Updates

FROM PAGE 5

Big Y Foods’ Sack Hunger campaign, which took place at 72 locations in the company’s two-state marketing area, recently donated 1.5 million meals to four regional food banks, including the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield.

The three other food banks are the Worcester County Food Bank, the Greater Boston Food Bank and Connecticut Foodshare.

Based in Springfield, Big Y operates Berkshire markets in Great Barrington, Lee, North Adams and Pittsfield and gas station/convenience stores in Lee and Pittsfield.

UCP of Western Massachusetts, which is based in the Berkshires, is seeking a new leader to succeed CEO Sal Garozzo, who has stepped down to take a position in New York state.

Garozzo, who lives in New York, and served as CEO of UCP Western Massachusetts for over seven years, is leaving to take the CEO position at The Arc of Chemung-Schuyler in Elmira, N.Y. He had previously worked for The Arc of Ulster-Greene (now The Arc of Mid-Hudson) for 15 years.

UCP Board President Howard Marshall will serve as CEO on an interim basis while the board searches for Garrozzo’s permanent replacement.

“We are committed to an inclusive process with input from both the board and the staff, to establish criteria for what they look for in a chief executive and best practices for screening candidates,” Marshall said. “We are also working with an organizational consultant on our succession planning process and have hired a local search firm to broaden our search.”

In an effort to better reach and serve homeowners in Western Massachusetts, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation has reconfigured the region for the state’s Home Modification Loan Program into four sub-regions.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is now the program’s provider agency serving all communities in Berkshire County. Interested applicants should contact Christie Lewis at 413-4421521, ext. 23 or clewis@berkshireplanning.org.

HMLP is a state-funded loan program of the college’s board of trustees, and his wife, Susy, founded The Porches Inn with Eustis’ mother, Nancy Fitzpatrick. The Wadsworth’s son, Chris, who lives in San Francisco, founded the FreshGrass festival and Studio 9, a recording/performance space that is located inside The Porches. Main Street also manages The Porches.

“We were invited to provide management [of the Port Cunnington Inn],” Eustis said. “We have a 20-plus year relationship with the Wadsworth family. They’ve owned it for almost 30 years.” that provides no-interest loans to those in need of accessibility improvements to their homes. It is a collaborative initiative between the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing & Community Development, and CEDAC.

Port Cunnington Lodge, located on the Lake of Bays in Ontario’s Muskoka region, which is near Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, has been accepting guests for 120 years, according to a news release.

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts to receive a $50,000 Grants for Arts Projects award.

The funding will support the Creative Compact for Collaborative and Collective Impact (C4) Initiative. In partnership with various educational advocacy networks and collaboration with BRPC, the C4 Initiative executes regionwide collaboration for creative placemaking and addresses regional needs in Berkshire County’s 13 school districts. This initiative was launched in collaboration with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the North Adams Public Schools.

This grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal 2023 grants.

Nancy Joch O’Connor and Kristie Agar, experienced tax agents who both grew up in Ashley Falls, recently formed their own tax and accounting firm, O’Connor and Agar LLC, at 73 Main St. in Sheffield. The firm offers tax and accounting services to individuals, small businesses, trusts and estates.

O’Connor and Agar also attended the same high school, but didn’t meet until 15 years ago when they started working together at the same accounting firm. Agar had already been employed there for 10 years.

Boasting over 50 years of combined experience in tax and accounting, they are both enrolled agents — the highest credential that’s awarded by the Internal Revenue Service. Having that designation means there are no restrictions on the type of taxpayers they can represent, the tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can represent clients before.

For information, call 860-734-5821, send email to tax@oconnorandagar.com, or visit oconnorandagar.com.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and its department of business administration are partnering with

Sarah Eustis is CEO of Main Street Hospitality. The Stockbridge-based hospitality group recently agreed to manage two more lodging establishments, one in Maine and the other in Canada.

BEN GARVER

“When they indicated that they could use some help up in Canada, we jumped at the chance,” Eustis said. “It’s a nice fit in our portfolio.”

The Chebeague Island Inn is located in the Casco Bay region of Maine, a 25-minute ferry ride from Portland, that state’s largest city. The historic 20-room inn, built in 1880, is owned by the Prentice Group, whose owner, Casey Prentice, has worked with Main Street in the past.

