unique. “It’s good and it’s not good, but it does show I’m doing something right,” he said. Karakaya came from Turkey to America in 2001 to study hotel and restaurant management. He interned at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach,

Fla., earned a master’s degree in business from Palm Beach Atlantic University — the same place Melahat got her MBA — then went on to work at the PGA National Resort and Spa, which is also in Palm Beach. Karakaya wound up in the Berkshires by chance. Melahat got a good job offer in the area and the couple moved up to Massachusetts from Florida. He wasn’t in the area for long before he decided to open Pera. “On the ﬁrst day I noticed the restaurant, Pera’s space, and it just all worked out,” he said. “Thank God it’s working out!” Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@berkshireeagle.com, @ kristinpalpini, 413-629-4621.

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WILLIAMSTOWN — With so much variety, it’s hard to stand out in the Berkshire dining scene. The county has about 200 restaurants including more than 10 Italian eateries, half a dozen French bistros, scores of places serving modern American cuisine and innumerable “Asian”-style restaurants. But there’s only one Mediterranean restaurant serving Turkish delights: Pera Bistro in Williamstown. “When I opened Pera six years ago, I noticed nobody was serving humus or falafel — nobody does it,” said Fahri Karakaya who owns the restaurant with his wife, Melahat. “I did it, I put it on the menu — baba ghanoush, tabouli, falafel and people loved it,” he said. “They loved the different taste.” Pera Bistro is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner with menu items that include dolmades (lemony rice and herb-stuffed grape leaves), borek (crispy rolled phyllo dough stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes), kebabs, falafel, hunkar begendi (aromatic beef stew with cheese and ﬁre-roasted eggplant), and scrod with tomatoes, feta, onions, pepperoncini and olives. Still, it isn’t easy being one of the only restaurants in the county serving baba ganoush in a pasta-ﬁlled world when people crave comfort food. But

Pera has done so well that Karakaya is opening a second restaurant — an Italian place featuring international cuisine. The Karakayas plan to open Casa Lina this spring.

Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Berkshire Business Outlook The Berkshire Eagle | BerkshireEagle.com 12

On the front lines of development Rich Vinette has been there for all the changes in Lee

BY DICK LINDSAY THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE LEE — The evolution – or maybe revolution – of Lee’s Main Street has involved a mix of preservation, public/private partnerships and individual risk-takers. The on-going downtown revitalization of 30 years has attracted nearly 20 new businesses, new owners of landmark establishments and local entrepreneurs willing to expand in the heart of the town known as “The Gateway to the Berkshires.” For 16 years, attorney Richard Vinette had a front-row seat during the height of the economic reboot of this blue-collar town. As executive director of the Lee Community Development Corp. from 1996 to 2012, the Pittsﬁeld native initially helped the CDC’s volunteer board of directors begin to develop and market the Quarry Hill Business Park and former Lee Corporate Center, now the privately-owned Berkshire Corporate Center, which are both on Route 102. Then, Vinette, the CDC and town ofﬁcials turned their attention to downtown revitalization. This shift in emphasis actually began to occur several years before

when the town’s long-time paper products industry was placed on the edge of extinction when three of its four remaining paper mills closed in 2008 and 2009. If local management of the MeadWestvaco plant had not purchased the company’s facility on Route 102 to form Onyx Specialty Papers, the industry would have completely disappeared from the town. “We saw the handwriting on the wall with the mills on the brink of leaving,” recalled Vinette, who had served as a community development specialist in Pittsﬁeld in the 1980s. “Lee needed to change its image and make the town a destination place.” Lee’s rebranding had actually begun in 1989 when Joseph Toole, then of the Toole Insurance Agency, saved the original St. Mary’s School from the wrecking ball. He moved that three-story structure from behind St. Mary’s Church almost three blocks north to 199 Main St., next to Toole Companies, the family-owned business that operates several lodging establishments. The restored structure, originally built in 1885, became a 9-room inn that remains a destination for visitors. In the next decade, attorneys Michael Considine and Shawn Leary restored the former Lee National Bank

