Berkshire County Regional Employment Board Awarded Workforce Development Grant

11:33AM / Friday, August 14, 2026Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced $5.9 million in workforce development grant funding for 12 initiatives across Massachusetts, representing partnerships with employers, training providers, and regional collaborators to train, upskill, and provide job placement for 951 workers for in-demand occupations in health care, logistics, education, information technology and more.

"Across Massachusetts, employers are looking for skilled workers and residents are looking for opportunities to build successful careers," said Governor Maura Healey. "These grants help us do both by connecting people with the training they need to fill in-demand jobs and helping businesses grow with the workforce they need."

Berkshire County Regional Employment Board, Inc. was awarded $500,000 to provide training and placement services to 172 unemployed and underemployed participants for Medical Assistant and Nursing Assistant roles.

They will partner with Community Health Programs Inc. and Berkshire Health Systems.

The Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grants are funded by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) and administered by Commonwealth Corporation through the state's Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund. Each awarded grant aims to close the skills gap, increase access to well-paying jobs for unemployed and underemployed residents, and strengthen productivity and workforce needs among employers in regions throughout Massachusetts.

Workforce Success grants fund job training and job placement for untapped talent and upskilling programs for incumbent workers. Among the 12 awarded grants, four grants are also dedicating efforts to incorporate English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in planned job training—an effort to reduce employment barriers such as language that some jobseekers experience.

Since January 2023, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, in partnership with Commonwealth Corporation, has awarded nearly $77 million in Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grants to train over 10,500 unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers.

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15 People Displaced in Pittsfield Home Fires

Staff Reports11:35AM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fifteen people were displaced after 2-alarm home fires this weekend on Springside Avenue and Elaine Drive.

On Friday evening, the Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 209 Springside Ave., which took a four-hour battle to extinguish and resulted in a partial roof collapse. The next day, on Saturday evening, crews knocked down a fire at 121 Elaine Drive in about an hour.

The garage and part of the single-family home on Elaine Drive were gutted to the frame, along with a vehicle parked in the driveway. On Springside Avenue, the top level and porch of the multifamily were burned through.

A GoFundMe has been started for the family of the Elaine Drive home, which includes several young children. The fundraiser, with a $5,500 goal, explains they lost their home and all of their belongings. (iBerkshires.com does not confirm or endorse fundraisers; they are providedas information only.)

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries, and both incidents are under investigation. One dog was rescued on Springside Avenue.

On Oct. 10, around 6:15 p.m., PFD responded to the Springside Avenue home for a reported structure fire and saw a 2 1/2-story wood frame multifamily with a heavy blaze showing from the second-floor front porch, extending out.

The building suffered a partial roof collapse, which prolonged extinguishment. The fire was brought under control after about four hours.

“An aggressive offensive attack was mounted by first arriving crews stretching hose lines into the building as well as primary searches that proved negative. Ladders were placed around the structure to provide access as well as escape if needed. An off-duty Fire Captain had also been on scene early in the incident to help evacuate the structure and rescue a dog,” PFD wrote in a press release.

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