Berkshire Business Journal - June 2022

All in the family

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

Four Dalton cousins team up to open Soulful Intentions.

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Berkshire Business Journal JUNE 2022 | VOL. 1, NO. 1

Tiptoeing back to

normal Berkshire cultural institutions cautiously plan for first full season since the pandemic

BY JOHN TOWNES

A

PITTSFIELD

s Berkshire County enters its annual summer season of peak cultural activity and tourism, the region’s theaters, museums and other venues have planned full schedules and are hoping for a return to the busy pace that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Representatives of these organizations say they are optimistic that this season will be closer to the level of activity and attendance that traditionally characterized the summer cultural calendar before 2020, when COVID-19 emerged and disrupted all aspects of their scheduling, operations and financial management.

However, the pandemic is still here, so no one is taking anything for granted, especially after the virus surged in the Berkshires again in May. This virus has proven to be intractable and unpredictable, so Berkshire cultural institutions are prepared to respond to significant surges in cases and the emergence of new variants.

NORMAL, Page 9

Berkshire Theatre Group Executive Director Nick Paleologos on the stage at one of BTG’s venues, the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

He believes that this year’s summer season will be “closer to resembling pre-pandemic normalcy,” although he concedes that “anything is possible.”

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

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Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

Front pages

Welcome to the Berkshire Business Journal The Berkshire Business Journal is taking on a vital role in the region’s economy and in the lives of commerce-oriented people like yourself. Our mission is simple: Keep Berkshire County’s business-to-business conversation alive and thriving in these pages.

For business-minded people like yourself, you can relate to our mission here. You know it’s important to be on top of trends, new businesses, different opportunities, economic development, business challenges, risks and rewards … the list of needs goes on. You will find answers here.

Furthermore, we invite you to contribute to and participate in the conversation around building the Berkshires. We have endured extraordinarily challenging times, and they’re not over. And there’s no better place, no bigger audience than the one that convenes here each month in the Berkshire Business Journal.

We have spent the past couple months preparing for the debut of The Berkshire Business Journal. Our aim is to sustain our mission and do right by our business-minded readers and the advertisers who support us. We will continue with the familiar — news of new businesses, real estate transactions, people in the news, etc. — and introduce updates along the way — new columns, new voices.

With this in mind, we are grateful to Brad Johnson. For

Tony Dobrowolski, pictured with his dog, Peyton, is the editor of the new Berkshire Business Journal, which begins publication with this issue.

Dobrowolski has been The Berkshire Eagle’s main business writer for 14 years.

BEN GARVER BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

the past 25 years, Brad poured his heart and soul into Berkshire Trade & Commerce. As we have long admired his publication’s insightful and in-depth coverage of the area’s business news, we have, with his permission, borrowed heavily from the template he established.

As you likely noticed our cover story, we are fortunate to have John Townes writing for the Berkshire Business Journal.

When it comes to reporting Berkshire business news, his coverage has been essential reading for the past 25 years.

So, we invite you to contribute to this conversation. Here are

the ways to do that.

1.

Read the Berkshire Business Journal. It’s free and it’s monthly, arriving in mailboxes and at locations throughout the Berkshires around the 7th of each month.

To former postal subscribers of Berkshire Trade & Commerce, we took the liberty of adding you to our mailing list To be added to the Berkshire Business Journal mailing list, send an email to circstaff@berkshireeagle.com or call 413-496-6355. Or, look us up at berkshirebusinessjournal.com.

2.

Share your news with the Berkshire Business Journal. If you have a company promotion, a new business or a new venture, let the Berkshires know about it. Remember the 5 W’s. Remember, brief is better. Email text and photos to BBJ@newenglandnewspapers.com.

3.

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

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Every issue of the Berkshire Business Journal reaches more than 6,000 business owners and professionals in the Berkshires.

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We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to future ones.

Let us know what you’d like to read in the Berkshire Business Journal. We’re very interested to hear from you.

Tony Dobrowolski, the longtime business writer at The Berkshire Eagle, will be taking on the stewardship of the Berkshire Business Journal as its editor. To reach him, email tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle. com or call him at 413-496-6224.

You may also reach out to Kevin Moran, the executive editor, at kmoran@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6201.

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Berkshire Business Journal

3

Dalton cousins launch gift store with a

soulful vibe

By Tony Dobrowolski

Four first cousins, from left, Heidi Raymaakers, Casey DiNicola, Kira Staubach-Smith and Taylor Staubach, sell different homemade items at Soulful Intentions, above, a gift shop that Raymaakers recently opened in Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD — They grew up playing to-

gether as children, then went away to school. But they maintained their relationships as adults and remained close ever since.

So when Heidi Raymaakers found a physical space for the online jewelry business that she had started in 2016, it seemed only natural that she would invite her three cousins to join her in the venture.

The result is Soulful Intentions, a new gift shop owned by Raymaakers where she and cousins Taylor Staubach, Kira Staubach-Smith and Casey DiNicola all sell their own homemade items in a small space inside the Hinsdale House on Wendell Avenue.

Taylor Staubach, 35, and Kira Staubach-Smith, 39, are sisters. DiNicola is 27 and Raymaakers, 31. The four women, granddaughters of noted Berkshire County Realtor Martha Thompson, whom the group refers to as the “matriarch” of their family, are first cousins.

Their mothers are sisters.

“Heidi is the connector,” DiNicola said of Raymaakers, who grew up in Pittsfield and now lives in Dalton. The Staubach sisters and DiNicola all grew up in Dalton and still live there.

Raymaakers, who is a single mother, began making jewelry, bracelets and earrings and selling them out of her home six years ago. She also sold her homemade items at outdoor events like Third Thursdays in Pittsfield and at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge.

But she wanted to have a physical space, a place “to empower women and bring on local creators.”

She found one in January when her friend, Alicia Powers, who runs the Four One Three Salon on the first floor of the Hinsdale House, offered her the use of a large extra room that is located next to the salon’s front entrance.

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

A pocket sized flower press, left, easily transported for keepsake-worthy floral finds along the Berkshire trails, is displayed at Soulful Intentions.

“Alicia told me that she had this space,” Raymaakers said. “I checked it out and it was perfect.”

As its name suggests, Soulful Intentions definitely has a spiritual vibe — Raymaakers said her goal was to open a “spiritual boutique.” That essence is reflected in the products that each of the four cousins make.

Raymaakers is a practitioner of Reiki, an energy healing technique that promotes relaxation and reduces stress and anxiety through gentle touch. She uses the space for tarot card readings and coaching in addition to selling her homemade jewelry, bracelets and earrings.

“All of my pieces of jewelry are intentional,” she said. “Each stone has a different meaning. The bracelets are for stress

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relief. Each one has a daily affirmation that you say when you put it on.”

Staubach-Smith makes smoke bunting wands, which she refers to as “intention kits.” Smoke wands are made from bundles of herbs that are tied together with twine, then burned like incense. The smell of the burning herbs — sage is the most common, but smoke wands are also made with juniper, cedar, rose, lavender and frankincense — creates a pleasing aroma that is intended to relax the user and bring in positive energy. They are often used by people who are either spiritually curious or who are beginning a spiritual journey, Staubach-Smith said.

“They can be used for many different things, but basically they’re used for intention setting,” Staubach-Smith said.

“The smoke itself clears out negative energy.”

Staubach-Smith also sold her items at Third Thursdays until Raymaakers asked her to join her at the Hinsdale House.

“When she opened the shop it was obviously perfect timing,” she said.

DiNicola began dabbling in making apparel after she lost her part-time bartending job when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Berkshires two years ago.

“When COVID first happened I had so much time on my hands it made me go stir crazy,” she said. “I had recently become engaged and was doing DIY wedding stuff. I started experimenting with my own shirts, then I started making the

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SOULFUL, Page 7

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Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

110 Grill eyes December opening Regional chain launching its first Berkshires location next to Kohl’s

“We’re looking forward to putting some people to work in the community,” said Kim Wallace, the restaurant manager and director of operations for 110 Grill.

110 Grill offers “modern, American cuisine in a trendy, casual atmosphere with open kitchens, large horseshoe-shaped bars and outdoor patios with fire pits, creating the ideal dining environment for any occasion,” according to the regional chain’s website.

The extensive main menu includes calorie counts for all choices; there’s also a separate, gluten-free menu.

The county’s first Kohl’s will be in an adjacent multimillion dollar, 39,000-square-foot building, projected to open by the December holiday season. Last June, the Lenox zoning board approved special permits and the site plan for the Kohl’s and 110 Grill project. Kohl’s already has 25 other stores elsewhere in Massachusetts, and nearly 1,200 nationwide, making it the largest U.S. department store chain.

But the company has been targeted by potential buyers and activist investors on Wall Street; recent published reports stated that Kohl’s has had talks with more than 20 potential suitors. Hudson’s Bay Co., the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, also is considering a bid.

Kohl’s board has an “ongoing dialogue with potential bidders” and will measure any offers against its own “compelling standalone plan,” a spokesperson told CNN. The Center at Lenox, just south of the Pittsfield city line, already has a Market 32/Price Chopper, Marshalls, a Berkshire Bank branch, Carr Hardware, CVS Pharmacy, a Verizon Wireless store and Luxury Nails and Spa. Several retail openings remain available in the property owned by MEC Lenox Associates Limited Partnership. The shopping complex is operated by WS Development.

By Clarence Fanto LENOX — The county’s first 110 Grill eatery aims to open next to the new Kohl’s department store by December as construction revs up for the project in the back of the Center at Lenox off Pittsfield Road.

The regional chain won Select Board approval recently for its annual all-alcohol restaurant license as well as an entertainment license as site preparation is set to transition early this summer to construction of the 5,700-square-foot, single-story building and a 1,700-square-foot outdoor patio at 489 Pittsfield Road (Route 7/20).

“This is exciting,” said board Chair Marybeth Mitts as she opened a brief public hearing ahead of the 3-0 vote to approve the restaurant license and unanimous consent for the entertainment license, including live music with vocals indoors and outdoors as well as background music supplied by SiriusXM satellite radio.

“We are an upscale, casual family American restaurant, with an open kitchen and varied menu,” said 110 Grill attorney Kevin Eriksen. The chain has 21 locations in Massachusetts, including Holyoke and Hadley; six in New York state, including Albany and nearby Latham; six in New Hampshire; two in Connecticut and one in Rhode Island, with an expansion plan to add more in the next several years.

“We’re happy to be back in growth mode,” he said. In addition to lunch and dinner service, the Lenox outlet plans to offer brunch on some Sundays, beginning at 10 a.m.

“I and a lot of other people in town are very excited to have you come here; it’s another place to go,” Selectman Edward

The interior, above, and exterior, left, of the 110 Grill restaurant in Marlborough.

The regional restaurant chain hopes to open in Lenox

by December.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

BY BRIAN SAMUELS

Lane told Eriksen.

Cautioning that opening dates are “a moving target these days, especially with

LEEB A N K .C O M

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supply chain issues, typically it’s 150 days of construction after the site turnover, expected some time in June,” Eriksen said.

STRONG BR ANCHES, DEEP ROOTS

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coming to pittsfield Spring/Summer 2023

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

5

TOWNSHIP FOUR FLORISTRY & HOME

A perfect arrangement blooms Phone call opens doors to second expansion, now at Red Lion Inn

By Tony Dobrowolski STOCKBRIDGE — When the owners of Town-

ship Four Floristry & Home decided to move their small business from Pittsfield they anticipated opening only one new store, at their new residence in Lee. But their plans changed. Due to an unanticipated phone call that came out of nowhere at exactly the right time, owners Nathan Hanford and Jed Thompson recently opened another location in the vacant space last occupied by the former Country Curtains at the Red Lion Inn. Township Four, which opened in 2017, is still operating on North Street in Pittsfield, but Thompson said the business is in transition and will be open by appointment only this summer for both floral production and for day-to-day events and weddings.

The two men are also planning to open another store in Lee, but Hanford said that project is on hold until their new residence, a historic home built in the late 18th century, can be renovated.

“It’s going to take me a long time to fix it up,” Hanford said. “It’s a completely different business model. It’s a farm but it will be a working florist store and similar to this, gift and art, but inside a historic home.

“This is why this opened prior to Lee,” he said, “it’s so much more accessible and easy to open a space like this than to renovate an historic home especially during the pandemic and recently when all the materials are inflated and unavailable.”

The new space in Stockbridge, located behind the dining room on the inn’s east side, contains 2,400-square feet, almost double the 1,500-square feet that Township Four Floristry & Home occupies in Pittsfield. The space was originally part of the Red Lion Inn’s dining room before the late Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick moved Country Curtains into it. The Fitzpatricks revived and restored the Red Lion Inn after they purchased the historic lodging establishment in 1968. They had started Country Curtains in 1956 before moving to the Berkshires.

Township Four’s Stockbridge store will still carry many of the items that Hanford and Thompson offered in Pittsfield, although floral production will now occur at the farm in Lee. The additional space has allowed Hanford and Thompson to expand their offerings.

“We’ve expanded to encompass some luxury brands that we can now feature that weren’t truly available in that space because of our location,” Hanford said, referring to the Pittsfield store. “There were just plants and flowers and small gifts, but here we’ve expanded into utility accessories, garden accessories, home goods, crystal glassware, cocktail culture.”

They also have a French scented candle line from Cire Trudon, a company that Hanford said is the oldest continuous candle making firm in the world, dating back to 1643. Another unique item is hand stitched quilts and pillows by Aloka.

Township Four is also the only Berkshire vendor to have an exclusive deal to sell Ben Wolff Pottery from Goshen, Conn.

Plant offerings include the in-demand and hard to find Geogenanthus ciliatus plant.

“We still have everything that we had on North Street, plus way more”, he said.

“We may soon begin carrying apparel as well.”

None of this would have happened without that phone call. It came from Main Street Hospitality, the company that operates the Red Lion Inn, on the day that Hanford said the couple sold their former home in Becket to finance their move out of Pittsfield.

“The day I said yes to the buyer, I got a call from Main Street Hospitality from

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Above: Township Four co-owner Nathan Hanford in the store’s new retail location inside The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. Below: Along with plants and other curated items, the new store stocks fine crystal cocktail glassware, center, etched with a fern design.

According to Hanford, the season’s hottest new plant is the Geogenanthus ciliatus; the indoor plant that requires very little sunlight is very hard to come by.

the Red Lion Inn to see if I was curious in taking on this space,” Hanford said.

“We had already put in an offer [on the property] in Lee because we needed a home, so we made the decision,” to do the projects in both Lee and Stockbridge, he said. “It was because the universe said, ‘look what you can do.’”

Both Hanford and the Red Lion Inn were familiar with each other. Hanford, a hand embroidery artist, had previously done design work for Nancy Fitzpatrick, Jane Fitzpatrick’s daughter. Sarah Eustis, Main Street Hospitality’s CEO, also knows Hanford well, and had been trying to find a use for the vacant space in the

inn since Country Curtains went out of business in 2017.

“We were staring at this beautiful space,” Eustis said. “Our intention was to turn it back into a dining event space but COVID kind of got in the way of that. Nathan had been a good friend, and a close collaborator with Nancy Fitzpatrick. He had done so many projects at the Red Lion and he’s very integrated into our team and our culture.”

Eustis said she knew about the issues that Township Four had at its location in Pittsfield, where small business owners along the North Street corridor have expressed concerns about safety and

crime. Hanford declined to comment on the reasons why he and Thompson have decided to leave the city for South County after operating on North Street.

“I knew they were having challenges on North Street and they weren’t sure if they were going to move or stay,” Eustis said, referring to Hanford and Thompson. “All of a sudden it literally hit me like a ton of bricks. I just called them up and said, “Nathan, why don’t you move in here?”

“He said, ‘really?’”

Hanford was initially taken aback by the idea of moving to the Red Lion Inn, but after several conversations with Eustis decided to make the move.

“Part of me said, ‘no we can’t do it,’” he said. “But after a few conversations with Sarah Eustis something in me said Jed and I can do this especially with the Red Lion Inn team as a base because their foundation is so strong with this space.”

Eustis believes that Township Four’s aesthetic works well with the Red Lion Inn’s.

“I cannot tell you how perfect a fit it is,” she said. “It dovetails with the Red Lion as a whole, which is to evolve to bring in new audiences to appeal to new generations of people.

“It’s just a wonderful, beautiful, articulated space.”

6

Berkshire Business Journal

Business updates Berkshire Bank is ranked in the top 10 of America’s most trusted banks in Newsweek Magazine’s list of America’s Most Trusted Companies 2022. Berkshire is ranked ninth, and is one of only two banks in the northeast to be listed in the top 10.

Results were based on a holistic approach to evaluating trust that considered customer trust, employee trust, and investor trust based on a sample of approximately 50,000 U.S. residents. Respondents were asked about companies they knew well and were asked, among other things, if they believed individual companies treated their customers fairly, treated their employees fairly, and would be good long-term investments.

Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Trusted Companie 2022 features 400 companies listed across 22 industries.

Newsweek partnered with Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and provider of industry rankings, to issue its inaugural ranking of America’s most trustworthy companies.

Berkshire Health Systems recently launched its nursing assistant training program, which helps train and place candidates as nursing assistants as Berkshire Medical Center.

Program participants receive three weeks of intensive, on-the-job training from an expert team of nurse educators and are eligible to receive full-time nursing assistant wages and benefits as soon as they begin their training. At the conclusion of their training, nursing assistants are accepted into full-time caregiving positions. The program accepts new applicants monthly and recently announced a significant hourly wage increase, in which starting nursing assistants can earn up to $25 per hour.

BHS has been piloting a series of workforce development pipeline programs for nursing assistants, medical assistants, licensed practical nurses, and registered nurses designed to expand and build a skilled healthcare workforce in the Berkshires For information on all pipeline programs, visit berkshirehealthsystems. org/careerpipeline.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt., has earned “shared governance accreditation” from the Forum for Shared Governance.

