Berkshire Business Journal October 2026

Beacon Bank taps new CEO

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

Beacon Financial Corp. has named longtime Berkshire Bank executive Sean A. Gray as CEO. Page 4

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Berkshire Business Journal OCTOBER 2026 I VOL. 5, NO. 10

Sowing community

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

At Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham, construction is nearly complete on a $1.5 million barn that will function as a farm store and community space. Farm co-owner Jennifer Salinetti will run the store, while co-owner Peter Salinetti, right, served as the general contractor for the project. Their son Diego Salinetti is doing the finishing work on the building.

Woven Roots Farm’s new barn features store — and much more BY JANE KAUFMAN The Berkshire Eagle TYRINGHAM — In the first year they

grew vegetables, Jennifer and Peter Salinetti put out an honor box and a wagon they built with two antique wheels as a farmstand. Now, 24 years later, the Salinettis are opening a farm store inside a 3,200-square-foot barn that will also operate as a sometime movie theater, workshop and event rental space that will also be available for community gatherings. The $1.5 million post-andbeam barn at Woven Roots Farm is made of freshly cut, regionally sourced pine. About half the cost was paid for with state grants. The other half is coming from community donations. The barn isn’t quite finished, though it’s already functioning, and Woven Roots is still taking donations to pay for it. The Salinettis co-own Woven Roots Farm, where 11 people work, hand-raising 70 crops and building up the soil on 2 1/2 acres.

Their efforts produce food for 1,600 people a week, including delivery to 500 people through Seeding Solidarity, a food sovereignty collaborative. Nearly two-thirds of Woven Roots Farm’s 208 community supported agriculture memberships are subsidized. The barn serves other functions — including as space for 150 people to pick up vegetables on Saturdays through the CSA program. It has an employee break room and an office that can accommodate up to four people comfortably. The library nook has yet to be built. Right now, garlic is drying on screens in the barn’s second floor loft as well as in part of the main space, where the ceiling rises 21 1/2 feet from 12-inch-wide pine floors — and where a bank of windows offers views of the surrounding ridge line as well as flower gardens closer by. THE CONCEPT FOR THE BARN For its first several years, Woven Roots Farm operated most of WOVEN ROOTS, Page 2

The nearly complete post-and-beam barn is made of freshly cut, regionally sourced pine. The ceiling rises over 21 feet above 12-inch-wide pine floors

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Jennifer Salinetti arranges cherry tomatoes in the new farm store at Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham. “We direct-seed about a million seeds a year,” she said.

Woven Roots FROM PAGE 1

its indoor operations out of a greenhouse. “That’s where we had our cooler, and that’s where we had all of our plant starts,” Peter said. “That was my shop. That was the CSA pickup area. It was everything, all in a greenhouse, which was completely insane. But we made it work.” In 2017, the Salinettis began envisioning how to better provide all the things they needed to do. The concept for this barn started with needs for a vegetable wash and pack station and cold storage area. The vision expanded as the Salinettis started talking with neighbors. Their efforts produce They worked with architect and engineer food for 1,600 people a Brad Morse to produce week, including delivery the final designs, where the framing, studs and to 500 people through joints are visible on the Seeding Solidarity, a food interior and the insulation is on the exterior of sovereignty collaborative the building. In 2019, with its first grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the farm poured a foundation and built a cooler and a ceiling. “Once the deck was completed and the first layer of wood was on it, we started doing the (CSA) pickup in the basement here,” Peter said. Then COVID hit, and construction came to a halt. A BARN RAISING Construction resumed with Peter and a crew of five from Ivan & Sons Carpentry of Pittsfield raising 24 posts by hand in the open air — during the winter of 2021. “It was very exciting, interesting, scary, but a beautiful thing,” Peter said. “It was really cool to know that we could do it without that machinery.” They sourced their wood from Konkapot Tree and Timber in Sheffield. It was delivered by Dresser-Hull Lumber & Building Supply in Lee. The driver used a piece of machinery to unload the wood precisely where it needed to be to ease the work to follow. Using freshly milled, regionally sourced pine saved money and added water weight. It also presented challenges as the wood dried and shrunk, sometimes changing shape. “I have a 52 horsepower tractor and it had a hard time lifting one of them,” he said of the posts. He described the process, which took about two weeks. “We had a series of staging that we were using, so we would get it up a little bit and we put staging underneath,” he said. “Then we would re-rig our ropes. We would stand it up a little more. We

At Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham, construction is nearly complete on a new $1.5 million barn that will function as a farm store and community space. would put the staging underneath until it was upright, and we could secure it. And we did every post in the barn like that. “ They hammered cut nails for the flooring. “It just angles down like a little spike, almost like a railroad spike, and every single one of those is installed by hand,” he said. A first-floor bathroom has yet to be installed. There’s still trimwork to be done, permanent railings to install and staircases to finish, as well as some exterior work. The Salinettis’ son, Diego, is responsible for all of the finish work through his company D.S. Woodworking. HISTORY OF WOVEN ROOTS FARM When they first started their backyard vegetable garden in Lee, the Salinettis used conventional practices. WOVEN ROOTS, Page 3

October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

Woven Roots FROM PAGE 2

“For the first few years, we were tilling up the land, and we were coming up against all sorts of issues,” Jen said on a recent tour of the farm. “We were having water issues. The water wasn’t moving through. We were having serious weed issues. We were having serious disease and insect management issues.” The Salinettis both worked full-time at the time. Then Jen became pregnant with her first child, and the pull to the land called to her. “Diego was born on spring equinox, and we quit our jobs just the month before to fulltime farm,” she said. “We had a quarter-acre piece of land, and we needed to figure out how to grow a lot more than what we were growing in that space.” She said the challenges inspired her both to delve into soil science and to return to her roots in Colombia — where hand-scale, multicrop farming is more common than in the United States. Handscale farming involves using human labor and manual tools in place of heavy machinery. While in Lee, they also learned about wholesale marketing, working with the Berkshire Food Co-op and with Guido’s Fresh Marketplace to understand industry standards for produce. The Salinettis looked for land and more opportunity to grow the business. “Eleven years into that process we met this incredible family,” Jen said, referring to the Howard-Urquhart family in Tyringham. ”We figured out a way to actualize this land. It was not the conventional way of land purchase.” In fact, while Woven Roots Farm owns 5 acres, it farms on leased land as well and has an acre across the road. For the first few years, there was an overlap when the Salinettis were farming both in Lee and in Tyringham. “It was really, really hard, but we needed to understand our relationship with the soil here before we could fully trust some of our primary crops like carrots.”

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In 2014, Woven Roots began exclusively farming in Tyringham. On that tour, Jen encouraged visitors to taste cherry tomatoes, and she pointed out a hoop system for kale to keep flea beetles out. “A lot of the hand-scale methodology requires intricate systems thinking,” she aid. “We direct-seed about a million seeds a year.” ABOUT THE OWNERS Jennifer Salinetti was born in Colombia and came with her family to New Jersey as an infant. She graduated from Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, N.J. Her first job was at a clothing store. After high school she studied herbalism and sustainable agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and then apprenticed on farms and worked in herbal centers. Since becoming a farmer, she’s worked as a consultant for the state’s Healthy Soils Advisory Council and serves as a governor-appointed Environmental Justice Council member. She also provides technical assistance and mentorship through Berkshire Agricultural Ventures and Berkshire Grown and Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture. Peter Salinetti grew up in Lee, graduating from Lee High School. His first job was washing bakery pans at at a Convenience Plus. He studied plant and soil science and horticulture at the University of New Hampshire. He got his construction expertise while farming. The barn raising was “just a project,” he said. “My real passion is vegetables.” What’s he looking forward to now? “Completion and just seeing the community use it,” he said. “I can’t wait to see it being peopled and really having a finished product and having people enjoy the space and really enjoy the farm.” And there’s something else he and Jen look forward to: Sharing the bounty with their neighbors. “Having the store will complete that loop,” Pete said.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Diego Salinetti, right, shown with his father, Peter, in the nearly completed barn. Diego’s company, D.S. Woodworking, is doing the finishing work on the building.

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026

Beacon Bank chief has Berkshire roots BOSTON — Sean A. Gray, a long-

time Berkshire Bank executive who helped oversee the merger that created Beacon Financial Corp., has been named CEO of the company and Beacon Bank, the company said. He succeeds Paul A. Perrault, who retired after a banking career spanning more than 50 years. Perrault will remain with Beacon as a consultant for one year to assist with the transition. Gray, who also joined the boards of Beacon Financial and Beacon Bank, most recently served as the company’s chief operating officer. In that role, he oversaw enterprise operations and the integration of banking systems following the merger of Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Brookline Bancorp Inc. The merger was completed in September 2025, creating a combined company under the Beacon Financial name. The company’s banking operations were subsequently consolidated under the Beacon Bank brand. Before the merger, Gray served as president and chief operating officer of Berkshire Bank from November 2018 through 2025 and as a senior executive vice president of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from 2015 through 2025. He was interim CEO from August 2020 through January 2021. Gray joined Berkshire Bank in 2007. During his tenure, he led operations including retail and commercial banking, specialty lending and wealth management. He also oversaw technology, risk management, human resources, marketing, corporate

Gray

BEACON BANK

The Beacon Bank branch on Elm Street in Pittsfield. Beacon Financial Corp., the bank’s parent company, has named Sean Gray as CEO. development, strategy and regional market leadership. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Bentley University. “Sean is an established leader with broad operating expertise, deep institutional knowledge and proven relationships with our colleagues, clients, shareholders and communi-

ties,” said board Chairman David M. Brunelle. “His appointment represents an important catalyst for Beacon’s next phase of profitable growth as the Company remains focused on delivering the commitments established through the merger: accelerating execution, strengthening performance and fully realizing the promise of the combined company.” Gray said Beacon would fo-

cus on integrating the combined company, controlling expenses and improving financial performance. “Beacon is well-positioned to grow, with greater scale, expanded capabilities and a stronger operating platform that allows us to accelerate our progress as a relationship-driven commercial bank,” said Mr. Gray. “At the same time, we will continue to support our regional operat-

ing model, local decision-making and market-centered leadership so we remain close to our clients and communities. Our focus must be on disciplined execution, enhancing performance, and accountability to all stakeholders as we operate as one company with one culture and one commitment.” “We have important opportunities ahead to fully realize merger efficiencies, optimize our expense base and strengthen performance,” he added. “We will be disciplined and opportunistic in how we allocate capital. We will focus on organic growth and maintaining our dividend while diversifying the ways we return capital to shareholders. I look forward to working with our leadership team and colleagues across Beacon to accelerate execution and advance the Company’s next phase of growth.”

October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

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Business updates and regulations, and the steps involved in getting a project started. “My advice is to come in and sit down with someone at Greylock to figure out which path and product is the right fit,” said Brown. “We can help them prepare and get ready now that we have all the resources.” For more information, visit tinyurl. com/vkrumhsp.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Will Conklin is declared businessperson of year The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and Pittsfield Cooperative Bank has named Will Conklin as the 2026 Business Person of the Year. Conklin is the founding executive director of Greenagers, a local environmental youth organization that provides youth employment, volunteer and service-learning opportunities and climate education. The organization also owns and stewards the 100-acre April Hill Conservation and Education Center in South Egremont. Conklin is a managing partner of Konkapot Tree and Timber, which provides sustainable forest management, lumber production, custom sawmilling and firewood services. Conklin, his wife, Amelia, and their daughters, Vera and Penelope, also operate Sky View Farm in Sheffield, where they raise grass-fed beef. The family is the fourth generation to steward the property. He was honored last month at a dinner at Catamount Mountain Resort in South Egremont. LENOX

Optimal Healing opening office in Lenox Commons Optimal Healing has opened a new office at Lenox Commons, expanding its outpatient mental health services in the Berkshires. Founded by Ashley P. Benson, LICSW, Optimal Healing also has offices in North Adams and Southern Vermont. The Lenox office provides counseling for children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Services include treatment for anxiety and stress, depression and mood concerns, trauma recovery, parenting and family challenges, relationship concerns, and life transitions. Optimal Healing plans to expand its services to include salt and red light therapy, massage, meditation, yoga, and additional wellness programming to complement evidence-based psychotherapy. Appointments are available in person and through secure telehealth. The practice accepts most major insurance plans. For more information, call 413-346-4505 or visit OHCommunity.org. PITTSFIELD

