Legacy Banks is entering into a "strategic affiliation" with Renaissance Investment Group LLC of Pittsfield.

The bank, one of the largest in the county, said it plans to purchase 10-year-old Renaissance, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. According to a statement, Renaissance will continue as an independent investment adviser and will operate separately and distinctly from Legacy Portfolio Management.

Legacy Chairman J. Williar Dunleavy said the investment is a win-win, since both companies will be able offer clients alternatives in financial counseling and investment management.

Renaissance President and Managing Director H. Ashley Smith Jr. said the company's investment philosophy won't change and that clients will continue to see their same investment managers. "We will maintain our name as well as our South Street offices."
 
Renaissance's track record and financial strength attracted Legacy, said Smith.

Both men said a "seamless transition" is expected and that clients should notice no change. The transaction is expected to be completed by April 30.

Legacy Banks is headquartered in Pittsfield and employs 186 people in 19 offices throughout Western Massachusetts and eastern New York. Renaissance lists seven officers and counselors and manages a $95 million portfolio.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Art is serious business and one of the best ways to learn locally how to prosper is through the Tricks of the Trade series offered through the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center.

The 4-year-old series concludes the season with three workshops on "How Can You Secure a Residency?" with local artists and directors. The workshops run Tuesday through Thursday, April 13-15, at 6:30 p.m. in three locations.

Local artist and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts professor Melanie Mowinski leads all three sessions. The first, on April 13 at MCLA Gallery 51 on Main Street, will be with Heather Phillips, director of the Contemporary Artist Center at Woodside in Troy, N.Y. The center was founded in North Adams and has nurtured artists over the past two decades.

Artist C. Ryder Cooley is featured April 14 at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield. Cooley is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and musician. She is the creator of "Animalia: Stories of Collapse, Calamity and Departure," an animation, a performance and an illustrated artist book.

Calliope Nicholas, residency director of Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, N.Y., finishes up the series on April 15 at IS183 Art School in Stockbridge. The Millay Colony offers one-month residencies to visual artists, composers and writers. Nicholas is also director of the Film Columbia Festival in Chatham, N.Y., and producer of an affiliated high school film program.

"We have priced, branded, written about, showed and schmoozed about our work," said Jessica Conzo, BCRC director, of the previous workshops. "Now it is time to find the time and space to be inspired and create new work."

The sessions are free and open to the public with advance registration. For more information or to register, contact Conzo at 413-663-5253.

BCRC is a program of MCLA. The arts program is produced in collaboration with Berkshire Creative, Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development and IS183 Art School.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Dr. Eugene Messenger is planning to expand his practice with a move to the former Jae's Inn on Curran Highway.

Messenger and his wife, Donna, purchased the vacant structure on March 25 for $700,000 from restaurateur Jae H. Chung. The practice's current building on East Main Street will be placed on the market with Steepleview Realty.

"The office is growing and I kind of a outgrew this place," said Messenger on Monday. "There's no parking, not even for my staff."

The Victorian building's historic status and close neighbors made it difficult to adapt it to contemporary needs such as parking, handicapped access and more office space.

"I love this building and I didn't want to tear it up to do what I wanted to do," he said.

Space shouldn't be a problem at the new place, which boasts plentiful parking, a first-floor restaurant and dining area, and an 11-room inn.

There's even enough room for the Messengers to move back into the same building as the practice. They had lived on the second floor of the Victorian and the doctor turned the space above the garage into a "man cave," he said. The couple, however, moved to a home on 15 acres behind Natural Bridge State Park some years ago. That property, too, will be put up for sale.

Messenger needs the space. He has 10 employees and eight chairs but his practice is growing by 20 or 30 patients a month. The move will allow him to add three more chairs and another hygienist.

Also coming on board will be his daughter, Annamarie, when she graduates in two years from dental school. After eight years of study, she'll do her residency with her father, who doesn't think he'll be too tough on her. "I'm afraid she'll be tough on me."

Messenger said he'd actually thought the inn would be a good place for a practice when he came to the city nearly two decades ago but never really believed it could happen. But when Chung put up signs announcing the closure last December, Messenger jumped at it — just before it went into foreclosure.

Renovations started Friday with Mackin Corp., JP Painting and electrician Michael Lescarbeau. The new office is expected to open around the end of June.

With a Walmart Super Center planned just up the road, Messenger thinks his high-profile location will help his already burgeoning practice — some 6,000 patients — to keep growing.

"I'm going to get so much traffic, it's unreal," he said.

Legacy Banks will host a breakfast workshop for small businesses on Thursday, April 1, from 8:45 to 10:15 at the Legacy Financial Center, 99 North St., Pittsfield.

State Rep William "Smitty" Pignatelli and and former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III will be the featured speakers at the event, which will focus on steps that businesses can take to overcome obstacles in a difficult economy.

The program is free and open to local business owners/leaders on a first-come, first-served basis. Call 800-292-6634 to reserve a space.

