Pittsfield Subcommittee Supports Petricca TIF

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:22AM / Tuesday, March 11, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Some city councilors are happy to support a longtime city construction company's expansion. It will take a majority of the council support the tax exemption plan.

On Monday, the Finance subcommittee voted in favor of a 10-year tax increment financing agreement for Unistress Corp.'s $4 million expansion at 550 Cheshire Road, which is expected to create 50 new jobs.

"This is the perfect opportunity. When we give out TIFs or we give out GE economic funds, people talk about helping local business. This is a great local business that hires a lot of people, that pays good salaries so I'm 100 percent for this. This is an easy slam dunk for me," Councilor at Large Earl Persip III said.

"I don't know anybody who's against this. The only time I hear people are against it is they don't understand the TIF program and how it actually works."

Last month, the council acted as a decades-defunct financing authority to OK MassDevelopment assistance for the company. Approval from the Pittsfield Industrial Development Financing Authority, formed in the 1970s, is needed to move the process forward yet that body is far in the past.

At the time, Mayor Peter Marchetti reported that he would return with another proposal to help the company.

"Petricca doesn't have to put an expansion into Pittsfield just like years ago, Interprint did not have to put an expansion in Pittsfield. They could have chosen to move to Georgia, which was on the table for them and an opportunity," he said.

"So anytime the city can come to the table and assist a local business, especially to grow and expand, we should be there with whatever tools in our toolbox that we have."

With a TIE, Unistress would pay about $653,000 in property taxes over the next decade, starting at 100 percent forgiveness in the first year (about $24,000) and ending at 10 percent forgiveness (about $2,750) in 2035.

The company has projected a $4,150,750 capital investment expansion that includes soft costs, construction, utility and infrastructure improvements, and the purchase of two large overhead crane systems. The property's base value in fiscal year 2025 is $1,294,700, and the completed market value is $1,920,100. The $625,400 increment will see 10 percent less forgiveness each year.

"The base value of the property remains the same. The increment is the new value that would be as a result of these increment improvements and additions, and that's phased in over time," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds explained.

"So the operator continues to pay exactly the same taxes that they currently pay if they were not to do this project."

She pointed out that the jobs will have an average base salary of around $50,000 per year before overtime or shift differential work. New employees will also be eligible for union positions after three months.

"We hope to break ground on construction this spring and have it complete by the fall," Perri Petricca, CEO of Unistress Corporation & Petricca Industries, said.

"There will be some people that will come on to help complete the build-out but I would say we will start hiring before year-end, and probably most of the jobs will be on board by spring of next year."

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre said 50 new jobs in manufacturing is significant and "I can't speak for my colleagues but I would gratefully support and I'm very proud the city was able to put this project together."

Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren said the company has been in the ward for longer than he has.

"The fact that this will be a major investment, both physically, it'll impact on the tax rolls and it'll impact on job opportunities for the city of Pittsfield," he said. "Honestly, it's a win, win, win, win."

President Peter White pointed out that "it's really allowing a business to invest the money upfront and then we get to see it incrementally come in over the next 10 years while adding 50 new jobs."

Marchetti found it important to share that since 2015, there have only been two decertified TIFs in the city.

Tags: tax exemption,

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New Pittsfield Mural Designed With Student Input Unveiled

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:10PM / Wednesday, August 12, 2026

The Common Wealth Murals team.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A new mural is welcoming the community in the downtown area.

The ribbon cutting was held on First Friday to unveil the mural on the ADLib building at 215 North St.

Designed by Boston-based artist Ruby Rose, it was created in collaboration with AdLib, Common Wealth Murals, Mill Town Foundation, Let It Shine!, Pittsfield Public Schools, and local artists, students, and community members.

"We start by talking with the community about what do you want to see in the mural, what do you want this mural to be about, how do you want to be represented with this piece of public art, and then a designer takes all that input and creates a design," said Common Wealth Murals Executive Director Britt Ruhe.

Ruhe's team went into four schools: Conte Community, Crosby Elementary, Reid Middle, and Herberg Middle. They trained the art teachers, one from each school, in how to gather student input for mural design.

But not only did the input go into the mural downtown but also back into their school. Each school chose a different designer, so murals for the four schools will all look distinct.

Students provided verbal and written comments and made drawings. Teachers and students then painted panels in class, which are now being detailed and will be installed back in the schools.

Ruhe said the students showed a lot of love for their city.

"It was really striking to me because we work with schools in Springfield and other places. The kids in Pittsfield love their town, love their city," she said. "They name specific parks and specific restaurants and specific places they love to go, and they really talked a lot about being out in community with their families and friends, and so that really comes through."

Their murals are produced as "paint-by-number" style fabric panels, so community members can physically participate in painting. The community came together for the July First Friday to help.

"Those community gatherings are a place where, when you're standing around a table, working with people you don't know that in the normal course of events you may never speak with, you find yourself just in easy, natural conversation with people because you're all working towards something," said Ruhe. "So we really believe and hope that people can look at something like this and say, look what we made together.

"If we can make this together, what else can we do together? So we hope it's a seed for a community coming together to tell their stories, to plant their hopes for the future, and to really feel grounded in where they live."

Self, an artist and Common Wealth Murals project manager, said they were very welcomed and it was nice to see that the mural reflects the values of the community.

"I think it's beautiful, and I think it's a beautiful reflection of what the Pittsfield community holds value in, and you can just see a lot of community and unity like in this mural," they said. "People of all colors, ages, and styles are included, incorporated, and connected, and like the interconnectedness of the area."

The team started painting the mural on Monday and finished on Thursday. It was painted next to the entrance for AdLib, a nonprofit organization that serves people with disabilities so that they can live independently in the community.

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