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Berkshire Business Journal NOVEMBER 2024 I VOL. 3, NO. 11
‘Downtown is alive again’ Grant helped small businesses spruce up, expand
BEN GARVER
Destiny Saunders, right, and her mother, Gloria Saunders, run Dolce Rose Beauty Supply at 305 North St. “It was amazing,” Destiny said of the Vibe North Street initiative. “It allowed us to jump-start our business, then allowed us to open in our storefront.” By Jim Therrien PITTSFIELD — A modest grant
program to stimulate small business growth and fill vacant storefronts along North Street is having a positive ripple effect throughout the downtown and beyond. “I am looking back on it and feeling very proud of the work that we did as a group,” said A.J. Enchill, executive director of the Berkshire Black Economic Council, which sponsored the Vibe North Street initiative early last year. Conceived when there were more than a dozen vacant storefronts along North Street, the program awarded grants of from
$7,500 to $25,000 for seed money, renovation work or other needs of the small business owners who stepped up to launch or expand on their dreams. The grant money, which was awarded by the BBEC to five small business owners, was provided through MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative, Enchill said. He said the BBEC consulted with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and worked closely with Mass Development on the initiative. WIDER IMPACT “And as a result,” Enchill said, “What do they say: ‘A rising tide lifts all boats?’ We see the transformation of North
Street and other businesses really taking pride and shaping up and tidying up — either the exterior, through signage, or the interior through new equipment and tidier business spaces.” He added, “And that was, I guess, an unintended consequence ... When businesses see other businesses taking it up a notch, they look inward and they say, ‘You know, I have got to take care of that thing I put off for a month and actually get it done, and roll up my sleeves and take my business in new direction. “I think you can see that,” Enchill said, “and it is a really a beautiful thing to see. I feel like our city and downtown is alive again.”
Enchill said credit for positive changes along North Street also goes to existing businesses and organizations and several downtown initiatives like the Let it Shine! mural project that have added life to the community. “I think there is so much to be proud of, and you just have to really take a part,” Enchill said, adding that the same spirit has spread to the Tyler Street business district and beyond. Many landlords also contributed, he said, by considering new approaches and “not being set in their old ways.” “I think there is a ripple effect to the broader community that deserves recognition as well,” he said.
DOLCE ROSE BEAUTY SUPPLY Destiny Saunders, co-owner of Dolce Rose Beauty Supply at 305 North St., one of the businesses assisted by the grant program, would agree. “It was amazing,” she said of the Vibe North Street initiative. “It allowed us to jump-start our business, then allowed us to open in our storefront.” Previously, she said, “we were actually doing pop-up shops monthly in the store where we are located today.” Saunders is the co-owner, along with her mother, Gloria Saunders. “We offer one-stop shopping for hair care and beauty BBEC, Page 10