Shared governance is an innovative management model that ensures nurses are empowered to make clinical decisions at the point of care and to influence the availability of resources that support their practice. The process of accreditation requires a rigorous survey of nursing staff. There are only 31 organizations in the country who have achieved this accreditation.

Shared governance is a way of assuring that nurses, those who provide care at the bedside, have a powerful role in making key decisions related to patient care. Shared governance has been associated with better professional, organizational, and patient outcomes, according to research studies.

The Forum for Shared Governance is a clearinghouse for promoting and disseminating research about shared governance and similar organizational innovations that help empower nurses and other healthcare professionals in their workplaces.

The Cruckfather LLC of Shelburne was recently selected by a panel of judges to be the winner of the 2022 Mohawk Trail Entrepreneur Challenge sponsored by small business accelerator Lever of North Adams.

By finishing first, The Cruckfather received a $25,000 Lever Innovation Grant for its innovative timber frame construction business model. The finals, which included a pitch contest by the event’s four finalists, took place at Foolhardy Hill in Charlemont.

Hill Tavern Farm of Charlemont was chosen as the runner-up. The two other finalists were Larkitecture and Coopers Wood Products, both of North Adams.

Berkshire Bank made over $563,000 in philanthropic investments from the Berkshire Foundation to nonprofit organizations during the first quarter of 2022, which ended March 31.

The grants awarded cover a wide range of projects that help foster upward economic mobility, support overall well-being, and enhance opportunities for individual success in the communities the Bank serves.

Over 100 regional nonprofit organizations received grants during the first quarter to assist with a wide range of critical projects in the areas of housing, health, wellness, education, economic revitalization, small business, community building and workforce readiness.

The Massachusetts recipients included Dress for Success in Western Massachusetts; Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires and Southern Vermont’s employment training through technology program; the Downtown Pittsfield Cultural Association small business growth and entrepreneurship program; and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center education and community engagement initiative.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched two new educational modules to its digital learning platform, Ascent. The platform is comprised of targeted educational modules called Journeys that give small business owners 24/7 access to critical information backed by research and addresses the unique needs of women entrepreneurs.

Partnerships Journey is a module that explores the value of business partnerships, why they matter, and how they drive business growth and has four components, including the value of business partnerships, opportunities, and strategic growth.

Entrepreneurial Leadership Journey helps position small businesses for growth by building and refining leadership skills and has 11 components designed to build confidence and improve decision management and leadership style techniques.

For more information on Ascent, visit Ascent.SBA.gov and register for free access. For additional opportunities on how women entrepreneurs can start, grow and recover, visit SBA.gov or contact your local SBA district office.

Adams Community Bank reached record levels in many key financial areas in 2021, including growth in assets, loans and deposits, President and CEO Charles O’Brien announced at the annual meeting of the bank’s newly formed parent company, Community Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC, which took place at McCann Technical School in North Adams.

The bank recorded $891 million in assets, $663 million in loans, and $792 million in deposits last year, O’Brien said. The bank also achieved record net income levels in 2021, as earnings totaled $4.2 million.

O’Brien, along with Senior Vice President Kathy Luczynski, also recognized the efforts of a team of employees who refined and updated the bank’s culture benchmarks during 2021. The bank’s culture of positivity has been in place for more than a decade and is credited as a driving force in our sustained growth.

The new mutual holding company was formed on Jan. 1 with Adams Community Bank being a subsidiary. The bank will be opening branches in Pittsfield later in 2022 and Great Barrington in 2023.

They work indoors — in meetings, on the phone, or in front of computers — but on April 22, employees of Pittsfield-based architectural and engineering firm EDM ventured out of their offices to commemorate Earth Day the best way possible — by making a positive difference in their communities’ environments.

The crew — which in addition to architects, designers, and other team members included EDM CEO, Jeromy Richardson — traded the usual tools of their trade for shears, rakes, and other

landscaping implements to volunteer at Earth Day events at two area environmental education sites: Spicebush Swamp Park (Westmoor Park) in West Hartford, Conn. and the April Hill Conservation and Education Center in South Egremont..

At the April Hill Conservation and Education Center, the location of a farm where area students learn about regenerative farming practices that are responsive to climate change, and much more about sustainable farming, EDM employees readied the vegetable garden for planting and undertook other tasks, including mulching, and splitting and stacking firewood. April Hill is operated

by Greenagers, which provides employment and volunteer opportunities for teens and young adults in the fields of conservation, sustainable farming, and environmental leadership.

EDM has offices in Pittsfield, Farmington, Conn., and Albany, N.Y. Caitlin Tilley, the director of care coordination and blueprint manager at Southwestern Vermont Healthcare, recently presented the agency’s groundbreaking work in population health at the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Conference in Phoenix.

In a fast-paced story-slam-style session, presenters had just seven minutes to share how their rural hospitals are implementing strategies that enhance the patient experience, designing care delivery to meet patients where they are, addressing their patients’ medical, mental, and social needs, and improving value. Tilley relayed SVHC’s work implementing a community care team, which has demonstrated a 43 percent reduction in emergency department visits for program participants.

Lee Bank Foundation has awarded $83,750 to 12 Berkshire area organizations and an additional grant to Pittsfield Public Schools in its first-round of 2022 community funding. Recipients were awarded grants ranging from $1,000 to $16,000 to support their local programming. Included in the awards are a series of Arts Access Grants for arts and culture organizations to expand access to programming for underserved audiences.

Berkshire Center for Justice; Berkshire Community Diaper Project; Berkshire Concert Choir; Berkshire County Arc; Berkshire Historical Society; Berkshire Family YMCA; Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity; Community Access to the Arts; Great Barrington Public Theater; Greenagers; Roots Rising; and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.

Arts Access Grants of $1,000 each were awarded to Berkshire Concert Choir, Berkshire Historical Society, and Great Barrington Public Theater. Additionally, Lee Bank Foundation announced a $16,000 grant to the Pittsfield Public Schools — $1,000 for each school serving children and adults in Pittsfield, to coincide with the groundbreaking of the new Lee Bank branch on South Street.

Wheatleigh’s hotel and Portico restaurant have both been awarded fivestar ratings from Forbes for 2022. Wheatleigh has now achieved five-star status for 8 years, and is among an elite group of properties that have earned five-star status for both its hotel and restaurant.

The publication’s 2022 star award winners include 323 five-star hotels worldwide. The winners are determined by a rigorous, independent inspection process of up to 900 standards based on 75 percent service and 25 percent quality of facility completed by “incognito” inspectors who stay at the hotels.

Wheatleigh is located on 22 acres of lush parkland that were originally landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York City’s Central Park.

“It is an honor that Wheatleigh is included in such a prestigious list of world-class hotels, restaurants and spas globally,” said Daniel Zimmer, general manager of Wheatleigh. “This rating symbolizes the five star culture and hospitality at our hotel and restaurant and further demonstrates why our guests return year after year.”

June 2022 Wheatleigh’s 19 guest rooms and suites blend style and sophistication with antique embellishments like vaulted ceilings, Venetian mirrors, museum-quality art, and oversize claw-foot tubs. It sits on 22 manicured acres of parkland landscaped by the Frederick Law Olmsted.

For the last 16 years, Chef Jeffrey Thompson has led the culinary experience at Wheatleigh, delivering innovative cuisine combined with distinctive service which has earned the restaurant the honor of being a Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond restaurant. In 2018, the restaurant was reimagined as The Portico by Jeffrey Thompson where he continues to create and execute modern French-influenced cuisine.

Thompson will include a new summer menu from The Portico and a threecourse theater menu to pair with Tanglewood performances.

Berkshire Bank has launched the Center for Women, Wellness, and Wealth.

The center will offer client-focused events on wellness and financial planning, and will partner with community organizations, specialized experts and thought leaders.

Collectively, the center will inspire action to build greater financial stability, alignment and opportunity for women and Berkshire’s broader communities.

Initiatives will also include impact conversations, philanthropic coaching and development support, wellness programs, and complimentary portfolio reviews offered by Berkshire Bank Wealth Management.

“The Center for Women, Wellness, and Wealth will provide tools to instill greater confidence and actionable steps to build a future enriched with financial stability, balance and growth. Transformative wealth management centers on wellness. Through programs and educational opportunities, we will lead in our commitment to advance preparedness and long-term planning, and address the longevity risk that women face,” said Kathryn Hersey, Berkshire Bank’s Director of Wealth Management and Chief Investment Officer.

Nine Berkshire County-based cultural venues are among the 115 organizations across Massachusetts that have received a total of $113 million in fiscal 2022 grants from the Cultural Facilities Fund which is administered by MassDevelopment and the Mass. Cultural Council.

The funding is slated for infrastructure improvements.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket received $200,000 to develop the design for a performance space to replace the Doris Duke Theater, which burned down in November 2020.

Also receiving grants were the Becket Arts Center, Berkshire Art Museum, Berkshire Music School, Community Access to the Arts, IS183; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; Norman Rockwell Museum and Shakespeare & Company.

Entrepreneurship for All, which operates a chapter in Pittsfield, has appointed Karen “KJ” Johnson chief operating officer and Lisa Archibald regional director. The organization is based in Lowell.

Prior to joining EforAll, Johnson spent 10 years at MOS Consultative Services in Riverside, Calif. where she served as the chief of operations, overseeing multiple functions including human resources, facilities management, logistics and operations. Before joining MOS, Johnson served as an assistant director for ambulatory operations & special projects at UCLA Health System.

Archibald joins EforAll as an accomplished global education management professional with 26 years of staff development, management, education, and practice management experience.

She most recently served as a visiting professor at the American International College of Arts and Sciences in Antigua.

Volunteers in Medicine has earned a 2022 gold rating from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics Quality Standards Program. VIM received a Gold Rating from the NAFC in 2021 as well.

UPDATE, Page 7

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

7

LIFESTYLER

Renee’s Diner owner now serving up style, too North Adams emporium features refurbished items, home decorations

Renee Tessier has opened LifestyleR at Berkshire Emporium and Antiques on Holden Street in North Adams.

By Greta Jochem NORTH ADAMS — When not waking up at

4 a.m. to bake for her diner, Renee Tessier may be found refurbishing furniture in her garage. The Renee’s Diner owner is now bringing that hobby to a new storefront.

Her new business, LifestyleR, opened last month in a space inside The Berkshire Emporium on Main Street.

“I guess I’m your ‘life styler’ when you’re in here,” she said while taking a break from pricing items in the shop.

She’s long been interested in developing a unique home style. “I don’t want my home to look like everyone else’s,” she said.

For years, she’s also been refurbishing old furniture. Many items in her shop are one of a kind. There’s the dresser she sanded, painted white and adorned with the image of a black bird. She made an old gun cabinet shorter and added a floral pattern on its inside.

Tessier says she buys old furniture on Facebook Marketplace, refurbishes it, and then resells the pieces. There are also new decorative items in the shop, like throw pillows, frames, and wall art.

Why start a second business?

More than a decade after opening the

GILLIAN JONES BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

diner, Tessier was looking for a new challenge, she said, though the diner will stay open. “That’s my first priority,” she said.

She’s able to be at the diner even when LifestyleR is open because it is part of the Emporium and customers are able to pay for items at the main counter. “Really,

this is the only avenue I could have taken to do this,” she said.

“This business is a stepping-off point to see how the community responds to it,” she said. Most recently, Savvy Hive was in the space before it moved onto Main Street this spring.

Savvy Hive was expected to reopen in its new space last month. Tessier also notes the arrival of Berkshire Blends, a smoothie shop. She feels good about business in downtown North Adams.

“We have a lot of exciting things happening here,” she said.

Soulful FROM PAGE 3

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Soulful Intentions, a recently opened gift shop in Pittsfield, has plenty of room for items related to mindfulness and spirituality.

Update FROM PAGE 6

The NAFC’s mission is to ensure the medically underserved have access to affordable health care. The NAFC and its members are dedicated to ensuring that patients receive quality healthcare.

To quantify and qualify the care provided at the free and charitable clinic network, the NAFC formalized a set of

quality standards for member organizations.

Members voluntarily submit information to the NAFC on the various policies and procedures in place to attain their standards rating and attest/pledge that they successfully incorporate these standards within their organization. NAFC Quality Standards elements include policies and procedures related to the following areas: administrative, clinic/ pharmacy responsibilities, credentialing

and privileging systems, patient care, and risk management systems.

George Donnelly, the former editor of Boston Business Journal, has acquired the publication Massnonprofit News from owner and founder Peter Lowy and will assume all of its editorial responsibilities.

In a news release, Lowy said Donnelly intends to expand the publication, but that it will continue to serve as a free

Berkshire sweatshirts. I was selling them on my website. They were wildly popular when I first started making them.”

With the possible exception of diehard sports fans, most people don’t find a spiritual connection to a sweatshirt. But Raymaakers, whom DiNicola refers to as her best friend, found a connection to her business through DiNicola’s brand, which is called “Made with Magic.”

“So I just feel like it fits,” Raymaakers said.

Staubach’s flower presses don’t have the mystical aura that her sister’s and Raymaakers’ products do.

“But I think there’s a mindfulness that you can take in (by toting the flower presses) when you’re outdoors,” she said Again, Raymaakers saw a spiritual connection between Staubach’s items and hers.

“We’re family,” Staubach said. “Berkshire Family Hikes is much more of a resource online or on the ground, but we do have a few things that we kind of carry to help further connections with family and children so she (Heidi) was like ‘get in here.’”

The four cousins have an easy rapport with each other. It comes from shared activities, like playing with ouija boards while growing up or the “weird” movies they say they made as children staying at their grandparents cottage on Ashmere Lake in Hinsdale.

“Honestly, truly, the reason I can have a business is because of all of them,” Raymaakers said. “They watch my son when I’m busy. They help me more than anything.”

Added Staubach-Smith, “We all do that for each other.”

resource for those who are involved and serving in the Massachusetts nonprofit sector.

Massnonprofit News launched in March 2006, and since then the companion Wednesday Report, which highlights news posted on masssnonprofit. org during the previous week, has been emailed free to subscribers.

Information for Massnonprofit News can now be sent to editor@massnonprofit.org or to george@massnonprofit.org.

8

Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

Marketplace finds new home in GB Specialty food shop offers variety of meal, ingredient choices

Ned Moore serves a customer at The Marketplace’s new specialty foods store in the former Lock, Stock, and Barrel building in Great Barrington on Thursday.

By Dick Lindsay GREAT BARRINGTON — After a brief hiatus,

The Marketplace is back in the retail business.

The Sheffield-based business has opened The Marketplace Specialty Food Shop in the former Lock, Stock and Barrel market on Stockbridge Road.

The original shop located in Guido’s on South Main Street for 27 years had to vacate the premises as their lease ran out Dec. 31 and Guido’s needed the space for its expansion.

“People are so thrilled we’re back and they like [that] we did something with an old building rather than put up something new,” said store manager Nina Ramos who worked at the Guido’s location.

The new shop opened in February after a $200,000 renovation that included new equipment with The Marketplace leasing the building, according to co-owner and chef of the Marketplace franchise David Renner.

The franchise includes three eateries in Sheffield, Great Barrington and Pittsfield and The Miller, a pub that opened three years ago in downtown Great Barrington.

Led by Renner, and fellow chefs and co-owners Kevin Schmitz, Douglas Luf and Christopher Brooks, the new store offers a variety of choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The selection includes a large section of prepared foods such as entrees, sides, soups and chili made at the The Marketplace’s central kitchen in Sheffield.

“Our kitchen runs seven days a week with six chefs, three pastry chefs and eight cooks,” said Renner. “We are all about ready-to-eat food. We have hot food to go and we also have prepared foods that are ready to eat or [be] heated.”

“We make food that is user-friendly,” added Schmitz.

With a fully staffed pastry department,

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

The new store sells baked goods, to-go items, on-site prepared meals, grocery items, and beer and wine.

The Marketplace offers cookies, brownies, pies, custards and cake as well as special-day custom cakes. The specialty shop also features Artisan cheese.

From lasagna to turkey with stuffing, chicken pot pie and chicken parmesan,

the entrees fill a void in the takeout market, according to Luf. “With the pandemic, everyone got used to takeout. Our food bridges the gap between restaurant food and ordering a pizza,” he said.

Some of the favorites held over from the original store are the turkey meatloaf volcano, panko chicken breast and potato leek tart.

After more than two months in operation, Ramos has found what sells and what doesn’t sell.

“We have had lot people come in for the pot roast, mixed veggies and mashed potatoes,” she said.

Ramos also noted the seven-days-a week shop offers two to three hot meal specials for those on the go.

The store employs 10 part-timers and six full-time employees with eight of the workers held over from the Guido’s location.

Renner says those eight were still paid until the new store opened.

“We are financially responsible to our employees, our families, and our community in our current and future endeavors and [provide] a healthy business to grow with,” he said.

A New Age vibe to cannabis Lenox’s first dispensary looking to carve out niche

By Clarence Fanto LENOX — Kapha Cannabis, the town’s first

and (so far) only dispensary of marijuana products, aims to carve out a mellow, New Age niche to stand out from the competition.

Recently opened at 439 Pittsfield Road, adjacent to Electra’s Cafe, Papa John’s pizzeria and Berkshire Dogs Unleashed, Kapha offers a wide range of edibles — the top-selling category so far — and other products designed to sync up with the town’s upscale image.

The corporation, Krishna Lenox LLC, is owned by Navin Shah, president of the Berkshire Hotels Group. The new store is overseen by General Manager Robert Cohen, who’s also director of operations for Shah’s BHG LLC. Kapha has 13 employees, all but two full-time. It was approved by the Lenox zoning board in December 2020.

The word Kapha comes from the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda, a Sanskrit term that translates to “knowledge of Life” — a practice that focuses on total wellness of the mind, body and spirit, according to the store’s website.

Entering the former premises of Essencials Day Spa, a visitor is given a badge lanyard for admission, greeted by a staffer and by the rippling, waterfall-like sounds of a glass floor fountain. The company invested about $500,000 to convert the space, including a redesign by William Caligari Interiors of Great Barrington, Cohen said.

