Resource Archive

Updated and Expanded CultureCount Numbers & Impact Calculator

Updated and Expanded CultureCount Numbers & Impact Calculator

According to NEFA’s Latest Nonprofit Study, New England Arts + Culture Nonprofits Spent 3.6 Billion Dollars in 2007. Economic impact estimates take this direct spending number ($3.6 billion) and add indirect and induced spending to account for the multiplier effect of these nonprofits in their communities.

So, the three classes of spending (direct, indirect, and induced) not only reflect related increases in spending for the cultural sector, but the subsequent spending in other industry sectors, such as educational services and real estate.  The 3.6 billion in spending is only a starting point for analyzing the economic impact of arts and culture nonprofits! Click here to estimate the economic impact for organizations in Massachusetts.New England Cultural Nonprofit Expense by Discipline

New England Cultural Nonprofit Expense by Discipline
(Click on the chart to view the interactive version)

If you completed a NEFA nonprofit financial survey last year, view your results:

Sign In to your account.
In the left-hand panel, click the link “Review my organization’s financial data.” The most recent fiscal year is available for you to view.

Not familiar with the NEFA Nonprofit Survey?  Click here to learn more.

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.


Call for Submissions

Call for Submissions

Attention makers, actors, performers, artists, and creatives! Check out the following opportunities to get your work seen by the world:

BERKSHIRE INTERNATION FILM FESTIVAL (BIFF): Call for Film Submissions

Deadline: March 1, 2010

UPSTREET: Call for Submissions, Writing

Submission Period: Until March 1, 2010

OUTDOOR SCULPTURE COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION: Call for Submissions

Deadline: March 5, 2010

UNITED STATES MINT: ARTISTIC INFUSION PROGRAM: Call for applications

Deadline: March 8, 2010

CINARS 2010: Call for showcases

Deadline: March 12, 2010

DOWNSTREET ART: Call for Guest Curators

Deadline: March 15, 2010

ODE TO DEGAS EXHIBIT: Call for Art

Deadline: March 15, 2010

2010 VSA ARTS PLAYWRIGHT DISCOVERY: Call for Scripts

Deadline: April 15, 2010

CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE AT CHESTERWOOD 2010: Call for Entries

Deadline: April 16, 2010

FILM INITIATIVE AND COMPETITION: WHAT’S YOUR ISSUE?: Call for Submissions

Deadline: April 18, 2010

FUTURE GENERATION ART PRIZE: Application

Deadline: April 18th, 2010

SODUS ART BANCK: Residency and Workshop Applications

Deadline: One month before session

MANIFEST: Call for Entries

Deadline: Rolling

HILLTOWN FAMILIES: Call for Submissions, Writing and Photography

Deadline: Rolling

INDEARTS: Call for Submissions, Writing

Deadline: Rolling

Do you have an item you would like to share about the creative economy? Suggest a Post to Berkshire Creative!

NASAA Creative Economy Resource Center

NASAA Creative Economy Resource Center

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) is the membership organization that unites, represents and serves the nation’s state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Each of the 56 states and jurisdictions has created an agency to support excellence in and access to the arts. As  part of NASAA’s efforts, they have compiled the following Creative Economy facts  and f igures

  • In fiscal year 2009, state arts agencies invested $328 million in creating and sustaining arts infrastructures in communities across the nation.
    Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Legislative Appropriations Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2010
  • America’s nonprofit arts industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year, resulting in $29.6 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues.
    Source: Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences, 2007.
  • The creative sector, whose economic function is to create new ideas or creative content, employs 38 million Americans, or 30 percent of all employed people.
    Source: Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class, 2002.
  • In 2005, 1.99 million identified an artist occupation as their primary job, while another 300,000 reported secondary employment as an artist.
    Source: National Endowment for the Arts, Artists in the Workforce, 2008
  • In 2008, 612,095 U.S. businesses participated in the production or distribution of art and employed nearly 3 million people.
    Source: Americans for the Arts, Creative Industries Report, 2008.
  • Americans donated more than $307.65 billion to the arts in 2008 through individual giving, estates, foundations and corporations.
    Source: Giving USA Foundation, Giving USA, 2009 Press Release.
  • In 2008, 70.3% of all American leisure travelers participated in at least one aspect of cultural heritage tourism in the past year. This figure outpaces the number of Americans who visited friends or relatives (64.7%) and roughly equals the proportion (73.0%) of travelers staying in a paid lodging. Source: Destination Analysts,  Fall 2008 edition of Cultural Heritage Tourism News and State of the American Traveler, 2009
  • American consumers spent $12.8 billion ($42.8 per person) on admissions to performing arts events in 2005.
    Source: National Endowment for the Arts, Consumer Spending on Performing Arts, 2006
  • More people are attending live performing arts events than professional sporting events in 10 major communities across the United States.
    Source: Performing Arts Research Coalition, The Value of the Performing Arts in Ten Communities, 2004.
  • Copyright Industries (businesses that rely on copyrights and produce computer software, films, television programs, and other audio, visual and printed media) accounted for 11% of U.S. gross domestic product ($1.38 trillion).
    Source: International Intellectual Property Alliance, Copyright Industries in the US Economy, 2006.
  • In 2006, nonprofits—including public charities, private foundations, and all other—accounted for 8.1 percent of the wages and salaries paid in the United States.
    Source: The Urban Institute, The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, 2008.

