Letter: Walker Prioritizes Building Better Lives

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To the editor:

We don't get a Corey Walker every generation.

This Pittsfield native shows that she springs back up when she gets knocked down and hits the ground running! Opportunity was scarce for her before affordable Berkshire Community College: she continues to tirelessly make and share lemonade with it. She makes the Dean's list every single semester. She juggles college, two jobs, and activism so that those after her won't have to.

She has the proven record of fighting for our neighbors' rights. Having worked at the city's Water Department has already taught her how to work with people to get things done.

She brings something to the council that we need! A mental health professional in this crisis. A college student when our students lack representation. Someone involved in the conversations around affordable housing. Someone whose means are reflective of Ward 2's median income, when all of our other council and candidates have wealth or dual incomes.



Her leadership skills come from lived experience with us all: intimately understanding both the problems and culture here, and knowing how important our medical professionals and nonprofits are to Pittsfield's well-being. Her work saves lives and de-escalates North Street struggles.

We need someone who understands. Who listens to and lifts up their neighbors. Someone who prioritizes building better lives for those of us already here.

Please join me in this incredible opportunity to vote for Corey "Kiki" Francis Walker this Nov. 4.
 

Ephraim Schwartz
Pittsfield, Mass.

Ephraim Alexander Schwartz is chairman of the Campaign to Elect Corey Walker.

 

 


Tags: election 2025,   municipal election,   


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BCC Sees $1M in Federal Funds for Trades Academy

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal secured $995,000 to begin design and construction of the academy. The congressman had earlier attended the Norman Rockwell Museum business breakfast, which celebrated Laurie Norton Moffatt's 49 years leading the institution.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College was awarded nearly $1 million in federal funds to support a Trades Academy. 

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal visited the college to highlight the $995,000 he secured through congressionally directed spending. Executive Director of Workforce and Community Education Linda Clairmont said BCC can be a destination for adults who want to learn a skilled trade. 

"I want to join up with the amazing work that Taconic and McCann (vocational high schools) are doing to prepare people for these really specific skills, helping people become confident professionals with a direct path to high-wage, high-demand jobs," she explained. 

"And we're also addressing the labor shortage that exists in this county, around the state, and around the country, in the skilled trades." 

The federal funding will support a feasibility study of an existing vacant building on campus, as well as the evaluation and abatement of any hazardous materials at the location, because it was once a power plant. 

BCC will dip its toe into the skilled trades with its first HVAC training program, for which it received $1.2 million from the state in support. The $995,000 in federal funds will go toward creating the academy in a building located on the main campus, and the HVAC heat pump training program will be funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. 

The $1 million in federal monies will get the college to construction documents, maybe fund some construction, and help identify the necessary equipment and other learning space needs for a skilled trade, Clairmont reported. 

The funding is part of more than $14 million in congressionally directed spending secured by the congressman to support economic development, workforce training, and community infrastructure across the Berkshires.

Neal said there are about 6.5 million jobs in the United States that go unanswered every day.

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