Executive Director Thomas Matuszko highlights the work the commission as done this past year at BRPC's annual meeting.

RICHMOND, Mass.— Berkshire Regional Planning Commission had a busy year addressing the region's needs through a dozen cross-cutting programs.

"We really are out of the COVID era and have gotten into a real routine working with our communities and other organizations," Executive Director Thomas Matuszko said.

Community members filled the barn at Balderdash Winery on Wednesday for BRPC's annual meeting.  The regional planning agency closed fiscal year 2024 with a revenue increase of nearly $858,000 over the previous year, and a total income of more than $6.9 million from grants, local organizations, and nonprofit agreements.

State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli was given the Kusik Award for making outstanding contributions to planning in Berkshire County and Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Edward Augustus spoke about the Healey-Driscoll administration's $5.1 billion Affordable Homes Act.

Both commended BRPC on the dizzying amount of work it puts into the county.

"I'm exhausted just listening to all of the things that you're working on," Augustus said. "It's incredible, the breadth of topics and certainly the breadth of communities that you're working in."

Similarly, Pignatelli said, "You are the only countywide organization that has their fingerprints and footprints in every single community in Berkshire County."

The annual Kusik Award is named in honor of the late Charles Kusik, a Richmond resident who placed his expert imprint on the zoning bylaws of nearly every town in the Berkshires for over three decades.