For additional information, visit the Creative Economy Resource Center or contact Jesse Rye at NASAA.

Pioneer Institute Launches New Resource: MassCityStats.Org

Pioneer Institute Launches New Resource: MassCityStats.Org

MassCityStats.org is a website which gives the public  access to municipal data for 14 Middle Cities across Massachusetts.

How does a city stack up to others in terms of the quality of its core services? Is the city’s economy growing? Is a school district doing a good job at educating your kids? Since 2008, Pioneer Institute has worked with 14 cities from across Massachusetts by asking over 160 community members and municipal leaders those same questions. They also asked them just how they could measure performance in these critical core service areas. They came up with over 600 suggestions!

With the help of practitioners, experts and academic partners, Pioneer identified the benchmarks that most community members suggested, and paired them with benchmarks that were grounded in research.  They then created MassCityStats so members of the public like could access the data most important to them.

What can you do with this data? Become better informed, share it with others, ask your leaders well-formulated questions, and ensure greater accountability in municipal government.

Check out the below video and visit MassCityStats.org to learn more!

MassCityStats from Mike Dean on Vimeo.

Do you have an item you would like to share about the creative economy? Suggest a Post to Berkshire Creative!

New Art Shuttle Service

New Art Shuttle Service

Chapman Studio Frame & Crate of North Adams now offering monthly art shuttle service to New York and other destinations.

CSF&C is an art services company operated by Michael Chapman,  offering museum quality custom frames and crates using locally sourced woods. CSF&C also provides panels and stretchers for individual artists.  Michael has over 20 years in the art handling and installation business with 10 years at Bark Frameworks LLC. He also worked as preparator at MASS MoCA and Williams College Museum of Art.

The first trip will be mad Thursday, February 25, 2010 and will travel to New York City and the surrounding areas  .

For more information or an estimate, please contact Chapman Studio Frame & Crate  Space is limited as to allow for same day, safe delivery of items.  Delivery services are also available for an exclusive shipment or to other destinations.  Details may be arranged upon request.

Do you have an item you would like to share about the creative economy? Suggest a Post to Berkshire Creative!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Berkshire Visitors Bureau Upcoming Tourism Talkbacks

February 24, 2010
Tourism Talkback, Public Relations
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

March 17, 2010
Tourism Talkback, Groups
Comfort Inn & Suites, Great Barrington, MA
Free and open to the public!

NEXT: A Celebration of Massachusetts Emerging Entrepreneurs

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
University of Massachusetts Boston Venture Development Center
100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125

Berkshire Community College Professional Development Non-Credit Courses

Financial Management Skills
Learn to understand the procedures and processes needed to accommodate and meet the growing demands of federal/state regulations. Explore the easy use of available computer accounting programs that accommodate nonprofit practices, as well as successful means for relating donor information to the accounting system.

4 Meetings, Weds., 2/24-3/24, 6:30-8:30pm (no class 3/17)
Location: Melville Hall, Room 116, $80
Instructor: Gene Wenner, Non-Profit Consultant

Strong Boards Make Non-Profits Work
Designed for board members and executive staff. Topics include the structure, purposes and duties of the board of directors/trustees, fundraising roles, fiscal oversight, strategic planning, hiring and dismissal of the chief executive and the role of volunteers and advisory boards.

2 Meetings, Mon. & Thurs., 3/8 &3/11, 9-11am
Location: Intermodal Education Center, Room 3, $75
Instructor: Gene Wenner, Non-Profit Consultant

Programming and Marketing Skills
Explore a strategic planning process to develop, implement and evaluate programs that meet a nonprofit organization’s mission. Learn to develop materials for marketing to specific audiences for fundraising or program purposes. Study public relations procedures and the means of communicating with the general public.