Display cases contain various categories of cannabis products, arranged by the experience they offer — tinctures or edibles “designed for an end-of-the day, relaxing, sedating effect,” he explained.

Nearby is a display of uplifting products such as edibles “to increase focus, which is not what you would think of for marijuana,” Cohen commented. There are also libations combining cannabis with caffeine.

“The level of euphoria can be different, depending on what you take,” he pointed out. The state legal maximum is 5 milligrams per dose, but there are also many lower-dose options mixed with CBDs that “temper the ‘high effect’ for a more relaxing sensation as opposed to feeling like you’re taking drugs,” he added. Edibles, the top category, are twice as popular as flowers at Kapha, contrary to typical statewide ratios.

“We’re really focused on the education piece for customers, and also supporting multiple, smaller Berkshires growers — like EOS Farms and J-B.A.M., Inc., both of Pittsfield — who take more care with the production of their products and give us more information about the cannabinoids (including CBDs and THCs) and terpenes that differentiate the strains of cannabis and their effects,” Cohen noted.

Beyond edibles and flowers, product lines include pre-rolls, vaporizers, concentrates, tinctures, topical creams, “Dream Drops” for bedtime relaxation, and accessories.

Informational handouts and even reference books are available onsite for customers new to the cannabis world.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Kapha Cannabis is Lenox’s first dispensary, and focuses on education and the health and wellness uses for cannabis products.

Patrons can pre-order online at kaphacannabis.com among more than 200 available products for in-store pickup, or they can come in and browse the display cases.

Payment is by cash or debit card, on-site only.

Since the opening in January 2019 of Theory Wellness in Great Barrington — amid great fanfare, with long lines out the door and stunning revenue — competition has surged as multiple retailers in Pittsfield, Lee and other communities set up shop.

Jack’s Cannabis Co. opened last year right over the line from Lenox, right down Pittsfield Road from Kapha. “It’s a friendly competition community in this industry,” Cohen observed.

How will Kapha stand out from the crowd as more stores have opened?

Apart from providing education for cannabis newcomers, the focus at Kapha is on the “shopping experience, making it not so rushed,” Cohen commented.

“We really want people to come in, look at things, ask questions and spend some time.” Although folks in a hurry also are welcomed.

“We opened at a tough time for commerce in the Berkshires, in mid-February,” Cohen acknowledged. Business has “perhaps not been as much as I had hoped, but it’s progressively getting better, every week and every day. We’re looking forward to the time when all the hotels fill up.”

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

9

Cover story Normal

“We’re looking forward to an active and robust summer,” said Laurie Norton Moffatt, CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.

Still, she said, the museum remains vigilant against COVID.

FROM PAGE 1

As a reflection of that fluid situation, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown has scheduled a comprehensive summer schedule of exhibits and programs, including a major exhibition, “Rodin in the United States: Confronting the Modern.”

The museum does not plan to limit attendance or events, according to Victoria Saltzman, the Clark’s director of communications. However, in mid-May the Clark reinstated a mask requirement when COVID cases surged in the region.

“We have a cross-departmental committee that consistently monitors the pandemic and meets regularly,” Saltzman explained. “When they saw that infection rates had risen again, they decided to return to a policy of requiring masks.”

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge is also featuring a full schedule this summer, including major exhibits such as the “Lincoln Memorial Centennial Exhibition: The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated” and “Imprinted: Illustrating Race,” along with lectures, workshops and other programs.

“We’re looking forward to an active and robust summer,” said Laurie Norton Moffatt, the museum’s director/CEO. “I prefer the term ‘unfettered’ rather than normal. We hope to see a return to the happy conditions in which people can visit the museum and enjoy the beautiful grounds here without concern.”

She emphasized that the museum continues to remain vigilant against COVID. Last December, in response to a surge of COVID cases, it began requiring visitors to provide proof of vaccination. That practice was lifted in March, but masks are still required.

“We’re closely monitoring the COVID situation and will follow the guidance and updates of the CDC and the Tri-Town Health Department,” Norton Moffatt said. “Through experience, we’ve gained the ability to make adjustments if they become necessary.”

The Berkshire Theatre Group, which operates the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge and the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, has slated a busy schedule of theatrical productions and concerts.

Nevertheless, COVID remains a backdrop, according to executive director Nick Paleologos.

“I see it as a continuum, as the virus and our ability to deal with it continue to evolve,” he said. “The summer of 2020 was an existential nightmare. Last summer was more of a hybrid. I think this year will be closer to resembling pre-pandemic normalcy. But anything is possible with the uncertainties that still exist. It changes from week-to-week.”

In addition to more stringent sanitary protocols, the pandemic impacted the ability of venues to schedule performances and exhibits. It also imposed controls and limits on attendance for social distancing and sparked requirements for masks and proof of vaccination and testing.

In 2020, organizations had to cancel or drastically curtail their planned summer seasons, and many replaced live programs with online events. Last summer, with the availability of vaccines, an apparent reduction in infections, and the lifting of the state’s COVID emergency order, organizations reopened, but with limitations.

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE This year, a return to widespread shutdowns or restrictions is not expected.

However, organizations still have to contend with the potential threat of COVID. Paleologos said that even if the situation regarding COVID gets worse again, Berkshire Theatre Group and other organizations are better prepared to manage any changes that may be necessary, through their individual experiences and collaborative regional planning and strategies.

“Fortunately, we’ve all learned a lot over the past two years,” he said.

As an example, he noted that during

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

“I prefer the term ‘unfettered’ rather than normal. We hope to see a return to the happy conditions in which people can visit the museum and enjoy the beautiful grounds here without concern.”

Laurie Norton, Norman Rockwell Museum director/CEO the bleak summer of 2020, BTG staged an outdoor production of the musical “Godspell” at the Colonial. It was the only musical in the nation that was approved by the Actors’ Equity Association that year.

“That was extremely challenging because we had to implement extensive protocols and safeguards about every detail to protect the audience, staff and performers,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to go through that again. But it was also like earning a PhD in COVID management.

We’ve been able to apply what we learned moving forward.”

Tanglewood in Lenox has lined up a full season of concerts and other events but hasn’t yet released its specific COVID policies for the summer. When contacted

by Berkshire Business Journal in May, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which operates Tanglewood, declined to discuss its protocols.

“Since the pandemic is a constantly evolving situation, we will be announcing details about health and safety measures closer to the start of the 2022 Tanglewood season,” the BSO said in a written

statement. “The BSO remains committed to tracking all aspects of the virus and continuing to monitor recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Tri-Town Health Department, as well as consulting with its own advisory team and medical experts.”

Last summer, many Berkshire cultural institutions emphasized outdoor programming due to safety concerns about indoor gatherings. But this year, they’re ready to go back indoors.

Shakespeare & Company in Lenox canceled live performances two years ago, and focused on outdoor productions in 2021. The theatre traditionally includes both indoor and outdoor productions.

It holds indoor productions in its Tina Packer Playhouse and Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, and has three outdoor stages, The Roman Garden Theatre, the Rose Footprint Theatre, and the New Spruce Theatre.

“We were in a fortunate position last year because we are already set up for that,” said Jaclyn Stevenson, the organization’s director of marketing and communications, refering to last year’s schedule. “We also added the New Spruce Theater, an outdoor amphitheater. That gave us the flexibility to hold a season that was almost entirely outdoors.”

This year Shakespeare & Company is returning to that indoor/outdoor mix with shows from May through October.

They will include seven productions and a festival of plays. The performing arts company will fully utilize the Tina Packar Playhouse this summer and is reopening the Bernstein Theatre.

“We weren’t sure what we could do until March,” Stevenson said. “But then we went into it planning for a relatively

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normal season.”

Although both indoor and outdoor productions return this summer, some COVID protocols still remain. Audiences will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. Masks are also required for indoor shows.

A CHALLENGING ISSUE Determining requirements for masks and proof of vaccinations and COVID tests is a challenging issue for venues.

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Normal FROM PAGE 9

These requirements vary among Berkshire cultural institutions and have fluctuated with the ebbs and flows of the pandemic.

While individual organizations have a certain degree of leeway to determine their specific policies, they are also subject to other factors, including local, state and federal government regulations and guidelines. Other considerations also shape their policies.

BTG will not issue a mask mandate this year, but is planning to continue to require audience members to provide proof of vaccination. This procedure will be evaluated as the season progresses and may even vary for individual events, Paleologos said.

“As a professional theater, we also have to adhere to the requirements of Actors’ Equity,” he said. “In addition, performers can require masks or other requirements for individual concerts.”

The pandemic has affected the bottom line of organizations, with significant loss of ticket sales and other earned income, something that was especially true in 2020. It also has significantly reduced cultural institutions’ ability to hold fundraising events.

To overcome those hurdles, cultural venues have relied on a combination of sources, including government assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. In mid-May, nine Berkshire cultural venues, both big and small, were among 115 organizations from across the state that received $13 million in fiscal 2022 grant funding from the Cultural Facilities Fund, which funds infrastructure improvements, and is operated by MassDevelopment and the Mass. Cultural Council.

Organizations have also solicited and received increased emergency support from donors.

“We are very grateful to museum donors who have been extremely generous,” Norton Moffatt said. “That’s a

ABOVE: STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL RIGHT: IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM

Above: A bust of Abraham Lincoln is part of The Lincoln Memorial Centennial Exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge this summer. Right: Norman Rockwell’s “Lincoln for the Defense, 1961,” an oil on canvas portrait of the 16th president, was painted as an illustration for an article in the Saturday Evening Post that was published in 1962. The painting is part of the exhibition this summer. hallmark of this community. People really came through when support was needed. That has been crucial to our ability to get through this.”

But those financial impacts still linger.

“Things are moving in the right direction, but we have a way to go,” Paleologos said. “Rather than annual budgeting, we’re still doing three-month budgets. I’m hoping we can get back to annual budgets by the end of the year.”

‘STRATEGIC CHANGES’ Expect some other changes from Berkshire cultural institutions this year.

“Our summer season will be somewhat different than it was before 2019, but not because of the pandemic,”

Paleologos said.

All of the Berkshire Theatre Group’s productions on the Stockbridge campus this summer will take place at the smaller Unicorn Theater, while the Fitzpatrick Main Stage remains closed to undergo a comprehensive evaluation. A major renovation of the Fitzpatrick Main Stage is planned for BTG’s 100th anniversary in 2028.

The main stage may still be used before then, Paleologos said, but plans have yet to be determined. BTG has also reduced its mainstage productions this year to just two: the musical “Once” and “Dracula.” They will both take place at

the Colonial.

“The stage of the Colonial is better suited to the scale of our major productions this year,” he said.

NORMAL, Page 11

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Grant lets Roots Rising take hold Nonprofit will use funds toward creation of ‘youth farm’ in Pittsfield

“The possibilities for what we can become and accomplish together are infinite. It’s a different way altogether of thinking about community and agriculture.”

By Tony Dobrowolski PITTSFIELD — With some generous assis-

tance from the state, Roots Rising has taken a major step toward the creation of one of its signature projects.

A nonprofit organization that empowers youth and builds community through food and farming, Roots Rising recently received a $430,219 food security infrastructure grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs toward the creation of a ”youth farm.”

The facility will serve as a work site for Roots Rising’s youth work crews, as a community and food hub, and as the headquarters for an organization that has never had a fixed centralized location.

“We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes and look forward to sharing more about this exciting initiative in the near future,” said Jessica Vecchia, who runs Roots Rising with co-founder and co-director Jamie Samowitz.

“The grant was really specific about what this could fund,” she said. “It allows us to purchase the equipment we need to get the farm underway.”

Roots Rising’s main focus is its youth work crews, groups of teenagers that form three times a year and operate in the spring, summer and fall — Pittsfield residents age 14 through 18 are eligible to join — and its operation of the Pittsfield Farmer’s Market, which began in 2013. It was the first farmers market in the Berkshires to be operated by teenagers.

The youth farm facility is currently in the design phase while Vecchia and Samowitz look for a place to locate the farm in Pittsfield. The two directors have been involved in the land research and acquisitions process for the last 18 months, according to Samowitz. They’ve

Normal FROM PAGE 10

Those decisions came from a strategic analysis and business plan that BTG initiated and adopted in 2018 and 2019, Paleologos said. “At that time we had our most ambitious seasons and attendance was strong, but the cost of doing so many shows had stretched us to the breaking point financially,” he said. “So we conducted an extensive evaluation of our business model and made strategic changes to remain sustainable.”

That included reducing the number of BTF’s major theatrical productions each summer and extending them for longer runs. This is intended to reduce to overall production costs, and also provide audiences with more opportunity to attend individual shows. “The pandemic delayed our plans to implement that, and we’re picking it up now,” he said.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown is also returning to a full season, but on a scaled-back basis. The theatre company typically produces seven shows per season, but is holding only three productions and two special events this year, along with its Fridays@3 reading series. After limiting its performance season to online audio productions in 2020 and outdoor performances in 2021, WTF is returning to its indoor stages at the 62 Center for Theater and Dance and the Nikos Stage.

“It’s great to return to the indoor stages, and from an audience standpoint, this season will be as vibrant as ever,” said interim Artistic Director Jenny Gersten. “But there will be fewer productions than we did in the past.”

The three productions include, “Most Happy in Concert”; “Man of God”; and “We are Continuous”. The two special events are “Alex Adleman: Just For Us,” and “Jimmy Naughton & Friends.”

WTF’s decision to cut back on the number of performances actually started well before COVID. “This is the result of an overall

Lauren Piotrowski, Roots Rising farm program manager

BEN GARVER — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

From left, Roots Rising co-director Jessica Vecchia, Program Manager Lauren Piotrowski, and co-director Jamie Samowitz. Roots Rising is in the planning stages of creating a Pittsfield-based youth farm thanks to a large grant from the state. narrowed down their options, Samowitz said, but have yet to commit to a particular site.

“Accessibility is important to us,” she said, when asked what Roots Rising was looking for in a location.

“We’re trying to be thoughtful and deliberate in this process to ensure that we select the right land for this project,” she said. “Moving forward with one parcel would be our next big step. Ideally, we’d

rethinking of our labor practices,” Gersten said. “In the past, as a summer theater, we tried to do as many shows as possible during a season. That meant our staff had to work extremely hard, with long shifts to set up and take down productions. It pushed everyone to their limits.

“We made smaller incremental steps in previous seasons,” she said. “With the interruption of the pandemic, we took the time to make larger changes.”

WTF has also trimmed back its season this year to accommodate Williams College, which has scheduled several conferences and programs this summer.

Operators of Berkshire cultural venues believe that some changes they have implemented because of the pandemic are likely to remain in place.

“Out of the hardship, the silver lining has been innovation,” Norton Moffatt said. “We all had to reevaluate how we do things, and in many respects that has been beneficial. “ To better control the flow of visitors and social distancing during the pandemic, museums have begun accepting advance reservations and ticket purchases. The Rockwell Museum expects to keep that practice as an option, although it will continue to allow walk-in attendance.

“We found that many people enjoy the ability to make reservations and advance purchases, and it also enables us to better know who our visitors are,” she said.

The pandemic also prompted institutions to further develop their online capabilities, such as exhibits and remote performances and workshops to be able to continue to engage with audiences.

Prior to the pandemic, the Rockwell Museum had already comprehensively developed its digital infrastructure, to provide wider access to its collection and as an educational resource.

“When we became unable to operate as usual during the pandemic, we made it a priority to expand and upgrade our digital infrastructure even more extensively,” Norton Moffatt said. “We found that people loved it, and it’s a great resource moving forward.”

love to be on the land in this calendar year.”

“It’s a lot more work and a lot longer of a process that we had anticipated,” Vecchia said.

Once the site has been selected, Vecchia and Samowitz have not set a time frame in which to build. The facility may also include an education center and a drop-in gathering space. Samowitz characterizes the entire project as a “multi-year and

multi-phase” process.

“It will take years to implement,” she said, referring to the completion of the entire project. “We’re really in the beginning stages right now.”

According to Roots Rising’s website, the youth farm is intended to integrate the nonprofit’s food justice and youth development work while supporting the organization’s deepest goals, which are connecting youth to the land and making healthy food available to everyone.

“We’re really excited about this farm being a showcase for our innovative sustainable approaches to food production,” Samowitz said.

“The possibilities for what we can become and accomplish together are infinite,” said Roots Rising’s farm program manager Lauren Piotrowski. “It’s a different way altogether of thinking about community and agriculture.”

Having a centralized location will also be a plus for an organization that hasn’t had a place to call home since it was founded five years ago.

“We’ve been operating as a pop-up organization since our inception,” Samowitz said. “It’s allowed us not to have the overhead that other organizations have, but I think there’s so much more work we can do if we have a space where people can come to us.”

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June 2022

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13

Berkshire voices

TEN TIPS for nonprofit startups GREAT BARRINGTON — The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires serves as a clearinghouse for information by providing referrals, advice and coaching to many new and small nonprofits.

We are all kindred spirits since the NPC itself is small and itself a relatively new organization. The combination of “nonprofit” and “startup” is not for the faint of heart! Here are 10 tips for up and coming nonprofits to consider as they get underway.

1.

services first became apparent, the NPC reached out to various members of the community to help create solutions. Consultants and retirees began teaching workshops in everything from grant writing to hacking in social media. Mary Nash of Liana Nash Insights helped us comToscanini plete our first real survey, and Nonprofit The Berkshire Eagle stepped up Notes to become our major partner in creating our annual Berkshire Nonprofit Awards event. In many instances, these initial partnerships blossomed into more rich and complex associations that benefit many more nonprofits.

ESTABLISH YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION When the NPC was formed six years ago, it wasn’t clear exactly how it would complement the existing resources for nonprofits. One thing that everyone agreed on is we didn’t want to duplicate offerings amongst any of the agencies that were already providing nonprofits with support. It took a little while to figure out that NPC’s value lay in its “boots-on-the-ground” assistance and connections. We excelled at helping the little guys, answering their questions, referring them to free or low-cost resources. Today we have something for nonprofits of every size, but our energy still comes from assisting new and young nonprofit leaders, visionaries with few resources, and all-volunteer organizations.

