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Berkshire CEDS

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Economic Development

Berkshire Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

Berkshire Regional Competitiveness Council
Berkshire Connect
Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee
Economic, Education and Employment Information Project
Potential Projects Under Development
Other Recent Initiatives
Economic Development Services Provided by BRPC

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission supports regional and local economic development initiatives in partnership with the Berkshire Council for Growth and Berkshire Connect.  The goal is to promote the growth, stability and prosperity of businesses providing quality jobs for a diverse work force.

Berkshire regional economic development strategies strive to balance economic development and resource preservation and promote:

  • Use of existing infrastructure, buildings and sites;
  • Downtown revitalization;
  • Creation of a strong regional identity to market the region competitively;
  • Identification of appropriate sites for industrial or commercial growth and development;
  • Support of regional and local businesses and workforce development;
  • Providing affordable housing that meets the needs of workers and families in quality neighborhoods.

Current Initiatives:

Berkshire Regional Competitiveness Council
In February 2003, Governor Mitt Romney formed the Berkshire Regional Competitiveness Council. The Council’s objective is to assist the State in promoting the economic well-being of the region by encouraging investment in the region, increasing the competitiveness of the region’s businesses, and creating economic opportunities for the region’s businesses and workers. BRPC’s Executive Director serves on the Council and the Commission expects to be involved in supporting the work of the Council.

Berkshire Connect
Berkshire Connect is the ongoing effort to provide world-class broadband telecommunications throughout the Berkshires. BRPC’s Executive Director serves on the board of directors of Berkshire Connect, Inc., a non-profit corporation established to manage this process and to enter into contracts with service providers. Berkshire Connect is currently negotiating a new multi-year contract with its preferred service provider, Global Crossing, Ltd. Over the past three years, Global Crossing has built a redundant broadband telecommunications network serving the Berkshires that is used by over fifty businesses, non-profit and education institutions located throughout Berkshire County. Berkshire Connect is widely regarded as a national model of aggregating telecommunications demand to encourage greater broadband deployment in a rural region.   See the Berkshire Connect website at www.bconnect.org for additional information.

Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee
BRPC’s Executive Director is a member of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Committee. The Chamber is the primary economic development marketing organization for the region. See the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce website at www.berkshirechamber.com for additional information.

Economic, Education and Employment Information Project
This project will develop and distribute solid information regarding the region’s educational, employment and occupational, and labor force characteristics and build stronger collaborations in the development and use of such information. It is intended to improve regional strategic economic development and workforce development and recruitment planning and programs. The project is being funded by the Division of Employment and Training’s Workforce Development Program.

Potential Projects Under Development:

Mohawk Trail and Jacobs Ladder Trail Implementation
Funding is in the adopted Federal FY03 Transportation Appropriations bill. For more information about these projects, see the project pages for Mount Greylock Scenic Byway, Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway, or Jacob's Ladder Trail Scenic Byway, Inc. You may also see Publications to order copies of the reports or contact Lauren Gaherty at lgaherty@berkshireplanning.org

Southwest Pittsfield Economic Development Area Transportation Study
Pending approval by the Berkshire Metropolitan Planning Organization, this study will take a comprehensive look at current and potential future development proposals in the area around Dan Fox Drive and the Pittsfield Municipal Airport that complement the City of Pittsfield’s other revitalization projects and identify multi-modal transportation measures that will ensure efficient access to serve planned development in this area.

Tourist Signage Project
This project is intended to improve tourist routing and information signage throughout the region. Funding is being sought through federal transportation appropriations or authorization bills.

Priority Economic Development Sites Feasibility Studies
This project would update previous or prepare new feasibility studies for three primary economic development sites in the region. A shortage of “ready-to-market” economic development sites has been identified as a weakness for regional economic development efforts. Funding is being sought from various federal, state, local and quasi-public sources.

Other Related Projects and Recent Initiatives:

Clarksburg Mill Revitalization Planning

Town of Dalton Downtown Building Facade Improvement Program

Regional Housing Analysis & Strategies
Availability of quality housing that meets the needs of workers and their families has been identified as a key impediment to workforce recruitment and retention in the region. At the request of the Berkshire Council for Growth, the region’s economic development organization, BRPC is launching an effort to analyze impediments to development or redevelopment of housing in the region and to develop strategies to deal with those problems. It is expected that a variety of activities by both the private and public sectors will be needed in order to address some of the housing issues. The documents available at this point are the Scope of the BRPC project and a matrix of housing strategies

Berkshire County Economic Development Sites Strategy
The Berkshire County Economic Development Sites Strategy, prepared by BRPC in 1999, identifies undeveloped industrial zoned land throughout Berkshire County and analyzes those sites for constraints to development. See Publications for a copy of the report.

Economic Development services provided by BRPC:

  • Planning, feasibility and implementation studies for public facilities and programs on a community or regional basis;
  • Assistance in developing public and private projects consistent with regional goals;
  • Continuing support role for regional and local economic development initiatives of Berkshire Connect and the Berkshire Council for Growth; 
  • Implementing recommendations of the Berkshire County Economic Development Sites Strategy;
  • Developing Regional Housing Strategies and working with a variety of public and private groups to address housing issues.
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