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Aaron Vega to Helm Western Massachusetts EDC as It Writes Its Next Chapter

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Aaron Vega
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Taking the Lead

Aaron Vega

Aaron Vega

As Aaron Vega was reading last spring’s announcement that Rick Sullivan would be leaving his post as president of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC) at the end of this year, he was already thinking that his various skill sets and this high-profile job were a good match — and that this was his next logical career challenge.

“The path that I’m on in economic development and municipal work … there are only a few higher-level jobs in this area — if you want to stay in Western Mass. and care about Western Mass. — and this one of them,” he explained. “And they don’t come along very often, so I decided early on that I should throw my hat in the ring.”

And he wasn’t alone in that thinking.

“I saw Mayor [Joshua] Garcia not long after, and he said, ‘you’re applying for this job, right?’” recalled Vega, referring to Holyoke’s chief executive, beside whom he’s been working for the past several years as director of Planning and Economic Development for the city. “He knew that this was a good fit.”

“The EDC is a connector and a convener.”

Vega did go for it, and, eventually, several teams of interviewers agreed that there was indeed a good match between this job’s demands and Vega’s diverse résumé, which also includes everything from entrepreneurship — he was a freelance film editor and then a yoga studio owner — to two terms as a Holyoke city councilor and then four terms as a state representative.

Thus, he ultimately prevailed in a lengthy, national search, and will take the helm on Jan. 2. Before then, and even moreso after, he said he’ll doing a lot of listening — to EDC board members, mayors, business owners, property owners, developers, and area economic development leaders.

The plan is to take what he’s heard and use his vast experience to blueprint what will be the next chapter for the EDC, a membership-based organization formed roughly 30 years ago with a broad charge of making the 413 more competitive, taking a more regional approach to economic development, and creating a stronger voice for this area statewide.

While Vega will develop a more formal set of goals and priorities in the months and years to come, he told BusinessWest he has some initial thoughts.

“We have not done a good job of marketing Western Mass.”

They include everything from creating regular, industry-based roundtables — similar to the ones he staged in Holyoke and that many attendees, including Sullivan, thought should be regional in nature — to more aggressive efforts to tell the region’s story and market the 413.

Not with newspaper and television ads, necessarily, he said, although that might be part of the equation, but through a multi-dimensional strategy that includes having a stronger presence in regional and even national gatherings, such as the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference, which he attended several times as a Holyoke official.

“The last one was in St. Louis, and the one before that was in Chicago,” he said, adding that communities across the country gather to hear strategies about addressing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties. “You hear these presentations from Chicago, Detroit, big cities and small towns, on how to reactivate these spaces. I’ve been to these conferences on vacant buildings and transportation — there’s so much networking going on at these events, and we need to be out there.”

Aaron Vega (right), seen here with Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, says the region needs to do a better job of promoting itself and its many assets.

Aaron Vega (right), seen here with Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, says the region needs to do a better job of promoting itself and its many assets.

Meanwhile, he said another priority is to work with area cities and towns to create more of the shovel-ready land that developers are increasingly demanding.

Still another priority is to increase awareness within the local business community of what the EDC is, how it functions, and what role it can play, if any, with the many pressing issues in this region.

“The EDC is a connector and a convener,” he said, settling on those two words to describe the agency, adding that he wants to put even more emphasis on regional collaboration on issues such as housing and east-west rail.

 

Pulling on the Same Rope

As noted near the top, Vega spent several years doing freelance film editing work for creators that included Ken Burns and his eight-part series on the history of jazz.

One project Vega worked on was “Race to the Moon,” an American Experience episode that told the story of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, in late 1968. He referenced it as he talked about his approach to his new job, problem solving in general, and one question during one of his final interviews (concerning policies relating to airports) that he didn’t have an answer to.

“Every single challenge they had putting together those Apollo missions … when they would encounter a new obstacle or challenge, they would bring in a person who could fix it — they kept expanding their team,” he explained. “If I don’t know how to do something, let’s bring in the person who does.

“If we do our job in Western Mass. of bringing in these companies that are coming out of UMass and elsewhere and they grow here and we create new housing opportunities … people are going to take the train to come out here to work.”

