Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan speaks to an audience of key stakeholders during the launch of the ‘GoWestfield’ campaign on Tuesday.
WESTFIELD- On Tuesday, Mayor Brian P. Sullivan and Westfield Gas & Electric General Manager Dan Howard unveiled “GoWestfield” at G&E headquarters on Turnpike Industrial Road. GoWestfield is the product of a months-long marketing partnership to communicate to people outside the region that Westfield is an attractive location to grow a business and an exceptional place to live, work, and play.
“This campaign is focused on promoting the full Westfield value proposition,” Mayor Sullivan said. “Westfield has a great story to tell, and our team has worked hard to ensure that story is known around Massachusetts and beyond,” he added.
In partnership with Westfield Bank and the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, the GoWestfield marketing campaign includes unique branding, the GoWestfield.com website, a promotional video and advertising in regional outlets and industry journals.
“The community itself is the biggest sell,” Sullivan says in the video. He goes on to point out that Westfield has its own hospital, parks, airport, university, “some of the best public schools,” restaurants and concerts on the green. Sullivan also emphasizes having the locally owned, municipal Gas & Electric and Whip City Fiber.
“The intent of the campaign is to provide site selectors, developers and brokers with a ‘one stop shopping’ place to gain more information regarding Westfield’s exceptional offerings,” G&E General Manager Howard said. “These include ample developable land, access to markets, high-speed internet and very competitive energy pricing and service,” he added.
City Advancement Officer Joe Mitchell said the campaign used local vendors, including Larsen Creative Media, who developed the GoWestfield.com website; Kirby Productions, who produced the video, and Latka Printing and Marketing who worked on printed materials and other marketing pieces. G&E Marketing Director Lisa Stowe and Westfield Outreach Coordinator Amber Danahey were also leads in developing the campaign.
“We’re excited. We haven’t had a marketing campaign in a while. It’s something we need to do,” said Community Development Director Peter J. Miller. He said that Westfield is one of the few cities out there with municipally owned high-speed fiber, something that businesses require. “We want to take advantage of this moment in time we have,” Miller said.
Mitchell said the GoWestfield campaign was introduced to industry leaders at the Western Massachusetts Developers Conference in June, attended by keynote speaker Governor Charlie Baker. Also in attendance was Secretary of Economic Development, Jay Ash, who Mitchell said talked about how Westfield has distinguished itself by utilizing numerous economic development programs to improve its infrastructure, leverage state-owned property and facilities for commercial use, develop its workforce, and tap into private investment in support of its economic development agenda.
Tuesday’s event showcased the focused nature of the campaign along with the partnerships to community leaders and stakeholders.
“It is critical that we communicate our strengths, especially the investment we’ve made with the G&E to bring gigabit-speed fiber to both homes and businesses,” said Sullivan in reference to the $15 million fiber buildout slated for completion this fall.
“Working with the City and our business partners, we are excited about the possibility of leveraging our strengths to bolster further growth for our community,” added Howard.
