Interprint, Inc. expands capacity with $22 million investment
Pittsfield — Interprint, Inc. have announced they have investments totaling $22 million for an expansion of its Pittsfield site and the purchase of additional printing presses to support its rapidly growing printed decor business.
Once complete, the 57,000 square foot expansion will provide space for additional rotogravure printing machines and storage of goods. Construction will begin in November 2022 and be completed in the summer of 2023, as weather conditions permit. Installation of the printing machines will begin in late 2023. The project is expected to eventually create up to 20 new jobs, increasing the company’s employment to approximately 185.
The investment will expand Interprint’s capacity to produce decorative overlays used in the manufacturing of flooring, furniture, and other consumer products.
Interprint, Inc. currently operates five presses in Pittsfield. Upon the completion of these investments, the company will run 8 printing lines. For more information on Interprint, Inc. visit https://www.interprint.com/interprint/facts.
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More Afterschool programs receive fundingÂ
Great Barrington — Flying Cloud Institute announces they have received funding from the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership and Mass Cultural Council’s YouthReach. This will allow the organization to expand afterschool programs in Berkshire Country.
Afterschool Girls Science Clubs will double from four to eight schools in the Pittsfield Public Schools and will continue in Lee, Berkshire Hills, and Southern Berkshire School Districts. These programs focus on serving youth ages 9 to 19 in Pittsfield and rural areas where access to hands-on science and engineering learning is limited. Kids will receive cultural competency training and mindfulness skill-building to increase resiliency and find joy in STEM exploration. Local women STEM professionals volunteer in the programs to meet and work alongside the youth.
More information can be found at flyingcloudinstitute.org.
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Sheffield Historical Society receives funding to research Sheffield’s black history
Sheffield — Mass Humanities announced it has awarded $713,876 in Expand Massachusetts Stories grants to 42 cultural nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts. The funded projects will tell the narratives of people and ideas that shape Massachusetts. The Sheffield Historical Society will receive a $20,000 grant.
The Sheffield Historical Society received the grant for After Elizabeth Freeman: The Untold Story of the Black Community of Sheffield, a project to research the history of Sheffield’s Black community between 1780-1915, resulting in a pamphlet, lectures, educational programs, interactive exhibits, and presents that story to a local, state, and national audience.
For more information visit Mass Humanities website to see the full list of grantees.
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Bard College receives $50 million in endowment to support American and Indigenous Studies
Annandale-on-Hudson — Bard College has received a gift from the Gochman Family Foundation totaling $25 million. An additional $25 million has been matched from George Soros and the Open Society Foundations as part of Bard College’s endowment drive. The College’s American Studies Program will be renamed American and Indigenous Studies as the gift will allow the college to advance its work deepening diversity and equity in faculty appointments and student scholarships, as well as the appointment of an Indigenous Curatorial Fellow at the Center for Curatorial Studies Bard.
The gift will accelerate Bard’s existing work in Native American and Indigenous Studies and develop broader College-wide programming initiatives. The endowment will also support efforts to increase enrollment of students from historically-underrepresented populations and geographic regions, such as Native American and Indigenous communities, through dedicated undergraduate and graduate scholarship funds that cover tuition, fees, materials, and cost of living for students, as well as enhancing recruitment and retention support.
“The Gochman Family Foundation’s wonderful generosity allows us to sustain the work being undertaken in the Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck project, a curricular humanities and arts initiative to amplify and expand Native American and Indigenous Studies in partnership with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.
Forge Project Executive Director Candice Hopkins also joins the CCS Bard faculty as Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies.
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Berkshire Community College opens a variety of new programs and spaces on October 19
Pittsfield — Berkshire Community College is to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony in honor of the new One Stop Enrollment Center on Wednesday, October 19 at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held on BCC’s main campus, 1350 West Street in Pittsfield. RSVP at www.berkshirecc.edu/ribboncutting. Refreshments will be served.
The One Stop Enrollment Center is part of the One Stop Student Success project, initiated through a $5.5 million grant provided by Governor Charlie Baker’s Capital Investment Plan for public higher education. With a goal of streamlining BCC’s admissions and enrollment process, One Stop has consolidated the offices of admissions, advising, new student registration, financial services, and student records.
The College will also showcase recently renovated spaces, including the Berkshire Science Commons, the Learning Commons, the Susan B. Anthony Lounge, Burke’s Cafe, Hawthorne and Melville Halls, STEM Cafe, the Berkshire Culinary Institute, the Recording Studio, Mac Lab, and Nursing labs.
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Rawson Brook Farm Monterey Chèvre to end production this year
Susan Sellew, owner of Rawson Brook Farm, and Hannah Bracken, Chief Assistant, have decided that the 2022 season will be their final year making Monterey Chèvre. Susan has been at it for 39 years! They will make cheese as usual until the end of this production season which is mid-December.