4 Meetings, Weds., 3/31-4/21, 6:30-8:30pm (no class 3/17)
Location: Melville Hall, Room 116, $80
Instructor: Gene Wenner, Non-Profit Consultant

Issues In  Management Careers
Explores the requirements for professional positions in non-profit management, resume and application guidelines, and the importance of understanding leadership responsibilities and team building.

5 Meetings, Mon., 5/24 -  Weds. 5/26 and Tues., 6/1 and Weds. 6/2, 2010
Location: TBD
Instructor: Gene Wenner, Non-Profit Consultant

To register, contact the Office of LifeLong Learning/Workforce Development  at 413-499-4660 or 800-816-1233 ext. 2123 or 2122. Registration open until Feb. 19th

Bi-annual Taste of Philanthropy Conference

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, MA
Click here  to register for the conference!

The Taste of Philanthropy 2010 conference is expected to bring together over 300 nonprofit leaders, consultants and foundations. Morning workshops on all aspects of fundraising –from planned giving/major gifts, to corporate/foundation giving, marketing and stewardship — will be available. In the afternoon, after hearing Sheryl WuDunn’s inspirational talk, we’ll all come together to focus on building our skills for making the all important ASK!

BBB Charity Effectiveness Symposium IV: Transforming ourselves-Building Effective Leaders, Organizations, and Communities

February 23, 2010, 8:00 am – Noon
Baruch College, 55 Lexington Avenue at 24th Street, 14th Floor, NYC
Advance registration is required.
Fee: $25
Click here to learn more and register!
Presented by The Education and Research Foundation of the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York

CONNECTING CREATIVE COMMUNITIES: A summit to ignite New England’s creative potential

March 9-11, 2010
Biltmore Hotel, Providence, RI
Registration fee: $60
Click here to learn more and  register!

New England is at the forefront of the creative community building movement. Leaders from across New England will meet in Providence to share strategies for engaging the creative sector and to begin to develop a regional network of creative communities. Participants will discuss a regional approach for collectively promoting our creative communities through policy, research, programming, and resource development.

Come participate in this shared conversation about how cities, towns, and regions are leveraging creative community development to enhance their prosperity and quality of life.

Free Training offered at Berkshire Community College in Partnership with Employers Association of the Northeast

Lean Manufacturing
Half day seminar focusing on the philosophies of the seven wastes, reliable methods and some techniques for combating waste. Includes hands-on classroom simulations that show a factory in transition from batch production to piece flow. The class provides an excellent foundation for companies just starting out and contains specific improvement ideas that attendees can take away and implement immediately.

Date: March 24, 2010
Location: BCC Main Campus, classroom H207 (directions available upon request).
Time: 1:00PM – 4:30PM

Introduction to Quality Management
Full day seminar in Quality Management. This course will provide an introduction and working knowledge of key Quality Management principles, techniques, tools, and skills for on-the-job application, useful in a wide range of business and organizations.

Date: April 2, 2010
Location: BCC, Main Campus, classroom H219 (directions avaialble upon request).
Time: 8:30AM-4:30PM

Statistical Process Control
Full day program focusing on Statistical Process Control.
A study of industrial applications for probability and statistics, with particular attention to process control, quality control, and mathematical methods to improve productivity.

Dates: April 7, 2010
Location: BCC, Main Campus, Classroom TBD
Time: 8:30AM-4:30PM

Problem Solving and Decision Making
Full day seminar focusing on Problem Solving and Decision Making.
This program introduces a six-step problem solving method to identify and define problems that are not reading apparent to promote a proactive approach to solving problems in the workplace.

Date: April 9, 2010
Location: BCC Main Campus, classroom H219 (directions available upon request).
Time: 8:30AM – 4:30 PM

To register, contact: Kathleen Dion at (413) 236-5252 or kdion@berkshirecc.edu or Shannon Miller Pignatelli at (413) 236-2126 or spignate@berkshirecc.edu

Inaugural Artists in Transition Conference

Sunday April 11th, 2010
12:00pm-5:00pm
Westside Campus Center Building, Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, CT.
Click here to learn more and register!

A conference on health and disability issues for visual and performing artists with featured performers Taro Alexander and Our Time Theatre and featured speaker Tom Luckey. Artists in Transition conference is co-sponsored by  over 100 other local, state and national arts, health and advocacy organizations, including Berkshire Creaitve .

Internship Opportunities-Updated!

Internship Opportunities-Updated!

The Berkshires are an excellent place to gain experience at a variety of creative economy businesses and organizations. Check out some of these opportunities available now!

Barrington Stage Company Professional Internship Program (PIP)

The Professional Internship Program (PIP) is an intensive summer internship program offered to college age students interested in pursuing careers in theatre. Participants are chosen through a competitive application process to train and gain professional experience in various facets of Professional Equity Theatre. Click here to learn more and apply!

