Berkshire County Partners to Celebrate Fall 2025 EforAll Cohort

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire, in partnership with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network's Berkshire Office and EforAll, announced the final presentations and cohort celebration of the final Berkshire County EforAll cohort happening on Tuesday Dec.16 at 6pm at the Berkshire Innovation Center.

Cohort participants have completed a 3-month accelerator program (including workshops, connections to local resource providers and mentorship relationship development) to help start, grow, or reinvent their small business in the Berkshires.

This celebration event is the capstone of those 3 months, with ongoing support, navigation, and technical assistance from partner organizations rooted in the Berkshires and across Massachusetts. Cohort graduates will be celebrated together and four special grant awards will be announced. 

The members of this final Berkshire County EforAll cohort are:

Christine Bilé (Sea Blue Wellness & Therapy) Sea Blue Wellness & Therapy is a telehealth psychotherapy practice serving adults across the Berkshires and Massachusetts. Founded by musician and psychotherapist Christine Bilé, LICSW, the practice supports busy creatives and professionals in finding balance and improving their wellbeing, one session at a time.

Samantha Blau (Blue Rose Media) Founded by Samantha Blau, a Berkshire County native and marketing professional, Blue Rose Media is a full-service digital marketing agency that helps local businesses grow through social media, content creation, digital ads, and branding. She brings fresh, modern, effective marketing within reach, making it personal, accessible, and tailored for small businesses with big stories.

Jacqueline Cornette Schwartz (Moose Chocolates Berkshires) Lee-based Moose Chocolates Berkshires is filling a gap in the region's artisan food scene as the first chocolatier creating hand-crafted bonbons locally, with founder Jacqueline Cornette Schwartz combining her visual arts background and professional chocolate training to produce one-of-a-kind confections using Berkshire-sourced ingredients while planning to offer community workshops and tasting experiences at a downtown Lee studio opening Fall 2027.

Laura Harbin-Waters (Sanctuary Skin and Body Care) Sanctuary Skin and Body Care offers 30 years of experience treating all skin care concerns with skin care consults, customized treatment plans and personal care for all ages, in a tranquil and nurturing environment, healing, to promote healthy, glowing skin.

Gene Hyatt (Gene's Machines) Gene Hyatt is the owner of Gene's Machines, a sewing machine repair and service business for both domestic and commercial machines and equipment in the Berkshires and beyond.

Emily Kloeblen (All That Matters LLC) All That Matters LLC guides people through complex life transitions that involve a change in living arrangements with a sense of ease and purpose by providing services to support right sizing belongings, managing complex moves, and resettling into your new home. All That Matters LLC was founded in May 2025 by Emily Kloeblen, a former biomedical engineer who graduated with distinction from Harvard Business School MBA program and spent over two decades building innovative, patient centered services as a senior executive with leading healthcare companies.

Alyssa LaPointe (The Glow Lounge) Alyssa LaPointe is a Licensed Cosmetologist Specializing in skincare who opened The Glow Lounge to create a sanctuary of skincare wellness and health with a focus on connection, customization, and overall wellness while targeting specific skin care concerns! The Glow Lounge stands by the idea that everyone deserves a space for mental wellness and that skincare is for all! 

Marianthy Posadas-Nava and Aaron Oster (Evergreen Education) Evergreen Education's Skills Assessment clarifies the capabilities within your business so you can prioritize investments, strengthen operations, and plan for sustainable growth. 

Sara Reese (Fascia Flow) Fascia Flow announces its debut in Pittsfield, laying the foundation for a growing wellness hub centered on future fascia-focused services, with a commitment to accessible, high-quality massage services that support the health and well-being of the local community.

Noel Staples-Freeman (Berkshire African Dance and Drum Collective) Sister Noel is an arts educator and cultural tradition bearer with more than 45 years of experience preserving and sharing African diasporic dance traditions. She founded Uprising Dance Theatre in 1983 and serves as the artistic director of the Berkshire African Dance and Drum Collective (BADD), a community-rooted initiative based in Pittsfield, MA. Through intergenerational classes, workshops, and performances, Sister Noel celebrates rhythm, cultural memory, and embodied joy while honoring African, Caribbean, and African American traditions

Sofija Sutton (Find a Feeling) Sofija Sutton, a children's illustrator and software engineer, is launching Find a Feeling, a social-emotional learning app that helps children connect body sensations to emotions while building self-awareness and communication skills, giving parents a practical tool to support emotional growth and connection at home.

Ed Valentine (Writing Wizardry) Join Ed Valentine, a 4-time Emmy winning writer for Sesame Street, as he launches an online teaching and coaching portal designed to help people get their stories out of their heads, bring forth their best writing selves, and create new work they can send out into the world.

After 6+ years of operations with EforAll Berkshire County, beginning in 2026 the national EforAll program will be shifting to a fully-virtual program without specific localized branches. 

To attend this celebration of these inspiring entrepreneurs, register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eforall-berkshire-county-fall-2025-showcase-and-celebration-tickets-1975040121169?aff=oddtdtcreator

Pittsfield Recognizes Firefighters of the Year, Outgoing Councilors

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Pittsfield firefighters Matthew Mazzeo and Clarence Gunn with Gov. Maura Healey and state Fire Marshal Jon Davine at the annual Firefighter of the Year Awards in Worcester last month. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two members of the Pittsfield Fire Department were recognized as Firefighters of the Year for rescuing a man from the ice in early 2025. 

At the end of November, Matthew Mazzeo and Clarence Gunn traveled to Worcester for the 36th annual Firefighter of the Year Awards held by the state Department of Fire Services. The two were honored for their Jan. 21 response to a fisherman who had fallen into the icy waters of Onota Lake. 

The Fire Department responded to the report of a fisherman falling through the ice about 7:45 a.m.  The person had gotten out of the water but had fallen back in, and the ice broke again while Mazzeo and Gunn were making the rescue. 

Mayor Peter Marchetti presented the two with certificates of recognition at the beginning of Tuesday's City Council meeting. 

Fire Chief Thomas Sammons explained that the two firefighters had to be tethered in cold water suits, and Gunn's suit failed, filling with freezing water. He and the fisherman were transported to Berkshire Medical Center for hypothermia and made a full recovery. 

"They were 300 feet offshore, so it was really hard to have communications, and everything happened all at once. They did a great job," he said. 

"We started pulling them in, and there was a layer of slush on top. It was really slow. Pittsfield Police responded. They donned life preservers and jumped right in. Everybody worked together for a very positive outcome." 

Sammons explained that the ice sled used for rescues also plunged into the water, and the two firefighters had to untangle the tethers to get the man and themselves to safety.