Page 36 - BusinessWest February 19, 2024

“Linda has a preternatural ability to see what needs
to be done and, with transparency underpinned by a willingness to accept risk and accountability for choices, ” forge ahead.
During her lengthy career with the FRCOG, Linda Dunlavy has brought services to, and been a tireless advocate for, communities in Franklin County, including Greenfield, seen here.
try this’ ... and we’d hit a dead end and then back up, and then we’d say, ‘let’s try this option’ and hit a dead end. That was a lot of the strategic work I did with Tim: ‘what can we try next? What’s the next obstacle that needs to be overcome to prove that this is a good idea?’”
Overall, it took 15 years to get north-south passenger rail returned, Dunlavy noted, adding that passenger volumes post- COVID, high enough to convince the state to take the service from trial status to permanent in nature, validate all that hard work.
This is just one example of how her patience, and a number of other qualities, have yielded that positive change she spoke of. Others include her work to bring reliable broadband to rural communities, a project to realign Route 2 around the Erving Industries paper mill, and even the building the COG is now housed in — the John Olver Transit Center in Greenfield.
Dunlavy’s tenacity and ability to get things done were summed up effectively by Jay Dipucchio, president of Turners Falls-based Nutri-Systems Corp. and also a member of the COG advisory board, who nominated her for the Difference Makers award.
“Linda has a preternatural ability
to see what needs to be done and,
with transparency underpinned
by a willingness to accept risk and accountability for choices, forge ahead,” he wrote. “It helps as well that the energies applied and chances taken are informed by hard-earned experience and a great depth of knowledge.
“She is an incomprably vigorous advocate and collaboration builder for Greater Franklin
County and the Pioneer Valley,” he went on. “By cultivating collaboration and fostering innovative public-sector responses to regional service issues, her leadership of the FRCOG has created arguably one of the most unique and recognized public-service organizations in the Commonwealth, truly making a difference for the people who live here.”
In keeping with that assessment of her talents and value to the region, Dunlavy said she is focused not on what she’s been able to accomplish for the people of Franklin County — and all the state’s 170 rural communities, for that matter — but on the work still to be done.
And there is plenty of it, in realms ranging from housing to climate issues and readiness for disasters like the mirobursts and heavy rains of last July, to what has become the most crucial issue facing this region: population loss.
Dunlavy is addressing these issues and others with the requisite patience, but also large amounts of tenacity and that ability to get things done — attributes that speak to her impact as a Difference Maker.
333 Bridge Street, Springfield, MA 01103 www.communityfoundation.org
Congratulations 2024 Difference Maker
Linda Dunlavy
CFWM Trustee
for her commitment to our community throughout the years
A16 2024
BusinessWest