Berkshire Business Journal January 2026

Mission accomplished Liana Toscanini, founder and executive director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, is retiring, Page 5

Berkshire Business Journal 75 S. Church St. Pittsfield, MA 01201 Change service requested

Berkshire Business Journal JANUARY 2026 I VOL. 5, NO. 1

Sharpening its competitive edge

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Bousquet Mountain ski area in Pittsfield is partnering with local bike and ski retailer Berkshire Bike & Board. The collaboration reflects a joint effort to position “not only Bousquet, but also the Berkshires as more of a ski destination,” according to Bousquet Marketing and Program Development Manager Eliza Lindberg.

Bousquet partners with Berkshire Bike & Board on ski tuning, retail

BY M ARYJANE WILLIAMS PITTSFIELD — There was a time when the

Berkshire Bike & Board Technical Director Levi Brown checks over a pair of skis at Bousquet Mountain ski area in Pittsfield. Berkshire Bike & Board is partnering with Bousquet this year on retail and ski tuning operations.

Berkshires were a go-to ski destination in New England, drawing thousands of skiers who boarded “snow trains” at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal for weekends on the slopes.

As larger ski destinations opened farther north, the Berkshires’ ski boom slowly faded. Participation dwindled, resorts went dark and the rail service stopped running, leaving only a handful of the dozens of ski areas that once anchored the region’s winter economy by the 2000s.

Now, one of those remaining resorts, Bousquet Mountain, is determined to restore that legacy through a partnership with local bike and ski retailer Berkshire Bike & Board.

Founded in 1932, Bousquet is the Berkshires’ oldest continuously operating ski area and the first mountain to introduce night skiing with lighted trails. Owned by Mill Town Capital since 2020, the 200-acre mountain has long positioned itself as a community-oriented operation focused on skiers of all levels and local partnerships.

Under the new collaboration, Berkshire Bike & Board operates on-mountain retail and tuning services, a move designed to enhance the guest experi-

ence and strengthen the mountain’s operations.

Rooted in shared values and a mutual love for the community, the collaboration reflects a joint effort to position “not only Bousquet, but also the Berkshires as more of a ski destination,” according to Bousquet Marketing and Program Development Manager Eliza Lindberg.

Lindberg said the effort also taps into a broader desire among skiers for smaller, more community-focused mountains.

“You go to Bousquet and you see people that you know,” Lindberg said.

“That community vibe of come whenever and you’ll know someone [and] talk to the people on the lift next to you… is really important to people right now.”

ABOUT BERKSHIRE BIKE & BOARD Founded in 1995 in Great Barrington, Berkshire Bike & Board is a locally owned bicycle and outdoor sports retailer with four locations across the Berkshires and neighboring parts of New York and Connecticut.

The company originally offered bikes and rollerblades, but co-owner David Clark said it eventually scaled back its product mix to focus exclusively on bikes.

But because the bike business is “extremely seasonal in this area,” Clark BOUSQUET, Page 3

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January 2026

Front pages

Patrick’s owners to run lodge restaurant

By Clarence Fanto

PITTSFIELD — Diners keen on a scenic

vista and skiers seeking snacks and hot beverages will find a familiar new management team this season at Bousquet Mountain.

The McNinch Restaurant Group, owner of Patrick’s Pub and operator of 101 Restaurant and Bar at the nearby downtown Pittsfield Holiday Inn & Suites, is taking over the ski area’s Drifters full-service restaurant and bar on the second floor of the base lodge and the quick-service first floor window for grab and go fast, casual bites and beverages.

Longtime restaurateur John McNinch and his son, Tucker, formed the group after the family sold the Olde Heritage Tavern in downtown Lenox in April 2021 for $1.5 million, plus the undisclosed value of the business they had built up during 21 years of ownership.

They reopened Patrick’s Pub on Pittsfield’s Bank Row in March 2022, five months after purchasing it from the Powell family. Since late 2021, the McNinch father and son team has been leasing and operating the 101 Restaurant & Bar. Bousquet Mountain General Manager Kevin McMillan told The Eagle he selected the McNinch team because “they’re well-respected and they share the same values Bousquet shares with the way they cultivate, train and treat their employees and bring people up through the ranks.”

McMillan described the McNinches as easy to work with and having a proven track record.

“We’re really excited to finally work with someone with a lot of experience in the restaurant world and those guys bring that to the table for us,” he said.

“It’s not easy to run a restaurant, there’s a lot to balance around pricing, quality, value and trying to make enough money to have a sustainable operation.”

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the McNinches.

“We’ve been involved at Bousquet and I’ve known everybody at the old Bousquet,” John McNinch said. He recalled close ties going back to his family’s multi-generation ownership of the Eastover Resort in Lenox from the late 1940s to 2000.

When he was approached by Mill Town Capital, the investment firm that purchased the Bousquet ski area in 2020 and invested $11 million to upgrade it, “it was a no-brainer,” John McNinch said. “We’re just managing their restaurant, but it still belongs to Mill Town. Tucker and I were both very excited about the opportunity. He was skiing there as a young kid.”

“I trust John and Tucker to do the best they can by the mountain, by the restaurant and by the city of Pittsfield,” McMillan said. ‘They’ve got so much experience turning around restaurants and doing it in a really thoughtful and sustainable way.”

Acknowledging a desire to expand the McNinch Restaurant Group, “this sounded like the perfect spot for us,” Tucker McNinch said.

The menu is nearly complete, pending tryouts in the kitchen. It will be pub fare, with Brian Drumm as executive chef, moving over from Patrick’s Pub after previous stints at the Olde Heritage and at 51 Park in Lee. The new incarnation of Drifters will open to the public on Friday, Dec. 12, the same weekend the mountain’s ski season begins.

Seven-day operations start on Dec. 19. The restaurant will be open Friday and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., except during holiday weeks when the schedule will be extended.

BOUSQUET, Page 2

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED / BOUSQUET MOUNTAIN

Bousquet Mountain General Manager Kevin McMillan, center, with Tucker, left, and John McNinch, in the second-floor Drifters Restaurant and Bar. The McNinch Restaurant Group has taken over operations of the restaurant and the first-floor snack bar.

GILLIAN HECK

Outdoor enthusiasts on skis and snowboards hit the slopes of Bousquet Mountain ski area in Pittsfield last February. The Drifters Restaurant and Bar in the base lodge is being operated this season by the McNinch Restaurant Group, owner of Patrick’s Pub.

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Bousquet FROM PAGE 1

said the company realized it needed to diversify.

“We have a lot of good staff that is hard to keep around and keep busy during the winter months when you’re bike only,” Clark said, adding the business typically employs between 30 to 40 people across its four locations, depending on the time of year.

So, in 2023, Berkshire Bike & Board began offering a limited selection of seasonal ski rentals and services at its Great Barrington location. The following winter, it expanded into hard goods such as skis and boots, before significantly scaling up its ski operations this season.

With the partnership allowing the store to sell ski accessories and host demo days at the mountain, Clark said he expects ski revenue to be four times higher this year than last year as they continue to grow in the market.

FILLING A GAP AT THE MOUNTAIN The partnership emerged after Bousquet’s longtime on-site retail partner, The Garden, a skate and snowboard shop in downtown Pittsfield, closed.

That shop had previously handled all of the soft goods and on-site retail, including Bousquet merchandise.

Bousquet and Berkshire Bike & Board had already collaborated on demo days that allowed skiers to try equipment at the mountain before purchasing it instore, making the partnership an “organic transition,” Lindberg said.

“One of our [core] values and mission points at Bousquet is connecting with the community” Lindberg said.

“Berkshire Bike & Board is obviously a well-standing business within the community and we are very enthusiastic to partner with local businesses in the Pittsfield community.”

Lindberg said the partnership is also aimed at making skiing feel more approachable, particularly for newcomers

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Levi Brown, the technical director for Berkshire Bike & Board, uses a squeegee to remove excess water and material from a pair of skis after they ran through the automated tuning machine at Bousquet Mountain ski area in Pittsfield. Berkshire Bike & Board is partnering with Bousquet this year on retail and ski tuning operations. who may find the sport intimidating or difficult to navigate.

“This shared kind of understanding of that intimidation factor and also the shared goal of breaking that stigma and making this community more inviting and accessible … is another thing that’s

really important to us,” she said.

“That enthusiasm and the drive to have a good product [and] a good guest experience … was a great indication of a successful partnership for us.”

The retail space is a small shop inside the Bousquet ski lodge, designed

to serve guests looking for essentials or forgotten items, such as gloves, base layers, hand warmers or face coverings. The space is typically staffed by a single employee and also carries Bousquet-branded merchandise devel-

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Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Bousquet FROM PAGE 3

oped jointly by the two businesses.

TUNING OPERATIONS Beyond retail, Berkshire Bike & Board now manages all ski tuning operations at the mountain, using Bousquet’s Montana Challenge Machine — a fully automated, high-end tuning system housed in the lodge’s basement.

Unlike traditional hand tuning, the Montana Challenge eliminates variability by delivering the same tune every time. The machine, which can cost up to $500,000, flattens ski bases and sharpens edges with precision, making it particularly attractive to racers and advanced skiers.

“This annual tune is going to get your ski flat and it’s going to put the perfect edges on your ski, and you’ll be ready to go for the season,” Clark said. “So if you’re racing or any of that level of skiing, you’ll know if your ski is that flat.”

Berkshire Bike & Board Technical Director Levi Brown trained directly with the manufacturer’s representative to learn how to operate the system.

“Professional-level race tunes can be done right here locally,” Brown said.

“There isn’t another machine like this in the area.”

The team aims to maintain a 24- to 48-hour turnaround time for tuning services, with drop-off and pick-up handled through the on-mountain retail space. Tuning services typically cost between $50 and $100, with profits shared between the two businesses.

As part of the new partnership, guests can now text Berkshire Bike & Board’s Bousquet location at 413-449-1352 with questions about services or ski tuning.

Previously, tuning was handled by Bousquet’s rental shop staff, an arrangement that Lindberg said became difficult to sustain.

“It became clear to us throughout the years that tuning needed its own champion and we just didn’t have the personnel resources,” she said. “So bringing

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Berkshire Bike & Board will run the retail store and ski tuning operation at Bousquet Mountain ski area this seaso. the Berkshire Bike & Board team and having them and Levi spearhead that is super helpful for us.”

Lindberg said the partnership reflects a broader strategy at the mountain.

“We’re doing a few other partnerships this year,” she said. “Just the baseline of local business collaborating with local business is really important to us.”

Bousquet Mountain ski area has partnered with Berkshire Bike & Board for its ski store and equipment tuning for the 2025-26 ski season.

January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

5

Business updates PITTSFIELD

BCC lands state grant to offer CDL training Berkshire Community College has received a $132,825 state grant earmarked to support commercial driver’s license training.

The grant is part of a $1.5 million investment by the Healey-Driscoll administration to train more than 500 community college students across Massachusetts.

BCC’s grant is earmarked for commercial driver’s license training. Trained CDL drivers are in high demand in the Berkshires and beyond. According to an American Trucking Association survey, more than 400,000 new truck drivers are needed in the United States every year.

The Training Resources and Internships Network (TRAIN) grants provide essential training opportunities to unemployed and underemployed people across Massachusetts. These grants, administered through 13 of the state’s public community colleges, are designed to equip adult workers with the skills necessary to thrive in key industry sectors.

TRAIN grants also fund wraparound support services to guide participants through their learning journey and into new careers, helping to ensure a robust, competitive workforce.

CDL training at BCC consists of a total of 40 hours of classroom, field and on-the-road instruction. For more information, visit berkshirecc.edu/CDL, email workforce@berkshirecc.edu or call 413-236-2115.

ADAMS

Tim Burke is elected to bank parent’s board Community Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC, the parent company of Adams Community Bank, has elected Tim Burke as a trustee to the company and a member of the board of directors, to its wholly owned subsidiary Adams Community Bank.

Burke is the CEO and managing director at Mill Town Capital, a private community investment group based in Pittsfield, which he’s been a part of since its inception in 2016. He is responsible for

the overall strategy and management of the firm, investment portfolio, and team.

He sources and leads business and real estate investments and partners with entrepreneurs on concept exploration and company formation.

Burke has nearly 20 years of experience in business, financial management and investment management.

He spent seven years in the biotech industry in Cambridge, in various finance, planning and operational roles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and accounting from Bentley University and an MBA from Bentley’s McCallum Graduate School of Business.

PITTSFIELD

Insurance foundation gives Kids’ Place $20K Greylock Insurance Agency has selected Berkshire County Kids’ Place to receive a $20,000 award from the Arbella Insurance Foundation.

Lori Goodell, senior vice president of Greylock Insurance, presented the award during the foundation’s 20th anniversary celebration in November in Boston.

Greylock Insurance, which partners with Arbella, was one of 20 nonprofit organizations across New England invited to apply for the grant, and one of 10 to be selected to give away $20,000 to a nonprofit of their choice.

“I was so honored to be selected to present this impactful grant to Berkshire County Kids’ Place,” Goodell said. “It was such a wonderful opportunity to support a great organization and represent our agency in such a meaningful way.”

Berkshire County Kids’ Place provides a safe, homelike environment for victims of child abuse and their non-offending family members.

For more information about Greylock Insurance Agency, visit greylockinsurance.com.

PITTSFIELD

Keiter to open local construction office In its 17th anniversary year, Keiter is strengthening its commitment to growth by establishing a physical presence in Berkshire County.

This marks the construction manage-

ment company’s second expansion in two years and reflects its long-standing relationships and completed work in Western Massachusetts.

Keiter’s new Berkshire County location is based in the Clock Tower Business Center at 75 South Church St. “For several years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with incredible clients and professionals throughout the Berkshires, and it felt like the right time to officially set roots,” said founder and CEO Scott Keiter. “We’re proud to continue to grow in a region where we’ve already begun to build strong partnerships.”

Past clients in the Berkshires include Mass Audubon Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Bousquet Sport, Premium Waters, Berkshire Medical Center, the town of Lenox, St. Patrick and Raphael Church, as well as several residential clients.

