Issue #78 | Friday, June 9, 2023

North County Happenings

Upcoming

June 9 | 7 p.m. | Live Music at Bright Ideas Brewing
June 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Billy Keane Artist in Residence | Studio 9 at The Porches
June 10 | 7:30 to 10 p.m. | North Berkshire Contra Dance | First Congregational Church of Williamstown
June 11 | 3-5 p.m. | Adams Artist Meetup | North County Creates
June 11 | 4-6 p.m. | All Vinyl Vibes DJ Set | Bright Ideas Brewing
June 14 | Learn to Use Canva for Graphic Design | Hosted by Elinor Goodwin, Print Shop Owner
June 14 | 5:00 PM | 1Berkshire Social | Balderdash Cellars
June 15 | 12 p.m. | FREE Accounting Webinar for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners hosted by KB Accounting
June 15 | 8 p.m. | Midweek Music Lounge: Live DJs in the Bright Ideas Taproom
June 16 | 11:30-1:30 p.m. | Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Annual Meeting | Greylock Works
June 16 | 6 p.m. | Listen to the Art: Open Mic Night | Common Folk
June 16 | 7 p.m. | Live Music: Lamp Light Series | Asher Kai | Savvy Hive
June 16 | 7 p.m. | Reed Foehl | Studio 9 at The Porches
June 17 | 8 p.m. | Juneteenth Concert with Raiche | MASS MoCA | Presented by Berkshire Black Economic Council
June 18 | 2-3 p.m. | Juneteeth Eve Concert | MCLA Church Street Center
June 18 | Wells Provisions Crawfish Boil | Pop-Up at The Airport Rooms at Tourists
June 20 | 7 p.m. | The Wildwoods Band | Studio 9 at The Porches
June 21 | 6:30 p.m. | Trivia Night | Bright Ideas Brewing
June 21 | 7 p.m. | Summer Solstice Celebration | Optimal Healing
June 23 | 5-9:30 p.m. | North Adams Pride Celebration | MASS MoCA Courtyard
June 24 | 12-6 p.m. | Third Annual Adams Street Fair | Adams Visitor Center
June 27 | 8 a.m. | 1Berkshire Entrepreneurial Meetup | Nature’s Closet & The Smoothie Spot
June 27 | 5-7 p.m. | Northern Berkshire Artist Meetup | Norad Mill
June 30 | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Business Resource Expo | The Stationary Factory

Ongoing

Every Saturday | 9-1 | Williamstown and North Adams Farmers Market
Every Friday | 7:30 to 9 a.m. | North Adams Coffee Dates | Eagle Street Parklet
Every 1st & 3rd Thursday | 7:30 to 9 a.m. | Adams Coffee | Armory Court
Every Sunday | 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Mini Maker Market at Greylock Works
Every Friday | 8-close | Karaoke at State Street Tavern
Every 1st & 3rd Sunday | 7 p.m. | Karaoke Night at The Log in Williamstown
Every Friday | 6-8 p.m. | Common Craft Night at Common Folk
Every Friday | 4 p.m. | Bingo at North Adams Elks Lodge
Every 1st & 3rd Thursday | 7 p.m. | Live DJ Lounge at Bright Ideas Brewing
Every 1st & 3rd Friday | 6-8 p.m. | Craft Night at Common Folk
Every 2nd Monday of the Month | 6:30-7:30 p.m. | Free Pregnancy Loss Support Group | Movement Matters Healing Arts
Now On View: Megan Karlen/Conscientious Cloth, “Flax is Linen” Window Display | 77 Main St. | First in a series of fiber installations to amuse and educate. Free sidewalk viewing. 

Windsor Lake Concert Series

Weekly June 7 - August 30 | 6:30-8 p.m.
This FREE weekly concert series is hosted by the City and made possible by Adams Community Bank.

These concerts combine great music with the beautiful natural backdrop of Windsor Lake, located at the intersection of Kemp Ave. and Bradley Street. Pack a picnic, bring a chair or blanket, and let the sweet sounds of music and water carry you away on a warm summer night.

Parking is free and the bathrooms will be open at the time of these concerts.
Swimming, fishing, kayaking, and canoeing are allowed at the lake. All cancelations will be called by 3 PM on the day of the concert.

6/7-Heartwood Junction
6/14-The Hale Mountain Band
6/21-Greg Caproni
6/28-Pandemic Relief
7/5-Eli Elkus
7/12-Bluesday Night
7/19-BANG ON A CAN
7/26-The Riverbenders
8/2-E.R.I.E.
8/9- No Concert- North Adams Downtown Celebration
8/16-Sky Full of Dippers
8/23-The Eagles Community Stage Band
8/30-Sean Magwire

Want your event listed? Submit the listing here

Mendel Stained Glass Studio Kickstarter Campaign

Lisa Mendel’s Story:
I need your help to make glass fusing classes a reality in Adams.

I opened Mendel's Stained Glass Studio in 2021 because I love glass, I love teaching, and I love my hometown of Adams. For the last year and half in my studio, I've helped hundreds of students of all ages from all over the Berkshires make stained glass and mosaics, and now I want to offer fused glass classes. I need one last piece of expensive equipment to make it happen: a kiln. 

The magic of fused glass is that we merge different pieces of glass together by heating it up in a kiln to a temperature of 1,200 to 1,800 degrees. A home oven can't go anywhere near that hot, so a kiln is required. Students will come to class and work with small pieces of room-temperature glass and glass powders, and then the kiln will do its high-temperature fusing overnight to transform the pieces into a piece of beautiful art.

Like with my stained glass classes, I'll be offering a mix of one-night and four-week classes for beginners through advanced artists. I expect some of the first classes I offer to be windchimes, coasters, jewelry, ornaments, and suncatchers.

Support the Mendel Stained Glass Studio Campaign

Opportunities

The Hotel & Motel Relief Grant Program application is now available through MGCC’s online portal.

Applications must be submitted by June 16, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has made $75,000,000 available to hotels and motels negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program will award grants up to $2,000,000 per property for eligible hotels and motels, prioritizing those based on:

·    Economic impact

·    Revenue loss from 2019 to 2020

·    Those owned by minorities, women, veterans, disabled individuals, those that identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, those operating in Gateway Cities, or other communities disproportionally impacted by the pandemic  

This project is being supported by federal award number SLFRP1025 awarded to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. These funds were appropriated through the Commonwealth’s FY2023 Economic Development Bill.

Application Period

Opens – May 15, 2023, at 12:00pm

Closes – June 16, 2023, at 11:59pm

Amount of Funding

Grant awards will be a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $2,000,000, subject to demand and taking into account the number of jobs and economic activity generated by each applicant. 

Only one grant shall be made for each hotel or motel operating location. 
FYI, also applies to restaurant owners: 

https://blackfarmerfund.org/rapid-response-fund

Black Farmers and Food Business Owners in the Northeast in emergency situations are eligible to receive support of up to $10,000.

Black Farmer Fund - Rapid Response

Program Areas: Economic Development, Food & Agriculture

States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Counties: any

Description:
The Black Farmer Fund accepts applications to the Rapid Response Fund on an ongoing basis.

The main goal of this fund is to address acute emergencies to provide immediate restoration of operations for Northeast Black farmers and food business owners.

Grants are intended to solve problems caused by acute emergencies, not for chronic issues or long-term funding support.

The fund does not support capacity-building costs such as general business expenses, recurring expenses, start-up costs, or rental assistance.

Definitions
Black Farmers & Food Systems Actors: Anyone working with growing, processing, preparing, distributing, and educating others about food or herbal medicine who is aligned with the values and intentions of the fund. This includes but is not limited to farmers, ranchers, herbalists, caterers, community gardeners, restaurant owners, etc.

Acute Emergency: This includes but is not limited to equipment breakdown, weather damage, loss of crops or animals, medical expenses that have disrupted operations, stolen or damaged supplies, etc.