2.

GIVE THEM SOMETHING CONCRETE Our beginning was simple enough. Faced with the inevitable question, “What do you do exactly?” it became apparent that the NPC would need to create something very concrete — something solid enough to literally hold in your hand. That something was the Giving Back guide, a much-needed directory of the more than 1,000 Berkshire nonprofits published annually by the NPC that includes useful information about ways to provide these organizations with assistance. The Giving Back guide put the NPC on the map, so to speak.

3.

ENLIST VOLUNTEERS In the absence of paid staff, volunteers can help nonprofits get the job done. The NPC was founded on the notion that supporting the Berkshires’ large nonprofit sector required leveraging the assets that we have in Berkshire County, which includes second-home owners, retirees, and folks who want to give back. To create the Giving Back guide, we enlisted 10 community volunteers to verify the information for every one of our 1,000 plus nonprofits. It was an heroic effort and resulted in the most definitive list of Berkshire nonprofits to be completed.

4.

ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY IN YOUR EFFORTS When gaps in programs and

5.

LETTING SOMETHING GO When it became obvious that the NPC was overextended, we identified one program that wasn’t essential, the publication of Connections Magazine. I was spending too much time selling advertising for that publication, which took time away from my more mission-centric tasks. I loved producing that glossy magazine featuring excellent writers and multiple voices. But printing a magazine like that is expensive.

We saved more time and money and published more often by turning Connections into a monthly email blast.

6.

organization has the capacity to do so.

Partnerships are one way to increase capacity. Our first foray into volunteer fairs began with Age Friendly Berkshires inviting NPC, Berkshire United Way and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute to partner with them. The partnership was wildly successful because of the connections and skills we all brought to the table in addressing this community need. That one event led to a host of other partnerships and projects and cemented our place in the volunteer landscape.

9.

It takes years for a nonprofit to find its place in the community, increase its capacity, prove its worth, and raise sustainable revenue streams. There are many visionary founders out there doing great work.

INVEST IN THE FUTURE There’s your organization’s own future, and the one in the larger sector or community in which you operate. Or development service helps small nonprofits with fundraising so they can grow and remain NPC members. Our philanthropy program in the schools teaches the next generations how to give back. NPC’s new “Intro to Board Service” video series gives people a foundation of knowledge and the confidence to say “yes” to serving on a nonprofit board. Again, it builds the bench for growth and sustainability for all nonprofits.

the community, increase its capacity, prove its worth, and raise sustainable revenue streams. There are many visionary founders out there doing great work. Luckily, there is a growing trend, led by organizations like the Ford Foundation, to eliminate some of the barriers to funding, especially for grassroots organizations. While this was indeed the case during COVID, we hope all funders continue to think along the lines of easier applications, less burdensome reporting, and multiyear funding.

10.

Liana Toscanini is executive director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, which was founded in 2016 to help nonprofits connect, learn and grow.

HANG IN THERE It takes years for a nonprofit to find its place in

LEVERAGE EXISTING ASSETS TO INCREASE REVENUE In thinking strategically about each of our programs, we decided to up level many of them to increase efficiences and bring in more revenue.

In its first year, advertisements in our Nonprofit Resource Directory paid for printing, but there was no profit. So we turned the printed directory into a virtual publication, which eliminated printing costs, increased quality and reach, and provided active links to vendor websites. The online directory now earns income through affordable “featured partner” ads that more than cover the cost to maintain this directory.

7.

PROVIDE VALUE TO ATTRACT FUNDING AND SUPPORT There will always be programs that serve the mission but don’t earn revenue. The NPC doesn’t earn any income maintaining a gala calendar or “listserv,” answering daily inquiries, or coordinating office hours, town halls and roundtables. But the social capital generated by providing practical and much-needed programming is priceless.

It opens doors for future partnerships and funding. Market your sponsorship opportunities accordingly so that the funders know that their gifts fund valuable programming all year-round.

BERKSHIRE INNOVATION CENTER Sparking innovation and sustainable growth for technology-focused businesses in our region.

Visit us online to: Sign up for programming updates Book your next meeting or event Schedule a tour Download our Member Guide

Visit us online!

8.

FORM PARTNERSHIPS TO INCREASE CAPACITY There is a tendency in many organizations to want to do more and more. This is fine as long as your

In the absence of paid staff, volunteers can help nonprofits get the job done. The NPC was founded on the notion that supporting the Berkshires’ large nonprofit sector required leveraging the assets that we have in Berkshire County, which includes second-home owners, retirees, and folks who want to give back.

LEARN | INNOVATE | COMMUNITY

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Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

COMMENTARY

Embrace remote collaboration — don’t run from it NORTH ADAMS — Prior to March This is an exciting trend that we can and should build 2020, I had participated in exactly one Zoom meeting. Now on. Of course we must be mindful of housing costs and I average about 12 Zoom meetthe risk of pricing out longtime Berkshire residents. The ings per week. In-person meetings are richer and more fun, state is making substantial investments to create more but the efficiency of Zoom is undeniable. I may have been late affordable housing. It’s important that some of those Jeffrey to this party, but now I’m all in.

Thomas This and other remote coldollars make it from Boston to the Berkshires.

Here AND laboration tools have opened There important to provide training and suprequired to relocate. As of 2022, up tremendous opportunities port. Older folks, like me, have a harder all Dropbox staff work remotefor my organization. Lever time adapting to new work flows than ly. supports innovators in the millennials and GenZers, so be preI’ve got no excuse for taking so long Berkshires and beyond. As one exampared for uneven rates of adoption to get switched on to remote collabople, adopting Zoom made it possible to among staff and be confident that the ration. It’s a trend we’ve seen at Lever produce Lever’s 2020 COVID Response pain is worth the gain. Done right, this Challenges, which helped companies since well before the pandemic. We around the commonwealth pivot opis a great opportunity to develop junior work with a lot of technology startups erations to make personal protection staff, to update skills of those who have and software engineers. This comequipment (PPE). It was delightful to been in the workforce for a long time, munity has used peer-to-peer remote see camaraderie develop among innoand to strengthen cross-generational collaboration tools since the 1990s. vators from The Cape, Lowell, Boston, teams.

Those tools have now evolved to supWorcester, Amherst and Pittsfield.

Excel at digital marketing: Inport multidisciplinary teams, project These folks never met each other in management, customer relations, and a creasingly, consumers make purchasperson. ing decisions online. Berkshire-based wide range of business processes.

Another great example is Valt, the As a luddite-cum-evangelist, I believe companies like Shire City Herbals, password management company that LympheDivas and Tourists have that all Berkshire companies should Lever helped launch in 2016. Valt’s successfully built direct-to-consumer embrace remote collaboration tools, founder and CEO, Brent Heeringa, lives including manufacturers, hospitality businesses. We see many more Berkin Williamstown and worked in our shire businesses struggle with digibusinesses, and nonprofits. Here are North Adams collaborative workspace. tal marketing. There are some local some possible benefits.

Members of his team were located in resources available to help with digital, Make your organization more Northampton, Shelburne, Boston and including virtual workshops produced efficient: Take advantage of tools like Seattle, collaborating remotely years by 1Berkshire and other organizations Asana for project management, Slack before most of us were forced to do so. like the Community Development Corfor workplace communication, Google Valt was acquired by Dropbox in 2019. poration of South Berkshire in Great for document sharing, or Figma for Dropbox hired the entire Valt team, Barrington and local chambers of remote design work. There’s a learnand none of the team members were commerce. I applaud those efforts, and ing curve with all of these, so it’s also

I know they have been utilized well by local business owners. More, please.

Keep your company nimble: Companies must innovate to be competitive.

Process innovation is as important as product innovation, and can occur outside the walls of your company. In this era, it is possible to outsource a remarkable array of functions, including digital marketing, software development, and even sales. There are some great local companies that provide such services, including Adirondack for payroll and Synagex for IT. They do it better and cheaper. Excelsior Integrated in Lee manages inventory and order fulfillment for about 70 e-commerce businesses throughout the U.S. and beyond, employing 40 people right here in the Berkshires.

Make the pie bigger by attracting more remote workers to the Berkshires: This is an exciting trend that we can and should build on. Of course we must be mindful of housing costs and the risk of pricing out longtime Berkshire residents. The state is making substantial investments to create more affordable housing. It’s important that some of those dollars make it from Boston to the Berkshires.

The “Here and There” post-pandemic economy favors the Berkshires. Let’s be sure to capitalize on this unprecedented opportunity.

Jeffrey Thomas is the executive director of Lever, a startup accelerator based in North Adams.

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June 2022

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15

COMMENTARY

Moving innovation ‘forward’ PITTSFIELD — Gov. Charlie Baker recently

testified before the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies in support of a legislative measure that calls for investing in future opportunities for resiliency, workforce and revitalized downtowns.

Commonly referred to as the Forward Act, the legislation is a $3.5 billion investment plan Ben Sosne that leverages American Notes from Rescue Plan Act funding the BIC to make sure cities and towns across the commonwealth are equipped to compete in the future. Pittsfield Mayor Linda M. Tyer, urging passage of the Forward Act, pointed to the city’s shovel-ready projects and described the legislation as transformative.

Mayor Tyer is absolutely right — with $970 million included for downtown revitalization and $270 million in affordable housing affiliated programs and grants, the Forward Act has the potential to transform Pittsfield and communities across the commonwealth. In addition to this, however, the Forward Act includes funding for several programs that are critical to the success and growth of the Massachusetts innovation and technology economy.

The Berkshire Innovation Center plays a key role in making sure our companies are tied into this broader innovation and technology economy. An independent nonprofit guided by leaders from both industry and academia, the BIC’s mission is to catalyze and spark innovation and sustainable growth of technology-focused companies in and around our region. We do this through programs that promote learning and enrich people in technology-led career paths and by providing research and innovation space for people and companies to explore new technologies, all while convening and connecting a community of like-minded people.

In leading the BIC, I have seen the impact that programs like those in the Forward Act can have on the industry and academic partners I work with every day. Specifically focused on the innovation economy, the Forward Act includes, among other things, $50 million for a new competitive and secure future innovation program; $30 million for the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2); $24 million for research and development grants; $23 million for the Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerate Program; and $200 million for matching funds for anticipated federal grant opportunities in the technology and innovation industry.

Support for programs like these has helped make Massachusetts a leader in the innovation economy year after year. The programs have also helped drive some of the most exciting projects in the Berkshires. For example, Electro Magnetic Applications, a BIC tenant and member company, is now at the forefront of the commercial space sector thanks in part to a significant grant from the M2I2 program. The MMAP program, rolled out last year, helped a local injection molding company acquire a new technology that has allowed them to expand their business and add high-quality jobs.

That program is now open again and several BIC member companies have already reached out with plans to apply.

Perhaps most exciting is the $200 million in matching funds for federal grant opportunities. The Biden-Harris administration is making major investments at the federal level to support the technology and innovation industries. Generally speaking, the federal dollars flow through competitive grant programs that are nearly always oversubscribed.

To be even considered for such a grant, an applicant must put up anywhere from 20 to 50 percent in matching funds. This match requirement can very quickly

turn a seemingly perfect grant opportunity into a nonstarter. Without matching funds lined up, you can’t even step up to the plate to take a swing.

We know this firsthand as the BIC currently has an application pending with the U.S. Economic Development Administration for funding to launch a new manufacturing academy. This will be a transformative program and we are eagerly awaiting final word on our application. That said, by far the biggest challenge in getting our application to the point of consideration was securing the required matching funds. While we were fortunate enough to eventually get support from both public and private partners, carving out dedicated match funds as proposed in the Forward Act will ease the pressure and give organizations around the commonwealth, such as the BIC, a leg up as we throw our hat in the ring and compete to bring those precious federal dollars to our communities.

Here in the Berkshires, innovation and technology have long fueled our economy. It is in our DNA. Over 200 years ago, Zenas Crane founded a paper company along the banks of the Housatonic River which, by constantly investing in research and development and pursuing advanced technologies, became the global leader in the manufacturing of bank notes and bank note paper. Later in the 1800’s, an inventor and engineer named William Stanley moved to the Berkshires and created the first practical transformer, which spurred the development of AC power and the tremendous growth in the region around electronics and later the plastics industry. This legacy of innovation continues today. Longtime Berkshire-based companies such as Boyd Technologies in Lee, Sinicon Plastics in Dalton, and Interprint in Pittsfield have continued to invest in new technologies to evolve their businesses and thrive in new sectors. Young companies such as Electro Magnetic Applications, Dive Technologies, United Aircraft Technologies, and SolaBlock, all either based or with locations in Pittsfield, are all leveraging new technologies to shake up their respective industries.

Companies like this play a critical role in our regional economy, and nearly all are poised for significant growth over the next few years. They are led by entrepreneurs and innovators laser focused on making sure that they stay at the forefront in their industries. But at the end of the day, it takes more than an entrepreneurial spirit. It takes investments in new technologies and investments in the people who will implement those new technologies. The programs in the

Forward Act focused on the innovation economy will help the most impactful new projects get the support they need to scale. The BIC supports the passage of the Forward Act and will be working hard to make sure that a share of this critical funding finds its way back to Berkshires.

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

The Berkshire Innovation Center, an independent nonprofit guided by leaders from both industry and academia, aims to catalyze and spark innovation and sustainable growth of technology-focused companies in and around the region.

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June 2022

Berkshire Store at Five Corners to reopen this month Flyer to link NYC, Pittsfield for weekenders

By Greta Jochem

By L arry Parnass PITTSFIELD — A delayed experiment

to enhance tourist access to the Berkshires will finally roll this summer, five years after a subsidy was secured.

Officials with the Massachusetts and New York transportation departments said the Berkshire Flyer will provide limited train trips linking New York City with Pittsfield, starting July 8.

If embraced, the service — a Friday afternoon trip from Penn Station in Manhattan to Pittsfield and a return trip Sunday afternoon — could become a regular feature, officials say.

For now, it depends on subsidies and heavy marketing efforts, as well as the willingness of private owners of track to allow trips.

The notion of providing dedicated service to New Yorkers seeking weekend getaways to the Berkshires was proposed as long ago as 2017.

Despite the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, local officials hoped to test the service that fall, until legal issues sidelined the project.

“This has been years in the making,” state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, said in a statement.

Hinds lined up initial funding for the Berkshire Flyer in 2017, seeing it as a way to develop tourism in the Berkshires.

In an interview in 2020, Hinds said that one year of funding for the project included $240,000 to underwrite operations, a $30,000 fee for a program director and $100,000 for marketing to build ridership.

The service depends on a public sector subsidy, even with the sale of tickets to riders.

A two-year pilot run, for 20 weeks a year, was to start in the spring of 2020, then pushed to the fall — then delayed for nearly two more years.

Massachusetts officials said the investment can pay off for the Berkshires.

“Western Massachusetts and the Berkshire region offer a whole host of cultural and recreational opportunities during the summer and we hope this pilot service will encourage even more visitors to this part of our state,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement provided by the state Department of Transportation.

WILLIAMSTOWN — The historic Store at Five Corners is a step closer to reopening.

Corey Wentworth, a chef and Hancock resident, will operate the cafe and general store, according to the Store at Five Corners Stewardship Association, a nonprofit that has been working to revive the business.

“I’ve been cooking my entire life,” Wentworth said. “This marks a big milestone in my life. I’m super excited to make it my own and welcome the entire community into the store.”

“He is very committed to community and having a community gathering place where friends and neighbors can sit and have a meal together, which is what the store has been and we want to return it to,” said Karen Charbonneau, president of the Store at Five Corners Stewardship Association.

Before the store closed in July 2020, Wentworth worked there, and he previously worked at Tourists hotel, Flour Bakery + Cafe in Boston, and Fore Street Restaurant in Portland, Maine, according to the Store at Five Corners Stewardship Association.

“I’ve lived my life in kitchens, and they are one of the spaces that make me happiest and they are where I feel the most energized and engaged,” Wentworth said in a statement. “Cooking delicious, honest food that centers amazing local ingredients, giving people a satisfying meal and experience that brings them joy, and nurturing a welcoming gathering space is a large part of who I am.”

The Store at Five Corners Stewardship Association owns the building and will be responsible for its maintenance, and Wentworth will own and operate the business, Charbonneau said.

In January, the nonprofit bought the property on New Ashford Road.

The group has raised around $800,000 — funds they put toward buying the property, renovating it, and and creating an endowment — and it continues to fundraise to meet its $1.5 million goal, Charbonneau said.

“It was a community space for the people in Williamstown,” Charbonneau said. “A lot of people that live in north county commute to central and south county. They would stop there for breakfast and coffee. People would have lunch there.”

The group sent out a survey to 160 people asking residents if they wanted to see the business reopen as a cafe and market, Charbonneau said. “In five days we got 132 responses. It was just compelling how important the store was to people — how much they missed it, how much they wanted it to open.”

She added: “We have worked very hard over the past couple months to make this a reality ... We are really hopeful for its success. We’re hoping the community will come out in great numbers and support us.”

Wentworth said he hopes to open by mid-month. “We definitely want to open as early as possible,” he said, “so we can be ready for everyone in the summertime.”

TRAVEL DETAILS The service will leave Penn Station at 3:16 p.m. on Fridays and arrive at the Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center, at 1 Columbus Ave. in Pittsfield, at 7:12 p.m.

On the way north, the train will make the same stops as a typical Amtrak Empire Service train, officials say. The Sunday return trip will leave Pittsfield at 3 p.m. and get to New York at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets, which start at $45, are on sale now through Amtrak. For tickets, visit Amtrak.com or use the Amtrak app, or by visiting Amtrak ticket desks or by calling 800-USARAIL.

Tickets, which start at $45, are on sale now through Amtrak.

Corey Wentworth, above, who will operate the Store at Five Corners, left, in Williamstown, stands in the cafe.