Founded in Florence and now headquartered in West Springfield, the company has been twice named a “Best Place to Work” in the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Readers’ Choice Awards and was also recently recognized as one of New England’s Fastest Growing Companies by The Boston Globe.

Keiter is also well known for the Keiter Card campaign, which just completed its fifth year. The initiative has injected $250,000 into the Northampton economy by doubling the spending power of gift cards sold by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce.

Scott Keiter has served on numerous regional boards and advisory committees and was named a 2024 BusinessWest Difference Maker.

To learn more, visit Keiter.com.

PITTSFIELD

BOSTON

Pittsfield native honored

by Crohn’s, Colitis group Dr. Randall Pellish, a Pittsfield native and son of Larry and Janie Pellish, was named the 2025 Humanitarian of the Year by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation for his contributions to the inflammatory bowel disease community.

He received the honor during the chapter’s 52nd annual gala on Nov. 15 at the Boston Museum of Science.

As the chair of gastroenterology at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center and the director of the Lahey Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Pellish has dedicated his career to care, education and advocacy for patients with IBD. Pellish has served as the chair of the New England Chapter Medical Advisory Committee since 2022, but his involvement with the foundation spans nearly 18 years.

The New England Chapter celebrated its annual gala by bringing together nearly 300 supporters and together, raising $1 million to fund programs and research to support the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.

Leader of DEI at BHS named ‘community star’ Berkshire Health Systems’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Charles Redd, MS, RN, has been named named the Massachusetts 2025 “Community Star” by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health recognizing his outstanding contributions to rural health care.

Redd, a registered nurse who has led innovative programs at BHS designed to

Nonprofit Center founder, executive director to retire GREAT BARRINGTON — Liana Toscanini, founder of the Nonprofit

Center of the Berkshires, is stepping down from her role as executive director in the spring.

NPC was founded in 2016 with a mission to help nonprofits connect, learn and grow. Toscanini turns 65 as NPC celebrates its 10th anniversary next year. “It seems like an opportune moment to introduce new leadership to guide the organization to the next level,” said Toscanini.

Berkshire County is home to over 1,000 nonprofits addressing a range of community causes, including food insecurity, housing access, care for people with disabilities, the creative arts, and more. The idea for a nonprofit support center evolved from Toscanini’s decades of involvement in numerous small civic and nonprofit groups, including a nine-year tenure at Community Access to the Arts.

Toscanini pursued her vision of an infrastructure organization to help support the large and growing Berkshire nonprofit sector.

She funded the startup nonprofit herself and developed multiple revenue streams to keep programs and services free or low-cost for nonprofits. Similar to a chamber of commerce, NPC serves as the trusted clearinghouse for practical information for Berkshire nonprofits, and is now a vital resource for the community.

“NPC has been a steady, genuine force for good. They meet you where you are and create a true sense of community among nonprofits,” said Natale Monroe, founder of Embrace & Empower, a nonprofit focused on health equity and cancer survivor support.

Today, NPC serves over 200 nonprofit members thanks to strong support from the business community, individuals, foundations and the commonwealth in the form of an earmark. Seventy percent of the organization’s annual budget of $400,000 comes from contributions.

“Anticipating continued growth, we recently added the positions of associate director and operations manager,” said NPC board Chair Emily Schiavoni.

An award-winning organization, NPC currently offers two dozen programs and services. Its signature offerings include The Giving Back guide, the Berkshire Nonprofit Awards, and a philanthropy curriculum for eighth-graders. Over 10 years, NPC has presented nearly 200 workshops and facilitated thousands of referrals and requests for advice. NPC’s programs are seen as a

improve access to care in the rural Berkshires, is featured on the National Rural Health Day website, PowerOfRural.org, alongside other Community Stars from across the nation.

National Rural Health Day, held annually on the third Thursday of November, celebrates the individuals and organizations serving the nearly 61 million people living in rural America.

To learn more about National Rural Health Day and to read the stories of this year’s Community Stars, visit PowerOfRural.org.

A free monthly publication by The Berkshire Eagle 75 South Church Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201 Visit berkshirebusinessjournal.com for advertising information and to subscribe.

NEWS DEPARTMENT 413-447-7311 news@berkshireeagle.com ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT AMY FILIAULT, Advertising Manager 413-496-6322 afiliault@berkshireeagle.com CHERYL GAJEWSKI, Director of Advertising Sales 413-841-6789, 413-496-6330 cmcclusky@berkshireeagle.com Share your news with the Berkshire Business Journal. If you have a company promotion, a new business or a new venture, let the Berkshires know about it. Remember the 5 Ws and that briefer is better. Email text and photos to BBJ@newenglandnewspapers.com.

RICHARD B. MIGOT

Liana Toscanini, who founded the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires in 2016, will retire as its executive director in the spring. “It seems like an opportune moment to introduce new leadership to guide the organization to the next level,” she said. model by other nonprofit support centers around the country.

Hari Kumar, NPC board vice chair and chair of the search committee, said center has engaged a search consultant, Catherine Bradshaw of Eos Transition Partners, and the executive director job opening is posted at tinyurl.com/mu2k2a5c.

“Liana has served Berkshire nonprofits selflessly, graciously, and generously in building NPC as a true labor of love over 10 years,” Kumar said. “We, as a board, are deeply thankful for the hard work that Liana and the NPC team put into serving nonprofits.”

Jeannie Maschino can be reached at 413-496-6256 or jmaschino@ berkshireeagle.com.

Provide your expertise in the Berkshire Business Journal. Do you have the answer to a persistent question about business and the Berkshires? Do you have ideas and suggestions on how our business community can grow? If you have a comment to make about doing business in the Berkshires or if you’re looking to raise an issue with the business community, this is the venue for that. We welcome letters up to 300 words and commentary up to 600 words. Send these to BBJ@newenglandnewspapers.com.

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Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Audi, BMW and VW dealership opens

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

The new Berkshire Audi, Volkswagen and BMW dealerships opened for business last month at the McGee Automotive Family complex at 384 Pittsfield Road in Lenox.

By Clarence Fanto LENOX — Unfazed by frigid weather, sales

and service customers flocked to the new triple-brand auto dealership on Pittsfield Road (Route 7/20) in the “auto mile” cluster of dealers, car washes and automotive service businesses.

It was opening day for the Hanover, Mass.-based McGee Automotive Family’s combined Audi, BMW and VW sales and service buildings at the state highway’s intersection with New Lenox Road.

The company, which has a dozen other locations in Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, also has a large, open-air lot across the highway, site of the former Luau Hale restaurant, for arrival and storage of inventory.

The project received green lights from town boards in April 2023, followed by a zoning board special permit for the storage site approved in September 2024.

The bottom line for the total investment, including land acquisition and construction, was $22 million to $24 million, said McGee general manager Mark Hoch during a recent tour of the facilities.

Employment will total about 60 staffers, he said, including nearly 40 who had worked at the company’s previous location at 300 Merrill Road in Pittsfield.

Some positions, includes sales and service tech staff, are still to be filled, Hoch noted, though the new dealership complex is fully operational.

Sales will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Service hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, with Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon still to come as

Mark Hoch, the general manager for the new Berkshire Audi, Volkswagen and BMW dealership in Lenox, takes a call as his team prepares for opening day. “We’re on cloud nine,” he said, because it’s a brand new building, while the Merrill Road dealership site was 50 years old with limited parking. additional staffers are hired.

Hoch said that inventory, rebates and sales volume are back to 2019 pre-pandemic levels industrywide. Business is back to normal from when prices were up, incentives went away and inventory was scarce.

He described sales incentives, such as discounts and lower financing costs, are the best since then, with plenty of vehicles available. The three brands also have a supply of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Overall, the dealership sells more pre-owned than new cars. “The preowned market is incredible,” Hoch stat-

ed, with many vehicles under $30,000, “the sweet spot,” even though used car prices are still at an all-time high because of a scarcity of returned leased vehicles corresponding to the shortage during the pandemic.

“The challenge right now is buying enough pre-owned cars, so we try to source them from everywhere,” Hoch said. “We even ask service guests if they want to sell their vehicle.”

Currently, about 50 percent of new Audi, BMW and VW customers lease their cars. Most of the vehicles are allwheel drive and the brands offer several years of pre-paid basic maintenance.

McGee’s decision to relocate to Lenox from Pittsfield was manufacturer-driven by a preference of brand new facilities. For most Audi, BMW and VW customers in the Berkshires, the new location is more convenient and closer to their homes.

For Hoch, “we’re on cloud nine” because it’s a brand new building, while the Merrill Road dealership site was 50 years old with limited parking.

It took about 15 months to construct the state-of-the-art dealership, built to manufacturers’ specifications.

“Each manufacturer has its own flavor for showrooms and setups,” Hoch said. The general contractor was CM&B (Construction Management and Builders) of Boston.

As for the proximity to other dealerships, McGee cited Jim Salvie’s Berkshire Mazda and George Haddad’s nearby Toyota franchise, (as well as Subaru, Hyundai and GMC stores) as examples of “folks who really take integrity seriously.”

Company owner Rob McGee, whose father established the family business in 1970, visited the new complex last week and was “very happy” with the look of the facilities, said Hoch.

“People make all the difference, these are buildings,” he noted. “We spent the last year and a half putting the right people together. Workplace culture is the key.”

The three dealerships owned by McGee Automotive Family are under one roof in adjoining facilities, with separate sales and services areas for Audi and VW in one building, while BMW has the other building to itself, said Shelley Kimball,

Greylock, Franklin First credit unions merging

PITTSFIELD — Greylock Federal Credit Union is looking to grow again — this time by merging with Franklin First Federal Credit Union and expanding its services into Franklin County.

The merger, announced last month, would bring Franklin First’s 7,400 members and $84 million in assets under Greylock’s charter, creating a $1.7 billion institution that spans Berkshire and Franklin counties — a partnership leaders say reflects aligned missions and deep community roots.

“We’re excited about the possibility of a merger with Franklin First because we see

community service in a similar way,” said Greylock President and CEO John L. Bissell.

“We’re all trying to deliver value for small towns and cities across Western Mass.”

The merger has been approved by both boards but requires approval from the National Credit Union Administration. If cleared, Franklin First members will vote on the proposal at their annual meeting on April 15.

Franklin First President and CEO Michelle Dwyer, who initiated conversations with Greylock about a year ago, said the merger is a strategic move

made “while the organization is at its strongest,” allowing it to better serve members and build long-term stability.

“It’s only going to bring positive stuff for [our members],” Dwyer said, noting the expanded services, increased staff support and greater financial leverage the merger would provide.

Currently, Franklin First offers basic banking services such as checking, savings and consumer lending. Greylock’s larger size and infrastructure would allow the Greenfield-based credit union to add business banking, small-busi-

ness lending, mortgage lending and financial advising.

Greylock’s offerings include a full-service insurance agency, wealth management programs and an extensive business banking division — all of which would become available to Franklin First members.

If finalized, the merger would also give Franklin First members access to Greylock’s wider branch and ATM network across Berkshire County and Columbia County, N.Y. Members would transition to Greylock’s rates and fees, which Dwyer said would mean “improvements” for most cus-

tomers.

Although some management restructuring is expected for Franklin First, both leaders assured that there will be no job losses.

Franklin First has one location at 57 Newton St., Greenfield, and any additional locations or upgrades will be determined in collaboration with both companies based on financial and community needs.

“We’re going to really listen carefully to what the needs of the community are and build up appropriate services to respond to those needs,” Bissell said.

January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

7

Gaming center expands into new space

By M aryjane Williams PITTSFIELD — Mana Crypt Gaming Center

has officially leveled up its space.

The tabletop gaming shop, long a home for card tournaments, role-playing groups and hobbyists, has moved from its “cramped” storefront at 139 West Housatonic St. to a much larger, multilevel building at 55 West Housatonic St. The new space, formerly home to Plaine’s Bike, Ski & Snowboard, gives the business room to expand gameplay, retail displays and event offerings.

“We were busting at the seams of our old ones, so we needed a larger space,” said owner Chris Cahill.

Cahill spent more than a year searching for a bigger location before landing on the 10,000-square-foot building at the corner of West Housatonic and Elizabeth streets. He purchased the property in October for $565,000. It had been vacant since January 2025, after Plaine’s new owners opted not to renew their lease.

What immediately stood out, Cahill said, was how well the layout suited the store’s needs.

“The multilevel actually worked out well, because we can have all of our standard retail on the first floor, and we can utilize the first on the second floor for that gaming space,” he said.

The difference is noticeable. The previous location could host only one game at a time, while the new building has room for multiple tables, tournaments and open-play groups.

“There’s room to move about now, room to actually see everything, and not bump into other people,” Cahill said.

Aside from adding carpeting and a ​​ fresh coat of paint, Cahill said the building didn’t need major renovations and is in “great shape,” although he plans to explore accessibility upgrades in the future.

Inside, customers can find everything from Magic and Pokémon cards to classic

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Chris Cahill, owner of Mana Crypt Gaming Center, bought the 10,000-square-foot location at 55 West Housatonic St. in Pittsfield for $565,000 in October under Mana Vault LLC after it sat vacant for about a year. board games, tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and miniature skirmish games such as Warhammer 40K. Mana Crypt also brings players together with weekly tournaments and community play nights.

“We’ve kind of doubled our footprint about every two to three years,” Cahill said, adding that the store’s offerings have expanded naturally with customer interest.

The move comes with a few updates to the store’s offerings. Usage of the play

space or painting tables outside of events will now require a $5 table fee, according to the business’s Facebook page. The shop is also rolling out a revamped loyalty program and a $25 monthly membership that provides anytime access to the play space and other benefits.

Community support has been strong.

More than 30 people lined up for last Friday’s ribbon-cutting, and the parking lot stayed full throughout the day.

Cahill said his goal is to make Mana Crypt a welcoming, inclusive “third space” where people can relax and connect.

“We want to be very open and friendly to anyone who walks in our doors,” he said. “We try to be a space [where] people can come and hang out and take a break from the woes of the real world.”

Despite the nerves that come with a major move, Cahill said he’s confident the decision will pay off.

“There’s always some amount of jitters whenever you make a big move,” he said.