Berkshire Hills Internship Program (B-HIP)

Deadline: April 1, 2010

The Berkshire Hills Internship Program (B-HIP) is a structured summer internship course that helps to integrate theoretical concepts and real-world experience. An intensive twelve-week program, B-HIP combines an internship component with a seminar in arts management, talk backs with the area’s leading arts professionals, and full participation in cultural events throughout Berkshire County. Interns work in a multitude of administrative capacities including development, marketing, public relations and programming – as they gain hands-on experience in the field of arts management. Click here to learn more and apply!

Berkshire Museum: Collections Internship

The Berkshire Museum has a diverse art, history and natural science collection of approximately 25,000 objects. In its efforts to continually improve and update the management of collections, the Museum involves interns with different aspects of collections work, including inventories, cataloguing objects, data entry, object photography and object research. For Fall/Winter 2010, the museum seeks an intern to research and catalog one of the following collections; Asian, Decorative Arts, Minerals, Shells and/or American History. The museum is also embarking on an archive project. The Berkshire Museum intern program works closely with the individual to create an experience that meets both the needs of the museum and intern. This is an unpaid internship. Interns will report directly to the Collections Manager. Click here to learn more and apply!

Berkshire Theatre Festival Summer Training

Deadline: March 29/April 9, 2010

Berkshire Theatre Festival’s mission is to sustain, promote, and produce theatre through performance and education.  Since 1928 BTF has been dedicated to producing theatre that recognizes its venerable past while providing a home for the next generation of the American theatre’s creative artists.  We offer competitive education and training through our summer Acting Apprenticeships, Directing and Design Assistantships and Production and Administrative Internships that lead students toward a professional working career in the arts. Candidates must be at least 18 and enthusiastic about pursuing a career in the theatre profession. Click here to learn more and apply!

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Deadlines: Summer Priority Deadline has passed. Regular Deadline is March 1, 2010 after March 1, call 413-243-9919 x17 to inquire if openings are available. Off-season deadline: Rolling

Summer Internships are comprised of real-work projects and responsibilities that develop professional skills and careers. Interns receive staff-led seminars, training and mentoring, on-campus housing, 3 meals a day, $500 stipend, and a $150 travel/sundry expense allowance. College credit, work-study, independent study, and/or cooperative learning programs may be available through your school. Or you may register for college credit at Jacob’s Pillow, through their partnership with the Division of Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Off-season interns assist in the preparation for Jacob’s Pillow upcoming season. Off-season interns gain a broad perspective on arts administration, the dance field, and dance history while receiving on-the-job training, and experience working alongside professional staff both independently and collaboratively. Onsite housing can be arranged and is shared with other Pillow interns, as well as with artists-in-residence. Full and part-time internships for the fall, winter, and spring can be tailored to meet college credit needs and individual interests. Dates and times are flexible. Click here to learn more and apply!

IS183 Art School of the Berkshires:  Young Artists Program Intern

IS183 is seeking interns with an interest in the visual arts and/or education, combined with interest and enjoyment of children and young teens for their 2010 IS183 Summer Young Artist Program. The program will run from June 28 to August 20, 2010, and candidates may apply for a 2- to 8-week internship commitment. Hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday thru Friday.

Candidates should be pursuing art as a major or supplementary course of study, and able to demonstrate some experience working with children. Interns receive a stipend of $100/week for their work as well as the opportunity to audit one evening or week-end adult class during the summer. In addition, you may be able to receive academic credit from your college or university. IS183 will also provide references for your future employment/academic pursuits upon request, dependent on performance. Click here to learn more and apply!

MASS MoCA Internship Program

Deadline: March 1, 2010

MASS MoCA seeks full-time interns for various departments. Spend summer in the culturally rich, naturally beautiful Berkshires, while gaining invaluable professional experience in the arts. Paid interns are given $100/wk stipend and free housing with a block of the complex. Each applicant may apply to a maximum of 2 departments (Visual Arts, Production, Marketing/Public Relations, Public Education, Graphic Design, Box Office and Development). All internships run from June 2 through September 6.Click here to learn more and apply!

Shakespeare & Company Internships in Carpentry, Props, Paint, Sound, Electrics, Costumes, and Stage Management

Interns sought for an Equity L.O.A. 14 show, 3 stage season at Shakespeare & Company. This opportunity is for individuals early in their career to develop skills and work with theatre professionals. Duties will include show running and/or change-over responsibilities. Season runs from early May through March 2011, although most positions for summer only. Late season and early start contracts may include theatre-in-education support. Housing negotiable. Stipend available.Click here to learn more and apply!

