image description — Tom Blauvelt, Wheeler & Taylor human resources manager, left, and Wheeler & Taylor President J. Scott Rote, right, deliver facemasks and shields to Great Barrington Fire Chief Charles Burger, center, for distribution to poll workers around South County.

Biz Briefs: Wheeler & Taylor Insurance Donates Masks, Face Shields for Poll Workers

10:15AM / Tuesday, May 19, 2020Print Story | Email Story

Facemask, shield donation

Charles Burger, director of the Southern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee, was struggling with how he could help local towns obtain the personal protective equipment they need to protect poll workers from coronavirus. Many of the 12 towns in the region will hold town elections soon. Several town administrators asked Burger, who is also the Great Barrington fire chief, for help in getting PPE. But that was problematic because the committee is charged with helping emergency responders in the region.

But then, unexpectedly, Scott Rote, president of Wheeler & Taylor Insurance, called him. Rote wanted to donate 2,000 surgical masks the insurance agency had purchased and then took it a step further. Rote had procured foam, elastic strapping material, and 200 sheets of polycarbonate plastic, and the staff of Wheeler & Taylor went to work constructing face shields as PPE. "It was quite a pleasant surprise when Scott called,” Burger said. “The donation came at a perfect time. It would have been a very difficult need to fill otherwise."

The face shields will be used by poll workers. Facemasks will be provided to poll workers and to ensure that all voters have proper facemasks on. Burger will allocate the PPE to the 12 towns in southern Berkshire County — from West Stockbridge and Stockbridge down to the Connecticut border. Egremont and Sheffield have elections coming up soon, and other towns will soon follow.

After the face shields are used for elections, they’ll be cleaned and repurposed afterward, Burger said. Wheeler & Taylor will unveil further COVID-19 charitable initiatives in the coming weeks. More information can be found online.

Established in 1871, Wheeler & Taylor Insurance is a full-service independent agency that is headquartered in Great Barrington with branch offices in Pittsfield, Stockbridge, Dalton, and Sheffield.

Restaurant gift certificate auction

Bon Appetit Berkshires is an effort to support restaurants in and around the southern Berkshires. Community members will buy gift certificates from participating restaurants and donate them to Bon Appetit Berkshires for an online auction that runs from Monday, May 25, through June 2 on the Bidding for Good platform. All proceeds from the auction will go to the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, co-led by Berkshire United Way and Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Recipients of the funds have included Berkshire Health Systems (Fairview Hospital), The People’s Pantry, Construct and VIM, among others. Gift certificate purchases will benefit human services organizations that have deep roots in the community and experience working with vulnerable populations

Between May 19 ad 24, people can purchase and donate gift certificates from one of the following restaurants below and tell the restaurant that you want to donate that purchased gift certificate to Bon Appetit Berkshires: Baba Louie’s, 413-329-5634; Bizen Sushi, 413-528-4343; Cantina 229, 917-232-8477, John Andrews Farmhouse Restaurant, 413-528-3469; The Marketplace, 413-248-5040, ext. 100; The Old Inn on the Green, 413-229-7924; Pleasant and Main, 413-274-6303; The Prairie Whale, 413-528-5050; and The Woodland, 860-435-0578.

From May 25 through June 2, people can purchase gift certificates through the online auction. The donated gift certificates will be available on Bidding for Good, an online auction service for non-profit causes. The auction catalogue of restaurant certificates will be featured online for seven days. Gift certificates will be delivered to the winners.

Online workshops

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) Berkshire County is collaborating with Team R3SET to help struggling local businesses create and build their online presence in a program called "Two Weeks to An Online Business." This free virtual program will start on June 1 for 20 participants who will get daily lectures and then work in small pods with digital specialists to work on their websites, e-commerce, content, email marketing, social media and search strategies.

The Covid-19 crisis has been particularly difficult for small business owners who had long relied on walk-in business or referrals and had never truly done business online before. Finding a way to address this need, this unique collaboration grew out of an initial discussion at an EforAll board meeting in April. While EforAll’s main programs are the 12-week Business Accelerator and their community Pitch Contests, Board Member and R3SET Partner John Lewis suggested an online business program as being a vital contribution to help both new and existing businesses in the Berkshires.

Funding for the pilot program is coming from the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation, Mass Growth Capital, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and Greylock Federal Credit Union. It is hoped that a successful pilot program will lead to a repeat of the program in short order. Small business owners who want to apply should go to here to fill out the online application no later than May 26.

New bank website

The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank recently announced the launch of its newly designed website. With a fresh new look and mobile responsive design, the new site provides a user friendly, modern experience allowing users the ability to view content from a variety of mobile devices. The site also conforms to current ADA guidelines, making visitor usability a priority.

