The Hilltown Collaborative met on Friday in Stanton Hall. (Photo by Amy Porter)
HUNTINGTON – The Hilltown Collaborative met on Friday at Stanton Hall for an update on the Gateway Hilltowns marketing campaign from shared Economic Development Director Jeanne LeClair.
The campaign, which recently unveiled a new shared brand for the six Gateway Hilltowns of Huntington, Blandford, Chester, Middlefield, Montgomery and Russell, was developed through a Community Compact grant for $40,000; one of several received from the Baker-Polito administration to advance economic development and shared services in the region.
Present at Friday’s meeting were representatives of five of the six towns, including Blandford Town Administrator Joshua Garcia, Andy Myers of Chester, who chairs the Hilltown Collaborative; Russell Selectman Wayne Precanico and Finance Committee member Derrick Mason; Middlefield brand participants Joe Kearns and Tamarin Laurel, Huntington Selectman Darlene McVeigh, and guests.
LeClair said the gatewayhilltowns.org website has been revised, and “is beautiful,” and traffic is increasing to the site. She said an underwriting ad mentioning all six hilltowns is also running on WAMC radio, an NPR-affiliate out of Albany which reaches the hilltowns.
Another piece LeClair reported on is a mini-newspaper which will be mailed out to every household in the six towns on Friday, giving updates on the marketing campaign, broadband efforts in the towns, available small business assistance, and the new Gateway full-day preschool.
Economic Development Director Jeanne LeClair and Hilltown Collaborative Chairman Andy Myers at the unveiling of the new Gateway Hilltowns brand. (Photos by Amy Porter)
LeClair said a video promoting the Gateway Hilltowns is also being produced, and an upcoming realtor’s breakfast to be hosted at Gateway Regional will highlight the school district and advances in the towns.
Also discussed at the meeting are two more grants available to the towns through the Community Compact with the state; a Best Practices Program grant and an Efficiency & Regionalization grant. LeClair said she met with a group discussing potential future uses for the Russell Elementary School as one possible project for the Best Practices grant.
Mason said one of the options they are considering is a Makers space in the school, which would provide tools, materials and space for entrepreneurs to explore and create. Mason said the constraint in Russell is that it would have to link to education; or the town will still be required to pay back the building loan, which they didn’t have to pay while leasing the school to Westfield.
Garcia said it may be possible for the town to apply for a grant through the Best Practices program for technical assistance to look at viable options for the school building.
LeClair said she is currently offering small business assistance at the Village Enterprise Center in Chester in collaboration with the Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center and the Hilltown Collaborative. She is also continuing as an advisor for the Enterprise Club at Gateway for student entrepreneurs.
Also discussed were free classes available from the state for training of town officials, and whether the Hilltown Collaborative could arrange for joint trainings with all six towns, instead of one by one. Workshops for Boards of Health, assessors, and emergency services were all discussed.
In response to questions the group has had about the role of the Hilltown Collaborative regarding the Economic Development Director, Myers said they are an advisory board, and the director is shared equally by all the towns. A meeting with all the select boards to go over the Memorandum of Understanding was suggested.
“We really want more participation,” Myers said.