Does your organization or business offer creative economy internship opportunities? Email them to info@berkshirecreative.org!

Do you have an item you would like to share about the creative economy? Suggest a Post to Berkshire Creative!



BERKSHIRE CREATIVE KICKS OFF SPARKETTE SERIES @ JAE’S SPICE!!

BERKSHIRE CREATIVE KICKS OFF SPARKETTE SERIES @ JAE’S SPICE!!

SPARKettes are mini-SPARK! networking event for industry clusters within the creative economy! The inaugural event was held, Tuesday, Febraury 9 for those working in or interested in the Visual Media field.

Everyone from freelance graphic designers and photographers to design studio owners and online magazine publishers gathered Upstairs at Jae’s Spice for scaled down, concentrated networking! To expedite and maximize connections, two break-out sessions were held and each attendee posted their name, business, what they do and what they were looking for at the event (note wall in of papers in below pictures!)!

Overall, it was an outstanding kick-off to what promises to be an amazing series! Next month’s SPARKetteis for those in the Culture and Heritage Field!

Upcoming SPARKettes…..Click here to RSVP!

MARCH//CULTURE AND HERITAGE
MAR. 23rd, 2010
Museums, Theatres, Theatre Companies, Garden Museums, Historic Homes, Libraries, Heritage Preservation

APRIL//VISUAL ARTS
APR. 13th, 2010
Artists, Artisans, Galleries, Arts Agents, Collectors, Museums, Art Venues, Crafters, Curators

MAY//COMMUNICATIONS
MAY 11th, 2010

Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, Television, Journalists, Bloggers, Publicists, Marketers

Click here to see the full list of upcoming SPARKettes!

SPARKettes are held once a month, February-November 2010, with a different industry cluster addressed each month!

5:30-7:00pm

Upstairs at Jae’s Spice, North Street, Pittsfield, MA

FREE

Hors D’ouevres and venue generously provided by Jae’s Spice!

Cash Bar

All SPARKettes are made possible with the generous support of SPARK! lead sponsor Greylock Federal Credit Union!

Mark Your Calendars for SPARKettes!

Mark Your Calendars for SPARKettes!

SPARKette: (n) mini-SPARK! networking event for industry clusters within the creative economy.

SPARKettes are an opportunity for colleagues in an industry cluster to meet and connect at a scaled down, focused networking event. Whether you are part of one of the clusters, seeking services from them, or are just interested in learning more about a particular group, SPARKettes are here to help you ignite that connection!

________________________________________________________________________________________________

SPARKettes are held once a month, February-November 2010, with a different industry cluster addressed each month!

5:30-7:00pm

Upstairs at Jae’s Spice, North Street, Pittsfield, MA

FREE

Cash Bar

Hors D’ouevres and venue generously provided by Jae’s Spice!

Click here to RSVP to the SPARKettes of your choice!

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MONTH//INDUSTRY

FEBRUARY// VISUAL MEDIA
FEB. 9th, 2010

Publishers, Printers, Writers, Photographers, Graphic Designers, Web Designers, Publicists, Marketers

MARCH//CULTURE AND HERITAGE
MAR. 23rd, 2010
Museums, Theatres, Theatre Companies, Garden Museums, Historic Homes, Libraries, Heritage Preservation

APRIL//VISUAL ARTS
APR. 13th, 2010
Artists, Artisans, Galleries, Arts Agents, Collectors, Museums, Art Venues, Crafters, Curators

MAY//COMMUNICATIONS
MAY 11th, 2010

Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, Television, Journalists, Bloggers, Publicists, Marketers

JUNE// FILM AND MEDIA ARTS
JUNE 8th, 2010

Film, Animation, New Media, and Supporting Industries

JULY//ENTREPRENEURS AND SMALL BUSINESS
JULY 13th, 2010

Small Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Sole Proprietors, Freelance Professionals

AUGUST//YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
AUG. 10th, 2010

Young Professionals working in the creative economy

SEPTEMBER//MUSIC/PERFORMING ARTS
SEPT. 14, 2010

Musicians (beginners, teachers, and professionals), Actors, Theatres, Festivals, Venues, Managers

OCTOBER// EDUCATION
OCT. 12th, 2010

Museum Educators, Public and Private School Teachers, School Administrators

NOVEMBER// HOUSING SUPPORT
NOV. 9th, 2010

Interior Design, Landscape Architects, Architects, Builders, Home Product Designers/Makers, Real Estate Agents

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SPECIAL THANKS TO SPARK! LEAD SPONSOR

GREYLOCK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

If you live or work in the Berkshires, you are cordially invited to join Greylock Federal Credit Union.

AND

SPARKette SPONSOR