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Williamstown Lumber Yard Growing to Meet Demand

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Growing customer need means more buildings and more workers at R.K. Miles Inc.

The building materials supplier at the corner of Cole Avenue and North Hoosac Road has added five new buildings to its complex and more than doubled the number of employees.

Glenn Hebert, general manager of the Williamstown branch of the Manchester, Vt., based company, said when he first came on board, there were seven employees. This has now grown to 18 and the lumber yard has "outgrown" its facility.

"We have outgrown the area that we are in ... it became too small for us with the number of SKUs (items) that we carry, the number of vehicles and employees that we have," Hebert said. "We have become much larger and we encompass a larger territory and the facility limited what we could do."

With the closure of longtime businesses such as Greenberg's, Agway and Leonard's True Value, Miles has had to fill in the gaps.

"We are trying to be there to service everybody and now we serve people from all over the place," he said. "We want to take care of everybody's needs and listen to our customers and with the loss of some key competition we had to expand."

Williamstown Fire District Dedicates New Station

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
06:37AM / Sunday, May 31, 2026

Chief Jeffrey Dias recognizes firefighter Alexandra Riggs, who will graduate from Williams College next week. See more photos here.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Massachusetts fire marshal came to town Saturday to congratulate the local Fire District and the taxpayers of Williamstown for the "amazing" station they have built on Main Street.

 

"I travel around the state, and I've seen hundreds of firehouses around the state — some great, some not so great," Fire Marshal Jon Davine told a crowd gathered outside the station for its dedication. "And I think we saw what the previous station here was in Williamstown. I'll tell you, especially in Western Massachusetts, we have a really big problem with deteriorating firehouses throughout Western Mass. These buildings are collapsing around our firefighters.

 

"And, as the marshal, it's my job to advocate for the departments for more funding. We've been working with our state reps and local reps and the fire chiefs association, trying to come up with different funding streams, so that we can help these departments build new stations, do better, safer stations, so that they have the equipment and the building they deserve to do their job safely."

 

The chair of the Prudential Committee, which governs the Fire District, and the chief of the department both thanked Williamstown residents for the 2023 special district meeting vote that paved the way for the station that went into operation earlier this year.

 

"It's an honor and a privilege to join you today as we celebrate this grand opening of the new firehouse," Chief Jeffrey Dias said. "This facility is so much more than a building that houses fire trucks. It stands as a symbol of our community's commitment to safety, preparedness and public service. It's a place where our members will maintain our equipment. They will learn about our craft. They'll share meals and, yes, from time to time, they're going to share sorrow.

 

"This isn't a fire station. This is a firehouse. And people have heard me say this a million times already. And it houses the very best second family that one could imagine."

 

Dias was joined at the podium set up in the parking lot for the noon ceremony by Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi, state Rep. John Barrett III and the the Rev. William F. Cyr, who gave an invocation.