True North Insurance Appoints Broker, Vice President

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Brian Drake

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Brian Drake has joined True North Insurance as an employee benefits broker and a vice vresident.

"Brian brings over 14 years of experience and a passion for employee benefits to our team. He possesses the depth, agility, and integrity required today to guide employers through the complexities of insurance. We are delighted that Brian chose to make MountainOne and the Berkshires his home," Holly Taylor, president & chief operating officer said. “Brian's appointment builds upon True North's national partnership with Digital Benefit Advisors, the largest employee-benefits-only agency in the country. The Digital partnership has repositioned True North Insurance to meet client needs with a wide range of insurance, technology, and compliance resources."
 
As an employee benefits specialist and vice president, Drake will be responsible for developing new business relationships and providing strategic guidance to employers on their medical, dental, life and disability insurance plans and benefit administration solutions.


Having served in many leadership roles in the group benefits field, Drake has an extensive knowledge of employee benefits planning, administration, and funding. He is also experienced on the carrier side, including contract, claims, and administration expertise.

Prior to joining True North, Drake was most recently as a benefits consultant in the Boston market. He has also served as regional sales manager and senior sales representative in eastern Massachusetts, with a special focus on benefits plan design, human resources support, and member service.

Drake holds a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut. Drake is in the process of relocating to the Berkshires with his wife, Kendra, and their two daughters.


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Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
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