PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Marijuana cultivators Berkshire Kind plan to build a cultivation facility at the William Stanley Business Park.
After a brief executive session Tuesday, the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority voted to support Berkshire Kind's intent to purchase land in the business park and erect a 20,000 square foot grow facility.
"We are excited to come in and work with the community and we believe that it is an important time for the industry," Philip Silverman, who owns the company with his brother Jeremy. "Doing things the right way is what will create a good base for this industry."
Philip, who currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and has a background in finance and investment, said they reached out to PEDA and have been in communication since May. He said the area, community, and the board drew them to the area.
"The community has been welcoming and has been a great place to do this," he said.
The proposed Tier 2 facility would be erected on Site 4, which is across the street from the future Berkshire Innovation Center. Jeremy Silverman, who lives in Albany, N.Y.'s Capitol District but plans to relocate to the area, said the 1.5-acre site that borders the parking lot is shovel ready.
Berkshire Kind plan to open in two phases. In phase 1, it will construct the complete facility but for that first year will only use half of it. Philip said this would accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of canopy that would double in Phase 2.
"There is a significant lack of supply in the cannabis market and you still have dispensaries that are limiting the amount you can purchase," Philip said.
He said they plan to invest between $2.8 million and $2.9 million into the facility. He said earnings from phase 1 should support phase 2
Philip said plan is to hire 12 full-time employees in the initial phase then bring on another eight to 10 employees.
The brothers said the field is new to them. Jeremy, whose background is in project management and development, said he attended school in Colorado in the 1990s so was able to gain some perspective on growing. He said they do plan to bring in professionals to help in the growing process.
There is still a ways to go and the PEDA board only voted to support the project and authorize the program director to sign the option to purchase agreement once everything is finalized.
"They voted to support the concept and to accept Berkshire Kind as the future owner of that property," PEDA Chairman Maurice Callahan Jr said. "The rest is semantics and the paper trail in between today and actually signing it."
The vote came with a non-refundable $10,000 option fee that allows the brothers to secure the site. Callahan said a site needs to be secured if Berkshire Kind wants to continue with the permitting process and that there is a cost for taking the property off the market.
Philip said they are professionals and hope to take away some of the stigma associated with marijuana cultivation. He added that the companies name reflects two meanings.
"We are in the Berkshires so we want to have that be part of what our company represents and kind is a term that has been historically used for high quality cannabis," he said. "And we want to be a kind company. We want to think about our community, our environment, and our customers."
The Silvermans plan to be fully operational by this time next year.
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Central Berkshire School Officials OK $35M Budget
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Central Berkshire Regional School Committee approved a $35 million budget for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Thursday.
Much of the proposed spending plan is similar to what was predicted in the initial and tentative budget presentations, however, the district did work with the Finance subcommittee to further offset the assessments to the towns, Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis said.
"What you're going see in this budget is a lower average assessment to the towns than what you saw in the other in the tentative budget that was approved," she said.
The fiscal 2025 budget is $35,428,892, a 5.56 percent or $1,867,649, over this year's $33,561,243.
"This is using our operating funds, revolving revenue or grant revenue. So what made up the budget for the tentative budget is pretty much the same," Director of Finance and Operations Gregory Boino said.
"We're just moving around funds … so, we're using more of the FY25 rural aid funds instead of operating funds next year."
Increases the district has in the FY25 operating budget are from active employee health insurance, retiree health insurance, special education out-of-district tuition, temporary bond principal and interest payment, pupil transportation, Berkshire County Retirement contributions, and the federal payroll tax.
The students have also been able to build friendships and experience new things, such as dancing for community events, taking a trip to Ireland and participating in competitions.
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Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.
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Independent Connections officially unveiled its Massachusetts branch on Thursdsay with a ribbon cutting. The IT solutions company's specializations include consulting, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
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Taylor Garabedian scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 points for the ‘Canes, who got 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Ashlyn Lesure. click for more