Williamstown Wellness, 610 Main St., will be the site for the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours event on Tuesday, April 6. The event, which will include healthy snacks, a raffle, and a tour of the Tasha Yoga studio and massage therapy treatment room, runs from 5 to 7 p.m. and costs $10.

Raffle items include a half-price massage with Nicole Methot, LMT, a  Dr. Hauschka skin care basket, and a half-hour private yoga session with Tasha Judson, certified Anusara yoga teacher. Proceeds from the event will go to the Mt. Greylock Regional High School Wellness Department to purchase yoga mats for students to use in gym classes.

Reservations are required; contact the Chamber at 413-458-9077 or info@williamstownchamber.com.

The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce is having a Business After Hours Event on Thursday, April 8 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Webster-Ingersoll in Sheffield. RSVP to visitor@southernberkshirechamber.com.

The Southern Berkshire Chamber plans a Chamber breakfast featuring Sen. Ben Downing on Friday, April 23, at the Route 7 Grill, Great Barrington. The breakfast runs from 7:45 to 9:15 and costs $20 for Chamber members; $25 for nonmembers. RSVP to sbcc@rnetorx.com.

SPARK!, the networking group for Berkshire creative professionals, is holding a networking event on Wednesday, April 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Barrington Stage Company, 30 Union St., Pittsfield. People working in art, culture, design, innovation and technology, whether in industry or the arts, are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact info@berkshirecreative.org or call 413-822-8324.   
 

The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts continues its free "Tricks of the Trade" professional development seminar series for artists, with a focus on helping artists secure residency programs. The workshop schedule and speaker list is as follows:

Tuesday, April 13, 6:30 p.m.: MCLA Gallery 51, 51 Main St., North Adams: Heather Phillips (Director, Contemporary Artist Center at Woodside)

Wednesday, April 14, 6:30 p.m.: Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Ave., Pittsfield: C. Ryder Cooley (Artist)

Thursday, April 15, 6:30 p.m.: IS183 Art School, 13 Willard Hill Rd., Stockbridge: Calliope Nicholas (Residency Director, Millay Colony for the Arts)

Advance registration is required. For more information, and/or to register, contact MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center Program Coordinator, Jessica Conzo, at 413-663-5253 or Jessica.Conzo@mcla.edu.

There will be a SPARKettes networking event for those working in the visual arts, on Tuesday, April 13, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., at Jae's Spice, North Street, Pittsfield. The free event includes hors d'ouevres and a cash bar; RSVP here.

Berkshire Community College and the Employers Association of the Northeast are offering free training sessions on a variety of topics:

Friday, April 2, 8:30 to 4:30: "Introduction to Quality Management," BCC Main Campus, Classroom H219

Wednesday, April 7, 8:30 to 4:30: "Statistical Process Control," BCC Main Campus, (classroom tbd)

Friday, April 9, 8:30 to 4:30: "Problem Solving and Decision Making," BCC Main Campus, Classroom H219

To register, contact Kathleen Dion at 413-236-5252 or kdion@berkshirecc.edu or Shannon Miller Pignatelli at 413-236-2126 or spignate@berkshirecc.edu

The Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce will host a membership event on Monday, April 26, from noon to 2 at The Shaker Mill Tavern, 5 Albany Road, West Stockbridge. The theme for the event is "Show and Tell," an informational presentation of the area's summer and fall cultural activities.

Featured speakers will be from the Berkshire Botanical Garden, Naumkeag, Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum, The Clark, The Bidwell House, Ventfort Hall, The Mount, The Mission House, Norman Rockwell Museum, Berkshire Theatre Festival, MASS MoCA, Chesterwood Museum and Jacob’s Pillow.

The event is open to the public and the cost for lunch is $15. No walk-ins will be accepted; reservations must be made by noon on Wednesday, April 21. Contact Barbara J. Zanetti at 413-298-5200.

On Thursday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network will hold the workshop  "Your First Business Plan." Topics will include business planning, financing and marketing. The presenter will be Keith Girouard, regional director of the Berkshire Regional Office of the MSBDA; the workshop takes place at the MSBCA Berkshire Regional Office, 75 North Street, Suite 360, Pittsfield.

The cost is $25; make checks payable to the University of Massachusetts and mail to the MSBDC, 75 North Street, Suite 360, Pittsfield MA 01201; register online at www.msbdc.org/berkshire

LENOX, Mass. — The Lenox Chamber of Commerce is working on a new visitor information center, to be located in the Town Hall, 6 Walker St.

According to the Chamber, the new center is due to open mid-spring and will have a "half price" ticket agency for some of the area's attractions, and will provide "the usual lodging, restaurant, shopping referrals and informational services" the Chamber office currently provides. In addition, there will be a guest phone for local area calls and a computer display of the county's attractions. The center will be open seven days a week during the high visitor season, with hours to be determined during the off season.

Vickie Salvatore from the Lenox Historical Society is helping with the decor.

If you'd like to volunteer with the project, contact Ralph at the Chamber (413-637-3646), Peggy Roethel at the Garden Gables Inn (413-637-0193) or Judie Culver at the Purple Plume (413-637-3442), or email info@lenox.org.