Pittsfield — State Sen. Paul Mark (D – 2nd Berkshire District) spoke about various issues facing western Massachusetts during an event sponsored by 1Berkshire, which was held at the Berkshire Country Club on Friday, April 14.
Mark previously served as a State Representative from 2011 until last year, when he was elected as a State Senator in November’s general elections. As he noted at the event, State Sen. Mark’s 100th day of office was, by coincidence, the day of the April 14 event.
At the meeting were representatives of several companies and organizations, including The Brien Center, KB Accounting, Jiminy Peak, General Dynamics, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Community Access to the Arts.
According to its website, 1Berkshire is the official regional economic organization and regional tourism council of Berkshire County. Organization Senior Vice President of Tourism and Marketing Lindsey Schmid said that 1Berkshire organized the event to give State Sen. Mark exposure to the Berkshire community, along with allowing organizations and companies to hear his agenda. “I think that, in general, western Massachusetts has different issues than the rest of the state,” Schmid said in an interview before the event. “We continue to need leadership that understands the issues that we have here in the Berkshires, and to make sure that those issues are translated clearly to the rest of the legislators and for the rest of the Commonwealth.”
Schmid said that her role at 1Berkshire is to push for more tourism opportunities in the Berkshires. “Our push right now is not just to have tourism in the summer or the fall, but for tourism to be a year-round industry for the Berkshires,” Schmid said. “The latest statistical numbers for tourism are from 2021, and it shows that we are trending in a positive direction. We are working with four other regional tourism councils in the state, and we received some American Rescue Plan Act funding to do a big PR push. We received a $1 million grant for the push, which helps us tell our Berkshire story.”
“One of the biggest issues facing tourism right now is workforce and housing because those issues are all connected to staffing,” 1Berkshire President and CEO Jonathan Butler told The Berkshire Edge. “Staffing is a real challenge right now for the tourism economy. We have had tremendous demand to visit the Berkshires as we come out of the pandemic, and our offerings as a destination continue to expand. But coming out of the pandemic, because of staffing issues, we have had limitations on how long many of our places can be open. Some of these places in the Berkshires can only be open certain days of the week or limited hours.”
Butler said that staffing issues have not only had an impact on the tourism sector in the Berkshires, but all sectors throughout the state, including healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, and hospitality. “A big part of recruitment is employment opportunities, and that is an area where the Berkshire is in a stronger position than where we were five or 10 years ago,” Butler said. “Most of our employers are hiring, not just at entry level, but at mid-career and even leadership level as well. But it’s about getting the word out that we have these opportunities. Our organization has advocated quite a lot for funding from the state for recruitment. While we have job boards and resources for recruiting and hiring, it takes a lot of resources to get those job positions in front of audiences outside of the Berkshires. There will always be opportunities to put more resources into strengthening these efforts.”
At the beginning of the event, State Sen. Mark told the audience. “[E]very day I am in Boston, I do everything I possibly can to make sure that this region is being heard.” He explained, “[Other representatives and I] go to Boston to make sure this region gets what it deserves, because, since we are so far away from Boston, it’s so easy for us to be forgotten.”
State Sen. Mark is the chairperson of the state’s Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, which is made up of members of the State House and the State Senate. “Tourism is the third biggest industry in Massachusetts,” he said. “When we talk about tourism, arts, and cultural development, I’m also talking about agriculture, tourism, ecotourism, and food tourism. And people come out to this area because it’s so beautiful and so wonderful. And we have so many great attractions to showcase and highlight. Because we’re so close to Boston, we’re so close to New York, we have so much opportunity to both attract people and to be an attractive place to be within two, or three hours can reach millions of potential customers. By working on projects like the internet infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, and educational projects to keep our workforce developed, that is what can make the Berkshires such an amazing, attractive place for people to move to.”
During the question and answer part of the event, Shakespeare and Company Managing Director Amy Handelsman asked State Sen. Mark what could be done about the affordable housing crisis in the area. “A lot of us are facing the pressures of affordable housing,” Handelsman said. “I know we can’t solve the problems in two minutes. But what are your thoughts on trying to solve these problems?”
“[Gov. Maura Healey (D)] herself has made this a priority,” State Sen.Mark said. “In the State Senate yesterday, we followed through with one of her priorities which is to separate the Department of Housing from Economic Development and to create a standalone Secretary of Housing for possibly the first time in the state’s history. At the same time, she declared an intention to take property that is state-owned that is being underutilized and figure out ways we can turn that into housing. I can think of buildings right here in Pittsfield, and in North Adams that would be good for that. There also needs to be recognition that a development that could work in even Pittsfield or North Adams, while it could work in many parts of the state, might not work in a town like Beckett or Peru.”
Patricia Harris, Pittsfield’s Register of Deeds, asked State Sen. Mark what could be done for towns in Berkshire County with poor road conditions. “We’re working right now on a bill that is known as Chapter 90, which is a section of state law that dictates how much road money is allocated for individual communities,” he said. “That money is distributed by a formula that currently includes road miles, population, and employment factors. Of course, these factors benefit the biggest communities in the state.” State Sen. Mark said, “Inevitably, any time we try to make a formula unless the formula is tailored specifically to the smallest communities that will benefit us … To try to balance that out we include an extra $150 million [in state funding] that works differently, not through a formula, but through grants that can go through specified targets.” He explained, “That gives communities like Hinsdale, and other small towns, the [ability] to fight for that funding in a way that maybe wouldn’t have been available based on the formula. Then there is an extra $25 million [in state funding] that I was able to help get, and we hope that this will remain in the final bill in the end that will be signed by the governor. It’s a recognition that small towns like Mount Washington need a special formula that is designed to make them get a fair share of [state funding for roads].”
Members of the media were told by 1Berkshire representatives not to ask questions of State Rep. Mark during the event. However, he did stay after the event to answer media questions. When asked about the financial condition of the state, State Rep. Mark said, “I think the state is moving in a great direction. We are emerging from the pandemic, but it’s certainly not 100 percent over.” He continued, “But I think we’re in a stronger position today than what we could have imagined three years ago. As a region, I think we’ve been waiting to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there to make sure we’re successful. The moment is here to take advantage of these opportunities to make sure we will be successful.”
As for tourism, State Rep. Mark said, “What I’m hearing right now from our cultural organizations in our area is that the COVID years were tough. They made it through, but the organizations have told me that 2023 might be the year that either makes us or breaks us. We’re starting to find out whether or not people are coming back to the things they used to go to, or if their behavior has changed permanently. Our region must get through this year, then we have to revisit this season to figure out what this sector will look like in the future, and how we could maximize our potential. Funding is going to be a key part of that.”
As an example of this, State Sen. Mark said that Gov. Healey’s state budget calls for $25 million in funding for the state’s Cultural Council.
