Page 9 - BusinessWest November 28, 2022

Community Spotlight
Monson and Its Businesses Remain Resilient
By Kailey Houle
In many ways, Monson is a sleepy New England town with a small Main Street lined with shops, as well as small and medi-
um-sized businesses located throughout the town, in many different industries.
But years ago, Monson was a big mill town known for its granite quarries. As mill owners sought employees, the population grew. And it’s been a resilient community through decades of change, from the decline of the quarries to a tor- nado that cut through the center of town 2011, causing almost $12 million in property damage.
“If we market as a region, there’s more reason to come to the region because you’re not just going for one thing in one town.”
So, even though the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out plenty of businesses worldwide, Mon- son was “more resilient than other places that are more dependent on business,” said Andrew Surprise, CEO of the Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce.
“They have a captive audience. Monson isn’t really close to a lot of businesses; I think the clos- est and primary shopping area would be Palmer and maybe Wilbraham, or Springfield on Boston Road. Other than that, if you need something specific ... there’s an optical business. So if you need eyeglasses, you’re gonna go to the eyeglass place downtown; it makes sense. If you need
to run to the pharmacy, there’s one downtown. The supermarket? Downtown. So the businesses there really serve the members that are there in the community.”
Because of the size of Monson, with just over 8,000 residents, Surprise told BusinessWest that it’s all about making the region as a whole more marketable, modeling a tourism guide off of the Newport, R.I. guide.
It includes maps and “more touristy things
... like a lot of businesses and organizations that have joined the chamber, wineries, breweries,” and others that will attract tourists, he explained. And because the surrounding region is made
up of smaller towns like Belchertown, Spencer, Palmer, Brimfield, and Ware, Surprise said most people don’t come to the area just for one event.
Monson
Continued on page 11
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BusinessWest
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
NOVEMBER 28, 2022 9
Monson
at a glance
YEAR INCORPORATED: 1775 POPULATION: 8,150
AREA: 44.8 square miles
COUNTY: Hampden
RESIDENTIAL TAX RATE: $17.83 COMMERCIAL TAX RATE: $17.83 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $52,030 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME: $58,607
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT: Select Board, Open Town Meeting
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