image description — The BIC is pursuing funding for a 7,000-square-foot expansion in conjunction with an Amherst- optics company seeking to establish a tech lab here.

Berkshire Innovation Center Plans Expansion, New Manufacturing Tenant

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
11:55AM / Wednesday, November 05, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A total of $1 million in Pittsfield Economic Development Funds has been requested to build a tech hub at the Berkshire Innovation Center and help to move a company there.

The BIC is seeking $500,000 to expand and Myrias Optics Inc. is seeking $500,000 to establish a manufacturing laboratory at the BIC. Last week, the City Council referred both requests to the Community and Economic Development subcommittee, which will meet on Nov. 10.

The BIC plans to build a specialized nanoimprint lithography (NIL) lab to support the Massachusetts-based photonics company that is currently reliant on a space in Austria. The lab would be within a 7,000-square-foot "Advanced Manufacturing for Advanced Optics Tech Hub" expansion.

"The proposed expansion of the BIC facility is essential to alleviating current space limitations and ensuring the continued growth of programming that serves the local community. With more space, BIC will be able to accommodate larger student groups through dedicated classrooms that reduce congestion and improve accessibility," the project narrative reads.

"The expansion will also create more flexible environments for Pittsfield companies seeking training, collaboration opportunities, and research support. Importantly, this growth will preserve vital educational and meeting areas that would otherwise be repurposed into laboratory space, ensuring that Pittsfield residents continue to benefit from shared access to public innovation and learning spaces."

The BIC opened in the William Stanley Business Park in 2020 and is 23,500 square feet. In addition to the $500,000 in economic development funds requested, the BIC is seeking $7 million from the state.

Funds would be secured through a deferred-payment, forgivable 10-year promissory note and appropriate security. The applicant estimates that the hub could contribute between $113 million and $142 million to the state's gross product, and between $55 million and $69 million in labor income.

"The goal of the expansion is to create a world-class optics and photonics cluster at the BIC, positioning Pittsfield and Western Massachusetts as a national leader in developing and producing compact, high-performance optical technologies," the project narrative reads.

"Anchored by two rapidly growing companies — Myrias Optics and Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA) — the Tech Hub will provide shared infrastructure, business development support, and specialized workforce training. The Hub will accelerate innovation in advanced optical systems used in areas like telecommunications, aerospace, defense, medical technology, augmented/virtual reality, and data processing."

Myrias Optics was born out of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and this facility is expected to "dramatically" advance the company's commercialization goals. The manufacturing lab would be modeled after the Austria facility and house NIL tooling, process engineering, and metrology operations.

By 2028, the company plans to expand from 10 to 55 employees with an average annual salary between $112,000 $127,000, and the annual revenue growth from $1 million to $33 .7 million.

"As Myrias grows, the BIC will become an anchor for advanced optical manufacturing and commercialization in Western Massachusetts, laying the foundation for a sustainable innovation ecosystem driven by private sector growth," the project narrative reads.

The funds would be released in increments of $250,000 when a 10-year lease is signed and ten full-time jobs with $65,000 minimum salaries are documented, $150,000 six months after an additional ten full-time employees are documented, and $100,000 six months after an additional ten full-time employees are documented.

The BIC currently has an advanced optics lab in partnership with Electro Magnetic Applications Inc. and UMass Amherst. In 2019, Pittsfield gave EMA $140,000 in economic development funds towards the purchase of a space environment testing chamber and a tax agreement that will curb the taxes EMA pays to the city from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2026. The agreement is valued at approximately $65,774.

Tags: BIC, economic development, GE fund,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Greylock Youth SummerFest

Come join in on the wealth building fun! August 3-8. Click for event details. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

View Full Story