building and placed their law offices in the back, while development partner Greylock Federal Credit Union opened a branch office in the front. The Massachusetts Historical Commission named the building’s restoration its top preservation project for 1997. Two years later, Paul and Dawn Face of Pittsfield purchased the former Rossi’s Restaurant on Main Street and converted it into the Salmon Run Fish House. These individual revival efforts set the stage for the bigger, bolder collaborative ventures that transformed the town’s center. “When you talk about downtown development, you can have all the plans in the world, but we have to celebrate the folks who took a chance on Lee,” Vinette said. Main Street’s revival hasn’t come without setbacks. When H.A. Johanssen’s 5 and 10 and McClelland’s, the town’s last independent pharmacy, both closed in the early 2000s, gaping holes were left in downtown storefronts, Vinette said. McClelland’s was replaced by Dresser Hull Lumber and Building Supply, a family-owned business that has since been replaced by Pumpkin Patch Quilts. The quilt store relocated to the site from the north end of Main Street.

Filling the former five and dime’s location on Main Street’s three-story Baird and Benton Block proved to be a bigger challenge. The major obstacle? Convincing town residents that the block’s redevelopment would revitalize downtown. “After many community meetings, we showed how the project would restore the building in an historically sensitive manner,” Vinette said. “We also got state funding thanks to Mike who had a good plan.” Mike is Michael McManmon, the founder of the Lee-based College Internship Program. CIP restored and renovated the post-Civil War-era three-story structure, completing the work in early summer 2011 for $3.7 million. The building’s upper two floors, unused for decades, were converted into classrooms and office space for CIP. The Good Purpose Gallery, a CIP venture, and the Starving Artist Cafe and Crêperie, opened on the first floor in the five and dime’s former space. The block’s lone remaining tenants, a tanning salon and nail salon, stayed open during construction and are still in business. A parking lot carved out of property behind the Baird and Benton Block between the First Congregational

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Attorney Rich Vinette, former president of Lee’s CommuBEN GARVER — THE BERKSHRIE EAGLE nity Development Corporation, has had a hand in the major The Baird and Benton block on Main Street in Lee has been one of the town’s biggest downtown renovaredevelopment projects that have occurred in the center of a town that calls itself. “The Gateway to the Berkshires.” tion projects.

Catalyst for growth The town-backed, public/privatelyfunded renovation of the Baird and Benton Block was so successful that it became the catalyst for the town’s next downtown revitalization effort — the three-story Consolati building

across the street. “It helped us with credibility for future projects,” Vinette noted. “It’s really the communication between our [Berkshire] legislative team, local officials and people concerned about the local economy that made it work.” That collaboration guided the Berkshire Housing Development Corporation in 2012-13 to complete a yearlong $2.7 million affordable housing project at the Consolati building that created 16 apartments on the upper floors. The building’s first floor remained as commercial space that was

ﬁlled by three new tenants: MacCaro Real Estate Agency, Finders Keepers antiques and consignment shop and Meow and Growl pet supply store. Those three businesses replaced tenants that left during, but not because of, the renovation work. “Between the CDC and strong linkages with Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and Berkshire Housing, the project was a success,” Vinette said. Lee’s biggest downtown revitalization project may be on the horizon. After leaving the CDC, Vinette returned

to private practice full-time and joined Mill Renaissance, the development team lead by Jeffrey Cohen that is planning a $60 million renovation of the historic Eagle Mill. The project includes the creation of 78 affordable/market rate housing units and a 72-room hotel along with a marketplace, ofﬁce and commercial space. Cohen is expected to break ground in November. “It’s just going to get better for Lee,” Vinette said. Dick Lindsay can be reached at rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com and 413-496-6233

Howard helps quench North Adams’ cultural thirst Oncologist winds down professional career with development projects BY BENJAMIN CASSIDY THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Short time frame From idea to opening, Bright Ideas came about in approximately nine months. The concept for the brewery emerged after Howard and Mass MoCA Director Joseph Thompson visited The Beer Diviner in eastern