“But overall we looked at it long enough and hard enough that I think it’s going to be nothing but positive for us.”

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8

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Apothecary’s specialty is self-care

By Talia Lissauer GREAT BARRINGTON — Feel Good Haus is built on a simple idea that everyone is carrying some type of burden — and there are small rituals that can help people restore, recover and breathe.

The modern apothecary, owned by Tricia MacKenzi, opened last month at 38 Railroad St. The store’s mission is to help customers incorporate simple rituals into their daily routines to promote a sense of calm.

“Whether it’s taking a hot shower with a eucalyptus steam or creating a sleep-time ritual with some sleep oils, or just having like your morning cup of tea, those five minutes of calm can really bring peace to your day,” MacKenzi said. “And I think a lot of that is what we need right now, because we’re so stressed and busy with whatever.”

The store features a variety of basic self-care products like body scrubs, bath salts, lotions, natural perfumes, teas and more. MacKenzi said there is something for everyone with prices ranging from $10 lip butters and balms to luxury products that cost around $200. Most of the botanically and naturally derived products for sale are small-batch products sourced from U.S. companies, with some made in the Berkshires and surrounding areas.

TALIA LISSAUER

Tricia MacKenzi opened Feel Good Haus at 38 Railroad St. in Great Barrington to help people prioritize selfcare. “It’s been very meaningful to me to open a business in this magical community,” MacKenzi said.

No matter why a person is stressed, overwhelmed or tired, MacKenzi said she hopes this store can help support them.

“Whether you’re a caregiver, whether you work a lot, whether you’re training for a mar-

athon, whatever it is, just creating those routines and those daily rituals can really make a difference,” MacKenzi said.

Self-care doesn’t have to be a time-consuming process, she said. Rather, it can be something

small integrated into a routine.

It can be as simple as a morning cup of tea or the scent of a soap.

It could be bigger, like a candlelit bath with nice bath salts.

“It’s just important to have these types of self-care and not

just be focusing on women wanting a nice candle,” MacKenzi said. “That’s not the vibe. It’s more like anybody and everybody can buy and use this stuff.”

MacKenzi’s passion for selfcare products started while she was pregnant. She found the most peace from her hectic life and morning sickness was the few minutes in the shower with a scent. It made her nausea go away and helped her feel energized.

“And then last year, I was going through a lot with caregiving and caring for a lot of others and not really taking care of myself, but I didn’t have the time,” MacKenzi said. “But what I realized is just taking a few minutes to concentrate on yourself and maybe get something nice for yourself to just help you relax makes a world of difference.”

MacKenzi, a former marketing executive, moved to the Berkshires five years ago. When she noticed a vacant storefront on Railroad Street, she knew this was the opportunity to “add to the fabric” of the community.

“It’s been very meaningful to me to open a business in this magical community,” MacKenzi said.

The store opens at 11 a.m. and closes weekdays at 5 p.m. and weekends at 6 p.m. It’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Thrift store has ‘a little bit of everything’ Berkshire County’s leader in commercial and industrial sales and leases.

92 Elm St, Pittsfield MA 01201

GILLIAN HECK

Casey Albert has opened Brewsters, a new thrift store, at 18 Marshall St. in North Adams. “I always wanted to open a store,” she said.

By Izzy Bryars NORTH ADAMS — Bobcat rib bones, a Hello

Kitty figurine carved from a geode, a vintage kids firetruck and crocheted hats with Yoda ears.

These and other off-the-beaten-path items are what one might find on the shelves at Brewsters, a secondhand store that officially opened last month at 18 Marshall St. across from City Hall.

Owner Casey Albert was selling her oddball objects online as a a sideline to her full-time job as a graphic designer earlier this year. After success selling collectibles and trinkets on the app Whatnot, which allows secondhand sellers to livestream and auction items in real time with short time limits, she decided to try her luck with brick-and-mortar.

Nicknamed “Brewster” as a kid after TV character Punky Brewster, Albert sported spiderweb tights, half-blue/halfblonde hair and said the store brings a wide mix of her quirky taste in ephemera.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” she said, which is why the name includes thrift, vintage, antiques and oddities.

“I wanted it to be more local,” said Albert, a lifetime North Adams resident who signed the lease with Scarafoni Associates and moved in early November. “I kept collecting and I thought, ‘OK, this is kind of taking over my house,’ and I always wanted to open a store.”

Like Albert’s taste, the prices are ranging: from a bowl of rings marked at two for $1, crocheted hats and dolls made by Albert’s mom for about $60 and a 1950s firetruck for kids with a working bell marked at $300. One corner of the store holds a wall of vintage books while the one across a case of various animal bones and nests that Albert buys online and finds locally.

Albert collected inventory for the store starting in July and used some savings and a loan from her dad to open Brewsters. To save money and get the industrial and rustic look she desired, she drove far and wide for free and old furniture to furnish the store.

The big, glass front windows and the storefront’s proximity to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art are two main reasons why Albert liked the location. She hoped that drew people in to shop but also that Brewsters could be a welcoming space downtown.

“I hope it stands out as a chill, laid back, all-accepting place,” she said. “We have a couch and I hope people come in and sit on it.”

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; and closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Izzy Bryars can be reached at ibryars@ berkshireeagle.com

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January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

9

Proprietor’s Lodge shifts to events only

By M aryjane Williams PITTSFIELD — Sunday brunch, wed-

ding vows and live music will carry on, but the Proprietor’s Lodge has closed the curtain on regular restaurant service.

The lakeside venue has ended its daily lunch and dinner service and shift entirely to hosting private and public events. Management said the pivot was driven by seasonal slowdowns, high overhead costs and a desire to return to the lodge’s original mission.

“The restaurant has been very successful ... [but] the winter months are just too slow to sustain our overhead,” general manager Candace Lyon said.

“This was not an easy decision to make, and a lot of our customers and clients have become our very close friends and families.”

Originally designed as an event space, the property on the south shore of Pontoosuc Lake expanded into a full restaurant in 2018, after current owner Eric Taylor purchased the former ITAM Lodge.

The goal, Lyon said, was to help maintain a stable staff throughout the year. But the unpredictability of the restaurant industry, combined with worker shortages and high operating costs, made that model increasingly difficult to sustain.

“We went out on a limb and decided that we might try a restaurant just to sustain more staffing for the big events. And it’s just a huge undertaking,” Lyon said. “It’s difficult in January, February, March, to open the doors at a regular time and staff it with a ton of employees

THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

The Proprietor’s Lodge, at 22 Waubeek Road in Pittsfield, has ended daily restaurant service and transitioned to an events-only model, citing seasonal slowdowns and high overhead while assuring the community that its popular brunches and traditions will continue. and then not have the business to sustain them.”

Lyon said some layoffs are expected, though the restaurant already had scaled back staffing because of the ongoing hospitality worker shortage. Many employees, she added, have other jobs and will stay on call for events.

The shift gives the lodge greater access to its own space for private events. The patio and sections of the dining room already were available for book-

Sup

ing, but without daily restaurant service, those areas will be available much more frequently.

The move also allows the lodge to host more than one event at a time, a challenge under the former restaurant layout.

Demand for events has stayed strong and even grown in recent years, Lyon said. Stepping away from daily restaurant service will make it easier for staff to plan and run events.

“You know exactly what you’re staffing. You know exact-

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ly what you’re dealing with ... you’re not having the overhead,” Lyon said of the advantages of an events-only model.

She added that the shift gives the team more control over scheduling and makes it easier to work with clients’ requests.

“It’s a lot easier to be flexible with events now, as far as timing and the whens and hows,” Lyon said. “We work with budgets ... seasons ... we are able to open up their needs more by being available seven days a

week, day and night.”

Even with the shift, Lyon said the lodge isn’t stepping back from the community that has supported it. Public Sunday brunch will continue, and long-standing family activities, such as Santa brunches, Toys for Tots drives, trick-or-treating and children’s events, will return next year.

“These are the things that we love to do,” she said. “We’re going to give back to the community in many ways.”

If no private events are booked, management also plans to open the patio for live music and other public gatherings, keeping another of the lodge’s longtime traditions alive.

Community feedback has largely been supportive, Lyon said, despite natural disappointment from diners.

“I have gotten an abundance of emails and texts in of best wishes and great memories that they shared with us that you know they’re grateful for,” she said. “They understand our decision, they support our decision, and they look forward to coming in whenever they can.”

Lyon urged customers to keep an eye on the lodge’s social media, where they’ll share updates on public events and continue building that sense of community. “[Taylor] didn’t take this lightly, and is doing the right thing for himself in the business,” she said. “It’s just time for a little change, and we’ve worked really hard to get where we are… and we’re not going to give it up.

We’re just going to just refocus.”

10

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Juju’s adds second location — and pizza

By Tara Monastesse

If You Go

LEE — After over a decade on the

What: Juju’s, serving fried chicken bites, soft serve ice cream and pizza

local restaurant scene, it can be hard to keep track of how many new spots Emily and Josh Irwin have opened across Berkshire County.

But the recent opening of a new Juju’s location on Main Street in Lee marked a first for the culinary duo: a second location for one of their existing restaurants.

Just like the original location, which has operated in Great Barrington since 2024, the second Juju’s is serving up bite-sized fried chicken alongside soft serve ice cream as its primary fare. This time around, customers will have even more room to enjoy their snacks: The new location boasts seven sit-down tables, plus additional seating along its front window overlooking Main Street.

It’s the latest business venture for the Irwins, who already own a variety of establishments in the region: Mooncloud, The Well Restaurant + Bar and Home Love Berkshires. They were also the previous owners of Cantina 229, which closed in 2023 after eight years.

And with a new location comes a new menu item: pizza, exclusive to the Lee location, thanks to the building’s New York-style pizza oven.

“We’re just looking to offer people very craveable things done really well,” Josh Irwin said. “I’ve always loved proper slices, and that’s something we don’t have in the Berkshires at all.”

Customers can snag either a whole pie or an individual slice, with toppings ranging from buffalo chicken to a variety of vegetables.

But bringing in pizza poses a new challenge: how to serve up fresh pies, which can take over 20 minutes in the oven, alongside the much more expedient menu items like fried chicken.

It’s a balance that Josh said will develop over time, but can

Where: 54 Main Street, Lee Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday For more information, or to place an order: www.keepitjujus. com

PHOTOS STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Owner Josh Irwin places basil on a slice of pepperoni pizza at the new Juju’s eatery in Lee. Pizza slices go for $3 to $5 depending on the toppings.

Juju’s, the popular fried chicken and ice cream shop in Great Barrington, has opened a new shop on Main Street in Lee. be mitigated in the meantime if customers order in advance, or else spend their wait time admiring the colorful murals and wall art by local artist Aaron Meshon.

The colorful interior design, put together by designer Carah Menard, is what Juju’s founders hope will bring in customers of all ages looking for a fun, reliable spot to grab some affordable favorites. Pizza slices go for $3 to $5 depending on the toppings, while crunchy snacks like popcorn chicken,

fried cauliflower and tater tots each cost $10 or less.

“I love that we were able to

get into a space we feel we can reach our full potential in,” said Lisa Ake, a business part-

ner of the Irwins. “This is the embodiment of what we always envisioned.”

After Appetito, the former pizza and gelato restaurant, closed earlier this fall and put the building up for sale, the Lee storefront seemed like the perfect opportunity to expand.

“We’ve been dreaming of growing Juju’s as a business overall,” said Emily Irwin, a lifelong resident of the Berkshires. “Lee has that wonderful small town energy, and we’re excited to contribute to it.”

Both owners said they’re looking forward to the place becoming a regular lunch or dinner stop for the Lee community, whether it’s local residents or people taking a pitstop from the Mass Pike. And even though this Juju’s is a second location, Josh Irwin said that the goal is to become a mainstay in the local community rather than be seen as an offshoot.

The Irwins plan to eventually host events at the location and are also applying for a liquor license. They’re also still in the process of hiring and growing their staff; the Lee location currently has four workers.

For Emily Irwin, the most exciting part of opening the new restaurant has been seeing new customers socialize, whether they’re stopping in for a quick lunch or grabbing dinner after a local sports game.

“I love when a place becomes a new weekly rhythm of life,” she said.

Common Table expands into a larger space

By Jane K aufman

If You Go

CHESHIRE — The centerpiece of the main

Address: 287 South State Road, Cheshire (Route 8 across from Cheshire Reservoir)

dining room at Common Table’s newly opened quarters is a raised butcher block table, reserved for walk-ins, that seats 10 to 12 customers.

“This is the common table,” said chef and co-owner CJ Garner. “You get to see who else is around you, and I think it helps people enjoy each other’s company.

It is the root of the restaurant.”

The new space, which opened Oct. 28, takes the place of the restaurant’s original location at 41 South St., about a half-mile down the road and around the corner. Its menu of popular modern American comfort food remains the same.

After Garner and his husband, Marcus Garner, front of house manager and co-owner, bought the former Bass Water Grill at 287 South State Road in May for $560,000, they worked to renovate and transform the larger space, carrying through the colors, materials and design elements from the old space to the new.

CJ Garner’s parents, Linda and Tim Garner, helped with the cosmetic work, along with Lyon. They relied on licensed plumbers and electricians to handle the rest.

Garner said it was important to him that people feel a sense of recognition when they walk in.

The bar, for example, is black pearl granite with a textured finish on top.

That’s the same sort of bar at the South

Open: Tuesday-Thursday, 4-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4-10 p.m.

Menu: Popular American comfort food Prices: Soup, $7 and $9; Sandwiches, $17 and $18; Burgers, $16 to $19; Common Crusts (pizzas) $16 to $19, Entrees, $23 to $46 Service: Eat-in, takeout, delivery, catering on site or offsite.

Phone: 413-776-7141 Street location, which the two now refer to as Tiny Table. They plan to re-open it as a breakfast and lunch coffee shop.

Pittsfield artist Lisa Ostellino’s charcoal drawings and oil paintings, many of them closeup renderings of leaves, are on display and for sale through the artist in one of three private dining spaces. The other two are called the wine room, with wine bottles neatly arranged on shelving, and the fireplace room, which also has a screen in case a business wants to book a meeting.

