FEMA Awards Over $3 M to Mass for COVID-19 Response Costs

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BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $3 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the Executive Office of Health and Human Services for the costs of providing virtual triage services for hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The $3,056,275 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the commonwealth for contracting to provide virtual triage to reduce transmission that could occur if triage were to occur in crowded, in-person hospital settings between March 2020 and February 2021.
 
The contractor also provided dissemination of information to the public across Massachusetts regarding guidance about the individual's risk of having contracted COVID-19; and provided dissemination of public health information from federal and state agencies.
 
"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation."
 
FEMA's Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
 
So far, FEMA has provided more than $1.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.
 

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BIC Expansion to Begin This Fall

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PEDA officials are hoping the momentum will carryover to other sites in the business park. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With about $8 million in public funding secured, the Berkshire Innovation Center is expected to break ground on its expansion this fall. 

An 8,000-square-foot addition is planned for the BIC to welcome a new company, Myrias Optics Inc.  Executive Director Ben Sosne recently gave the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority an update on the future advanced optics tech hub, the larger vision for this project. 

Myrias, a meta-optics producer, has a partnership with BIC tenant Electro Magnetic Applications for testing and simulation services. They will be able to work side by side once the expansion is complete. 

"There is not a part of me that thinks Myrias wouldn't be here looking to work with the BIC if we weren't already working with EMA," Sosne said. 

"That was the draw, 100 percent."

Governor Maura Healey visited the Berkshire Innovation Center last week to see where millions in state funding will help build a tech hub for advanced optics. 

On the same day, her administration announced a $2 million award to the BIC for its upcoming Advanced Manufacturing for Advanced Optics Lab.  This is on top of $5 million from the MA Tech Hub designation and a total of $1 million from the city’s economic development funds

Myrias will bring up to 55 employees to Pittsfield with an average salary of $110,000. The project's budget is being finalized, and PEDA will have to conduct a design review process for the addition. 

Sosne reported that they hope to break ground this fall, and construction will happen "relatively quickly."  Earlier in the meeting, the PEDA was notified that Mill Town Capital has closed on space on Site 9 and on Woodlawn Avenue for development. 

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