Page 11 - BusinessWest August 17, 2020

Community Spotlight
Easthampton Relies on Grit to Weather the Pandemic
By Mark Morris
Despite what she described as “shifting sands and shifting times,” Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle believes her
city is more than holding its own in the face of COVID-19.
By that, she meant this community of roughly 16,000 people is moving ahead with a number of municipal projects and economic-development initiatives. And it is also undertaking several efforts, often in cooperation with other entities — such as the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce — to help its business community, and especially the very small businesses that dominate the landscape, weather this intense storm.
“We’re focused on a good, basic plan that addresses infrastructure and quality of life for everyone in our city,” she said, as she addressed the former — and the latter as well.
In that first category, she listed everything
“Easthampton’s grit and resilience has gotten us through things like this in the past, and it’s getting us through these scary times. It’s not graceful, but we’ll still be standing at the end.”
from a $100 million school-building project to a $45 million mixed-use development, called One Ferry, that involves renovating old mill buildings and reworking the infrastructure in the Ferry Street area.
And in the second category, she mentioned several initiatives, from small-business grants
to a community-block-grant program designed to help microbusinesses, to efforts to help rent- ers. Indeed, the city has put aside $300,000 in relief for renters; the relief begins in the fall and is meant to keep an important source of affordable housing in place.
“If you start losing renters, many of the own- ers will have to sell because they’ll have trouble
paying their mortgages,” the mayor said, adding that there are many ripple effects from the pandemic, and the city’s strat- egy is to keep the ripples from gaining size and strength.
Overall, LaChapelle acknowledged that COVID-19 is forcing businesses, families, and institutions to make pivotal changes during very uncertain times, but she remains an optimist.
“Easthampton’s grit and resilience has gotten us through things like this in the past, and it’s getting us through these scary times,” she noted. “It’s not graceful, but we’ll still be standing at the end.”
Progress Report
Like other mayors BusinessWest has spoken with in recent weeks, LaChapelle said COVID-19 has certainly impacted businesses in every sector, changed daily life in innumerable ways, and even altered how city government carries out its business.
But in many respects, it hasn’t slowed
the pace of progress in the city — at least when it comes to a number of important municipal and development projects, including the aforementioned school project.
The as-yet-unnamed school, located on Park Street, is an example of several elements of the city’s plan coming together. The new building will house students from pre-K through grade 8, replacing three older elementary schools in East- hampton. New road infrastructure is planned in front of the building as well, with the addition of a roundabout intersection.
LaChapelle noted that the $100 million project is slightly ahead of schedule and should be com- pleted by late 2021 or early 2022. The roundabout will be completed this month.
Meanwhile, other projects are taking shape or getting ready to move off the drawing board. One involves River Valley Co-op, the Northampton- based food cooperative, which is currently build- ing a 23,000-square-foot market in Easthampton on the site of the former Cernak Oldsmobile Pon- tiac dealership. The co-op is scheduled to open
by spring or summer of next year.
Once complete, the mayor explained, River
Valley will employ 60 full-time union workers with the potential to expand to nearly 100 work- ers in the next two years. Road improvements that will benefit the new co-op include a dedicat- ed turning lane into the market and straightening the road in front.
“This is an area along Route 10 that has been a traffic pain point for economic development,” she said. “While it’s a $400,000 project, we expect the return to far exceed those dollars.”
Another project in the works is One Ferry, an initiative expected to bring new residents, new businesses, and more vibrancy to the city.
“In the next 18 to 24 months, this project will add quality apartments, condominiums, and
Easthampton
Continued on page 14
8 Commercial Lenders with Individual Lending Authority & a SBA Preferred Lender GREENFIELD
Cooperative Bank
N
67 King St., Northampton | 487 Newton St., South Hadley 33 Bridge St., Shelburne Falls | 62 Federal St., Greenfield or by appointment at your business or any of our locations
BestLocalBank.com • 877-682-0334
front row: Tony Worden | Mike Buckmaster
back row: Jim Alexander | Adam Baker | Maura Guzik | Chelsea Depault | Barbara Campbell | Jim Carvalho
MEMBER FDIC MEMBER DIF
Offices & Lobbies OPEN, Since June First! All health safety guidelines being followed.
BusinessWest
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
AUGUST 17, 2020 11
Easthampton at a glance
YEAR INCORPORATED: 1785
POPULATION: 16,059
AREA: 13.6 square miles
COUNTY: Hampshire
RESIDENTIAL TAX RATE: $17.76 COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: $17.76
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $45,185 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: $54,312
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Mayor, City Council
LARGEST EMPLOYERS: Berry Plastics Corp., INSA, Williston Northampton School, National Nonwovens Co.
* Latest information available