Page 10 - BusinessWest March 18, 2024

Deerfield
at a Glance
Year Incorporated: 1677
Population: 5,090
Area: 33.4 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential Tax Rate: $13.85
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.85
Median Household Income: $74,853
Median Family Income: $83,859
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Yankee Candle Co., Pelican Products Inc.
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
Deerfield’s Economy Goes Well Beyond Tourism
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
‘Diverse.’
That’s the one word Jessye Deane
kept coming back to as she talked about Deerfield and its business community.
And with good reason.
Indeed, while this community of just over 5,000 is home to Yankee Candle Village, His- toric Deerfield, the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, and other tourist attractions, its economy is quite broad, covering sectors rang- ing from agriculture to craft brewing (which doubles as a tourist attraction, as we’ll see); manufacturing to retail; restaurants to the arts.
They all come together in a picturesque community that is a true destination, said Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, which also calls Deerfield home. And this diversity is cer- tainly an asset, she added, especially as manu- facturing declines in many other communities.
“This diversity is the real strength of the economy of Deerfield,” she told BusinessWest, noting that, while large employers like Yankee Candle are always important, the backbone of the community’s economy is small businesses.
And, as noted, they cover all sectors, from restaurants like Leo’s Table in the communi-
ty’s small but vibrant downtown to Ames Elec- trical Consulting, a growing business, soon to move to Greenfield, that specializes in helping manufacturers and even municipalities with efforts to automate facilities and processes (see story on page 32).
That list also includes manufacturers like Worthington Assembly, which has become noteworthy not only for the circuit boards it produces for a wide range of clients but for a decidedly different culture, one it describes as ‘humanizing manufacturing’ (see story on page 31).
The obvious goal moving forward is to continue adding more pieces to this diverse business puzzle, said Chris Dunne, Deerfield’s Planning & Economic Development coordina- tor, while also making the town even more liv- able and, well, simply providing more places to live.
Indeed, like most other communities in this region — although not all those in Franklin County, where population loss is a pressing issue (see story on page 27) — Deerfield needs more housing, said Dunne, adding that creat- ing more is part of a larger effort to repurpose land and property in what he called the town campus.
“This diversity is the real strength of the economy of Deerfield.”
10 MARCH 18, 2024
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