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Small Business Revolution Spending 2 Days in North Adams

City Councilor Keith Bona's welcome to the Small Business Revolution on a window of Berkshire Emporium.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Small Business Revolution rolled into the city Thursday — and the weather, of course, didn't cooperate. Fog covered the city's mountain views and rain dissuaded any walking tours.

Well, it is the Berkshires.  

Friday is expected to be cooler but sunny and the SBR team will be visiting as many places as possible beginning early in the morning.

The Small Business Revolution is a movement spearheaded by Minnesota-based Deluxe Corp. to highlight the challenges and opportunities of small towns and local businesses across the nation. For the second year, it's picking one small town to highlight. The smallest city in the Bay State made the semifinals along with seven other communities for a visit by the team and Amanda Brinkman, Deluxe's ‎chief brand and communications officer.

If it makes it to the top, it's in line for a $500,000 boost to the downtown area.

"Small businesses are what make small towns great and unique and we're just so proud to be representing and advancing that conversation in the nation," Brinkman said on Thursday night at a get-together at Bright Ideas Brewing.

Bright Ideas — one of the newest ventures to light up the downtown — was homebase Thursday for the SBR team, including a meetup with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President Jamie Birge, owners of Greylock Works, representatives from the proposed model railroad museum and other business and community leaders. After lunch, City Council President Benjamin Lamb (who helped spearhead the effort) and others were filmed in interviews that will be shown if the city makes it to the next round.

Members of the production team were able to get out later to visit a number of sites, including the Berkshire Emporium on Main Street. The city's events coordinator Suzy Helme pulled Thursday's event together to ensure business owners had a chance to speak with team.

Brinkman, who co-hosted the eight-part Small Business Revolution series last summer that featured Wabash, Ind., arrived later in the day and will be in the city until Friday afternoon. The production crew will be here until Saturday.

"We know deep in our hearts that something special is going on here because if you talk to each person, you find a story that links us all together," said Ricco Fruscio, the North Adams Chamber of Commerce's program coordinator, in introducing Brinkman at Thursday evening's gathering. "There's a weaving of love of the area and a story of how you ended up here. ...  I think you should share that with Amanda and I think they're finding that out as they spend more time here."

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.