Credit union launches board associate program Greylock Federal Credit Union has launched a program to recruit associate members for its board of directors. The Associate Board Member Program is designed to prepare future credit union leaders through exposure to board governance, strategic leadership and community impact. As a member-owned financial cooperative, Greylock is committed to developing leaders who reflect the voices, needs and future of the communities it serves. Individuals interested in Greylock’s mission and learning more about board service are encouraged to apply. The program will include up to three associate board members, in accordance with established term limits. Participants will gain firsthand experience through observing board meetings, mentorship and educational opportunities. Previous board experience is not required. To learn more and apply, visit tinyurl. com/ys9zpa2k. To learn more about Greylock, visit Greylock.org. NORTH ADAMS

Students start fellowships with Climate Career Lab Ethos Pathways launched the inaugural Berkshire Climate Career Lab in August, funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and in partnership with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission and local organizations. The pilot brings together students from across Northern Berkshire

PITTSFIELD

3 BHS hospitals receive stroke, heart care awards

GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Will Conklin, founder of Greenagers, speaks to a tour last fall at the April Hill Education and Conservation Center in Egremont. Conklin has been named Businessperson of the Year by the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commere and Pittsfield Cooperative Bank. County for a two-year paid fellowship combining climate and environmental education, leadership development and career exploration. Fellows have participated in field visits along Route 2, exploring flood resilience and the Hoosic River with Hoosic River Revival, examined environmental justice in North Adams, and visited the new Greylock Elementary School to see its geothermal systems. They also toured the construction site of the new Williams College Museum of Art and Berkshire East’s wind turbine and solar farm, learning about careers in architecture, engineering, construction, sustainability and renewable energy. Over the next two years, the fellows will explore opportunities in the region’s growing climate economy and develop a Youth Action Project funded by a participatory action microgrant. The inaugural fellows include Julia Daly, Jayden Evon, Ella Morgan, Genevieve Quinto, and Rhaya Wright of Drury High School; Milan Nicole Kastner and Jack Tanner of McCann Technical School; Aiden Odvar of Hoosac Valley High School; and Elizabeth Spelman of Mount Greylock Regional School. For more information, visit ethospathways.org. PITTSFIELD

$12K grant supports free legal services on housing Berkshire Center for Justice has been awarded a $12,000 grant from the city of Pittsfield to provide free legal services to area residents, with priority given to low-income Pittsfield residents facing housing and landlord-tenant issues. The grant will help the center expand access to legal guidance and representation for individuals and families navigating challenges such as eviction, unsafe housing conditions, lease disputes, rental assistance matters, and other housing-related concerns. The services are provided at no cost to eligible clients, helping reduce barriers to timely legal support. Clients seeking services funded through the grant must provide two forms of identification. Eligible residents can contact the center to learn more about available assistance, eligibility requirements and scheduling a consultation. For more information, contact Eve Schatz at 413-854-1955. PITTSFIELD

32 students selected for leadership program 1Berkshire has selected 32 high school juniors from across the Berkshires for its 15th Youth Leadership Program class, which will run through the 2026-27

school year. The students were chosen through a competitive application process and began the yearlong leadership program in June with a three-day retreat at Camp Chimney Corners in Becket. The program helps students develop leadership skills, explore career opportunities and work together on a ninemonth, collective-impact project focused on improving the Berkshires. The 2026-27 participants include Myra Annuva, Cole Creighton, Oscar Heeringa, Olivia Perez, Corey Rudin and Elizabeth Spelman of Mount Greylock Regional School; Sophia Astorino of Charles H. McCann Technical School; Aryanna Bouchard, Aubrey Dowd, Addy Reddington and Megan Tucker of Wahconah Regional High School; and Carter Brbovic, Anima Ekua Gyapong, Ruben Fried, Sarah Henderson, Mia Hiltpold, Jessmirac Perry and Chloe Potash of Pittsfield High School. Also, Devyn Fillio and Liv Guinan of Lee Middle and High School; Nathan Foster of Mount Everett Regional School; Genevieve Lagess of Hoosac Valley High School; Boden Mariano of Winlow Oaks Homeschool; Max Mozian, Emily Rosen, Elizabeth Sahakyants, Nora Schoeny and Audra Tresp of Lenox Memorial Middle and High School; Genevieve Quinto and Rhaya Wright of Drury High School; and Jonah Sanabria and Langston Young-Taft of Monument Mountain Regional High School. PITTSFIELD

Greylock joins MassHousing ADU loan program Greylock Federal Credit Union is the first local financial institution to join a statewide initiative with MassHousing to provide loans for accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in Berkshire County. Since the program launched statewide in 2025, nine financial institutions have signed up to work with MassHousing to provide ADU loans. ADUs are small residential living spaces attached to, detached from or located within a primary residence on the same property. They can provide housing for family members, rental income or affordable independent living space for young adults. Greylock Community Lending Officer Myla Franklin and Mortgage Underwriting Manager Laura Brown referred to the process as a “learning curve,” both for themselves and local trade professionals. Working with MassHousing, they spoke with contractors to learn more about the permits and approvals required, with the goal of improving and streamlining the process. Beginning in September, Franklin and others will teach a class at Greylock’s Community Empowerment Center covering ADU financing, permits, laws

Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital and North Adams Regional Hospital have received 18 American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines achievement awards for following research-based guidelines in the treatment of heart disease and stroke. In 2026, Berkshire Medical Center received five awards, Fairview Hospital received six and North Adams Regional Hospital received seven. All three hospitals also received the 2026 Get With The Guidelines Commitment to Quality Award for achieving recognition in three or more Get With The Guidelines programs. The awards recognize hospitals that demonstrate a sustained commitment to evidence-based cardiovascular care. The three hospitals were recognized in programs covering coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure, with awards ranging from bronze to gold plus. Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 4 causes of death in the United States, respectively, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report.

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026

Montessori School celebrates 20 years By Clarence Fanto

LENOX DALE — Nestled comfort-

ably on former farmland since 2010 following its modest origins at the former Lenox House Country Shops, the Montessori School of the Berkshires is focusing on sustainability on its 20th anniversary. With enrollment at 120 students, with a few spots available, co-founder and Head of School Todd Covert pointed out that “we want to make sure we set up every child for as much success as possible.” “To us, there’s not much difference between learning algebraic concepts as 3- and 4-yearolds, and that just expands as they move up,” Covert said during a recent conversation at the 21 Patterson Road campus. Some children remain at the school from toddler age through the equivalent of eighth grade, he noted, “but there’s usually some attrition as they move into the elementary years because we do compete with free public schools.” Tuition is $23,443 for the fiveday Toddler Community program (15 months to 3 years), Children’s House (3 to 6 years), Elementary Program (6 to 12 years) and Adolescent Experience (12-14 years). A handful of families come in for the elementary (grades one through six) and adolescent programs (grades seven and eight), he added, “so we do have room to take families when it’s a good fit for the child and for the family.” About half of the enrolled students get some degree of financial aid. “It’s hard to say any independent school is affordable, but some are more than others,” Covert said. “As much as we can, we want to provide a Montessori education for any family that wants it. We try to work hard to make it a reality for them.” But the nonprofit school is a business with an annual budget of just over $2 million, he acknowledged. Tuition revenue covers about 80 percent of expenses, with the rest supported by fundraising events and alumni donations. “If two decades have taught me anything,” said Covert, 53, “it’s that a school isn’t built by a leader, it’s built by a community that believes in children. “Our families didn’t just enroll their kids here; they invested their trust in a vision of education rooted in respect, independence and wonder,” he said. “The wisdom I’ve gained is simple: listen more than you speak, trust the people around you, and remember that the truest work of leadership is preparing others to flourish without you.” Along similar lines, Covert’s wife, co-founder and Director of Education Meagan Ledendecker, 52, said, “Over the past 20 years, I’ve learned that Montessori practice is something that deepens with time. I am even more in awe of children — their capabilities and their love for community — than I have ever been. And it’s also so nice to have the opportunity to collaborate with deeply committed staff and families who are so open to partnership in service of our future generations.” Covert cited alumni gatherings: “They’re so grateful for their time here, and it’s really nice for us to hear they

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY WILLOW COVENDECKER

Sixth grade students at Montessori School of the Berkshires work on extracting square roots to solve

If you go ... What: Montessori School of the Berkshires open house Where: 21 Patterson Road, Lenox Dale When: 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 17 Information/registration: Kehr Davis, 413-637-3662, or kehr@berkshiremontessori.org.

At Montessori School of the Berkshires in Lenox Dale, eighth grade Adolescent Experience students design the labels for maple syrup that they produce and sell themselves from start to finish. Adolescent Experience students integrate academics with real-life economic endeavors. can now understand how what they were doing here is applied to their high school, college and work life.” Theo Maurino, Class of 2018 and a recent graduate of Northwestern University with a master’s in computer science and philosophy, recalled “spending my formative years learning how to love education, pursue it on my own terms, and challenge myself deeply.” “Creating my own classes, projects and educational tracks has always been my default mode of operation, for which I have always, and will always, credit Montessori School of the Berkshires,” he stated in a message relayed by the school. “The biggest takeaways from my Montessori experience were a sense of independence and social skills,” said Ruby Jones, a 2014 graduate. “On a personal level, I became interested in fashion design while at Montessori. I was encouraged to explore that interest, and beyond that, I was given the tools to teach myself what I wanted to learn. These skills drove me to build a portfolio throughout high school, study fashion design in college, land an exciting job after

graduation, and now, to start my own brand.” “Socially, I always felt so lucky to have had the education I did at Montessori,” Jones said. “Conflict resolution conversations, student-led discussions, and personal reflection activities gave me an opportunity that most adolescents don’t have, to learn how to handle difficult situations and build healthy relationships.” During a recent conversation, Covert explained how the 20th anniversary compares with the high-profile $3 million capital campaign launched in 2016 to expand the Lenox Dale campus. His comments were lightly edited for length: JOURNAL: It seems this anniversary is a more low-key commemoration. COVERT: It’s a nice way to start thinking about setting up your 25th. But it’s a milestone, two decades, definitely worth celebrating. Since 2016, we’ve built a 7,500 square-foot addition so we have a lot of the space we need, especially for an outdoor experiential educational program. We’re always asking what else we can bring to the experience here programming-wise, how better

can we support the child. JOURNAL: You’ve stated that the school is still experiencing the impact and after-effects of the pandemic. COVERT: Things have shifted, we’re seeing a lot more neurodivergence in children; every school I talked to all over the country is saying the same thing. Montessori is built for that. It’s very adaptable; there’s no one way of doing anything. It’s really reminding us to support each child, and how we need to adapt to do that. So it’s all about financial stability, the sustainability of the child and the environment, all of that wrapped into the experience we provide here. But it’s not right for every family, so we need to make sure that parents are into it, because it’s probably going to be different from the way they were brought up. JOURNAL: What led you from teaching at the W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School in Great Barrington to start a Montessori school with your wife, Meagan, whose parents were Montessori educators in Tennessee? COVERT: Growing up in Baltimore and attending Goucher

College there, I did a lot of outdoor education work, I led some wilderness leadership, went back for a master’s in environmental education and worked for the National Audubon Society setting up their office in Mississippi. Meagan and I knew each other in college, she was interning at the Orion Society in Great Barrington, so small-town New England was better than [a] small town in the South. After we had our first child, Willow, we started to wonder what we were going to do with our kids. Meagan saw a sign for a Montessori play group and we started to look around to start a school. In spring of 2006, she said we were going to open in the fall but we didn’t have a place yet. For David Case, owner of Aspinwall (now Lenox Commons) at the time, we fit his bill so we started building out that space and opened in fall of 2006 with 24 preschool kids and ended with 40 in the second year, and that’s when we started looking for another space. JOURNAL: What’s your takeaway after all this time? COVERT: To be fortunate enough to do the same thing for 20 years and see it grow, bringing a learning approach that’s 100 years old, all over the world, and the guidebook is the development of the child, providing social interaction and learning at the same time. Everything we do is about: how is this going to serve the child? What’s easiest for us as adults isn’t necessarily what’s best for the child? We try to keep that perspective.

