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Big Announcement For BIC Scheduled For Friday Morning

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Federal and state officials are expected to announce funding for the Berkshire Innovation Center on Friday.
 
Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash, Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal are planning to join local officials at 10:30 a.m. Friday for the announcement.
 
The Massachusetts Life Science Center reportedly approved additional funding for the long-awaited project last month. The center is eyed to be a research and development facility with state of the art technology. The concept is to help local businesses expand into new markets through the testing and development with equipment it may not otherwise be able to afford on their.
 
The project has quite a long history. It started years ago with a $6.5 million state grant to build an incubator. However, in 2013, a feasibility study changed the concept. Instead of being aimed for startup business, the innovation center became focused on supporting small existing applied manufacturing businesses. It also brought in educational organizations to address workforce challenges by allowing the students to train on the equipment, creating a pipeline of qualified candidates to work with those companies.
 
As time went on, the costs increased. The Life Science Center later upped its commitment to $9.7 million for both construction and equipment. The city and the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority pitched in to provide the "soft costs" of getting the new non-profit organized.
 
When the project went to bid in 2015, however, the bids came in too high. BIC officials scaled back its design but couldn't make it work. And the project stalled with what was an estimated $3 million financial gap.
 
BIC officials then cut its equipment budget, which ultimately will just cover increases in construction from 2015 until now. The City Council agreed to contribute another $1 million toward the construction. And the operational costs to keep the non-profit running was provided through another grant from the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority to the tune of $300,000.
 
The BIC had also reached an agreement to switch the owner of the project from the city to the organization, a move eyed to save construction costs by avoiding the public procurement process.
 
Those additional commitments came with a verbal agreement from the state to cover the remaining construction costs. The state kept its word and a few weeks ago local officials were told the commitments had been made formally. Since then, it has been a matter of crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. 
 
It is not clear exactly how much the state opted to increase the earmark by, but it is expected that the total grant will be more than $11 million. The project is expected to break ground this spring.
 
The project has been one of the city's top priority for years. Officials see the project as a key piece to the redevelopment of the William Stanley Business Park. The Berkshire Innovation Center will be located on the park, near East and Woodlawn streets.

Tags: BIC,   state officials,   

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Dalton Committee Seeks Funding for Invasive Species

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Open Space and Recreation Committee discussed addressing the invasive species at the Pines trailhead during its meeting last week. 
 
There will possibly be a money article on the annual town warrant requesting voters allocate $20,000  from free cash so that the committee can apply for a Community Forest Stewardship program grant. The Select Board placed it on the annual town meeting warrant on Monday. 
 
During a walkthrough of the Pines, Jess Toro, co-owner of Native Habitat Restoration, urged the committee to apply for the program.
 
According to Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson, although the grant would be reimbursed, the town needs to allocate the amount the committee is requesting in order to apply. 
 
If approved, the first phase would be to hire a consultant and focus on cutting and painting large invasives and vines in the 17 acres, staying out of any wetlands and wetland buffers. 
 
The committee has been thinking about how to address invasive species at the Pines since the start of the project and this year will be taking its first step into the long process of invasive species management. 
 
However, finding a professional to help with invasive species has been difficult due to the limited number of experts in the field, said the committee.
 
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