“If a group of people can come together and put us on the moon, a group of people in Western Mass. who are smart and have all these abilities can come together and figure out what we need to get done,” he went on, adding that this will be the organization’s mindset moving forward.

Overall, Vega has a broad, diverse background working in many different settings to call on as he approaches his next challenge.

Indeed, while editing films, he also opened his own small business, Vega Yoga & Movement Arts, operating it for more than 15 years. And in 2010 (the year he became one of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty honorees), the Holyoke native won an at-large seat on the Holyoke City Council, eventually serving two terms.

He then moved from City Hall to the State House, capturing the first of four two-year terms in 2013, before returning to Holyoke to become director of the Planning and Economic Development Office.

Vega told BusinessWest that, while each career stop provided invaluable experience that will help him with his latest career challenge, that is especially true of his time in Holyoke.

Indeed, over the past five years, he’s been part of several key initiatives, from the growth, and subsequent decline, of a cannabis cluster in the city to the emergence of new clean energy and food-tech companies, such as Sublime Systems and Clean Crop Technologies; from the designation of the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center as state’s hub for artificial intelligence and quantum computing to the years-long effort to convert the long-vacant Farr Alpaca complex into 88 units of mixed-income housing for adults 55 and over.

“I understand how these things happen — how do businesses locate? How do housing developments happen? How do you put together a $40 million financial stack to make 88 units of housing together?” he said, adding that his experience on the ground, and the relationships he’s forged — with those in the State House, regionally, and locally — will also be assets in his new role with the EDC.

Returning to those thoughts about the EDC being a connector and convener, Vega said issues such as the housing crisis and the 413’s declining population require a regional approach and a high level of collaboration among area cities and towns. And that’s one example of how the EDC might be able to help identify key issues for the region, set goals, and develop strategies to meet them.

“If we want to think about Western Mass. as a hub, we need a population goal for Western Mass. because this region is bleeding population, especially among younger people, ages 24 to 45,” he said. “If we say we have a population goal for the region — 20,000, 30,000, whatever the number is — over the next 10 to 15 years, then every municipality is going to have a role in that.

“Our small towns are going to have to bring on four to 10 units of housing, while our Holyokes and Westfields are going to have to bring on hundreds of units of housing,” he continued. “How do we work together to make sure we’re pulling on the same rope? A lot of people say, ‘pull in the same direction.’ I’m saying that we need to pull on the same rope together.”

 

Selling the Region

And while getting communities to pull on that same rope, the EDC should also be continuing to stress a regional approach to economic development, Vega said, while spearheading better efforts to promote the region and its assets.

“We have not done a good job of marketing Western Mass.” he said. “We should be talking about the health systems we have and the education systems we have, and the idea that you can live in a farmhouse if you want and be in downtown Springfield or downtown Holyoke in 20 minutes, even without public transportation. I think we should talk about the fact that Western Mass. believes in science, believes in education, believes in opportunities.

“Maybe that story isn’t being told, but we need to make sure that, if the EDC is out there telling the story, the chambers are telling the story, the mayors are telling the story — everyone is telling the same story,” he said, citing the example of Lowell, which he acknowledged is a city and not a region, where there was a solid, consistent message about the ‘Lowell plan.’ “The message in Lowell was so strong that the barbershops were talking about it, as well as the mayor.”

He noted that, under Sullivan, the EDC has done a solid job of creating a strong voice for the region on a statewide level and making sure Western Mass. is part of statewide initiatives, and these efforts must continue as part of those broader efforts to promote the area and prompt businesses to look this way when considering expansion or additional locations.

“When those Boston-based firms are looking for R&D or prototyping, they don’t need to look any further than Western Mass.,” he said. “If they need a second location or warehouse space or their manufacturing done, it’s way too costly to manufacture inside the 495 belt. These firms should be creating partnerships and doing that manufacturing out here; we have great manufacturers and companies that can help with research and development. These connections need to be made stronger.

“People in Boston don’t know what we make out here,” he continued. “So when they look for service or they look for something, they look at the West Virginias; they look out of state before they look in-state. We need to change that.”

Summing up the challenge — and opportunity — for the EDC and the region, as well as perhaps his own job description, to some extent, Vega returned to the subject of east-west rail and what would be the best-case scenario.

