Kathryn Grandonico: 30
Vice President and Comptroller, Lincoln Real Estate
Kathryn Grandonico
Grandonico has played a major role in that development, which she first envisioned when she was working in New York City and began paying attention to details in restaurants and shops.
Her family has owned Lincoln Real Estate for more than 40 years, and she has been involved with the business since she was old enough to help carry tools. “We want to bring every building we own back to its original grandeur. Every family dinner is a business meeting,” she said, adding that she and her brother Peter plant flowers around town every spring to welcome people. “One of my goals is to get cast-iron snowflakes put on the lampposts in winter to give downtown more life and vibrancy.”
Grandonico is the first vice president of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce and a member of its Government Affairs Committee, and is also part of a group called Promoting Downtown, a liasion to the town’s Design Review Board that is instrumental in the annual Merry Maple holiday celebration. “My experiences are all coming full-circle,” she said. “I am seeing small-business owners work to create an atmosphere and experience like I saw in New York.”
She has been a mentor to many business owners and developed and marketed Boltwood Marketplace for farmers, artists, and craftspeople after she discovered space was limited at the Farmer’s Market.
“I feel it is my responsibility to modernize the town — keep it up with the times and help beautify it while filling it with local businesses,” she said. “We are at the cusp of hearkening back to the 1950s when Amherst was in its heyday. The locals are coming back, and Amherst is filled with culture and academic status and people who want quality goods and a quality experience.”
Grandonico is one of them, and her love for her hometown, combined with her energy, passion, and enthusiasm, are helping bring her vision to reality.
— Kathleen Mitchell
