Biz Briefs: Fall Foliage Parade Gets $3,000 Boost From MountainOne

Parade help: Kelli Kozak, assistant vice president and community engagement officer for MountainOne, gave Northern Berkshire Fall Foliage Parade director Danielle Thomas of 1Berkshire a check for $3,000 in support of the annual parade. The presentation was made at a 1Berkshire and North Adams Chamber of Commerce event at Community Health Programs in North Adams.

The Fall Foliage Parade is in its 62nd year in 2017. This year the theme is "Magic in the Berkshires," inspired by everything magical going on in the Berkshires from Harry Potter on Mount Greylock to Fairies in Adams, and so much more. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1.

 

Good job: Berkshire-based advertising agency Winstanley Partners was honored this month with two ADDY Awards from the American Advertising Federation (AAF), as part of the Albany AdClub's regional competition. The agency took home a silver ADDY for its annual holiday mailer, which this year urged recipients to "Make America Grate Again" and included a tree-shaped cheese grater. A new logo design for Dadanco, a leading manufacturer in the HVAC industry based in Westfield, Mass., also earned a silver ADDY – both projects were completed in 2016.

Awards were presented at Proctors GE Theatre in Schenectady, N.Y. All gold and silver-winning entries are eligible to move on to the national level of competition, sponsored by the AAF. Winstanley Partners, a full-service marketing firm best known for its award-winning work in consumer sporting goods, technology, and creative B2B solutions, celebrated its 30th year in business in the Berkshires in 2016.

While often critical of the bad behavior that plagued much of Wall Street leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, Cohan says he is "alarmed by the vitriol directed at the bankers, traders, and executives who keep the wheels of our economy turning." As an ex-banker, he is considered an expert on the sector's inner workings, and has used this insight to write his books. According to Cohan, "Why Wall Street Matters" "is a timely and trenchant reminder of the good these institutions do…and the dire consequences for us all if the essential role they play in making our lives better is carelessly curtailed."

Cohan is a former senior Wall Street mergers and acquisitions investment banker, working for 17 years at Lazard Freres & Co., Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase. He is a New York Times bestselling author of three non-fiction books about Wall Street, "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World," "House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street" and "The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co." He is currently a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and has a weekly opinion column for BloombergView. He also writes for The Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Atlantic, ArtNews, The Irish Times, The Washington Post and The New York Times Magazine.

Cohan is a graduate of Duke University, Columbia University School of Journalism and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. This lecture is sponsored by the Center for Development Economics and the Department of Economics.

DiLego Jewelry to Close After Nearly 100 Years in Business

By Daniel MatziBerkshires correspondent
05:28AM / Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Sisters Pamela Costine, left, and Cynthia Lamore have been operating the store since their aunts retired in 1987. Both started working in the business as teens.  Lamore's decided it's time to retire. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — DiLego Jewelery Store, the family-owned business that has been a staple of North Adams for nearly a century, will be closing this summer. 

 

The closure was announced on the store's Facebook page late Sunday night, where it immediately drew comments of remembrance and well-wishing.

 

Cindy Lamore, whose great uncle Frank DiLego opened the store on Main Street in the late 1930s, said the shop will cease operations following her retirement, slated for June 30. A 20 percent off Mother's Day sale will begin immediately, with increasing discounts leading up to the closing date.

 

It took Lamore "a couple of years" to reach the decision to close. Witnessing the passing of lifelong friends or their struggles with debilitating illness prompted her to reconsider her priorities, especially considering the extensive time devoted to running a small business. 

 

"You really question what you're waiting for," she reflected.

 

While recognizing that changing consumer habits have led to a decrease in jewelry and watch sales in recent years, Lamore stressed that her decision to close was a personal one. She and her business partner and sister, Pamela Costine, wanted "to do it on our terms," she said.

 

Comments on Facebook praised the store's customer service, and friends, family, and customers alike reminisced about buying jewelry for special occasions, stopping in for watch repairs, and the perennial rite of childhood for many: getting ears pierced.