“A lot of people talk about east-west rail coming and how that will be a benefit for people in Western Mass. to get on the train and go to Boston or Worcester and go to work,” he said. “But if we do our job in Western Mass. of bringing in these companies that are coming out of UMass and elsewhere and they grow here and we create new housing opportunities … people are going to take the train to come out here to work.

“That’s a shift in mindset that needs to happen,” he went on, adding that this just one of his goals as he takes on his next career challenge.

 

A Good Choice for the EDC

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Opinion

Editorial

 

Aaron Vega, director of Planning & Economic Development in Holyoke, will assume the reins at the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC) in January. And he takes the helm at a very intriguing time for the region.

Indeed, many of the traditional pillars of this region’s economy, especially healthcare and higher education, are struggling and shedding jobs rather than adding them. Manufacturing is more than holding its own, but still coping with workforce issues — specifically the retirement of Baby Boomers and difficulty with replacing them. Other sectors are shrinking as a wave of mergers and acquisitions continues unabated.

Meanwhile, emerging sectors are trying to … emerge. This list includes food science, quantum computing, and green energy, with several of the businesses at the forefront of these efforts located in Holyoke.

All of this — as well as the EDC’s broad mission itself — ties back nicely to something Dave Fontaine Jr., president of the construction firm Fontaine Brothers Inc., said of this region at the recent Developers Conference in downtown Springfield.

He said of the 413, and he’s not alone in these sentiments, “it’s a great place to live … if you can make a living.”

And that’s essentially where we’re at right now in this region — trying to enable those who might want to live here for all the reasons we know about, especially quality of life, to make a living.

And while that is not Vega’s official job description, it might as well be. The EDC is charged with leading and coordinating efforts to stimulate the region’s economy, including efforts that don’t fall in traditional categories of economic development, like workforce development, entrepreneurship, and even marketing.

We’ve followed Vega’s career for nearly 20 years now, since he was a freelance film editor, yoga studio owner, and Holyoke city councilor, a package that earned him a spot in BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2010. He would later go on to serve four terms as a state representative before returning to Holyoke City Hall as director of Planning & Economic Development.

He brings to his new post connections in Boston and across the region, but also a track record for getting things done, especially with complicated projects and bringing companies to this region to get started — and, hopefully, put down deep roots.

We believe he is the right person to lead the EDC at this critical juncture and continue the work of the agency and its outgoing president, Rick Sullivan, to make this region not only a great place to live, but one where people can make a living.

EDC, UMass Amherst Enhance Economy Through Internships

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Technology

Early Connections

The Markens Group

The Markens Group’s iCons summer intern, Bobby Murray (center), with Ben Markens and Emily Leonczyk.

The Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC) and the UMass Amherst iCons program, under the umbrella of the iCons Industry Consortium, recently joined forces to provide UMass iCons students with internship and career opportunities in the Western Mass. region.

iCons is a certificate program focused on real-world problem solving in biomedicine/biosystems and renewable energy, catering to students in science, technology, health sciences, engineering, math (STEM), and business. The program engages students in addressing real-world challenges alongside industry partners and faculty members from a range of STEM and business disciplines.

“By bringing together exceptional students and local businesses, this collaboration creates a win-win situation, fostering mutual growth and development.”

Now, with the support of the EDC, UMass iCons students majoring in science, technology, engineering, math, health sciences, and business have access to internship opportunities with local businesses, with the goal of bolstering the regional economy as well as their own experience.

“We’re excited to partner with UMass Amherst to showcase the advantages of living and working in Western Mass.,” said Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Western Mass EDC. “ By bringing together exceptional students and local businesses, this collaboration creates a win-win situation, fostering mutual growth and development.”

The iCons program has already successfully placed students in internships at three member organizations of the Western Mass EDC: the Markens Group, US Tsubaki Chicopee, and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. These experiences have provided iCons students with valuable exposure to real-world work environments and have allowed them to contribute to the success of local businesses.

The Markens Group recently welcomed Bobby Murray as an iCons summer intern.

“We are thrilled to have Bobby join us at the Markens Group this summer,” said Emily Leonczyk, the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Bobby is taking advantage of the opportunity to cultivate his skills, gain invaluable real-world experience, and lay the foundation for a successful future. Bobby has already added immense value, he is sharp and enthusiastic, and our team is stronger with his contributions. We are dedicated to supporting next-generation talent like Bobby and fostering professional development in our region.”

