Page 18 - BusinessWest January 6, 2025

Agawam
at a glance
Year Incorporated: 1855
Population: 28,692
Area: 24.2 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $14.54
Commercial Tax Rate: $27.54
Median Household Income: $49,390
Family Household Income: $59,088
Type of government: Mayor; City Council
Largest Employers: OMG Inc., Agawam Public Schools, Six Flags New England
* Latest information available
We’re here for
local business.
Ask us about:
• Commercial/Business Loans & Lines of Credit
• Business Deposit Accounts & Services
• Flexible Cash Management Solutions
• Robust eBusiness Solutions Business Online Banking • Business VISA® Debit & Credit Cards
• Industry-Leading Merchant Services
Unlock your potential
bankESB.com | 855.527.4111
Member FDIC | Member DIF | NMLS #: 405477
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
In Agawam, Momentum Is Building
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
18 JANUARY 6, 2025
<< COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >> BusinessWest
Chris Johnson called it “an easy fix.”
He was referring to his decision early in 2024 to put things back the way they were in City Hall — quite
literally — the last time he occupied the corner office, some 24 years earlier.
He considers the new building (and a small saved portion of the old building) to be the best option for this community of almost 29,000.
“For the voters, it came down to this: do you want to make a significant investment and renovate what we have,
Indeed, the three-office mayor’s suite in City Hall had been reconfigured in the intervening years, with the smallest space, which had been Johnson’s office, made into a closet; the middle space, which had been a conference room, devot- ed to staff; and the largest space, which had been home to the two-person staff, converted to accom- modate the mayor’s office and a conference-room table.
Not long after returning to office, Johnson reshuffled the deck, claiming that the old arrange- ment made far more sense.
“The right decision, from an education standpoint, but also a business and financial standpoint, was to invest in a new building that has a useful life of 50-plus years instead of major renovations in what we have that would have a useful life of probably 20 to 30 years.”
Other business hasn’t been resolved quite so easily, but Johnson has achieved progress on several fronts — especially with the building of a new high school, a project that has been discussed for decades and was resolved in resounding fashion at a special election last June, with roughly 70% of residents approving a three-stage project with a price tag of $226 million.
Johnson, who served three two-year terms in the mid- to late ’90s, and, more recently, served several terms on the City Council, sought a return to the corner office in the fall of 2023, in large part to resolve the issue of a new high school.
or spend a few extra dollars and build a new high school?” said Johnson, in reference to what will be, by far, the largest capital-improvement project in the history of Agawam. “The right decision, from an education standpoint, but also a busi- ness and financial standpoint, was to invest in a new build- ing that has a useful life of 50-plus years instead of major renovations in what we have that would have a useful life of probably 20 to 30 years.”
The high-school vote is easily the biggest storyline in this community, but there are others, including ongoing work to transform the old HUB Insurance building on Suffield Street