Page 57 - BusinessWest April 27, 2026

John Page
Executive Director, Amherst Business
Improvement District: Age 29
It’s called Amherst Restaurant Week.
As that name suggests, it’s a week (in June) designed to
promote, celebrate, and introduce people to Amherst’s eclectic
mix of dining establishments.
And it’s just one of many initiatives created or enhanced
by John Page, executive director of the Amherst Business
Improvement District (BID) as he carries out the
agency’s mission to support local businesses
and cultivate a dynamic and vibrant downtown
Amherst. Others include everything from the fall
Downtown Block Party and summer concerts on
the Common to the holiday-season Sip and Shop
Stroll, which encourages holiday shopping.
Expanding that list is among the
priorities for Page, a UMass Amherst
grad who formerly worked for the
Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce,
which shares space with the BID, and
came to understand and respect the
latter’s mission. After a stint working on
events at his alma mater, he eventually
decided to seek the BID director’s job after the
departure of Gabrielle Gould.
That’s eventually.
“I was reluctant at first because I didn’t know
if I was ready,” he said, adding that the BID’s board
asked him to help with some projects, such as the
Block Party and summer concerts, in the interim, and while doing
that, he became convinced he was ready.
And over the past two years, he has become a force in efforts to
bring people downtown and create more vibrancy there.
“It’s an interesting time to be in the downtown because there’s
a little bit of a renaissance, but there are also some really big
challenges,” he said, adding that there’s been a changing of the
guard, with the owners of some long-standing businesses retiring,
and new ventures taking their places. “We’ve been very
lucky to have several new businesses open up,
expand, or move into the downtown over
the past few years, and there’s still room for
more.”
While being active in the community
is part of Page’s job description, such
work takes many forms and extends
well beyond Amherst’s downtown,
including service on the board of
the Amherst Education Foundation.
He also serves as co-chair of the
Pelham Cultural Council and has
been a lead organizer of Amherst’s
LGBTQ+ Pride events in downtown
Amherst, including the first-ever
Amherst Pride Parade.
And when not doing all that,
he loves to travel — including
trips to Barcelona, Costa Rica,
and Mexico — while always
looking forward to returning
home to a community where he
plays a key role in setting the tone.
—George O’Brien
Business W est 2026
A35