"The needs of our customers are changing, and technology has reshaped the way customers engage with us.” said J. Jay Anderson, president and CEO. "We recognize the role technology plays in the banking space. Launching our new and improved website- designed with the end user in mind – moves the bank forward toward our digital goals."

A full-service mutual cooperative, community-oriented bank, The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank was established in 1889 and holds the unique experience of surviving the Great Depression and both World Wars. The bank currently has four branches in the Berkshires: 70 South St. and 110 Dalton Ave., both in Pittsfield, 431 Main St. in Dalton and 325 Main St. in Great Barrington.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

RIBCO Supply

Check out our great lineup of Boss Plows, and spreaders. 2 Locations Clarksburg & Pittsfield!

ribcosupply.com

Quick Cash

Get help fast when you need it the most! Greylock Federal Credit Union. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

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

BRTA Focuses on a New Run Schedule

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
01:26PM / Wednesday, April 29, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority is still working on maintaining its run schedules after dropping the route realignment proposal.

Last Thursday's meeting was Administrator Kathleen Lambert's first official meeting taking over the reins; retiring director Robert Malnati stayed during a transition period that ended last month.

Lambert is trying to create a schedule that will lessen cancellations. There was a two-hour meeting the week before with the drivers union to negotiate run bids and Lambert is working with the new operating company Keolis, which is taking over from Transdev.

The board spoke about anonymous emails from drivers, which Lambert said she has not seen. iBerkshires was not able to see those letters, but has received some.

"They were lengthy emails from someone describing themselves as concerning BRTA employee, and there was a signed letter from a whole group of employees basically stating their concerns. So, you know, to me, it was a set of whistleblowers, and that, what my understanding is that this really triggers a need for some type of process to review the merits of these whistleblowers, not going to call them accusations, but basically expressions of concern," said member Stephen Bannon.

A letter iBerkshires received spoke of unhappy drivers who were considering quitting because of decisions being made without "input from frontline staff," frustration and falling morale, and the removal of the former general manager shortly after Lambert came in.

Lambert said it's difficult to navigate a new change. She also noted many drivers don't want to do Saturday runs and it has been hard negotiating with drivers on the new runs.

"I would like you all to keep in mind that the process of change is super difficult. Transdev has been here for 20 years, and some of these drivers have never known any other operating company, the way some of the operations have been handled has been archaic," she said. "So getting folks up to speed on how a modern transit system works is going to be painful for them. So I don't want to say that I'm unsympathetic, because I am sympathetic, but I am trying to coax people along with a system that's going to seem very strange to them."

The board spoke about better communication between them and Lambert, citing cooperation will be best moving forward.

"There's just a lot of stuff in the air right now, and there are a lot of fires to put out to make this a coordinated effort. And if we don't keep our communications open and be straightforward, then you get blindsided about how you know the input that you could get from us about your position, and how you know what's going on in your direction, and we get blindsided. And I think that we have to make sure that this is a collaboration," said member Sherry Youngkin.

"Both sides have responsibilities, because in the long run, this advisory board is going to have to make decisions as to how we brought forward and if we've gone forward in a fair and helpful way. And I think that's hopefully what everybody is looking for also."

Transdev and Keolis held a three-day recruiting event interviewing almost 40 candidates and offering jobs to eight, but only three stayed on to start training. Lambert said it was disappointing but she will keep trying to retain more people.

In her first report to the board, she noted that ridership dipped a little over 10 percent, but still remains higher than last year, adding that was because of cancellations of services because of the lack of drivers.

Like the last meeting, some of the advisory board members were torn over the start of the Link413 service, worried that the start of the service took drivers away and the numbers of riders are low.

Lambert, however, said the ridership has doubled from last month.

"As I've spoken before, we have, generally, a six-month adoption for brand-new service before you can really go in and evaluate, are you being successful based on the grant that my predecessor wrote along with the team for PBTA and RTA, we are ahead of schedule, which is pretty good, so I'm hoping that will continue to improve," she said.

Member Renee Wood said the board never approved the service, adding the only thing she could find in the minutes was a vote to accept the equipment. She said it was supposed to be put on the agenda to discuss.

"The Link413 service has been three years in the making. It's been a grant that was accepted and has been working with our partners, PVTA and FRTA, to put into place. So I don't have the entire history of how that process worked, but it's been three years in the making, and did we not understand that once we accept that grant that we were going to put in new service?" Lambert said.

The board discussed if Title VI, the Civil Rights Act, was followed with an accurate review and accurate amount of time for public comment period on the service changes and if its attorney should review if the grant conditions were properly followed.

Lambert said changes had the 60-day comment period included in the proposed route realignment packet, giving the opportunity for the community to respond to that as well but will look into the legality of the situation with their attorney.

View Full Story