Page 9 - BusinessWest April 27, 2026

“They’re looking
for the kind of
life that we offer
in Western Mass.
— and they’re
leaving the state
for it. So it would
be wonderful
to see the state
looking at how
they can leverage
Western Mass.
to solve one of
our major issues,
which is people
leaving the state.”
where we can. That’s a multi-pronged approach
around cleanliness, beautification, and activation
of vacant storefronts, and really bringing business
owners together to have more communication and
connection among themselves,” she explained, add-
ing that some of those are new businesses in town,
like Victoria Bar, Freedom Café, the Sparkle Cave,
and Ja’Duke.
“We’re working with business owners in different
ways to pull people together and have some collabo-
ration going on,” Rechtschaffen told BusinessWest.
One is an effort to encourage downtown businesses
to stay open until 8 p.m. during Arts Walk events,
which happen the last Friday of every month, and
on certain Saturdays throughout the year that coin-
cide with big Greenfield events.
“We’re targeting activation. Business owners
are not being asked for the moon; they’re just being
asked to lean into things that have a lot of struc-
ture,” she said, adding that the GBA is also working
to activate vacant storefronts and encourage busi-
nesses to liven up active windows.
Rechtschaffen noted that attendance at Green-
field events has been a concern, even though social
media engagement with local organizations is up.
“We continue to hear things like, ‘there’s noth-
ing going on downtown.’ And that disconnect,
for us, feels like a responsibility,” she told Busi-
nessWest. “We’re continuing to amplify things
on social media, share things broadly, work with
our partners. What’s keeping people from going
out? Maybe it’s been overstated, but post-COVID
has seen such a behavioral change in how people
engage, and maybe there has to be something to our
Sarah Little (left) and Nismah Osman want people to walk into Greenspace
CoWork and think, “I belong here.”
Greenfield
Continued on page 11 >>
Founder • Leader • Mentor • Friend
It is with great sadness that we
announce the passing of our
founder and owner, Rick Recor.
Rick devoted over 50 years of his
life to Rick's Auto Body. It was his
longtime wish that his company
remain family-owned and operated.
We are honoring his wishes by con-
tinuing to serve our customers with
a tradition of quality craftsmanship
and outstanding customer service.
Thank you very much for your
ongoing support.
The T eam at Rick’s Auto Body
Steve Nanton photo courtesy of The Republican
Business W est << COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
APRIL 27, 2026
9