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Great Barrington Friendly's Casualty in Bankruptcy |
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Staff Reports On: 10:16PM / Monday January 09, 2012 |
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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The town's lone Friendly's Restaurant was shuttered on Monday as the ice cream scooper emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Great Barrington restaurant was the only closure in the Berkshires. Thirty-six other restaurants were also closed, including three in the Springfield area and seven others in Massachusetts. Several in the Capital Region of New York also closed their doors.
According to a statement from company, "we were unable to reach an acceptable agreement with landlords at 37 restaurants. Therefore, the Company has made the difficult decision to close these Friendly's effective at the close of business on January 8th."
The Great Barrington location is no longer listed on the company's website.
That makes 100 restaurants closed since the Wilbraham company first entered Chapter 11 last fall. The company has about 7,500 locations. The restaurants employed about 20 people each.
Friendly's Ice Cream Corp. emerged from bankruptcy after selling the corporation and its subsidiaries to Friendly's Ice Cream LLC for a reported $75 million.
Read the full press release here.
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Walmart Buys Curran Highway Site for $7.35M |
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Staff Reports On: 04:09PM / Monday January 09, 2012 |
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The final step in the development of the Walmart Supercenter was completed in December with the sale of the former gravel bank on Curran Highway.
Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust bought the property and an adjacent parcel at 1519-1525 South State St. for $7.35 million on Dec 19.
The property includes the gravel bank on Curran Highway and land formerly used by Berkshire Concrete Co.
The retail giant filed plans for a 160,000 square foot store last fall but purchase of the 23 acres was put off until some site preparation and cleanup was completed. Buying the land means the company will begin construction soon.
BVS 5401 Investors LLC, developers for the shopping plaza, purchased the property from the city in 2007 for $700,000. The parcel was one of several bought by developers Nigro Development LLC of Albany, N.Y., and Starwood-Ceruzzi of Connecticut several years ago. Nigro has since dropped out, leaving Ceruzzi Properties of Fairfield, Conn., in control.
Ceruzzi, acting as BVS 5401 Investors LLC, also purchased the Dellaghelfa properties at 1519 South State St. and West Road for about $2.2 million in 2007, and the former North Adams Plaza in 2004 for $2.5 million.
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Berkshire Chamber Authorized as Insurance Group Carrier |
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On: 04:41PM / Thursday January 05, 2012 |
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Chamber of Commerce has been approved as a Group Health Insurance Cooperative as part of the Massachusetts Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
The approval by the state Department of Insurance and with Retailers Association of Massachusetts will allow the state association to operate as one of up to six cooperatives authorized by law to work with insurance carriers in an effort to give small businesses and individuals more options for saving on health insurance by banding together to buy coverage.
Through MACCE, the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce has been approved as a qualifying chamber and will work with insurers in the coming months to create new opportunities for its members, of which nearly 85 percent are considered small businesses.
More information on this new member benefit will be discussed at MACCE's annual meeting this Friday, Jan. 6, at Cranwell Resort in Lenox.
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Nominations Accepted For Young Careerist Competition |
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On: 04:26PM / Thursday December 22, 2011 |
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Business and Professional Women is seeking seven nominations for the 2012 Young Careerist Competition.
The speak-off will take place on Monday, Feb. 6 at Mazzeo's Ristorante at 5:30 p.m. Each year, Berkshire BPW honors working women between the ages of 21–35 for their personal and professional achievements.
The co-chairs for the event are Barbara Martin and Heidi Higgins. The criteria requested by nominees are as follows:
(1) To be between the ages of 21-35.
(2) Be or have been employed in a business of their profession with at least one year of full time work experience.
(3) Be living and/or working in Berkshire County.
(4) Be active in civic and/or volunteer organizations in the Berkshire County area.
Participants are asked to commit to the following:
(1) Complete an application.
(2) Speak on a topic related to working women.
(3) Be interviewed by a panel of judges answering questions related to the national BPW Legislative issues.
The winner will receive one-year complimentary membership to BBPW and will be expected to serve on the Young Careerist Committee. Please contact Barbara Martin at 413-854-7570 or Heidi Higgins at 413-445-3550 to nominate a young careerist. You may print an application from the BBPW website: berkshirebpw.org. Nominations will be accepted until Jan. 9.
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Pittsfield Sees Job Gains Over Year |
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Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development On: 10:31AM / Tuesday December 20, 2011 |
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 BOSTON — The Pittsfield metropolitan area had one of the biggest percentage gains in jobs over the past year, up 3.7 percent, as the state has continued to see a drop in unemployment rates.
Pittsfield's jobless rate (seasonally unadjusted) has dropped from 8.1 percent last November to 6.6 percent, below the state jobless rate.
The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on Tuesday reported that the November seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down over-the-month in 19 areas and up in three areas — Tisbury, Nantucket and Barnstable. Statewide, the November seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, down from 6.8 percent in October. Over-the-year the statewide rate was down 1.7 percentage points from the 8.1 percent rate recorded for November 2010. All 22 labor area rates were down over the year.
In November, over-the-month job gains occurred in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Worcester, Framingham, Springfield, Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner, and New Bedford areas. Five areas posted job losses, including the Pittsfield, which shed 300 jobs.
Over-the-year, all 12 areas added jobs with the largest gains in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Worcester, Framingham and Springfield areas. The largest percentage gains occurred in the Pittsfield, Worcester and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton areas.
| Pittsfield Metro |
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Total Employment
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Over-the-year |
| Nov. 2010 |
35,600 |
8.2 % |
1,300 job gain
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| Nov. 2011 |
36,900 |
6.6% |
up 3.7 %
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The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate released on Dec. 15 showed a 5,000 over-the-month job gain. The seasonally adjusted statewide November unemployment rate dropped to 7 percent from the October rate of 7.3 percent, and was down 1.3 percentage points from the 8.3 percent rate recorded in November 2010. The national rate is 8.6 percent, down from 9.8 percent in November 2010.
The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.
The December 2011 unemployment rate, labor force data and jobs estimates for Massachusetts will be released on Jan. 19, 2012; local unemployment statistics will be released on Jan. 24, 2012. Detailed labor market information is available at www.mass.gov/lmi. See the revised February 2011 Media Advisory annual schedule for complete listing of release dates.
pittsfiedl total employment nov. 2010 35,600 nov. 2011 36,900 OTY 2010 1300 jobs for 3.7 percent
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