Governor Deval Patrick Visits Pittsfield
Open Meeting with Berkshire Arts and Culture Leaders
By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 13, 2007
On Friday morning the first term Democrat, Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, spread his recent campaign mantra of "Together We Can" to the arts and cultural community of the Berkshires. He was introduced by Julianne Boyd who hosted the meeting and greeted invited guests in her now fully renovated Barrington Stage Company in a former vaudeville house in rapidly changing downtown Pittsfield.
Looking around at the beautiful new home of her theatre company Boyd described the horrors of what she first encountered. Just about everyone advised her against the folly of even beginning to undertake such a daunting venture. There are now some 800 seats and in the run of "West Side Story," which ends this weekend, the production of the classic musical of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim drew an audience of some 16,000. She informed us that those people came to the region and ate in restaurants, stayed in local lodgings, shopped, and otherwise consumed. In expanding her program to present theatre year round she has recently added five full time positions and commented that some 300 staff and visiting artists occupy twenty plus buildings in the area.
It is well known that the arts and culture contribute to the economy, particularly in the Berkshire region with its great range of resources. Quoting from 2005 data provided at the meeting there was a breakdown of that economic impact. Visitor spending was $303 million. Payroll to Berkshire residents working in tourism was $84.8 million. Room taxes collected by Berkshire municipalities equaled $8 million. The total economic impact of tourism in the Berkshires equaled $481.5 million.
The Governor reminded us that he regularly commutes from a home in Milton, near inner city Boston, to an estate in Richmond. A representative of the Boston Symphony Orchestra thanked him for attending the recent opening night. He responded that it had been a stormy night. Overall, Patrick proved to be fluid and charming fielding a great range of questions with knowledge and insight. When appropriate, he also passed along suggestions and queries for more information or ways to navigate through Beacon Hill road blocks by referring follow-up to his staff. There were lots of business cards being circulated.
The primary theme of the Governor's opening remarks was the need for an in depth branding and marketing campaign to promote vacations, tourism and cultural assets to adjoining states "the low hanging fruit" as well as nationally and internationally. He noted that other states market their assets to a Massachusetts audience but in prior administrations for many years there has not been an effective strategy and campaign to package the Commonwealth. He bantered about with several slogans being considered and the audience countered with additional input. But he emphasized that the purpose of the two hour meeting was to hear from local leaders.
Particularly in the beginning those who were in the front of the line went on way too long about narrowly focused points. A woman who runs a vanity gallery in Lenox took up valuable time making an elaborate, self serving, and shapeless statement that never evolved into a question. It was only toward the end of the meeting that an aide asked individuals to keep their questions and remarks to a couple of minutes. But the meeting, overall, proved to be valuable and insightful.
There was the discussion of how best to get people to the Berkshires. The representative of the BSO described a new program to bus people from Boston directly to Tanglewood. There were points made about eventually establishing direct railroad connection to New York and Boston and increasing express bus service. To make it easy and encourage people to come here. Right now it is an ordeal to get to New York or Boston by bus from Pittsfield. There is no frequent express service. The Governor's humorous response was that once you get those New Yorkers and Bostonians to the Berkshires how then to prevent them from leaving?
A free lance reporter asked about progress on promoting the film industry to shoot on location in the Berkshires. Patrick discussed legislation in process to give tax incentives to film production companies particularly those that spend a lot of money. Asking for help he wanted to know the proper word for that? The answer was simply Big Budget. He evoked a good laugh but then asked politicians in the audience the current status of the legislation. He was surprised to learn that it is sitting on his desk for a signature. The reporter informed us that "Cider House Rules" had been shot on location here and put a lot of money into the local economy.
There were questions focused on nature and ecology the greatest natural resources of the Commonwealth. How best to preserve and promote these assets? It was suggested that Patrick might become America's Green Governor. And that if the Berkshires were known for their ecology and conservation this would attract European tourists to the region. A Cuban born individual remarked how potential tourists from Latin America are staying away because of our treatment of immigrants. There were interesting remarks about spreading funding for historic preservation to for profit enterprises and the private sector. Currently they are not eligible for state money but by maintaining estates and properties they preserve and enhance resources which attract tourism. The city of Charleston, for example, has a rollover policy where decrepit neighborhoods have been restored and sold at market rate to promote further renovation. There were remarks, initiated by the Governor, about how to encourage more public art projects and to get the arts out of museums and into the streets. (Do we really need more cows, sheep and baseball mitts?) And there were concerns about how the money that goes to highly visible and established cultural organizations might trickle down to the small, new and struggling enterprises. How will they survive long enough to become the Tanglewoods and Jacob's Pillows of tomorrow?
We left full of information and ideas. There is a lot to follow up on. But ultimately it takes more than slogans and ad campaigns to breathe new life into depressed areas particularly in Central and Northern Berkshire County. South County with its long established proximity to New York City is doing quite well. Overall, other that day trips to Tanglewood, too few Bostonians are putting down roots in the Berkshires. Except for Governor Patrick, of course, who is wearing a deep groove in the Mass. Pike. In promoting the beauty and resources of the Berkshires he is clearly leading by example. Thanks for the face time, but Governor, together we can, what?