1Berkshire Announces the 2025 Berkshire Trendsetter Award Finalists

12:35PM / Tuesday, August 19, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire announced the finalists for the 2025 Berkshire Trendsetter Awards.

These awards recognize "outstanding initiatives, talented people, and innovative organizations moving the Berkshires forward." Winners will be announced at the 11th annual Celebrate the Berkshires event.

The Trendsetter Awards celebrate businesses, organizations, and individuals in six categories. The following are the Berkshire Trendsetter Award categories and finalists for 2025.

2025 Berkshire Trendsetter Awards Categories and Finalists

Driving Visitor Engagement

Finalists:

Arrival Art Fair at TOURISTS
Berkshire Botanical Garden
Berkshire Yoga Festival
Catamount Mountain Resort
The Mahaiwe

Advancing Our Economy

Finalists:

Berkshire Health Systems
Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc. (EMA)
Greylock Federal Credit Union
Proper Connections LLC/Independent Connections LLC/Richmond Telephone

Nonprofit Collaborator

Finalists:

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures
Berkshire Innovation Center
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
North Adams Farmers Market
Zion Lutheran Church

Under 40 Change-Maker

Finalists

Abigail Allard
Tyler Bissaillon
CJ Garner
Brett Random
Deanna Smith

Visionary of the Year

Finalists:

Alander Construction
Berkshire Roots
Kristy Edmunds - MASS MoCA
John Perrealut - Berkshire Humane Society
Jenny Wright - North Adams Partnership

Breaking the Mold

Finalists:

Celebration of Black Voices at Barrington Stage Company
Mo the spokesgoat - MountainOne
Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds
Steeple City Social
Yina Moore

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North Adams Officials to Revote School Committee Members

Staff reports06:31PM / Friday, October 09, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City and school officials will meet a second time to vote in two new members of the School Committee.

The joint convention of the City Council and School Committee will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall conference room and via Zoom.

Damon Grimes and Paul Moriarty were jointly elected on Monday to fill two seats vacated by resignation. They were two of four candidates standing for election.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee, said she had received in inquiry about the votes, which were done by secret ballot.

"I have been advised that voting by ballot was not permissible in this circumstance," she said, after consulting the School Committee's attorney Adam Dupere and city solicitor KP Law.

To ensure the validity of the votes and conduct of the election, the joint convention will reconvene and formally confirm the selection of Grimes and Moriarty.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of having to reconvene," the mayor said in a statement. "My intention in using a ballot was to address concerns raised following our previous convention, when some members expressed discomfort with publicly voting for or against individual candidates.

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