Dear Reader Do you use Uber? If so, maybe you've been in the back seat of my car. I’ve done about 500 trips as an Uber Driver in Western Massachusetts. I’ve driven shift workers, partygoers, friends, visiting college parents, and business people everywhere from Goshen to Gill and from Pelham to Pittsfield. How I ended up driving for Uber is a story for another day. When I first started, I watched a ton of videos from other Uber drivers and I wished there was one guide I could follow....
3 months ago • 1 min read
DearReader We launched the site on Friday! And then the server crashed. You’d think we don’t build websites for a living. The server spent most of the day trying to stay on its feet- and failing. In the end, success! We figured it out. It was a minor configuration issue. Anyway, the site is up and is running well. We’re rolling! Thank you for all your support. What do we have on there? Christina Allingham, one of Western MA’s top food influencers shares her list of the top coffee shops in the...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, June 8, 1954. Northampton is a few days short of its 300th anniversary. The Daily Hampshire Gazette publishes a tercentenary supplement that is interesting to look back on now, 70 years later. Here’s a little excerpt from the business stories it covered: “The Northampton Institute for Savings, the first savings bank of the town, was granted a charter in 1842. Its incorporators were public-spirited men…” I love that term, public-spirited. History is great for perspective—and...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, I have exciting news. We launch on November 1! But first… TEDx Berkshires hit Pittsfield two weeks ago, bringing together thought leaders from the region and beyond. It was held at the Berkshire Innovation Center, a hub for some of the most innovative solar, broadband, life sciences, and financing businesses in the region and beyond. In Orange, LaunchSpace, a vibrant maker space and business incubator established to boost economic development in the North Quabbin region is...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Sitting in my basement office in Amherst, I thought there was no way I could make credible contact with the Governor’s office. I was wrong. During a virtual business networking meeting last week Friday, I shared the request: “I’m looking to get in touch with Governor Maura Healey’s office. Is there anyone who can help?” There were 14 people on the call. I wasn’t expecting anyone to say they actually had a contact. I was hoping, at best, for someone to link me to someone else who would then...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, There are so many untold stories about entrepreneurship in Western MA. Two years ago, the team at Artist Dynamix and I started working on a website to tell some of these stories. The platform we envisioned, would also share tools, resources, and inspiration for businesses in the region. I reckoned we would have it up in a few months. Haha. Over 24 months later, we are still working on it 😀. But we are close. Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out the platform, bit by bit,...
4 months ago • 1 min read