October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

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Ex-employee revives Pappa Charlie’s deli By Izzy Bryars

If You Go

WILLIAMSTOWN — North Adams resi-

What: Pappa Charlie’s Deli

dent Kasey McDonough thought her time working at Pappa Charlie’s Deli was over after the beloved deli closed in March. Then she got a call from her former co-worker, Brian Czarnecki. “Brian randomly messaged me one day and said ‘I did something crazy, I bought the place,’” McDonough said. When he asked her if she could come back to work, she said “of course.” Pappa Charlie’s Deli reopened under new ownership last month, with former employee Czarnecki taking over the Spring Street business after its previous ownership struggled with inconsistent hours, menu offerings and food quality, according to customers and a former owner. Czarnecki said not much will change at the deli, where the familiar purple walls, wooden booths and classic menu offerings remain, including the popular Richard Chamberlain, Thanksgiving Gobbler and Dr. Strangepork — named for the Muppet scientist who once visited the deli and signed a photo that still hangs on the wall. Charlie Nikitas opened the iconic Spring Street deli in 1976, and it soon became known for its sandwiches and entrees named after celebrities, particularly directors and actors from Gilda Radner to Neil Patrick Harris, who performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and could be spotted grabbing a bite to eat in between summer rehearsals. Czarnecki said his goal was to bring “everything back to the way it was.” The deli will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Wednesday. “People kept recognizing me around town and saying, ‘What happened?’” he said. “I kept saying ‘We’re working on it.’” Czarnecki, 24, worked at the deli for the last seven years, including under its last

Where: 28 Spring St., Williamstown Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day but closed Wednesdays Phone: 413-884-6058

GILLIAN HECK

Brian Czarnecki has reopened Pappa Charlie’s Deli on Spring Street in Williamstown. Czarnecki said his goal was to bring “everything back to the way it was.” owner, Seth Hamilton, who bought the business in 2024. The shop, which lives in a building owned by Williams College, was often closed for renovation or maintenance under Hamilton and then went dark in March. Neither The Eagle nor town officials received a response to requests for comment from Hamilton. Czarnecki said it wasn’t his place to comment on why Hamilton’s ownership of the business ended. Jared Sprague, who works at The Print Shop on Spring Street, grew up going to the deli. As he walked in Thursday morning, Czarnecki was already preparing the wrap Sprague always orders. He said he was excited for Czarnecki, who “knows what the place should be.” “I’ve had a lot of people tell me that this

is one of the most iconic places, if not the most iconic place on Spring Street,” said Sprague. “And it needed to survive.” Annette, Czarnecki’s mom, said the deli has always been a part of the Williamstown native’s life, as his sisters and cousins worked at the shop. “He grew up with [it],” she said. Williams College reached out to Czarnecki in June about reopening the place after he was recommended by previous owners, Christopher and Jennifer Karampatsos, who bought the business in 2006. After giving it some thought, Czarnecki said he decided to buy the business and take on the renovations needed to reopen. “It was never on the forefront of my mind but I knew how good of an oppor-

tunity it was and I knew the potential it has,” he said. “It was a good feeling to know they trusted me to do that. ... I’ve seen it good.” Czarnecki said he plans to return the food to the quality customers expect and bring back the regulars who came in every day. He fixed the walk-in freezer and cooler, got a new sandwich line and otherwise, reopening required “a lot of cleaning and inspections.” Offerings on the original wooden board menus are the same, Czarnecki said, besides the prices. And after seeing students come in and order the same breakfast wrap every morning as a worker, he added the wrap as a menu item. He brought McDonough back and also rehired some Williams students who also used to work there. A couple other students asked for a job too, he said, and he wasn’t opposed to bringing more students on. Czarnecki said the support of business owners “up and down Spring Street and Water Street,” his family and friends and Williams College gives him the confidence to start his first venture at the place he started at when he was 17. Joining him behind the sandwich line was Jennifer Karampatsos, who came back to support him as he reopened. “He’s going to do a great job,” Karampatsos said. “Hopefully, it’ll be a successful year and more to come.”

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026

Lost Lamb owner opens gluten-free kitchen By Talia L issauer GREAT BARRINGTON — When Claire Ras-

poso stopped eating gluten a year after opening The Lost Lamb bakery in Stockbridge, her health improved so much it felt magical. Now, she’s opening a sister business devoted to gluten-free baking and she’s naming it after the Golden Fleece, a mythical object said to have healing powers. “I was actually very ill before, it was awful, and when I started eating gluten-free, I got my life back, and I felt like a person again, and it just feels magical,” Rasposo said. “I know it’s medicinal, but it feels magical.” In the old Pixie Boulangerie bakery at 198 Main St., The Golden Fleece will be a dedicated gluten-free kitchen for The Lost Lamb and future wholesale products. Her business partners in the new venture are Emma Feindt and Evan Seitz, both of Great Barrington. The name fits with The Lost Lamb’s sheep theme and has the same initials as “gluten-free.” “If you’re gluten-free, you go into the cafe, and either there’s nothing, or there’s a bad brownie that’s also vegan and also healthy, and it’s made out of dates,” she said. “It sucks. I’ve had this experience so many times.” Rasposo frequently overhears people at the bakery find out that the scones or muffins they’ve been getting for years are gluten-free. “I have wasted so much money and time trying terrible baked goods, and I just want people to be able to go to a grocery store or a cafe and just have something that feels real and makes them feel included,” Rasposo said. The 26-year-old has a pastry diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in France and started her business when she was 19. Ever since, it’s been packed with customers waiting outside for it to open. “When the bakery first opened, I did not anticipate the amount of crowds,” Rasposo said. “The business has been growing very quickly and we don’t have any space left.” Even with the office space turned into a kitchen upstairs, there is not enough space. “We’re up to the ceiling in most places,” Rasposo said. “There’s nowhere else to put a single thing.” The new space is basically double the

TALIA LISSAUER

Claire Raposo restocks baked goods at The Lost Lamb in Stockbridge. size of the existing bakery and will undergo professional gluten removal. “The beauty of taking over the Pixie space is that it’s set up already,” Rasposo said. “We can just use the sinks, use the plumbing that’s already there. That makes things a lot easier. Building a kitchen from scratch is so much money and takes a very, very long time. And I have done it before, and I do not recommend it.” Ideally, Rasposo wants to be producing items for The Lost Lamb by October. By the holidays, she hopes to be selling wholesale. “I just cannot wait,” she said. “It’s so exciting.” She opened right before the pandemic and then learned to pivot. But seven

years later, everything is three to four times more expensive than before. More space is partically excited for the scone makers. Last year, Rasposo dislocated her shoulder from making so many scones. A bigger kitchen will allow her to buy a larger mixer and have space to roll out the dough for over 100 scones a day. “It’s a lot of scones, and they’re massive and it’s like physically really intense,” Rasposo said. “We’re just gonna hopefully innovate the scones as much as possible to make them practical and not be like jail for whoever’s in charge of them.” Even the scones have presented unexpected challenges. With lemon zest caught in global supply chain issues, her team has been zesting hundreds of lemons by hand

to keep up with demand. “Making lemon zest by hand is great if you’re doing a couple of lemons, but every batch of scones uses an entire kilo of lemon zest,” she said. “It was a nightmare, and so we literally were spending all week individually zesting lemons.” Rasposo was devastated that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the pastries her whole life revolved around, so she turned to figuring out how to make them gluten-free. “I thought it had ruined my life,” she said. “I was like, I’m never gonna enjoy eating out ever again. I’m never gonna enjoy a pastry again, and that was not true.” The Lost Lamb isn’t going anywhere,

Now percolating: Coffee, books and ‘whimsy’ By Talia Lissauer GREAT BARRINGTON — After spend-

ing the past year working to bring more activity and investment to Housatonic, Sara Parker is bringing books, coffee and “all the whimsy” to the village this fall with Evangeline Coffee and Books. Parker, who chairs the Housatonic Improvement Committee, has spent the past year organizing monthly events, advocating for investment in the village and bringing neighbors together. Now, she’s putting that same energy into a bookstore and coffee shop she hopes will become a gathering place for the community. “Life’s too short to live in a way that is scarce and afraid of abundance,” Parker said. “I make a very conscious choice to pursue joy and pursue whimsy and to pursue the eccentric versions of life.” The store, in a space at 137 Front St., will have about 4,000 books, along with stationery, knickknacks, notebooks, stickers and “really good pens.” Parker also plans to host community events, author talks and, potentially, live music.

STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Sara Parker is opening a new store called Evangeline Coffee and Books at 137 Front St. in downtown Housatonic. “I am really excited to just like bring all the people I love into this space,” she said. The shop will include pieces from the people Parker loves, including mugs made by friends who are ceramicists and displays of friends’ favorite books.

“I am really excited to just like bring all the people I love into this space,” Parker said. For Parker, the store is an investment in a community she loves and believes in. “I think there’s a version

of Housatonic in stories that gets told of like buildings are collapsing and our water utility is poisoned and there are things that make it sound like Housatonic should not see investment and Housatonic has problems,” Parker said. “I completely disagree with that as a framework.” The goal is to have a space where people can get high-quality coffee, connect with neighbors and escape into books. What is currently an empty white space will soon be filled with color and comfort, Parker said. As a kid, Parker would go to a bookstore or library and come out with a dozen books at a time, only to return a few days later for more. By the time she was 11, she was talking about when she would be old enough to work there. “I just always have felt solace and a sense of belonging in books,” Parker said. “I feel like they’re friends and they’re good teachers. Books inspire curiosity. They inspire people to change their minds. I feel like they invite us into different worlds and imagine something beyond us that we

don’t necessarily have access to in our own brains.” Parker plans to have one full-time manager and four to six part-time baristas and bookkeepers. “What I’ve seen in the community, it’s Housatonic showing up for Housatonic,” Parker said. “I’m so proud to live in a place like this. I love being a Housatonian. I love this little village. And so why not put my money where my mouth is, and why not bring something that I think is good to the people who live here.” Evangeline, Parker’s middle name, has Greek origins that translate to “messenger of good news.” “Why wouldn’t one want a messenger to have good news in your community,” Parker said. The store will open in late October or early November. It will be open Tuesday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. “The intention here in this space is not about growing revenue. It’s not about making my retirement fund flush with cash,” Parker said. “It’s about being in community. Come be in person with one another and see how that can change your life.”

October 2026

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October 2026

Downtown cafe serves up food, live music By Tara Monastesse

PITTSFIELD — When it comes to

creativity and wellness, Sanctum Gallery seems to do it all. Regular programming at its North Street location, which opened in February, includes everything from art installations and film screenings to sound baths and yoga. But it became apparent to Tracy Squires and Kamayue Gomes, who co-run the space, that something was missing: a place to grab a bite to eat and stay fueled between all the workshops, exhibitions and performances. An idea began to take hold. “I thought pastries, I thought coffees,” said Squires. “Just a real beautiful community place to gather around food, music, art.” So Squires and Gomes set out to open Sanctum Café at 146 North St., right next door to the gallery. The grand opening was held Sept. 19. The cafe replaces Marie’s North Street Eatery and Gallery, which closed in February. But much of the original interior decor — including the black-andwhite prints of iconic Pittsfield landmarks, the booth seating and the dragon-shaped wall art — remains. Sanctum Café features both breakfast and lunch fare, including sweet and savory crepes, bagel sandwiches, pastries and French toast. There are also be fresh jams made in-house, and an array of coffee, espresso, lattes and other non-alcoholic drink options. And the performances won’t stop at the gallery:

Kamayue Gomes, left, and Tracy Squires hope the cafe will also be a gathering space.

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN

Sanctum Cafe has opened inside the former Maria’s European Delights space on North Street in Pittsfield. The cafe will host live music during Saturday brunch. But the café’s founders hope the space will be more than just a restaurant, serving as a gathering place for the community and a space for customers to share in positive energy — even when times are tough. “There’s a void in Pittsfield, and I feel like that void is love and compassion,” Gomes said. “We want to fill that and add a space to Pittsfield, onto North Street, where people feel cared for, where they feel thought about, where they can settle down and have an intentional meal.” “Every voice, every person, every single person matters,” Squires added. “And that’s really why we’ve come together and

If You Go Sanctum Café will open on Sept. 19 at 146 North St. Its regular hours will be as follows: Tuesday & Wednesday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday & Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Live music from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday & Monday: Closed why we want to be here, and why we really want to invest in one another and the city.” Income from the café will financially support programming at the gallery, as well as at its sister organization, Healing Hearts Sanctuary in Worthington.

“When someone comes in and purchases a coffee or a crepe, that money goes toward sustaining the spaces,” Squires said. “It keeps all of our classes, sound baths, our offerings, on a donation basis for the community, making sure that healing and community gathering spaces are accessible.” While both are optimistic about the project, Gomes is also clear-eyed about how difficult it can be to open a new place downtown. “North Street is treacherous for businesses, especially restaurants,” he said. “So we’ve got to be cautious. We want to be affordable but sustainable. And we want to make sure our brothers and sisters on North Street —

the business owners, the small businesses — are also taken care of as well.” To that end, the café is open to partnerships with other local businesses and creatives, whether that’s for planning events and workshops or partnering to offer discounts at each other’s stores. In addition to creating the menu, Gomes is spearheading the café’s community outreach efforts. He hopes to provide opportunities to gain work experience at the café through his nonprofit, Project New Growth, which assists people looking for jobs, housing and other community support. “I know that the concept of love can be really cheesy, but compassion is at the heart of love,” Gomes said. “And that’s what we’re offering here: healing, compassion, love, understanding. And not in a Hallmark way, but in a way that really sustains and benefits people as a whole.”