BENJAMIN CASSIDY — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Oncologist Orion Howard has begun a second career as co-founder and owner of Bright Ideas Brewing and co-owner of A-OK Berkshire Barbeque, both in North Adams. New York. They saw tourists and locals mingling at the brewery. “Joe turned to me and goes, ‘That’s what we need at Mass MoCA,’” Howard recalled. Howard’s ﬁrst “distraction” had presented itself. Before that, the California native had graduated from Williams College and Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Medical College. After stops in Boston and Connecticut, he eventually returned to Williamstown. As a Williamstown Theatre Festival donor, he became friendly with fundraiser Eric Kerns and eventually brought Kerns into the Bright Ideas project. They cofounded the brewery, opening it in

April 2016. Early on, locals were responsible for roughly 30 percent of the brewery’s sales volume. Some of them hadn’t been back to the former Sprague Electric campus since the company’s site closed decades earlier. “I can’t tell you how many people have come in here and have said, ‘This is the ﬁrst time I’ve set foot on this campus since my parents lost their jobs in 1983,’” Howard said. Still, the brewery wouldn’t be able to survive without the steady inﬂux of Mass MoCA visitors. Seeing them interact with North Adams residents has been a source of joy for Howard. “It’s beautiful,” he said.

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NORTH ADAMS — When oncologist Orion Howard started practicing medicine, he planned to retire at 50, aiming to avoid the burnout he had seen happen to so many colleagues. “When I turned 48, I decided, ‘OK, I have two years left. I better find distractions for myself,’” Howard said. Now 52, Howard has found more than a few projects to keep him busy as he continues his medical work at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton on a part-time basis. They aren’t house chores. As a co-founder and owner of Bright Ideas Brewing and a co-owner of A-OK Berkshire Barbeque, Howard has been central to revitalizing the front of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art’s campus over the past four years. He is also helping bring a new 200-plus-seat music venue to North Adams and a restaurant to Greylock Works, endeavors that ensure Howard will remain a major figure in the city’s economic and cultural landscape in the shortterm and perhaps longer than that. He doesn’t like looking that far ahead, though. He prefers being able to see how an idea will take shape. “I need quick gratification, so if it’s going to take an undefined amount of time, it’s not generally my thing,” Howard said at Bright Ideas on a recent morning.

Craft beer tourism has increasingly helped build the business, which features 10 taps of its own brews. Another boon has been A-OK Berkshire Barbeque, a takeout restaurant that Howard co-owns with Aaron and Alex Oster, former Bright Ideas’ bartenders. Howard ﬁnanced A-OK under certain conditions, including that it couldn’t get a liquor license. Its customers are encouraged to bring their food over to Bright Ideas and order a drink. As a result, the brewery now has more of a lunch crowd. “We used to have nobody here on Saturday from noon to 3,” Howard said. A few other projects the Mass MoCA board member is behind may also encourage North Adams visitors to spend more time in the city. His Very Good Properties company just bought the space most recently occupied by the Museum of Dog. The plan is to turn it into a bar and music venue, HiLo, that will open in the fall. He is also invested in and will be curating the beer at a restaurant in Greylock Works that will feature chef Brian Alberg and is slated for a fall opening. But for Howard, North Adams’ cultural growth goes beyond him or the city’s other movers and shakers. “There’s an energy here now that predates all of these projects,” Howard said. “It’s the reason that [Tourists lead partner] Ben Svenson chose North Adams. It’s the reason I chose North Adams for the brewery. It’s the reason we can rent an apartment in 24 hours. People were coming here before these projects existed, so there’s something about North Adams that people get and have done so for a while.” Benjamin Cassidy can be reached at bcassidy@berkshireeagle.com, at @bybencassidy on Twitter and 413-496-6251.

Berkshire Business Outlook | Sunday, March 24, 2019

Church and former St. George’s Episcopal Church solve the need for much-needed downtown parking. CIP then bought and renovated the vacant church and created a visual and performing arts center for the organization’s students and the public.

Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Berkshire Business Outlook

It’s all in the family

Isa Ali learns from relatives and gives it back to the community that he grew up in BY JENN SMITH THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE DALTON — A morning cup of coffee, a freshly stuffed sub for lunch, an after-school burrito — if you want it, the Ali family is happy to serve it to you. Their businesses stretch the length of Main Street in Dalton, from the Hot Harry’s Fresh Burritos restaurant on the Union Block building at 403 Main St., down to the adjoining Angelina’s Subs and Juice N’ Java Coffee House at 657 and 661 Main St., respectively. Over three generations and more than 60 years, the Ali family has also had a hand in similarly named businesses from Adams to Pittsﬁeld — Hot Harry’s, Angelina’s and Juice N’ Java are franchises with several county locations — along with other local real estate and restaurant ventures. On a recent winter afternoon, family member Isa Ali, 31, sat down with The Eagle at Juice N’ Java, with a hot cup of tea in hand. He had spent the morning shoveling snow outside the

family businesses because the person he had hired to plow had failed to appear. But these are minor matters to small business owners like him because the food service must go on. “The coffee house opens at 6:30 a.m. and the Angelina’s in Adams closes at 11 at night. Every day I’m here or somebody in the family is here at our businesses. You nurture what you have,” he said. A Dalton native, Ali is the namesake of his grandfather, Isa Ali, who founded the first Angelina’s Sub shop in 1958 in Lynn. He passed the business on to his son, the younger Isa’s father, Faisal, who with his wife, Linda, turned Angelina’s into a franchise. Faisal and Linda also founded Juice N’ Java in Dalton in 1996, wondering whether the big city coffee house trend could take hold and thrive in a small town. It did. Juice N’ Java now has a second location in Pittsfield. Samir Abdallah, Faisal’s nephew, founded Hot Harry’s in Pittsfield in 2004. When Isa and his brother, Bishir,

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Isa Ali stand in front of the menu board at Juice N’Java in Dalton, one of several Berkshire County eateries that are owned by his family. moved back to the Berkshires after living in London and Boston respectively, they opened their own Hot Harry’s franchise in Dalton two years ago. While there has always been a little pressure to help hold the reins of the family’s business interests, which include office and apartment buildings, Isa said his parents always encouraged him and his two siblings to pursue their own career paths (Isa and Bishir’s other brother Sharif, lives in California). After graduating from Wahconah Regional High School, Isa earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at Providence College, then a master’s in contemporary art in 2013 from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. Since then, he’s also owned and operated Celerity Properties LLC, a property investment and management firm in Pittsfield. Isa lived in London for a while, but when the grind of living in a city got to him. he decided to move home. Family and customers welcomed him back to the Berkshires, “with open arms,” Isa said, even though, “I don’t have an MBA,” he joked. He takes every bit of advice his parents have given him, and has used it to successfully navigate the challenges of restaurant management. “My brother and I, we grew up in this business,” Isa Ali said. “It’s fun.” He describes regular restaurant customers as “hard-working people who live in this area” and says their staff — which ranges from 40 to 50 people depending on the time of year — strives to promote an atmosphere that’s “all-encompassing and allwelcoming.” His employees include “high school students who are trying

to save up for their first car or first year of college to people who have been with us for over 30 years.” “I’m proud of the fact that when we do have a new face that comes in, we hear they were recommended by other people in the area,” Ali said. Being in Dalton and the Berkshires also has its benefits. Besides his business ventures, Isa serves on the Dalton Development and Industrial Commission and is a volunteer member of the Greylock Federal Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee. Isa and Bishir recently moved from a familyowned apartment in Pittsfield to a house they bought in Hinsdale. “I love this area,” he said. His passions include a desire “not to tarnish the family name” and to maintain and grow the family’s businesses in the Berkshires. He is also proud to work with other local small business owners in the heart of Dalton. The Ali family has owned the Union Block building on Main Street in Dalton since 2002. It includes town mainstays like the Dalton Restaurant, owned by Jane Lussier — who used to work with Faisal Ali at the former New England Chowder House in Pittsfield — and newer businesses like the Union Block Bakery. Instead of fearing competition in downtown Dalton, the Alis have welcomed other entrepreneurs like Steve Sears, who owns the neighboring Stationery Factory on Flansburg Avenue. “What they’re trying to do and what the CRA (Community Recreation Association) is trying to do, I hope it’s a catalyst for this town,” Isa said, “and that it maybe inspires other people to do the same.”

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