Building better business in downtown Greenfield

November 14, 2007

The question of what the future will bring for Greenfield’s downtown is a question on the minds of everyone from residents to business owners and local politicians. That’s why on Thursday, November 15 the Pioneer Valley Institute (PVI) is hosting a community forum on the revitalization of downtown and beyond at Greenfield Community College’s downtown campus from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Five panelists will be asked to talk about the future of downtown and the question of what makes a downtown thrive. The panel will be moderated by Kathy Vranos from the Business Department at GCC and the panelists are John Waite, Director of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation (CDC), Alden Booth, owner of the People’s Pint, Suzette Snow-Cobb, manager of Greenfield’s Market, Andrew Baker, director of the Hilltown CDC and Thom Simmons, co-Chair of the GCC Business Department and business owner in Keene, New Hampshire.

Martha Rullman, program coordinator for the PVI, said this program is one of a series of programs discussing sustainability that began last year with a program on sustainable energy, followed by one on sustainable forestry. The mission of the PVI is to provide educational programs and to study the history, culture, ecology and community of the Pioneer Valley. This program fits in with that mission. “The whole purpose of this program is to draw the community and residents in to hear what local business owners are doing for the community,” Rullman said.

Vranos was asked to moderate the discussion because many of her students are aspiring entrepreneurs that work with actual downtown businesses to help them come up with marketing plans. “In order to have a vital downtown, we need to have strong businesses with entrepreneurs who have a sound foundation in meeting the needs of the community,” Vranos said. Personally, Vranos is happy to be involved with this discussion because, as a transplant here, she loves the area and wants to see it thrive. “I would love to see businesses that epitomize our culture and character run by strong, local entrepreneurs,” she said. “I would like to see owners combining their talents and passions with a sound foundation in business fundamentals so that they can meet the needs of the community while prospering and revitalizing our local economy.”

Bob Barba, associate dean for Community Education at GCC, suggested that Simmons and Vranos be involved with the discussion because it was important to GCC to show the connection that the college has with the revitalization of downtown. GCC’s downtown campus is a strong presence in downtown and helps bring people to the area. “We want to come at it in the spirit of education instead of advocacy and debate about the big picture. What does it mean to have a dynamic and sustainable community? Downtown is the nexus of all of that” said Barba.

Aside from being a business educator, Simmons was once the administrator for the Economic Development Commission for Martha’s Vineyard and owns the Ceilidh House, an authentic Celtic pub in Keene. Simmons said the panel discussion can be a great thing for the community. When he worked for Martha’s Vineyard, he said it was always interesting to see what the balance was for providing services for the community. The year-round residents wanted stores that sold more than just trinkets for tourists, but as a tourist community, stores needed to fill that niche too. That kind of discussion is important in any downtown. “Everyone adds to a different perspective that makes up the mosaic of a downtown,” he said. Simmons said he hopes that people leave the discussion fired up to do something and find out what their role could be within the community and take it upon themselves to run with it. “I hope people can say, ‘I can do this, I can be part of the revitalization of downtown. I can have a dynamic enterprise,’” he said.

Waite said his part of the discussion will come from the point of view of creating a sustainable economy, as that is part of the mission of the CDC. “A healthy economy is made up of a variety of small businesses,” he said. He said Franklin County is a good example of that, where there is a history of big industries that were owned by non-local people leaving the area yet it is the local people that suffer economically. Waite said it’s also important to note that there are no politicians on the panel, because while the government serves a purpose in revitalizing the local economy, initiative has to come from the people. “Municipalities are certainly key, they can do things to help downtown, but a lot is up to private business owner and residents,” he said. “We shouldn’t just wait for town officials to make decisions; entrepreneurs can get things going themselves. We talk a lot about how people should shop locally, but we only believe that people should do that if they can get what they need and want locally as well.” For more information about this discussion and other programs offered by the PVI, please contact Rullman at (413) 775-1671.