With close to 100 seats in the house, weeknights have brought about that many people to the restaurant, the owners said. Friday and Saturdays, the restaurant has hosted about 200 diners.

GILLIAN HECK

Co-owners Cj Garner and Marcus Lyon of Common Table restaurant, which has expanded and moved to a new location at 287 South State Road in Cheshire.

During peak summer harvest, Garner sources 80 to 85 percent of his ingredients regionally. Now, even as winter approaches, he’s planning on trying a particular squash sourced from Whitney’s Farm & Garden Market just down the road.

Garner and Lyons chose to move partly to be able to cater at a larger scale than the kitchen at Tiny Table allows. And they already have. On Thursday night, two private events were scheduled. In the

next two weeks, 15 events are scheduled.

Ramping up staff from a staff of 10 to 12 to about 20 was not difficult.

“Marcus and I’ve worked in this area for a long time, in the restaurant industry, and I’m fortunate that I think I have a good reputation as a leader in the industry,” Garner said. “So I think when people saw that we were hiring, a lot of people reached out, and we were able to bring them in.”

January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

11

Up next for BIC: Optics tech hub Over the past several years, the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) has grown from a promising idea into a practical platform for workforce development, applied technology, and industry collaboration.

We have trained incumbent workers through our Manufacturing Academy, supported the development Ben Sosne of dynamic startups, News and built durable partfrom the BIC nerships with employers, educators, and research institutions across Massachusetts.

What we are now working toward represents the next stage of our evolution: a technology hub focused on the advanced manufacturing of advanced optics. The aim is not simply to host advanced optics innovation, but to become a global leader in commercial production — anchoring high-value economic activity in the Berkshires in a way that is realistic, scalable and rooted in the region.

This is not a departure from the BIC’s mission. It is a logical next step.

A STATEWIDE STRATEGY, EXECUTED LOCALLY The commonwealth has been clear that innovation policy must lead to tangible economic outcomes. Last year the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative launched a new program, the regional Tech Hubs initiative, that reflects that priority — emphasizing the creation of regional hubs that connect research, workforce development and manufacturing.

Rather than funding isolated facilities, the Tech Hub program supports industry-led, regionally grounded efforts designed to accelerate commercialization and strengthen local economies beyond Greater Boston. Competition was strong,

turing and production lab at the BIC, purpose-built around this process. The lab is intended to support real production — not just research — while fitting the scale and economics of Western Massachusetts.

NIKKI O’NEIL

A group of students from Williams Elementary School in Pittsfield was recently introduced, through hands-on STEM activities, to the basic principles behind optical technologies at the Berkshire Innovation Center. with regions across the state advancing proposals built on years of planning and partnership-building.

For the Berkshires, this process reinforced a key point: successful hubs are built around specific manufacturing advantages, not abstract ambitions. Advanced optics manufacturing emerged as a focus because a genuine opportunity already exists here — and because it aligns with the region’s scale, workforce, and long-term economic needs.

MANUFACTURING THE NEXT GENERATION OF OPTICS At the center of this opportunity is Myrias Optics, not simply as a tenant company, but as the developer of a new manufacturing process for producing flat, or meta-lenses.

Traditional optics manufacturing relies on curved glass lenses that are costly and difficult to scale. Meta-lenses use nanoscale structures on flat surfaces to control light, enabling thinner, lighter and more compact optical systems. For years, their adoption has been limited not by performance, but by manufacturing cost and complexity.

Myrias, which was born out of a lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is distinct in the world of advanced optics because it has developed a repeatable, cost-effective production process that can operate within a relatively small and modestly priced lab environment.

This means that advanced optics manufacturing does not require a massive, capital-intensive facility to scale.

Myrias plans to establish a manufac-

WHY THE HUB MODEL WORKS HERE This manufacturing profile is precisely why the tech hub model makes sense for the Berkshires.

Because this work can be done in a smaller footprint, it can be supported through shared infrastructure, targeted equipment investment, and a trained technical workforce — all areas where the BIC already plays a role. The hub lowers the barrier of entry for companies seeking to participate in the advanced optics space, accelerates scale-up, and creates a platform that can support additional firms over time.

This is not about chasing volume manufacturing at any cost. It is about enabling high-value, precision production that fits the region and builds durable economic strength.

ESTABLISHED INDUSTRY AND A GROWING VALUE CHAIN Supporting this manufacturing activity is Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA), an established and growing Berkshire-based company with deep expertise in electromagnetic and optical testing and validation. EMA and Myrias began working together several years ago and EMA introduced Myrias to the BIC and the growing ecosystem in the Berkshires.

As advanced optical components move toward commercial use, rigorous testing is essential. EMA provides the independent validation required for adoption in demanding real-world systems. Together, manufacturing and validation form a BIC, Page 12

12

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

January reset crucial to win the year January in cannabis retail is a strange month. The decorations are gone. The parking lot is quiet. Your team looks like they just ran a marathon, because they did.

Here in the Berkshires, the tourist pulse drops, the snowbanks grow, and every operator faces the same question: Are you going to Meg Sanders coast through January, Cannabis or are you going to use Corner it as a reset?

Thus we come to January, the month less focused on New Year resolutions, but rather, “Resetolutions.” These are not vague promises you’ll forget by February, but a deliberate reset of your business: what you sell, how you sell it, who sells it, and what you’re building toward in 2026 (especially 4/20). Because if you treat January as recovery time instead of strategy time, you tend to find you’re starting off behind the ball right after it just dropped and welcomed in the New Year.

From my experience, January should be an autopsy. Pull the last 12 months and lay it all out: what worked and what died on the shelf. Most retailers think of inventory as a count, but looking at things at this stage of the year, and doing it with intention, becomes the place where you stop telling yourself stories and start reading the data for the year ahead.

Start with the shelves. Your inventory is a report card, so ask hard questions, product by product. Did it sell at what pace, with what discount, and at what cost to your margins? Did your team believe in it?

At Canna Provisions, if staff won’t vouch for something or if we see repeated customer complaints, it goes into what we call a “Code Red” category.

Then, it’s gone. Because we’re in the business of selling trust, and you can’t sell trust by selling products your own people won’t even stand behind. This is as simple a concept as it gets, but so many get it wrong while only paying attention to the margins.

This is also where sustainable retail shows up. If a brand is dumping prod-

noise you created all year, so it’s a time uct at liquidation prices across town while you’ve been supporting them to evaluate and define what “success” at a fair, stable price, you need to ask truly means. That data comes from yourself in January: Was this a partner your promotions, texts, emails, special or a liability? Because ultimately price events, and big weekends. erosion isn’t a neutral event. It confusSo ask yourself pointed questions. es customers, wrecks positioning, and Did this campaign move the product pushes everyone closer to the edge. you needed it to move, or did it mostSo your move here is simple: decide ly cannibalize full-margin sales? Did what doesn’t get invited back in 2026, these promotions deepen customer enand why. Assess quality issues, unregagement, measured by repeat visits? liable supply, constant discounts, or Are you attracting people who come misaligned values. And then put it in back when there isn’t a draw factor writing. If you don’t name the reasons, screaming at them? you’ll be doomed to repeat them (if you If your biggest “successes” were even get the chance). campaigns that hammered your January is also when you admit what margins and never saw those customgot shoved to the back burner during ers again, that’s less marketing and the rush. Look right a reason to rebuild into your company’s your scorecard. mirror staring back Decide what success January is also when at you, from the staff means in 2026, and to the store to the make sure your team you audit the noise you standards. Take on is aligned to those the lingering HR issue created all year, so it’s definitions. you didn’t have the Additionally, now a time to evaluate and bandwidth to address, is the time to do some or the training you real community busidefine what “success” promised and never ness networking and delivered to staff. truly means. build local partnerThis is the month ships because no one for a deep clean, and has the time to do so in the late spring, I don’t just mean mopping the floor summer or fall. once a day. Clean the store top to botSpeaking of spring, let’s talk about tom. Fix that broken lighting. Refresh the highest of high holidays: 4/20. Start your signage. Audit your menus so planning. Now. If you wait until March they’re not a museum of discontinued to think about it, you’re not treating it products, but also clean up your syslike the Super Bowl of cannabis retail. tems. Your SOPs, your training mateYou’re treating it like a pop-up sale. rials, your performance expectations, all these matter in a seasonal economy Planning for 4/20 in January means getting serious about product strategy, like the Berkshires, where we live and from what you’re featuring, to how you die by preparation. are aligning with brands that share Sit down with your team and have your values around pricing, quality, real conversations. What did we handle and supply reliability. well this year or where did we drop the It also means designing promotions ball? What training do they need to be with a spine. Think: discounts that great in 2026?

The stores that win are those that invest in staff who know how to listen, adapt, and serve first-time, cautious, and returning customers with the same care every time. So set real goals with your people. Not “try harder,” but specific, measurable expectations with support, training and accountability attached.

January is also when you audit the

BIC

people believe is possible where they live.

Last week, as part of our advanced optics work, the BIC hosted a group of students from Williams Elementary School in Pittsfield. Through hands-on STEM activities, they were introduced to the basic principles behind optical technologies — the same ideas that underpin the manufacturing work happening at the BIC. They were captivated.

The questions came quickly, the engagement was genuine, and the feedback from both students and teachers was overwhelmingly positive. It was a small moment, but an important one. When advanced technology is visible — when it is happening here — it sparks curiosity and helps students imagine futures that connect learning to meaningful work without leaving the region.

FROM PAGE 11

tightly connected local value chain — the kind that keeps economic activity rooted in place rather than exported elsewhere.

This combination of new manufacturing processes and established industry capability is exactly how regional ecosystems become resilient.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE BERKSHIRES At its most basic level, this work brings high-quality jobs to the region — directly through companies like Myrias and EMA. These are skilled roles with career pathways, competitive wages, and long-term stability. But the broader opportunity is what comes next.

The goal of the tech hub is to act as a flywheel. When specialized manufacturing infrastructure exists in one place, it has a catalytic effect on regional growth and supply chains. Companies are more likely to put down roots when they know they can access facilities, talent, testing partners, and an ecosystem that understands their industry.

Over time, that concentration creates momentum. Firms do business with one another. Employees move between companies without leaving the region.

Entrepreneurs begin to see the Berkshires not as a place you leave to grow a technology company, but as a place where growth is possible.

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION Economic development is often measured in square footage and job counts.

Those metrics matter. But so does something harder to quantify: what young

A PLACE TO STAY, RETURN AND BUILD For the Berkshires, this effort is ultimately about choice. Choice for companies deciding where to grow. Choice for entrepreneurs deciding where to build.

Choice for young people deciding whether to stay, leave or return.

By focusing on the advanced manufacturing of advanced optics, we are expanding those choices. We are showing that innovation and production do not need to be confined to a handful of major metros. They can happen — and thrive — in regions willing to invest thoughtfully in people, partnerships and infrastructure.

This is the next chapter in the Berkshire Innovation Center’s evolution — and an opportunity to strengthen the region’s future in a way that benefits us all.

Ben Sosne is executive director of the Berkshire Innovation Center.

drive loyalty, not just chaos, or bundles that educate customers and reflect what you actually stand for instead of random price cuts (those also just train people to wait until you’re desperate to get in for lower prices).

Be intentional about brand activations. Not just a tent in the parking lot, but engaging experiences that give customers a reason to remember you long after their receipt fades.

And it absolutely means staffing and training with purpose. Who’s on the floor? Are they ready for nervous firsttime consumers and seasoned regulars in the same 10-minute window?

For us, big moments start months ahead. The work you put in now is what makes those days look smooth, and in the end, that’s another means of survival in an industry continually under various forms of attack.

But at its core, “Resetolutions” come down to a few core commitments: Pull products that don’t earn their place, stop worshiping discounts and start measuring campaigns by loyalty and long-term value, and invest in your people. Commit to preparing for the year you actually live in, not the one you wish you had.

And since you can’t control the weather, the regulators, or what the shop down the road decides to do, you can control whether January is just a hangover or the month you quietly build the foundation to outlast everybody who’s still bragging about how busy they were on Black Friday 2025.

This industry is tough, and that’s not changing. But the operators who treat January as a reset instead of a lull are the ones who will still be here when everyone else’s race to the bottom hits the ground.

Meg Sanders is CEO and co-founder of Canna Provisions.

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January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

13

When nonprofits need a little help When you are on the receiving end of nonprofit requests for advice, information and assistance, you quickly realize how vast and variable the needs are. Over the years, the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires has researched solutions and partnered with providers to help local nonLiana profits fulfill Toscanini their missions.

Nonprofit Here is a Notes menu of programs and services Berkshire nonprofits might consider in 2026 to find needed expertise, implement projects and tasks, and increase organizational capacity. Information on all of these resources can be found online at npcberkshires. org/benefits/ or by emailing info@npcberkshires.org.

FIND BOARD MEMBERS We often advise nonprofits to profile the boards of organizations doing similar work. What are the affiliations of those folks?

Are they working or retired, small business owners or part of a large corporation? The answers sometimes offer clues about where to look for your own board prospects.

Additionally, consider the people you do business with including vendors and professionals in the banking, insurance and legal spheres. They have the expertise; perhaps they’d like to serve! Think about people who

may have both interest in your mission and time to help including trailing spouses, stay-athome moms, and those already volunteering in some capacity who might be able to step up into a leadership role on the board.

NPC’s Get on Board matching service is relatively new but has successfully placed dozens of community members on boards.

Nonprofits simply fill out a form indicating needs and a real person will help find a good match.

Community members wishing to serve can also fill out a form indicating their interests and availability. The process takes time but the service gets rave reviews for high quality matches. NPC hosts a live Get on Board event each spring.

HIRE FRACTIONAL STAFF For high-level, on-demand assistance with fundraising, strategic planning, program evaluation and more, consider highly skilled fractional staffers. They’re cost effective (no payroll tax and benefits), flexible and experienced.

This model is growing in popularity and we are lucky to have a Boston-based provider founded by a thought-leader in the industry, Vicki Burkhart. Her firm is called The More than Giving Company and it focuses specifically on the nonprofit sector. It provides both fractional staff and virtual assistance for administrative tasks.