October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

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Berkshire voices

Get facts on Question 8: The stakes are high We are in campaign season. You’re seeing the lawn signs, mailers, billboards and hopefully you’re starting to see folks at your door asking for support for their campaign. That includes those working on the critical mission of defeating Question 8, an act which would end Meg Sanders licensed adultuse cannabis Cannabis Corner sales and home growing in Massachusetts. Here are the numbers. More than 15,000 badged employees work for Massachusetts cannabis companies. That’s 15,000 people that are directly employed by the industry, many right here in Berkshire County. There is a job multiplier of approximately 2.5 which accounts for the ancillary jobs that support the cannabis industry: contractors, plumbers, HVAC technicians, locksmiths, accountants, attorneys and marketing firms, to name a few. All told, that puts an estimated 37,500 jobs at risk if Question 8 passes. Nearly $300 million in excise taxes would be lost. That’s a big number, but it’s not the whole picture. Include employment, property and corporate taxes, and the estimate gets closer to $500 million. Half a billion

dollars would disappear with a “Yes” vote. Then there’s unemployment insurance, which the state is already struggling to fund. If all these workers lose their jobs, the state could face another nearly half a billion dollars in unemployment benefits. Now let’s look at the lies in the voter guide. The car crash data cited is from 2017. The first recreational cannabis store in Massachusetts didn’t open until November 2018. Blaming crashes from that earlier period on the legal cannabis market is a blatant misrepresentation. The next misrepresentation is the claim that 85 percent of cannabis users drive after consuming. That figure comes from a AAA survey of eight states, none of which was Massachusetts. The voter guide also leaves out another finding from the survey: The legal states surveyed reported the lowest rates of driving after consumption. The worker safety claim is another example of misleading voters. It draws on a nationwide study of a subset of injured workers. The study did not measure health care costs or employee turnover, yet both are mentioned in the guide. The guide also presents a figure of $4.50 in taxpayer costs for every $1 in taxes collected. Again, this is not Massachusetts data. It comes from a Colorado study conducted by a Christian college. The study was cited in a Boston Globe article, where the

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

Secretary of State William Galvin holds up an information guide for voters, known as the Red Book, last month. The information on Question 8 is rife with misleading claims, according to columnist Meg Sanders. doctor who conducted it clearly stated that it was from Colorado. That context is missing from the voter guide. Then there’s the claim linking psychosis to concentrates and edibles. The study did not ask about the method of consumption. The study also comes from California, where rules governing cannabis products and testing differ from those in Massachusetts, as does the availability of products outside the licensed market. Finally, the voter guide claims that ER visits among Massachusetts teens with psychiatric conditions have “dras-

tically increased.” The Mass General study behind that claim examined whether teens who visited the ER tested positive for THC. It did not measure whether ER visits became more frequent. The guide’s statement is completely misleading. Here’s the part that really gets me: Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin allows this to happen. His office allows a voter guide full of lies and half-truths to be presented to constituents. The guide includes a disclaimer stating that “the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not endorse these arguments and does not

certify the truth or accuracy of any of the statements made in these arguments.” Let that marinate for a minute. The commonwealth pays $2,155,894 to produce and mail the voter guide, and it’s full of lies. Early in this campaign, we saw and heard canvassers outright lying to constituents to get their signatures. When we called the Elections Division about it, we were told there was nothing we could do. It was free speech. I wrote about it right here. What can we do as a community that wants to save jobs and tax revenue and, most importantly, protect the freedom to purchase legal cannabis from licensed stores and grow it at home? First, make sure you’re registered to vote, and encourage everyone you know who is eligible to register. Talk to friends, family, neighbors and business colleagues about the importance of showing up for this election. Don’t miss an opportunity to speak about what’s at stake. Help others recognize the misleading information and outright lies in the voter guide. Whether or not someone consumes cannabis, we can stand to protect this freedom. Let’s defeat Question 8 together. Meg Sanders is CEO and co-founder of Canna Provisions.

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October 2026

Tend the Commons initiative to launch Long before “the commons” was an economic term, it was a place: the shared green at the center of a New England town, where everyone’s animals grazed. No single family owned it, and every family depended on it. It stayed healthy as long as people took care of it, and it decayed when they assumed someone else would. I’ve been thinking about that image a lot recently. The Nonprofit Samantha Center of the Anderson Berkshires Nonprofit moved its office Notes to Pittsfield this past July, and I’ve walked past The Common on First Street many times, wondering what it looked like when it was first developed. I’m a historian by training, and I love learning about the places where I live and work. Around 1830, the town opened a new burial ground on the site. It was used until about 1850, and afterward it was so stripped of soil, gravel, grass and trees that it became a desolate vacant lot. Then, in 1883, spurred by a newspaper campaign led by Anna L. Dawes, voters set aside $1,500 to turn the lot into a public park. Over time, the park gained a playground, benches, walkways and shade trees. For years it hosted high school football, baseball and youth sports, with an ice rink in winter and band concerts in summer. A piece of shared ground was neglected until enough people decided to take care of it, and then it became a place the whole city used. THE SHARED GROUND UNDER OUR BUSINESSES In my June “Nonprofit Notes” column, I wrote about the scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey asks the businessmen of Bedford Falls: doesn’t a stable community make better citizens and better customers?

ing Tuesday, Dec. 1, on the newly upgraded BerkshireEagle.com. Every registered nonprofit in the county will be listed at no cost. Nonprofits that want to share more about their impact can add a profile page, the same size and rate for a regional health system as for a two-person animal rescue. This guide is a portrait of a community, and it should be fair to everyone in it.

PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGE — THE CLARK DIGITAL COLLECTION VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

This late 19th century image, “Lutheran Church and Common,” shows The Common a few years after voters funded its transformation into a public park. It appears in W.P. Allen’s Streets, Public Buildings and General Views of Pittsfield, Mass. (1886). The people around you are your market and their stability is your revenue. In the Berkshires, much of that stability comes from the nonprofit sector. It employs roughly a quarter of county residents and produces about a quarter of county-wide GDP. There’s one nonprofit for every six residents, among the highest densities in the United States. If a company arrived here tomorrow promising to employ a quarter of our workforce, we’d hold a ribbon cutting and follow its every move. The nonprofit sector is that employer. We just don’t see it that way, because it’s spread across roughly 1,200 organizations instead of one building with a sign out front. It looks like a list of good causes. In practice, it’s shared ground. Those organizations keep your employees healthy and their kids busy after school. They stabilize housing, look after

aging parents, protect the trails and farmland that bring visitors here, and fill the stages and galleries that help you recruit and keep talented people. When they’re strong, businesses feel it. When they weaken, businesses feel that too, usually after it’s too late to help. The last comprehensive study of Berkshire nonprofits was done in 2012, and the Nonprofit Center is working to update that data in 2027. Meanwhile, there’s an easier starting point: let’s make the commons visible. A MAP OF WHO IS DOING THE WORK For a decade, the Nonprofit Center published the Giving Back Guide, a directory of the many nonprofits working in Berkshire County. It gave readers one place to find an organization to donate to or volunteer with. This year the guide is evolving, and it has a new name: Tending the Commons:

Your Guide to Giving and Receiving in Berkshire County. It will feature the county’s 1,200 nonprofits and the businesses that support them. “Giving back” suggests one group gives and another receives. I believe the reality is more mutual. The food pantry depends on the grocer who donates, the bank that lends, and the employer whose staff volunteer on Saturdays. Those businesses depend on the pantry, the clinic, the arts center, and the land trust to keep the community whole. Everyone gives, everyone receives, and we’re all tending the same ground. We’re delighted to partner with The Berkshire Eagle on the 2026 edition. The 80-page booklet will reach 20,000 households in the Eagle’s weekend edition on Nov. 21. Copies will then be placed at nonprofit and business locations countywide, and a free digital edition will go live on Giv-

WHY BUSINESS BELONGS ON THE PAGE Business advertising and sponsorship pay for the guide, which keeps the listings and the book free. I encourage you, as a business owner, to put your company’s name in it, but not as charity. Imagine opening Tending the Commons and seeing the county’s civic life in one place: the food pantry, the youth theater, the clinic, the land trust. A business whose name appears alongside them is saying: We are part of this. We depend on this shared ground, and we’re helping care for it. That matters to readers, who are also your customers, employees and neighbors. There are other ways to help. If you know a small nonprofit that belongs in the book, please send its director a note. A word from someone they respect goes further than any email from us. And if your business is able, please cover a profile page for a nonprofit that couldn’t otherwise afford one. The Common on First Street came back because enough people understood it wasn’t anyone’s job alone. The same is true of the commons we share in the Berkshires today. We invite you to join us in Tending the Commons. Businesses and nonprofits interested in participating can read more at npcberkshires.org/ tending-the-commons or email samantha@npcberkshires.org. Samantha Anderson is Executive Director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires.

Take these steps to protect your finances October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a good reminder that protecting your finances today means protecting more than what’s in your wallet. From online and mobile banking to debit cards, email and everyday purchases, much of our financial lives now happens digitally. The good news is that staying safer online Ray Smith doesn’t have to be comMoney Matters plicated. A few simple habits can make it much harder for criminals to gain access to your accounts or personal information. BE CAUTIOUS WHEN YOUR ‘BANK’ CONTACTS YOU Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated at impersonating financial institutions. A call, text or email may look legitimate, and even caller ID can be manipulated to display a familiar name or number. Remember, your bank will never ask you to provide sensitive personal or account information through an unsolicited email or text message. Never provide information such as your password, PIN, account number or security code in response to an unexpected message. Be especially cautious when an unexpected message creates urgency around

your account and asks you to click a link, MFA, use it. It provides another barrier provide personal information, share a between your information and someone security code or move money. attempting to access your account with a If something doesn’t feel right, stop the stolen password. conversation. Don’t use the link or phone And never provide an authentication number provided in the message. Instead, code to someone who unexpectedly concontact your bank directly using a trusted tacts you. A security code is meant to vernumber or visit its ify you, not the person website or mobile app calling or texting. A few simple habits yourself. THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK can make it much PROTECT YOUR Phishing remains PASSWORDS one of the most comharder for criminals Your online banking mon ways criminals password should be try to steal personal to gain access to your strong and unique. and financial inforaccounts or personal Avoid using the same mation. A fraudulent password for your bank email or text may tell account that you use for information. you there is suspiemail, shopping, social cious activity on media or other websites. If one of those your account, a payment has failed or accounts is compromised, a reused passimmediate action is required. word could put your financial accounts at That sense of urgency is intentional. risk as well. Before clicking a link or opening an atLong, unique passwords are best, and tachment, take a moment to consider the a reputable password manager can help message. When in doubt, go directly to create and securely store them. the organization’s website or app rather than following a link. TURN ON MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION KEEP YOUR DEVICES UP TO DATE Multifactor authentication, or MFA, adds another layer of security by reThose software update reminders are quiring an additional way to verify your easy to postpone, but updates frequently identity when signing in. include important security improveWhenever your financial institution or ments. Keep the operating systems, another important online service offers browsers, banking apps and security soft-

ware on your phone, tablet and computer current. Enabling automatic updates can make this easier. Protect your devices, too. Use a passcode, fingerprint or facial recognition, and avoid leaving a phone or computer containing financial information unlocked or unattended. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ACCOUNTS One of the simplest security habits is also one of the most valuable: know what is happening with your money. Review your accounts regularly and take advantage of available transaction and account alerts. If you notice a transaction you don’t recognize or something else seems unusual, contact your financial institution promptly. WHEN IN DOUBT, REACH OUT Technology continues to change, and unfortunately, so do the tactics used by scammers. But one of your strongest defenses remains surprisingly simple: slow down. Be skeptical of unexpected requests involving your money or personal information. Verify before you act. And if you’re unsure whether something is legitimate, contact your bank directly. Cybersecurity is ultimately about protecting what you’ve worked hard to build. A few thoughtful habits can help keep your financial information more secure.

