Berkshire Workforce Board Presents FY25 Workforce Impact Awards

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — MassHire's Berkshire Workforce Board recapped successes of FY25 and honored workforce professionals

The Board of Directors of the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board (BWB) highlighted its FY25 successes and presented their FY25 Annual Workforce Awards on June 5. 

The BWB recognized the following individuals for their tireless commitment toward enhancing the region's skilled workforce:

• Community Health Programs, Inc./CHP Berkshires – Employer of the Year -  Celebrating 50 years of serving Berkshire County residents, CHP Berkshires provides medical, dental and nutrition services throughout the region and is essential in supporting the region's health. CHP has been actively engaged in career readiness programs, and is a new partner in MassHire's Healthcare Hubs grant, CHP embraced the pay-to-train model and is aiming to onboard 15 certified medical assistant through this three-year training grant.
• Heather Boyko & Chris D'Aniello – Educators of the Year. Heather has transformed Monument's internship model to allow all seniors to participate and has worked to engage a wide array of businesses in South County in providing these vital work-based-learning experiences. She has also instituted a portfolio project that allows students to document and showcase all of the knowledge and skills gained through their internship – and she does all of this while dually serving as a Math teacher. Chris has served as the driving force to enhance Monument's Automotive Technology CTE Pathway and has always been at the table for many years working to elevate career readiness and career-technical skill development as a priority for all students.
• McCann Technical & Taconic High School – Workforce Professionals of the Year.  McCann & Taconic implemented the first Career Technical Initiative (CTI) training grant for adults to address the persistent demand for skilled labor in Berkshire County.  Partnering with MassHire, CTI programs develop talent pipelines to meet the skill needs of businesses in high-demand occupations. Partnering with MassHire, McCann & Taconic implemented adult training in advanced manufacturing, welding, and auto technician.

In FY25, the BWB provided more than 40 career awareness, exploration and immersion experiences to 2,800 youth in grades 6-12.  Career Teams continued in all 11 school districts, two additional Innovation Pathways were established, and 350 internships were hosted in the region's critical industry sectors. 

Together with its regional partners and the MassHire Berkshire Career Center, BWB worked with 800 Berkshire County businesses in supporting their workforce needs, ignited the CTI initiative, provided 14 on-the-job training opportunities for the manufacturing sector, and implemented fifteen healthcare training programs for 142 individuals embarking on a career in the Healthcare sector. Additional programs, services and accomplishments can be found at www.masshireberkshire.com.   

Mayor Marchetti reappointed the following individuals to the Board & Youth Council for 2-year terms:

• Deni Evans, Dept. of Transitional Assistance
• Paul Gage, Adult Learning Center
• Tammy Gage, Pittsfield Public Schools
• Doug McNally, Frost Hollow Associates
• David Moresi, Moresi & Associates
• Brian Morrison, Central Berkshire Labor Council
• Beth Petropulos, MountainOne
• Eva Sheridan, CHP Berkshire

Youth Council

• Bryan House, 18 Degrees
• Kathy Yon, Pittsfield Public Schools liaison
• Doug McNally, Frost Hollow Associates
• Rebecca Lilley, Bliss Crumbs and Coffee

Toys for Tots Bringing Presents to Thousands of Kids This Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:21PM / Friday, December 05, 2025

Volunteers organize toys by age and gender in the House of Corrections storage facility. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Plenty of toys are on their way to children this holiday season thanks to Toys for Tots.

Christopher Keegan has coordinated the local toy drive for the Berkshire Chapter of the Marine Corps Reserve since 2015 and said he has seen the need rise every year, last year helping more than 6,000 kids.

"This is 11 years I've been doing it, and the need has gone up every year. It's gone up every year, and I anticipate it going up even more this year," Keegan said.

On Thursday, the Berkshire County House of Corrections storage facility was overflowing with toys making it the county's very own Santa's workshop. 

Keegan said Berkshire County always shows up with toys or donations. 

"This county is outstanding when it comes to charity. They rally around stuff. They're very giving, they're very generous, and they've been tremendous in this effort, the toys for pride effort, since I've been doing it, our goal is to honor every request, and we've always reached that goal," he said.

Keegan's team is about 20 to 25 volunteers who sort out toys based on age and gender. This week, the crew started collecting from the 230 or so boxes set out around the county on Oct. 1.

"The two age groups that are probably more difficult — there's a newborn to 2s, boys and girls, and 11 to 14, boys and girls. Those are the two challenging ages where we need to focus our attention on a little bit more," he said.

Toys For Tots has about 30 participating schools and agencies that sign up families and individuals who need help putting gifts under the tree. Keegan takes requests right up until the last minute on Christmas.

"We can go out shopping for Christmas. I had sent my daughter out Christmas Eve morning. Hey, we need X amount of toys and stuff, but the requests are still rolling in from individuals, and I don't say no, we'll make it work however we can," he said.

Community members help to raise money or bring in unopened and unused toys. Capeless Elementary student Thomas St. John recently raised $1,000 selling hot chocolate and used the money to buy toys for the drive.

"It's amazing how much it's grown and how broad it is, how many people who were involved," Keegan said.

On Saturday, Live 95.9 personalities Bryan Slater and Marjo Catalano of "Slater and Marjo in the Morning" will host a Toys for Tots challenge at The Hot Dog Ranch and Proprietor's Lodge. Keegan said they have been very supportive of the drive and that they were able to collect more than 3,000 toys for the drive last year.

Volunteer Debbie Melle has been volunteering with Toys for Tots in the county for about five years and said people really showed up to give this year.

"I absolutely love it. It's what we always say. It's organized chaos, but it's rewarding. And what I actually this year, I'm so surprised, because the amount that the community has given us, and you can see that when you see these pictures, that you've taken, this is probably the most toys we've ever gotten," she said. "So I don't know if people just feel like this is a time to give and they're just going above and beyond, but I'm blown away. This year we can barely walk down the aisles for how much, how many toys are here. It's wonderful."