third, and fourth floors, and then the fifth floor will be wealth management.
“ We’ re all going to be one team in one building,” says Emprimo.
“ It is our flagship branch for the Berkshires, and we anticipate a wonderful ribbon cutting toward the end of the year,” says Morris.“ We’ re bringing so many people into that one location now that I think if I owned a deli on North Street, I’ d be very happy with the future.”
For Perrault, the project is partly about function— getting people under one roof— and partly about sending a message: Pittsfield is still a headquarters for Beacon Bank. Another obvious benefit is providing a much-needed boost to downtown Pittsfield.
The merger also gave Perrault a chance to ask another question: What does Beacon Bank do with Berkshire’ s longstanding community foundation when joining it with a bank that had none? The answer was simple: He left Kiely’ s Berkshire‐based foundation budget intact and broadened her role, asking her to coordinate charitable efforts in markets that had never before had a formal foundation.
According to Kiely, maintaining long‐term commitments in the Berkshires includes food security, from Western Mass Food Bank’ s mobile units to Berkshire Agricultural Ventures’ SNAP‐matching at farmers markets; housing and neighborhood work with Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity and similar groups; and workforce pipelines through such entities as Berkshire Community College and the Berkshire Innovation Center.
Kiely speaks candidly about the scale of need in the Berkshires— housing, childcare, transportation, hunger— and the impossibility of any single institution fixing them. Perrault’ s expectation is not that Beacon will be the hero, but that it will be in the room supplying money, staff time, and financial education as one of the core pieces of local infrastructure.
Why choose the name“ Beacon Bank”? According to Perrault,“ Beacon means stable, strong.” He also points out that with a merger of equals( Brookline and Berkshire banks), you really can’ t use either name.
Perrault is definitely watching closely what’ s going on in the Berkshires, both through his own eyes and definitely through Beacon’ s leaders in this region. The impact will become apparent in ways that are most meaningful for the people Beacon serves and the local stories that are told: in how long it takes a shop owner in Great Barrington to get a loan answer; in whether scaffolding goes up on a long‐vacant block in Pittsfield; and in 99 North becoming the bank’ s regional hub once again.
Both Berkshire and Brookline have benefited from becoming Beacon Bank, says Morris.“ Each side is expanding because of the additional tools we now have in our tool belt,” he says,“ but I’ d give all the credit to the regionality of the model, which we identified quickly as the number one reason to be excited. Looking out a few years from now, I want people to think of Beacon as the big bank in town that takes care of their needs, anticipates their needs before they do, and knows we’ re there for them.” n
Teri Malo, An Average State of Grace, oil on panel, 32 ″ x 48 ″
71 SPRING STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA 01267 | 413.884.6926 www. greylockgallery. com
Fall 2026 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 67