October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

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October 2026

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Berkshire Business Journal

15

Recess plays role in strong workforce I read an article in the Boston Globe recently about a growing movement to give kids more recess. It caught my attention in part because the issue has become a topic of conversation in our house. Our youngest is in second grade at Williamstown Elementary School, where recess time was reduced this year. He is a high-energy kid who does well in the classroom, but, like most 7-year-olds, he needs to move. He also needs time with other kids when the activity isn’t being organized for him by a teacher, coach, parent or some other adult. I came to the article with a bias. I think kids Ben Sosne need recess. But as I News read it, I started thinkfrom the BIC ing less about my second grader and more about conversations I have with employers. At the Berkshire Innovation Center, we spend a lot of time asking companies what they need from their current and future workforce. We also spend a lot of time working with people at different points along that continuum, from middle and high school students in our youth programs to adults developing new skills through our workforce programs. The answers certainly include technical skills, and those skills are changing rapidly as technology changes. But some of the things we hear most consistently have very little to do with a particular technology or credential. Employers need people who can troubleshoot. They need problem solvers. They need people who can communicate, work as part of a team, adapt when something doesn’t go according to plan, and figure things

BERKSHIRE INNOVATION CENTER

Students in the BIC’s Future Innovators program enjoy some free time during its summer program. Unstructured play time helps develop the kind of skills that are necessary to prepare the future workforce, notes columnist Ben Sosne. out without someone standing next to them providing instructions. The more I thought about it, the more that list sounded a lot like recess. Put a group of kids on a playground without a prescribed activity and all kinds of things happen. They decide what to play and who is playing. They make teams. They negotiate rules. They disagree about whether someone was safe or out. Someone gets frustrated. Someone gets left out. A game doesn’t work, so they change it or invent something else. They

have to figure it out. Of course, recess isn’t the only place kids develop these skills. They learn them in classrooms, on athletic fields, in clubs, at home, at summer camp, and in countless other places. But there is something particularly valuable about unstructured time, precisely because nobody has designed the outcome for them. This feels especially important as we think about how education should evolve for a rapidly changing economy. We should be introducing young people to

new technologies. We should be strengthening STEM education, creating connections with employers, giving young people opportunities to learn by doing, and developing new approaches to career and technical education. We should also be thinking seriously about how artificial intelligence will change what today’s elementary school students need to know by the time they enter the workforce. But preparing kids for that future isn’t only about what we add. We also need to be careful about what we take away. The Massachusetts Legislature is currently considering a proposal that would guarantee students in kindergarten through eighth grade at least 30 consecutive minutes of recess each day. There are legitimate questions about how schools fit everything we ask of them into a finite school day, and I don’t pretend that those scheduling decisions are easy. But I support the proposal. Thirty minutes of recess seems like a reasonable minimum, and I think we make a mistake when we treat that time simply as time taken away from learning. Watch a playground for a while and you will see kids communicating, negotiating, solving problems, navigating disagreements, adapting, creating, leading, following and working together. Interestingly enough, those sound a lot like the skills employers tell us they need. We call it recess because it is a break from the school day. But if we want kids to become adults who can solve problems, work together and figure things out, maybe we need to give them the time and space to do exactly that. Ben Sosne is executive director of the Berkshire Innovation Center.

Plan ahead for Social Security uncertainty I have a client who is nearing retirement as a self-employed gardener. At age 67, she doesn’t have a massive amount of retirement savings. But she has diligently paid into Social Security her entire working life, and her projected Social Security benefits are expected to cover more than half of her expenses Luke in retirement. Delorme This is not Money Talk unusual. Social Security accounts for 30 percent of aggregate income for individuals aged 65-plus. And for those in lower income brackets, it represents an even larger share. Even for wealthy people, Social Security can be instrumental in creating a sustainable retirement plan (“sustainable” meaning we don’t expect the person/couple to exhaust their assets before death). But Social Security’s financial status is troubled, to say the least. This year’s Social Security Trustees Report showed that the projected depletion date for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund moved from 2033 to 2032, at which time the program will be able to pay only 78 percent of scheduled retirement benefits. This 78 percent of promised benefits will drift gradually lower over time due to shifting demographics (more retirees and fewer workers). Lawmakers have floated a range of fixes such as raising the payroll tax cap, gradually raising the retirement age, or

means-testing benefits. It’s possible they could act before 2032 to close some or all of the gap. But those nearing retirement may not want to bet on Washington’s cooperation. How, then, should they evaluate and react to this risk? RISK MANAGEMENT Throughout life, we face an array of financial risks. Financial planning is largely the process of evaluating potential risks and developing strategies to lessen or eliminate them. In general, there are four ways you can handle financial risks. By way of example, let’s consider a car owner who faces the risk of totaling his vehicle and needing to replace it. He could avoid the risk by not driving at all. He could retain the risk, simply accepting that he might have to replace the car if he crashes it. He could reduce, or hedge, the risk by setting aside money in a savings account in case of an accident. Or he could transfer the risk to an insurer for an annual premium. SOCIAL SECURITY RISK With these concepts in mind, how should our financial plans address the risk that Social Security might not be as much as we planned? The most common strategy I’ve seen is to retain it. Most people simply accept that their Social Security benefits might be lower someday. In general, I think most retired people are right to accept this risk. It seems unlikely that Congress will reduce benefits for people who are already receiving benefits, although not impossible.

BEN GARVER

The Social Security Administration has an office at the Conte Federal Building in Pittsfield. Amid uncertainty about the future of the program’s benefits, those nearing retirement age would be well advised to plan accordingly. But for those who are not yet retired, the risk is more acute. It seems more likely that there could be some reduction of benefits for people under a certain age. Retaining this risk could mean disrupting an otherwise stable retirement plan. An alternative would be to hedge this risk by working longer and/or saving more for retirement. This may not be palatable for many, but it may be prudent given the possibility that a sizable reduction in Social Security benefits could derail their financial plans. There’s also a more targeted way to lessen this risk: delay claiming. Waiting from 62 to 67 increases your monthly benefit by more than 40 percent (for those with a full retirement age of 67), and each additional

year until age 70 adds another 8 percent on top of cost-of-living adjustments. This is likely a larger, more reliable boost than almost any alternative financial product. Delaying usually means drawing down savings or continuing to work, but for someone who can manage that, it directly offsets the risk of a future cut. Finally, for those who need to feel confident that their guaranteed income will be above a certain level, they could choose to transfer some risk by purchasing an annuity product. I don’t typically use annuity products in my practice, but for certain risk-averse retirees, they can provide peace-of-mind. START WITH THE FINANCIAL PLAN Practically speaking, one way

to assess whether additional working years are necessary is to create a retirement planning projection. Financial planners use complex software, but you can also build a barebones version yourself with a spreadsheet or an AI tool. Such a plan compares your projected expenses with sources of income and retirement savings to determine how much you’ll need to withdraw to cover your costs. Once you’ve put together this plan, you can run alternative scenarios, such as, “What happens if Social Security gets cut by 25 percent?” How much does this impact the withdrawal rate? Does it still look sustainable? Retirees with substantial pension income, savings, or low spending needs may find a Social Security cut doesn’t meaningfully threaten their plan’s sustainability. But retirees that are more reliant on Social Security for the lion’s share of their retirement spending should likely consider options to deal with this risk. The point isn’t to predict exactly what Congress will or won’t do. But it may be prudent to treat Social Security benefits as a variable number and to build a financial plan that is sturdy enough to hold up even if that number comes in low. If your plan can absorb the risk, great. But if it can’t, consider working a bit longer, delaying your claim, saving a little more, or spending a little less now. These strategies might be a better plan than blindly hoping Congress works it out. Luke Delorme is director of financial planning at Tableaux Wealth in Stockbridge. Reach him at (413) 2642404 or Luke@TableauxWealth.com.

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026

Real estate transactions BERKSHIRE REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS FROM AUG. 3-28. ADAMS

$200,000.

D&B Real Estate Ventures LLC sold property at 20 Victory St., Adams, to Linda Bonnivier, $250,000.

Steven E. and Paula J. Ziemlak sold property at 8 Richmond St., Adams, to Michael Smachetti, $340,000.

Robin Edwin Barton sold property at Old Abbey Lane West, Becket, to Thomas and Constance Pullman, $7,500.

Ronald C. and Sandra S. Aasen sold property at 345 Red Barn Road, Dalton, to Gary Perlin, $775,000.

CHESHIRE

Shannon M. Davis sold property at 1 Riverview Drive, Dalton, to Michael Feld, $320,000.

Glenn J. and Patricia A. Rosse sold property at 47 Ingalls Road, Cheshire, to Alfred G. and Amy R. Gelinas, trustees of the Alfred & Amy Gelinas LVT, $340,000.

Eric A. and Cherie Drayman, trustees of the Eric A. Drayman and Cherie Drayman RVT, sold property at 191 Fox Road, Dalton, to Efrain Diego and Eulalia Mercedes Diego Mateo, $575,000.

Alfred G. and Amy R. Gelinas, trustees of the Alfred and Amy Gelinas LVT, sold property at 15-17 Temple St., Adams, to Grace Enterprises LLC, $342,000.

Shanon M. Duran Oden sold property at 46 Summer St., Adams, to Jamie Gaston, $176,000.

Terry G. Beer and Diana L. Knaebe sold property at 222 Brough Road, Cheshire, to Edward D. and Amanda L. Hughes, $585,000.

CLARKSBURG

Ronda L. Lemieux and Paul D. Lemieux Jr. sold property at 21 Richmond Lane, Adams, to Peter Saunders, $336,000.

BECKET

Mary J. McGinnis, personal rep. of the Estate of Daniel G. McGinnis Sr., sold property at 36 Claremont Road, Dalton, to Colin Dezess and Amber Russ, $350,000.

Michael L. Holcomb sold property at Jacobs Ladder Road, Becket, to Tina Louise Bradbury, $67,000.

William C. and Susan C. Peck sold property at Cross Road, Clarksburg, to Kevin Bopp, trustee of the Clarksburg Cross Road NT, $117,225.

Gregory A. and Darlene L. Gundler sold property at 80 Summer St., Adams, to M&M Gokdag LLC, $180,000. Robert D. and Jennifer L. Huberdeau sold property at 8 Glenn St., Adams, to Jacob and Sarah Ann Slick, $174,900.

Jorge A. Tovar sold property at 20 Overlook Terrace, Adams, to Tyler Scott and Vanessa Marie Dewey, $220,000. Dylan N. Alibozek sold property at 18 Dubis St., Adams, to Thomas M. and Donna L. Kondel, $345,000. Matthew J. and Michael Pitoniak and Michele Crawford sold property at 125 Friend St., Adams, to Christopher J. Diesz, $265,000. Dawn M. and Vincent G. Clairmont sold property at 4 East Orchard Terrace, Adams, to Shawn Lacross and Nicole Elizabeth Boucher, $269,900. Kathleen A. and Bruce A. Randall sold property at 28-30 First St., Adams, to TCI Holdings LLC, $150,000. Chris Koch sold property at 59 East Hoosac St., Adams, to Jenna M. St. Pierre, Geeg Wiles and Lisa A. Mendel, $202,500. Bruce S. Wooley and Kelly L. McCarthy-Wooley sold property at Kingsmont Lane, Adams, to Jason H. and Jennifer L. Nocher, $36,000. Brock E. and Lisa A. Gazaille sold property at 12 Wenzel Terrace, Adams, to Bruce S. Wooley and Kelly L. McCarthy-Wooley, trustees of the Bruce S. Wooley and Kelly L. McCarthy-Wooley LVT, $535,000. Joseph A. and Sabita D. Whitlingum sold property at 22-24 West St., Adams, to Fort River Real Estate LLC,

Julie A. and Scott B. Krzanik sold property at 13 Simon Ave., Adams, to Joshua D. Robinson and Teghan E. Foskitt, $323,000. Laura J. Dumouchel sold property at 9 East Orchard Terrace, Adams, to Douglas Bartlett, $239,500.

Revive & Rise LLC sold property at 96 Shore Road, Becket, to All Capital Group LLC, $277,000.

Christine A. Griffin sold property at 155 River Road, Clarksburg, to Carin, Chad and Allison Degrenier, $115,000.

Mark J. Potel and Cynthia Finn Potel, trustees of the Mark J. Potel RVT and the Cynthia Finn Potel RVT, sold property at 422 Bonny Rigg Hill Road, Becket, to John A. and Melissa H. Pavese, $660,000.

Lucille G., Patrick M. and Kevin Kelly sold property at 77 Middle Road, Clarksburg, to Mary J. Adams, $375,000.

Becket Cottage LLC sold property at 162 YMCA Road, Becket, to Robert M. Whitney, $483,000. Ronald D. Hariri, personal rep. of the Estate of Linda S. Gurski, sold property at 445 County Road, Becket, to Christopher and Elizabeth Hartsgrove, $445,000. Karen E. Ludington sold property at 121 Hiawatha Hill, Becket, to Andrew and Stephanie Boden, $700,000.

Marissa Lea Koch sold property at 418 North Houghton St., Clarksburg, to Kylie-Blu Crawford, $205,000.

DALTON Sandra M. Wells sold property at 169 Park Ave., Dalton, to Emylee Carnevale, $270,000. Dalton Center Block LLC sold property at 187 High St., Dalton, to Leslie Ferrin and Graeme Sloan, trustees of the Trust Agreement, $426,000.

