1Berkshire Welcomes New Economic Recovery Corps Fellow

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — 1Berkshire announced the arrival of its new Economic Recovery Corps fellow, Lani Willmar.

The ERC Fellowship is a national program run by the International Economic Development Council thanks to funding from the United States Economic Development Administration. For the next year, Lani will be working with the Economic Development team at 1Berkshire, in partnership with the Berkshire Innovation Center, to assist existing and new efforts focused on supporting  the region's innovation economy. 1Berkshire is one of only 64 host organizations across the country selected to host an ERC fellow, making it an exciting and rare chance to leverage highly skilled professional capacity for regional good.

The ERC Fellowship role in the Berkshires is focused on four primary areas, including:

• Bridging opportunities for youth to engage significantly in entrepreneurial activities within small and innovative businesses in the region.

• Helping to build additional connective tissue across partners and qualified referral resource providers across the four counties of Western Massachusetts.

• Identifying and pursuing new funding and technical assistance opportunities to bring into the region to support current and future business success.

• Sharing the authentic narrative of existing innovative businesses, entrepreneurs, and powerful stories being written across the region's diverse economic landscape. 

Willmar is a Vietnamese American entrepreneur who began her journey in the Berkshires as a QuestBridge Scholar for low-income, first-generation students at Williams College. As the founder of Ethos Pathways and Ethos Admissions, she leads two youth-centered social impact organizations focused on education access, climate justice, and workforce development.

Drawing on both lived and professional experience, Willmar strives to bridge gaps in educational and economic mobility for students. She brings a decade of expertise building cross-sector youth development programs along with private tech-sector experience in early stage talent acquisition and scaled hiring. Willmar's work draws from both a global and local lens, including her time as a Fulbright Scholar in rural Slovakia working with beekeepers and at an agriculture trade school, and most recently as a member of the Berkshire Innovation Center's Stage 2 Accelerator. 

Pittsfield Council Says 'Yes' to Soccer at Crane Park

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:35AM / Saturday, June 13, 2026

The pitch will have the logos of the city and the US. and Massachusetts soccer associations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is gladly accepting a "mini-pitch" from the U.S. Soccer Foundation to bring games back to Crane Park. 

Fueling excitement around the World Cup, U.S. Soccer has been working with the Massachusetts Youth Soccer League to make these facilities available to 20 communities — one of which will be at the park at the intersection of Benedict Road and Springside Avenue. 

The City Council accepted the gift on Tuesday during its regular meeting. 

A mini pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates. It has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together; installed on the existing inline hockey court. 

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham said he has gone door to door speaking with nearby residents, and they are "really excited" about the upgrade. He also sees it as a great addition. 

"They say that nobody really uses the court a ton now, and they are excited to see kids back on there playing," he said. 

Decades ago, the Crane Park facility was a wading pool. It closed in 1980, and before the turn of the century, it was filled in and marked for hockey. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath explained that the wooden border around the rink is showing its age, has been vandalized and tagged, and the facility is seeing a "real decline" in use. 

"This would seem to be an appropriate spot for us to remove the board system that's in place and install the mini pitch system through this grant," he said.