Page 8 - BusinessWest November 14, 2022

Community Spotlight
Pittsfield Is Transforming Its Economy
By George O’Brien
It’s called ‘Site 9.’
This is a 16-acre parcel within the William Stanley Business Park, created at the site of
the massive General Electric transformer manu- facturing complex in Pittsfield, which closed nearly 30 years ago.
The site has been available for development for more than two decades now, said Linda Tyer, Pittsfield’s mayor for the past seven years, but there have been no takers because, in a word, this site is ‘intimidating.’
“Every time we host a business and we iden- tify this as a potential location, they look at it, and they’re instantly intimidated because of the condition that’s in,” she explained. “It’s a big scar in the heart of our community that’s a remnant of our past. People have looked at it, and they’ve just said, ‘I can’t envision my business here.’”
Gov. Charlie Baker was in the city a few weeks ago to hand-deliver a $3 million check that might change this equation. The money will go toward infrastructure work, putting new roads in, green- ing the space, and other measures that will make this parcel more shovel-ready and, ultimately, a part of this city’s future, not merely its past.
“If we don’t get any interest for the next 10 years, at least it’s not this giant wound in the heart of our city,” Tyer went on, adding she is
expecting plenty of interest in the years to come. Site 9 is where we begin our look at Pittsfield, the latest installment of BusinessWest’s Commu-
nity Spotlight series. This is a city that has been trying to move beyond its past, and the domi- nating influence of GE on just about every facet of everyday life, since the company left. And in many ways, it has been making great progress.
Its economy is far more diverse and far less dependent on one company or one sector, said Tyer, adding that this was quite necessary given the devastation and outmigration that occurred when GE pulled up stakes. Today, the city boasts a few large employers — such as Berkshire Health Systems and General Dynamics — but the economy is dominated by small businesses across several sectors including manufacturing, IT, healthcare, and especially tourism, hospitality, and the arts.
Those latter categories now provide a good number of jobs and have contributed to a rebirth of North Street, the main thoroughfare in the city, after it was decimated by GE’s departure, said Jonathan Butler, president and CEO of 1Berk- shire, a county-wide organization focused on economic development and promotion of the region.
“The Pittsfield of 2022 is a completely differ-
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
BusinessWest
Pittsfield at a glance
YEAR INCORPORATED: 1761
POPULATION: 43,927
AREA: 42.5 square miles
COUNTY: Berkshire
RESIDENTIAL TAX RATE: $18.56 COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: $39.90
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $35,655 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: $46,228
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Mayor, City Council
LARGEST EMPLOYERS: Berkshire Health Systems; General Dynamics; Petricca Industries Inc.; SABIC Innovative Plastics; Berkshire Bank
* Latest information available