ABOVE: PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE STORE AT FIVE CORNERS STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION LEFT: BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

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17

BERKSHIRE BANK

Left: This photograph, taken between 1900 and 1906, shows the Berkshire County Savings Bank, at the foot of North Street, beside Park Square. The building has been part of the bank’s operations since 1846, but will go on the market. Below: A recent view of the building at 24 North St. LEFT: PHOTO PROVIDED BY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BELOW: BEN GARVER — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Bank selling its historic building on North Street Company to consolidate 2 other branches

BY TONY DOBROWOLSKI

ABOVE: BEN GARVER — BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL BELOW: BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

The 35,000-square-foot structure at 24 North St. has been part of the bank’s footprint since its inception in February 1846. Below: Berkshire Bank is planning to consolidate this branch located on the ground floor of its operational headquarters at 99 North St. with a nearby branch at 66 West St. in August.

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank will shrink its footprint in downtown Pittsfield by selling an iconic building at the corner of North Street and Park Square, and combining two branches.

The bank put the six-story former Berkshire County Savings Bank building at 24 North St. on the market last month, according to company officials.

The bank will also consolidate a branch office at 99 North St. with a nearby branch at 66 West St., as of August. The office at 99 North St. will close Aug. 26, though the branch’s automated drive-up services will remain open after the office is closed.

The bank’s local operational headquarters will remain on the upper floors of 99 North St. The branch office at that address, which has been closed since COVID-19 hit the Berkshires two years ago, is located in the basement and on the ground floor. Berkshire Bank’s corporate headquarters are located in Boston.

All of Berkshire Bank’s current employees at 24 North St. and the branch at 99 North St. will be relocated to other facilities.

The changes are being done to strengthen the business, said Gary Levante, vice president and corporate responsibility officer for Berkshire Hills Bancorp, the bank’s holding company. The largest regional bank based in New England, Berkshire Bank has been reassessing its business model since Nitin J. Mhatre became president and CEO in January 2021.

“We’ve really been looking and assessing everything we do as a business,” Levante said.

Berkshire Bank was originally known as Berkshire County Savings Bank. The 35,000-square-foot

structure at 24 North St. has been part of the bank’s footprint since its inception in February 1846, Levante said.

Berkshire County Savings Bank merged with Great Barrington Savings Bank in 1997 to become Berkshire Bank.

The bank’s presence at 24 North St. has been underutilized for years, Levante said. Only 26 bank employees work there. Those employees will move to Berkshire’s operational headquarters at 99 North St. “It just seems that this building could contribute in a greater way to the success and vibrancy of downtown Pittsfield,” he said of 24 North St., “versus Berkshire Bank hanging onto it to keep two dozen employees in the facility.”

Berkshire is hoping the building will attract a developer that will utilize it to provide, “more meaningful and more vibrant activity downtown,” Levante said.

“Potentially as housing,” he said, “given the scarcity of it in the Berkshires.”

The Park Square side of the former Berkshire County Savings Bank building is the place where the bank annually places a large wreath during the Christmas holiday season and a large American flag around Independence Day. “As someone who grew up here, you really appreciate and understand the special role that 24 North St. building plays not just in Berkshire Bank’s history but in Pittsfield’s history,” Levante said. “It’s critically important to us that when we sell this building that we work with a developer that is going to breathe new life into it.”

Levante said the bank plans to ask a buyer to consider displaying the wreath or U.S. flag. As a fallback, the bank would host those traditional displays at 99 North St.

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Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

Berkshire exec to head AIM’s board of directors Pat Begrowicz is president, co-owner of Onyx Specialty Papers in Lee

By Tony Dobrowolski BOSTON — For the first time in almost

70 years, a Berkshire County business leader has been elected to head the board of directors of the state’s largest business association.

Pat Begrowicz, the president and co-owner of Onyx Specialty Papers in Lee, was recently elected to chair the board of Begrowicz directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. Begrowicz is the second woman to chair AIM’s board of directors — the second in a row — and the first person from Berkshire County to head that panel since 1953.

Begrowicz was elected to a one-year term by representatives of AIM’s 3,400 member organization at the group’s annual business meeting. She succeeds outgoing AIM board chair Joanne Hilferty, the president and CEO of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries in Boston.

“I am honored to chair the board of directors of AIM at a time when the need has never been greater for business organizations to create a sense of collective purpose among employers,” Begrowicz said in a news release. “We are proud that everyone involved in the legislative or business life of Massachusetts praises the professionalism, preparation and civility that AIM shows on behalf of employers and the jobs they create.”

“Our new leadership epitomizes AIM’s commitment to diversity in all its forms – racial, gender, geographic, industry and company size,” Hilferty said.

A native of New Jersey, Begrowicz and business partner Christopher Mathews formed Onyx after buying MeadWestvaco’s specialty paper business in Lee in December 2009. Onyx, which has 150 employees, provides skilled manufacturing jobs in a region that has seen many manufacturers downsize or close. Onyx produces highly engineered papers for technically demanding applications in global markets including automotive, medical filters, fine art, decorative surfaces and filtration Begrowicz holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a master of science degree in paper science and technology from Lawrence University.

She serves on the boards of directors for Power Options, 1Berkshire, the Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires and the Berkshire Business Roundtable. She is also a member of the University of Notre Dame Engineering College Advisory Council.

AIM also elected two other officers at its annual meeting. Donna Latson Gittens, the principal and founder of MORE Advertising of Watertown, was elected clerk of the corporation. Gregory Buscone, the executive vice president and senior commercial banking officer at Eastern Bank in Boston, was elected treasurer.

BERKSHIRE BUSINESS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

CSX recently completed the purchase of Pan Am Systems, which co-owned the Hoosac Tunnel, above. CSX, based in Jacksonville, Fla., now co-owns the rail infrastructure in northern Berkshire County that provides freight service to local businesses, including Specialty Minerals in Adams.

CSX finishes purchase of Pan Am Systems Company co-owns rail line that runs through Berkshires and Hoosac Tunnel

By Tony Dobrowolski NORTH ADAMS — CSX Corp. has com-

pleted its acquisition of Pan Am Systems Inc., which co-owned the rail line that operates freight through the Hoosac Tunnel and Northern Berkshire County.

“We are excited to welcome Pan Am’s experienced railroaders into the CSX family and look forward to the improvements we will make together to this important rail network in New England, bringing benefits to all users of rail transportation in the Northeast region,” said James M. Foote, president and CEO of CSX, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla. “This acquisition demonstrates CSX’s growth strategy through efficient and reliable freight service and will provide sustainable and competitive transportation solutions to New England and beyond.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The sale was completed about six weeks after CSX received regulatory approval from the Surface Transportation Board.

All five board members of the federal regulatory agency approved the acquisition, according to railwayage. com.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said he was pleased that the acquisition had been approved because it included provisions for protecting passenger and commuter service “that I found to be imperative,” he said in a statement.

“Consequently, I can say that I am pleased with this decision and believe that it is consistent with the priorities that we established,” Neal said. “It also acknowledges our concerns regarding the region’s relationship with CSX. I am hopeful that area mayors and I will be able forge a better rapport with CSX as we move forward.”

CSX’s original bid to merge with Pan Am was rejected by federal regulators, but in July the company submitted an amended and expanded application to acquire the rail line.

The acquisition of Pan Am will allow CSX to expand its operations across Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, while adding Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to its existing 23-state network. Pan Am, based in North Billerica, had owned and operated a 1,700-mile railroad network between St. John, New Brunswick, and New York’s Capital Region that passes through New England.

The system passes through North Adams on its way through Berkshire County, and provides freight service

to several local businesses, including Specialty Minerals in Adams.

The Berkshire portion of the railway, which includes the 146-year-old Hoosac Tunnel and runs through part of southwestern Vermont, was operated by Pan Am Southern, which was owned jointly by Pan Am and the Virginia-based Norfolk Southern Railroad, which maintains the section between Mechanicville, N.Y., and Ayer.

The acquisition allows CSX to acquire seven rail carriers owned by Pan Am and to merge six of them into CSX, according to railwayage.com.

As a condition of approval, the Surface Transportation Board has established a five-year oversight period to monitor the effectiveness of the various conditions contained in the deal, according to railwayage.com.

“After a searching review of the well-developed record in this proceeding, which included a two-day public hearing before the full board, the board concluded that this transaction satisfies the statutory criteria based on CSX’s representations to the board,” board Chair Martin J. Oberman said.

“I look forward to improvements in the rail network with respect to reliable service and competitive transportation options in New England and beyond.”

David A. Fink, president of Pan Am Railways said: “This much anticipated decision paves the way for an exciting new chapter for Pan Am customers and our employees as we begin our transition to the CSX team.”

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

Real estate transactions The following are Berkshire County real estate transactions for the period April 4 through May 13.

Adams Debra Jozefiak, trustee of the Lauth Family NT, sold property at 4 Tracie Ave., Adams, to Raymond Ferrin, $252,000.

John A. Kozik, personal rep. of the estate of Donald J. Kozik; Paul V. Kozik and Ann M. Koczela sold property at 13 East Orchard Terrace, Adams, to Michael J. Casteel and Megan D. Buness, $250,000.

Tammy L. McCarthy and Thomas E. Ramsdell sold property at 250 Columbia St., Adams, to Specialty Minerals Inc., $200,000.

Bow Lane East, Long Bow Lane West, Long Bow Lane, and Shuttle Cock Drive, Becket, to Jaclyn Danielle LeClair, $350,000.

Thomas E. Viale Jr. and Lisa A. Denault-Viale sold property at 57-59 East Housatonic St., Dalton, to Ross and Bonnie Kittle, $202,500.

Heidi Gonzalez Fee sold property at 250 Wells Road, Becket, to Jessica Gonzalez, $208,500.

Egremont

Matthew R. Fenton and Jeanne Abderhalden sold property at Sherwood Drive, Becket, to Michael Joseph Debella, $6,000.

Cheshire David P. and Karen E. Kondel sold property at 74 Wells Road, Cheshire, to Carly E. Kondel, $230,000.

Great Expectations Rentals & Investments LLC sold property at 57-63 Park St., Adams, to Hoosac Range LLC, $425,000.

William B. Smith, personal rep. of the estate of Sandra J. Smith, and Julie A. Hutchinson sold property at 115 and 145 Richmond Hill Road, Cheshire, to Nicholas C. Lincoln, $100,000.

Gary F. and Lisa M. Fletcher sold property at 32 Spring St., Adams, to Kristin Lynn Neep, $92,000.

Mark F. Warner sold property at 12 School St., Cheshire, to Kyle R. Turner, $218,500.

Matthew J. and Danielle E. Erdmann sold property at 25 Elm St., Adams, to Jeffrey W. Lescarbeau, $83,000.

Dennis M. Messana and Benjamin Melle, general partners of Messana and Melle Enterprises, sold property at 19 Lanesboro Road, Cheshire, to Peter M. and Patricia A. Francoeur, $236,000.

OTW Ventures LLC sold property at 2 John St., Adams, to Robert B. and Patricia A. Bernier, $80,000.

The Adams Center for Art LLC sold property at 15 Commercial St., Adams, to Tonia Marie Canavan, $217,000.

OTW Ventures LLC sold property at 31 Richmond Lane, Adams, to Lancasterhaus LLC, $150,000.

Gary and Marie M. Ganthier sold property at 3 Richmond St., Adams, to Manuel Hernandez-Novo, $112,500.

Redesigned Dwellings LLC sold property at 48-50 Temple St., Adams, to Matthew L. Zieminski and Michael Bressett, $41,000.

Steven H. Ciuk sold property at 8 Valley St., Adams, to Chris Bonnivier, $3,000.

Francis T., Christine M. and Mark F. Brooks sold property at 18 Summer St., Adams, to Jennifer E. Haas, $85,000.

Ann-Marie Racine sold property at 85 East Road, Adams, to Tyler LaFrance and Jillian Tatro, $286,500.

Alford Lisa A. Farnam sold property at 169 Green River Road, Alford, to Dana Fuchs and Stuart I. Schwartzapfel, $678,000.

Jeffrey J. Goodman and Gregg R. Bromberg sold property at 275 West Road, Alford, to Kimberly DaCosta and Richard DaCosta, $1,125,000.

Becket Maroka Rap sold property at 355 Pill Drive, Becket, to 219WMR LLC, $318,000.

Michael M. and Lori J. Kotkin sold property at Johnson Road, Becket, to Constantin Gorea and Oxana Gorea, $30,000.

Castle 2020 LLC sold property at 12 South St., Cheshire, to Patricia A. Roberts, $50,000.

Christopher and Jacqueline DeGrenier sold property at 1020 Sand Mill Road, Cheshire, to Matthew Joseph Dellaghelfa and Jacquelyn Rose Schneider, $293,000.

Patricia M. and George H. Tremblay Jr. sold property at 940 West Mountain Road, Cheshire, to Benjamin and Allison T. Lambert, $230,000.

Clarksburg Anthony S. Pike sold property at 46 Belmar Drive, Clarksburg, to Brianna Marie and Brian Scott Shepard, $270,000.

Meagan M. Huttle sold property at 64 Fairview Heights, Clarksburg, to Richard J. Bernardi, $50,000.

Kent P. Clark Jr. sold property at 24 Wheeler Ave., Clarksburg, to HLP Realty Holdings LLC, $65,000.

Scot R. Levasseur sold property at 910 Daniels Road, Clarksburg, to Paul Michael Loatman, $314,000.

Susan I. Morocco sold property at 485 North Houghton St., Clarksburg, to Carole F. and Paul O. Cote, trustees of the Carole F. Cote Revocable FT, $347,000.

Paul L. Ethier sold property at 1136 River Road, Clarksburg, to Barbara J. Little, $305,000.

Jackie A. Costakis sold property at River Road, Clarksburg, to Drew M. Grady and Aubrey R. Rumbolt, $49,000.

Dalton Donald E. Green sold property at 75 Tower Road, Dalton, to Zak A. Gratton, $189,000.

30 Washington Street LLC sold property at 30 Washington St., Becket, to Olivia Pattison and Molly Stevens, $249,950.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB, trustee, and Christopher S. Gallagher sold property at 40 Franklin St., Dalton, to James Thurston, $171,000.

Drayton Michaels sold property at Partridge Lane, Becket, to Phillip S. Geer, $15,000.

William Anthony Ives sold property at 559 Kirchner Road, Dalton, to James N. Penna, $49,900.

Timothy J. Gooding sold property at Partridge Lane, Becket, to Phillip S. Geer and Triena D. Zyndorski, $14,000.

Deborah A. Lewis and Theresa L. Sprague sold property at 62-64 Lake St., Dalton, to Deborah A. Lewis, $106,141.

Michael L. Carriveau sold property at 732 Main St., Becket, to Timothy Dargie, $240,000.

Robert A. and Karen M. Kowalczyk sold property at 130 Raymond Drive, Dalton, to Valeri A. Reynolds, $685,000.

Community LC LLC sold property at Sir Galahad Drive, Becket, to Seandell Carter, $6,050.

Sky Vault Investment LLC sold property at Red Lion Road, Becket, to Jason Simmons and Crystal Bourke, $12,500.

Marc and Diane Miner Rathbun sold property at 299 Pill Drive, Becket, to Edward and Erin Kowalczyk, $34,950.

Matthew E. and Christopher H. Hearle sold property at Red Lion Road, Becket, to Sky Vault Investment LLC, $7,499.99.

Tara M. Melling Ratzel and Fredrick Ratzel IV sold property at 66 Long

Brian J. and Teresa A. Kardasen sold property at 19 Hinsdale Road, Dalton, to David C. Atwell, $190,000.

Matthew Dellaghelfa sold property at 9 Crane Ave., Dalton, to William W. Reed Jr. and Morgan A. Skidmore, $182,000.

Margaret N. Apkin-Freer, trustee of the 757 Dalton Division Road NT, sold property at 757 Dalton Division Road, Dalton, to Laura R. Need, $630,000.

Ryan T. and Chelsea M. Smith sold property at 209 South St., Dalton, to Chloe Nadon, $265,000.

Thomas A. Race, trustee of Terra Ferm Nominee Realty Trust, sold property at Terra Ferma Drive, Egremont, to Gerard R. Lanoue, trustee of Lanoue Nominee Trust, $80,000.

Frances M. Cousins Estate sold property at 17 Sheffield Road, Egremont and Great Barrington, to 17 Sheffield Road LLC, $475,000.

David P. Guidi sold property at 64 Creamery Road, Egremont, to TMR Realty LLC, $225,000.

Hive 31 LLC sold property at 204 Hillsdale Road, Egremont, to Arun H. Dhingra, $1,380,000.

Uwe Bischoff sold property at 0 Bow Wow Road, Egremont, to Greenagers Inc., $550,000.

Gary J. Oggiani and Mary W. Oggiani sold property at 26 Undermountain Road, Egremont, to Neil R. Seyffert and Patricia K. Seyffert, $66,500.

Thomas A. Race, trustee of Terra Ferma Nominee Realty Trust, sold property at Terra Ferma Drive, Egremont, to Matthew Mancino and Katharine D. Race, $60,000.

Susan Burdsall sold property at 0 Phillips Road, Egremont, to Scott Race and Thomas Race, trustees of Isaac’s Family Farm Nominee Trust, $157,500.

Michael P. Gilbert sold property at 39D Main St., Egremont, to Douglas E. Newman and Marcy R. Newman, $899,000.

Florida Carolyn R. Fitzgerald and Patricia F. Hacker sold property at Monroe Road, Florida, to Evan C. and Lisa E. Stratidis, $21,000.

Edward J. and Lorie A. Birch sold property at Mohawk Trail and Blackstone Road, Florida, to Kevin R. and Judith A. Dodge, $30,000.

Duane S. Mundy sold property at 36 South St., Florida, to Jonathan A. and Wendy M. Lescarbeau, $384,000.

Great Barrington Eric B. Shamie sold property at 9 Park St., Great Barrington, to Lori S. Deutsch and Philip A. Goldberg, $770,000.

Matt J. Gaston sold property at 15 & 17 East Mountain Road, Great Barrington, to Katy K. Lee and Steven G. Yang, $176,000.

