Updated: April 9, 2013 at 1:27 with information from Premium Marketing Enterprises founder Mike Eitelberg.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A business-to-business telemarketing company is leasing the historic Wollison-Shipton building on North Street and bringing at least a half-dozen new jobs.
Premium Marketing Enterprises Corp. signed a least last week to occupy office space in the 125-year-old building. The company, established in 1998, connects businesses in the technical, software and insurance fields by generating leads. The company already works with agencies such as Travelers Insurance and Nationwide.
"It's direct contact marketing. We're not calling people at their home. We're connecting business to business," founder Mike Eitelberg said on Tuesday.
The company was formerly headquartered in Kingston, N.Y., but Eitelberg recently moved to the Berkshires full time and is bringing the business with him. There will still be a presence in Kingston but "we're leaning more with an emphasis on Pittsfield."
With a new office that can fit 12 employees, the company has already hired four people to staff its North Street location and is looking to bring on a few more in the next few months. Eitelberg said he seeing the business growing as it delves more into the technical fields.
Eitelberg said the jobs are "median" income in a "professional work environment" with the opportunity for upward momentum.
"It is significantly above the minimum wage job around here," he said.
He chose Pittsfield in part because the office space, which is being leased by Financial Firebird Corp., has controlled costs and the city has the potential work force he needs to grow the company. The city offers a lower "cost of doing business" with the rental space.
Eitelberg said the company opened a small office in the building initially just to get a few workers in and on Friday, they will be moving into the larger space.
The Shipton building was opened in 1888.
Original story published on April 8, 2013 at 7:21 p.m.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A telemarketing company is leasing the historic Wollison-Shipton building on North Street.
Premium Marketing Enterprises Corp. has signed a lease to occupy the 125-year-old building. The company, established in 1998, provides "business-to-business telemarketing" for commercial insurance agencies such as Travelers and Nationwide.
The company has recently grown by "providing prospecting services and lead generation campaigns to the technology and software industry."
It is unclear what the company will do in the newly leased space and a phone call was not immediately returned.
The building is being leased by Financial Firebird Corp., the building's leasing agent. The Shipton building opened in 1888.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Enterprises announced that it will offer a free 20-week entrepreneurial training program for displaced workers.
The new training program will begin April 16. Classes will be held Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The program aims to help people learn and conduct market research to test out their business ideas. The program is being revised to cover all areas of writing a plan to delveloping the idea and marketing strategy. The training includes basic financial projections.
Interested unemployed workers can contact Steve Fogel, program director of Berkshire Enterprises, at sfogel@berkshireenterprises.com or 413-441-3688 to get an application. Class size is limited to 12 people and participants will be chosen based on the strength of their idea, application and interview.
North Adams City Hall Seeking Part-Time Planner
Staff Reports On: 05:40PM / Wednesday March 13, 2013
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is looking for a part-time planner to help with the completion of the master plan and in implementing it.
Mayor Richard Alcombright had stated his intention last month to fill the post as soon as possible. He said a planner will be essential to bringing the city's zoning and ordinances into alignment with the master plan and in researching and writing grants.
The city hasn't had a master plan in some 40 years. The mayor has said he wants to put economic and community development in the forefront, and putting more support into the community development office will be necessary to achieve the master plan's goals.
The city hopes to use the comprehensive plan to access state and federal grant funding for projects. The position itself will be funded in part by Community Block Grant Funding. The salary is negotiable, according to the posting.
The job is listed as being 20 hours at first, with the likelihood of growing into a permanent full-time position with the next year. The individual will work with Community Development Director Michael Nuvallie.
According to job posting on BerkshireJobs.com, the planner will be expected to coordinate with the city's Planning and Zoning boards and take on addditional responsibility of projects including "neighborhood revitalization strategies, economic development planning, and bike path planning."
The candidate needs a master's degree in planning or five years in a relevant profession, and preferrably experience with a wide range projects, from enerty efficiency to trail planning to GIS mapping. Deadline to apply is April 5.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Walmart is holding a job fair on Wednesday, March 6, to hire for the new Walmart Supercenter being constructed on Curran Highway.
The company is expected to hire some 85 associates. According to store manager Alexis Bartos, the openings will be for both full- and part-time associates.
Previous reports put the total number of workers needed for the new 160,000 square foot structure at about 300. The more than 170 employees at the current store, also on Curran Highway, were to move to the new location without having to reapply for their jobs.
"We are excited that relocating our store will bring additional jobs with great career opportunities to the area," said Bartos.
The new Supercenter is twice the size of the current Walmart and includes a grocery, deli, bakery, expanded electronics section, garden center, pharmacy and vision center.
The hiring event will take place Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the existing store located at 830 Curran Highway.
Walmart said it provides a benefits program to eligible full- and part-time associates, including a variety of health and well-being benefits. Walmart also offers eligible associates matching 401(k) contributions of up to 6 percent of pay, discounts on general merchandise, an Associate Stock Purchase Program and company-paid life insurance. Additionally, eligible associates receive a quarterly incentive based on store performance.
The majority of new associates will begin work in April to help prepare the store for its grand opening.
BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on Tuesday reported that the June 2012 seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down in the Barnstable, Fall River, Nantucket and Tisbury areas; unchanged in the Pittsfield area; and up in the other seventeen areas over the month. Over the year, the rates are down in all 22 labor areas.
The Pittsfield metro area saw the addition of 300 jobs over May; both the North Adams and Great Barrington labor market areas also saw a jump in seasonal jobs.
In June 2012, over-the-month job gains occurred in eight of the 12 areas that estimates are published because of seasonal increases. The largest gains occurred in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Barnstable (Cape Cod), Worcester, and Springfield areas.
Statewide, the June seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 6.3 percent, up 0.5 of a percentage point from 5.8 percent recorded in May. Over the year, the statewide unadjusted rate was down 1.3 percentage points from the June 2011 unadjusted rate of 7.6 percent.
The seasonally unadjusted rate for Pittsfield is 6.2 percent, down from 7.4 percent in June 2011. North Adams is 7 percent, down from 8.7 in June 2011 but still up a half-point from May; Great Barrington's rate is 4.3 percent, down from 5.5 percent in June 2011.
Over the year, 11 of the 12 areas for which estimates are published added jobs with the largest percentage gains in the Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Peabody, and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy areas.
The seasonally adjusted statewide June unemployment rate, released on July 19, remained unchanged over the month at 6.0 percent, and down 1.4 percentage points from the 7.4 percent rate recorded in June 2011. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 2,600 job loss over the month.
Detailed labor market information is available at www.mass.gov/lmi.
BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on Tuesday reported that the June 2012 seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down in the Barnstable, Fall River, Nantucket and Tisbury areas; unchanged in the Pittsfield area; and up in the other seventeen areas over the month. Over the year, the rates are down in all 22 labor areas.
