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Jennifer Segala, holding a proclamation from the mayor, and the team at Steepleview Realty celebrating 25 years in business.
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Mayor Jennifer Macksey speaks at last Thursday's open house celebration for Steepleview Realty and Berkshire Elder Law at the Berkshire Plaza.
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The mayor with Steepleview broker-owners Jennifer Segala and Deb Trzcinski.
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Steepleview Realty, Berkshire Elder Law Mark 25 Years

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Attorney James Sisto speaks after receiving a proclamation on Berkshire Elder Law's 25th anniversary from Mayor Jennifer Macksey. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two local businesses have celebrated their 25th anniversaries — and their founders' quarter-century of friendship.
 
Jennifer Segala of Steepleview Realty and attorney James Sisto of Berkshire Elder Law marked their anniversaries last week with an open house and music at the Berkshire Plaza on Main Street, where both have offices. 
 
"Twenty-five years ago this nerdy attorney with a full head of hair walks into my office and says, 'I just opened a new practice we're going to be best friends,'" Segala joked. "And 25 years later, we are."
 
Each was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Jennifer Macksey recognizing their years in business and service to their clients.
 
Steepleview was established in 1998 with its first and main office in Adams, later opening offices in North Adams and Pittsfield. 
 
"Steepleview Realty has provided high quality, professional sales and support to the residents of North Adams for so many years, investing countless hours ensuring that their clients are making sound investments," said Macksey.
 
The firm has brokered more than $600 million in real estate sales in Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and the state of Florida. Segala, a graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, has been in the real estate business for more than three decades and operates two real estate schools.
 
She was joined as broker-owner in 2015 by Deb Trzcinski, who has been with Steepleview since it opened. 
 
"If you would have asked me 25 years ago, this young lady, with I guess a lot of moxie, who decided to go out on her own, if I would be here today, I would never have guessed in a million years," Segala said. "I have a powerful team of strong women that are dedicated to the business. And I'm amazed, I'm amazed that we've sold over $600 million over the 25 years ... I guess we're up to McDonald's standards."
 
Segala said she and her team believe in North Adams and that Scarafoni & Associates has been a "wonderful partner ... making sure we always had a beautiful presence downtown." Steepleview had been located at 53 Main before moving to 33 Main, both owned by Scarafoni. 
 
Sisto, an elder law and real estate attorney, came to the Berkshires in 1990 after working in the World Trade Center as a tax consultant. 
 
"He promised he would only practice in the areas he enjoyed and enhance the quality of life for all of us in Berkshire County," said Macksey, who pointed to his founding membership in the National Alliance of Attorneys for Alzheimer's Training, his speaking engagements explaining the many aspects of elder law and financial planning, and his informative reports.
 
"He provides free newsletters to help others make sound decisions, and his work and responsiveness to the city of North Adams is remarkable," she said. 
 
Sisto said the cost of buying a home in New York City led to him to the "country" as his then wife was from the Berkshires.
 
"I love it, I love the fact that it's not congested and the people are so nice," he said. "It has been my honor to serve the people of North Adams with real estate and estate planning, especially my elder clients, that's a passion of mine. 
 
"Berkshire County has welcomed me with open arms. I consider myself a resident now."
 
Macksey described both as good friends, telling how Segala had helped her through the difficulties in buying her house on Hospital Avenue — which suffered squirrel damage — and how Sisto had arrived at the closing for the seller and gave her — a squirrel. 
 
"We've been good friends and we survived it. So if anybody has any squirrels, you can send them to Jim Sisto," she said to laughter.
 
As dozens of friends, colleagues and clients mingled in the Steepleview offices, Segala was already thinking about the next 25 years. 
 
"We'll be here for a while longer," she laughed. "We'll be selling everybody's great-grandchildren's houses."
 
Correction: Jennifer Segala's name was originally given incorrectly in this article. iBerkshires regrets the error. 

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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