Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Benchmarks data team recently released a State of the County Update for 2023. 
 
This brief report builds on the Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County Report published in May 2022 and highlights notable changes in regional indicators over the past year. The berkshirebenchmarks.org website has also been updated to reflect the most current available data. 
 
The purpose of the Benchmarks initiative and report is to highlight the region's successes and challenges.
 
The 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County report provided a comprehensive overview of our region's performance across eight sectors: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Social Environment, and Transportation.  
 
In the future, the Berkshire Benchmarks team will continue to monitor these and other indicators to aid with the regional understanding of changes in these sectors and whether the work happening throughout the region is having the intended impact. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks is a collaborative initiative managed through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC). Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks aims to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region's access to quality data and analysis. 

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Governor Healey Announces $2M Boost for Pittsfield Tech Hub

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Governor Maura Healey visited the Berkshire Innovation Center on Wednesday to see where millions in state funding will help build a tech hub for advanced optics. 

On the same day, her administration announced a $2 million award to the BIC for its upcoming Advanced Manufacturing for Advanced Optics Lab.  This is on top of $5 million from the MA Tech Hub designation and a total of $1 million from the city’s economic development funds

"This is so inspiring to be at this site to look out at what was and to see how it's coming back to life in a new and even better form," Healey said, looking over at the former "moonscape" surface of Site 9 that is now greened over, a $10 million effort. 

"…One thing that we've leaned into as an administration is innovation. It's been core to who we are." 

An 8,000-square-foot addition is planned for the BIC to welcome a new company, Myrias Optics Inc. Myrias, a meta-optics producer, has a partnership with BIC tenant Electro Magnetic Applications for testing and simulation services, and the two companies will be able to work side by side once the expansion is complete. 

Project funding has been closed with this award, and shovels will be in the ground in the fall. Myrias will bring up to 55 employees to Pittsfield with an average salary of $110,000.

Patrick Larkin, founder and director of the Innovation Institute, the economic development division of the MassTech Collaborative, said this was only possible through the Tech Hub program that has "really catalyzed communities."

"This region has captured advanced optics. It’s where they want to build an economy," he reported. 

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