Company Notebook

Norman Rockwell Museum to Be Honored by 1Berkshire

PITTSFIELD — 1Berkshire announced that the Norman Rockwell Museum has been selected as the 2025 Putting the Berkshires on the Map honoree. 1Berkshire presents this award annually to a project, initiative, or organization that has left an indelible mark on the region and contributed substantially to the advancement of the public perception and overall image of the Berkshires. This recognition will be presented at the 12th annual Celebrate the Berkshires event on Thursday, Sept. 18. From its home in Stockbridge, the museum has welcomed more than 6.7 million visitors and brought travelers from across the globe to experience the Berkshires. Through nearly 250 exhibitions — circulating to 47 states and seven countries — as well as cultural diplomacy partnerships with the U.S. State Department in Ethiopia, Russia, and Mongolia, and collaborations with institutions including the White House and the United Nations, the museum has expanded its reach far beyond the region. At the same time, it has remained firmly rooted in the Berkshires, enriching the local economy and reinforcing the county’s reputation as a world-class arts destination. Initiatives like the establishment of the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies and the museum’s robust traveling exhibition program have sparked new scholarship and public engagement, cementing the museum as a national leader in the field. Celebrate the Berkshires will also feature the announcement of the 2025 Berkshire Trendsetter Award winners, recognizing individuals, businesses, and organizations shaping the future of the Berkshires. Tickets are available at 1berkshire.com/events/celebrate-the-berkshires.

HCC Celebrates Opening of New Tech Center

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) celebrated the grand opening of its new Tech Center with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 3. The HCC Tech Center, located on the second floor of the HCC Campus Center, is a new space dedicated to providing students with all the technological support they need to be successful. Funding for the Tech Center came from a $250,000 Tech Rise grant HCC received from the Employment and Training Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. The money was principally used to buy furniture, computers, and other technology for the center, as well as the hiring of student interns. Alongside Manager Walter Pfau and other IT staff, the Tech Center will be run by a team of student interns who can also offer one-on-one support to their classmates who need assistance with their devices, computer programs, and apps. Previously, students had to go across campus to the first floor of the Frost Building to the IT Help Desk for all their computer needs. The HCC Tech Center is more centrally located, across from Student Engagement, adjoining the HCC Bookstore, and steps away from the cafeteria and food court, where students tend to congregate between classes. In addition to one-on-one tech support, the Tech Center has computer stations for students to use, a classroom for interactive workshops and meetings, and cubicles where other HCC support staff, such as financial aid counselors, can set up shop during special events, like Registration Express and Accepted Students Days.

CT State Asnuntuck Participates in Metallica Scholars Initiative

ENFIELD, Conn. — CT State Asnuntuck announced its selection as one of the community colleges invited to join year 7 of the prestigious Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI), supported by a $50,000 grant aimed at enhancing the student experience and career readiness within Asnuntuck’s advanced manufacturing technology programs. The grant allows students to reach their academic objectives and start their careers in advanced manufacturing. The scholarship dollars they receive help them to purchase personal protective equipment, books, and supplies. As a result of the funding, students obtain their OSHA 10 card. All Within My Hands, the nonprofit philanthropic organization created by the members and management of Metallica, recently announced the seventh year of its Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI) with its largest grant to date, totaling approximately $3 million. MSI now has a presence in 75 colleges across all 50 U.S. states and the territory of Guam, and is expected to reach approximately 10,000 students.

Country Bank Grants $20,000 to Revitalize CDC

WARE — Country Bank recently continued its longtime support of Revitalize Community Development Corp. (CDC) with a $20,000 donation. Revitalize performs free critical repairs, modifications, and rehabilitation on the homes of low-income families with children, the elderly, veterans, and individuals with disabilities; helps bridge food insecurity gaps through delivery of fresh foods; and positions community members toward healthier lives through education and support for chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes. Since its founding in 1992, Revitalize CDC has served 30,000 individuals, investing more than $52 million into Western Mass.

Yankee Candle Empties Moat for Dakin Humane Society

SPRINGFIELD — Dakin Humane Society was recently the recipient of a donation that totaled more than $11,000 from Yankee Candle Co. The funds came from coins tossed in Yankee Candle Village’s in-store moat, adjacent to its Bavarian Village, by store visitors between 2019 and June 2025. The coins were placed in 48 baskets and were trucked from Yankee Candle Village in South Deerfield to Dakin’s Springfield location by Yankee Candle’s Jeff Palmer, Sales and Operations manager, and Ben Ware, Property and Guest Services manager. Ware’s team handled the process of cleaning the moat and removing the coins. Once at Dakin, it took a team of 40 volunteers nearly four weeks to clean and sort the coins into separate denominations and prepare them for bank deposit. The total value of the coins is still being processed by the bank, which takes additional time, but the preliminary amount indicates a donation of more than $11,000. The donation has been a longstanding tradition of generosity from Yankee Candle that originated in 1994. The late Mike Kittredge, founder of Yankee Candle, was known by many to be an animal lover and decided the moat money should be directed to Dakin to help support its animals, programs, and services. Each year since, the coins in the moat were collected and brought to Dakin until the COVID pandemic halted the process in 2020.

DC Station to Open on Oct. 4

NORTHAMPTON — Developer Bruce Volz will open a modern fueling station, called DC Station, at 5 Fulton Ave. in Northampton on Oct. 4, providing 10 fast, level-3 charging ports for electric vehicles (EVs) and a place for drivers to grab a cup of coffee or meal while they wait. The station — named DC for direct current — will also offer a learning hub, EV Base Camp, for those interested in EVs. The grounds will be landscaped with native plants to support local ecosystems and biodiversity. An array of solar panels will cover the charging stations to help defray the cost of the electricity. Volz seeks tenants for DC Station to join in this enterprise — in particular, a coffee house or café to serve customers from early morning to afternoon, and a casual restaurant, such as a pizza or taco house, that would be open until later in the evening. The lot housing DC Station was previously the site for a gas station and used car lot, Pleasant Journey. The Planning Board unanimously approved Volz’s project in June 2024. The facility faces Fulton Street, with access to charging and parking on Conz and Pleasant streets; the level-3 chargers supplied by Lynkwell are expected to be operational on Oct. 4.

Forbes Library Opens Hess Performance Stage

NORTHAMPTON — Forbes Library in Northampton celebrated the opening of the new Hess Performance Stage on the library’s west lawn with a grand opening on Sept. 13 with an event featuring the O-Tones playing swing, blues, soul, Motown, Latin, and R&B. The stage is open air with a covered roof and ramped handicap access. It has lights and electricity, and soon will also have a sound system. This project is many years in the making and is intended to provide the necessary infrastructure for outdoor programs and events as well as a new community gathering space. The library has a long tradition of outdoor programming, with the first photographed event held in 1918 when an overflow crowd got together on the library grounds to sing patriotic songs in celebration of the end of World War I. The stage was designed by HAI Architects of Northampton and built by Campora Construction Inc. of Ludlow. It has a steel structure and curved roof profile inspired by the arches of the library’s building and featuring colors that also reflect the sandstone and granite of the building. The project was funded by substantial gifts from Marjorie Hess and Rudolph Talaber, for whom the stage is named, along with additional support provided by the Friends of Forbes, the city of Northampton, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, MassDevelopment, AARP Massachusetts, and many individual donors.