Page 65 - BusinessWest November 24, 2021

can be made, and I hope that they are.”
What falls in that category? Nesbitt, who is
also hiring manager for the bank and under- stands the workforce issues facing area busi- nesses and the lack of qualified talent across the board, cited a community in Minnesota that is earmarking some of its federal money to ensure that all high-school graduates can attend com- munity college.
“They recognized that need to prepare our young people for the jobs of the future,” he said. “The investment in free, two-year community college is what they’ve decided to do, and I’d love to see something that like here.”
Meanwhile, Joy Martin, director of Asset Man- agement with Davenport Companies, which has worked on MGM Springfield, recently converted the former Willys-Overland property on Chestnut Street into market-rate apartments and is rede- veloping the former Registry of Motor Vehicles building on Liberty Street, said Springfield and other communities need to think about invest- ing the federal money in ways that would make it easier to undertake such projects.
“
undevelopable properties, and I think this one-time
type of money coming in could help put us over the
”
curred, and also stressed the need to invest the money and not just spend it.
“I do think it’s a chance to look at the bigger picture and look down the road,” he told Busi- nessWest. “And not just fill a gap that might exist today, or not just make some repair that might be necessary, but really further your economy or the quality of life in your community you’re living in.”
Money Talks
While certainly advocating for longer-term thinking when it comes to how the ARPA money should be apportioned, Sullivan and others noted there are some immediate concerns that may also have some ramifications down the road.
That’s especially true when it comes to exist- ing businesses and especially the smaller ven- tures across many sectors that are still struggling from the effects of not only COVID but some of the side effects from treating it as well.
“With the pandemic, the small, mom-and- pop, downtown, core-district businesses are still hurting,” he told BusinessWest. “They have
We have several under-underutilized and
top to redevelop Ludlow Mills and other projects.
RICK SULLIVAN
“With the pandemic, the small, mom-and-pop, downtown, core-district businesses are still hurting. They have supply- chain issues, they have employment issues ... so I think some of these monies should go to the small, the really small businesses that make up the fabric, the fiber of your
downtowns and your communities.”
JEFF DALEY
“You do have a unique opportunity that you didn’t before because you have money to offer people to come in and develop in your area,” she said, adding that many projects need help from state and local government to make the numbers work for developers.
Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the West- ern Massachusetts Economic Development Council, who can speak to this subject from various perspectives (he’s the former mayor of Springfield and a current city councilor), con-
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