PCTV: Healthy Eating Matters

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) has partnered with Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start and the BHS Berkshire North WIC program to produce a community service television episode of Healthy Eating Matters. 
 
Healthy Eating Matters harnesses the services of Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start, a pediatric and family nutrition program, with Berkshire North WIC, and Pittsfield Community Television to meet the needs of mothers and infants.  Funded by a grant from Health New England, the Healthy Eating Matters show presents two segments designed to assist WIC families as they shop and prepare meals with WIC-eligible foods. 
 
In the shopping segment, the WIC community coordinator accompanies a current WIC client through the supermarket highlighting healthy foods and how to shop using the Massachusetts WIC app on a smartphone.  In the cooking session, a registered dietitian from Operation Better Start hosts the WIC staff and client as they prepare several quick and healthy breakfast foods using WIC-eligible foods. 
 
PCTV provided their kitchen studio, professional television equipment and expert staff members for pre-production, recording and post-production.  The Healthy Eating Matters show will be broadcast on PCTV and available on demand. Healthy Eating Matters will be posted on the Berkshire Health System's Operation Better Start and WIC websites.

Tags: BHS,   BMC,   PCTV,   

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BCC Sees $1M in Federal Funds for Trades Academy

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal secured $995,000 to begin design and construction of the academy. The congressman had earlier attended the Norman Rockwell Museum business breakfast, which celebrated Laurie Norton Moffatt's 49 years leading the institution.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College was awarded nearly $1 million in federal funds to support a Trades Academy. 

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal visited the college to highlight the $995,000 he secured through congressionally directed spending. Executive Director of Workforce and Community Education Linda Clairmont said BCC can be a destination for adults who want to learn a skilled trade. 

"I want to join up with the amazing work that Taconic and McCann (vocational high schools) are doing to prepare people for these really specific skills, helping people become confident professionals with a direct path to high-wage, high-demand jobs," she explained. 

"And we're also addressing the labor shortage that exists in this county, around the state, and around the country, in the skilled trades." 

The federal funding will support a feasibility study of an existing vacant building on campus, as well as the evaluation and abatement of any hazardous materials at the location, because it was once a power plant. 

BCC will dip its toe into the skilled trades with its first HVAC training program, for which it received $1.2 million from the state in support. The $995,000 in federal funds will go toward creating the academy in a building located on the main campus, and the HVAC heat pump training program will be funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. 

The $1 million in federal monies will get the college to construction documents, maybe fund some construction, and help identify the necessary equipment and other learning space needs for a skilled trade, Clairmont reported. 

The funding is part of more than $14 million in congressionally directed spending secured by the congressman to support economic development, workforce training, and community infrastructure across the Berkshires.

Neal said there are about 6.5 million jobs in the United States that go unanswered every day.

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