1Berkshire Announces Berkshire Trendsetter Award Finalists

11:33AM / Friday, September 06, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire announced the finalists for the 2024 Berkshire Trendsetter Awards, which recognize outstanding initiatives, talented people, and innovative organizations moving the Berkshires forward.

Winners will be announced at the 11th annual Celebrate the Berkshires event on Sept. 19 at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport. This year's Putting the Berkshires on the Map honoree is The Fairbank Group, in recognition of the meaningful contribution they and their businesses have made to the Berkshire economy. The Wanda Houston Band will play during the reception.

The Trendsetter Awards celebrate businesses, organizations, and individuals in six categories that honor outstanding achievements and commitments that have strengthened the local economy. The following are the Berkshire Trendsetter Award categories and finalists for 2024.

2024 Berkshire Trendsetter Awards Categories and Finalists

Driving Visitor Engagement

Tourism is a critical economic engine, and marketing is the fuel that makes it roar. This award is presented to a creative and effective program/event that achieved results locally and further afield, helping to maintain the Berkshires as a top visitor destination to the direct and indirect benefit of our region's businesses.

Finalists:

ArtWeek Berkshires, a collaboration of the Cultural Districts of Berkshire County

Berkshire Botanical Garden

BerkshiresOutside.org

The Mount

Norman Rockwell Museum

Advancing Our Economy

This award is presented to a project that pushed the envelope in bringing new jobs or people to the Berkshires, has brought previously underrepresented voices to the table, or has had a positive impact on the workforce of a single employer, employee segment, or the Berkshires as a whole.

Finalists:

Berkshire Innovation Center

CDC South Berkshire

EMA

Alander Construction

Moresi & Associates

Nonprofit Collaborator

The best things we do in the Berkshires, we do together. In that spirit, this award is presented to a nonprofit organization whose efforts brought partners to the table, herded all the cats, and built a coalition to improve the region's quality of life.

Finalists:

AYJ Fund

Berkshire Natural Resources Council

Berkshire United Way

Latinas413

Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires

Under 40 Change-Maker

This award is presented to a member of the Berkshire community under the age of 40 who is making a difference through leadership, team building, and problem-solving skills, with a heightened awareness of key issues affecting our region.

Finalists

Abigail Allard

Marina Dominguez

Jonah Sykes

Tarah Warner

Visionary of the Year

Clarity of purpose and the fortitude to follow through are essential components of an entrepreneur's toolkit from founding to exit strategy and beyond. This award is presented to a Berkshire business founder/owner whose company, organization, or project is leading the way and making waves in their industry.

Finalists:

Choices Mentoring

Roots Rising

Second Chance Composting

Woven Roots Farm

Guido's

Breaking the Mold

"The Way We've Always Done Things" is comfortable, but not always applicable in 2024. This award is presented to an organization, program, or individual working in the Berkshire Blueprint 2.0 clusters that is thinking outside the box to shatter siloes and forge a new path through collaboration.

Finalists:

Berkshire Funding Focus

Dri

Let it Shine! public art partnership

Jenny Wright

Full Well Farm

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Pittsfield's Christian Center Seeks Community Input on Services, Name

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:57PM / Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Worker Dionisio Kelly, left, board member Kenny Warren, Executive Director Jessica Jones, and Food and Services Director Karen Ryan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's a new year, and The Christian Center is looking at how it can serve the area in 2026 and beyond.

This includes a possible new name fueled by community forums in late January and early February.

"We're hoping people will come in and talk about the name, talk about what programs, what services they would like to see from us. What would be most meaningful," Executive Director Jessica Jones said.

"Because the population in this area has changed quite a bit, and we no longer serve just the West Side. We serve people from other parts of Berkshire County. So the hope is just to make it more inclusive."

The Christian Center was a stop on Berkshire Community College and NAACP Berkshires' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

The nonprofit will hold three input sessions at 193 Robbins Ave. to inform future programs and branding, and ensure that West Side voices are heard.

The sessions will be held on:

Saturday, Jan. 31, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 5, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

The center dates back to the early 1890s, when it was the Epworth Mission started by the Methodist Church to serve newly arrived immigrants and help them assimilate. The Christian Center was incorporated in 1974.

Over the decades, it has drifted away from a faith-based organization to a space for anyone who needs a meal, a warm jacket, a place to bring their child, or a meeting place. A space for everyone.

This is what center officials wanted reflected in the name.

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