The 2020 Berkshire County
SUCC3SS Report - Recruitment & Retention

SUCC3SS Idea Jam 

Recruitment and Retention Report 

Overview – I

Domain Description

Making Berkshire County an attractive place to settle and relocate to for Black and African American, young professionals, families, and retirees. 

Domain Vision

Establish Berkshire County as a regional hub of Black business, thought, cultural expression, and community by developing resources networks that support and offer opportunities to African Americans, while also creating spaces that are welcoming and cognizant of the Black experience in the United States.  

Domain Areas of Focus

• Quality of life from Black Perspectives (for example; community, schools, housing, social life, professional life, regional transportation, and connectedness).
• Representation and ownership of resources necessary to pursue one’s dreams (for example banks and capital funds, media marketing, political representation, and diverse educational opportunities).

Domain Goals

• Dismantle the Barriers to retaining and recruiting Black and African Americans in Berkshire County.
• Create a better ecosystem for professional success.
• Provide a high quality of life for Black and African American residents. 
• Increase regional connectedness that makes the Berkshires more attractive to Black and African American residents
• Support new to the area Black and African Americans.
• Stem population loss countywide by offering African Americans locally, regionally, and nationally, an ecosystem of personal and professional success. 

At The Idea Jam – II

Findings – III

Challenges:

• Lack of career and educational opportunities
• A lack of inclusivity and belonging for biracial and multiracial people.
• Hard to find and access networks, both socially and professionally.
• The presence of Black and African American people is marginalized.
• Appropriation 
• Sustained Region-wide population loss and its associated effects across sectors.

Advantages:

• The history and tradition of Black and African American contributions to the Berkshires are unique compared to many rural New England counties. (Rev. Samuel Harrison, Elizabeth Freeman, WEB Du Bois, Gather-in, etc)
• The Berkshires are small enough that we can make significant progress
• Low cost of living compared to much of Massachusetts
• Potential for High quality of life (Cultural institutions, Recreational Activities, Educational Organizations.) 

Opportunities:

• Build upon the existing initiatives that have established diversity pipelines in Berkshire County. 
• Support for regional transportation linking cities to the Berkshires.
• Opportunity to get in on the ground level of innovative initiatives that promote a Black Agenda for Berkshire County (and can be a model for similar counties).
• Black and African American tourism generated $60 Billion in economic activity in 20191. Berkshire County is unique in the richness of Black and African American history. Let us (re)introduce the world to it.

Risks:

• Institutional racism keeping the Berkshires homogenous.
• Lack of commitment from organizations, politicians, et al to increasing diversity tangibly in the Berkshires.
• Increased out-migration by Black and African American youth seeking career opportunities and community.

Insights:

What Idea Jam participants had to say

Recruitment and Retention Ideas 

•Housing/safe space for teacher and new members of the community

•Having a different route/survey for filling out loans to start a business especially for African Americans

•Transportation to bigger cities on weekends

•Having job fair events to make finding jobs easier

•Internship opportunities

Analysis – IV

Gap Analysis:

Within an “Inclusive Economic Strategy,” the focus has to give voice, power, and funding to the niche market you are wanting to attract. It is imperative that “authentic cultural relevance” strategies are at the central core of marketing of recruitment and retention efforts for it to be successful.

A successful marketing strategy starts with the 3 C’s: connection, conversation, and community. Without connection and discussion among the people you’re hoping to target, your business cannot generate a sense of intimacy. For Oldford, intimacy is sharing your personal story so that customers may connect with it.

-Scott Olford

Blacks and African Americans need to own the space of recruitment and retention via the support of “set aside allocated funds”  to design and implement pipelines and narrative marketing campaigns to recruit and retain more Blacks and African Americans to the region. 

Narrative summations

Where we are now and where we are going (narrative summation)

The Berkshire County population has been decreasing steadily since the 1970s, limiting career opportunities for all residents, stagnating commercial and residential development, and creating challenging economic conditions for local business owners. The opportunities and challenges that Idea Jam participants identified mirror those defined in the Berkshires Initiatives for Growth report from 1Berkshire. However, of specific concern to Idea Jam participants is creating welcoming and safe spaces in a county that lacks diversity2,3.

 (source: http://www.berkshirebenchmarks.org/)

That lack of diversity in Berkshire County may have a unique effect on Black and African American youth and young adults, who have expressed feeling marginalized and tokenized, and experiencing culture shock upon arriving at Universities. 

Where are we going?

Recommendations – V

Dismantling the barriers to recruiting and retaining peoples of the African Diaspora to Berkshire County by increasing connection to regional cities, black organizations, and institutions, developing a supportive professional culture that values diversity, building on current diversity pipeline initiatives and establishing more in different sectors, investing in the skill development of our region’s youth and establishing career opportunities that entice them to stay, architecture–public infrastructure and landscape design– that promotes community and is free from surveillance and offers the freedom to express our Blacknesses. To pursue those mandates, we would suggest;

 Recommendation 1

A Welcome Committee

Next Steps

📚 References

Research, References and Bibliography