If you’re looking for help with accounting, bookkeeping, payroll or HR, get in touch with Third Sector New England. Also

Where to turn ...

For more resources to help you in the new year, check out the resource section of NPC’s website at npcberkshires.org/resources/

KATIE MCKELLICK

The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires hosts a Get on Board event every spring. Its matching service has successfully placed dozens of community members on nonprofit boards.

Boston-based, TSNE was named a 2025 Top 100 Women-Led Business in Massachusetts.

A NEW HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION NPC has partnered with Acrisure (formerly Toole Insurance) to offer an accessible health care plan with flexibility, more predictability, and easy administration. Called the Commonwealth Benefits Collaborative, the initiative starts on July 1, 2026, and includes eight competitively priced plans.

EASY-TO-MANAGE 401K PROGRAM The Massachusetts Defined Contribution CORE Plan (“CORE Plan”) is a tax deferred and post-tax 401(k) savings plan for nonprofit organizations with fewer than 100 employees. The mission of the CORE Plan is to help Massachusetts nonprofit employees save and invest for a financially secure retirement.

The Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General, as sponsor of the CORE Plan, assumes most administrative and investment responsibilities, reducing the burden on participating nonprofit employers. NPC members receive a $500 discount off the plan start-up fee.

MAKE GRANT RESEARCH EASIER Anyone who has endeavored to research grants has seen the words, “no unsolicited proposals accepted.” Enter GrantStation’s database, which includes thousands of grant opportunities, all active and accepting proposals in the coming year.

GrantStation’s team of researchers crafts useful funder profiles based on the funders’ website, annual report, audited financials, and 990 reports.

It also offers practical tips on researching and writing grants and are available to assist you

in your search. I find that the database is smaller than some others, but is more finely curated so that searches result in a viable list of prospects. NPC members get a deep discount on GrantStation membership.

ENLIST SKILLS-BASED VOLUNTEERS Catchafire.org is a virtual volunteering platform that matches skilled professionals with nonprofits needing help on specific projects. Nonprofits can ask a question or get pro bono assistance on an entire project such as starting a nonprofit, designing a logo or creating a marketing plan.

Skills-based volunteering saves organizations a significant amount of money and time but be aware that Catchafire does not vet their volunteers. You will want to virtually interview several candidates to find the right person for your project.

For more resources to help you in the new year, check out the resource section of NPC’s website at npcberkshires.org/ resources/ Liana Toscanini is the founder of Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, helping nonprofits connect, learn and grow since 2016.

Wishing you and yours all the best in the New Year!

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14

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Look for more than trust in adviser According to a recent YouGov survey, the most important factor for people choosing an investment professional is trustworthiness. In fact, trustworthiness ranked higher than fees, qualifications and expertise, and personalized approach and attention.

Going back to my early days as a financial planner (and occasional writer), I remember regularly telling people to Luke look for someDelorme one “trustMoney Talk worthy.” For many years, it seemed this was the primary qualification for a financial adviser or planner.

I think the narrative of trustworthiness grew out of a time when the financial industry operated behind a curtain. This was a time before the internet, before low-cost investment options, when there was less transparency. Some financial advisers in those early days may have been unscrupulous, potentially even putting clients into products that helped the adviser more than the client.

But nowadays people seem to be better informed about the financial industry. More consumers now ask whether an adviser is a fiduciary — a term that was unfamiliar to most people 10 years ago. (For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a fiduciary has a legal and ethical obligation to act solely in the

best interest of the client.)

People have much higher expectations today about trust in their financial advisers, and the industry has shifted as a result. A growing portion of the industry now operates under a fiduciary standard. According to the SEC, the number of registered investment advisors (RIAs) has grown from about 6,500 to nearly 16,000 in the last 25 years. The regulatory assets under management have grown sevenfold over this same time.

Anecdotally, the advisers I meet all seem trustworthy.

It’s possible that I’m naive, but the people I meet in this business seem to be authentic and ethical, even if we do things differently. Trustworthiness is critically important, but in today’s environment an adviser or planner wouldn’t stay in business very long without meeting that basic expectation.

Which makes me think it’s past the time to seek something greater than integrity alone from financial professionals.

First, how about finding someone with the knowledge, skill and expertise that you need? If you’re planning for retirement, does the adviser have expertise in retirement planning? Do they have knowledge of Social Security claiming and retirement withdrawal strategies? If you’re looking for someone to manage investments, what experience does a potential advisor have in analyzing markets?

Not all advisers have comprehensive expertise, so find

METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION

For many years, trustworthiness seemed like it was the primary qualification for a financial adviser or planner. But nowadays, it’s past the time to seek something greater than integrity alone from financial professionals. someone that meets your needs.

You might consider seeking an advisor with past experience or credentials such as undergraduate and graduate college degrees, and designations such as the CFP (Certified Financial Planner), ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst).

That should get you from trustworthy to competent. And then it’s important to find someone who can communicate. This can mean different things to different people. Some want an advisor who can talk at a simple level about the investments and strategies they use. Others might want a deeper conversation about investment strategy or tax planning. Some would rather avoid oral communica-

tion and prefer an adviser who can communicate effectively in writing. The important thing is to find an adviser who can meet your communication needs.

You also want to establish guidelines for the frequency of communication. Do you prefer a more hands-off adviser who only contacts you once a year for a quick review, or are you more comfortable with quarterly check-ins?

Finally, what about the cost of services? You wouldn’t hire a roofer without pricing out a few options, so why would you take the first quote that comes your way with a financial adviser? How does your adviser get paid? Is the adviser compensated through commissions on financial products or does

the adviser take an annual percentage of assets?

The business model will impact the relationship. An adviser who is compensated through commissions may have different incentives than one who operates under a fee-based or fee-only model. Some investors prefer a traditional brokerage relationship, while others want the ongoing planning focus typical of RIAs. Selecting an adviser is an opportunity to interview lots of types of people and find one right for you. You wouldn’t buy the first dishwasher you saw at the store, and you shouldn’t necessarily pick the first adviser you meet. This is someone that you might pay thousands of dollars a year to for the rest of your life. Try to find someone that will be the right fit for you. For business owners, executives, and retirees alike, the stakes are high when selecting a financial adviser.

Trustworthiness is now the baseline, not the end goal. In an industry that has become more transparent, investors can look beyond character alone and look for real value — expertise, communication, alignment of incentives, and the ability to meet their specific needs. A trustworthy adviser is essential, but the right adviser should also be skilled, a clear communicator, and equipped to help you reach your goals.

Luke Delorme is director of financial planning at Tableaux Wealth in Stockbridge. Reach him at (413) 2642404 or Luke@TableauxWealth.com.

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January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

15

Will market find its footing in 2026? home sales activity.

As we look toward 2026, NAR Chief Economist Lawthere’s a noticeable shift in the rence Yun described 2026 as a way housing economists are year of opportunity, citing rising talking about the real estate inventory and gradually easing market. The language has mortgage rates as key drivers. moved toward something more NAR projects existing-home measured. sales could increase by roughly After several 14 percent nationwide. years marked While mortgage rates are by volatility, unlikely to return to historic tight inventory, lows, economists expect them to and persistent settle closer to 6 percent, enough affordability to improve affordability without pressures, nareigniting the price pressures tional forecasts Sanda J. that dominated earlier cycles. now suggest Carroll What economists seem most the market is Real estate aligned on is this: the housing slowly, and market’s challenges are no londeliberately, regaining its balance. That matters ger about demand. People still want to buy homes. Household well beyond real estate. Housing formation continues. The real availability affects workforce barrier has been access. stability, business growth, and As Yun put it at the summit, the long-term health of our “The demand for homeownercommunities. ship has never been the problem.

The Realtor.com 2026 The problem has been affordNational Housing Forecast ability and supply.” reflects that change in tone.

That perspective shows up Economists expect continued consistently across forecasts. improvement on the supply Many would-be buyers haven’t side, with active listings prodisappeared; they’ve simply jected to increase by nearly been waiting for conditions 9 percent. That would mark that feel workable again. the third consecutive year of This is especially clear when inventory growth. looking at first-time buyers.

While supply will still fall NAR’s long-running research, short of pre-pandemic levels, which has tracked first-time the direction itself is importbuyer participation for more ant. Realtor.com projects the than 40 years, shows just how market to hover around 4.6 difficult entry into homeownmonths of inventory, a range ership has become. that suggests neither buyers Today, firstnor sellers time buyers hold all the account for cards.

While a more balanced only about Home 21 percent of prices also national market is primary resare exencouraging, affordability idence purpected to chases, the grow more and availability here will lowest share modestly, on record. around 2.2 continue to depend on Historically, percent, that number signaling local conditions and was closer to a move local decisions.

40 percent. away from The gap tells the rapid an important price acstory about how affordability celeration of recent years challenges have sidelined an and toward something more entire generation of potential sustainable. homeowners.

That outlook closely mirrors Economists generally agree what emerged from the Nathat improving inventory and tional Association of Realtors modest relief on mortgage rates 2026 Forecast Summit, where in 2026 could help some firsteconomists expressed cautious time buyers reenter the market. optimism about a rebound in

GETTY IMAGES

While supply is expected to still fall short of pre-pandemic levels in 2026, national forecasts now suggest the market is slowly, and deliberately, regaining its balance.

At the same time, there is broad acknowledgment that progress will not be uniform.

Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale has described the coming year as one that “leans slightly more in buyers’ favor,” but she and others caution that national trends don’t translate evenly at the local level. Markets with strong job growth, a diverse housing stock, and proactive local policies are likely to see improvement sooner than areas where supply remains constrained or incomes lag behind housing costs.

That distinction matters in Berkshire County, where housing dynamics are shaped by very local realities. Limited new construction, an aging housing stock, and a significant share of second homes and seasonal properties mean that even small shifts in demand or inventory can have noticeable effects.

While a more balanced national market is encouraging, affordability and availability here will continue to depend on local conditions and local decisions.

Real estate is, and always has been, deeply local. National forecasts are useful as a framework, but they are not guarantees. Housing outcomes vary widely based on employment trends, zoning and land-use policies, infrastructure investment, and the availability of workforce housing.

Local change matters. Even in a nationally improving market, mismatches between housing costs and wages can persist if they aren’t addressed intentionally.

A stabilizing housing market has real potential benefits. It can support employee retention, help attract new talent, and encourage long-term investment. But those benefits

don’t happen automatically.

The forecasts for 2026 suggest momentum is building, yet lasting improvement will depend on local action, particularly when it comes to expanding housing choice and improving affordability for first-time buyers and middle-income households.

In many ways, 2026 is not shaping up to be a dramatic turning point. Instead, it looks more like a year where the housing market finds steadier footing.

Economists broadly agree that balance, slower growth, and renewed activity are ahead. The real opportunity for communities will be translating those national tailwinds into local outcomes that strengthen the economy and support the people who live and work here.

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

Financial resolutions for the new year A new year is always an opportunity to reset, refocus, and make meaningful changes — and your finances are a great place to start. Whether 2025 brought stability, surprises, or a mix of both, 2026 offers a clean slate to build healthier financial habits.

The key to setting financial resolutions you’ll actually keep is to make them realistic, measurable, and rooted in your current circumRay Smith stances. Small, consisMoney Matters tent steps taken early in the year can pave the way for long-term financial confidence.

A smart first resolution for 2026 is to get clear on where your money is actually going. Many people think they know their monthly expenses, but a closer look often reveals surprises. Start the year by reviewing your last three months of bank and credit card statements. Identify your essential spending, discretionary spending, and any recurring charges you may no longer use.

Even trimming a few small expenses

— streaming services you forgot about or can significantly improve your financial subscriptions you don’t fully use — can trajectory without putting pressure on free up funds for more meaningful goals. your day-to-day lifestyle.

Pair this with a simple monthly budget Reducing debt should also be high on or spending plan to give your dollars a the resolution list. High-interest debt, job before they leave especially from credit your account. cards, can silently Next, make saving erode your financial Small, consistent steps a non-negotiable. If progress. Begin by you don’t already listing all your debts, taken early in the year have an emergency their balances, and can pave the way for fund, 2026 is the year interest rates. to build one. Aim for Choose a stratlong-term financial three to six months of egy — either the essential expenses, but “avalanche method,” confidence. don’t let that number which focuses on overwhelm you. paying down the highStart with a goal of saving $500 or est interest rates first, or the “snowball $1,000 — an amount that can prevent a method,” which starts with the smallest minor inconvenience from turning into balances for quicker wins. If debt feels debt. Set up automatic transfers from overwhelming, consider consolidating your checking to your savings account at a lower interest rate or speaking with each payday. Automation removes the a financial counselor who can help you temptation to spend first and save later. create a manageable plan.

If you already have an emergency Another powerful resolution for 2026 fund, consider boosting contributions to is to strengthen your financial literacy. retirement accounts, especially if your Commit to learning more about topics employer offers a match. Increasing your like investing, homebuying, insurance or contribution by even 1 percent per year planning for major life milestones. Even

dedicating 15 minutes a week to reading financial articles or listening to educational podcasts can deepen your understanding and empower better decisions.

And don’t overlook opportunities available through your bank or employer — many offer workshops, consultations or tools designed to help you take control of your financial future.

Finally, revisit your financial goals quarterly. Life changes, and your financial plan should be flexible enough to change with it. Schedule short checkins to review your budget, savings progress and any new priorities. Celebrating small wins throughout the year will keep you motivated and confident in your progress.

As 2026 begins, the most important step is simply getting started. With clarity, consistency, and a plan that fits your life, this can be the year you build strong financial habits that last well beyond December.

Ray E. Smith is the senior vice president, marketing and communications at Pittsfield Cooperative Bank.

16

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Real estate transactions Berkshire real estate transactions from Nov. 3-28 ADAMS Jason H. and Paul L. Sniezek sold property at 9 Grandview Terrace, Adams, to Nancy Messerly Sommer, $325,000.

Michael T. Tyler sold property at 15 Second St., Adams, to Crystal Spooner and Toni Magnussen, $248,575.

Gregory C. and Stephany A. Onorato sold property at 8½ Orchard St., Adams, to Nicole and Jonathan Berman, $257,500.

