Page 9 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022

An architect’s rendering of the planned new entrance at the southwest corner of the MassMutual Center.
hybrid schedules on downtown office buildings, an ongoing workforce crisis that has impacted in businesses in all sectors, and the pressing need to redevelop vacant or underutilized properties across Main Street from MGM Springfield.
But he, like the mayor, sees progress on many fronts and, overall, a pronounced recovery from a pandemic that hit the city very hard.
“We’re seeing many positive signs that Spring- field is making its way back from the pandemic and the many challenges it created,” said Shee- han, who cited, among many yardsticks of momentum, a long line to get a table at Wahl- burgers during a recent visit. “And we’re seeing these signs not only in the downtown, but the neighborhoods as well.”
Sarno agreed. He said that, over his lengthy
tenure as mayor, the city has coped with a num- ber of challenges and crises, from the June 2011 tornado to the November 2012 natural-gas explo- sion. But COVID has been different, and it has tested the city and its business community in many different ways.
“It’s been a difficult two years; the pandemic threw everyone a huge curveball,” he explained, adding that city leaders were trying to respond to an unprecedented health crisis while also making good use of state and especially federal money to help small businesses keep the lights on.
“My team has been tested, and, true, it’s been through a lot of disasters before,” he went on. “But this was like shadowboxing — it was surreal.”
COVID isn’t over, and challenges for small
“Before COVID hit, we
had a tremendous amount
of momentum going on in Springfield, not just in the downtown, but in all our neighborhoods. I think we’re starting to get our mojo back.”
businesses remain, but in many respects, the city can get back to business, and it is doing just that.
For this, the latest installment of its Com- munity Spotlight series, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Springfield, its ongoing bounce- back from COVID, and, yes, the return of that ‘good traffic.’
State of the City
It was affectionately known as the ‘dog and pony show.’
That’s what some called an annual gathering, orchestrated by the city in conjunction with the Springfield Regional Chamber, at which officials gave what amounted to a progress report on the city, with a large dollar amount attached to all the various economic-development and infra- structure projects — from MGM Springfield to
Springfield
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CREATING COMMUNITY THROUGH DESIGN SINCE 1985
Ludlow Senior Center - Ludlow, MA
An Employee & Woman Owned Company
55 Frank B. Murray Street, Suite 201 Springfield, MA 01103 413.733.6798
www.dietzarch.com
DESIGN THAT LOOKS GOOD, DOES GOOD.
DIETZ
CO. Architects
BusinessWest
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
AUGUST 22, 2022 9