Jack Cameron Peele sold property at 33 East St, Great Barrington, to Elizabeth F. Barrows, $410,000.

Elizabeth F. Barrows sold property at 16 Spruce St., Great Barrington, to Deena Linn Caswell and Christopher David Hale, $364,000.

Troy Bond and Katherine Wallick sold property at 8 Locust St., Great Barrington, to Brandon Rosario Messina, $435,000.

Lake Shore LLC sold property at 156 Taconic Ave., Great Barrington, to Kevin Sacco and Ronnie Sacco, trustees of Living Trust of Kevin Sacco and Living Trust of Ronnie Sacco, $550,008.

John Cook and Marcia E. Cook sold property at 11 Fairview Terrace, Great Barrington, to Jane Coyle and Stephen Coyle, $450,000.

Meier Mountain Properties LLC sold property at 42 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington, to Andrew M. Frager and Susanne J. Joie, $430,000.

John J. Broderick Jr. and Donna L. Broderick sold property at 920 Main St., Great Barrington, to Joseph Walter Maki and Michelle A. Maki, $650,000.

Steven Homer and Michelle Homer sold property at 150 Alford Road, Great Barrington, to Sophie B. Lavine and Caroline P. Pratt, $400,000.

Gregory J. Comcowich and Amy E. Comcowich sold property at 34 Division St., Great Barrington, to Brian Joseph Buccellato and Margaret Ann Buccellato, $924,000.

Eric H. Wellenkamp and Gregg

O. Wellenkamp sold property at Kalliste Hill, Great Barrington, to Kristin Drucker and Peter Drucker, $350,000.

Lisa Dunham and Scott W. Dunham sold property at 74 Cottage St., Great Barrington, to T&E Real Estate Transaction LLC, $325,000.

Majestic Oak Estates LLC sold property at VanDeusenville Road, Great Barrington, to Bernice R. Jones and Olivia R. Jones, $175,000.

Edith M. Gilson, trustee of Gilson Nominee Trust, sold property at 85 Division St., Great Barrington, to Megan S. Tingley, $1,176,500.

19 erty at 2 Ocean St., Lanesborough, to Jonathan A. Hubbard, $191,000.

John R. Boleng sold property at 12 Squato Road, Lanesborough, to Derek C. Hansen and James E. Terryberry II, $750,000.

Charles Garrity III sold property at 85 Prospect St., Lanesborough, to Mauori Hahtyaja-Zharia Stavenson, $188,000.

D.T.L Dreams sold property at 28 Spring St., Lanesborough, to Legacy Investments Housing & Construction Company Corp., to Jacob and Patricia L. Meyers, $75,000.

Kathleen M. McCormick, trustee of Lulu Nominee Realty Trust, sold property at 0 Division St., Great Barrington, to Daniel S. Zevin, $153,500.

Lee

Steven L. Diamond and Arlene Diamond sold property at 27 Hemlock Hill, Great Barrington, to Deann Halper, trustee of Deann Halper Revocable Trust, $2,706,000.

Philip D. Levy sold property at 880 East St., Unit 3B, Lee, to Judit and Janos Gellen, $269,000.

6-M Inc. sold property at 15 Comstock Lane, Great Barrington, to Pamela C. Caiola, $304,000.

Steven W. Goldberg and Patricia L. Papernow, trustees of Goldberg-Papernow Family Trust, sold property at 318A Park St. North, Great Barrington, to Amy Conway, $765,000.

Kevin Sacco and Ronnie Sacco, trustees of both Living Trust of Kevin Sacco and Living Trust of Ronnie Sacco, sold property at 80 Taconic Ave., Great Barrington, to Laurie S. Pascal and Ross A. Pascal, trustees of both Laurie S. Pascal Trust-2013 and Ross A. Pascal Trust-2013, $587,000.

Wendy Sue Feldblum sold property at 48 Russell St., Great Barrington, to Karen Waddell, $573,000.

Hancock Osmar and Dale Freitas sold property at Jericho Road, Unit A, Building 103, Hancock, to G&G Berkshire Rentals LLC, $270,350.

Fred and Kathleen K. Hoffman sold property at Corey Road, Unit 833, Hancock, to Francois Charvet and Samali Perera-Charvet, $389,000.

Kim Petry sold property at 37 Corey Road, Unit 873, Hancock, to Frederick and Colin Porter, trustees of the Underhill Property Trust, $450,000.

Bunny Hill Cottage LLC sold property at Corey Road, Unit 85, Hancock, to Katherine George, $249,900.

Lynn Hess sold property at 118 White Birch Lane, Hinsdale, to Philip and Elizabeth Rogers, $700,000.

Tiereny L. Morrison-Rohlfs sold property at 365 Washington Road, Hinsdale, to Chelsi J. Morrison-Rohlfs, $82,000.

Black Dog Family Properties LLC sold property at 32 Tamarack Road, Hinsdale, to Adam and Jennifer Wos, $625,000.

The Jeffrey W. Marks Family LP sold property at Corey Road, Unit 872, Hancock, to Robert M. and Marjorie E. Sims, $455,000.

Norman E. and Michaela Snyder sold property at Corey Road, Hancock, to Christos G. and Natalie Rizos, $585,000.

Edward J. Abbott III sold property at 42 West Pine St., Lee, to Lena S. Shapiro, $340,000.

William H. Crawford Jr. sold property at 125 Woodland Road, Lee, to Kelly L. and William H. Crawford Jr., $172,000.

David G. Clough and Andrea E. Levine sold property at 880 East St., Unit 15C, Lee, to Douglas and Carolyn M. Anzalone, $324,900.

Christina M. Bona sold property at 290 Prospect St., Lee, to Daniel P. Rankin, $271,000.

Stephen J. and Rodney W. Taft and Margot Taft Stern, trustees of the Adrienne W. Taft Revocable Trust, sold property at 65 Stockbridge Terrace, Unit 7-A, Lee, to Margot Taft Stern, trustee of the Margot Taft Stern RVT, $576,533.34.

Christopher Constantopoulos sold property at 150 Marble St., Lee, to Cynthia A. Stone, $392,000.

Henning C. Carlson, individually, and Henning C. and Joyce L. Carlson, trustees of the Henning C. Carlson RVT and Joyce L. Carlson RVT, sold property at 1100 Pleasant St., Lee, to Armor Fire Technologies Inc., $530,000.

Lenox Rita Cuker, trustee of the George Cuker RVT, sold property at 20 Sedgwick Lane, Unit 38, Lenox, to Pamela A. Rons and Edward F. Schrager, $1,250,000.

Deborah S. Kovitz sold property at 8C Coldbrooke South Drive, Unit 8C, Lenox, to Barry and Robin Simonson, $565,000.

Lenox Landings Barrington Brook Holdings LLC sold property at 2 Golf View Drive, Lenox, to Bernard L. and Lisa K. Silverman, $1,300,000.

Mount Washington Roberto DiGirolamo, JoAnn DiGirolamo, James V. Sanginetti, and Pamela J. Sanginetti sold property at 6 Old Cross Road and 12 Plantain Pond Road, Mount Washington, to Richard B. Herrington and Carrie H. Herrington, trustees of RBH Nominee Trust, $350,000.

Ethan J. Garrett and Barbara Lynn Garrett sold property at 457 East St., Mount Washington, to James S. Filkins and Virginia S. Filkins, $110,000.

Arthur S. Brown and Rebecca C. Garrett-Brown, trustees of Arthur & Rebecca Brown Revocable Trust, and Christian F. Garrett, Suzanne M. Garrett and Tara Garrett sold property at East Street, Mount Washington, to Kathleen Tunnell Handel, trustee of Handel Family Nominee Trust, $77,000.

Ethan J. Garrett and Barbara Lynn Garrett sold property at 459 East St., Mount Washington, to Reagan E. Smith and Justin Torrico, $110,000.

New Ashford Jane C. Champagne sold property at 342-344 US Route 7, New Ashford, to Matthew Trisic and Farah Momen, $520,000.

Robert K. Larison Jr. sold property at 185 Mallery Road, New Ashford, to Jacob Francis and Molly Ruth Scace, $285,000.

New Marlborough

North Adams

Bank of New York Mellon, trustee, and Kathleen and Richard Shove sold property at 12 Crystal St., Lenox, to Bank of New York Mellon, trustee, $117,224.16.

Chadd Bernier, personal rep. for the Estate of Julie A. Bernier, sold prop-

Theodore Popoff and Dorothy Silverstein sold property at 18 Hupi Woods Circle, Monterey, to Joel Michael Goldstein and Melissa Ann Smith, $825,000.

Alissa Marie Cooper sold property at 48 Cliffwood St., Lenox, to Richard J. and Ingrid J. Taylor, trustees of the Richard and Ingrid Taylor RVT, $819,000.

Black Dog Family Properties LLC sold property at 318 George Schnopp Road, Hinsdale, to Michael Martin, $257,500.

George F. and Carole J. Manarchik sold property at 153 Narragansett Ave., Lanesborough, to Douglas M. and Rebecca A. Collins, $375,000.

Jeffrey Mestel and Janet Mestel sold property at 99 Hupi Road, Monterey, to Nigel Howard, trustee of Nigel Howard Revocable Trust, and Andrea Allocco Howard, trustee of Andrea Allocco Howard Revocable Trust, $1,800,000.

Anthony Prisendorf and Donna Prisendorf sold property at 239 Brewer Hill Road, New Marlborough, to Valentine Blondel and James Casey, $495,000.

Philip D. Knowles sold property at 11 Pine Knoll Road, Lenox, to property of Warm Welcome Stays 2 LLC, $480,000.

Joshua W. Lyons sold property at 6 Glenns Road, Lanesborough, to Trinity Ventures LLC, $116,000.

Brian W. Palmer, trustee of Highridge Nominee Realty Trust, sold property at 0 Beartown Mountain Road, Monterey, to Hannan Peffin King, $550,000.

Jesse G. and Paulina M. Houldsworth sold property at 23 Lime Kiln Road, Lenox, to Deborah A. and Robert Ezrapour, trustees of the Deborah Ezrapour Trust, $772,000.

Kyle W. Kozlowski and Josephine Magro sold property at 81 Maple St., Hinsdale, to David and Judy Merhar, $317,000.

James M. Maschino and Judith Moynahan sold property at 25 Bena St. and Opechee Street, Lanesborough, to Nancy Leren, $65,000.

Russell A. Hopkins and Holly A. Hopkins sold property at 39 Pixley Road, Monterey, to Kevin Moody, $699,000.

Mark T. Caiola and Pamela C. Caiola sold property at 323 Aberdeen Lane, New Marlborough, and 0 Lake Buel Road, Great Barrington, to Gregory Zelonka, $610,000.

Hinsdale

Anthony G. Massimiano, personal rep. of the Estate of Linda E. Sambel, sold property at 19 Narragansett Ave., Lanesborough, to Lindsey Kurowski, $699,000.

Samuel Estreicher sold property at 611 Main Road, Monterey, to Steven Karas and Lynne Satlof-Karas, $1,200,000.

Bernard D. and Jana Starr sold property at 12 East St., Lenox, to Jonathan Kramer, trustee of the Kramer Family Protection Trust, $650,000.

Eduardo and Caroline Rooney Serrano sold property at 260 Pittsfield Road, Unit B-8, Lenox, to Rebecca M. and Helaine T. Harris, $134,000.

Lanesborough

Sandisfield Road, Monterey, to Joel Michael Goldstein and Melissa Ann Smith, $340,000.

Carl Allen Rusk sold property at 86 West St., Lenox, to Stephanie L. Iverson, $565,000.

DDJB Real Estate Holdings LLC sold property at 55 Pittsfield Road, Unit 9, Lenox, to Hyman Holdings LLC, $1,250,000.

Kristofer and Alexis B. Kennedy sold property at 186 East Dugway, Lenox, to Nikolaus E. and Sharon A. Kennedy, $450,000.

Susan Parsley sold property at 22 Delafield Drive, Lenox, to Kristopher H. and Alexis Brown Kennedy, $479,000.

Monterey Shannon A. Castille and Philip D. Castille sold property at 42

Joanne Salvatore sold property at 812 Mohawk Trail, North Adams, to Malarie Renee Fairbanks and James A. Culver, $192,500.

Mary L. and Lawrence E. Jones Sr. sold property at 65 Brooklyn St., North Adams, to Emily Laurin and Asher Isaiah Rhoades Rabquer, $150,000.

North Adams Housing Associates LP sold property at 201 Mohawk Forest Boulevard, North Adams, to Caleb Mohawk LP, $10,782,000.

Caoilfhionn Christopher sold property at 520 Church St., North Adams, to Julie Anna Zimmermann, $87,500.

Stephanie C. Kawa, personal rep. under the last will and testament of Helen M. Donega, sold property at 64 Richmond Ave., North Adams, to Tyler J. Shoestock, $150,000.

Kellie D’Elia Laskin, trustee of the Local Salad Trust, sold property at 738 and 752 Curran Highway, North Adams, to Holland Company Inc., $100,000.

Kurt Collins sold property at 46-48 Phelps Ave., North Adams, to Collin Racette and London Green, $215,000.

Christina Gregory sold property at 55 Natural Bridge Road, North Adams, to Dante Cellana, $175,000.

REAL ESTATE, Page 20

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Real estate FROM PAGE 19 Matthew J. Engel sold property at 136 North St., North Adams, to Kyle J. Danforth and Emily C. Moulton, $135,000.

Bradley and Bryant LLC sold property at 156-158 Prospect St., North Adams, to Jessica Thornhill Skeete, $245,000.

Kathleen I. Albano sold property at 455-457 East Main St, North Adams, to Marshall C. Reese II, $65,000.

Carolyn L. Hancock sold property at 35 Jackson St., North Adams, to V. Peter and Dawn A. Vadnais, trustees of Evolution NT, $131,100.

Pine Cobble Associates Inc. sold property at West Shaft Road and Church Street, North Adams, to Lynsey M. and Justyn J. Wilk IV, $70,000.

Graham Steele sold property at 42 Montgomery St., North Adams, to Grace E. Wiggers and Elizabeth Davis, $212,000.

Henry G. and Kristy L. Stanley sold property at Prospect Street, North Adams, to James Pedro, $5,000.

Jonathan A. Lescarbeau sold property at 988 Mohawk Trail, North Adams, to Patrick A. Malloy, $174,500.

Brian A. and Keith L. Howard sold property at 154 Walker St., North Adams, to Stefanie A. Howard, $150,000.

Pine Cobble Associates Inc. sold property at Tyler Street and Massachusetts Avenue, North Adams, to Blackinton Backwoods LLC, $80,000.

Karen M. Terwiske and Michele H. LeBeau, personal rep. of the Estate of David Charles LeBeau, sold property at 94 Reed St., North Adams, to Maurice Abishour, $35,989.

Otis Maria A. Cagenello sold property at Vine Street, Otis, to Marc and Suzanne Bergeron, $35,000.

Alan J. Righi, commissioner, sold property at 895 Algerie Road, Otis, to Janna K. Deveny and Paige E. McCullough-Casciano, $427,000.

Maria A. Cagenello sold property at Vine Street, Otis, to Vincent L. Caruso Jr. and Amy R. Caruso, $35,000.

Carolee Jervas sold property at Beech Plain Road and South Main Road, Otis and Sandisfield, to Alexander and Ashley Nikituk, $44,300.

William A. Schuerer III and Brian T. Schuerer sold property at 23 South Pine, Otis, to Jameson L. Leveille, $145,000.

Berkshire Business Journal $13,000.

Bruce J. and Richard W. Scullary sold property at 52 Dawes Ave., Pittsfield, to Richard W. Scullary, $60,000.

Peter A. and Michele A. Rousseau sold property at 61 Eleanor Road, Pittsfield, to Cameron H. Geller and Leila A. Hashim, $457,200.

Jeanne M. McTaggart and Paula L. Chipko, trustees of the Komlosi Family NT, sold property at 20 Saratoga Drive, Pittsfield, to Bamba Janneh and Aminata Kijera, $294,100.

Paul T. Giardina, trustee of the Giarmonk Realty NT, sold property at Lebanon Avenue, Pittsfield, to Berkshire ATACC LLC, $35,000.

Luke Tomashek sold property at 34-36 Day St., Pittsfield, to Jeffrey Heller, $208,000.

Abby A. Ketchum sold property at 98-100 Lincoln St., Pittsfield, to 98 Lincoln LLC, $113,000.

Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity Inc. sold property at 62 Gordon St., Pittsfield, to Alma Laura Sanchez Ponce De Leon, $187,500.

Ronald J. and Sharon M. Moon sold property at 15 Cecelia Terrace, Pittsfield, to Thomas Evangelisto, $145,700.

Christopher Robillard, trustee of the Pacific NT, sold property at 27-29 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, to Mira Willow Scarfiotti, $275,000.

Berkshire Neighborhood Development Partners Inc. sold property at 50 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, to Jose Orlando Santos-Delgado Jr., $170,000.

Nolan Fernandez sold property at 8 Leidhold Place, Pittsfield, to Mariama Dibba, $150,000.

Peru Joseph T. and Tracy A. Amodie sold property at Stephanie Lane, Peru, to Kevin O’Connell, $35,000.

Pittsfield Greylock Federal Credit Union and Jack D. and Marlene K. Bell sold property at 57 Curtis Terrace, Pittsfield, to Ellies Holdings LLC,

Carol Ann Cahalen sold property at 137 Anita Drive, Pittsfield, to Stephen and Alex Maroni, $285,000.

Ashley M. Diorio, personal rep. of the Estate of Eric W. Rennie, sold property at 178 Highland Ave., Pittsfield, to Liza M. Bove, $184,000.

Patrick J. Mele Jr. and Michael P. Filpi, personal reps. of the Estate of Patrick J. Mele Sr., sold property at 1081 Cascade St., Pittsfield, to Daniel and Jillian Albano, $278,000.

Raymond B. Meandro Jr. sold property at 236 South St., Pittsfield, to AMC Properties LLC, $180,000.

