Page 11 - BusinessWest August 31, 2020

Ryan McNutt says a burgeoning cannabis sector is just one of many positive developments in Palmer.
economic development, including a long-talked- about rail line that could eventually be a game changer for this community of just over 13,000 residents.
Focused Approach
When McNutt, the former city manager of Clare- mont, N.H., took over in Palmer last July, economic development was a key focus from the start.
“Economic development is important, making sure we grow the tax base and make it sustainable for the people who live here but also create opportuni- ties to attract new people coming in,” he said. “We can do that to some degree ourselves, and then there
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
AUGUST 31, 2020 11
are macro things happening, like the east-west rail line. Some days I’m more confident that will come in, some other days I’m less confi- dent. I try to stay on the optimistic side of it.”
That said, “if our folks at the federal level are really looking at this country, starting to talk more and more about having a national infrastructure package, then I think the east- west rail line is more promising, because it will take federal money; it will take being a component of a larger national infrastructure package to make it doable. But that east-west rail line would be so transformative for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
In recent years, the Palmer Town Council established a citizens’ advisory committee and contracted with the UMass Center for Eco- nomic Development to study the merits of an east-west passenger rail stop in Palmer. The town’s position, roughly central to Springfield
and Worcester, and also at the center of a market that extends north to UMass Amherst and the Five Colleges and south to the University of Connecticut, makes it a point of connection in many directions that would benefit from expanded rail service.
In addition, McNutt noted, Palmer has a work- force of close to 8,000 people, and 85% of them work outside of Palmer, mostly in Worcester but more than 100 in Pittsfield. A rail line would ease the commute for many, while individuals who want to work in the Boston area, where housing prices can be exorbitant, could instead choose to live in towns along the rail line, like Palmer.
“There are a lot of good opportunities that make Palmer an attractive community, as long as we mar- ket ourselves correctly,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re making sure we’re doing everything we can so when
a national infrastructure package gets introduced, we will be shovel-ready.
Speaking of infrastructure, Palmer boasts nine bridges that span four rivers, all built around 80 years ago with a life expectancy of about 50 years, he said. The cost to repair them is about $3 million per bridge, on average, and with the entire municipal budget, including schools, around $40 million, “it’s
“I’m encouraged that our busiest department right now is our Building Department; in fact, I’m going to add another building inspector.
not like we have the internal capacity to just fix those bridges.”
The town submitted a $7.5 million grant applica- tion to the federal BUILD program last year to repair a couple of those bridges, competing with $10 billion worth of applications — across all 50 states — for about $900 million in funding. Despite those odds, Palmer made it to the final round of consideration before being dropped, and McNutt said the region’s federal lawmakers encouraged him to reapply this year. He’s cautiously optimistic the news will be bet- ter this time around.
“I think both Democrats and Republicans agree we’ve let huge swaths of this country fall apart since the end of World War II. Bridges, ports, airports ...
Palmer
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Staff Photo