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Hoosac Valley HS student, Wesley, interned at Red Shirt Farm from February to August. He is pictured above harvesting produce.

High School Students Complete Grant-Funded Internships

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Katie (left) and Janaya (right) are Taconic High School Students who spent the summer interning at Bloom Creativity.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board has facilitated 27 youth in the completion of paid summer internships at 14 businesses throughout the Berkshire community.  
 
Internship Sites include Berkshire Arts Center, Berkshire Museum, Berkshire Pediatrics / CHP, Bloom Creativity, Clarksburg School Summer Camp, Hotel Downstreet, Emporium Antiques & Art Center, Historic Valley Campground at Windsor Lake, Kayla Civello Training LLC, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Moresi & Associates, Porches Inn, Red Shirt Farm and Williamstown Farmers Market. 
 
"All of the youth participants demonstrated tremendous dedication to their employment experiences this summer and exemplified what it means to have a strong work ethic," Heather Shogry-Williams, Youth Director at MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board said. "We are incredibly grateful to have these young adults as part of the program, and we extend our sincere thanks to their host employers for providing enriching work opportunities that will lay the foundation for their future career success." 
 
Katie and Janaya, interns at Bloom Creativity in Pittsfield, have dedicated their summer to enhancing the startup's social media presence. Collaboratively, they researched and proposed the integration of a social media post scheduler, which now plays a pivotal role in strategically planning the content and visuals they have crafted. 
 
Reflecting on their internship, Katie shared: "This has been an incredible experience for me to learn about social media marketing and content creation." Janaya, on the other hand, highlighted her acquisition of Microsoft Excel skills, acknowledging it as both a challenge and a personal achievement. 
 
The two interns are also developing time management skills, both independently and within a collective setting. 
 
Maizy Broderick Scarpa, the founder and facilitator of Bloom Creativity, commended Katie and Janaya for their initiative and independence. 
 
This program is made possible by donations provided by the First Congregational Church of Williamstown, A Better Community, MountainOne, Smith Bros.-McAndrews Insurance and Berk12. Many thanks to the MassHire Berkshire Career Center and its Youth Department for supporting this program and the youth it serves! 

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BRPC Committee Mulls Input on State Housing Plan

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's Regional Issues Committee brainstormed representation for the county in upcoming housing listening sessions.

"The administration is coming up with what they like to tout is their first housing plan that's been done for Massachusetts, and this is one of a number of various initiatives that they've done over the last several months," Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said.

"But it seems like they are intent upon doing something and taking comments from the different regions across the state and then turning that into policy so here is our chance to really speak up on that."

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and members of the Housing Advisory Council will host multiple listening sessions around the Commonwealth to hear input on the Healey-Driscoll administration's five-year strategic statewide housing plan.

One will be held at Berkshire Community College on May 15 at 2 p.m.

One of Matuszko's biggest concerns is the overall age of the housing stock in Berkshire County.

"And that the various rehab programs that are out there are inadequate and they are too cumbersome to manipulate through," he explained.

"And so I think that there needs to be a greater emphasis not on new housing development only but housing retention and how we can do that in a meaningful way. It's going to be pretty important."

Non-commission member Andrew Groff, Williamstown's community developer director, added that the bureaucracies need to coordinate themselves and "stop creating well-intended policies like the new energy code that actually work against all of this other stuff."

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