“This partnership exemplifies our commitment to building community and empowering local talent.”

According to its website, iCons “prepares our best undergraduates to be problem solvers, leaders, and innovators in science, technology, and business. iCons recruits quality students across a diverse range of science, engineering, and business disciplines to identify global problems and find cutting-edge solutions. The iCons program positions students for high achievement in graduate school and in their careers.”

Scott Auerbach, Mahoney Family Sponsored Executive Director of iCons, noted that the program’s mission can be boiled down to three words: “add real value.”

“Our excellent partnership with the Western Mass. Economic Development Council and terrific member organizations like the Markens Group provides powerful opportunities to accomplish this important mission,” he said.

Through this collaboration, the leaders of the Western Massachusetts EDC and the iCons program say they want to pave the way for talented students to excel in their academic and professional pursuits while driving economic growth in the region. By nurturing the next generation of leaders and problem solvers, they add, this partnership will leave a lasting impact on both the students and the community as a whole.

“The Markens Group firmly believes in the power of community,” President and CEO Ben Markens said. “Beyond our association-management services, we actively engage in initiatives that foster growth, build relationships, and strengthen the region. This partnership exemplifies our commitment to building community and empowering local talent.”

Anchor Collaborative Benefits Businesses

By Contributor
Opinion

Opinion

By Rick Sullivan

 

The Western Massachusetts Anchor Collaborative (WMAC), founded by the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council (EDC) in partnership with Baystate Health, provides comprehensive, systemic, and locally led solutions to regional women- and minority- owned businesses and workforce challenges. The WMAC was initiated to propel hiring and career pathways for BIPOC and marginalized populations.

The WMAC has successfully established multi-year targets to increase local procurement opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses, and are developing an ‘Anchor-ready accelerator’ that will cultivate a resilient local supplier pipeline for targeted goods and services. The accelerator will provide wrap-around services and resources to prepare and scale vendors for contracts with Anchor institutions.

WMAC institutions seek to address inequities that have resulted from historic patterns of disinvestment and bias related to neighborhood, race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status in Western Mass. These institutions have more than 18,000 employees, with nearly 3,000 residing in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Western Mass.

Collectively, Anchor Collaborative institutions currently spend more than $2 billion in goods and services and have committed to annually increasing the percentage of spending toward local and diverse businesses. Bridging the gap between Anchor institutions and the local community is a key ingredient to successful and positive economic impact.

The Anchor Collaborative aims to foster equitable communities and strong local economies, pilot career-pathway programs, align support for entry-level and low-wage employees from disadvantaged neighborhoods, cultivate jobs and promote healthier employees and residents, and leverage each institution’s purchasing and hiring power

The WMAC chooses smaller businesses that have historically not had the opportunity to enter supply chains, or get capitalized, underwritten, etc. It coordinates workforce-development strategies with Springfield WORKS, an EDC community initiative, to create training opportunities for career pathways to living-wage jobs. WMAC institutions provide a mentorship role to smaller businesses to allow them to scale up and help them grow. Big Y has been an influential leader in this initiative, supporting local greenhouses and farmers. It even offers a reusable food-wrap product, Z-Wrap, on its shelves.

Data will be regularly collected and analyzed to set effective targets and monitor progress. The goal is to design an internal process that allows for accessible professional development and growth, leading to promotions and careers within each institution. We aim to enhance our impact and drive regional economic equity and financial vitality for our communities.

 

Rick Sullivan is president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council;
www.westernmassedc.com

Host of Forces Create Momentum Across the Region

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Rick Sullivan says the region has considerable momentum carrying over in 2019, and it comes from most all sectors of the economy.
Economic Outlook

Forward Progress

Rick Sullivan says the region has considerable momentum carrying over in 2019, and it comes from most all sectors of the economy.

Rick Sullivan says the region has considerable momentum carrying over in 2019, and it comes from most all sectors of the economy.

Momentum.

Webster defines that word in several ways, including this one: ‘strength or force gained by motion or through development of events.’

Over the past few years, and especially in 2018, there was a good deal of motion and quite a few singular and ongoing events that have made this region stronger and created quite a bit of momentum, said Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass. (EDC).

