Interprint Awarded Workforce Training Grant

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded $11 million to businesses as part of a strategic investment to retain and upskill talent within Massachusetts' workforce. 
 
Interprint was awarded $163,900 to train 171 workers; 50 additional jobs are expected by 2026.
 
Awards have been awarded to 125 businesses statewide to date in 2024. The grants, administered and distributed by the Commonwealth Corporation, aim to address business productivity and competitiveness by providing funding to Massachusetts businesses to train current and newly hired employees. Commonwealth Corporation projects more than 6,600 workers will receive skills training in the workplace and grant recipients will add more than 1,400 additional employees in Massachusetts over the next two years.
 
Awarded grants span eleven different industries including $5.6 million awarded to 67 manufacturing businesses to train 3,139 workers and $2.1 million awarded to 20 businesses in the professional, scientific, and technical services industry with the goal to train 1,255 workers.
 
Workforce Training Fund Program grants are available for businesses of all sizes, with the greatest use applied by small to medium-sized businesses. The grants provide instruction on a variety of skills, including ESOL, project management, software and IT, and machine set-up and operation. Businesses can apply for two types of grants through the Workforce Training Fund Program: 1) Express Program, which provides fast and flexible access to grant-funded training designed so that small businesses can quickly and easily access funding to address immediate needs; and 2) General Program, which are two-year grants used for large-scale, strategic training projects. During fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 – June 2024), these programs awarded $37.2 million to train more than 27,900 workers from more than 1,600 businesses.  Employers receiving these grants plan to add more than 2,800 additional employees in Massachusetts by 2026. These two-year grants are awarded competitively and can range from $10,000 to $250,000. 
 
Grant recipients contribute a matching investment of at least one dollar for each grant-dollar awarded. This announcement includes General Program Training Grants awarded from November 2023 through July 2024.
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Police Suspect No Foul Play on DOA at Wahconah Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Police Department suspects no foul play in the death of an individual found on Wahconah Park's property on Monday. 

Police Lt. Cheryl Callahan confirmed that a person was dead on arrival when police were called to 105 Wahconah St. around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 6. 

"The party was identified, and there is no foul play. The medical examiner's office did accept the body," she reported on Tuesday when contacted by iBerkshires. 

Police were unable to specify where on the property the body was found and did not identify the person. Behind the ballpark and parking lot is a park and swampy area. 

If evidence pointing to foul play were discovered, that information would come from the detective bureau, Callahan said. 

This is not the first time a deceased person has been found on the property. 

Three years ago, human remains were found near the swampy area behind the park by a city employee who was cutting brush. The remains were later identified as 43-year-old Luis Lopez-Lopez. 

The Wahconah Park grandstand is currently being demolished following its condemnation in 2022, and the site is not currently in active use while the city plans for a $15 million rebuild. 

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