Christa Proper, General Manager Of Richmond Telephone And Richmond NetWorx

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There are maybe 126 independent telephone companies left in the United States, said Christa Proper, the general manager of Richmond Telephone and Richmond NetWorx. This Berkshire-based company is branching out. She is navigating. Richmond Telephone has provided service to the town of Richmond for 98 years. Under Proper’s guidance, and with the help of Massachusetts’ recent deregulation of telephone services, Richmond Telephone launched Richmond NetWorx in March, 2000. Richmond NetWorx competes with Verizon in Pittsfield, North Adams, Great Barrington and the surrounding communities. They are giving the Berkshires a choice in their phone service, Proper said, maybe for the first time. The state’s Telecommunications Act of 1996 aimed to enhance competition: it allowed small companies to expand, using their competitors’ networks at discounted rates. The Richmond Independent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) did so. They added a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). They began under resale, leasing Verizon’s equipment at a discount. They have been putting in their own, though. They will switch over entirely to their own equipment in March of this year. Proper said Richmond NetWorx has limited resources, both financial and human, compared to behemoths like Verizon and Bell — at Richmond, everyone has to know a little bit of everything. Richmond has, she said, better rates and higher quality customer service. “When you call, you get a person,” she said, not a recording “for customer service, press one.” Richmond NetWorx promises to stay regional, to keep the feel of the company with one service man who knows his customers’ first names and prides himself on same-day service, and a president customers can stop on the street if they have questions. They want to be sure Richmond NetWorx does not grow too big too fast, Proper said, but they are doing well. Richmond Telephone had four employees when Proper joined the company. Richmond Telephone and Richmond NetWorx combined, employ 15 today.They have moved to the Howard Building on Fenn Street, in Pittsfield. They share the historic bank building with an antique shop and an Internet technology company. As a small company, Proper said, Richmond NetWorx feels it is important to keep up with technological advances and to offer a broad band solution to the county. They launched DSL (digital subscriber line) in Richmond in February, and will do the same for Richmond NetWorx later this year. They offer local, long distance, Internet service, caller ID, and voice mail. It is always a question “how are we going to give quicker service,” Proper said. She added that the Internet has changed the way people communicate more than any other recent advance. Richmond NetWorx will also evaluate wireless solutions for cellular phones but, she said, they have no immediate interest in cell towers. Proper has spent her whole career in small telecommunications companies. She grew up as the youngest of seven children on a Craryville, N.Y. dairy farm, and credits her parents with teaching her ethics. She began at Taconic Telephone Company in Chatham, N.Y., with a degree in business administration. Lorinda Ackley-Mazur’s grandfather founded Taconic in 1908, and her father bought Richmond in 1961, converting it from crank to dial service. She is president of Richmond Telephone and Richmond NetWorx. When Ackley-Mazur sold Taconic, in 1998, Proper came to Richmond Telephone to pilot its expansion into Berkshire County. Proper had background in planning and new business development, she explained, and it was a good fit. At Taconic Telephone, Proper managed the long distance company. She was the administrator of a Signaling System 7 network, a system for the way calls are rooted. She also worked with a cellular partnership, developing the new business. Ackley-Mazur has been her mentor, she said. Proper’s professional life in the Berkshire has been easier with Ackley-Mazur’s leadership. Proper has been accepted and treated well, she said; great progress in the acceptance of women in business in the last three years. Aside from the shops, museums, music, art and scenery in the Berkshire, she said its economic development efforts have been phenomenal recently. Those efforts encouraged Richmond Telephone to expand, she said. She praised the efforts of PR chamber events and technology alliance groups. Richmond Telephone and Richmond NetWorx take pride in their involvement with Berkshire County organizations: Kids’ Place, the Technological Alliance, the Berkshire Museum, Downtown Inc. “We are very serious about allowing our employees to donate their time elsewhere,” she said. “It is key for a small business, and for the community.” Spending time in the community and having connections matters to her both professionally and personally, she said. Proper commutes from New York state, just over the line. But she enjoys the Berkshire, and often brings her children here on the weekends. (She has two children, and a third on the way.) Her family are members of the Berkshire Museum, among other places. Someone who manages to keep their professional and personal life in balance is very lucky, she said, and can be very successful. She feels that she has.
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Village Pizza in North Adams Closes After 40 Years

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A pizzeria that's anchored the north corner of historic Eagle Street closed indefinitely on Wednesday.
 
Village Pizza owner Christina Nicholas took to Facebook to announce the closure with an emotional goodbye, explaining that medical issues were forcing her hand. 
 
"Since 2022, I've been dealing with back and spine issues," she said. "Unfortunately, it's gotten worse and the sad news is effective immediately I have to close. I am no longer able to perform the work to keep this business going and I have to concentrate on my own health."
 
Nicholas later said Village had been her "whole life," working there since she was 14 and buying it in 1991. 
 
"It's not the way I wanted to think about retiring," she said, at the door of the empty pizza place. "It's probably the hardest decision I've had to make my whole life."
 
The closure came on the heels of her most recent medical report and the reality that she was facing a long recovery. 
 
She hopes that a buyer will come through and continue its pizza legacy. "It's a good business and I'm sad to make this announcement," Nicholas said in her post.
 
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