Vibe North Street Storefront Recruitment Grant

Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass — The Berkshire Black Economic Council (BBEC) will lead the "Vibe North Street" storefront recruitment grant program in collaboration with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. (DPI).
 
The grant, which is funded by Mass Development's Transformative Development Initiative (TDI), will offer businesses the opportunity to receive TDI Local funds in amounts between $7,500 and $25,000 to help cover the costs of relocating to currently vacant storefronts in the North Street district.
 
On March 15, businesses interested in moving to the North Street district can apply for the grant, which will be awarded to businesses that demonstrate the passion and capability to revitalize downtown Pittsfield.
 
"We're excited to launch the Vibe North Street grant program in collaboration with DPI," said A.J. Enchill, Executive Director of BBEC. "Covid has forced many businesses in our downtown to close. We believe that by recruiting new businesses to North Street, we can create a vibrant downtown with diverse businesses that bring a new vibe to Pittsfield."
 
Vibe North Street is part of a broader effort to fit out vacant storefronts with the proper equipment, fixtures, and furniture so storefronts are "move-in-ready." With the program's focus on attracting new businesses to the North Street district, BBEC and DPI are working to inspire new seasonal activities in order to work toward a downtown with businesses that complement one another throughout the year.
 
For more info on the Vibe North Street storefront recruitment grant program, visit:
For more info about TDI Local visit: https://www.massdevelopment.com/what-we-offer/key-

Tags: downtown,   grants,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Community Development OKs Airport Project, Cannabis Amendment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board has supported plans for a new hangar at the airport and a change to the cannabis ordinance.

Lyon Aviation, located in the Pittsfield Municipal Airport, plans to remove an existing "T" style hangar and replace it with a new, 22,000-square-foot hangar.  The existing one is said to be small and in poor condition while the new build will accommodate a variety of plane sizes including a larger passenger jet.

"There's no traffic impacts, there's no utilities to speak of," Robert Fournier of SK Design Group explained.

"I'll say that we did review this at length with the airport commission in the city council and this is the way we were instructed to proceed was filing this site plan review and special permit application."

The application states that the need for additional hangar space is "well documented" by Lyon, Airport Manager Daniel Shearer, and the airport's 2020 master plan. The plan predicts that 15 additional hangar spaces will be needed by 2039 and this project can accommodate up to 10 smaller planes or a single large aircraft.

Lyon Aviation was founded in 1982 as a fix-based operator that provided fuel, maintenance, hangar services, charter, and flight instruction.

This is not the only project at the Tamarack Road airport, as the City Council recently approved a $300,000 borrowing for the construction of a new taxi lane. This will cover the costs of an engineering phase and will be reduced by federal and state grant monies that have been awarded to the airport.

The local share required is $15,000, with 95 percent covered by the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Department of Transportation's Aeronautics division.

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories