Shakespeare & Company adds Goodwin and Hotchkiss to Marketing + Press team

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Press Director Elizabeth Aspenlieder and Marketing Director Mike Clary welcome Jeremy D. Goodwin and Margit Hotchkiss to the communications and marketing team at Shakespeare & Company. Goodwin is the new Press and Marketing Associate and Hotchkiss is Director of Group Sales and Associate Marketing Director. Goodwin brings media experience to the company, having worked most recently as News Editor for the Berkshire Record where he was originally hired as a reporter/photographer in June 2005. Previously he was a reporter for Community Newspaper Company (then owned by Herald Media) with the Swampscott Reporter, Marblehead Reporter and North Andover Citizen. “Jeremy is a great addition to our staff,” said Mike Clary, Director of Marketing. “He brings valuable real world experience and creative talents to us and will be a real asset to bringing the company’s vision to life. We’ve got big plans in the wings, and are happy to make Jeremy part of them.” Goodwin edited several chapters of “The Phish Companion: A Guide to the Band and its Music” (Backbeat Books), and is currently revising his first novel, “Sunburn and Frostbite: How to Chase the Elephant.” His writings on music and culture have appeared in various publications online and in print. He also hosts a weekly music program on WBCR-LP in Great Barrington. Goodwin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Communication from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He was born in Boston and grew up in Swampscott, Mass. “It has been such a pleasure getting to know this community as a reporter and news editor,” Goodwin said, “but now it's exciting to join one of the great arts organizations that help make the culture here so rich.” Hotchkiss is on board to help set company marketing and message direction, and directs all aspects of promoting, recruiting and organizing large groups to attend theatre events. She recently booked Shakespeare & Company’s spring tour in cities throughout the northeast and manages property rentals on the 30-acre Lenox campus. She is also a key member of the advertising sales team. Most recently Hotchkiss was a marketing consultant to Berkshire Theatre Festival, and has served a similar role for Colonial Theatre, Berkshire Museum and other businesses in the region. Before that, she was Marketing Director of Berkshire Museum for four years. “Margit is already making a visible difference in how we can more effectively get our name and reputation to more audiences farther a field,” Clary said. “She brings fantastic professional strengths to us, but more than that, she has an energy and personality that people respond to. You'll hear more people talking about Shakespeare & Company in the coming months, because Margit is spreading the word.” Hotchkiss has prized community involvement during her 11 years residing in the Berkshires. She serves on the Conservation Commission of the town of Dalton, the Group Sales Committee for the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, and has been an appointed member of the Tourism Commission of the City of Pittsfield. She has been a volunteer at numerous non-profit organizations and public service organizations including the American Cancer Society, Interlaken School of Art, Tanglewood, Chesterwood, and Craneville School. Before relocating to the Berkshires, she spent 15 years in the metro Wash. DC area, where she was Marketing Director for the regional real estate development division of Weyerhaeuser. While there she received several marketing achievement awards as well as a citation from the former Governor Donald Schaefer for her contribution to the public service campaign “Tree-Mendous Maryland.” She is a graduate of University of Maryland, with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising. She grew up in Ridgefield, Conn. and graduated from Ridgefield High School. She is the daughter of the late Paul Hotchkiss and Anita Juve Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss is also an award-winning pastel artist. She has appeared in various regional art exhibits, and her work can currently be viewed in the lobby of the offices of Simons Smith & Gerrard in downtown Pittsfield. She lives in Dalton with her three daughters.
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Pittsfield Signs Negotiating Rights Agreement With Suns Baseball Team

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Suns will call Wahconah Park home again. 

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission accepted a negotiating rights agreement between the city and longtime summer collegiate baseball team, the Pittsfield Suns. It solidifies that the two will work together when the historic ballpark is renovated. 

It remains in effect until the end of 2027, or when a license or lease agreement is signed. Terms will be automatically extended to the end of 2028 if it appears the facility won't be complete by then. 

"It certainly looks like it lays out kind of both what the Suns and Pittsfield would like to see over the next year or so during this construction plan, to be able to work together and work exclusively with each other in this time," Commissioner Anthony DeMartino said. 

Owner Jeff Goldklang, joining virtually, said he shared those thoughts, and the team looks forward to starting negotiations. After this approval, it will need a signature from Mayor Peter Marchetti and the baseball team. 

The negotiating rights agreement recognizes the long-standing relationship between Pittsfield and the team dating back to 2012, and the Suns' ownership group's historical ties to Wahconah Park and the city dating to the 1980s. The team skipped the 2024 and 2025 seasons after the historic grandstand was deemed unsafe in 2022.  

The Suns were granted the exclusive right to negotiate in good faith with the city for a license or lease agreement where the Suns will be the primary tenant. During the terms of the agreement, the city can't negotiate or enter into an agreement with another party for leniency, licensing, or operation of Wahconah Park for professional or collegiate summer baseball. 

"The Parties acknowledge the historic and cultural importance of Wahconah park to the residents of Berkshire County and share a mutual goal of providing community access, engagement, and programming on a broad and inclusive scale," it reads. 

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