Joe Merone, a senior producer at Vermont Public Television, was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Boston/New England Chapter’s 2012 Silver Circle at a celebration held Nov. 28 in Boston, Mass. NATAS inducted Merone and four others into the 2012 Silver Circle and broadcaster Chet Curtis, with 50 years of service, into the Gold Circle.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) today announced that President and CEO Michael P. Daly has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors effective on January 1, 2013. The Board has also elected current Chairman Lawrence A. Bossidy to the new position of Lead Independent Director effective on the same day. Identical elections of Messrs. Daly and Bossidy were made by the Board of Berkshire Bank, the banking subsidiary of Berkshire Hills Bancorp.

Shelby Sorrentino of South Burlington has joined the staff of Governor’s Institutes of Vermont as the new Office Manager. A Castleton State College graduate, she has previously worked in marketing and promotional sales with the Florida Panthers National Hockey League team and the Vermont Lake Monsters, in addition to being the Continuing Learning Projects Administrator for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Shelby was most recently employed as Project Manager Assistant at Academic Consortium for Global Education, Carefree Arizona.

Executive Director Sarah Carpenter announced Seth Leonard of Winooski, VT has joined Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) as Homeownership Outreach Coordinator.

Seth comes to VHFA after four years with Opportunities Credit Union where he was a Branch Manager. Seth’s responsibilities at Opportunities Credit Union included mortgage and consumer lending and marketing.

As a student at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Barbara Lazar worked in a nursing home as a nurse’s aide. She decided then that she wanted spend her career caring for the elderly.

You could describe it as a calling, but what Lazar really discovered was that when it comes to older people, a little caring goes a long way, and that felt good.