Debra Young and Diane McLain sold property at 93 Lime St., Adams, to Dennis Krzeminski, $124,000.

Grey Fox Realty LLC sold property at 5 East Hoosac St., Adams, to Maia Robbins-Zust, $203,000.

Daniel Pitrovich and Christina Schneider sold property at 10 Hayer St., Adams, to Marci Bachand and Lloyd Hoague, $210,000.

Stephen R., Gerald P., Ronald F., Raymond A., Allan D., and Christopher J. Lemoine sold property at 11 Country Club Ave., Adams, to Carolyn J. Bonner and Noelle A. Lemoine, $180,000.

Rose L. and Ronald R. Mazzeo Jr. sold property at 40 Crandall St., Adams, to Matthew J. and April L. Mazzeo, $360,000.

David L. Krutiak, trustee of the Krutiak Family RT, sold property at West Road, Adams, to James Mullen, $60,000.

YHWH LLC sold property at 53-55 Quality St., Adams, to John D. Duquette Jr., $230,000.

ALFORD James A. Sleeper sold property at 10 Alford Center Road, Alford, to Adrian Collin Cuthbert Hodgson and Christine Elizabeth Hodgson, $1,005,000.

Becket Mark Zukowski and Frank Bradley sold property at Main Street, Becket, to Thomas Serrano, $44,000.

John R. and Karen J. Knowles sold property at 98 Lake Shore Drive, Becket, to Carly Erin Knowles, $275,000.

Susan L. Deacon sold property at 1196 Bancroft Road, Becket, to Scott W. and Becky A. Kingsley, $558,000.

Dylan B. Cope, personal rep. of the Estate of Anthony L. Moody, sold property at 667 King Richard Drive, Becket, to JPMK Properties LLC, $458,000.

Stanley Sadlowski sold property at Benton Hill Road, Becket, to EZ Land Holdings LLC, $68,000.

Donald J. Lyon and Nancy Chassman sold property at 138 Mystic Isle Way, Becket, to Sophy, Sajan and Sandra Thomas and Alexander Nelson Bargar, $1,002,500.

Katherine T. Henry-Schill, trustee of the Barbara S. B. Henry RT, sold property at 74 Greenwater Drive, Becket, to Jesse and Caitlin Howes, $295,000.

Theodore L. and Karen S. Davis sold property at 236 Surriner Road, Becket, to Seth Allen and Penny Sue Lefferts, $675,000.

John Gerson and Rachel Wilhelm Bush sold property at Jacobs Hollow Road, Becket, to Richard and Michael McFarren, $14,500.

CHESHIRE Reynolds Properties LLC sold property at 46 Church St. and 8-10 Depot St., Cheshire, to Jeffrey M. and Jill M. Reynolds, $322,000.

Reynolds Properties LLC sold property at 5254 Church St., Cheshire, to JJ Reynolds LLC, $200,000.

Andrew G. Bedard sold property at 230 Curran Road, Cheshire, to Daniel L. Hopmans, $532,000.

Kent M. Braman and Beth Collier-Braman sold property at 450 North Eagle St., Clarksburg, to Patrick L. Blackman, $349,000.

DALTON Magerick LLC sold property at 519 Kirchner Road, Dalton, to Kevin C. Charlton, $311,000.

Marie Healy, Peter Strzepa and Karen Coleman, trustees of the Marie Healy Beneficiary Trust, Peter and David E. Strzepa, and Karen Coleman sold property at 301 North St., Dalton, to Cole Sunday and Kellie Hardecopf, $315,000.

Lynne C. Rufo sold property at 29 John St., Dalton, to Tammy Somerville, $228,060.

Sean C. McFarlane, trustee of the Joyce Vander Galien Trust — 2002, sold property at 488 East Housatonic St., Dalton, to William Marszalek, $236,900.

Florida, to Z & G LLC, $30,000.

$385,000.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Town of Lanesborough sold property at North Main Street and Prospect Street, Lanesborough, to Joseph and Lisa Trybus, $225,000.

Estate of Beverly F. Greenfield sold property at 22 Castle Hill Ave., Great Barrington, to Clive C. Christie and Karen G. Christie, $630,000.

Carter VanAllen Forringer and James Matthew Earl sold property at Lake Avenue, Great Barrington, to Jerry L. Chen and Shannon L. Bryant, $99,000.

Nancy Kinna and Sandra J. Vandeusen sold property at 204 Cottage St., Great Barrington, to Heidi Moser, $655,500.

Curtiss Blue Hill LLC sold property at 4 Rose Court West, Unit B-2, Great Barrington, to Jae Koo Shin, $393,000.

Virginia Bradley sold property at 234 Long Pond Road, Great Barrington, to Alexander Gerard Harvey and Sofiya Akilova, $1,500,000.

Albenie Marquis, personal rep. of Jeffrey A. Marquis, sold property at 33 Balance Rock Road, Lanesborough, to Logan Traversa, $207,900.

John P. Guitard, trustee of the Guitard FRVT, sold property at Off Potter Mountain Road, Lanesborough, to NStar Electric Company, $20,100.

Lorri Russo sold property at 13 Pleasantview Drive, Dalton, to Virginia M. Kelly, trustee of the MYOB Trust, $277,000.

Mary Ann Norris sold property at 20 Prospect St., Great Barrington, to Robert F. Adam and Signe Adam, $1,997,000.

Seven Sages LLC sold property at 48 Elaine Ave., Dalton, to Adam and Lori Ziegler, $364,000.

Terrafirma Holdings LLC sold property at 2 Magnolia St., Great Barrington, to Zachary Polan and Caitlin Polan, $340,000.

Susan R. Moesley, personal rep. of Mary Burke Moesley, sold property at 25 Balance Rock Road, Lanesborough, to Julia A. and John T. Green, $249,400.

Ilysa Ross-Benjamin and Michael A. Benjamin sold property at 44 Castle Hill Ave., Great Barrington, to Michael G. Jenkins and Juan Javier Romero Vera, $885,000.

Diana S. and Suzanne Y. Solenberger, personal reps. of Avis Young Larese, sold property at 40 Silver St., Lanesborough, to Joshua W. and Amy R. Elgart, $280,000.

Lisa Ann Laramy sold property at 196 Park Ave., Dalton, to CMG Portfolio LLC, $335,000.

Marc S. Schulz and Joan A. Kaplan sold property at 7 Abbey Hill Drive, Great Barrington, to Hillary Pearlman-Ledell and Jeff Ledellaytner, $879,000.

Giovanna B. Demers sold property at 7 Chicopee St., Lanesborough, to Michael Sinopoli, $250,000.

Shelley K. and Richard J. Guyette Jr. sold property at 46 Falls Brook Terrace, Dalton, to John M. and Frances M. Broderick, $70,000.

Margaret Mitchell sold property at 126 Christian Hill Road, Great Barrington, to Jay Scott Lawrence and Melissa Bennett Lawrence, $850,000.

Bruce O. and Lisajo Cullett sold property at 35 Sunnyside Drive, Dalton, to Brian Cimini $369,900.

Craig McClintok, personal rep. of the Estate of Norman C. McClintock, sold property at 44 Eleanor Road, Dalton, to Scott M. and Danielle K. Forgey, $305,000.

HANCOCK

Gregory S. Schneider and Cynthia E. Schneider sold property at 53 Whites Hill Road, Egremont, to M3AJSP Rise LLC, $5,600,000.

Eleanor J. Adams sold property at 310 Brodie Mountain Road, Hancock, to Eleanor J. Adams and Laura King, $168,950.

James J. Pasquini sold property at 375 South State Road, Cheshire, to Brian G. Bedard, trustee of the Cobble Heights RT, $155,000.

Louise Ann Harvey, trustee of Roberta A. Nussbaum Revocable Trust, sold property at 51 Town House Hill Road, Egremont, to Sonny Edward Harvey, $515,000.

Doreen E. and William L. Banks III sold property at 203 Main St., Hancock, to William Henry Von Thaden and Barbara P. Han, $375,000.

Estate of John Greenberger sold property at 91 Undermountain Road, Egremont, to Dwight B. Tobin and Bebe Regnier, $1,550,000.

HINSDALE

Elizabeth K. Green, personal rep. of Roy Martin Wilson, sold property at 378 East Road, Clarksburg, to Stephany A. Onorato and Steven L. Wandrei, $217,000.

Eric Aronson and Jennifer Aronson sold property at 59 Whites Hill Road, Egremont, and 0 Whites Hill Road, Alford, to Michael Kantrowitz, trustee of Michael Kantrowitz Revocable Agreement of Trust, $825,000.

Cynthia D. Schock sold property at 450 River Road, Clarksburg, to Timothy J. Cota, $128,000.

FLORIDA

Geraldine A. Hyde, John E. and Donald W. Dix and Lesea A. Dix, personal rep. of Ernest F. Dix, sold property at 545 Middle Road, Clarksburg, to Cynthia M. Candiloro, $140,000.

Bruce M. Powell sold property at Off Potter Mountain Road, Lanesborough, to NStar Electric Company, $45,600.

Robert F. Adam and Signe Adam sold property at 4 Pleasant View Drive, Great Barrington, to Virginia Bradley, $846,000.

EGREMONT

Jill Renee Oguschewitz and Shawn G. Brierley sold property at 31 Millard Ave., Clarksburg, to Western Mass Construction LLC, $120,000.

Nathan M. and Brittany L. Haines, co-trustees of the Haines FT, sold property at 66 Baker St., Lanesborough, to Daniel Huertas Escobar and Selahrose Ekstrom, $360,000.

Alycia Rando and Garrett Ott sold property at 85 Central Ave., Dalton, to Shaun Squires and Laura Sierra Pacheco, $305,500.

Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 642 Notch Road, Cheshire, to Sara K. Lacombe and Charlotte L. Cornwallis, $440,000.

CLARKSBURG

Jonathan and Misty Ruppert sold property at 39 North Mountain Road, Lanesborough, to Alex and Alyssia Teichert, $685,000.

Margaret Rose Van Peterson sold property at Moores Road, Florida, to Michael A. and Renee C. Tessier, $14,000.

Richard Michal sold property at Tilda Hill Road,

Neil and Susan Kristjansson sold property at 382 Maple St., Hinsdale, to Shane Herberg and Cassidy Brewer, $335,000.

Dorothy B. Stucklen sold property at 49 Robinson Road, Hinsdale, to Joseph A. and Amanda L. Craven, $465,000.

LANESBOROUGH Shirley A. and Bernard E. Beaudin Jr. sold property at 63 Baker St., Lanesborough, to Phoebe Sample Young and Justin Dupee, $269,900.

Jessica Harvey sold property at 15 Olsen Road, Lanesborough, to Keith L. and Paula E. Perry,

Kevin J. Thomson II sold property at 67 Gulf Road., Lanesborough, to Shane W. and Mikayla A. Aitken, $465,000.

Jaclyn M. Tatro sold property at 8 Balance Rock Road, Lanesborough, to Gavin Murach, $235,000.

Pontoosuc Iroquois LLC sold property at 16 Iroquois St., Lanesborough, to Michael A. and Jaclyn M. Tatro, $565,000.

LEE Town of Lee sold property at 350 Antelope Drive, Lee, to David A. and Michael P. Gilmore, $7,000.

Town of Lee sold property at 140 Antelope Drive, Lee, to David A. and Michael P. Gilmore, $17,000.

Steven Schulz sold property at 60 Wood Duck Road, Lee, to Dennise Garcia Sevilla, $615,000.

Marie Y. and Donna M. Rotondo, Kathryn A. Lagrant, Linda J. Pascoe, and Elaine J. Lovato sold property at 40 Stringer Ave. and 362 Bradley St., Lee, to NKS Investment Properties LLC, $400,000.

Sarah Hopkins, personal rep. of the Estate of Austin Alfred Liebenow Sr., sold property at 705 Cape St., Lee, to Jason Sonsini, $90,000.

Challis B. Krulewitz and George A. Brooks Jr. sold property at 165 George St., Lee, to Shannon Steele, $446,000.

Denise M. Hurley sold property at 53 Tabar Ave., Lee, to Leydet Properties LLC, $122,500.

REAL ESTATE, Page 17

January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

17

GETTY IMAGES

Real estate FROM PAGE 16

LENOX Lawrence I. Silverstein and Peter Donovan, trustees of the Lizbeth H. Krupp Irrevocable Trust — 2016 f/b/o Michael sold property at 65 Cliffwood St., Lenox, to George and Lizbeth H. Krupp, $3,800,000.

Frederick J. Beattie-Jacob, personal rep. of the Estate of Albert W. Jacob Jr., sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, to Wendy and Matthew Greiner, $130,000.

Sharon L. Alpert and Gwendolyn J. Adam sold property at 178 New Lenox Road, Lenox, to Herney David Pena Fajardo and Maribel Nino Gonzalez, $500,000.

Andrea J. Bruce sold property at 30A-B Walker St., Lenox, to Lenox Property Holdings LLC, $577,500.

Lennox Heights C7 LLC sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, to Andrea J. Bruce, $189,000.

Barbara Menachem Furman sold property at 14-A Muirfield Drive, Lenox, to Marcia C. Meislin and Steven P. Weinstein, trustees of the Steven P. Weinstein RVT, and Marcia C. Meislin and Steven P. Weinstein, trustees of the Marcia C. Meislin RVT, $1,300,000.

Robert E. Turner sold property at 153 East Dugway Road, Lenox, to Nikita and Aditya Kalluri, and Neeraj and Amita Saxena, $399,000.

at 380 Union St., North Adams, to Sheila Wiegman, $300,000.

Dawn M. Lampiasi, personal rep. of Joseph J. Valotta Jr., sold property at 39 Foucher Ave., North Adams, to David Cousineau, $265,000.

JP Parent Company LLC sold property at 10 Miner St., North Adams, to 10 Miner Street LLC, $131,175.

Justin Hebler and Christine Litano sold property at 449½ East Main St., North Adams, to Riley E. Howard, $172,000.

Mary-Kay Senecal O’Brien sold property at 111 Johnson St., North Adams, to Ella Christine Degiorgis, $248,000.

