Page 11 - BusinessWest June 13, 2022

Community Spotlight
As High Season Arrives, Lenox Exudes Energy
By Mark Morris
Jennifer Nacht describes the beginning of the summer season in Lenox as a light switch that clicks on to a time of “happy mayhem.”
Unofficially, the season begins after Memorial Day weekend, but Nacht, executive director of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce, noted that the weekends leading up to the holiday were plenty busy, as well. In fact, as early as January she first began to see a vibrant summer on the horizon for Lenox.
“We’re excited to welcome the first full season of Tanglewood since the summer of 2019.”
Back then, Nacht had begun planning the Lenox Art Walk event scheduled for this month. Her attempt to reserve hotel rooms for artists who planned to travel to the event was more dif- ficult than anticipated.
“I was able to find only three rooms after calling several different hotels back in January,” Nacht said. “They were all so apologetic and said
that because of weddings and other events, every place was booked full.”
This difficulty with finding rooms is just one indication of what promises to be a sizzling sum- mer for Lenox, which, because of its tourism- based economy, faced innumerable challenges during the past two summers of COVID, and is poised for a breakout year.
Indeed, ‘healthy’ and ‘robust’ are terms that Marybeth Mitts, chair of the Lenox Select Board, uses to describe tourism in her community
as high season, the three months of summer, commence.
“We’re excited to welcome the first full sea- son of Tanglewood since the summer of 2019,” Mitts said, adding that, with a full summer of Boston Symphony Orchestra performances as well as a Popular Artists series, Tanglewood’s economic impact on Lenox and the Berkshires is considerable.
As one small snapshot, Nacht pointed out that James Taylor’s annual shows on July 3 and 4 will bring more than 36,000 people to town over just those two days.
Shakespeare and Company is another Lenox-
Lenox
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BusinessWest
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
JUNE 13, 2022 11
Lenox
at a glance
YEAR INCORPORATED: 1767
POPULATION: 5,205
AREA: 21.7 square miles
COUNTY: Berkshire
RESIDENTIAL TAX RATE: $12.10
COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: $14.78
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $85,581
MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: $111,413
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Board of Selectmen, Open Town Meeting
LARGEST EMPLOYERS: Canyon Ranch, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kimball Farms
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