The funding would come from the proposed Commonwealth Investment and Competitiveness Act. On the North Shore, it could include $2 million for the economic development of downtown Peabody, including the North River Flood Control Project, and $500,000 for a one-time grant to help North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly recover from a July fire.

The theater and its related activities bring in about $8 million a year when operating at full capacity, said Berry, who is serving his 12th term in the Massachusetts Senate and represents Peabody, Beverly, Danvers, Salem and Topsfield.

"For once, the government is moving quickly, and it has everything to do with the pull that Sen. Berry has," said Ron Gauthier, a commercial real estate lender with TD Banknorth in Beverly, of Berry's request for funds to help North Shore Music Theatre.

Gauthier was among about 230 attendees who came to see Berry speak at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce's Economic and Public Policy breakfast held at the Sheraton Ferncroft in Danvers yesterday.

Among the top priorities Berry outlined during the event was job creation across the North Shore.

"We must ensure that we have an educated and trained work force in Massachusetts," Berry said. "That is why the Senate appropriates $9 million for scholarships and other education programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math."

To promote such efforts locally, $250,000 is included in the Senate's plan, which is still waiting for the approval of state legislators and Gov. Mitt Romney, to help build the new Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School.

In addition to economic development efforts proposed for Peabody, money is being proposed for the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which reuses abandoned or environmentally troubled land. The city of Salem has identified 11 properties as brownfield sites, Berry said.

"Decaying industrial lands are given new economic opportunity, while environmental concerns about these lands are being addressed," Berry said.

Hoping to further economic growth on the medical and technology front, the Senate plan also includes $2 million in tax credits for medical device companies, to encourage these companies to develop new products. Another $2.25 million is proposed for the creation of a Wireless and Broadband Development Office to extend coverage across Massachusetts.

"Berry is very astute when it comes to health care and employment issues, and he is a powerful individual that is taken very seriously on the Hill," said Pauline Pike, senior vice president of business development and marketing for Beverly Hospital, after the senator's remarks. "For those in health care, finding and attracting talent is always an issue, and he has done and continues to do a lot to help alleviate that problem on the North Shore."

Berry has been praised for his efforts to ensure the rights of those with mental illness, often cited as a leader in the fight to pass legislation that called for equal health insurance coverage for mental illness in comparison to physical health problems, said attendees at yesterday's breakfast forum.

Berry was also the lead sponsor of legislation to create the Disabled Persons Protection Commission.