In looking closely at some of the downtown revitalization and economic efforts in the region, Reminder Publishing spoke with officials from Holyoke and Chicopee to see how they have managed their unique community challenges while also finding common ground in their growth.
Holyoke Director of Planning and Economic Development Aaron Vega told Reminder Publishing in Holyoke’s case, downtown revitalization and economic development efforts were underway prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Faced with these new challenges — like everyone — the city maintained and has fought out through the other side, still creating growth in downtown and specifically on High Street. Vega explained getting out of COVID-19 the city was lucky to be a part of the rapid recovery program put forward by then-Gov. Charlie Baker.
“We worked with a consultant and really came up with some good action items about some of the stuff that needed to be done in Holyoke for downtown revitalization. Everything from storefront improvement to infrastructure improvement and of course creating financial solutions for small businesses to come into the city,” Vega said.
Vega added that this helped craft a “kind of a guidebook” for the city’s foundational efforts. Following that opportunity was another break as the city was chosen through MassDevelopment to receive a Transformative Development Initiative fellow.
TDI fellows are MassDevelopment employees who work with municipalities to provide on-the-ground economic development expertise and collaborative leadership. A fellow assists in technical assistance, grants to support local market development, arts and cultural infrastructure, collaborative workshops, placemaking and more.
“Now we’re working on improvements to public safety, general cleanup, having benches and planters, trash cans and trash pickup,” Vega said. “It’s kind of a business improvement district if you will without anyone having to pay into it so we’re trying to create those same benefits for the businesses on High Street.”
Vega added this will continue to be Holyoke’s focus, as well as continuing to improve public safety issues and creating a space welcoming to its community.
Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melissa Breor started in her role in 2022 and said she took over the chamber at a fairly healthy position thanks to the work done throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“Julie [Copoulos, previous executive director] did a great job helping businesses get through COVID. The chamber became an incredible resource for the business community and specifically in Chicopee Center,” Breor said.
Luckily, Chicopee was also fortunate enough to receive a TDI fellow just prior to the coronavirus pandemic and it enabled the chamber to work directly through the challenges. Breor added that through the coronavirus pandemic, work with the TDI was focused for the city to support storefront improvements and downtown economic development.
They also established more of an online presence and a brand was formed all in the name of doing better work through the chamber. This collaboration also led to the formation of new programs to create business development in the city.
“One of the things that was created in that program was Center Fresh Farmers’ Market and that’s one of the economic development initiatives that the chamber has continued to run,” Breor said. “When I arrived, the chamber was in a really strong position and we helped a lot of businesses get through COVID.”
Vega said there has definitely been improvements on High and Main streets as more businesses join the space. When he thinks about the continued growth and the city’s future for downtown, Vega said Holyoke will continue to be an attractive candidate for businesses.
“When we think about what the future of downtown is, it’s really just figuring out it’s about restaurants, or more so culturally specific restaurant to get people a unique experience. That’s good for us because we have a lot of Latino owned businesses,” Vega said.
He added that while the city has the Holyoke Mall as a foundational retail space, the city has still struggled in obtaining more retail in downtown and is something they would like to improve on. Vega said getting more quintessential shops such as grocery stores, bodegas, and more to its slowly growing beauty industry are all businesses they hope to attract as well.
“The beauty industry is having a really strong comeback on High Street,” Vega said, adding that four different beauty related businesses have opened in the last two years. “That’s very big in this community and culture, whether its hair or nails or skin care. We’re kind of seeing those service industries come back.”
Breor explained that Chicopee’s business development is unique as Memorial Drive serves as home for many nationally recognized chain restaurants and stores, but the city has shopping centers and other small businesses scattered throughout. Part of this structure is due to the city having Westover Air Force Base and the history related to that.
“I think it’s really unique what all those bigger businesses do, they help with the overall tax rate. Some of those businesses are also very community minded too. A handful of those are members of the chamber because they want to be in the community and they want to work within their community,” Breor said. “I think it’s very unique and I think it’s something that a comparable city doesn’t have access to.”
According to Vega, providing affordable housing is most important in retaining economic growth in these downtown areas.
“In order to support those service industries, you need people with disposable income, so of course we’re focusing a lot on bringing residential units back to High Street because the only way that we’re going to deal with the public safety issues and have the support for these sort of small restaurants is to have people live downtown and the walkability,” Vega said.
Vega reiterated housing is intimately connected to economic development and for too long, communities thought of them separate. He added this fact is why the city is interested in mixed use properties as financially it makes a lot of sense for development.
“You’re always going to have people in need of housing, it’s a steady income for the property and developments,” Vega said. “We do work with a lot of people that have buildings and only focused on the ground floor for their retail or commercial space, and now are looking how can I reactive those upper floors and bring in some additional income, and of course the overall city plan.”
Vega said the city’s Master Plan is being reworked to inform on the city’s next 10-15 years and also help give the city the right information on securing grants and attracting the right businesses to downtown.
Breor said her focus since taking over was to make sure downtown has the support needed from the chamber in order to thrive. In her position, networking and providing opportunities for business is key and said while Chicopee Center is its downtown hub, there are pockets all over the city and greater Chicopee that can be attractive to businesses.
“In any kind of economic development setting you notice things do really take a while, especially housing and we’re hoping that some of the new state funding and programs will help move some of that along, but we’re really focused on the businesses community,” Breor said. “We would hope that any kind of bigger housing initiative might actually have some opportunity for businesses too, like first floor retail or mixed use.”
Breor added access to affordable housing and development is essential for economic development.