Bryan and Taryn McGray Daley sold property at 101 Friar Tuck Drive, Becket, to Rosa Lopez Moritz, $195,000. Michael R. Reniewicz sold property at Quill Lane, Becket, to Edward Vargas, $24,000. Gary Matthew Levene and Amy Marie Hayes, trustees of the Hayes-Levene Trust, sold property at 158 Greenwater Drive, Becket, to Christopher J. Reimann, trustee of the Christopher J. Reimann Trust Agreement, and Kaitlin H. Reimann, trustee of the Kaitlin H. Reimann Trust Agreement, $150,000.

EGREMONT Christine McLaughlin sold property at 0 Townhouse Hill Road, Egremont, to Stephen A. Feldman and Jill S. Straus, $225,000. Donald J.D. Campbell, David D. Campbell and Peter D. Campbell, devisees under the will of Dwight P. Campbell, sold property at 217 Egremont Plain Road, Egremont, to Peter D. Campbell and Kathy Pham Campbell, $165,000. David Burstein and Joan Bregstein sold property at 36 Millard Road, Egremont, to Bruce A. Metz and Susan E. Metz, $3,075,000. Claude J. Borenzweig and Louise A. Feldman sold property at 210 Mount Washington Road, Egremont, to Todd Weisse and Stephanie Spalding, $585,000.

FLORIDA

Kasey E. Peery sold property at 29 Norwich Drive, Dalton, to Jakob Wood, $300,000.

Delrico Gomes sold property at 107 Monroe Road, Florida, to Julio Ortiz, $12,000.

Peter P. and Joni R. Berardino sold property at 60 North St., Dalton, to Eileen Terrill and Sally Andrews, $225,000.

Hunter Sessions sold property at Route 2, Florida, to Michael B. George, $150,000.

Charles L. and Judith R. Kapernaros sold property at 127 Pinecrest Drive, Dalton, to Xiaoqing Pan and Kang Chen, $770,000.

Jack and Carol Bruno sold property at 137 Sherwood Drive and Sherwood Drive, Becket, to Alan Thomas Halpin,$115,000.

Pamela A. and Donald F. Brennan, trustees of the Pamela A. Brennan RVT, sold property at 35 Bruce Drive, Dalton, to Ryan and Aubrey Tuggey, $419,900.

Richard D. Olsted sold property at 30-32 Flansburg Ave., Dalton, to The Fire District of the Town of Dalton, $350,000.

Daniel P. Burdick Sr. sold property at Mohawk Trail, Florida, to Edward R. Bachand Jr. and Heather L. Fachini, $6,000.

GREAT BARRINGTON Natalia Castro sold property at 11 Prospect St., Great REAL ESTATE, Page 17

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Real estate FROM PAGE 16

Berkshire Business Journal Giovanny P. Tintin and Mirian Del Rocio Miranda sold property at 15 Martin Ave., Lee, to Courtney S. Lane, trustee of the Bearlee Saine NT, $540,000.

Barrington, to Victor Matthew Marcos and Pauline Aicha Marcos, $862,000.

Steven Bellofatto and Charlotte Fairweather sold property at 210 Church St., Lee, to MaryAnn Orr and Richard B. Nash, $1,192,500.

Marjorie I. Cox sold property at 43 Hart St., Great Barrington, to Almena Morwenna Moore-Boyd, $410,000.

Benjamin Noel sold property at 25 Golden Hill Road, Lee, to Golden Honey Trust LLC, $682,000.

Ariana Pancaldo sold property at 13 Lake Buel Road, Great Barrington, to Dina Dunaway, Mia Pancaldo and Susanna Pancaldo, $120,000. Amy Gill and Judson Ehrbar sold property at 127 Monument Valley Road, Great Barrington, to Alva Greenberg, $1,050,000. David Irland sold property at 220 North Plain Road, Great Barrington, to Gillian Paolella, $476,000. Todd Portnoff, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Ted Portnoff, sold property at 155 East St., Great Barrington, to Barbara Schnitzler and William Finkelstein, $375,000.

Demers Family Realty LLC sold property at 56 Main St., Lee, to 62 Main St Amicon LLC, $510,000.

HINSDALE Roberta C. Francis, individually and as personal rep. of the Estate of Burton S. Francis III, and Roberta C. Francis, trustee of the Roberta Francis Florida NT, sold property at 41 and 69 Creamery Road, Hinsdale, to Travis R. and Emily A. Walsh, $450,000. Therese M. Vecchiarelli sold property at Hawk Street, Hinsdale, to Dennis M. Messana, $10,000. Dena S. Kleinman sold property at 221 Ashmere Road, Hinsdale, to Todd A. Drummey and Terri L. Pentifallo-Drummey, trustees of the Todd A. Drummey RVT, $386,000.

Sandra L. Stagner, personal rep. of the Estate of Susan M. Burbank, sold property at 68 Valentine Road, Pittsfield, to Joseph M. Massaro, trustee of the MEM FT, $157,000.

PennyMac Loan Services LLC and Kevin Robert Jagiello sold property at 254 Eleanor Road, Pittsfield, to PennyMac Loan Services LLC, $266,400.

Carol A. Killian, personal rep. of the Estate of Judith K. Clegern, sold property at 22 Meadowview Drive, Pittsfield, to Turnkey Rentals LLC, $165,000.

Raphael Gimbert and Diana Chihai sold property at 36 Meadow Ridge Drive, Pittsfield, to Benjamin D. and Jaclyn E. Boehm, $765,000.

John J. Kirby sold property at Pondview Drive, Pittsfield, to William M. and Mary Ellen Hines, 300,000.

Sharon Costello sold property at 359 New Lenox Road, Lenox, to Heather McDermott, $497,917.

Carol A. Gilb, personal rep. of the Estate of Judy Marie Breault, sold property at 38 Hubbard St., Lenox, to JGBS Holdings LLC, $280,000.

Gregory J. and Linda L. Malanoski sold property at 194 Whitman Road, Hancock, to Paul A. Bikoff, $642,500.

PERU

PITTSFIELD

David Dempsey sold property at Route 23, Great Barrington, to Berkshire Cabin LLC, $150,000.

Paul A. Bikoff sold property at 400 Rathbun Road, Hancock, to Gregory Martin Sullivan and David Michael Riley II, $1,300,000.

Mark D. and Marie M. Vanbramer sold property at 545-547 Onota St., Pittsfield, to Maverick Sebastian Latorre Martinez, $250,000.

Jessica Harvey, trustee of the Sandra Harvey Revocable FT, sold property at 208 Jason St., Pittsfield, to David Graziola and Danielle Butler, $319,000.

135 Main St Lenox LLC sold property at 135 Main St., Lenox, to Robert S. Cundall and Daniel T. Bross, $25,000.

Raymond J. and Elaine D. Collins sold property at 37 Corey Road, Hancock, to Paul W. Mark, $137,500.

Peter J. Riera sold property at 16 Rainbow Road, Otis, to Shannon L. Fry and Jeffrey M. Balavender, $1,000.

Colleen A. Macdonald and Michael F. Mahoney, trustees of the Joan H. Mahoney RVT of 2008, sold property at 200 Hubbard St., Lenox, to Golshirin Yatimparvar and Esmaeil Bahalkeh, $555,000.

Robert V. Magee Jr. sold property at 57 Castle St., Great Barrington, to Susan L. Magee, Laurie A. Magee and Andrew J. Magee, $120,000.

John H. Shapiro sold property at Main Street, Hancock, to Lynn Mora, trustee of the Lynn Mora IRVT, $62,500.

Nina J. Picard, trustee of the 8 Stone Ledge Road Nominee RT, sold property at 8 Stone Ledge Road, Lenox, to Jeffrey James and Sorrell Zenaide Downing, $1,200,000.

MONTEREY Matthew C. Vella and Carey E. Dalton sold property at 99 Beartown Mountain Road, Monterey, to Joy Simha and Vasu Chari, $860,000.

NEW MARLBOROUGH Tracey Kelly, trustee of Lake Buel Trust, sold property at 164 Woodleigh Road, New Marlborough, to Alison R. Litvack and Steven B. Litvack, $1,510,000. Stephen J. Mack and Elaine C. Mack, trustees of Stephen & Elaine Mack Revocable Trust, sold property at 422 Umpachene Falls Road, New Marlborough, to River’s Rest LLC, $1,080,000. Linda Stewart and Joseph Figueiredo sold property at 529 Hayes Hill Road, New Marlborough, to Adam Smith, $420,000. Richard Schnaittacher, Paul Schnaittacher and Peter Schnaittacher, trustees of Schnaittacher Family Realty Trust, sold property at 2 Lawrence Ave. and 0 Mill River Great Barrington Road, New Marlborough, to Richard Schnaittacher, Paul Schnaittacher, Erez Schnaittacher, and Sage Schnaittacher, $166,000. Linda Stewart and Joseph Figueiredo sold property at Hayes Hill Road, New Marlborough, to Rafael Kronzon, $65,000.

NORTH ADAMS Jacqueline A. Geoffrion and James C. Holmes sold property at 57 North St., North Adams, to Adam Nocher, $257,000.

Steven R. Novick, personal rep. of the Estate of Mildred Lee Novick, and Steven R. and Robert D. Novick, trustees under the Trust Under the Will of Sidney Novick, sold property at 15 Lillian St., Pittsfield, to Robert D. and Jennifer L. Huberdeau, $359,000.

Kellie J. Hamling sold property at 580 Elm St., Pittsfield, to John J. Hill and Lisa M. Besse, $277,500.

Edward D. and Amanda L. Hughes sold property at 38 Velma Ave., Pittsfield, to Shavelle, Terrick and Tyrell Boire, $363,000.

AMT Real Estate LLC sold property at 38 Hollister St., Pittsfield, to Michael Murray and Jessica Goodchild, $336,000. Fredric M. and Naomi Weiss, trustees of the Fredric M. Weiss RVT and the Naomi Weiss RVT, sold property at 1136 Barker Road, Pittsfield, to Jeanne M. Kempthorne, trustee of the Jeanne M. Kempthorne RVT, $585,000. Megan Pacheco sold property at 21 Robert St., Pittsfield, to Brennon Stockton, $280,000. Paul J. and Patricia A. Duma sold property at 340 Elm St., Pittsfield, to Claire E. Alessio, $290,000. Karl E. Dastoli sold property at 301 Cascade St., Pittsfield, to Mahesh Sharma, $132,500. Berkshire Natural Resources Council Inc. sold property at 172 Blythewood Drive, Pittsfield, to Thomas J. Hamel, trustee of the Mae James NT, $800,000. 326 Springside Avenue LLC sold property at 326 Springside Ave., Pittsfield, to Mezzadria LLC, $25,000. Eric N. Bellefontaine II and Danna J. Snow, trustees of the Bellefontaine Family NT, sold property at 32 Aspen Way, Pittsfield, to John J. and Nicole T. Harrington, $585,000. MAS Properties LLC sold property at 243 Robbins Ave., Pittsfield, to James and Maryann Bartes, $173,000. Karyn Cella Barbalunga, trustee of the Karyn Cella Barbalunga RVT, sold property at Mountain Drive, Pittsfield, to Rudolph J. and Lori A. Mazzeo, $30,000. Juanita Allen Kingsley, trustee of the Credit Trust created under the Hildegard E. Wachob Trust and the Credit Trust created under the James R. Wachob Trust, sold property at 73 Westchester Ave., Pittsfield, to Andrew Zick, $264,000.

Daniel and Christopher G. Abate sold property at 23 Silver St., Lanesborough, to John Gigliotti and Jennifer Fahey-Gigliotti, $755,050.

Paul M. and Marylynn M. Masselli sold property at 25 Natural Bridge Road, North Adams, to Morgan J. Greenbush, $125,000.

Berkshire Community Action Council Inc. sold property at 292 West St., Pittsfield, to Helen and James S. McRory Jr., trustees of the McRory Family RT, $325,000.

John J. and Nicole T. Harrington sold property at 10 Park Drive, Lanesborough, to Matthew and Kasey Peery, $580,000.

169 Bracewell Street LLC sold property at 169-171 Bracewell Ave., North Adams, to D&B Real Estate Ventures LLC, $145,500.

Donna B. Mattoon, trustee of the Bowler Family NT, sold property at 29 Cecelia Terrace, Pittsfield, to Spencer F. Hoyt, $232,000.

Patti Gaylord sold property at 688 Cheshire Road, Lanesborough, to Dawn M. Harris, $205,000.

Eric James Spath sold property at 45 Woodlawn Ave., North Adams, to Debra A. Whiting, $250,000.

