1Berkshire Selected Inaugural Economic Recovery Corps Fellowship Sites

11:10AM / Wednesday, February 07, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire, in partnership with the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC), announced its selection as 1 of 65 inaugural host locations across the country for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)'s Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) Fellowship program.

This program, supported by the United States Economic Development Administration, assigns and funds fellows to host organizations for 2.5 years of intensive, project-focused work with the goal of making aneconomic impact on the service area. 1Berkshire was selected from over 500 organizations and communities that applied to be a host for this inaugural ERC class, and is 1 of only 4 hosts selected in all of New England.

1Berkshire and the BIC have focused the work of their fellow around several of the goals outlined in their work with the Berkshire Tech Impact Collaborative, a joint endeavor of 1Berkshire, the BIC, and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College (OLLI). Since 2020, this trio of organizations has been focusing attention and efforts on better understanding, growing, and supporting the tech and digitally-enabled economy of the region, bolstered with additional support from the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI).

The 1Berkshire fellow, selected from an applicant pool from across the country, is already a familiar face in Berkshire County. Cody Chamberlain of North Adams was selected by the IEDC and matched with 1Berkshire over a five-month application process. He is a member of the North Adams Public Schools Committee.

With a dynamic background in tech and innovation startups in Boston, youth engagement, customer service, and program design, Cody brings not only skilled capacity, but additional thought leadership to the work of 1Berkshire and the Berkshire Innovation Center.

Cody will be working specifically around a set of functional areas that helps more inclusively grow the creative technology sector of the region by: supporting existing businesses, providing recruitment, technical assistance, and navigation for emergent startups, building partner and resource networks and referral systems, and engaging youth in startup development to foster workforce growth and entrepreneurial skill building for the next generation. Cumulatively this project's work, branded the "Berkshire Next Generation Entrepreneurial Bridge Initiative," will engage a breadth of regional and state partners, creating a powerful and sustained coalition.

"It is incredibly exciting to have been selected as part of this highly-selective program, and it just goes to show that the potential and aspirations we hold here in the Berkshires are second to none," said Ben Lamb, 1Berkshire vice president of Economic Development. "With Cody on board, we now have the deepened capacity to launch these focused initiatives and efforts forward, and make even more effective and inclusive impacts on the region's innovation economy."

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Pittsfield School Committee Sees Budget Calendar, Chapter 70 Concerns

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:28AM / Monday, January 19, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools kicked off its fiscal year 2027 budget calendar, and are again facing uncertainties with state Chapter 70 funding.

During the first meeting of the new term on Wednesday, the School Committee OK'd an FY27 budget calendar that plans the committee's vote in mid-April. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips stressed the importance of equity in this process.

"It's really important for us through these next couple of months to look at our different schools, our different needs, different student demographics, and really understand, are we just assigning resources equally, or are we really assigning them based on what different groups of students need?" she said.

The district could lose up to $5 million in Chapter 70 funding from declining enrollment, specifically of low-income students. This is a similar issue that PPS saw in 2024, when the discovery of 11 students meeting those income guidelines put the district in the higher funding category and added $2.4 million to the school budget.

"We are in a funding category, Group 11, for a district with a large percentage of low-income students, and that number could fluctuate depending on who exited the district," Phillips explained.

"So we're going to do our best to understand that, but ultimately, these numbers will impact the budget that is proposed to us by the governor."

According to the budget calendar, a draft budget will be presented in March, followed by a hearing in early April, and the School Committee is set to vote on the budget in mid-April. The City Charter requires it to be adopted before May 1, and a meeting with the City Council must occur no later than May 31.

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland provided an overview of the Chapter 70 funding and budget process. The budget calendar, she said, is designed to really support transparency, coordination, and legal compliance.

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