“So where are all the jobs anyway?” We keep hearing that there are all these jobs in the Berkshires, but where are they? I was shocked when I learned that at any point there are over 2,000 job vacancies in the county. I was even more shocked to hear that by comparison, the job vacancy rate in the Berkshires is about twice the state average and that this has been the case for many years. I was further shocked to see that these were not all low level jobs, but in fact they are all over the map; from entry level to executive, from tourism to manufacturing, from sales to administrative, from IT to finance, and just about everything in between. I have lived in the Berkshires for most of my life and I simply did not know. The notion that there are no career opportunities is actually a myth and this publication has been created to make more visible what is a seemingly invisible job market in the Berkshires.

One year ago, the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) was formed to coordinate, lead and facilitate the many economic development activities in the Berkshires. Creating a plan to grow our economy, attracting investment and recruiting business has been a major focus of the BEDC. I found myself giving people the very data you will find in this edition of Berkshire Employment Outlook, only to see them as stunned as I was. As we assembled a team to take on the workforce challenge, it became increasingly obvious that we needed to get this information

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into the hands of our community so everyone could see the Berkshires from this new perspective.

So here it is, the data, and for many a new perspective, and perhaps a new hope. It is not to say that we are not without our challenges. The Berkshires are experiencing a continued population loss, an aging workforce and too many young people leaving the area. Some may say that these trends and a large job vacancy rate are a problem, but we feel this is an opportunity. Hey - we've got jobs!

The Berkshires are on the edge of a new era. The investments being made in our community are substantial, too many to list here, perhaps in a future edition we will inventory them. But the momentum is building and there are tremendous opportunities for those who want to seek them out. Enjoy the little - or not so little - surprises you find in this premiere edition of Berkshire Employment Outlook.

Warm Wishes,
Tyler Fairbank
President, Berkshire Economic Development Corp.