Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Benchmarks data team recently released a State of the County Update for 2023. 
 
This brief report builds on the Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County Report published in May 2022 and highlights notable changes in regional indicators over the past year. The berkshirebenchmarks.org website has also been updated to reflect the most current available data. 
 
The purpose of the Benchmarks initiative and report is to highlight the region's successes and challenges.
 
The 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County report provided a comprehensive overview of our region's performance across eight sectors: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Social Environment, and Transportation.  
 
In the future, the Berkshire Benchmarks team will continue to monitor these and other indicators to aid with the regional understanding of changes in these sectors and whether the work happening throughout the region is having the intended impact. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks is a collaborative initiative managed through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC). Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks aims to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region's access to quality data and analysis. 

Tags: BRPC,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Library Trustees Navigate How to Spend State Aid

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The library trustees navigated the best way to spend the state aid during their meeting on Monday evening. 
 
This year, the library received $19,928.23 from state aid, which has to be used to improve the library and the patron experience. 
 
The library receives two state aid disbursements every year. The amounts vary annually based on population and other factors.  
 
Library Director Janet Forest said she is interested in having the library invest in a screen and a projector. 
 
This would be a meaningful addition to the library that numerous library programs can utilize. At the moment, the library has a portable projector and screen. This purchase would allow the library to do more screenings and presentations.  
 
Trustee Leo Quiles said this is a great idea and opens up the possibility of more programming, such as screenings of Academy shorts, which the Berkshire Museum does in its theater. 
 
Forest agreed and said she had communicated with a librarian at the Becket Library, which has an adult movie night. The librarian informed her that libraries must have the right to screen films by paying a licensing fee. 
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories