Government Archive

Call for Letters of Support from the Massachsuetts Broadband Institute

Call for Letters of Support from the Massachsuetts Broadband Institute

As you well know, areas in our community and throughout western Massachusetts are unserved by basic broadband services.  In 2008, the state legislature and Governor Patrick established the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) to take on this challenge and bring broadband access to all unserved citizens, starting in western Massachusetts.  To help achieve this goal, the MBI is in the process of applying for federal infrastructure funding to build an advanced fiber-optic network in the region.  This “middle mile” network will be open to all service providers who want to provide broadband services to unserved citizens.  To be successful, the MBI needs your assistance!

The MBI has asked WesternMA Connect to lead the effort to collect local letters and collaborate with existing broadband committees to assist in the effort.  In order to meet the submission deadline,  WesternMA Connect asks that supporters complete and return letters to them by Wednesday, March 10 in one of three ways:

1) email a word or pdf document with an electronic signature;
2) email a scanned version of a signed letter; or
3) mail the letter by regular mail to:
Sharon Ferry
WesternMA Connect, Inc.
75 South Church Street
Pittsfield, MA  01201
Click here for a sample letter.
PLEASE DO NOT MAIL LETTERS DIRECTLY TO ASSISTANT SECRETARY STRICKLING.


State and Future of MASS Film Industry @ The Boston Globe

State and Future of MASS Film Industry @ The Boston Globe

Even if it is not always immediately apparent in the Berkshires, the recent debate over the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit affects a growing sector of our economy. Read the below Boston Globe article to learn more about more about the industry, the tax credit debate, and the recently released study from the University of Massachusetts-Boston on this sector’s  economic imapct.

Film projection

With tax credits and facilities, state can build stable movie sector, study says

By Robert Gavin Globe Staff / February 11, 2010

Massachusetts has the potential to develop a small but robust film industry that could establish the state as a leading production center and support thousands of good-paying jobs, according to a study to be released today by the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

oosted by a generous tax credit, Massachusetts has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing locations for film and television production since 2005, with employment in the industry jumping about 30 percent, according to the study. But the state has more than just incentives to offer, it said, Massachusetts has a base of facilities and available skills; a ready labor force from film programs at local universities; a variety of service firms that support production; and a technology sector of software firms and video game developers that is well-positioned to exploit an accelerating shift to digital entertainment.

“There is something here to build on,’’ said David Terkla, a UMass-Boston economics professor and a coauthor of the study. “We’re never going to be the feature film center, but this is a part of the arts sector that can employ a reasonable amount of people at pretty good salaries.’’

The study was released as Governor Deval Patrick has proposed cutting the money available for the state’s film tax credit, a discount offered to companies that bring productions to Massachusetts, to $50 million a year from about $125 million. In an interview with Globe reporters and editors yesterday, Patrick said cutting the credit was among the many steps needed to close a sizable budget gap.

“I support the film tax credit,’’ Patrick said. “I can see what it’s done in rapidly incubating that industry. But we’re at a place today where we have to make those kinds of choices.’’

Film tax credits have been controversial. Critics say they subsidize Hollywood moguls and provide short-lived and minimal benefits for the local economy. A recent study by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue found that each dollar spent on the tax credit generated only 16 cents in taxes for the state.

The UMass-Boston study did not address the impact of the tax credit but provided a profile of the industry and the economic activity it generates. Its authors praised the revenue department study but said tax collections are only one measure of an industry’s economic activity.

The state’s film industry is still small, employing about 6,000 in 2008, compared with nearly 150,000 in California. But it has added jobs quickly as overall state employment fell.

Nearly 30 films and television shows were filmed in Massachusetts in the past two years, including “The Zookeeper,’’ starring Kevin James, Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island,’’ and John Wells’s “The Company Men,’’ starring Ben Affleck.

The study estimated that the film industry in 2008 created about $1 billion in economic activity in Massachusetts, as every dollar spent directly generated nearly another dollar in activity.

It appears that tax credits are not the sole reason, the study said. States with more generous tax credits, such as Michigan, experienced declines in film and television employment.

Massachusetts offers a variety of locations – urban, rural, and coastal – and a world-class city, Boston, which is attractive to movie executives and stars, the study said. Production facilities include public television station WGBH, which produces nonfiction programs, and a ready workforce, including film graduates from schools such as Emerson College and Boston University.

As the digital revolution in filmmaking accelerates, production will become decentralized away from Hollywood and New York, the study said, providing opportunities for Massachusetts.

“This is a rapidly growing industry,’’ said Pacey C. Foster, a study coauthor. “The question for the long term is whether this is all incentive driven. The answer depends on what you think is going to happen to the media industry.’’

Click here to visit the Berkshire Film and Media Commission and learn more about film making in the Berkshires!

Click here to visit the Boston Globe online and learn more about what is happening in the Massachusetts Film Industry!

American for the Arts Comments on Obama’s 2010 Budget Recommendations

American for the Arts Comments on Obama’s 2010 Budget Recommendations

On February 1, 2010 the White House released President Obama’s budget recommendations for FY 2011. Below is a statement from Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts on arts and arts education funding in the budget:

“At a time when the Americans for the Arts National Arts Index shows that because of the current economy support for the arts is at its lowest point in a decade, arts organizations have been relying on one area where funding has been on the increase—the leveraging power of federal funding for the arts and humanities. The Administration’s FY 2011 budget request of $161.3 million for the National Endowment for the Arts—while just a fraction of the $6.3 billion of direct expenditures for all arts nonprofits in the U.S.—is unfortunately a $6 million decrease from what Congress appropriated for FY 2010. We now turn to Congress to continue its investment trend in providing additional appropriations for the NEA. The FY 2011 NEA budget also includes an announcement of a new agency program called Our Town. We are excited to see that this important initiative is designed to strengthen communities through the arts. The backbone for the arts starts at the local level and having the federal government strategically invest in this kind community-based direction will spur further support for the arts. But why hamper the potential impact of this new initiative by reducing the NEA’s overall budget?

“The President’s budget also includes a number of new proposals to strengthen our education system and build a 21st workforce. However, the consolidation of the Arts in Education (AIE) program within the Department of Education’s new ‘Effective Teaching and Learning for Well-Rounded Education’ category puts us at unease and could lead to a diminished focus on arts education. This consolidation of the only identified arts-specific education program at the Department of Education seems to be in contradiction to the Administration’s previous strong vocal support of the arts. While the total available AIE grant funds are unknown at this time, it is an unbeneficial move at a time when arts education cuts are happening across the country. The arts are a proven integral part of every child’s development, preparing them for school, work, and life in the competitive 21st century global economy.

“The nation’s creative industries and arts workers are ready to continue to play their role in assisting with economic recovery, job training and creation, and the development of a well-rounded education that includes robust learning in the arts in order to provide workers of tomorrow with the creative and innovative skills they need today. The 5.7 million jobs and $166 billion in economic impact from the nonprofit arts sector alone hang in the balance. Further commitment from the federal government is needed to allow these groups to reach their full potential.”

Click here to visit Americans for the Arts online and learn more!

House Gives Initial Approval to Jobless Insurance Rate Changes

House Gives Initial Approval to Jobless Insurance Rate Changes

The House budget committee on Thursday approved an unemployment insurance rate freeze bill that aides say would hit employers with per-employee average increase of $110 per year but spare businesses from a rate schedule with even higher rates.  More Massachusetts residents have been relying on the fund during the recession for cash benefits and the fund will need years of federal loans to keep benefits flowing.

Unemployment in Massachusetts hit 9.4 percent in December.  Patrick administration officials said last year they were considering a rate relief plan but no proposal has been filed and steep unemployment insurance rate hikes are scheduled to trigger in the spring, unless legislators and Patrick agree to a new schedule.

“Freezing the rate is an appropriate step at least based on the numbers that I’ve seen,” John Regan of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, an employer trade group, told the News Service Thursday morning.  “We’d clearly like to see systemic reform as well, not that we’re ungrateful for the step that’s being taken.”  The House gave the bill initial approval Thursday morning.

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FROM ARTS AMERICA…NEA AWARDS GRANTS TO SIX BERKSHIRE CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

FROM ARTS AMERICA…NEA AWARDS GRANTS TO SIX BERKSHIRE CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

Both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have completed a new round of funding. The NEA has selected six organizations in the Berkshires, while the NEH looked, but came up empty.

As might be expected, large, well known Berkshire based organizations like Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow and The Clark Art Institute were among those blessed, and so was the feisty Barrington Stage Company – for its Musical Theatre Lab project. It runs each summer under the watchful eye of composer William Finn (he of Spelling Bee fame).

But two smaller, literary organizations were also selected, the Orion Society based in Great Barrington, and the Tupelo Press, recently arrived in North Adams and headquartered at the Eclipse Mill. While the Berkshires have long been home to visual and performing artists, the tradition of literary lights living here is also well established, going back to Herman Melville whose home in Pittsfield was named Arrowhead and Nathaniel Hawthorne who had a small cottage in Lenox.

The NEA grants were made under the Access to Artistic Excellence program and chosen from more than 1,600 applications. Access grants “support the creation and presentation of work in the disciplines of dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts.”

Click here to read the full storyon Arts America!

From the Berkshire Eagle: Figuring it all out

From the Berkshire Eagle: Figuring it all out

Census prep ongoing; $400 billion at stake

By Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

PITTSFIELD — They meet once a month behind closed doors.

They talk about ways to find you — and the repercussions if they don’t.

They talk about the millions of dollars that hinge on Berkshire County’s population, about the representation that could be lost.

They talk about just how badly Uncle Sam wants you.

They aren’t a secret society, but rather members of social service organizations, the federal government and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission who gather at the BRPC’s second-floor conference room on Fenn Street.

Their mission: To discuss ways of locating Berkshire County residents in preparation for the 2010 U.S. Census, the constitutionally mandated head count of all U.S. residents that takes place every 10 years.

Forms containing 10 questions will be mailed to county residents in March, and the forms don’t have to be completed until April. All U.S. residents — citizens and non-citizens — are required to be counted, and officials want to make sure that as many Berkshire residents as possible are tallied.

The state’s annual share of $400 billion in federal funding is at stake over the next decade. Less participation means a lower head count, which means less federal funding for Berkshire County transportation projects such as the straightening of Pittsfield’s Park Square rotary, or less money for education programs that provide federal funding to local school districts.

The size of each state’s federal Congressional delegation also is determined by population statistics gleaned from the census.

“There are certain parts of the population that are traditionally harder to get to respond to the census,” said Nathaniel W. Karns, executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, which is working with U.S. Census Bureau officials to help local municipalities prepare for the count.

This group, the Berkshire Complete Count Committee, meets monthly at the BRPC. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which conducts the federal census, has established a local census office on West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield.

“The upper-middle-class family living in a suburban house probably responds to [the census form],” Karns said. “But the immigrant family or a collection of individuals living in an apartment probably will not.”

Karns said that in the Berkshires, municipal government involvement in preparing for the 2010 census is “fairly limited.” However, he said, several local municipalities did participate in an “address check program” the past two years. In that program, existing addresses were compared to a master list for accuracy.

“In Pittsfield, I heard that they discovered a portion of the homes on Dalton Division Road were not on the address list,” Karns said. “That’s 50 houses that might not have been counted in 2000. That could be 130 people that should have been counted. Start to multiply that by how many other streets.”

Click here to read the full article!

Berkshire Creative Director Helena Fruscio In Running for Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader Council

Berkshire Creative Director Helena Fruscio In Running for Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader Council

The Emerging Leader Council (ELC) is an elected advisory body to Americans for the Arts and assists in developing programs and resources to promote the growth, development, and sustenance of emerging arts professionals nationwide. ELC members are provided with singular professional development opportunities to engage in the field on the national level; build new and dynamic relationships with colleagues; learn firsthand about new programs, resources, and tools from Americans for the Arts; design and implement programs for their peers; and be recognized on the Americans for the Arts website.

If you are a member of Americans for the Arts, you have the opportunity to have your voice heard and vote  to elect experienced and outstanding professionals to serve on American for the Arts advisory councils. Voting deadline is December 4, 2009. Click here to vote!

Cast your ballot in any or all of three council elections for the following networks: Arts Education, Emerging Leaders, and Public Art. Please visit the Council pages, review the candidates’ bios, and cast your vote. Finalists will be announced on December 14.

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Open Information Session on New Fund in Support of Increased Census Participation

Open Information Session on New Fund in Support of Increased Census Participation

The 2010 Census is coming up and the results will have a serious impact on Massachusetts residents and nonprofits. If all residents are not counted, Massachusetts stands to lose a Congressional seat and the millions of dollars of federal funding.  The Women’s Fund will hold an open information session about the 2010 Census and a new funding opportunity intended to help increase the number of “mail back” Census returns in the state by 5%.

November 18, 2009 from 4:00-5:00 PM

The Women’s Fund, Eastworks Building, Suite 358, 116 Pleasant Street, Easthampton, MA

Representatives from the Massachusetts Equity Fund and the United States Census 2010 will be at the Women’s Fund office on to meet with interested nonprofit organizations and individuals. The meeting is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.

RSVP required.  Call Julie Kumble, Director of Grants and Programs at the Women’s Fund, 529-0087 x 12 or email juliek@womensfund.net

More info about the Massachusetts Census Equity Fund

The Massachusetts Census Equity Fund is seeking proposals from nonprofits across Massachusetts to carry out projects to promote the 2010 Census and to ensure fair representation in hard-to-count communities in Massachusetts. The Fund is a short term project supported by Access Strategies Fund, Barr Foundation, The Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation, Hyams Foundation, Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, Roxbury Trust Fund, Solidago Foundation, and United Way of Mass Bay. Additional funders may join the Fund over the next few months.

Proposal deadline via email is Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 5:00 pm to Suzanne Maas at smaasconsulting@verizon.net.

The results of the census impact:

  • Distribution of over $400 billion a year in federal funds to state and local governments—$4 trillion over a ten-year period. In FY ’08, Massachusetts received $13 billion in federal funds through over 100 government programs, based in whole or in part on data from the census. The state may lose more than $2,000 in federal funding for each person per year if they are not counted on the census.
  • The number of seats Massachusetts has in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Electoral College.
  • “Redistricting,” how lines are drawn for legislative districts, and whether historically underserved communities receive the representation they deserve.
  • Plans to help local communities locate services for the elderly, job training centers, new schools and recreation centers, health clinics, businesses, and more.
  • Enforcement of civil rights laws in employment, housing, voting, lending, and education.

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Artists Under the Dome and Creative Massachusetts Artists Congress 2009

Artists Under the Dome and Creative Massachusetts Artists Congress 2009

Berkshire Artists and Artisans! Check out these two opportunities to advocate on a statewide level with your fellow artists and artisans!

Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009
Welcoming Artists of all Disciplines to a Discussion of Our Creative Future

November 7–8, 2009

Boston Public Library

700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

Click here for event information!

Creative Massachusetts: The Artists Congress 2009 is presented by Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition (MALC), its meetings, and connected working groups are designed to bring together artists leaders of all disciplines and artist(s) run organizations, initiatives, and businesses around key issues facing Massachusetts artists working in all disciplines. Though participants may have different perspectives on how best to address the issues facing our community, we are all committed to improving the social and economic position of all Massachusetts artists. The overall goal is to empower our community, support our artists leaders, and to mentor new artists leaders. We want to ensure that artists are at the policy making table.

Membership for MALC is FREE and open to Massachusetts individual artists of all disciplines and to Massachusetts artist(s) run organizations/businesses/initiatives (artist(s) run means the following — for those with a board structure the majority of the governing board must be comprised of working artists and for a business/organization without a governing board structure — it must be run by an artist or artists)

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3rd Annual Artists Under the Dome Event 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009, 10:00 am to 3:30pm

A Free Event for Massachusetts Artists Working in all Disciplines

Massachusetts State House’s Great Hall

Click here to register for the event!

Click here for more event information!

For the third time, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will invite Massachusetts artists working in all disciplines (visual arts, literary, performing, crafts, new media, etc.) to the State House on Thursday, November 19th to thank them for all they contribute to our state’s economy and quality of life. Over 120 artists attended the 2008 event!

The 2009 event will be brought to you by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Treasurer Tim Cahill, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Joint Committee of Community Development and Small Business, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition.

ArtistsUndertheDome.org is an effort to provide a State level forum for Massachusetts artists of all disciplines. The goals of which are to foster a dialogue across artistic disciplines & to assess and address overlapping concerns and needs of the artist communit

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Public Hearing on Pilot Artist Enterprise Zones

Public Hearing on Pilot Artist Enterprise Zones

Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development to hold public hearing for S. 1866 An Act to Establish Pilot Artist Enterprise Zones.

Monday, October 19th, 10:30am
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
125 West Bay Road, Amherst, MA 01002

All are welcome to particpate! If you are unable to attend, but would like to submit testimony in relation to this item, please address your testimony to:

The Honorable Sonia Chang-Diaz, Senate Chair

The Honorable John D. Keenan, House Chair

Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development

State House, Rooms 413-C and 195

Boston, MA 02133

About Artist Enterprise Zones

This act would establish Artist Enterprise Zones in the Cities of Pittsfield, Fitchburg and Lowell. An Artist Enterprise Zone is an economic development zone in a city or town specially designated to stimulate the sale of art. Any sale of a work of art “on location,” in an Artist Enterprise Zone, would be exempt from excise. This legislation authorizes the program for tax years 2009 and 2010.

The Cities of Pittsfield, Fitchburg and Lowell are required to establish Pilot Artist Enterprise Zones by July 1, 2010. The Mayor and City Council of said cities designate an area located downtown as the Artist Enterprise Zone.

Any sale of a work of art “on location,” in an Artist Enterprise Zone, would be exempt from excise.

DOR would establish guidelines to regulate the implementation of this section, requiring evidence relating to the work of art sold as deemed necessary by DOR for the purpose of exemption. DOR may require an annual report of accounting of the number of works sold, type of work and the date of sale. Failure to file such report may terminate one’s eligibility for the exemption.

An artist who is qualified and who makes a claim would be entitled to have the profits/gains from the production and sale of his work of art taken as a reduction from his state taxable income. The total reduction would not exceed $100,000 for any individual artist. The artist must be a resident of the Artist Enterprise Zone.

As a reminder, this legislation is a refile that Sen. Downing filed with Sen. Flanagan to create Artist Enterprise Zones in Pittsfield, Fitchburg and Lowell. We added the City of Lowell this year at the request of SWM chairman Panagiotakos. The bill defines artist enterprise zones as economic development zones in a city or town for the economic stimulus of works of art. The pilot program will be authorized to run in the tax years 2009 and 2010 but of course we can change those dates as necessary depending on the bill’s progress.

A copy of the bill is online: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01pdf/ST01866.PDF.

Please forward a copy of any and all submitted testimony to the office of Senator Downing at benjamin.downing@state.ma.us

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