From the manufacturer

About Berkshire

TODAY, Berkshire Corporation is one of the global leaders in developing and manufacturing products for critical surfaces and controlled environments worldwide. But in the mid-1960s, the company literally “started from scratch” — scratch paper, that is.

Before he was Berkshire Corporation’s founder and CEO, Whitmore B. “Nick” Kelley was in need of money to pay for college. With an idea, he picked up waste paper from a local Western Massachusetts paper mill, brought it home, and began making scratch pads.

Calling his fledgling creation Berkshire Paper Company, Kelley was one of the nation’s earliest recyclers, taking waste that would have otherwise been headed to the dump and turning it into usable product.

Berkshire Paper Company soon outgrew the basement of his home. Rescuing a building slated for the wrecking ball, Kelley purchased and converted what would soon be his first manufacturing plant.