Pittsfield TDI Partnership Aids Downtown Businesses, Activates Spaces

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A total of $469,000 aided downtown businesses through MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative last year. 

On Tuesday, TDI Fellow Julie Copoulos outlined the three-year program's progress in bringing life to North Street and its goals for 2024.

"Recently someone said to me, 'Well, you know, mayor, we need to start getting some storefronts open,' and thanks to Julie's work, we have six or seven new downtown businesses," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

Since 2022, Copoulos has collaborated with over 20 stakeholders in the TDI district to foster equitable investment. Efforts are focused on housing, pedestrian infrastructure, public spaces, and small businesses.

"Tonight I want to highlight a few early wins for the council," she said.

Downtown Pittsfield became a TDI district a couple of years ago after the initiative was successfully applied to Tyler Street. TDI concentrates economic development activities, resources, and investments within designated neighborhood areas for a term of two to four years. The districts are mixed-use with a commercial component, compact, and defined by a walkable, dense physical environment.

In 2023, $469,000 in investments supported small businesses directly and indirectly through equity and local grants and an additional $125,000 will launch on Friday to support support existing businesses by providing direct grants and consulting and improving community connections.

The equity grants are administered by the state and the local grants are administered by partners in the area. Eight businesses secured funding including Marie's North Street Eatery, Brazzuca's Brazilian Market, and BB's Hot Spot at The Lantern.

A $65,000 TDI Creative Catalyst grant funded a series of "Let it Shine" murals, "The Lab" technology at the Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires, and Pittsfield Community Design Center.

Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires Honors Leaders, Volunteers

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
09:07AM / Sunday, May 24, 2026

Liana Toscanini presented the Founder's Choice Award to Smitty Pignatelli for his years of support as state representative. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires held its ninth annual nonprofit awards last week honoring the contributions of those who have helped the community in their own way.

 

The gathering at the Country Club in Pittsfield on Tuesday included the introduction of new nonprofit Executive Director Samantha Anderson, who steps in for retiring founder and director Liana Toscanini. State Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, John Barrett III and Leigh Davis attended the event.

 

Toscanini, who created NPC in 2016, was honored at the conclusion of the evening to mark her decade leading the organization. 

 

"Founders don't just lead organizations, they are the organization in the deepest sense," said NPC Board President Emily Schiavoni. "Their relationships, their instincts, their fingerprints are on everything, and when someone has poured a decade of herself into building something from the ground up, the act of stepping back is not a simple handoff, it's an act of extraordinary trust and courage that brings me to what Leanna actually built." 

 

NPC became something of a chamber of commerce for nonprofits under Toscanini's guidance, creating a hub of support for leadership and networking for the small and large nonprofits that fuel much of the activity within the Berkshires. 

 

She developed more than two dozen programs, including Get on Board, which helps connect community members with nonprofit boards, and a giving-back guide, volunteer fairs, and a resource directory.

 

Schiavoni described Toscanini as a great mentor who has had a big impact in strengthening local nonprofits.