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

Richard E. and Frank S. Olinski sold property at 80 Chickering St., Pittsfield, to Brent Hersey, $42,000.

C&P Realty LLC sold property at 1723 Danforth Ave., Pittsfield, to Ellies Holdings LLC, $175,000.

Jennifer A. Castro sold property at 89 Asci Drive, Pittsfield, to Patricia A. Gavin, $240,000.

Francese Family Realty LLC sold property at 19 Crosier Ave., Pittsfield, to Ariel Guillermo Guatta-Cescuni, $220,000.

Sub-Zero Holding Co. Inc. sold property at 8 Westview Road, Pittsfield, to Crescent Lease LLC, $1,247,076.

Daniela Barbara Bomatter sold property at 101 Alpine Trail, Unit 24-C , Pittsfield, to Shelley J. and Arleen B. Weiner, $420,000.

Pittsfield Properties Group LLC sold property at 71-73 West Housatonic St., Pittsfield, to Miner Sparks, $150,000.

Dennis R. Conuel, personal rep. of the Estate of Cecilia A. Conuel, sold property at 72 Meadowview Drive, Pittsfield, to Megan E. Caron, $166,000.

Daniel D. and Joyce A. Amuso, trustees of the Amuso RT, sold property at 42-44 Backman Ave., Pittsfield, to Donald J. and Carrie M. Gamache, $50,000.

Nicole M. Duncan, formerly known as Nicole M. Campos Vasquez, sold property at 21 Spring St., Pittsfield, to Marcial Antonio Barahona, $155,000.

Linda R. Briggs sold property at 79 Wellington Ave., Pittsfield, to Scott Higuera, $100,000.

Jared Mallet and Charlie Burnell sold property at 307 Cheshire Road, Pittsfield, to Francesca Willnauer, $286,000.

Christopher J. Connell sold property at 488-490 Pomeroy Ave., Pittsfield, to Carlos A. and Leidy M. Urrea, $284,000.

Keith E. and Rogina A. Modestow sold property at 50 Tolland Road, Otis, to Michael Vacchi, $105,000.

Marco V. Vargas sold property at 51 Seymour St., Pittsfield, to Diplacon Investments LLC, $80,000.

Jillian A. Albano, formerly known as Jillian A. Heaton, sold property at 12 Egremont Ave., Pittsfield, to Mark A. Amuso, $275,000.

Jennifer M. Driscoll, David Woods Milne and Douglas Milne, heirs of David John Milne, sold property at 23 Parish Drive, Otis, to Jeffrey R. and Jamie Mitchell, $44,000.

Donald J. Schulz aka Donald J. Schultz sold property at Gate Island, Otis, to John R. and Susan Schulz, $200,000.

Maxine F. Silvano sold property at 3 Redmond Lane, Pittsfield, to Richard E. Silvano, $75,000.

Michael J. Steben sold property at 15 Rector St., Pittsfield, to Spenser T. Davis, $150,000.

Alexander J. and Shaun P. Kelleher-Nagorski sold property at 2 Tamie Way, Pittsfield, to Mala S. Shetty and Ramesh Gangisetty, trustees of the Mala S. Shetty Living Trust, $590,000.

Jon T. Elliott sold property at 49 Bryant Road, Otis, to Matthew V. Gamelli, $289,000.

Jeffrey L. Barcus sold property at 111 Oak Hill Road, Pittsfield, to Pamela Merlet, $351,000.

Bruce J. and Richard W. Scullary sold property at High Street, Pittsfield, to Richard W. Scullary, $2,500.

Jennifer Driscoll, personal rep. of the Estate of Eric Sutherland Milne, sold property at 23 Parish Drive, Otis, to Jeffrey R. and Jamie Mitchell, $44,000.

William Joseph and Mark E. Zappone, personal reps. of the Estate of Anthony J. Zappone; and Marialta Zappone Sparagna, Cynthia Zappone formerly known as Cynthia Ann Kerns, John Anthony Zappone, Mark Edward Zappone, William Joseph Zappone, and Stephen Anthony Zappone, devisees of the Estate of Anthony J. Zappone, sold property at 58 Shore Circle, Otis, to Wilfred and Norma Marchand, $736,000.

Winstanley and Ann Elizabeth Kulze, $400,000.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. sold property at 146 Cole Ave., Pittsfield, to Abigail E. Jones, $196,500.

Eric M. and Leslie E. Slocum sold property at 151 Onota St., Pittsfield, to PFGC LLC, $150,000.

Francis G. and Robin C. Sabellico sold property at 8 Daralyn Court, Pittsfield, to Benjamin Pigott, $490,000.

Colin J.M. Toole sold property at 125 Alpine Trail, Unit 23-C, Pittsfield, to Maureen E. Byrne and Michael R. Gottfried, $727,500.

John V. Supple Jr. sold property at 84 Marian Ave., Pittsfield, to David Rolle, $222,000.

Nils E. Jacobsson II sold property at 247 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, to Robert A. and Kellie Wendling, $310,000.

Kristine Marie Hurley sold property at 21 Indian St., Pittsfield, to Jennifer L. Mineau and Crystal A. Dobrinski, $150,000.

Andrew C. and Courtney G. Meisberger sold property at 65 Crofut St., Pittsfield, to Eric Tobin, $880,000.

City of Pittsfield sold property at Robbins Avenue, Pittsfield, to Fred J. Pittman, $2,100.

Charles Shaw and Paula Pravia sold property at 53 Daniels Ave., Pittsfield, to Tameka McDaniel Vasquez, $189,900.

Gary A. Case, commissioner, sold property at 246 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, to Todd J. Pelkey, $248,000.

Scott and David Johnson sold property at 126 Connecticut Ave., Pittsfield, to Kaliegh Sybil Walther and Erik Walther, $219,900.

Bernard B. and Adams J. Potts and Kathryn A. Cimini, personal rep. of the Estate of Faustine Mary Elizabeth Potts, sold property at 517 Elm St., Pittsfield, to David Antonio Orellana Palacios and Edith Basilia Orellana, $230,000.

Lisa Duquette, formerly known as Lisa M. Wroblewski, individually and as personal rep. of the Estate of Jason Trela Duquette, sold property at 42-44 Grove St., Pittsfield, to Anthony Rufo, $202,000.

Diplacon Investments LLC sold property at 87 Fort Hill Ave., Pittsfield, to Thomas Reardon

Lewis K. Reed Sr. sold property at 464 Williams St., Pittsfield, to Peter Ratzlaff and Juanita Shaffer-Ratzlaff, $478,500.

Greystone Residences LLC sold property at 436-440 North St., Pittsfield, to 440 Nord Strasse LLC, $4,750,000.

David L. Mason, personal rep. of the Estate of David Leonard Mason, sold property at 4 Ring St., Pittsfield, to Real Estate Investments Northeast LLC, $110,000.

Benjamin W. Kline II and Theresa A. Kline, formerly known as Theresa A. Miller, sold property at 233 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, to Michael T. Dietlin, $214,000.

James P. and Jean A. Sullivan sold property at 1136 Barker Road, Unit 9, Pittsfield, to Frederik W. and Carolyn A. Eliason, $545,000.

June 2022

Veronica O. Deyeso sold property at 261 South St., Pittsfield, to Henstebo LLC, $325,000.

RVT, $1,600,000.

James T. Donaldson sold property at 175 Hungerford St., Pittsfield, to Brian J. Hoffman, trustee of the Big Spruce Nominee RT, $130,000.

Marie Camarda sold property at 172 Town Hill Road, Sandisfield, to Samantha R. Bernier and Cody W. Otten, $281,000.

John P. O’Brien, trustee of the ACS NT, sold property at 21 Juliana Drive, Pittsfield, to Benjamin A. and Rebecca R. Fontaine, $675,000.

Carolee Jervas sold property at North Beech Plain Road, Route 8, Sandisfield, to Alexander Nikituk and Ashley Nikituk, $44,300.

John M. and Barbara W. Sinopoli sold property at 89 Gravesleigh Terrace, Pittsfield, to David R. and Elizabeth G. Aitoro, $640,000.

Roberta Benward sold property at 323 Tamarack Trail, Sandisfield, to Pamela Van Der Meulen and Stephen R. Senie, trustees of 323 Tamarack Trail OWL Nominee Realty Trust, $579,000.

FTMS LLC sold property at 19 Pleasure Ave., Pittsfield, to Melanie Tierney and Jared Benoit, $104,000.

Michael A. Wojtkowski, trustee of the Wojtkowski Nominee Realty Trust Number Three, sold property at 71 Center St., Pittsfield, to Duta Real Estate LLC, $40,000.

Timothy S. Craw sold property at 54 Taylor St., Pittsfield, to Stephen Fletcher, $237,500.

395 North LLC sold property at 391-401 North St. and 28 Bradford St., Pittsfield, to 395 Nord Strasse LLC, $1,500,000.

U.S. Bank Trust N.A., trustee, sold property at 90 Highland Ave., Pittsfield, to HMA Properties LLC, $110,000.

Berkshire Home Rentals LLC sold property at 155 Francis Ave., Pittsfield, to Jose E. and Beverly A. Caraballo, $260,000.

Ricci M. and Kelly A. Allessio sold property at 31 Easton Ave., Pittsfield, to Zoe Klusing, $282,500.

Christine Squires, personal rep. of the Estate of Albert T. Hopper, sold property at 77 McArthur St., Pittsfield, to Mark D. Killbary, $225,000.

Samuel A. Saleeb sold property at 35 Roberta Road, Pittsfield, to Christopher James Wagner and Katherine Maeve Wyman, $357,000.

Thomas A. and Kathleen P. Scace sold property at 84 Knox Road, Pittsfield, to John Demick and Nancy Kay, $335,000.

James W. Benson Jr. sold property at 34 Daniel Ave., Pittsfield, to KPJ Enterprise LLC, $122,000.

Kelly A. Criswell, personal rep. of the Estate of Thomas F. Condron, sold property at 25 Rose Terrace, Pittsfield, to Kimberly Figueroa, $290,000.

Greylock Federal Credit Union sold property at 46 Lenox Ave., Pittsfield, to DNC Real Estate LLC, $90,000.

Diana Domenichini and Andrea Justice sold property at 95 Pine Grove Drive, Pittsfield, to Paul F. Bowlby, $269,000.

Karen V. Schiltz sold property at 66 Dodge Ave., Pittsfield, to Juan Antonio Espinoza Aragon and Sonia Elizabeth Espinoza-Urrutia, $265,000.

Eric E. Brickle sold property off East New Lenox Road, Pittsfield, to Christine M. Burbank, trustee of the Christine M. Burbank 2009 RVT, $45,000.

Sandisfield

Road, Washington, to David and Kara Fisher, $450,000.

West Stockbridge Ellies Holdings LLC sold property at 9 State Line Road, West Stockbridge, to Carle Peter Jensen, $384,900.

Albert A. Sabatino Estate sold property at 76 Great Barrington Road, West Stockbridge, to Miha Habic and Kaethe Minden, $545,000.

Mary Catherine Nihart sold property at 7 Stockbridge Road, West Stockbridge, to Cassi Amanda Gibson, $498,000.

Philana Rowell sold property at 0 South Sandisfield Road, Sandisfield, to Nicholas Allen Browne, $93,000.

Raymond Fattorini and Anne M. Tannenbaum sold property at 197 Great Barrington Road, West Stockbridge, to Bishir Faisal Ali and Leigha Ann Ali, $740,000.

Savoy

Williamstown

Dane Braman, personal rep. under the last will and testament of Denise M. Braman, sold property at 66 Griffin Hill Road, Savoy, to Nicholas Aitken, $230,000.

LVP Holdings LLC sold property at 112 Water St., Williamstown, to Marc-Harry Delorme and Pamela Michelle Franks, $415,000.

Sheffield James W. Black and Patricia B. Kelly, trustees of Black Irrevocable Grantor Trust, sold property at 0 Water Farm Road, Sheffield, to Carly Jane Shafiroff, $40,000.

Morven Allen sold property at 199 Hewins St., Sheffield, to Donald W. Adams and A. Temora Allen, $217,500.

Alia Winston sold property at 370 Shunpike Road, Sheffield, to Holly Kaye, $610,000.

Scottsdale REI LLC sold property at 194 East Main St., Sheffield, to Berkshire Properties Rentals LLC, $265,000.

John Lucke Reilley and Joy Reilley sold property at 385 Bears Den Road, Sheffield, to Kelly M. Gold and Josh A. Nicosia, $390,000.

Gary A. Case sold property at 446 Boardman St., Sheffield, to David Ziegler, trustee of Ziegler Nominee Trust, $165,000.

Richard E. Hill Sr. and Wendy L. Hill sold property at 658 South Main St., Sheffield, to Grace Guerrero and Luis A. Guerrero, $489,000.

Tracy Seckler sold property at 522 Rote Hill Road, Sheffield, to Elizabeth B. Krieger and Evan M. Silverman, $893,000.

Dawn S. Massini Estate sold property at 210 Ashley Falls Road, Sheffield, to FP Lend Fund I LLC, $249,000.

Stockbridge Clover Swann and Matthew B. Riley, personal rep. of the estate of Nicholas Swann, sold property at 25 Cherry Hill Road, Stockbridge, to Justin D. and Steven Schmitter, $290,000.

Deborah Davis-Johnson, trustee of the DGLHS Irrevocable Trust, sold property at 18 Beachwood Drive, Stockbridge, to Edward Steve Lichtenberg and Betsy Suzanne Aubrey, trustees of the Lichtenberg Aubrey RVT, $390,000.

58 Interlaken LLC sold property at 58 Interlaken Road, Stockbridge, to Across Roads LLC, $605,000.

57 Spring Street Inc. sold property at 57 Spring St., Williamstown, to Williamstown Commercial Investments LLC, $1,750,000.

Oxford Finance SB Propco LLC sold property at 1561 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, to Williamstown Recovery Realty LLC, $1,200,000.

Elmac Realty Corp. sold property at 46-52 Spring St., Williamstown, to 46-52 Spring Street Williamstown Associates LLC, $1,280,000.

Ann L. Filiault, personal rep. of the Estate of Janet Beattie Filiault, sold property at 716 Simonds Road, Williamstown, to Jean Marie O’Hearn, $192,567.

The President and Trustees of Williams College sold property at 224 Pine Cobble Road, Williamstown, to Steffen and Tatum Siebert, $539,050.

Henry E. Bratcher III and Nicole Bratcher-Heffernan, trustees of the Cold Spring South NT, sold property at 988 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, to Henry E. Bratcher III and Catherine A. Bratcher, $127,600.

Susan S. and John P. Hogan Jr. sold property at 1012 Jericho Road, Unit B, Building 101, Williamstown, to W. Merrill and Carolyn A. Sanderson, $275,000.

Thomas S. and Bonghee L. Lis sold property at 404 Hemlock Lane, Williamstown, to Vincent Melito, trustee of the Vincent Melito RVT, $352,000.

Frank R. Uible Jr. sold property at 90 Hill Province Road, Williamstown, to Laura Jane Schrock and Kimberly Anita Taylor, $750,000.

Robert C. and Stefanie Spray Jandl sold property at 1651 Oblong Road, Williamstown, to Esther Bell and Jason M. Varone, $739,000.

Sheila Mason, trustee of the Jean Russell-Morris RVT, sold property at 189 Stratton Road, Unit 3-G3, Williamstown, to Adam Patrick and Samantha Lyn Kaftan, $189,000.

Windsor

Louis J. Puyia sold property at 35 Essex St., Pittsfield, to Vito F. Puyia, $39,500.

Rosalie Berger sold property at 8 Meadow Road, Stockbridge, to Robert A. Schubert and Audrey Shachnow, $1,145,000.

Annamarie L. Sebastino, personal rep. under the last will and testament of Gene P. Sebastino Sr., sold property at 61 Access Road 3, Windsor, to Michael and Bianca Trzcinski, $8,698.

Stanley A. and Ruth L. Greenleaf sold property at 208 Jason St., Pittsfield, to Christopher B. Bunning, $300,000.

Nabih and Marilyn Nejaime sold property at 13 Park St., Stockbridge, to 13 Park Street LLC, $675,000.

Brian R. and Melissa A. Vreeland sold property at 235 High St. Hill Road, Windsor, to Dustin W. Teich, $455,000.

Kevin J. Connolly and Mary P. Anderson sold property at 36-38 Edward Ave., Pittsfield, to Kevin J. and Roslyn I. Connolly, $53,768.17.

Gary W. and Charlotte U. Miller sold property at 32 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge, to Aaron J. and Gail J. Lansky, $634,000.

Jacob Trudeau sold property at 0 Old Route 9, Windsor, to Kai and Nichole Nalenz, $27,000.

Richmond

William D. Cawley Jr. sold property at South Washington State Road, Stockbridge, to Timothy Rohrbaugh, $79,500.

Justin G. Cowdrey sold property at 63 Hollister St., Pittsfield, to Julie Kunz, $175,000.

Valeri A. Reynolds sold property at 42 Lake Road Extension, Richmond, to Bruce I. Wintman and Jonna I. Gaberman, $1,950,000.

Ernest L. and Pamela M. Smith sold property at Sleepy Hollow Road, Richmond, to Joseph P. Short and McCaela C. Donovan, $215,000.

Bruce D. and Janet S. Peeples sold property at 74 Osceola Road, Richmond, to Thomas R. and Jennifer L. Leahy, $562,000.

Jeffrey L. Diamond sold property at 720 West Road, Richmond, to Charles R. and Wendy M. Hudson, trustees of the Charles R. Hudson RVT and Wendy M. Hudson

Frannie R. Kronenberg, trustee of the Irving Kronenberg aka Isadore Kronenberg Testamentary Trust, sold property at 9 Rattlesnake Mountain Road, Stockbridge, to Christopher Wilson and Yin Chen Palumbo, $1,150,000.

Washington Gary A. Joyner and Vicki A. Wilder sold property at Cross Place Road, Washington, to Timothy A. and Deanna M. Mason, $20,000.