Founded in 2014, Main Street Hospitality Group began expanding outside the Berkshires in 2018 when it agreed to manage the new Hammett’s Hotel in Newport, R.I. The company has since gone on to manage lodging establishments in Providence, R.I. and Hampton Bays, N.Y. The Chebeague Island Inn and Port Cunnington Lodge are strictly seasonal opeat-

Habitat for Humanity to offer free tax preparation services to local residents in need through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program

Habitat for Humanity administers VITA, a program of the Internal Revenue Service, to assist taxpayers with disabilities or limited English speaking skills, those 60 years of age or older, or individuals who make $60,000 or less a year. MCLA students assist with both basic and advanced returns, including those with itemized deductions.

Individuals can call Habitat for Humanity at (413) 442-3184 to schedule an appointment or drop-off documents at the site and a certified volunteer will work to prepare the tax return. Drop-off hours are 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays in MCLA’s Murdock Hall.

Appointments are not required for drop-off services but are required for in-person services. The program runs through April 12.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is accepting applications for its 2023 Internship Challenge, High School Apprenticeship Challenge and Data Science Internship programs.

The Internship Challenge creates opportunities each year for college students interested in pursuing careers in the life sciences industry

The High School Apprenticeship Challenge facilitates and funds paid internships for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged high school students throughout Massachusetts

The Data Science Internship Program focuses on enhancing the availability of advanced analytics/data science talent in the life sciences. The program creates new internship opportunities for qualified candidates at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels by enabling research institutions and small life sciences companies to hire paid interns for up to six months. Information: masslifesciences.com.

Price Chopper/Market 32 has had its Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation renewed by the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission.

The company first launched specialty pharmacy services in 2015. A specialty pharmacy provides medications used to treat rare or complex health problems, which may not be stocked by local pharmacies, according to WebMD.

URAC is the independent leader in promoting health care quality, setting high standards for clinical practice, ions — a first for Main Street, which until now has only been managing year-round properties.

Although the lodging business struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eustis said Main Street has rebounded from the pandemic well and is looking to become involved in the right opportunities.

“We are certainly in a growth period for Main Street,” she said. “It (the company) is getting close to 10 years old and growth has been great. Now that we are solid and healthy post-COVID we are in a position to extend the portfolio, but only for the right relationships and the right reasons.

“We’ve had two great years evolutionally growing back from COVID in 2021 and 2022,” she said. “It indicated for us kind of a loyal following. The places we’re expanding to are places that people want to go to where they can have a relaxing experience in an authentic place where they can be close to nature. When the right project comes up with the right relationship, it clicks. We’re not daunted at all.” consumer protections, performance measurement, operations infrastructure, and risk management. Price Chopper/ Market 32 Specialty Pharmacy is also accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care.

In the Berkshires, Main Street Hospitality manages The Red Lion Inn and Maple Glen at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, The Briaricliff Hotel in Great Barrington. The Porches, and an affiliated hotel, the Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield. The Fitzpatrick family owns the Red Lion Inn. A division of the family company owns The Briarcliff.

Price Chopper/Market 32 has pharmacies at its three Berkshire County locations in Great Barrington, Lenox and Pittsfield.

Cheryl Zoll, the CEO of Tapestry Health in Springfield for almost nine years, will step down from that position in June, the organization has announced. Zoll came to Tapestry Health in 2014 and has presided over growth that has the organization now providing services including sexual and reproductive health care, food access and family nutrition and harm reduction to 19,000 residents of Western Massachusetts. “I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to serve Tapestry for close to a decade,” Zoll said in a news release. “though I know that this is the right decision for me.” Tapestry Health has engaged DRG, a talent-consulting firm, to conduct an executive search for Zoll’s replacement. Once available, information regarding the position will be posted at tapestryhealth.org/work-with-us/.

1Berkshire is launching its second year of its GoFundU Crowdfunding Workshop and Technical Assistance series

A partnership with Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation and the Berkshire Innovation Center, the series will kick off on March 15 with three consecutive Wednesdays of workshops presented by Laura Christensen, a high-impact crowdfunding campaign educator and consultant in the Berkshires. Funding support is provided by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation

The series will provide an overview of crowdfunding models, opportunities, and best practices. People who attend at least two full sessions of the three-part series will also be eligible to receive up to two hours of one-on-one direct technical assistance support from Christensen for the development and launch of their own crowdfunding campaigns.

This series will be offered as a hybrid opportunity with Zoom-based participation as well as in-person attendance at the Berkshire Innovation Center. The workshops are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Information/registration: tinyurl.com/2c3ebtey.