Biz Briefs: Gordmans Hiring for Upcoming North Adams Location

Now hiring

The North Adams Peebles Department Store, located in the Steeple City Plaza, is converting to a Gordmans off-price store. The apparel and home decor retailer is now hiring with the goal of opening Feb. 18.

Gordmans, which has been delighting shoppers for more than 100 years, is part of the Stage community of stores. Stage is converting its Peebles and other department store name plates to Gordmans in 2020, an off-price concept offering everyone's favorite brands at prices way lower than department stores.

Gordmans offers a variety of positions in an energetic and engaging work environment. Positions, which vary by store location, include store manager, assistant store manager, sales associate, stockroom associate and more. Interested candidates are invited to first apply online and then visit the job fair from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at the North Adams location. Full-time Gordmans associates are offered benefits, including health insurance (medical, prescription drug, dental and vision); a 401(k) savings plan; paid vacation and holidays; and a 20 percent associate discount on merchandise, which is already at the lowest possible prices. Gordmans offers flexible full-time and part-time schedules.

Social media workshop

North Adams business owners are welcome to attend a free half-day social media marketing workshop on Jan. 14 from 8 a.m. to noon at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in Murdock Hall Room #218. The snow date is Jan. 17. A light breakfast and registration begin at 8 with programming from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Register here online.

Business owners will benefit from developing goals, strategies and tactics to grow business and brand through practical social media marketing steps, no matter the budget or internet skill level. Attendees will have an opportunity to receive a one-on-one consultation and the option to make a short promotional video with help from an MCLA student.

Each year more and more people are visiting the Berkshires. According to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and 1Berkshire, visitors to the Berkshires in 2017 spent $517 million in the local economy. Moreover, spending by visitors increased by nearly 30 percent in the last five years, which outpaces other regions in the state. With so many consumers using social media every day to access our local economy, this presents a great opportunity for small businesses that want to reach their online audience.

BFAIR bag beneficiary

BFAIR has been selected as a beneficiary of the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program for the month of January. The Stop & Shop Community Bag Program, which launched in May 2019, is a reusable bag program that facilitates community support with the goal to make a difference in the communities where shoppers live and work.

BFAIR was selected as the January beneficiary of the program by store leadership at the Stop & Shop located at 876 State Road in North Adams. BFAIR will receive a $1 donation every time the $2.50 reusable Community Bag is purchased at this location during January, unless otherwise directed by the customer through the Giving Tag attached to the bag.

EforAll Pitch Contest

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) Berkshire County is holding an "All Ideas Pitch Contest" on Wednesday, Feb. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m.  at The Green at 85 Main St., Suite 105, in North Adams. EforAll's first Pitch Contest at the Berkshire Museum in October 2019 created a lot of community buzz with more than 100 attendees and 11 companies competing. The big winner that night was Kaitlyn Pierce of Binka Bear.

Described as "Shark Tank without the teeth," EforAll's friendly, free event features a business showcase and then pitches from six pre-selected contestants and two more that are added the night of the event. Each participant is given two and a half minutes to pitch a business or nonprofit idea to a panel of judges and the audience. At the end of it, EforAll gives away seed money to help launch these ideas. The first place finisher wins $1,000; second place $750; third place $500; and audience favorite $500. Applications and audience registration are both available online.

January in Wild Oats

Wild Oats Market invites everyone to Scoop Up The Savings in January. Each day of the month, one item in the bulk department will be featured with a 50 percent off sale. That's 30 different products over the course of 30 days, starting Thursday, Jan. 2. Shoppers will save on staples like coffee, nuts, rice and granola, as well ancient grains, honey, maple syrup, komboucha and more.

And, as additional support to our customers' resolutions for healthy living in the new year, every Wednesday in January will be "Welllness Wednesday." The store's team of managers and buyers will highlight self care products from around the store, including body care, immune support, organic grocery items, the current selection of CBD offerings and new additions to the shelves for 2020. Details will be posted online throughout the month.

SVMC 'A' grade

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, earned an "A" for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group. The national distinction recognizes SVMC’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization driven by employers and other purchasers of health care. The organization is committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns a grade to all general hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice each year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

Kimball Farms honor

Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center is among the 19 percent of U.S. skilled nursing facilities that have been recognized as a Best Nursing Home for 2019-20 by U.S. News & World Report. The home earned Best Nursing Homes status by achieving a rating of "High Performing," the highest possible rating, for Long-Term Care. U.S. News gives the designation of Best Nursing Home only to those homes that satisfy U.S. News's assessment of the appropriate use of key services and consistent performance in quality measures.

"We are honored that Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center has been recognized in this new Long-Term Care Rating for US News this year," said Bill Jones, president of Berkshire Healthcare. "Our caregivers strive to provide the highest quality care and we are gratified that an unbiased assessment came to the same conclusion – that we are among the best in Massachusetts."

Now in its 10th year, the U.S. News Best Nursing Homes ratings and profiles offer comprehensive information about care, safety, health inspections, staffing and more for nearly all of the nation’s 15,000-plus nursing homes. The Best Nursing Homes ratings reflect U.S. News' exclusive analysis of publicly available data using a methodology defined by U.S. News that evaluates factors that it has determined most greatly impact patient and resident care, safety and outcomes.

Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer