Elder Services Celebrates Golden Anniversary, Relocates
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's a big year for Elder Services of Berkshire County as its 50th anniversary coincides with a move to a more modern, accessible office.
Over the last few weeks, employees have filtered into 73 South Church St. (the Clock Tower building,) setting up their personalized cubicles in about 19,000 square feet of space lined with windows. Out front, a large sign on the brick facade lets them know they are in the right place.
Formerly the Wayfair call center, the two-story workplace offers a street-level entrance for those with mobility issues — compared to being on the fourth floor at 877 South St.
Executive Director Christopher McLaughlin explained that the new office has better access to the heart of the city, better access from the parking lot, and a nice, bright space for employees.
"We just think all of it is a win-win," he said.
Elder Services was incorporated in 1974 as a private, non-profit home care corporation with three staff members on Wendell Avenue. Today, it is an Aging Services Access Point and the Area Agency on Aging responsible for providing services throughout Berkshire County.
The agency serves about 10,000 individuals a year and this office is home to about 80 employees — some working from home.
"I think this space is wonderful and I think it's going to set the basis of making us continue to be successful for the next 50 years," McLaughlin said.
The relocation process began nearly two years ago when the South Street office, located past Guardian Life Insurance, went up for sale. There was a provision in the agency's lease that required it to give a 14-month notice of its continued tenancy or departure.
A series of discussions with the landlord kicked off in the spring of 2023 and at the same time, Wayfair was preparing to close its Pittsfield call center to go virtual. McLaughlin said David Carver of CT Management "really went to great lengths to accommodate us," retrofitting the space for its new use and allowing the agency time to move in before the formal lease began.
Renovation costs are rolled into the 15-year lease.
"It's bright, it's contemporary, it's uplifting. We're in the heart of Pittsfield. One out of three people in the county live here in Pittsfield and it gives us great access for our consumers," he explained.
"Easy in, easy out of the space versus the old space, where parking was tenuous, it's a couple of miles out of the center of the city, and we were on the fourth floor so it was quite a journey for a senior and perhaps somebody with mobility issues to find us."
There are 20 allocated parking spots for the agency in front of the building. One of McLaughlin's brightest days was when looked out of his office window and saw a senior with significant mobility issues park in a handicapped spot and walk a short distance to the front door.
There is about 4,000 square feet on the first floor and about 15,000 square feet on the second floor. The first floor has a reception area and there are offices, cubicles, and conference rooms throughout.
McLaughlin highlighted the open concept second floor that has light flooding in from windows.
"People are just so happy to be here," he said. "The air quality in the building is wonderful. Again, it's a very open, bright, contemporary space and a lot of people have sort of said the space is uplifting and it kind of lends itself to them wanting to come to work every day."
Original announcements indicated a move to the new space starting in August but due to the computer server, the move happened faster than expected because employees needed to be working at the same location.
The agency has seen significant growth in the volume of consumers served and feels that being in a central location just makes sense. While the programs in health, housing, money management, long-term care, and more are conducted outside of the office, this provides a welcoming front door for those looking to be connected with services or seeking a referral for a loved one.
McLaughlin is proud of the way Elder Services responded during the COVID-19 pandemic, as employees stepped up to connect the community with services when they are needed the most.
"When I think about the last six years, I don't think you can help thinking about the pandemic and I think one of the things that was really unique to Elder Services is that during especially the initial governor's stay-at-home orders where everybody was sort of entrenching and hunkering down, our agency never hunkered down," he explained.
"There was not one day where our former office, I wouldn't say every single employee was there but there was never one day where our fiscal folks, our information and referral specialists, our management team weren't there. We were fully engaged, and fully committed to the people of Berkshire County during the pandemic and I think that really has paid a lot of dividends moving forward in the sense that, not surprisingly that we are in one of the oldest and one of the poorer communities counties in the commonwealth, we're now starting to see significant significant growth in virtually all of our programs."
The new office gives them the capacity to respond to that growth to what inevitably is going to mean the need to grow its workforce. McLaughlin said there are empty cubicles by design because "we do know that based on the way our programs are growing, at some point in the relatively near future, we're going to be needing those cubicles. We're going to be needing additional employees."
He identified the move as one of the most significant things done for the 50th anniversary. There will be an open house in September followed by the annual meeting in October highlighting the agency's history.
This is also the 30th anniversary of Elder Service's kitchen in Lanesborough where the Meals on Wheels program operates.
When speaking about the increased volume of community members served by the agency, McLaughlin said, "It would seem like there's probably no end in sight, which is fine."
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