First, some sobering statistics, questions, and anecdotes about the state of the economy in southern Berkshire County:
If you have noticed restaurants not open as often as they used to be, it is likely because they cannot find and keep adequate staff.
Fairview, our regional critical access hospital, is “30 people short” of where they should be for staff. How will people get themselves to a hospital an hour away if our own is forced to close?
Longtime Great Barrington mainstay Taft Farms has had prospective employees cancel interviews after “doing their homework,” which revealed the impossibility of finding an affordable place to live within reasonable driving distance from town.
The decline in student population among local schools has accompanied the increased cost of living.
Lots of housing is being built these days, but it is primarily for second-home owners, not full-time residents.
These hard facts and others are laid out in “Impact in the Berkshires: Creating a Vibrant Community,” a new 30-minute documentary film by recent Bard College at Simon’s Rock graduate Yonah Sadeh. “Impact in the Berkshires” centers on the work of the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire (CDCSB) and features interviews with about two dozen local business owners, legislators, residents of CDCSB-managed properties, and the organization’s board and staff who speak to the difficulty of sustaining our local economy with the price of housing out of reach for so many people.
CDCSB’s work is two-fold: to build affordable housing and to support small business. Their most significant project—which, as Board of Directors members Erik Bruun and Richard Stanley relate in the film, resurrected the organization and put it squarely on the local housing and business development map—was Bentley Apartments, built on the site of the former New England Log Homes site. The decades-long, painstaking process to clear and remediate that toxic site ended with the celebratory ribbon-cutting in 2021, and the Bentley Apartments now house families, couples, and single people. Included in this number is familiar face and business owner Holli Stanton, of Cafe Holli. The film quotes her as saying she would never be able to sustain her business without the ease of a walkable, nearby home to raise her sons and nurture community.
The CDC’s work is two-fold, with the two areas of focus mutually dependent. You cannot promote small businesses without bringing in more affordable housing, and you cannot expect to house people in affordable housing without jobs.
Another film subject is local entrepreneur and 2018 graduate of Monument Mountain Regional High School Kevin Kelly, who started After Hours, which he calls a “nomadic” catering company, to fill the gap left when traditional restaurants are closed. He had a hard time finding a commercial kitchen to make his base of operations until CDCSB connected him to the kitchen at their property Thornewood, formerly the Thornewood Inn. Kelly’s pop-up culinary events were a feature of the past summer season.
Yet another recipient of CDCSB assistance is Hearth and Hound Dog Day Care owner Alexis Montgomery, who says that the organization’s guidance “helped me take a step back and look at the big picture.” Her business is thriving. “We sold out last weekend, and this weekend,” she said.
“Impact in the Berkshires” is actually Sadeh’s third film on the subject of local affordable-housing challenges. His first, “In Our Backyard,” centered on the controversy over a proposed affordable-housing development in his hometown of Falls Village, Conn. That film won First Prize in Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Bridging Divides, Building Community student film contest in 2021. He has also done film work on the subjects of climate change and refugee resettlement.
“Impact in the Berkshires” will be screened at The Triplex at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 3, and will be followed by a panel discussion. Sadeh will be in attendance, as will representatives of the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire. All are welcome. Find more information here.
