PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The new BJ's Wholesale is set to be fully constructed by the end of the September and the store will open shortly after.

According Robert MacPherson, founder of Cape Breton Corp., the company that is building the store, construction and utilities are on pace to be completed and the store can be turned over to BJ's management for an October opening.

"The BJ's is looking, hopefully, to open in the middle or end of September," MacPherson said Tuesday. "Certainly before the first of October is our hope."

The construction, located on Hubbard Avenue behind Price Chopper, is expecting to bring 120 new jobs to the city. The club's website is advertising an array of jobs from an assistant manager to meat cutters to department supervisors.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Qualprint, a division of Quality Printing Co., will be accepting two Benjamin Franklin Awards in Chicago on Sept. 11, awards akin to the Oscars for the graphic arts industry.

The "Benny" is the highest honor in the 2011 Premier Print Awards, the industry's largest and most prestigious worldwide printing competition that recognizes outstanding achievement in print production. (Benjamin Franklin, of course, being one of the nation's foremost printers back in the day.)

The award-winning Qualprint is getting two for the categories of Magazine Series and Cross Media Promotion for its work in Briefings on Talent & Leadership, a quarterly publication of Korn/Ferry International, a top global provider of talent management solutions.

"You can't produce an award-winning magazine without ferocious attention to detail, consistency, state-of-the-art technology, and great people," said Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of Briefings on Talent & Leadership. "That describes Qualprint. They're really, really good. It shows in the quality of the product we produce. We've found they'll do whatever it takes to do the best job possible. They're willing to push harder and even experiment when necessary."
 
The Premier Print Awards are the printing industry's oldest and largest worldwide graphic arts competition, hosted by Printing Industries of America. In its 62nd year, the annual contest recognizes those responsible for the creation and production of superior print communications.

"The Benny winners represent the best our industry has to offer," said Michael Makin, president and CEO of Printing Industries of America.
 
This year, more than 3,200 entries were received from printing and graphic arts firms from around the world, and judges awarded the Benny to the top entry in each category.

"Everyone at Qualprint contributed to winning this prestigious award," said John G. DiSantis, president and CEO of Qualprint. "It's an honor to be recognized by the industry and the world as a company that produces award-winning print. This is a win for Qualprint, Korn/Ferry International, Insight Design, and the dedicated team that makes each issue of Briefings on Talent and Leadership such a success."
 
The Bennys will be awarded at the Premier Print Awards Gala at the Chicago Marriott Downtown.
 
For more information about Qualprint, contact June Roy-Martin at 413-442-4166.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — North Adams Regional Hospital has been denied its application as a critical access hospital that would have given it cost-based reimbursements from Medicare. 

According to a report in the North Adams Transcript on Tuesday, the hospital's application was denied by the federal government because of its proximity to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. President and CEO William Frado told the newspaper that the government looked at Route 7 as a major highway, which puts the two hospitals closer than the cut off of 35 miles.

The hospital's parent company, Northern Berkshire Healthcare, had sought the designation to aid its financial picture as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy and reduce its nearly $50 million debt.

"It would have been nice to get the designation, but our financial projections indicated that we'll be able to come out of bankruptcy as a stand-alone viable hospital," Frado told the paper.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The latest state jobless rates show Berkshire County falling within the state average for the month of June with a seasonally unadjusted rate of 7.3 percent.

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development is reporting a seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for June of  7.8 percent, up 0.4 of a percentage point from the revised May rate of 7.4 percent.  A statement from the office says that reflects seasonal increases in the number of residents entering and re-entering the labor force.

Berkshire County overall added more than 2,000 jobs over the month of May, and has 1,300 fewer jobless claims than January of this year. The county also is down from January's unemployment rate of 9.2 and has seen a decrease of more than a point from last year's average unemployment rate of 8.2.

Good news, but still far from 2000's average jobless rate of 2.9 percent. The following data is taken from the EOLWD site.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The merger of Berkshire Bank and Legacy Banks was completed Thursday.

Announced in December, Berkshire Bank purchased Legacy for $108 million, which created the biggest financial institution in the region with more than $4 billion in assets.

The Berkshire Bank name will remain the same and more than 40 of the two banks' 850 workers are expected to lose their job because of the merger.

According to a press release, the bank now has more than 60 branches reaching from Massachusetts to New York to Vermont. The merger is effective immediately.

"This acquisition results in improved market share and an expanded footprint in our attractive northeastern markets," Berkshire Bank President Michael P. Daly said in the release.  "It contributes to our strong momentum in revenue and earnings growth.  This partnership enhances our resources to support the needs of our regions and to provide exceptional locally based service.  We are very pleased to welcome the customers, employees, and shareholders of Legacy to America's most exciting bank."