Boston and Berkshire County — On Thursday, October 24, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced $161 million for 313 grant awards to support local economic-development projects in 171 communities across the state.
In a press release announcing the grants, the administration states that the awards were made through the Community One Stop for Growth, an application portal overseen by the Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) that provides a streamlined process for municipalities and organizations to apply for 12 state grant programs that fund economic-development projects related to planning and zoning, site preparation, building construction, infrastructure, and housing development.
Through this round of the One Stop, EOED received 756 applications from 510 organizations with projects in 229 communities across the state.
Of the 313 applications awarded, 33 percent are located in a rural or small town, 32 percent are located in a Gateway City, 48 percent are located in a Housing Choice Community, and 50 percent are located in an MBTA Community. Forty communities are receiving a grant through the One Stop for the first time.
EOED estimates the One Stop awards will help create more than 18,000 new units of housing, including 4,000 new affordable units, 31,000 new permanent jobs, and more than 14 million square feet of new commercial development.
The fiscal 2025 One Stop program awards in Berkshire County include:
- Adams: $330,000 for the town’s Rural Development Fund to support its Memorial School Redevelopment and Reuse Project, a project to redevelop a 70,000-square-foot vacant school building, including the creation of 25 units of new rental housing and community uses.
- Adams: $276,048 for its Underutilized Properties Program in order for Adams Theater LLC to revitalize its historic theater.
- Egremont: $54,000 to the town’s Community Planning Grant Program. The town will use this grant to complete Phase II of its Zoning Bylaw revisions to align it with goals established in the 2023 Comprehensive Plan.
- Egremont: $75,000 to the town’s Rural Development Fund to develop design alternatives to rehab Karner Brook Dam and adjacent raw water infrastructure for flood resiliency.
- Great Barrington: $580,000 from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program in order for the town to stabilize and repair West Sheffield Road, shifting the roadway away from the slope failure and stabilizing it with rock material.
- Lee: $1 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program for the town to reconstruct Brodie Mountain Road.
- Lee: $60,000 from the Rural Development Fund to develop parking to support downtown economic development.
- Mount Washington: $86,000 from the Rural Development Fund to support renovations of the unused one-room schoolhouse to be used as a cultural center for Mount Washington.
- North Adams: $114,000 from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program. The Wheel Estates Wastewater Project Phase will use this grant to complete design engineering for several infrastructure improvement projects in response to a MassDEP Consent Order, having already appropriated over $1 million toward improvements with some help in local and state funding for two main roads.
- North Adams: $888,000 from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. The city will use this funding to repair and upgrade sidewalks on Hoosac Street, Blackinton Street, Elmwood Avenue, Montana Street, and Porter Street.
- North Adams: $85,000 from the Urban Agenda Grant Program. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation Inc. will use this grant to support the North Adams Artist Business Capacity-Building Program, which will support under-resourced artist entrepreneurs through in-person and online workshops, one-on-one and small-group coaching, peer networking, and presentation opportunities.
- Pittsfield: $1.37 million from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program. The city will use this grant to make improvements on the Wright Building rear vehicular alley, turning it into a pedestrian walkway surrounding a mixed-use 35-unit redevelopment.
- Pittsfield: $25,000 from the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative. The city will use this grant to create a public wayfinding plan in the downtown.
- Pittsfield: $500,000 from the Site Readiness Program. The Pittsfield Economic Development Authority will use this grant for design and engineering services for Sites 7 and 8 within the William Stanley Business Park to achieve a pad-ready site.
- Pittsfield: $626,732 from the Underutilized Properties Program. Allegrone Companies will use this grant towards Wright Building Block Phase II, which will convert the building into 14 more mixed-income housing units and two storefronts.
- Pittsfield: $315,450 from the Underutilized Properties Program. Elegant Stitches Inc. will use this grant to expand its facility on 15 Commercial Street from 2,500 square feet to 22,000 square feet.
- Pittsfield: $100,000 from the Urban Agenda Grant Program. Blackshires Community Empowerment Foundation Corp will use this grant towards its leadership program for Black community members in the Berkshire region, serving as a training and education pipeline to municipal and local service.
- Pittsfield: $100,000 from the Urban Agenda Grant Program. The Rites of Passage and Empowerment will use this grant to support monthly empowerment program meetings, after-school clubs, college visits to HBCUs, and additional programming throughout the first half of 2025.
- Stockbridge: $1 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. The town will use this grant to replace Tuckerman Warren Truss Bridge and install a new eight-inch-diameter insulated water pipeline on the bridge.
- Williamstown: $100,000 from the Community Planning Grant Program. The town will use this grant to update its subdivision rules and related provisions to further goals of more easily allowing smart-growth-style housing.
