Steve Sears has been collecting guitars for the past 40 years, and is an inspired cook as well as an avid amateur photographer. But you might know him better as the president and co-owner (along with his wife, Maria Cruz, and business partner Willa Kuh) of The Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass. For the past five years, the trio has been working hard to put Dalton on the map and give locals a reason to spend a night in town. Some of the 17 businesses now housed in the Factory include artists and a gallery space, an acupuncturist, a distillery and the popular Shire Breu-Hous. The rentable space has held weddings, corporate holiday parties, concerts, lectures, craft fairs, fundraisers and more. Plans for the future include a full catering kitchen and completing the best sonically sounding entertainment venue in the Berkshires. I grew up in Dalton, in the neighborhood where The Stationery Factory is, and my parents still live there. When I was going to college, I worked in the building as the janitor. I read in the paper that Crane & Company were moving this part of their operation to North Adams, and I’d been thinking for a long time that, when these building become vacant, you have a limited time to do something useful before they fall apart. We bought the building in 2013 and hoped to bring a grocery store there because, except for Berkshire Crossing, Dalton is a little bit of a food desert. It didn’t work out that way, but we did end up having people come to us who wanted to throw parties. Now we have 17 businesses in the building, and 50 new jobs that weren’t here 4 years ago. And the building isn’t full, there are still spaces that need to be built out. I’m extremely interested in music and my kids are musicians. We have a concert venue here where’s there’s room to dance, hold a seated event, or a combination. Right now we’re investing a lot of money and time into creating a high-end sound and lighting system. We’re trying to build the absolute best sonic room in Berkshire County and we have an incredible group of people helping us. We’ve been working on it for over a year and it’s going to take us another year to tune the room. Whether it’s a ballet, a play or a concert, we want to deliver a sonically premier product. One thing that’s really important to me is the environment. My wife and I are into permaculture, and we have chickens and bees. I’m on the board of Mass. Wildlife, whose goal is to protect the natural resources in our state. It’s an honor to serve the people in that role and something I take very seriously. I’m on the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation board, as well, and the board of CET — the Center for EcoTechnology — which is in its 41st year advocating for sustainability. I’m also part of a group of volunteers who are finishing up a 10-year project at the Mount Greylock Ski Club; we’re putting a conservation restriction, with DCR, to help protect the club so it’ll never get turned into a McMansion. This is a good place to live and I want to make it a better place. People have really stepped up and are helping. I try to listen to the heartbeat of the greater Berkshires and see what we need. We’re fortunate enough to have a community that supports our vision and we don’t want to disappoint them. I think of this not just as a building, but a community.
