Nonprofits in Berkshire County, Massachusetts have a $1.9-billion impact annually on the local $5 billion economy, and employ more than a third of the county’s workforce, according to a recent report.
The report, released by the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, found that Berkshire County nonprofits spend $1.1 billion per year, and directly or indirectly generate 25,000 jobs. Over 35 percent of the county’s 65,200 jobs are in the nonprofit sector. Health care is the largest nonprofit sector in the region, generating 10,000 jobs and over $977,000,000 per year. Education is the second-largest, with 6,500 jobs and $470,000,000.
Berkshire nonprofits are hoping that this report serves as a springboard for starting their own business council, according to a article in the Berkshire Eagle. Leaders of a number of area nonprofits have already started their own task force to investigate a possible new arm of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce focused on nonprofit training and collaboration.
"I would see it as an ongoing association that supports the general nonprofit mission in the county," Hillcrest Educational Centers chief executive Gerald E. Burke told the newspaper.
If the Berkshire-area nonprofits are successful, they could serve as an example for other nonprofits nationwide. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce currently has no designated nonprofit wing, but such a body could provide a powerful political platform for nonprofits.
But nonprofits are not as strong nationwide as they are in Western Massachusetts. Nonprofits accounted for only 8.1 percent of the salaries paid in the U.S. in 2006, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics. But as the private sector sheds jobs, the relative size – and political heft – of the nonprofit sector could continue to rise.