CHESTER – On Friday, Andrew Myers, chair of the Hilltown Collaborative, the group that formed after the six Gateway hilltowns signed a Community Compact with the Baker-Polito administration a year ago, received some welcome news in the form of a hoped-for grant of just over $100,511 to hire a shared economic development coordinator for the towns of Chester, Middlefield, Huntington, Russell, Blandford and Montgomery.
Hilltown Collaborative members at a meeting last November to work on an economic development strategy for the hilltowns (Photo by Amy Porter)
Myers said that Pat Carlino, town administrator in Chester, the lead town for the grant, first got the word and emailed him. The grant is part of over $850,000 in Community Compact Cabinet efficiency and regionalization grants to 38 municipalities and 8 school districts across the Commonwealth announced on Friday by the Baker-Polito Administration.
The grant exceeds the $90,000+ the Hilltown Collaborative was hoping for to cover the first year’s salary. “They added in salary, overhead, benefits and a computer,” Myers said.
“None of our towns right now can afford staff for economic development,” Myers explained. He said the Hilltown Collaborative identified the need to plan for the future, to promote attractions, assets and growth in the hilltowns; to encourage more families to move in and more economic investment.
Myers said the next step will be to get the collaborative together and put together a detailed job description with duties and goals for the first year. He is hopeful to have someone in place starting July 1, the start of the fiscal year for the towns.
This is the second grant the Hilltown Collaborative has received since the six towns signed the Community Compact agreements with the Baker-Polito Administration last May, pledging to work together on shared services and economic revitalization.
With the first grant of $40,000, the Hilltown Collaborative has been working with MassDevelopment, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and Elan Planning and Design out of Saratoga Springs for a study on economic development in the six towns. The groups toured the towns, spoke with stakeholders and held open houses. They are currently working on a development plan.
“This is a nice stepping stone. One of the things Elan is going to do is outline a strategy for the towns,” Myers said. He said the hiring of an economic development coordinator who can start implementation dovetails nicely.
“It should be exciting. Things are starting to happen. The real gratification will be when we see new growth coming and the economy starting to turn a bit,” he added. Besides chairing the collaborative, Myers is the owner of Harvest Moon Realty, a member of the Chester Finance Committee, and on the board of the Chester Theatre Company.
The Community Compact Cabinet’s Efficiency & Regionalization grant program is a new initiative for Fiscal Year 2017 that provides financial support for governmental entities interested in implementing regionalization and other efficiency initiatives that allow for long-term sustainability. The grants will provide funds for one-time or transition costs for municipalities, regional school districts, school districts considering forming a regional school district or regionalizing services, regional planning agencies and councils of governments interested in such projects.
The Governor’s FY18 budget proposal filed in January 2017 includes $2 million for the Community Compact Best Practices program and $2 million to continue supporting efficiency and regionalization grants. Also previously announced, the Governor’s third capital budget, released this upcoming spring, will provide another $2 million for the Community Compact IT Grant program.
Other regional recipients in this round of grants included $22,735 for the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) for economic development planning services, and $38,000 for the consolidation of the Easthampton City and School IT Department.