Eligibility:
Applicant business must be operating in the following states:
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Contact:
blackfarmerfund.org

Biz-M-Power Updates

The program has increased the matching grant from a 1:1 match to a 2:1 match. This means businesses receive $2 from MGCC for every $1 raised in crowdfunding. There is approximately $5.8 million in funding still available. This program is open until June 30, 2023. Monthly reviews will be posted on MGCC Biz-M-Power website.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

• Jul 23 Grant | Martha Boschen Porter Fund

• Aug 1 Grant | Berkshire Taconic Artist Resource Trust (for individuals)

• ongoing Grant | MGCC Digital Capabilities Grant

• ongoing Grant | Hilary Teachout Covid-19 Relief Grant

• ongoing Grant | The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

• ongoing Grant | Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Grants

• monthly Awesome Foundation Grant

• rolling Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund

• rolling Independent Journalism Grant

• rolling Eyebeam Center for the Future of Journalism

• rolling Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants

• rolling Creative Capital x Skoll x Kickstarter Funds for Asian/Black/Indigenous/Latinx Creators

• rolling A.P.E. Open Call for Project Proposals

• rolling BridgeSong Fund: Emergency Relief for Women, Nonbinary, and Genderqueer Artists of Color

• rolling New England Musicians Relief Fund

• ongoing NEFA Grant Finder List

EVENTS

• monthly Open Studios at Walkaway House

• every 4th Wednesday: Writer's Group at Bear and Bee

• 2nd Tuesday (monthly) Herbalist Meet-Up at Common Folk

• weekly Berkshire Environmental Action Team Volunteer Opportunities

• monthly events at Plant Connector

• monthly events at Savvy Hive

• weekly Common Craft Night at Common Folk

Workshops & Webinars

Two Final Technical Assistance Cohorts

“Jump Start Your Crowdfunding Campaign” with Laura Christensen

Get yourself ready to crowdfund to start, grow, or help support your business.

Cohort Kickoff Workshop: Tuesday, June 13, 4:30 to 6:30 pm

The goal of this cohort is to help participants to learn how to best leverage crowdfunding to help support their business, operations, strategic goals, and dynamic programming.

Click here to register!

“Social Media and Digital Marketing Basics” with Francesca Olsen

Learn the basics to reach your customer and grow your business.

Cohort Kickoff Workshop: Thursday, June 29, 8 to 10 am

In this webinar, Francesca will cover the basics of digital marketing and branding, starting with why branding is important and what it encompasses, then moving on to best practices for things like branding, audience building, effective social media, SEO optimization, and your website, plus tips for making the most of the time you spend on marketing. We’ll also do a short branding exercise that will allow you to center some of your ideas about your business’s identity and values, then brainstorm how to use digital marketing to tell that story. At the end of the session, you will know what it takes to build an online audience, evaluate what digital platforms are best for you, use analytics to determine future decision-making, and put together a marketing plan that covers multiple platforms.

Click here to register!

Steps to Start a Business

Tuesday, June 13 from 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST

If you are considering starting a business or in the early stages of launching one, this workshop will outline everything you need to know. 

Legal Considerations for New Business Owners

Tuesday, June 20 from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST

This workshop provides a high-level overview of a range of legal issues that entrepreneurs should be aware of when starting a new company. Attend this workshop to learn how to avoid common mistakes and employ preventative measures that can protect and ensure the success of your new business. 

Social Media Made Simple

Wednesday, June 21 from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST

Are you looking for an introduction into how to use social media for your business? In this workshop you will learn the basics of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. You will learn how to choose the right platform for your target audience and so much more!

Keeping the Books

Friday, June 23 from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST

Do you avoid your record keeping like the plague? Does the thought of a income statement make you quake in your boots? Do you have a handle on your bookkeeping but want to review the basics? This class is for you!

Accounting for Non-Accountants

Friday, June 23 from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM EST

In this workshop you will learn how to read and understand basic financial statements and how to use the numbers to make well informed operational decisions.

Navigating Change and Life Transitions As An Entrepreneur

Tuesday, June 27 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM - Westborough, MA

As entrepreneurs we are constantly going through transitions. Whether it was transitioning from employee to CEO, a side hustle to a full-time business, and so much more! This workshop is designed to provide participants with the tools and strategies to navigate change and life transitions successfully.

The Berkshire Flyer

Connect with Us!

North Adams Chamber Business Development Team
Marketing: Makayla-Courtney McGeeney
Business: Nico Dery