And this movement has been across a number of sectors and most all area communities, not just Springfield, although that’s where it is easily most visible and palpable.

“We’re seeing a great deal of momentum across the region,” he said. “And it’s across the board — manufacturing, healthcare, higher ed, tourism.”

Elaborating, he cited just a few examples of this momentum, starting with the most obvious:

• MGM Springfield opened its doors on Aug. 24, but it began to impact the regional economy long before that, through the filling of more than 2,000 jobs, proving a boost for area hotels (see related story, page 27), inspiring movement toward additional market-rate housing projects in and around the downtown, and even awarding life-changing vendor contracts with several area businesses, from a bus company in Chicopee to a dry cleaner in the Forest Park section of Springfield.

• Eds and meds. The region’s two main economic drivers, education and healthcare, are thriving and becoming ever-larger contributors to economic development in the region, he said, noting, on the education side, that the region’s community colleges continue to find ways to step up and help meet workforce needs and provide specific skills needed in the workplace.

• The cannabis industry. This intriguing new era in Massachusetts history is impacting everything from the commercial real-estate market to traffic in downtown Northampton, where a dispensary became just one of two sites in Massachusetts selling marijuana for recreational use.

• A host of other forces are at play in downtown Springfield, ranging from new tenants on Bridge Street to the revitalization of Stearns Square; from a new Starbucks (actually, two of them; there’s also one at MGM) to soaring interest in new housing projects; from new train service coming into Union Station to the opening (soon) of the Innovation Center.

“When I’m out downtown, I generally have to wait in line to get lunch — and I’m happy to do it. That’s a good thing; it means the economy is doing well.”

• Progress continues with developing new sources of jobs in fields such as cybersecurity (Bay Path University and UMass Amherst are becoming regional and even national leaders in that field) and water technology — a $3.9 million demonstration center is set to open at UMass Amherst within the next two years.

• The construction industry, usually a bellwether for the economy, remains sound, with many companies reporting they have ample jobs on the books for the coming. “The phones have been ringing — and that’s always a good sign,” said Tim Pelletier, president of Ludlow-based Houle Construction.

Sullivan has another, far more personal measure of progress and momentum. “When I’m out downtown, I generally have to wait in line to get lunch — and I’m happy to do it. That’s a good thing; it means the economy is doing well,” he told BusinessWest, noting that there is considerably more foot traffic in the central business district, and many businesses are benefiting from this.

Yes, there are some challenges to contend with, and even a few possible storm clouds on the horizon; workforce issues are impacting most all sectors, and they could stifle the growth of some companies (see related story, page 22), and most economic analysts are predicting a slowdown (but not a recession) in 2019.

But for the most part, there is momentum and continued cause for optimism, even as question marks grow in number.

‘Stable’ is the word Tom Senecal uses when he talks about the local economy, and in most ways, ‘stable’ is good.

‘Stable’ is the word Tom Senecal uses when he talks about the local economy, and in most ways, ‘stable’ is good.

“Several sectors are doing very well — education, construction, multi-family housing, green energy, and others,” said Tom Senecal, president and CEO of Holyoke-based PeoplesBank, who spoke from the perspective of his own bank, which saw roughly 8% growth this calendar year, and what he’s seen and heard anecdotally.

Senecal said he’s seen a noticeable slowing of residential real-estate business over the past month to six weeks, after a strong start to the year — a development probably linked to rising interest rates — but overall, as he said, the local economy is chugging along nicely.

Keith Nesbitt, vice president and Commercial Banking Team leader at Community Bank’s Springfield location, agreed.

“I would describe what’s happening in Western Mass. as transition against a backdrop of real stability,” he said, using ‘transition’ to mean many things, from the beginning of the casino era to the passing of many businesses from one generation to the next. “There’s a lot of certainty around those well-established, mature businesses that we have in this region. And those businesses that haven’t been around as long but are growing … they’re pretty solid, and they’re pretty confident.”

Banking on It

Both Senecal and Nesbitt put that word ‘stable’ to use early and quite often as they talked about the local economy and what they’re witnessing.

And in most all respects, ‘stable’ — and ‘steady’ and ‘predictable,’ words that were also used — is good, Senecal noted, adding, as many others have over the years while analyzing the local market, that while this region hasn’t soared like some others, including Boston, where the commercial and residential markets are white hot, that means it isn’t susceptible to the dramatic falls that those cities and regions also see.

“Fortunately, and sometimes unfortunately, we don’t see the highs and lows economically; we’re sheltered a little bit,” he explained. “We have a very stable economy when it comes to healthcare, education, and our nonprofit sector — those are three stable industries that keep Western Mass. insulated from the highs and lows.

“I would equate ‘stable’ to ‘predictable,’” he went on. “And for a small business, predictability is a huge part of job growth and just economic growth in general for small business.”

His own business moved forward with several initiatives in 2018, including the acquisition of First National Bank of Suffield and the start of work to convert the former Yankee Pedlar restaurant into a new and intriguing branch. And he said many businesses had the requisite confidence to move ahead with their own growth initiatives, be it through workforce expansion, new facilities, or new business lines.

And he expects this stability to continue into 2019, although possible, if not probable, additional interest-rate hikes (the Fed was set to vote on one as this issue went to press) could bring uncertainty, and therefore greater cautiousness, to the fore.

“Anything that stays stable and is predictable is good for economic development, and anything that is unpredictable is a slowdown in economic development,” he said, adding that there is uncertainty regarding everything from interest rates to the trade war.

“I would equate ‘stable’ to ‘predictable.’ And for a small business, predictability is a huge part of job growth and just economic growth in general for small business.”

Like Sullivan, though, Senecal said MGM has provided a boost to the local economy in several ways — through the jobs it has created and its contribution to greater vibrancy downtown. And it is just one of the many factors contributing to the improved picture locally.

Others include the steady performance of education and healthcare and movement toward creating new sources of jobs.

Sullivan cited the work being done at Bay Path and UMass Amherst in cybersecurity — Bay Path recently entered into a partnership with Google, for example — and creation of the water-technology demonstration center as developments to watch.

“Those are jobs of the future, and there’s real excitement about what can develop,” he noted. “There are now some partnerships with large companies, like Google, and tremendous promise.”

Elaborating, he said that, across the region, colleges and universities are playing key roles in providing individuals with the hard and soft skills to thrive in today’s technology-driven economy, and thus, they’re playing a major role in economic development.

Examples abound, from Holyoke Community College’s new culinary-arts facility, which is helping to meet the needs of individual employers like MGM and a growing field in general, to Greenfield Community College and its efforts to train workers for the manufacturing sector, to Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College working together with MGM to create the Casino Career Training Institute.

“What it comes down to is that economic development for this region, and across the country, for that matter, is all about workforce — developing, finding, and retaining talent,” he said. “And the good news for us is that we have a very robust higher-ed presence — four-year public and private, and the community colleges as well — and the future is bright.”

Returning to the subject of downtown Springfield, he said that, in addition to that waiting in line for lunch, he’s seen other signs of vibrancy and, most importantly, interest on the part of developers in investing in that area.

“We’ve had a number of investors express interest in possible hotels and potential housing, both market-rate and workforce-housing projects,” he noted. “And those are discussions that may not have beem happening in … pick a time period — five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago. It’s been a while since we’ve seen this.”

Keith Nesbitt describes what’s happening in this region economically as “transition against the backdrop of stability.”

Keith Nesbitt describes what’s happening in this region economically as “transition against the backdrop of stability.”

Nesbitt concurred, and noted that, while the multi-family housing segment of the commercial real-estate market is heating up — it has been for some time — there is movement across the spectrum, much of it fueled not only by MGM, but by a promising outlook for the future.

“Long-time property owners are realizing that now is the time to realize value, so they’re putting those properties on the market,” he said of multi-family units but also other holdings. “And those that are speculating on the future are generally thinking that now is the time to get into the market based on some of those other transitions that are going on. So the commercial real-estate market has been very consistent.”

Steady As She Goes

“Consistent.’ ‘Stable.’ ‘Predictable.’ ‘Steady.’

Those are the words you hear most often in discussion of the local economy today and what is likely to happen in 2019.

There is a good amount of uncertainty in the air regarding everything from trade balances (or imbalances, as the case may be) to interest rates to the political scene in Washington.

But locally, stability and momentum seem to be the prevailing forces.

And they should enable the region to build on that momentum in the year ahead.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]