Brian David and Lynn Ann Karst sold property at 1202 Lovers Lane

Jacob Trudeau sold property at 45 Access Road No. 3, Windsor, to Thomas and Kellie M. Powers, $18,000.

Matthew G. Ostrander sold property at High Street Hill, Windsor, to Adam J. Larson, Emily A. Murray and Ruth A. Crane, $42,900.

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.

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

People in the Berkshires Berkshire Medical Center Cancer Center nurse Billie Jo George has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, a George national nursing recognition program that has been adopted by thousands of hospitals to honor individual nurses who have had a tremendous impact on patient care.

George, who serves at the BMC Cancer & Infusion Center, received a glowing nomination from Susan DeSanty, a patient she has cared for at the center.

The DAISY Award is bestowed following a nomination process and review by an interdisciplinary oversight committee. BMC staff, patients and the general community can submit nominations. The nomination form can be found on each floor, in patient welcome packets, and will soon be available on the BHS Employee Portal.

The DAISY Foundation was started in memory of Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 from complications of ITP, an autoimmune disease. The program is now in over 4,500 health care facilities across the U.S. and around the world.

Ryan Shorette has been promoted to SVP, retail branch banking by Berkshire Bank. In this role, Shorette will oversee all 105 of the Shorette bank’s branches in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York.

Shorette had formerly served as FVP,

regional branch manager at Berkshire Bank for eight years.

Shorette has over 25 years of retail banking experience and has held a number of leadership positions.

Before joining Berkshire Bank, he worked at Bank of America and Webster Bank. Ryan has been nominated for the New Leaders in Banking Honors Award from the Connecticut Bankers Association. He holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from Central Connecticut State University.

1Berkshire has added two new staff members, promoted three current staffers and added five new board members.

Amanda Alibozek Alibozek and Cathleen King have been hired as digital marketing assistant and marketing coordinator, respectively.

A native and current resident King of Adams, Alibozek will execute ecommunications, maintain the 1berkshire.com and berkshires.org websites, and manage the social media platforms. She most recently served in donor engagement at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

King, who lives in Clarksburg, will support advertising schedules, membership and online events listings for both websites, assist with printed collateral programs, and will write blog posts of regional interest. King has experience in education and administration. She most recently worked for

21

the city of North Adams.

Among 1Berkshire’s current employees, Lindsey Schmid has been promoted to senior vice president of tourism and marketing; Kevin Pink to deputy director of economic development; and Katie Brelsford to vice president of finance.

The new board members are Leigh Davis, director of development at Construct Inc. and vice chair of the Great Barrington Select Board; Michelle Lopez, executive director of the Berkshire Immigrant Center; Alfred Enchill Sr., president and manager of Elegant Stitches in Pittsfield; Sue Kristjansson, president and COO of Berkshire Gas Co.; and Barbara Guido, senior vice president of retail banking for Adams Community Bank.

John Roberson has been appointed executive director of Pathlight, a Springfield-based organization that serves Western Massachusetts residents with developmental and intellectual disabilities and has an office in Pittsfield Roberson most recently served as vice president of children & families for the Center for Human Development, where he was responsible for management of a $25 million annual budget and expansion of services with local, state and federal agencies. He had previously managed two large residential facilities as CHD’s director of juvenile justice program. He has also served as lead treatment supervisor for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department.

Roberson is a member of the Child Welfare League of America and the American Correctional Association.

He has served as a board member of the Correctional Association of Massachusetts, the Restorative Justice Collaborative of Hampden County, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence. He holds an MS degree from Cambridge College in Springfield.

Arlene D. Schiff and

Katherine Westgate have been named to the board of trustees at Community Health Programs.

A Lenox resident, Schiff Schiff is the national director of Life & Legacy, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Agawam, which assists organizations in building their Westgate endowment.

For 12 years, Schiff was the executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, and she previously worked as an administrator with the former Berkshire Children and Families in Pittsfield (now 18 Degrees).

She also led the North Adams Office of Community Development for seven years. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University and completed her undergraduate education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Westgate is the global head of mobile commerce for Google Play Partnerships. She has broad digital industry expertise, reflected in a series of leadership roles she has held at Google and Microsoft, at the travel technology company Amadeus, and with the global consultancy Mitchell Madison Group. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and divides her time between New York and Stockbridge, where her family has a long history in the town.

Chazlee Myers, a 2012 graduate of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, has been awarded an

Myers

PEOPLE, Page 22

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Berkshire Business Journal

People

in Alabama. He and his wife have 10 children.

FROM PAGE 21

Attorneys Susan Herman, Jeff O’Connor and Kyle Patzwahl have all joined the law firm of Cain Hibbard & Myers.

Herman joins Herman the firm as of counsel with over 40 years of experience in both the public and private sector. She most recently served as chief deputy for the Maine O’Connor Office of the Attorney General.

She also served in that office as an assistant attorney general and a deputy attorney general. Her previous experience also Patzwahl includes 15 years as a private practitioner with a law firm in Lewiston, Maine.

O’Connor also joins the firm as of counsel. He started his career at Cain Hibbard, but most recently practiced for 12 years as an associate and partner of a regional Boston-based law firm. His primary responsibilities were defending medical and legal malpractice cases, and representing professionals in licensing and disciplinary matters.

Patzwahl joins as an associate with the firm’s real estate and business group. Originally from Hudson, N.Y., Patzwahl graduated from The George Washington University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in business administration. A new resident of Lenox,

English teaching assistant grant by the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission.

Myers will provide assistance to local English teachers in Italy and act as a cultural ambassador for the United States from October until June 2023.

Myers is one of only 10 ETA grant awardees for Italy.

Myers majored in German studies and photography at Simon’s Rock and studied abroad in Germany at the University of Marburg. When Myers begins her position in southern Italy in October her focus will be on working with at-risk populations, especially young African women and young refugees. Two organizations that she plans to partner with are Donne di Benin City Palermo and Refugees Welcome Italia.

Following an extensive search, Greylock Federal Credit Union has hired Robert Sims as senior vice president of retail services. Sims Sims brings extensive strategic experience in branch and call center optimization, product development and management, bank at work programs, marketing, business development and improving service and reach to underserved communities.

Sims has 33 years of financial services experience. Most recently, he served with Hancock Whitney, a bank headquartered in Alabama, where he focused on improving service to underserved communities within their branch footprint. He is a graduate of The University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance. Sims will be relocating his family to the Berkshires following the end of the school year

Patzwahl earned his law degree from Boston College Law School and will earn his MBA from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management this year. He was a summer associate at the firm in 2021.

Alison Swain has joined New England Public Media as major gifts officer, while Anpa’o Locke has joined NEPM’s marketing team as graphics designer and digital assets specialist.

Swain comes to NEPM from UConn Foundation, where she was director of alumni relations for the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford, Conn. Prior to that position, Swain had held positions with a number of Connecticut nonprofits including Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Hartford Hospital and The Village for Families & Children in Hartford.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in English, journalism and photography from the University of Connecticut.

Locke graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in film studies in 2021.

She has recently served as communications co-director for Earth Guardians in Boulder, Colo., an organization that seeks to empower youth to be effective leaders in environmental and climate justice. Locke will work remotely from Albuquerque, N.M., but has strong ties to the area from having attended Mount Holyoke.

Leslie Gabriel has joined Manos Unidas as capital development/marketing director.

A producer of video and audio content, Gabriel Gabriel has a several decades of experience in creating successful businesses, creating social events and bringing awareness to important issues.

He currently produces the H2O radio show “And So It Flows,” which

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June 2022 highlights the value of water and water consciousness in our lives on Berkshire Community Radio, WBCR-LP (97.7) FM in Great Barrington Manos Unidas, which means United Hands in English, is planning to expand its affordable housing cooperatives for low and moderate income residents; its worker owned cooperatives and social enterprises for local community members to share skills and products; educational cooperatives for community members who develop educational programming for other community members; and food cooperative community gardens for community members to have hands on access to growing, sharing and access to healthy, nutritious food.

Founded in 1997, Manos Unidas is a Pittsfield-based multicultural, cooperative organization that celebrates community and unearths the common strengths of all community residents through shared resources of empowerment, living arts, food, education, and economic initiatives.

Rebecca Lilley has joined the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board as office executive, while Paul Mattingly has been named manager of inLilley dustry relations.

In her role, Lilley will be managing all aspects of the office and accounting functions of the board, provide human resources and Mattingly coordinate staff training. She will also be responsible for database management, document control, and regulatory compliance.

Lilley previously served as general manager of 33Main and worked as the

PEOPLE, Page 23

June 2022

Berkshire Business Journal

People

previously worked for Berkshire Bank.

FROM PAGE 22

Stephanie McNair has assumed the role of brokerage manager for William Pitt Sotheby International Realty’s two Berkshire McNair County brokerages in Great Barrington and Lenox.

A seasoned agent, McNair has been working in real estate since 2009, representing buyers and sellers throughout Western Massachusetts.

McNair ran her own boutique real estate agency, Harvest Moon Realty, from 2012 to 2017. Before that, she held various roles in marketing, public relations and crisis communications for organizations including the American Diabetes Association, Baystate Health Systems and Six Flags International.

McNair is a longtime resident of Western Massachusetts and very active in her local community. She is co-founder of The Oxford House, a democratically run self-supporting drug recovery home with two Western Massachusetts locations, and an active supporter of The Open Pantry and Rays of Hope, having sat on the boards of both organizations. McNair is a lover of the outdoors, counting hiking, kayaking, tennis and golf as her spare-time passions.

assistant town clerk/collector for the town of Great Barrington.

In his role, Mattingly will be engaging employers throughout Berkshire County to define their workforce needs and assist with recruitment and retention strategies. He will also oversee the Berkshire Skills Cabinet and lead industry advisory committees to identify retention and recruitment strategies, funding strategies, and training opportunities and will lead the Market Maker initiative for the Berkshires.

Mattingly previously served as the director of workforce development: advanced manufacturing at Berkshire Community College, and assisted in facilitating manufacturing training at the Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction. Mattingly holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Central Connecticut State University.

Ilana Steinhauer, the executive director of Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires, has been elected to the board of trustees of Lee Steinhauer Bank. The bank has also named five new corporators.

Steinhauer, a family nurse practitioner, worked in a private medical practice in the Boston area before joining VIM, which based in Great Barrington. She earned her master’s degree in nursing from the former Simmons College, now Simmons University, and a bachelor’s degree in religion from Wesleyan University. She lives in Sheffield with her husband and two sons. VIM provides health care, free of charge, to low-income adults in the Berkshires who are uninsured or underinsured.

The new corporators include: Nicol Antil, of Richmond, the owner of Antil Creative; Melissa Agosto, of Pittsfield, the director of finance for Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge; Michelle Decepida, of Pittsfield, a systems engineer who is deputy program manager for engineering at General Dynamics Mission Systems in Pittsfield; Berkshire County hospitality executive Mauer Desai, of Pittsfield; and Tannya Romero of Pittsfield, a native of Ecuador, who works as a quality assurance specialist for Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing in Lee. Corporators are responsible for electing the trustees and officers of Berkshire Financial Services, which is Lee Bank’s holding company.

Lisa Lawler has joined Pittsfield Cooperative Bank as commercial portfolio officer and Erika Wells as commercial and residential Lawler administration assistant.

Lawler will be responsible for all incoming business lending and commercial real estate applications, preparation of Wells commercial loan documentation, loan closing, and portfolio management. She attended Berkshire Community College and resides in Pittsfield with her family. Prior to joining the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, Lawler worked for MountainOne Bank and TD Bank.

Wells will support the commercial lending team by servicing, maintaining and updating loan documentation and loan files. She attended Berkshire Community College and resides in Pittsfield with her family. She enjoys reading, exercise and spending time with family and friends. She

Marnie Clough, Erica Samson Girgenti, Pamela Green and Sarah Eustis were all elected corporators of Community Clough Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC recently at the mutual holding company’s annual meeting.

Community Bancorp is the newly formed parent company of AdGirgenti ams Community Bank.

Clough, of Adams, is a partner at the law firm Donovan O’Connor & Dodig of North Adams. She has also served on Green the Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston Bar Association, American Bar Association, and Berkshire Bar Association.

Clough holds a bachelor’s deEustis gree in criminal justice and psychology from the State University of New York at Albany and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School.

Girgenti, also of Adams, is executive director of Sugar Hill Assisted Living Community in Dalton. Her community service includes serving as the executive director of the Adams Council on Aging. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Salem State College and a master’s degree in human services, gerontology from Capella University.

Green, of Pittsfield, is a partner at the law firm Smith Green & Holmes of Pittsfield. She has served on the board of directors of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, and the Hancock Shaker Village Audit Committee, and was named director of the Estate Planning Council of Berkshire County.

She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in world politics from Catholic University and a law degree from Western New England College School

of Law. Eustis, of Great Barrington, is the CEO of Main Street Hospitality in Great Barrington. She serves on the board of directors of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the board of trustees of the Indian Mountain School in Connecticut, and on the advisory board of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art/art history and fine/studio arts from Smith College.

David Donahue has been named senior vice president of Berkshire Bank’s private banking team.

In this role, Donahue Donahue will work with the private banking team to work with high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.

Donahue has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry.

He previously worked as a wealth adviser and as a corporate banking relationship manager with Boston Private.

A resident of East Walpole, Donahue holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Bentley University and an MBA from Bridgewater State University.

Peter Belmonte was recently named executive chef at The Williams Inn and its restaurant, The Barn Kitchen & Bar. Belmonte As executive chef, Belmonte is responsible for managing all aspects of the inn’s culinary operations, including the 62-seat restaurant, a bar and event spaces.

Belmonte is a graduate of New York Restaurant School and brings more than 20 years of experience as an executive chef at award-winning restaurants and inns. He most recently served with Life-House Hotels Lenox Collection in Lenox where he was responsible for the culinary programs for The Church Street Inn, Ophelia’s Restaurant, Rookwood Inn and Birchwood Inn. He has also worked at the former Cranwell Resort in Lenox.

As one of his first initiatives, Belmonte has introduced new menus that entwine local flavors with his culinary expertise including house made classic hummus, fresh ramen with classic accompaniments, and New England favorites like fish & chips. The Williams Inn is professionally managed by Waterford Hotel Group.

Jason Dohaney, of Williamstown, an investment adviser with Mountain One Investments, has joined the Southwestern Dohaney Vermont Health Care Foundation’s board of directors, which consists of 20 members.

Dohaney has been with MountainOne Investments since 2007. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and an MBA from Quinnipiac University. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities registrations as an investment adviser representative of Commonwealth Financial Network and is a licensed insurance agent for life, health and annuities.

He currently serves as vice chair of the MCLA Foundation, and as president of the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He is a former president of the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Berkshire United Way, and the Fund for Williamstown.

23 Robert Fraser, the president and CEO of MountainOne Bank, was recently elected treasurer of the Massachusetts BankFraser ers Association at the organization’s annual meeting.

Founded in 1905, the MBA is the only association representing FDIC-insured community, regional, and nationwide banks serving consumer and business clients across the commonwealth.

“As a current board member, I am pleased to now be elected as treasurer of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, which has stood the test of time since its founding 117 years ago.,” Fraser said in a news release.

“Being involved with the MBA enables me to support access to economic opportunity and growth for our communities, while also working to strengthen the resiliency of the industry as a whole.”

Baumann

Burke

Horan

Carol Bosco Bauman has joined Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire as interim executive director, while Spring Burke and Brian Horan have each been elected to three-year terms on the group’s board of directors.

Baumann replaces former Executive Director Allison Marchese, who recently retired.

She brings to the organization over two decades of strategic marketing, branding and communications

work.

She was first introduced to community development work while living in the west Fenway neighborhood in Boston, creating a summer camp in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Gardner Museum, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Harvard Medical School, and others for children in under-resourced Boston neighborhoods.

She has volunteered for many initiatives and organizations in the Berkshire community, including Housatonic village and school redevelopment efforts and as chair of the Chesterwood Advisory Council. She has lived in Housatonic since 1996.

Burke has spent half her life serving in different roles in the banking industry.

She currently serves as vice president, mortgage adviser for Pittsfield Cooperative Bank.

A resident of Norfolk, Conn., Burke has been a board member of the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce for the past six years and has served as treasurer for several years.

Horan is a litigator and counselor whose experience spans areas including real estate, health care, telecommunications, construction, finance, insurance and intellectual property.

He spent over a decade advising New York City agencies and litigating on issues including expanding affordable housing and economic opportunity. He relocated to the Berkshires in 2020.

The Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire builds affordable housing and create living-wage jobs by working collaboratively with town governments, open space organizations, and other local nonprofits, according to its website.

24

Berkshire Business Journal

June 2022

The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank + The Mazzeo Brothers

A Cut Above When Mike, Mark, and Rudy Mazzeo wanted to cook up financing for Mazzeo’s Meat and Seafood, they found comfort working with a homemade bank.

Throughout its half-century history, the mission of Mazzeo’s has remained unchanged—to provide their customers with the freshest, highest-quality meats and seafoods produced as naturally and as sustainably as possible. When selecting a bank, they chose one that reflected the way they do business. The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, born right here in the Berkshires, using a recipe that still appeals to our neighbors: integrity, character, and commitment.

The Pittsfield Co-op is a local bank staffed by local people who shop here, raise their families here, and help our Berkshire community improve and thrive.”

— Michael Mazzeo

If you have a fresh idea call today and we’ll help provide a recipe for success.

J. Jay Anderson

Brad J. Felix

President and CEO 413-629-1601

Vice President | Commercial Banking 413-629-1603

Mazzeo’s Meat and Seafood at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace 1020 South Street • Pittsfield, MA 01201 • (413) 442-2222 760 South Main Street • Great Barrington, MA 01230 • (413) 528-9255

Pittsfield 70 South St. (413) 447-7304

pittsfieldcoop.com

Pittsfield 110 Dalton Ave. (413) 395-9626

Dalton 431 Main St. (413) 684-1551 Member FDIC & DIF

Gt. Barrington 325 Main St. (413) 528-2840 Equal Housing Lender