Chickadee Properties LLC sold property at 299 East Main St., North Adams, to Scott Peeler, $160,000.

James L. Noel, personal rep. of Ronald Alexander Skovera, sold property at 9 B St., North Adams, to William Valois Jr., $247,000.

Amanda L. Beckwith sold property at 388 Ashland St., Unit 1, North Adams, to Katherine George, $114,000.

Abishour Equities LLC sold property at 15 Murray Ave., North Adams, to Bernadette Hakkinen, $255,218.

OTIS Greylock Federal Credit Union sold property at 384 North Main Road, Otis, to Consolati Properties LLC, $315,000.

Laura A. Mensi and Thomas J. Mensi, trustees of Laura Ann Mensi 2017 Revocable Trust Agreement, sold property at 454 Main Street, Unit 2, Monterey, to Patrick Kelly and Adriana Wechsler, $360,000.

Gilbert Isaac Schrank, trustee of the Gilbert Isaac Schrank 2025 Trust, and Nancy Ellen Jones, trustee of the Nancy Ellen Jones 2025 Trust, sold property at 1501 West Center Road, Otis, to Christopher Johnson and Sophia Haeri, $455,000.

Jason Williams and Alicia Williams sold property at 118 Beartown Mountain Road, Monterey, to Ivan Espinoza, $820,000.

Christopher Stankus sold property at 91 Pike Road, Otis, to Timothy and Melissa Anne Descoteaux, $170,000.

Estate of Karl M. Finger sold property at 30 Mountain Laurel Way, Monterey, to John W. Field III, $549,000.

Jill L. and Jonathan S. McFadden, trustees of the Jonathan S. McFadden Living Trust, sold property at 7 Reservoir Heights Road, Otis, to Dawn A. and Matthew J. Murphy, $730,000.

NEW MARLBOROUGH

Catherine W. and Michael C. Vincenti sold property at 126 East Shore Road, Otis, to James J. and Tiffany L. Pignataro, $759,000.

MONTEREY

New Marlborough Cottage LLC sold property at 965 Mill River Great Barrington Road, New Marlborough, to Liam Montano, $325,000.

NORTH ADAMS Neil P. Sondrini and Kellie A. Meehan sold property at 0 Notch Road, North Adams, to Aung Zaw and Jessica G. Lyn, trustees of the Aung Zaw Lyn RVT, $20,500.

Christopher M. Voss sold property at 147-149 Veazie St., North Adams, to Gustavo Carrera and Sara Kate May, $275,000.

David L. and Kristen H. Gamache sold property at 20 Marietta St., North Adams, to Cady Street LLC, $97,500.

Jhon E. Quintero, trustee of the JQ FT, sold property

Seth E. Spielman as personal rep. of the Estate of Stephen Spielman, and Madeleine Drucker, Seth E. and Matthew A. Spielman sold property at Judd Road, Otis, to Lois R. Quartararo, $19,000.

Seth E. Spielman as personal rep. of the Estate of Stephen Spielman, and Madeleine Drucker, Seth E. and Matthew A. Spielman sold property at 128 Judd Road, Otis, to Lois R. Quartararo, $381,000.

Donald R. and Suzanne L. Heatwole sold property at Stebbins Road, Otis, to Virginia Dahms and Marvin Cech, $23,000.

Elaine Ferraro, administratrix of the Estate of Ryan Richard Ferraro and Bethany Ferraro, sold property at Tyringham Road, Otis, to Andrew B. and Erica L. Bell, $63,500.

Tammie L. and Jay R. Larsen II sold property at New Hollywood Road, Otis, to Brian Battista, $17,500.

PERU Janet A. Hernandez sold property at Lafayette Drive, Peru, to Richard D. Laughran Jr., $47,250.

Anthony F. Parise, personal rep. of the Estate of Anthony R. Parise, sold property at 11 Oriole St., Pittsfield, to Sean P. Keenan, $260,000.

Jean M. Lazits sold property at 147 Cole Ave., Pittsfield, to Hali Sherman, $250,000.

Daniel J. McLaughlin sold property at 28 Naples Ave., Pittsfield, to Matthew Joseph and Jennifer McLaughlin, $375,000.

Eduard and Brittany A. Kogan sold property at 49 Revilla Terrace, Pittsfield, to Deborah and Gary Debrino, $445,000.

Andrew and Michele Manzer sold property at 18 Old Farm Lane, Pittsfield, to Old Farm Lane Property LLC, $1,070,000.

PITTSFIELD Daniel Fedullo and Victoria Fiorini sold property at 71 Maplewood Ave., Pittsfield, to Erin R. and Michael E. Fitzgerald, $220,000.

Joseph T. Murphy, personal rep. of the Estate of Thomas M. Murphy, sold property at 31 Louise St., Pittsfield, to Anthony and Heba Thiele, $231,200.

Marines Fatima Dos Reis sold property at 172 First St., Pittsfield, to YHWH LLC, $207,000.

Allengate Properties LLC sold property at 38-44 Allengate Ave., Pittsfield, to Berkshire MRG LLC, $734,500.

Chris J. Martini Jr. sold property at 377-379 Pecks Road, Pittsfield, to Joshua J. Gach, $195,000.

Jeanne-Marie P. Cooper sold property at 96 Boylston St. Extension, Pittsfield, to Robs Estate LLC, $169,100.

Jeffrey R. Lynch, trustee of the 95 Dalton Avenue NT, sold property at 65 Belvidere Ave., Pittsfield, to Charles O’Neil and Sharon Daris, $265,000.

REAL ESTATE, Page 18

The Place For

REAL ESTATE

William J. Parker and Darcey J. Sutula-Parker sold property at 185 Pine Road, Otis, to James Schmidt, $685,000.

Barb Davis-Hassan, CCIM, CRS Broker/Owner

Lori Ikawa, trustee of the 2025 Fogel Irrevocable Trust, sold property at 168 Tolland Road, Otis, to Sherry and Alfred King, $403,899.

Over $155 Million in Residential & Commercial sales over a 37 Year Career

Laura Smith sold property at Route 8, Otis, to Jeffrey and Gina Morrison, $115,000.

Deborah L. Loomis sold property at 179-179 1/2 Elm St., Pittsfield, to Richard L. and Sharon L. Palma, $51,000.

Charles F. and Marion J. Ross, trustees of the Charles F. Ross and Marion J. Ross RVT, sold property at 57 Joseph Drive, Pittsfield, to Judith A. Polucci and Lori M. Stanton, $385,000.

Ryan Alexander Mackbach sold property at 340 Becket Road, Otis, to Shannon Eileen Donovan-Monti, $508,000.

Garfield-Barrister I Limited Partnership sold property at North Main Road, Otis, to Karl D. Laird and Richard J. Kalb II, $140,000.

Jennifer M. McLaughlin sold property at 46 Bossidy Drive, Pittsfield, to Jack E. Trainor Jr., $221,000.

Tel. 1-413-822-4742

Kinzer Denault ABR,PSA

Tel. 1-413-347-0770

www.BarbHassanRealty.com

See all Berkshire County Listing here!

18

Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026

Real estate FROM PAGE 17

Josh Liccardi and Jacqueline Kozak sold property at 44 Marcella Ave., Pittsfield, to James L. and Kathleen A. Armstrong, $255,000.

Salvador Amaral sold property at 12-14 Wallace Place, Pittsfield, to Melissa Auchenbach, $205,000.

Shaun M. Zatorski, trustee of the Zatorski Family NT, sold property at 98 Oak Hill Road, Pittsfield, to Zachary Levesque, $310,000.

Mark E. and Betty A. Connally sold property at 11 Stanley Ave., Pittsfield, to Carlos Aroldo Mejia Aguirre, $270,000.

Christine M. Burbank, trustee of the Christine M. Burbank 2009 RVT, sold property at 411 East New Lenox Road, Pittsfield, to Kelly M. Bruce and Nancy Catherine Bryson, $1,500,000.

Michael L. Newell sold property at 74 Briggs Ave., Pittsfield, to Darren Turner, $220,000.

Tanya E. Lerose sold property at 119 Lenox Ave. and Lenox Avenue, Pittsfield, to Jorge Esquivel Calzoncit, $295,000.

Sheila A. Connors sold property at 81 Dartmouth St., Pittsfield, to Tara Priya Dinicola, $175,000.

Jeffrey Lynch, trustee of the 95 Dalton Avenue NT, sold property at 55 Revilla Terrace, Pittsfield, to Daria Lupacchino, $360,000.

Alan J. Righi, appointed Commissioner in a Petition for Partition brought by Mark X., Paul D., Brian I., John A., and Julie A. Nichols, sold property at 122 Thomas Island Road, Pittsfield, to Mark X., Paul D., Brian I., and John A. Nichols, $1,000,000.

JRCR Realty LLC sold property at 17 Oak St., Pittsfield, to Sean M. and Natalia M. Savitsky, $128,500.

Maureen Lally, personal rep. of the Estate of Leonard Anthony Lally Jr., sold property at 469 Pecks Road, Pittsfield, to Destiny L. Lechner, $330,000.

Matthew P. and Susanna M. Lauro sold property at 25 East New Lenox Road, Pittsfield, to Maryanne Laureyns, $776,000.

Mark J. and Mimi A. Lenihan sold property at 19 Aspen Way, Pittsfield, to Caron A. and Ronald H. Robertson Jr., $875,000.

Christopher D. Nerrie sold property at 165 Connecticut Ave., Pittsfield, to Cathy Leone-Casey, $290,912.50.

Debra A. Kiley sold property at 204 Harryel St., Pittsfield, to Brendan Burke, $392,000.

Johanna Bourquard sold property at 68 Orchard St., Pittsfield, to HMA Properties LLC, $119,900.

Faith R. Newmark sold property at 26 Filomena Drive, Pittsfield, to Benjamin D. and Megan L. Correia, $680,000.

Dennis J. and Linda A. Furlano sold property at 19 Ashley St., Pittsfield, to Tyler J. and Morgan Lefebvre, $300,000.

Brian T., Judith D., Kevin M., Patrick R., and Michael T. Jones sold property at 38 Northumberland Road, Pittsfield, to Joseph N. Newland and Sheryl Ann Conkelton, $398,000.

Patricia A., Jeffrey and Michael Astore, and Michelle Sylvester sold property at 8 Mohegan St., Pittsfield, to Stony Island LLC, $240,000.

Richard Gould, trustee of the Richard Gould RVT, sold property at 583 Pecks Road, Pittsfield, to Pecks583 LLC, $900,000.

Jennifer Zagby sold property at 263 Linden St., Pittsfield, to Leydet Properties LLC, $75,000.

METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION

Walden Lane, Pittsfield, to Paul and Linda Sinopoli, $472,000.

Shane R. and Jennifer M. D’Ascanio sold property at 119 Sampson Parkway, Pittsfield, to Colby Kathleen Aitken, $270,000.

Mary E. MacMillan, personal rep. of the Estate of Alan J. MacMillan, sold property at 33 Highland Ave., Pittsfield, to Annie L. Rutledge, $260,500.

TMR Realty LLC sold property at 28 McKinley Terrace, Pittsfield, to Sebastiana Carnevale and William Augustine Heaphy III, $316,000.

Gregg Siter sold property at Bunce Road, Sheffield, to Mark C. Jenny and Sheri L. Jenny, $109,950.

Daniel Watson, trustee of Watson Realty Trust, sold property at North Main Street, Sheffield, to Watson Realty Holdings LLC, $10,000.

Kristin A. Light sold property at 200 Mountain Drive, Pittsfield, to Marissa J. Light, $500,000.

Marilyn Baseman sold property at 179 South Main St., Sheffield, to Serena W. Granbery, $298,500.

Marissa J. Light sold property at 137 Leona Drive, Pittsfield, to Kristin A. Light, $500,000.

Stephen J. Pollock and Alyce M. Pollock sold property at Canaan Road, Sheffield, to Brandon Wilfore and Taylor Wilfore, $3,400.

John T. and Valerie J. Ireland sold property at 50 Bellmore Drive, Pittsfield, to Alexander Van Dyne and Jaqueline M. Poole, $485,000.

Casey L. Lennon sold property at 1994 East St., Pittsfield, to Lee Kirchner, $249,000.

Martha R. Harris sold property at 315 Lenox Ave., Pittsfield, to Jacob Sinopoli and Nicholas Moscatiello, $244,000.

LSG Investments LLC sold property at 205 Pecks Road, Pittsfield, to Hong Tao Wu, $48,000.

Nelson J. Belot sold property at 602-604 East St., Pittsfield, to Bessie Reynolds and Samantha Chapman, $270,000.

Cassidy E. Brewer and Shane Herberg sold property at 45 Patricia Ave., Pittsfield, to Lawrence Frank and Corinne Marie McCoskery, $262,000.

RICHMOND

Rosemarie A. Blake sold property at 7 Grant St., Pittsfield, to Sharon J. Wong, $300,000.

SHEFFIELD

Kari Ann Mendel sold property at 67 Wealthy Ave., Pittsfield, to Richard Fuhrmann and Dawn Mansoury, $369,900.

Carrie L. Christensen sold property at 81 Northumberland Road, Pittsfield, to Lisa Gail Chambers, $403,000.

Teirza Barber sold property at 124 Second St., Pittsfield, to Kirstie Surber, $186,000.

Amy Moll and Samantha Dascher sold property at 1271 Main Road, Savoy, to Eric Langdon and Candace Davis, $475,000.

Michael J. Wasuk sold property at 51-53 Adam St., Pittsfield, to Judlyn Murray, $190,000.

John J. Giardina sold property at 288-290 Bradford St., Pittsfield, to Yamil Santos, $319,000.

Craig McClintock, personal rep. of the Estate of Norman C. McClintock, sold property at 24 Lebanon Ave., Pittsfield, to Christian Pauta and Lubia Soledad Snow, $237,000.

Kathy Krutiak sold property at 829 Main Road, Savoy, to Joseph C. and Erin E. Routhier, $419,900.

Daniel A. Watson sold property at 1149 North Main St., Sheffield, to Watson Realty Holdings LLC, $250,000.

