Opportunities, Challenges Ahead for Berkshire County
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What the community has to do is market the county's strengths and support investment in its assets, David Rooney told the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday at its monthly "Good News Business Salute Breakfast."
"I've been marketing the county over the last 6 or 8 years, though you probably didn't know it," said Rooney, most recently director of regional development for the New York Capital District's Center for Economic Growth.
The Berkshire's cultural and recreational facilities had been major components in the marketing for New York state's "Tech Valley" just over the border that's home to a wide range of innovative and high-tech companies.
Along that border, it's only 45 minutes east to Tanglewood and 45 minutes north to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with a wide range opportunities in between, Rooney reminded his audience. "There aren't many places in the world where you can make that claim."
"We share a media market [with the Capital District] and we share history with them and ... we share opportunity with them," he said of his "old state." "We need to build on that collaboration."
Berkshire County has to look beyond borders to take a regional approach to attract and retain businesses. Not just to the technology hub to the west, but east to the Pioneer Valley, south to Connecticut and north to Southern Vermont.
It also has to continue building upon its innovative history to create opportunities for its residents, he said.
It was a conversation with a fellow marketing developer from Raleigh-Durham, N.C., that led to an anatomical description of the region's structural assets.
"We have great bones," said Rooney. "What I mean by that is Berkshire County has unbelievable facilities, unbelievable buildings, unbelievable building environments.
"The structure here is fascinating. This is not like Disney World. These are real buildings that serve real purposes for business, for culture, for education and for residences."
Challenges Ahead
The future isn't without challenges, he said, citing the high cost of energy as a problem that has to be solved at the local and state level. He pointed to his predecessor Tyler Fairbank's new EOS Ventures, a wind-power company, as an example of pursuing alternative energy sources.
"I'm optimistic when I see Mayor [John] Barrett lighting up the Hoosic River. OK. Sure, Why not. It's different." |
"Companies won't come if they can't find the trained work force," he said.
He pointed to the efforts to create a science center at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts — which was recently dismissed as pork in a Boston Globe article — and new technical programs at Berkshire Community College as essential to a highly trained, quality work force.
"We need to make those investments," said Rooney, at not only the higher-education level but at grade school as well, because businesses looking to relocate are considering those assets.
"They're looking to make a long-term investment and they have long-term expectations that you'll be meeting those needs," he said. "So if we think that when companies look at Berkshire County they aren't doing due diligence, reading our papers and looking at our test scores, we're fooling ourselves."
He was optimistic about the area's ability to be innovative in finding solutions and collaborating across borders and organizations.
The county's civic, educational and business leaders have to take risks and "lead by example," said Rooney.
"I'm optimistic when I see Mayor [John] Barrett lighting up the Hoosic River. OK. Sure, Why not. It's different," he said. "I'm optimistic when I see a windmill on Jiminy Peak ... in my view, it's very dynamic and very beautiful in its simplicity and beautiful in its sense of opportunity."
The chamber recognized the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, Carr Hardware & Supply, Country Club of Pittsfield and Special Olympics of Western Massachusetts and gave a special community recognition for the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative.
