Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Thomas Matuszko says the metric he’s proudest of in the group’s 2025 annual report is the number 32.
“We've worked in all 32 of the Berkshire County communities over this past year, and some communities have used our program areas. We have eight different program areas, and they've used all eight,” Matuszko says. “It really feels good to provide those services to our communities.”
The most direct example of BRPC’s work is helping channel valuable resources to Berkshire communities for a variety of needs.
“For instance, our brownfield programs bring in millions of dollars for cleanup of contaminated sites,” Matuszko says. “Our housing rehab program brings in dollars to rehabilitate substandard housing.”
This year’s installment of the planning commission’s analysis of the county comes, as usual, with both promising and challenging takeaways.
“We have data showing that we have come out of the COVID era in terms of measurements of distress like unemployment rate or per capita income and median household income, where those numbers have improved, and we've seen many communities look healthier in those regards,” says Assistant Director Laura Brennan. “But we’re also seeing other statistics that remain challenging. For one, income inequality in our region has grown in the last five years, and that’s a concerning trend.
“The current levels of wages that our employers are offering to employees in our region — we have traditionally paid less for most of our critical industries than a worker in that same industry would be paid in other parts of the state. So that is problematic from several perspectives: We become less competitive as a region when we are not keeping up with wages that could be earned elsewhere, whether it's in Massachusetts or over the border in Connecticut, New York or Vermont. And then, of course, it also means that, with our rising cost of living — certainly impacted by the increased real estate prices we’re experiencing — the people who live in the area are less able to keep up with expenses.”
While Massachusetts as a whole faces a serious housing crisis, the pain is felt particularly hard in Berkshire County — and as Brennan describes, the fallout hits multiple sectors.
“The realities of being in a rural region, of having a lower typical per capita and household income than many of our regional competitors, and the rapid increase in home values over the last several years make it very difficult for our employers to recruit and retain talent in the region,” she says.
Brennan says that for the Berkshires, housing rehabilitation is just as important as building new homes.
“Certainly, we need a bigger, broader mix of housing options so that we can accommodate a wide range of residents in all age groups and income levels, but we also have an aging housing stock that needs a lot of attention,” she says.
“Housing retention is very important for Berkshire County, and that's really what we focus on with our support for the Community Development Block Grant programs and our Home Modification Loan Program, which provides grants to people who need accessibility improvements,” Matuszko says. “It's been a very successful program, and I think it's very much needed, given our aging population.”
Matuszko says another major commission undertaking relates to substance use in the Berkshires.
“That’s been very successful and a much-needed service for Berkshire County, where we have some of the highest rates of substance use in the commonwealth,” he says.
Berkshire County’s low population and distance from the Statehouse in Boston continue to pose a challenge to the region.
“We still lack political clout at the Statehouse, and it got a little bit weaker with this last census,” Matuszko says. “We have great legislators, but there are only three or four if you count the senator, and I think that is a challenge — how do we get our needs heard at the Statehouse? I think the Healey administration does a good job addressing our concerns. They’ve been a strong partner, but it’s still a challenge to get our needs conveyed to the rest of the legislators.”
Brennan says BRPC’s 2025 report shows evidence that the agency’s work continues to expand in the region as it heads into its 60th anniversary next year.
“We're seeing significant growth over the last 10 years in the amount of revenue that BRPC is managing, which represents a growing confidence in our agency when towns are looking for a consultant to hire with their own funds,” she says. “It also shows a growing capacity for us to successfully secure state, federal and, in some cases, foundation grants that are benefiting the region.”
Whatever challenges the Berkshires face, Brennan says BRPC is confident county decision-makers will face them together.
“Our region, rightly so, has a reputation for collaboration, and that's something we often hear from our counterparts in other regional planning agencies and other regions that they admire and want to emulate,” she tells WAMC. “I think we really need to lean on that as we move into the next few years to make sure that strength is bolstered and improved.”