Juniper Realty Inc. sold property at 399 Hubbard Ave., Pittsfield, to Blythewood Property Management LLC and Philip Houser, trustee of the Philip Pine Street Realty Trust, $815,000.

Keith A. and Jennifer A. Ferris sold property at 25 Kensington Ave., Pittsfield, to Jane R. and Erin E. Strong, $267,000.

$392,000.

Judith M. and William H. Bullett Jr. sold property at 329 Dublin Road, Richmond, to Daniel Joseph McLellan and Roberta Zenn Phillips, $589,500.

SANDISFIELD Dennis Joseph Brighenti, trustee of Brighenti Nominee Trust, sold property at 159 North Main St., Sandisfield, to Ashley Williams and Cole Tarasuk, $80,000.

PatriotPlots, LLC sold property at West Hubbard Road, Sandisfield, to Michael G. Shannon and Christine M. Shannon, $89,000.

Albindian Realty LLC sold property at 31 Henry Ave., Pittsfield, to Miguel Portillo, $250,000.

Samuel Mercier and Elyse Mercier sold property at 194 Sandisfield Road, Sandisfield, to David Randa and Lorelai Randa, $1,425,000.

Shane Aitken sold property at 27 McAllister St., Pittsfield, to Isaiah C. Provencher, $330,000.

SAVOY

Marines Fatima Dos Reis sold property at 247 Linden St., Pittsfield, to Beyond Properties LLC, $219,000.

Susan J. Marko and Anne B. Meczywor sold property at 0 Hawley Road, Savoy, to Kathleen Budaj and John Truskowski Jr., $50,000.

Pamela M. Soldato, individually and as trustee of the Pamela M. Soldato 2015 FT, sold property at 28

Scott W. and Becky A. Kingsley sold property at 32 Scott Road, Savoy, to Noah Grimes and Lily Lesieur,

Federal National Mortgage Association sold property at 454 Sheffield Plain Road, Sheffield, to Alexander M. Rose and August E. Rose, $372,500.

Linda Quick Hagenkotter, trustee of Linda Quick Hagenkotter Revocable Trust, sold property at 74 Boardman St., Sheffield, to Kevin N. Wilkinson, $65,000.

STOCKBRIDGE Harrison M. and Jacqueline K. Ackerman sold property at 42 East St., Stockbridge, to Jacob D. Miller and Zachary Grube, $445,000.

Sanford B. and Karyn L. Panitch and Michelle Panitch Lester sold property at 59 Hawthorne St., Stockbridge, to Lindsay Packard-Dashew and Jason Dashew, $587,500.

Rivi Katz and Esther Hersch sold property at 19 Hawthorne Road, Stockbridge, to Daniel and Vivian Chill, $750,000.

Rachel Donner, trustee of the Rachel Donner 2020 FT, sold property at 7 Mahkeenac Heights Road, Stockbridge, to Ben S. Vainer and Laura J. Babey, $403,000.

Howard Unker, trustee of the Howard Unker RVT Agreement, sold property at 19 Hawthorne Road, Stockbridge, to Fern C. Portnoy, $814,000.

Andrea Abramowitz and Penny Estomin sold property at 11 Housatonnuck Road, Stockbridge, to Ryan Scott Beger and Stacey McClellan, $400,000.

Joseph Short and McCaela Donovan sold property at 15 Mahkeenac Heights Road, Stockbridge, to Joshua P. and Renee J. Levine, $840,000.

TYRINGHAM Judy A. Vilmain sold property at Main Road, Tyringham, to Arthur and Rochelle Green, and Kerry L. and Gail N. Kuhn, trustees of the Kerry and Gail Kuhn CP Trust, $122,500.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE Scott W. Sawyer sold property at 3 Swamp Road,

West Stockbridge, to Christopher Bocchiaro and Robin Donovan Bocchiaro, $435,000.

Scott W. Sawyer sold property at 5 Swamp Road, West Stockbridge, to Clerestory Light LLC, $100,000.

Steven H. Dudley and Mindi S. Dudley sold property at 7 Maple View Drive, West Stockbridge, to Jonathan Robert Behr and Allison Behr, trustees of Behr Family Trust, $967,500.

Stanley Skriloff, trustee of Stanley Skriloff Revocable Trust and of Susan Skriloff Revocable Trust, sold property at 5 Easland Road, West Stockbridge, to Stephen I. Vladeck and Karen S. Vladeck, $1,650,000.

J&G LLC sold property at Swamp Road, West Stockbridge, to Mary Feldman, $70,000.

WILLIAMSTOWN CBR Funding LLC sold property at 217 Main St., Williamstown, to Karampatsos & Associates LLC, $115,000.

Bruce J. Goff sold property at 1000 Simonds Road, Williamstown, to William and Jennifer Palmer Walker, $540,000.

Richard E. Mayer, trustee of the Mayer FNT, sold property at 1151 Hancock Road, Williamstown, to Robert and Melissa Langenbeck, $650,000.

James E. Montepare, trustee of the James E. Montepare 2014 RVT, sold property at 73-79 Water St., Williamstown, to 16 Water Street LLC, $722,500.

Robert W. Steele, personal rep. of Kim Ann Steele, sold property at 285 Sand Springs Road, Williamstown, to Bradford S. and Bernadette M. Smith, $225,000.

Michael John, James Simon Glanzer and Marla Sue Glanzer Curtis, trustees of the Glanzer FNT, sold property at 1351 Hancock Road, Williamstown, to Eric A. Wolcott and Claudia J. Glennan, $757,000.

Jonathan P. and Kathy E. Murphy sold property at 73 Harrison Ave., Williamstown, to Garret Harvey, $213,000.

WINDSOR Anthony and Filomena Puyia sold property at Off Savoy Hollow Road, Windsor, to Jacob N. and Lauren J. Schutz, $5,000.

Mary A. and John E. Richardson, Katherine Edwards and Adrien Rondeau sold property at 1008 Windsor Bush Road, Windsor, to Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc., $50,0000.

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.

January 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

19

People in the Berkshires The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has appointed Anna Youngmann as its new North County community coordinator, working with the countywide Berkshire Overdose and Prevention Collaborative.

Youngmann will spearhead the North County HEAL Coalition, a multidisciplinary collaborative dedicated to addressing substance use disorder in the region.

As community coorYoungmann dinator, Youngmann’s duties will include providing direct outreach services, implementing evidence-based programs, and developing strategic partnerships critical to the coalition’s mission of fostering a healthier community.

Youngmann’s background includes significant work with highly vulnerable populations, specifically survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking with co-occurring substance use issues.

This experience has established her as an expert in understanding the critical intersection of trauma histories and substance use.

Considine Leary & Arnold LLP has welcomed Haley Schopp as a new partner specializing in real estate and land use, estate planning and business law.

A native of Canaan, Conn., and licensed to practice in both Connecticut and Massachusetts, Schopp joins attorneys Michael Considine and Shawn Leary, Schopp as well as Adrienne Arnold, who joined the firm as a partner last year, specializing in real estate, probate and estate planning.

Schopp attended The George Washington University Law School, where she graduated as Arnold a Thurgood Marshall Scholar in 2023.

Arnold graduated in 2017 from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was a member of the Houston Law Review.

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures has hired Kristen Moriarty as the nonprofit’s new development director.

Moriarty leads a multipronged fundraising effort, including cultivating and stewarding individual donors, orchestrating donor events, and overseeing BAV’s grant portfolio of private and corporate foundations.

She came to the organization from Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, where she held positions in development and program Moriarty management, including senior manager of individual giving and program manager for the Center for Actor Training. She is also a professional actor and acting teacher, with experience in event management, sales supervision, and copywriting/content creation.

She began her role at Berkshire Agricultural Ventures earlier this fall.

In tandem with her hiring, the organization added a program and development associate to support development efforts and expand capacity for farmer-focused programming.

Based in Great Barrington, the organization has a staff of nine and serves farmers in parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

The Williamstown + Atlanta Art

Conservation Centers has appointed Briann G. Greenfield, PhD, as executive director.

Greenfield joins the center from the National Endowment for the Humanities, where she held the post of division director, preservation and dccess.

Greenfield has an extensive background in leadership, historical scholarship, collections management and grant making.

She gained degrees in History from the University of New Hampshire and completed both her master’s in Greenfield American civilization/ museum studies and PhD in American civilization from Brown University.

Since opening in 1977, the center has built a reputation as a place of excellence for analytics and the conservation of paintings, objects, furniture, frames, and works on paper.

Located on the campus of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, the Williamstown + Atlanta Art Conservation Centers is an independent, nonprofit regional art conservation center dedicated to the preservation and treatment of works of art and material culture. A second center in Atlanta has close ties to the High Museum of Art. MountainOne has appointed Brett Brbovic as senior vice president and chief financial officer of MountainOne Financial, MHC, and its subsidiary, MountainOne Bank.

Brbovic will join the leadership team operating from the company’s headquarters in North Adams.

In his capacity as chief financial officer, Brbovic oversees MountainOne’s financial strategy, operational efficiency and balance sheet risk management. Reporting directly to President and CEO Robert Fraser, he works closely with other senior leaders to align financial and Brbovic operational goals with the organization’s strategic vision.

Brbovic joins MountainOne with more than 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. His career spans leadership roles in accounting, financial strategy and executive management, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Berkshire Bank and its parent company, Berkshire Hills Bancorp.

He has a master of science in accounting from Western New England University.

MountainOne Bank has appointed former Berkshire resident Kevin Carpenter as vice president, commercial lending officer, working from the bank’s Rockland location and serving the Greater Boston area.

In this role, Carpenter leads business development efforts and oversees a portfolio of commercial relationships across the region.

His responsibilities include loan origination, deposit growth, and portfolio management, with a focus on delivering financing solutions that support business expansion and commuCarpenter nity growth.

Carpenter joins MountainOne Bank with nearly a decade of experience in commercial banking, most recently as a relationship manager with South Shore Bank and previously as vice president, portfolio manager with Eastern Bank.

Carpenter earned a bachelor of arts in finance from Bentley University and is currently pursuing a certificate

in commercial real estate from Boston University. He also participated in the MassBankers New England Leadership Development Program.

Susan Cross has been appointed to the new position of director of curatorial affairs at Mass MoCA following a nationwide search.

Cross has a longstanding history and commitment to the museum, serving as senior curator and recently as interim director of visual arts.

Coming to Mass MoCA from The Guggenheim Museum in New York, she joined Mass MoCA six years after the museum opened its doors, and is the museum’s longest-serving and senior-most curator.

In this role, Cross leads the museum’s curatorial vision and strategy, overseeing the development and implementation of innovative exhibitions and programs that engage diverse audiences and uphold the creative freedom of Cross artists, while supporting the museum’s curatorial, studios and fabrication teams to advance the museum’s mission in close collaboration with the museum’s director.

At Mass MoCA, Cross has curated over 40 exhibitions, developed over 70 new commissions and published over 20 catalogues and monographs.

Cross is the curator of the upcoming group exhibition “Technologies of Relation” on view at Mass MoCA beginning Feb. 21, 2026.

The Clark Art Institute has appointed Lara Yeager-Crasselt to serve as the first Aso O. Tavitian curator of Early Modern European Painting and Sculpture.

Yeager-Crasselt is currently the curator and department head of European Painting and Sculpture at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where she oversees the museum’s collection of 15th- through 18th-century painting and sculpture, including its research, exhibition, loans, acquisitions Yeager-Crasselt and publication.

Prior to her current role at the Baltimore Museum of Art, she held prestigious curatorial and research positions at The Leiden Collection in New York and at KU Leuven, Belgium, among others. From 2015–17, Yeager-Crasselt served as the Clark’s interim curator of painting and sculpture.

“An Exquisite Eye: Introducing the Aso O. Tavitian Collection” will open in June 2026, and will showcase works by many of the most acclaimed artists of the early modern era.

Yeager-Crasselt joins the institute’s cross-departmental team planning the construction of the Tavitian Wing, which will provide a permanent home for the Tavitian Collection.

MountainOne Bank has promoted Peter Duckett to assistant vice president, commercial loan officer, recognizing his contributions to the growth of the bank’s commercial lending portfolio and his commitment to clients across the region.

In this role, Duckett supports commercial lending activities Duckett through loan origination, portfolio management, financial analysis, and client relationship development. He works closely with local businesses to help them access financing that supports growth and strength-

ens the regional economy, reflecting MountainOne’s ongoing commitment to community and customer success.

Before joining MountainOne as a portfolio manager in February 2024, Duckett spent a decade at Brookline Bank, where he held several positions, most recently as portfolio manager.

Duckett holds a degree in economics and business management from Assumption University.

Berkshire Community College has announced the addition of five new staff members.

Meghan Bone joins BCC as special programs coordinator, Bridge to College, bringing over a decade of experience leading college readiness programs for high school and firstyear college students. She previously worked as the Eureka! director at Girls Inc. of the Valley and as the STEM Starter Academy director at Springfield Technical Community College.

Andrew Liebenow Bone joins BCC as HVAC mechanic II. He holds an associate degree in environmental science from BCC and a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Broward College. Most recently, he served as Liebenow a senior maintenance technician for the Florida Department of Transportation.

Anna Mester joins BCC as coordinator of instructional design.

Most recently, she served as program Mester manager of public engagement and research impacts at the University of Michigan. She has also served as an instructional consultant at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Mester began her career as a faculty Singer of Spanish and Portuguese at UMass Boston.

Jane Singer joins BCC as executive director of Human Resources.

She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from New York University and brings more than a Visser decade of HR leadership experience across diverse industries, including hospitality, retail, and multistate operations. Most recently, she served as director of HR strategy for resort operations at Holiday Inn Club Vacations, where she led organizational redesign efforts, enhanced HR data systems and partnered closely with business leaders to strengthen engagement, retention and succession planning.

Joshua Visser joins BCC as a graphic designer. Having grown up in western Canada, he moved to the United States as a teenager. He attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, studying digital media production, television production and graphic design. After university, Visser participated in the Disney College Program, where he drove the Walt Disney World monorail. Following his time at Disney, he began his career in digital media — first in educational publishing, and later in the music industry.

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Berkshire Business Journal

January 2026