A crowd gathers at an open house at the Plant Connector in downtown North Adams. Press photo by Kate Abbott

Jobs

Here are the Hill Country Observer’s articles about jobs, listed from newest to oldest. Questions about local economies surface in The Hill Country Observer as we follow movements in co-ops, small businesses, nonprofits and sustainable ways to make a living in our rural communities and support kinds of work that fulfill workers and local needs.

  • Issue:

    Banding together for solar power

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    Program helps homes, farms with details of financing and installation By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   Dozens of households in Rensselaer and Saratoga counties are going solar this summer with the help of a program that cuts costs and takes the guesswork out of installing a solar system.The Solarize program, developed by the U.S. Department of read more

    Banding together for solar power
  • Issue:

    State caps could stall solar power in Mass.

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    Environmentalists push to raise utility limits on net-metering program By DANA DRUGMANDThe Berkshire Edge PITTSFIELD, Mass. New solar energy projects have been stalled in parts of western Massachusetts since March because of state limits on the solar incentive program known as net metering. So in recent weeks environmental advocates and representatives of the state’s growing read more

    State caps could stall solar power in Mass.
  • Issue:

    In Rutland, solar power’s next step

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    High-tech storage battery set for debut this fall By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   Photovoltaic panels collect the sun’s energy at the Borkowski family’s home in Rutland, which Green Mountain Power has dubbed the “energy home of the future.” This fall, the utility will begin offering a new high-tech battery that will allow homeowners read more

    In Rutland, solar power’s next step
  • Issue:

    Downtown hotel raises hopes

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    $14M project hailed as symbol of change for Pittsfield By HEATHER BELLOWThe Berkshire Edge PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Hotel on North, which opened last month in downtown Pittsfield, is managed by Main Street Hospitality Group, which also runs The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, the Williams Inn in Williamstown and The Porches Inn in North Adams. read more

    Downtown hotel raises hopes
  • Issue:

    Along the Hudson, some see Dollar General as a poor fit

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    By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y.   Byron Peregrim says his grocery store in downtown Schuylerville, which has operated under various owners since the 1920s, could be driven out of business if the Dollar General chain wins approval to build a new store on the outskirts of town. Thomas Dimopoulos photo Byron Peregrim has much read more

    Along the Hudson, some see Dollar General as a poor fit
  • Issue:

    Vermont weighs options for veterans home

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    Bennington facility’s subsidy becomes a target amid state budget squeeze By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer BENNINGTON, Vt.   Residents of the Vermont Veterans’ Home gather for an activity in late April. State officials have lately been debating how to fund the facility, which currently receives a $5 million annual state subsidy, and some have even suggested read more

    Vermont weighs options for veterans home
  • Issue:

    Matching farmers, landowners in the Hudson Valley

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    Hudson Valley program matches aspiring farmers to landowners By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PINE PLAINS, N.Y.   Miriam Goler and Mark Stonehill are starting their first season at Full Circus Farm on 15 acres of leased land in Pine Plains, N.Y. They found the property through a database that matches aspiring farmers with landowners who want read more

    Matching farmers, landowners in the Hudson Valley
  • Issue:

    Developers push to change Saratoga’s outer greenbelt

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    In golf club’s plans, some see threat to Saratoga’s greenbelt By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   The landscape around Exit 14 of the Northway, on the east side of Saratoga Springs, remains largely wooded as a result of open-space protections the city adopted more than 20 years ago. Critics fear that could change read more

    Developers push to change Saratoga’s outer greenbelt
  • Issue:

    Young farmers band together to keep land in agriculture

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    By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y.   Lindsey Lusher Shute runs Hearty Roots Community Farm with her husband in Clermont, N.Y. Their struggle to find affordable farmland in the Hudson Valley prompted them to help organize the National Young Farmers Coalition, a grassroots advocacy organization based in Hudson. Scott Langley photo Lindsey Lusher Shute and read more

    Young farmers band together to keep land in agriculture
  • Issue:

    From ancient Egypt to Vermont

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    New Manchester library points a way forward for rural communities By TELLY HALKIASContributing writer MANCHESTER, Vt.   More than two millennia have passed since the first of several destructions of the Great Library of Alexandria. With each catastrophe, the educated world mourned the loss of centuries of knowledge, and the citizens of that ancient Egyptian read more

    From ancient Egypt to Vermont