EASTHAMPTON — After a successful 10-year run as executive director of the Easthampton Chamber of Commerce, Moe Belliveau is set to step down next year and move into a new phase of life.
“Mike — my husband — and I have been working towards the dream of and working towards opening our farm, Hendrick Harvest, for years. Working on building the infrastructure, practicing succession planting and deciding what we want, and don’t want for our vegetable stand and farm store,” explained Belliveau. “I have always loved the exhilaration of entrepreneurship. I am very much looking forward to seeing what we have been working on come to life and welcoming the community to the farm.”
With the farm just about ready to go, and the chamber having just wrapped up its new venture, The Workhub, Belliveau felt the time was just right to make the transition.
“It is now time for Hendrick Harvest to be open for business,” noted Belliveau. “The chamber is a good spot for a transition. The chamber’s nine-week entrepreneurial training program is in its second cohort. Now is a good time for someone new to enter and bring the chamber and its programming to the next level.”
With more than two decades of business experience, in a range of businesses and roles, Belliveau has brought a steady hand to the chamber during some extraordinarily unsteady times like the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were able to shift gears quickly to vetting the firehose of information [and] presenting it in an easy-to-navigate format for our members and the community at large. In addition, we joined forces with the city of Easthampton creating the Sustaining Small Business Grant where businesses of the Greater Easthampton area could apply for funding to help mitigate some of the costs associated with implementing safety protocols.”
In addition to working to balance the interests and needs of its diverse membership, stakeholders and the greater community, Belliveau has several projects that stand out to her as significant accomplishments.
“Since I started with the chamber in 2014, nothing has made me prouder than to be the chamber’s executive director. As our world continues to speed along the wave of change, we have made great strides and efforts to do the same,” recalled Belliveau. “Some of my proudest accomplishments have been the WorkHub on Union, the chamber’s co-workspace; instituting Co.Starters, our nine-week entrepreneurial training program; establishing sheLEADS, our premier women’s leadership conference; and ignite, the chamber’s innovative professional development offering.”
Belliveau’s wide-ranging skills in financial management, community relations and business development have allowed Belliveau to be able to see both the broader scope of possibilities and the smaller details that need attending. In addition to her role as executive director, Belliveau has also served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, as a commissioner of the city of Easthampton Economic Development and Industry Commission since 2015 and as an advisor to the Hampshire County Regional Tourism Advisory Council.
Now, as Belliveau slowly turns her attention fully to Hendrick Harvest, she will use those same skills to grow a farm with “the most nutritionally dense food we can. That nutrition comes from the foundation of healthy soil vitality, so we are really keepers of the soil first.”
As for the chamber, Belliveau knows that it will continue to provide the support local businesses have come to depend on.
“I simply want to say thank you to everyone for this opportunity. Even when it got hard, I loved it all. It truly is the most meaningful period of my professional life,” said Belliveau. “The chamber’s foundation is solid which is the perfect place for my successor to build from there. My only advice would be to never underestimate the power of relationships and collaboration. It takes a village for sure.”
