FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                                 BERKSHIRE BANK
                              COMPLETES PURCHASE OF
                      TWO PIONEER VALLEY INSURANCE AGENCIES

                             MACDONALD & JOHNSON AND
                    ONOFREY INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES
                      JOIN BERKSHIRE INSURANCE GROUP, INC.



PITTSFIELD, MA, October 26, 2005 - Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (the
"Company"), (NASDAQ-BHLB), the holding company for Berkshire Bank (the "Bank"),
announced today that Berkshire Insurance Group, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary
of the Bank, has acquired the business and assets of each of MacDonald &
Johnson, Inc., a full-service property and casualty insurance agency located in
East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Onofrey Insurance and Financial Services,
Inc., an agency specializing in life, disability and health insurance products
located in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Berkshire Insurance Group, Inc. has offices at 138 Longmeadow Street,
Longmeadow, Massachusetts and 136 Elm Street, Westfield, Massachusetts. Clients
of both the MacDonald & Johnson and Onofrey agencies will be served by Berkshire
Insurance Group's Longmeadow office, which can be reached at (413) 739-5803.
Frank Lombard, owner of MacDonald & Johnson, and Richard E. Onofrey, Jr., CLU,
ChFC, CFP(R), owner of Onofrey Insurance, and members of their respective staffs
will immediately relocate to that office.

Commenting on these two transactions, Michael P. Daly, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank said, "The joining of the
MacDonald & Johnson and Onofrey agencies with Berkshire Insurance Group, firmly
establishes Berkshire Insurance Group as the premier insurance provider in the
Pioneer Valley and all of Western Massachusetts. We welcome the clients of both
agencies, as well as Frank, Rick and their valued employees, and know that their
clients will be pleased with our wide-range of products and expert service, as
well as knowing that Frank and Rick will continue to be available to them. These
acquisitions further Berkshire Bank's goal of providing our clients with a
complete range of sophisticated investment, insurance, wealth management and
other financial products and services as part of our Trusted SolutionsSM brand
of super-community banking."

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Berkshire Bank.
Established in 1846, Berkshire Bank is one of Massachusetts' oldest and largest
independent banks and is the largest banking institution based in Western
Massachusetts. The Bank is headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts with
branch offices serving communities throughout Western Massachusetts and
Northeastern New York and a representative office in New York. The Bank is
committed to continuing to operate as an independent super community bank,
delivering exceptional customer



service and a broad array of competitively priced retail and commercial products
to its customers.

Statements contained in this news release contain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements are based on the beliefs and expectations of management, as
well as the assumptions made using information currently available to
management. Since these statements reflect the views of management concerning
future events, these statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
These risks and uncertainties include, among others: changes in market interest
rates and general and regional economic conditions; changes in government
regulations; changes in accounting principles; and the quality or composition of
the loan and investment portfolios and other factors that may be described in
the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31,
June 30, September 30, and in its annual report on Form 10-K, each filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at the Securities
and Exchange Commission's Internet Web site (WWW.SEC.GOV) and to which reference
                                             -----------
is hereby made. Therefore, actual future results may differ significantly from
results discussed in these forward-looking statements.


                                      # # #

Media contact:

Michael P. Daly
President and Chief Executive Officer
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.
(413) 236-3194