SolaBlock Awarded State Grant

11:00AM / Monday, July 22, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Healey-Driscoll administration awarded SolaBlock $204,835 to construct automated and modularized systems to build its Solar Masonry Units, which embed solar photovoltaics directly into a standard cement block.

SolaBlock will partner with the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) to make the test chamber available to other members of the BIC. SolaBlock plans to add 17 new jobs with this grant investment. This project is aligned with the Manufacturing USA Institute CESMII.

The Healey-Driscoll administration announced $10,280,407 in grants to 13 companies to support sustainable alternatives to traditional manufacturing through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), a program through MassTech Collaborative's (MassTech) Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) that bridges the gap between innovation and commercialization by providing capital grants and supporting pioneering projects in emerging industries.

The Administration announced the grants during an event with Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao and MassTech at Clean Crop Technologies in Holyoke, which is receiving a $1.2 million M2I2 grant to validate its innovative technology that removes contaminants from crops using less energy. This round of grants will support companies in key industries such as climate tech, bioindustrial manufacturing, and recyclable materials, and create an estimated 230 jobs.

"Massachusetts is home to the world's leading innovation economy thanks to our trailblazing manufacturing companies, cutting-edge universities and top talent," said Governor Maura Healey. "We are committed to investing in the pioneering R&D and infrastructure necessary to help our state maintain its status as a place where groundbreaking ideas translate to real-world solutions through programs like M2I2. We are pleased this round of grants will help fund sustainable innovations in the manufacturing industry."

Tags: BIC, grants, solar,

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Pittsfield ARPA Funds Have Year-End Expiration Date

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:20AM / Thursday, January 15, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — American Rescue Fund Act monies must be spent by the end of the year, and Pittsfield is already close.

In 2021, the city was awarded a historic amount of money — $40,602,779 — in federal remediation funds for the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the end of September 2025, more than $37 million had been expended, and 90 percent of the 84 awarded projects were complete.

Special Project Manager Gina Armstrong updated the City Council on the ARPA funds during its first meeting of the new term on Tuesday.

As of September 2025, the $4.7 million allocated for public health and COVID-19 response has been fully expended. Additionally, $22.7 million of the $24.9 million allocated for negative economic impacts has been expended, and nearly all of the infrastructure funds, more than $5.8 million, have been expended.

Less than $3 million of the $3.7 million allocated for revenue replacement has been spent, along with about $873,00 of the $1.1 million allocated for administration.

Armstrong noted that in the last quarter, "Quite a bit more has been done in the areas of the housing projects." In 2022, then-Mayor Linda Tyer allocated $8.6 million in ARPA funds for affordable housing initiatives, and the community is eager for those additional units to come online.

Nine supportive units at the Zion Lutheran Church on First Street received more than $1.5 million in ARPA funds, the 7,700-square-foot housing resource center in the basement received more than $4.6 million, and the Westside Legends' home construction project saw more than $361,000 for two single-family homes on South Church Street and Daniels Avenue.

"This is just about complete, and I believe that people who are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness will be able to take these apartments in the very near future," Armstrong said, noting the supportive units and resource center that had a ribbon-cutting in late 2025.