Page 46 - BusinessWest May 26, 2020

Commercial Real Estate
Getting Down to Business
Westmass Strives to Become a More Impactful Force in Economic Development
The primary role of the Westmass Area Development Corp. — as the agency recently stressed in a letter to area stakeholders — is to “to manage the entire economic- development process — from conception to completion.” How it performs that role is changing and expanding, however — not just in its portfolio of development and property reuse, including its industrial parks and the ever-intriguing Ludlow Mills project, but as a valuable consultant for businesses and communities with a vision.
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Officials in those communities were and are being invited to take full advantage of the talent and resources available at Westmass Area Development Corp. — the not-for-profit economic and real-estate development firm established in 1960 by state-enabling legislation
— to help with a wide range of projects, from urban-renewal plans to environmental permitting; from complex site-related issues to special- ized tax incentives.
The reminder part? Well, Westmass has been offering this kind of
By George O’Brien
he letters, 150 of them, went out earlier this month. They were sent to mayors, economic-development
leaders, and other officials in communities across the four counties of Western Mass., dozens of area cities and towns,
and served as introductions, invitations, and reminders all at the same time.
WestMass CEO Jeff Daley (left) and Sean O’Donnell (right), the agency’s Economic Development planner and leasing manager, with metal sculptor Kamil Peters, who relocated to Ludlow Mills last summer.
46 MAY 26, 2021
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
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