Christopher P. Barris sold property at 52 Cecelia

Town of Lanesborough sold property at C Street, Lanesborough, to John L. and Melissa Bissell, co-trustees of 10 B Street NT, $65,500.

Sejal Goel sold property at 32 Hathaway St., North Adams, to Monique Raison-Young, $225,000.

LEE Steven R. and Sybil Levisohn sold property at 770 Summer St., Lee, to David Stanhill and Deborah Levisohn, $250,000. Laura L. and Richard T. Miskinis Jr. sold property at 15 Tamarack Ave., Lee, to Leydet Properties LLC, $290,000. Richard J. and Sharon L. Lerman sold property at 545 Leisure Lee Road, Lee, to Rhona Berlin and John Gallagher, $506,500. Center St. Apts. LLC sold property at 180 Center St., Lee, to 180 Center Apartments LLC, $370,000. Kevin C. Charlton sold property at 735 Cape St., Lee, to Uusha LLC, $81,000.

Andrew N. Schmidt sold property at 340-342 Wahconah St., Pittsfield, to Fort River Real Estate LLC, $95,000. John J. Scott sold property at 691 Crane Ave., Pittsfield, to Cartus Financial Corporation, $325,000.

LANESBOROUGH

Gliceria and Bruce W. Conuel sold property at 731 South Main St., Lanesborough, to JWHESCO LLC, $140,000.

Cartus Financial Corporation sold property at 691 Crane Ave., Pittsfield, to David H. and Gayle A. Gibbs, $325,000.

JWHESCO LLC sold property at 22 Thomas Road, Pittsfield, to David L. and Jean C. Lang, $305,000.

Janice L. and James L. Esoldi Jr. sold property at 101 Harris St., North Adams, to Sandra M. Mayo, trustee of Sandra Mayo Jackson RVT Agreement, $457,500.

Feronia Forests LLC sold property at Brodie Mountain Road, Lanesborough and Hancock, to Cricket Trails LLC, $4,300,000.

Silvia R. Hess sold property at 18 Alden Ave., Pittsfield, to Ruth Morlas, $252,000.

Arnold and Doris M. Sour sold property at 51 Middlefield Road, Peru, to Ryan David Riopel, $324,700.

Joseph G. and Lisa M. Martragono sold property at 166 East Dugway Road, Lenox, to Kevin and Esther Dono De Quiusky, $799,000.

HANCOCK

Kodey and Emily R. White sold property at 24 Marlboro Drive, Pittsfield, to Markos Larabee, $402,000.

Elisabeth Chapman sold property at 5-8 Morgan Manor, Lenox, to Joan L. Sickler, $362,500.

Estates Transitions Holdings LLC sold property at 6 Thrushwood Lane, Great Barrington, to Wayne Edward Locke and Debbie Locke, $1,225,000.

Hanna Enterprises LLC sold property at 783 South Main St., Great Barrington, to 783 South Main Street GB LLC, $525,000.

Charles Towers sold property at 109 Stebbins Road, Otis, to Caleb Agustin and Nicole Elizabeth Cerda, $500,000.

Terrace, Pittsfield, to Jordan McCabe, $825,000.

LENOX

Kathy Y. Chi and Philip Joseph Smith sold property at 321 North Plain Road, Great Barrington, to Kellen Joseph Byrnes and Briana Daniel Byrnes, $950,000.

Jackie Ritter-Vogel, trustee of Jackie Ritter-Vogel Revocable Trust, sold property at 276 Division St., Great Barrington, to Cynthia Kaplan and Marc G. Weisskopf, $1,200,000.

Carolyn Le Bel sold property at 98 Loop Drive, Otis, to Claire M. Weigand, $615,000.

John T. Lewis Jr. sold property at 4 David Drive, Peru, to Julia Marie Thibodo, $305,000.

Danielle and Barry J. Lichtenstein, trustees of the Danielle Lichtenstein RVT and the Barry J. Lichtenstein RVT, sold property at 37 Holmes Road, Lenox, to Kevin J. Lehrer, $347,500.

Deandra Drew sold property at 54 Division St., Great Barrington, to Danielle Brown and Michael J. Scherer, $265,000.

17

Value Venture Properties LLC sold property at 39-41 Bartlett Ave., Pittsfield, to Yonathan Adrian Florez Torres and Maria Anaya de Florez, $367,300. Edward A. and Patricia A. Chagnon sold property at 14 Sunrise Circle, Pittsfield, to Allen and Barbara Kram, $625,000. PennyMac Loan Services LLC and Todd J. Pelkey sold property at 246 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, to TMR Realty LLC, $212,000. Perri C., Tina M., Richard T., and Gregg A. Petricca, and Cara P. Carnevale sold property at Edwin Street, Pittsfield, to The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, $25,000. Timothy J. and Amanda L. Wright sold property at 249 Hancock Road, Pittsfield, to Nicole E. and Justin C. Maaia, $342,000. Deborah A. Luiz sold property at 560 Crane Ave., Pittsfield, to Jared Andrew Dunbar, $304,000. Margot M. Zalenski sold property at 24 Richmond Ave., Pittsfield, to Cristian C. Gonzalez, $287,000. Tricia N. Saunders sold property at 61 Allengate Ave., Pittsfield, to Kenneth Souza, $280,000. Peter and Sheila C. Coughlin sold property at 97 Morningview Drive, Pittsfield, to Sharon A. Ziter, $415,000. Nolan and Christine Southard sold property at 184 Melbourne Road, Pittsfield, to Edward Michael Hinkley Jr. and Marilyn Elizabeth Wilcox, $286,425. Melissa D. Mason, trustee of the Bennett FT, sold property at 85 Edward Ave., Pittsfield, to Pirkko Gomsi, $209,000. Mary F. Courtney, conservator for Valerie L. Avery, sold property at 1450 North St., Pittsfield, to Brian C. Brooksbank and Edward J. Damich, trustees of the 1450 North Street Unit 107 NT, $313,500. Linda E. George, trustee of the Robert K. George Trust-2013, sold property at 122 Blythewood Drive, Pittsfield, to Zisland LLC, $1,700,000. Perri C. Petricca, personal rep. of the Estate of Basil A. Petricca, sold property at Edwin Street, Pittsfield, to The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, $150,000. Mark X., Paul D., Brian I., and John A. Nichols sold REAL ESTATE PAGE 18

Chris and Elizabeth Constantopoulos sold property at 221 Corinth St., North Adams, to Andrew Cucci and Meghan Deluca, $313,000. Amelie C. Gubbels, trustee of the Petrie Family RVT, sold property at 127-129 Ashton Ave., North Adams, to Michael David Richardson, $215,000. William A. Macadoo sold property at 325 Walnut St., North Adams, to Michael A. Nelson, $13,500.

The Place For

OTIS John B. and Carol W. Walz sold property at Lion Hill Road, Otis, to Joyce E. Bard and Robert A. Bard Jr., $225,000. Craig J. and Carol J. Heffner sold property at 138 Kingsley Road, Otis, to Sharon D. Pepek, trustee of the Kingsley Road RT, $1,400,000. Marianne Egan, trustee of the JWP Reservoir NT, sold property at 1165 Reservoir Road, Otis, to Holly Schulz-Amatruda and John Amatruda, $449,000. Donna Rose, Monica Cyr and Chris Cagenello sold property at Vine Street, Otis, to B and B Properties LLC, $50,000.

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18

Berkshire Business Journal

Real estate FROM PAGE 17

property at 122 Thomas Island Road, Pittsfield, to Eric D. and Michelle M. Horner, trustees of the Horner FT, $1,150,000. George C. Whaling and Karen Gomula sold property at 814 West Housatonic St., Pittsfield, to Ryan Harrison, $150,000. Deborah L. Remillard sold property at 96-98 Brown St., Pittsfield, to Jahir Omar Lopez Celaya and Estefania Arias Batista, $250,000.

Dennis and Steven Devergilio, and Evio P. Menia sold property at 32 Herie Ave., Pittsfield, to James Chilton Jr., $206,000. Jeffrey A. and Steven R. Scott sold property at 116 Bromback St., Pittsfield, to Tabitha Fresia, $220,000. HLP Realty Holdings LLC sold property at 43 State St., Pittsfield, to Raymond Allen and Jacob Benjamin Morton, $325,000. Christopher M. Powell sold property at 28 Churchill Crest., Pittsfield, to Franz J. Forster and Patricia A. Malumphy, $273,000.

Adam L. and Holly K. Simeone sold property at 4 Garden St., Pittsfield, to Amy S. Montero, $296,000.

Edith L. Lasala, trustee of the Edith L. Lasala RVT, sold property at 34 Cummings Ave., Pittsfield, to Alexis and Mia N. Giardina, $231,000.

Sandra Cozzaglio, personal rep. of the Estate of Jill Marie Cozzaglio, sold property at 27-29 Lincoln St., Pittsfield, to F. Douglas Fuhlbrigge, $3,000.

Ryan J. and Aubrey L. Tuggey sold property at 1952 East St., Pittsfield, to Mary Emma Fraser and Thomas R. Cox II, $270,000.

Sheryl Duval sold property at 35 Dexter St., Pittsfield, to Stephen Cunliffe, $261,000.

Robert and Patricia Pelkey sold property at 61 Harding St., Pittsfield, to Riley E. Kolsto, $300,000.

George Edward, Alfred Stanley and Barbara Roberts sold property at 555 Williams St., Pittsfield, to Michael A. Homich and Diane C. Snyder, $435,000.

Meaghan A. and Steven C. Rogers Jr. sold property at 39 Meleca Ave., Pittsfield, to Dylan Burke and Jocelyn Cote, $284,500.

U.S. Bank Trust National Association, trustee, and Keith Williman sold property at 18 Cliff Ave., Pittsfield, to U.S. Bank Trust National Association, trustee, $182,865.08.

A. King and Deborah P. Francis sold property at 38 Crofut St., Pittsfield, to John Brendan Brooks, $1,175,000.

Laurie K. Atkinson sold property at 194 Eleanor Road, Pittsfield, to Jason and Kerstin Dargi-Capone, $360,000.

413 Properties LLC sold property at 21-23 Newell St., Pittsfield, to Tania Shali Calle, $231,000.

October 2026

1201 Main Road, Savoy, to Steven E. and Paula J. Ziemlak, $759,000.

Stockbridge, to Adam James Whalen and Farrell Fox Garrity, $365,000.

SHEFFIELD

Andrea Tinianow and Lloyd Tinianow, trustees of Tinianow 2014 Family Trust, sold property at 12 Glendale Road, West Stockbridge, to Hirschfeld Family LLC, $850,000.

Rocket Mortgage LLC, Nationstar Mortgage LLC, Mr. Cooper, Joyce A. Bassett and Heaven Lee Davis sold property at 243 Alum Hill Road, Sheffield, to Kevin Zigon, $72,000. OLIT 2025-HB I Alternative Holdings LLC sold property at 175 Main St., Sheffield, to Stewart Traill, $240,000. Del S. Rogers and Susan A. Donaghey sold property at 200 East Stahl Road, Sheffield, to Robin Berthet, $425,000. 8-26 Properties LLC sold property at 60 Parsley Lane, Sheffield, to Kevin McGraw and Carolyn Bogle McGraw, $903,000.

STOCKBRIDGE

KEQ Cold Spring Road LLC sold property at 1460 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, to Sarah and Trent Bolte, $120,000.

John and Margaret O’Rourke sold property at 2 Wallace Road, Stockbridge, to Joel G. Miller and Debra W. Haffner, $392,500.

Elizabeth Marino, trustee of the Elizabeth Marino RVT, sold property at 20 Pine Road, Richmond, to Donald L. Kaiser, $340,000.

Daniel and Nicole Fairaux sold property at 34 Church St., Stockbridge, to Carol and Benny Orpiano Cespedes, $700,000.

Timothy J. Ryan, personal rep. of the Estate of Donald F. Dineen, sold property at 24 Glenwood Ave., Pittsfield, to Western Mass Property Revival LLC, $140,000.

James P. Baker, trustee of the James P. Baker RVT, sold property at 2507 State Road, Richmond, to Daniel Robert and Nicole Michelle Fairaux, $670,000.

Phyllis Stein sold property at 46 Glendale Road, Stockbridge, to Jeffrey N. and Cynthia K. Schneider, $670,000.

Leslie R. Drager, trustee of the Ronald W. Drager Declaration of Trust, sold property at 595 Williams St., Pittsfield, to Donald J. Menard and Gail Broderick, $390,000.

SANDISFIELD

Gail S. Belmuth sold property at 133 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, to Elizabeth A. Bullard, $495,000. Edward M. Jones sold property at 40 Longfellow Ave. and Arthur Street, Pittsfield, to Brandi Stewart, $330,000.

