St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
We're trying out blogs to offer shorter, easy-to-find news. Let us know what you think.
Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
Nonprofits Pump $1.9 Billion Into Berkshire Economy
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff 01:06AM / Thursday, October 29, 2009
Economist Stephen Sheppard explains a point in a report on nonprofits' economic impact Wednesday. Top, chamber members involved on boards and other aspects of nonprofits stand up, showing the entities' local reach.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The nonprofit sector has become a major part of the region's economic health, generating $1.9 billion in the Berkshire County economy every year and employing more than a third of its work force, according to a study released this week.
"The nonprofit sector is a large, robust and growing part of the Berkshire economy," Stephen Sheppard, a Williams College economy professor and director of the Center for Community Development, told a capacity crowd at the Crowne Plaza on Wednesday.
The monthly breakfast meeting of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce was the setting for the unveiling of the nearly 18-month study commissioned by the chamber that looked at the impact of nonprofits with income greater than $25,000 over a 10-year period. The study was done by C3D, a collaboration of Williams and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art that looks at the effects of arts-related development.
The results were eye-opening for the more than 400 chamber members attending the breakfast.
The county has more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations. Of those, more than 700 are 501(c)3 organizations employing a total of more than 25,000 people, primarily in the health and education fields. They also account for more than a third of the local economy, pegged at between $5 billion and $5.25 billion a year.
"Nonprofits are spending over $1 billion here in the economy, and that is generating both within the sector and within the other parts of the economy that they patronize and support a total of $1.9 billion of local income," said Sheppard. "That's enormous in the context of a $5 billion-a-year economy. That's huge."
Nonprofits earning more than $25,000 are required to file with the IRS. Sheppard said other elements of the nonprofit sector, such as churches and public schools systems, were not included in the survey because of its focus or the difficulty in acquiring financial information. Their contributions should not be discounted but maybe more difficult to analyze, he said.
A large number of those studied are reliant on donations and grants; in total, they hold more than $4.1 billion in assets. That number "shows the ability of this sector to present itself to the community, to attract resources from the community and generate expenditures," said Sheppard.
The county definitely supports nonprofits: There are more nonprofits per person in Berkshire County than in the state as a whole, and Massachusetts has more per person than the national average.
Since the study is focused before last year's financial meltdown, he said there will likely be decrease in those assets. Williams College, for instance, holds a significant portion of those assets but took a hit this year to its endowment.
"Berkshire County led the nation in entering the recession first," he said. "On the good side, there is at least some preliminary hint that we may get out of the recession more rapidly."
The nonprofit sector is unlikely to decrease in size. Over a 10-year period, arts and culture nearly doubled, for example, and employs 10 percent to 15 percent of the nonprofit work force. On top of that, it generates an estimated $37 million more in ancillary spending atop the $145 million it generates yearly and 2,500 people it employs..
The health-care sector is the biggest, employing more than 10,000 workers and generating upwards of $970,000 a year; the education and human services aren't far behind, with nearly as many employes combined and more than $720,000 million.
"I was very surprised," said chamber President Michael Supranowicz of the study's results. What it does is give ammunition to the chamber's presentation to prospective companies on the important amenities available here.
"One of the most important factors is the health-care sector because employers want to know their employees and their employees families will be able to have the goods and services they need to lead good, healthy productive lives," he said. "So this is huge for us to be able ... to draw a company. We do have those quality-of-life factors."
James Canavan, outgoing director of Northern Berkshire United Way, said there was another benefit as well because many of the nonprofits were seeking grants and other funding sources from outside the county.
"These groups are bringing in outside money and spending it here," he said.
The next step will be to build on the study's findings and seek ways to better collaborate. The chamber will host workshop along those lines on Jan. 20.
Yes let's eliminate all our state forests, preserves, land trusts, reservoirs that take away tax revenues from cities and towns. Besides don't they cost taxpayers money to maintain? While we are at it let's tax non-profits based upon the ones I think are least important as contributors to the quality of life here in the Berkshires. Better yet, let's close down all those free-loading non-profits. I just hope our economy doesn't totally collapse because without those silly non-profit jobs...who's purchasing our local products and services? Oh well.
from: J. Reil
on: 11-19-2009
What do you get when a Berkshire County non-profit organization analyzes Berkshire County non-profits? Not surprisingly, a glowing report for non-profits. The report commissioned by the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce contains some very helpful statistics, but in some cases, should just be the beginning of further review, particularly by taxpayers. Conclusions should not be reached based on that report alone. Non-profits, while benefiting the community greatly also cause great loss in taxes to the local, State and Federal government. That information was not provided in the report. Tax loss is likely extraordinary and may offset, if not outweigh, the benefits cited in the report. One should ask who benefits from the money going to the non-profits and who benefits if the money is paid in taxes? Non-profits were originally intended to benefit the public or be charitable. Some non-profits appear to primarily benefit the wealthy, and I believe, in that case, they should not be tax exempt, because the public is not primarily wealthy. I have no problem allowing “true” non-profits their tax exemptions and allowing deductible donations to them by the wealthy. When non-profits don’t pay their fair share in taxes and receive public benefits, and wealthy individuals avoid taxes on money donated to the non-profits, the rest of us are paying for it. I would suggest, in some cases, non-profits cause harm to other organizations that truly benefit the public (like Towns and public schools). I would suggest that some non-profits unfairly compete with profit organizations that provide the same service, but pay taxes. I would also suggest certain non-profits receive donations and other benefits that would otherwise be available to truly public causes. Further analysis needs to be done on these issues. I am specifically concerned about private schools that primarily benefit the wealthy. Taxpayers are subsidizing private schools by covering the taxes private schools and their donors don’t pay and by paying taxes for government supported loans and other benefits. Private schools continue to amass huge endowments while they benefit from tax exemptions and donations that should be reserved for truly public causes. Every non-profit should truly benefit the public or be taxed.
--
Gail E. Garrett
Mt. Washington Ma
from: Gail E. Garrett
on: 11-16-2009
Top Stories...
Recount Countdown in North Adams NORTH ADAMS - Poll workers were steadily making their way through more than 5,000 ballots today to...
Nonprofits earning more than $25,000 are required to file with the IRS. Sheppard said other elements of the nonprofit sector, such as churches and public schools systems, were not included in the survey because of its focus or the difficulty in acquiring financial information. Their contributions should not be discounted but maybe more difficult to analyze, he said.