Sen. Hinds and Rep. Blais create rural growth fund
Boston — State Senator Adam G. Hinds (D-Pittsfield) and Representative Natalie Blais (D-Sunderland) announce that their legislation to establish the $100 million Massachusetts Rural Growth Fund was secured during the end of the 2019-2020 legislative session.
The Fund will enable small businesses to expand and create private-sector jobs by providing access to affordable growth capital through the Rural Jobs Tax Credit for businesses that make a capital contribution to a rural growth fund and create a tax credit for contributions to such funds by the applicant.
The Growth Fund will target small businesses that have fewer than 250 employees or show less than $10 million in revenue during the previous year. Qualified fund managers must apply to become Rural Growth Funds, to invest in and mentor rural, small businesses in Massachusetts, and participate in the program. The program creates a tax credit for contributions to such funds by the applicant.
“For the 2019 Massachusetts Rural Policy Plan, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments examined a study that found that many state and federal economic policies base their funding decisions on ‘innovation’ that is narrowly defined as patent applications and research and development, which leaves out many businesses that are critical to the Commonwealth’s rural economy and our small towns,” said Linda Dunlavy, executive director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and chair of the Rural Policy Advisory Commission. “The Massachusetts Rural Growth Fund will provide a needed opportunity for rural businesses to recover, grow, and expand.”
“Rural areas have not recovered since the Great Recession the way our larger cities have because of challenges like slow infrastructure development, declining and aging population, and lack of access to capital and economic opportunities,” Hinds added. “The ultimate goals of the Rural Growth Fund are to spur economic development in rural communities and to support small businesses in those communities. This will not only create jobs, but it will also keep jobs in the Commonwealth,” said Hinds.
—A.K.
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Hopsicker acquires 100 percent of Ray Murray Inc.
Lee — Ray Murray Inc. (RMI) announced Mike Hopsicker has acquired 100 percent ownership of RMI. The partnership between Hopsicker and the Murray family began in 2005, when they started working together on a planned transition of ownership. Prior to RMI, Mike was CEO of Agway Inc., and spent eight years as the CEO of Agway Energy Products, one of the largest retail marketers of propane and fuel oil in the U.S.
Over the last several years, RMI has enjoyed significant growth and expanded its geographic reach through four acquisitions. It is now one of the largest two-step distributors in both the propane and hearth and grill industries.
Ray, Jim, and John Murray will remain important parts of the RMI management team, as advisors to the business, and will continue to assume their current management roles for several years to come.
—A.K.
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Bennington College awarded $25,000 to launch Henry Luce Foundation fellowship in public action
Bennington — Bennington College has been awarded a grant of $25,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation to launch the Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship in Public Action for students studying at the College’s Center for the Advancement for Public Action (CAPA).
Beginning in summer 2021, this grant will support six-week internships for at least one Bennington College student per year for the next five years, focused on one or more of CAPA’s overarching initiatives: Activating Democracy, Art and Public Action, Environment and Public Action, Human Rights and Peacebuilding, and Progressive Education.
Promoting innovative scholarship and cultivating a new generation of changemakers, this fellowship will offer Bennington students a unique opportunity to combine theory with real-world practice.
“The Henry Luce Foundation is committed to giving students and scholars the support they need to turn knowledge into action through experiential learning and active experience via Field Work Term” said Mariko Silver, president of the Luce Foundation and former president of Bennington College.
During the College’s annual Field Work Term, Luce Fellows will leverage their academic grounding in CAPA’s interdisciplinary curriculum to support the work of nonprofit organizations that are advancing these key areas of CAPA’s mission. Exploring questions of the democratic process, human rights, the environment, and the role that education and the arts play in promoting social justice, Fellows will engage in projects that further their understanding of these issues from an ethical standpoint.
Employers interested in partnering with Bennington College to offer Field Work Term positions in their organization are encouraged to visit the Recruit Bennington webpage for more information or to contact Sarah Clader, associate director of career development and field work term, at sarahclader@bennington.edu.
—A.K.
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Salisbury Bank’s 13th annual Fill-the-Basket Campaign a success
Lakeville — Salisbury Bank completed another successful “Fill-the-Basket” food drive to benefit local food pantries.
Fourteen Branch offices located in Berkshire County, Mass.; Litchfield County, Conn.; and Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties in N.Y. collected food and cash donations throughout November and December. More than 1,700 non-perishable food and household items, and $719 in cash donations, were donated in total. Salisbury Bank also donated $1,000 to each organization the branches worked with for the food drive.
Items and monetary contributions were donated directly to local food pantries serving each area: Center for Compassion (Dover Plains, NY), Fishes and Loaves (Canaan, CT), Fishkill Food Pantry (Fishkill, NY), Hudson River Housing (Poughkeepsie and Red Oaks Mill, NY), Millerton Food Pantry (Millerton, NY), Ella’s Closet (Sharon, CT), People’s Pantry (Great Barrington, MA), Sheffield Food Assistance (Sheffield and South Egremont, MA), St. Mary’s Hope Food Pantry (Newburgh, NY), The Corner Food Pantry (Lakeville and Salisbury, CT), and The Family of New Paltz (New Paltz, NY).
—A.K.
