The Economic Recovery Corps Fellowship program is funded through the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
“It's being coordinated by the International Economic Development Council. And so, it's this really amazing new program that is assigning 65 fellows across 65 sites across the country, and it covers 44 states, as well as the variety of territories that fall within the United States. And so, we are one of 65, who were selected to be a host organization for one of those 65 inaugural fellows," said Ben Lamb, Vice President of Economic Development of 1Berkshire. The county nonprofit that work to support local businesses, promote tourism, and mentor youth for professional success.
“The model that is in place is our fellow has essentially joined the team, and he's going to be working on a number of projects," Lamb continued. "So, for two and a half years, he'll be with us, and it's fully funded through the fellowship program. And so, he's going to be working primarily with us and the Berkshire Innovation Center to do a number of programmatic pieces that help to continue fostering and growing our digital tech startups and underrepresented businesses across the region.”
That fellow is a local.
“It was alignment of the stars. We actually have a Berkshire County resident who has been here now for several years. His name is Cody Chamberlain, he's a North Adams resident. And so, he came out here with a background in tech startups out in Boston, working with youth and education and STEAM, and has a really great customer service background as well as project development and operations.”
Chamberlain is the only fellow among his cohort of 65 solely dedicated to Massachusetts.
1Berkshire first applied to the program last summer.
“We went through a series of winnowing down," Lamb explained. "So, there was over 500 applications from organizations across the country, and then in, I believe it was November, we officially found out that we were selected to be matched with a fellow. But that wasn't a guarantee- We actually had to interview fellow applicants and make sure that it was a mutual agreement that the fellow was interested in coming here and that we were interested in them. And so, it was actually closer to the end of December that we actually found out that we will be getting one. And so, it was a long road to get here, and it was a very thorough process from that perspective.”
Lamb says Chamberlain’s work for the fellowship will be aimed at the Berkshire tech industry.
“We've been doing work now for about four years under the umbrella of the Berkshire Tech Impact Collaborative, which really is- So, it's a triad of us, Berkshire Innovation Center and Osher Lifelong Learning at BCC," he told WAMC. "And that work really showed that the Berkshires has a really fertile ground, but a lot of potential expansion opportunities for our tech and digitally enabled business structures. So, we know that there's demand for these more resilient tech-based businesses, and we know that there's this opportunity to grow that programmatically.”
Lamb says 1Berkshire hopes the program will leave the region’s business community more streamlined, effective, and inclusive.
“There's a number of resource partners that already exist, right? We have this really amazing network of resources," he said. "So, the first thing is having those resources, better network, better referral systems in place so that it's easier for individuals and businesses to navigate those resources. Secondly, really helping the robust immigrant and underrepresented entrepreneur population to get into the pipeline, and actually start and grow their businesses. And then the third piece is getting our youth engaged in not just STEAM, but entrepreneurship. And so, creating that pipeline for them to experience what it means to be part of a startup so that they get excited about what's in their backyard. And ideally, it creates that next generation of entrepreneurs, of workforce, of inspired STEAM individuals here in Berkshire County.”
The fellowship program, designed as a means of economic recovery from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, is backed with $30 million in federal funding.
