Berkshire Agricultural Ventures announces over $1M in funding to local food producers
GREAT BARRINGTON — Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) recently announced that, in the five years since its founding, it offered more than $1 million in funding to farmers and food producers in Berkshire, Columbia, and Dutchess counties. This includes 24 direct loans through its Revolving Loan Fund, which offers flexible 0-2% interest loans. Capital within the Revolving Loan Fund is continuously recycled, creating a viable and reliable stream of support for agricultural entrepreneurs.
Through BAV’s Resilience Fund, it has awarded over 30 grants. The fund started in response to COVID-19 and the pandemic’s exacerbated effects on food producers in the area, and now acts as BAV’s main grant fund. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis for a variety of requests that fit within BAV’s strategic priority areas. Additionally, BAV provided technical assistance to over 68 farms. Technical assistance is BAV’s most sought-after service and includes a combination of in-house expertise, referrals to regional partners, and experienced consultants. The assistance most often pertains to long-term financial planning and bookkeeping, grazing and livestock management plans, and agroforestry planning and implementation.
To date, BAV’s combined programs and services have led to the creation of over 100 jobs, kept 2,500+ acres of farmland under active management, and preserved an additional 500+ acres of farmland.
“BAV stepped up to fill a need,” said Tom Gardner, BAV board president. “It has provided necessary assistance and subsidies for local farmers and producers when banks and conventional funders weren’t flexible enough. Plus, all big agriculture is subsidized in our nation. BAV does its best to assist and support the small producers in our region in a way that is actually helpful. We really work to keep the Berkshires green.”
—A.K.
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Greylock Federal Credit Union, Insurance Agency raise minimum pay to $16.50/hr
PITTSFIELD – Greylock Federal Credit Union and Greylock Insurance Agency have established $16.50 per hour as their corporate minimum wage. Additionally, they have adjusted the salaries of all employees making less than $20 per hour.
“Our vision is to enable our community to thrive and that means starting with our own team,” said Greylock’s President and CEO John L. Bissell. “As a major employer in the area, we try to lead by example and listen to our employees’ needs. We have designed a pay and benefits package that reflects our lived culture.”
Greylock had previously set their base at $15 in 2016, years ahead of Massachusetts’ statewide target date of 2023. “This past year has given Greylock an opportunity to recognize the need to find more effective solutions to support our staff,” said Bissell. “We knew it was important to lead with compassion as we help our staff meet the new challenges of life after the pandemic.”
Greylock’s human resources team has developed a distinctive, family-friendly benefits package with unique solutions designed specifically for Greylock staff. “We are one of the few employers to still offer a 401K with employer match and a pension plan,” said Bissell. “We also have a program that lets new parents bring their babies to work and we provide a stipend to help cover childcare costs. We have a tuition reimbursement program, a student loan assistance benefit, and provide ongoing professional development opportunities.”
—A.K.
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Greylock Insurance Agency announces six promotions
PITTSFIELD — Greylock Insurance Agency (GIA) has promoted six employees within the agency: Lori Goodell, Jay Marion, Julie Dieterich, Mary Benjamin, Nicole Sage, and Hailey Lareau.
Lori Goodell has been promoted to senior Vice President, Agency Manager. She will oversee all agency matters and will report directly to Michael Stoddard, Greylock Federal Credit Union’s executive vice president and CFO. She joined GIA in March 2005 as an Insurance Services Officer. Goodell was promoted to Assistant Vice President, Sales Manager in 2009 and then to Vice President, Personal Lines in 2016.
Jay Marion has been promoted to Vice President, Senior Commercial Lines and Business Development Manager reporting to Goodell. He oversees the commercial side of GIA’s insurance business and development opportunities for the agency. Marion joined GIA in 2004 as an Assistant Vice President as part of GIA’s acquisition of Read Shaw Insurance. He was promoted to Vice President/Commercial Lines in 2016.
Julie Dieterich has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Personal Lines Sales Manager, also reporting to Goodell. She was previously GIA’s Sales Manager and has progressed within the agency since starting as a part-time intern in 2008.
Mary Benjamin, who recently came to GIA through the acquisition of The Roger Butler Insurance Agency (Butler) in Westfield, is now the Office Manager in Westfield. She will also oversee the commercial lines business in the area. Benjamin joined Butler in 1997.
Greylock also promoted Nicole Sage and Hailey Lareau to Assistant Trainers in addition to their current roles as Account Managers.
—A.K.
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Salisbury Bank’s Aidan Gilligan to receive New Leaders in Banking Award
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Aidan Gilligan, vice president, commercial loan officer at Salisbury Bank and Trust Company, has been selected to receive the New Leaders in Banking Award.
Over the last few months, the Connecticut Bankers Association (CBA) and Connecticut Banking magazine asked bankers throughout Connecticut to nominate their peers for the leadership award. Nominees must work at a CBA Member Bank, be an outstanding employee, manager, or business leader, and be making a notable impact within their bank and community.
Nominations were vetted by an independent panel of judges, none of whom are active bankers or staff members of the CBA. Gilligan, along with 13 other finalists, will be honored at the New Leaders In Banking Awards Banquet at Mohegan Sun on Thursday, June 10.
—A.K.
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Shaker Museum appoints Lael Locke to Board of Trustees
CHATHAM, N.Y. — Shaker Museum recently announced the election of Lael Locke to its Board of Trustees. Locke has served seven terms as an elected official in the Village of Chatham and was a co-founder of the Chatham Business Alliance, now Chatham Area Business and Arts.
Locke has lived in the Chatham area since the 1960s. She is a retired publisher and writer who published a free monthly newspaper in the 1980s distributed in Columbia, Dutchess, and Berkshire counties, and the Salisbury-Lakeville, Connecticut area. She also served as a board member of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for nine years and continues to serve on several committees, most notably the Fund for Columbia County, which awards annual grants to the communities it represents.
Locke currently serves on the boards of the Crandell Theatre in Chatham and the Neighbors of Northern Columbia County (NNCC), a nonprofit that helps seniors age in their homes by providing volunteer services and social activities.
—A.K.
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Columbia County Habitat for Humanity announces new hires
HUDSON, N.Y. — Columbia County Habitat for Humanity has added ReStore Manager William Stegemann and Communications and Engagement Coordinator Jessica Sommerfeldt to its Hudson, New York team.
Stegemann is a former business process consultant and senior program manager whose work has brought him from New York to California and back. A graduate of Antioch University, Stegemann quickly climbed the ranks at AT&T before deciding to pursue a career in nonprofits. Now a Columbia County resident, Stegemann is responsible for overseeing all ReStore operations, ranging from donations and sales to employee management.
Sommerfeldt is a Hudson Valley native and SUNY New Paltz grad who first entered the world of community outreach as the communications manager at Roeliff Jansen Community Library in Copake, New York. She hopes to bring the skills she learned at the Library to her new position, using newsletters, social media, and local events to help foster closer bonds between Habitat and the community.
—A.K.
