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Economic Development

2011 Berkshire Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

 

Economic Development Toolbox
Current Initiatives
Potential Projects Under Development
Other Recent Initiatives
Economic Development Services Provided by BRPC

BRPC assists communities, and the region as a whole, with targeted and generalized economic development projects, plans and strategies. Additionally, many of BRPC's efforts in other areas, such as environmental and local planning, incorporate economic development elements.

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.

Economic Development Toolbox

BRPC is in the process of developing a toolbox of economic development tools- grants, incentives, state and regional programs, and other tools that communities can incorporate into economic development projects.
The first of these, A Guide to State Economic Development Resources presents available state resources for planning and implementing a variety of local economic development projects - including brownfield reuse, downtown improvements, redevelopment, and historic preservation and adaptive reuse.

Additional Toolbox items will be posted as soon as they become available.

Current Initiatives

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.

Priority Development Site Assistance

As part of the Expedited Permitting Project, BRPC is providing assistance to the Towns of Adams, Dalton and Lee to assist in the development of identified Priority Development Sites (PDS).
In Adams, BRPC is developing a website, recommending changes to the Planned Unit Resort District bylaw, assisting with the conservation restriction for the site and assist with efficient permitting of the site.
In Dalton, BRPC is assiting with the development of a town economic development plan, and assessment potential sites for a business/industrial park, Ashuelot Park. BRPC recently assisted the town in developing a zoning bylaw for a Planned Industrial Development District. BRPC is currently working on a traffic study.
Activities in Lee include efforts to re-vitalize the recently closed mills, that will be integrated into downtown planning efforts.

Berkshire Brownfields Program

The Berkshire Brownfields Program consists of Phase I and II assessments for sites across the region contaminated by petroleum and hazardous materials. In addition, BRPC has established a Revolving Loan Fund to lend funds for clean up activities. The Berkshire Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund will provide subordinated loans and subgrants to enhance the credit worthiness of conventional or other traditional loans and funds and may fill funding gaps in the financial mix of a project. The program promotes economic development by encouraging re-use of contaminated sites.

Potential Projects Under Development

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

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

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.