Peter R. and Therese Mare sold property at 331 Loop Road, Savoy, to Ty and Emily K.D Stockman, $96,000. Ralph I. Pearson sold property at 30 Jackson Road, Savoy, to Stephanie Lynne Parkington, $205,000. Robert F. and Janice R. Veronesi sold property at

James E. and Linda Johnson, trustees of the James Edward Johnson and Linda Johnson Revocable LVT, sold property at South Street, Williamstown, to Thomas Branchick and Mary Kontarasis, $28,240.

O. Stephen Paganuzzi Jr., trustee of the Noreen A. Brierton Trust, sold property at 1 Pixley Hill Road, Stockbridge, to Joshua Langer and Joahn Kari Ginsberg, $595,000.

Catherine D., John A., Richard A. and Maria E. Salatino sold property at 16 Trova Terrace, Pittsfield, to Timothy and Michele Leclair, $465,000.

SAVOY

160 Water LLC sold property at 160 Water St, Unit 103, Williamstown, to Diane V. Bertin, $545,000.

Shawn, Scott D., Todd A. and Ross M. Burdick, Tracey J. Golding and Liza Barrett sold property at 1491 Hancock Road, Williamstown, to Rashaan Jamal and Annabel Jane Powell, $365,000.

RICHMOND

Goreti Souza sold property at 20 Norman Ave., Pittsfield, to Michael Woolf and Stephen Belliveau, $272,000.

David J. and Martha E. Elpern, trustees of the 10-12 Meadow Street RT, sold property at 10-12 Meadow St., Williamstown, to Chayah Properties LLC, $360,000.

Jason Macioge sold property at 21A Interlaken Road, Stockbridge, to Noah T. Kerner, trustee of the Noah T. Kerner RVT, $3,625,000.

Susan M. Barney sold property at 41 Main St., Stockbridge, to Patricia W. Glynn, $190,000.

Scott C. Guidi sold property at 0 Sandisfield Road, Sandisfield, to Joshua Brooks and Heather Hardisty, $180,000.

WILLIAMSTOWN

Olga Faktorovich and Steven M. Allen sold property at 17 Beachwood Drive, Stockbridge, to Mark S. and Kizzy L. Jarashow, $627,500. Henry Nunberg, trustee of the Henry Nunberg RVT, sold property at 15 Interlaken Cross Road, Stockbridge, to John Spellman and Cynthia McCollum, $1,200,000. Stockbridge Lotus LLC sold property at 22 Goodrich St., Stockbridge, to Dana Arneson, $587,000.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE Robert A. Osterhourt Jr., Tammy Osterhout and Tracy Adams, trustees of Osterhout Family Nominee Trust, sold property at 2 Woodruff Road, West

Pamela B. Burger sold property at 324 Oblong Road, Williamstown, to David W. and Brook L. Loehlin, $563,250.

WINDSOR Sonia M. Santana, trustee of Sonia M. Santana Revocable LVT, sold property at 449 High St. Hill Road, Windsor, to Daniel Grala, $350,000. Brian E. and Judith Conant sold property at 1340 North St., Windsor, to Karenanne R. and Robert G. Baillargeon Jr., $350,110. Berkshire County Management LLC sold property at 1130 Main Dalton Road, Windsor, to Emily and Kodey White, $425,000. 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.

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October 2026

Berkshire Business Journal

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People in the Berkshires Berkshire Immigrant Center has appointed Evelyn Thompson as its new executive director. A Pittsfield native and Taconic High School graduate, Thompson returns to the Berkshires with experience in public policy, education, workforce development, nonprofit leadership, civic engagement and community advocacy. Her interest in language and culture, sparked in Pittsfield, led her to study Spanish, Arabic and Japanese. Thompson She later lived in Tokyo and traveled extensively throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America, experiences that shaped her appreciation for cross-cultural connections and community-building. Her background aligns with center’s mission to help immigrants and families navigate complex systems, reduce barriers to legal support and community resources, and understand their options. She has worked with immigrants, refugees, DACA recipients, first-generation students, adult learners, women, families and underserved communities. Thompson has served as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Congress, taught English as a second language, supported adult learners at the College of Southern Nevada, served on Nevada’s Governor’s Workforce Development Board, and led civic and community initiatives focused on education, equity and economic opportunity. She earned a doctorate in public policy and a master’s degree in urban leadership from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a bachelor’s degree in public policy and development from the University of Southern California. Her doctoral research focused on mindful, trauma-informed workforce development and organizational practices. “Evelyn brings the professional depth, lived experience, and values-centered leadership that BIC needs for this next chapter,” said Susan Puddester, BIC board member and search committee chair. “The hiring team was especially excited by her energy, her commitment to access and opportunity, her work across public policy, education, and community advocacy, and her ability to build trust and connection across communities. We are excited to welcome Evelyn home to the Berkshires and work alongside her as BIC continues supporting immigrants and families across our region.” Thompson succeeds Melissa Canavan, who served as executive director from May 2023 through June 2026. During her tenure, Canavan established internal systems and governance, strengthened BIC’s operations to sustain its growth as an independent 501©(3), oversaw a move to a new office, stabilized the legal workload, launched a partnership to expand access to immigration legal services and increased fundraising year over year. The W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Freedom & Democracy has named John D. Lloyd as its permanent executive director, following his tenure as interim executive director since 2024. During Lloyd’s tenure, the center has expanded its programming, partnerships and fundraising while continuing restoration work at the Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, a National Register-listed historic site, where W.E.B. Du Bois was born and raised. The center has Lloyd expanded its programming and partnerships to highlight African American history, culture and life throughout the Berkshires. This

past season, it co-presented programs with more than a dozen partner institutions, including Williams College, Boston University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, The Mount, Norman Rockwell Museum and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. The season included “Elizabeth Freeman: Reimagined,” an exhibition developed with MassArt that led to a permanent storytelling kiosk on the Great Barrington Town Hall Green honoring Freeman’s legacy. Under Lloyd’s leadership, new capital grants have been secured from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the town’s Community Preservation Fund, the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place Program, among others. The funds will support rehabilitation of the church’s basement creating a code-compliant lower level that will eventually house the center’s main entrance, visitor center, exhibits, community meeting room and kitchen. Lloyd also expanded the board with four new members: Justin F. Jackson of UMass Amherst, Camesha Scruggs of Central Connecticut State University, Angela T. Tate of the Museum of African American History in Boston, and Whitney Battle-Baptiste, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst. “It is the honor of my career to lead the Du Bois Freedom Center into its next chapter,” said Lloyd. “W.E.B. Du Bois taught us that education, historical truth, and civic participation are inseparable from a healthy democracy, and every day, within the community where he was born and raised, we get to put that idea into practice.” Greylock Federal Credit Union has hired Sanjay Malhotra as senior vice president of retail services. Malhotra will lead Greylock’s branch network, contact center, member-facing technology and strategic retail initiatives. He also will provide enterprise-level leadership in deposit growth, member reMalhotra tention, direct lending support and member experience. “We’re pleased to welcome Sanjay Malhotra to Greylock Federal Credit Union as our new senior vice president of retail banking,” said Jodi Rathbun-Briggs, chief growth officer. “Sanjay brings more than 20 years of leadership experience with a strong track record of enhancing the member experience, supporting and developing high-performing member-facing teams, and driving sustainable growth. His collaborative leadership style and commitment to service excellence will help us strengthen member relationships and continue building for the future.” Malhotra previously was senior vice president and area retail executive at Truist Bank in Charlotte, N.C. He also served as senior vice president of member experience and regional president at Georgia’s Own Credit Union. He holds a master of business Administration in international business from Saint Xavier University. His community involvement includes serving as chairman of Lowcountry Orphan Relief, founding the nonprofit Adopt a Pet Foundation and participating in the Credit Union Aware Mentor Program. Pamela Sandler Architect has expanded its design team with the hiring of Barbara Olsen Pascale and Max Kapiloff as architectural designers and Andrew Rota as director of interiors and operations. The firm is expanding its services

to offer full-service interior design, providing clients with a single point of contact for architecture and interiors. The new team members bring construction, international design and business expertise to the firm’s residential and commercial projects in the Berkshires, Connecticut and Hudson Valley. “We are thrilled to welcome Max, Barbara and Andrew to the firm,” said founder Pamela Sandler. “Their unique backgrounds, ranging from deep technical construction management to global design philosophies, perfectly complement our commitment to creating spaces that are both beautifully envisioned and meticulously built. As we continue to grow, their diverse skills will be invaluable to our clients and our collaborative process.” Pascale holds a bachelor of architecture from the New York Institute of Technology and a bachelor of science in applied economics from Pascale Cornell University. She has experience in construction project management, cabinet making and finish carpentry, with a focus on technical aspects of architecture and building assembly. Kapiloff returns to the Berkshires after seven years working in New York City on retail, hospitality and luxury residential projects. He holds a master of architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology, with international studies in Berlin and Kyoto. His thesis allowed him Kapiloff to immerse himself in Japanese design philosophy, a perspective further enriched by travels through Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Rota, Sandler’s son, grew up around the firm and was on job sites and at the drafting table long before launching his professional career. He has returned after more than a decade working in business strategy, marketing and design at technolRota ogy companies including Intuit and DoorDash. He holds a degree in business and marketing from Northeastern University and a design certificate from Shillington in London. He will oversee business operations and lead the interior design team. Based in Stockbridge, Pamela Sandler Architect is an award-winning firm specializing in residential and commercial architecture. Literacy Network has hired Leesly Collins as a bilingual learner liaison for its newly opened LitNet Learning Center in the Crawford Mall at 137 North St. Originally from Colombia, Collins, has been learning English with LitNet since 2022. She joined the organization Aug. 21 and will work part time at the Collins new center, serving as a point of contact for LitNet’s 235 learners. More than 95 percent are Spanish-speaking immigrants working on their English with volunteer tutors. Collins has a background in community advocacy, health education and quality assurance. Her nonprofit experience includes working as an immigrant artist advocate with Katunemo Art & Healing, providing administrative and intake support at Volunteers in Medicine and serving as a community integration volunteer at Greylock Federal Credit Union. She holds a degree in food engineering from La Salle University in Bogota,

Colombia, and a Community Health Worker certification from Berkshire Community College. The Learning Center will host tutoring sessions, workshops meetings and group classes and provide a space for learners to study, read and connect between work, school and other commitments. LitNet opened its new location Sept. 1 and will hold open house events in November to showcase the new center. The nonprofit, founded in 1991 as The Literacy Network of Southern Berkshire, will also continue to operate out of its Lee office located at 32 Park St. Hayley Sumner, founder and executive director of Berkshire HorseWorks, has been named CEO of the mission-driven nonprofit. Berkshire HorseWorks provides evidence-based equine assisted psychotherapy and equine assisted learning programs with Eagala-certified professionals. The nonprofit provides programs and services to more than 4,500 at-risk youth, Sumner active-duty service members, veterans, families, and other vulnerable populations. Sumner will continue to guide the organization’s mission while taking on broader responsibilities to strengthen its long-term sustainability and growth. Her expanded role reflects the growing scope of Berkshire HorseWorks’ programs as it enters a new decade of service to the community. “When Hayley first shared the concept of Berkshire HorseWorks with me, explaining that she was switching career gears to launch a nonprofit focused on the transformative power of horses and its impact on at-risk kids, I immediately saw the passion behind her vision,” said Don Ganger, president of Motion Pictures at Paramount Skydance Corp. and vice president of Berkshire HorseWorks’ board. “Knowing her tenacity from her career in the communications world, I knew she had the determination to parlay those strengths into this new venture. She has proven, day after day, that she can manifest the dream she’s carried with her since farm camp.” Flying Cloud Institute has hired Stephanie DuPont as development manager. In the role, DuPont will lead the organization’s fundraising strategy and develop sustainable funding streams to support and expand its educational programs. DuPont serves on the board of directors and as co-chair of youth programs for the Lee Sportsmen’s AssociaDuPont tion, where she leads fundraising efforts, manages a $20,000 youth programs operating budget and spearheads community outreach campaigns. She also has experience managing back-office operations as a private sector office manager, along with nearly two decades as a learning coach and mentor. DuPont holds a bachelor’s degree in communications, with a concentration in communication and technology, from the University of Phoenix. She lives in the Berkshires with her husband, three children and their dog, Buzz. Flying Cloud Institute offers arts and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) programs that serve more than 2,000 young people and educators annually. Its mission is to inspire young people and educators through experiences with science and art that ignite creativity. Information: flyingcloudinstitute.org.

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Berkshire Business Journal

October 2026