we're continuing our Berkshire County theory soon I am talking to Pittsfield
mayor dannel beyond gay
to discuss the largest city in Berkshire County gym at again sat down with him at
Hancock Shaker Village
to talk about that we you know view ourselves as
is obviously a vacation area but a
we are an old manufacturing center as well we had a a major
plant here General Electric but we had a a lot of
smaller manufacturing companies in the area and
and in Pittsfield really views itself as as a
part the purchase and we think of ourselves as a community of a hundred
and thirty thousand people
as opposed to just the city of Pittsfield on
think I've the Berkshires but we have a an awful lot going on in Pittsville WI
still
have a strong manufacturing presence here
the applied materials companies and in Pittsfield
employed a great number of people they're doing very well
and we certainly do everything we possibly can help them grow
a many of them war a spin-off from
General Electric having said that about the applied materials companies we still
have
a a large presence in the plastics industry
en route the resin industry with Savic which is
Saudi Arabia basic industries the old General Electric plastics
plant is located here in the employ about about
900 people and we have a significant
General Dynamics plant that employs about a thousand people
and they they do some fascinating state-of-the-art
a technology in that facility
and as of this morning Lao we we have
a our health systems which is our largest employer pressure health systems
was just designated
as one of the top 100 health service providers
in the in the country so I we've got a lot going on here in the city of
Pittsfield
I recent years are
cultural venues have really
a developed the Colonial Theatre which was a
1903 I'll performing
a vaudeville house has been totally restored
and it is a great Performing Arts Center now
with with terrific plays and we have Barrington stage
whose opened a second stage in Pittsfield
a to complement that the main stage which is Ben and operations now for
about six years
and in they do original places well as as some other great classics
and now they get rave reviews from as far away as New York City New York Times
at
did a terrific a review love a
Barrington stage last summer I know you'd you'd love to talk
the whole day I don't let me know I would I know you love you city let me
ask you about something you been working on
and I think it's coming about correcting for anything wrong
last year you were successful in getting a state grant to study the feasibility
of developing
a life sciences facility at the the win
we least annually Business Park yup where is that study at because that's
really a kind a cornerstone
what's your thoughts and hopes are for the future exactly where we are
finishing phase 10 that study
and it's been very rewarding I
well it's not quite complete yet and while we are preparing for
to receive line and I'm sure going to receive the a
a second grant to continue that feasibility study the
initial feasibility study is already we've
interviewed dozens love folks in the region not just here in the city of
Pittsfield
but a lot of the applied materials companies that are involved in the life
science industry
a making plastic parts that that go into the operating setting
but we're also talking to a lot of the regional of higher education
facilities even in New York State and we have today
fourteen people who have committed to become members and that life science
Center making a significant contribution to
a yearly membership and we're waiting to hear from others
so world we are approaching a point when now
we feel very confident we will receive
a release a venir mark from the Life Science Center which is a quasar
governmental
organization thats empowered to invest
a a billion that's a billion with a B dollars
in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and would like to we'd like to make at
Pittsfield Berkshire County
the Western capital love life science capital whirl
he said something facing we talked before the the cameras were rolling
you said you know we're out here kinda apart from the rest
the commonwealth and literally there there isn't a wallop mountains almost
once you get a little west to the Greater Springfield area
and then you you come into Berkshire County and you coming up it's your the
center of it
and and that separation does in some ways it seems from from your point of
view
we do something positive why I think it does a a great thing for
in almost forces us as a county to work
that closer together and I know that there's counties in the
eastern part of the state where communities a
right next to each other don't work together and we do something a little
bit different here
we r we're hopeful to attract business and and we
are very aggressive a attracting businesses to
the Berkshires now I'm the mayor Pittsfield but I realized that if one of
the mills
in in we can be repurposed and redeveloped
that's going to have a a great impact not just in the
in the town of lebudde in the city Pittsfield throughout Bergen County
because people will work there but they will live in Pittsfield
and there will be spinoff business from any
development at that size having said that
I as you probably know the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
is has put out an RFP for the the railcars
the T rail cars to be assembles here in Massachusetts
and we are very aggressive the world we're getting from
people in boston is that I we're doing something that that many other
parts love that the camel of I'm doing or working together we've put together
an incentive package
and where out reaching out talking to
possible railcar manufactures
and and I like to think that that they were having some success
a talk to the Secretary Davies in in Boston
and he said there's a real buzz with the effort that's going on
in Pittsfield on the Berkshires cell about what we're doing our
a lot of good things too attract business
a and we're working together as a community of 230,000 people and I think
that
is a tremendous strength for for the city a bit fill in all the communities
in Berkshire County
homered ABA ke mare Pittsfield thanks for saying sometimes
world