BERP Works to Boost Women and Minority-Owned Business Enterprise Certifications

08:00AM / Saturday, July 09, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass—The Berkshire Economic Recovery Project announced the launch of its women- and minority-owned business enterprise (W/MBE) module in an effort to Boost Women and Minority-Owned Business Enterprise Certifications.

This training module, available in both English and Spanish, provides a high-level overview of what it means to be a certified woman and/or minority-owned business enterprise, and how such a certification can help support the small businesses here in the Berkshires.

In addition to the short overview training modules, interested businesses will also find a direct link to schedule a free intake consultation with the Economic Development team at 1Berkshire.

These consultations will allow 1Berkshire to make direct referrals to technical assistance support to help guide interested women- and minority-owned businesses through the certification process.

The Berkshire Economic Recovery Project is a program of 1Berkshire and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, with funding from the United States Economic Development Administration.

Businesses and business owners are invited to visit the W/MBE module page for more information and to view the recordings.

Tags: 1Berkshire, BRPC,

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Lanesborough ZBA Member Mark Siegars Resigns

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
04:44PM / Tuesday, March 10, 2026

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Heated Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, which have already led to two lawsuits against the town, have now resulted in the resignation of a board member.

The board's former chair, Mark Siegars, resigned from his position on Monday, after being removed as chair by the Select Board for his conduct a month prior, The Berkshire Eagle reported.

iBerkshires has reached out to the town administrator for confirmation.

Emotions have run high following contentious ZBA meetings held over the past several months, culminating in both businesses involved filing lawsuits against the town. More information here.

The rift started to develop in January during a meeting to determine whether the Lanesborough Local Country Store's sign on its vintage pickup truck violated town bylaws. The board ultimately voted to uphold the building inspector's citation.

The meeting resulted in two complaints to the town, following the nearly 40-minute discussion that had short bursts of yelling in between.

The meeting was not recorded by the board or by LCATV and the town requested iBerkshires share its recording to provide the Select Board additional context surrounding the few complaints.

It is not iBerkshires.com's policy to share unpublished recordings or meeting notes. However, iBerkshires.com did write an article outlining the argument.

According to The Eagle, all Zoning Board of Appeals meetings will now be recorded to ensure transparency.

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