MountainOne Bank Honored by Boston Business Journal

07:47AM / Saturday, August 16, 2025Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MountainOne shared that it has been named one of the Boston Business Journal's 2025 Best Places to Work in the Medium Business Category (100-249 employees).

According to a press release, each year, the Boston Business Journal celebrates Massachusetts companies that lead the way in cultivating and sustaining exceptional workplace cultures and environments. The award recognizes 100 companies across a broad spectrum of industries, including financial, technology, retail, and health care, with the common denominator being a commitment to fostering a supportive employee environment.

Businesses were selected and ranked based on the results of employee-engagement surveys distributed by Business Journal partner Quantum Workplace. Participating employees rated their work environment, work-life balance, job satisfaction, advancement opportunities, management, compensation, and benefits.

The 2025 honorees were celebrated during a June 12 ceremony at The Westin Copley Place. Accepting the award alongside Mountain President and CEO Robert Fraser was company Spokesgoat Mo. A special publication honoring the Top Places to Work winners appeared in the June 13 weekly edition of the Boston Business Journal.

"This recognition reflects the remarkable culture our employees have helped create," said Robert Fraser, President and CEO of MountainOne. "Together, we've built and continue to maintain a workplace defined by mutual support, open communication, and a shared commitment to our goals."

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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