Marchetti Touts Economic Development Successes
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city saw 12 new businesses in 2024 and the long-anticipated development at the William Stanley Business Park.
Mayor Peter Marchetti outlined his administration's economic development efforts during his first State of the City address earlier this month, including some $13.5 million that was received in grants and gifts.
"Our municipal budget not only depends on how much we can trim in each department, but how much we can generate in revenue, especially with new growth," he said.
"The city must be an active participant in recruiting new businesses to Pittsfield and helping existing businesses expand their operations."
Site 9, the largest parcel at the William Stanley Business Park, stood as a bleak reminder of General Electric's exodus from Pittsfield until it was greened over last year. The 16-acre site at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Tyler Street Extension previously housed a GE factory, its overhaul costing over $10 million.
Marchetti said having the site ready isn't enough.
Big news came in August when Mill Town Capital announced its intent to purchase 4.7 acres of Site 9 for a building upwards of 20,000 square feet and put a mixed-use housing build on 100 Woodlawn Ave. across the street.
"There is more exciting news for the William Stanley Business Park: MassDevelopment recently awarded the city of Pittsfield and (the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority) a $500,000 site readiness grant for Site 7 and 8," the mayor said.
"This funding will start the redevelopment process for this 6.3-acre site by following a similar pathway that we did with the Site 9 project. All of these projects are not possible without key funding sources by the commonwealth and I'm always grateful for their continued support to Pittsfield."
He is also a member of the Red Carpet team established by former Mayor Linda Tyer to capitalize on incentives that can be offered to local businesses looking to either expand or relocate in Pittsfield.
"In 2024, we had four red-carpet meetings. Three outside companies and one local business are exploring moving to and expanding their operations to Pittsfield. In fact, we will hold our first red carpet meeting in 2025 later this month, to discuss a company relocating back to Pittsfield after a long time," Marchetti reported.
"It is imperative that we work with our state partners to find the best incentives to grow our economy and I am hopeful that we will be able to share more news soon in the months ahead."
In April, the City Council approved Marchetti's request to allocate $500,000 from the Pittsfield Economic Development Fund to the Pittsfield Small Business Fund.
"This Small Business Fund was established in 2012 to provide additional funding for small businesses which serve as the backbone of our economy. This fund provides loans to existing Pittsfield small businesses that are unable to obtain funding from commercial sources or in situations where commercial funding is not sufficient enough to meet the needs of the local business," he said.
"Today, this fund has assisted seven businesses that have created 34 jobs and preserved 84. With this additional funding, we will be able to assist more small businesses with technical assistance, working capital, and capital investments. Funding can also be combined with other business assistance provided directly by the city or through the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation."
Marchetti said that during his campaign, he promised to be a mayor who is focused on communication and transparency because "It is important that people have faith in their government at all levels. It is necessary to have a government that people can rely on to get the job done and provide a community that we all thrive in."
"Over the past year, I implemented a multiprong approach for communication and added more tools to our toolbox," he said.
Early in his administration, Marchetti debuted his biweekly show, "One Pittsfield," on Pittsfield Community Television. Episodes air the day before City Council meetings to showcase the city's work while highlighting new initiatives and events.
"Throughout these episodes, I've welcomed guests from city departments and other community partners to bring government directly to you, our residents," he said.
"This platform also provided an opportunity to recognize local businesses and organizations on special milestones and anniversaries and grand openings."
With a $50,000 Community Compact Information Technology Grant from the state, Pittsfield will transition its current dot-org domain to a dot-gov. Marchetti said this will help the public gain more information and more assurance that the information is legitimate and official.
"The city will have more access to state and federal funding when it's related to cybersecurity through the Federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act," he added.
"We will offer a central location for all city agendas, community events, and more."
Marchetti said it is important that businesses in the downtown and across the city are set up for success.
"As many of you can attest to, I spend a lot of time downtime, whether it's to meet with small businesses, whether I'm on official business or just stopping in to grab lunch,"
"I enjoy these conversations and listening to your experience of owning a business in our city. We've also talked about the permitting process and what can be done to simplify it and improve it and which ways we can collaborate and celebrate one another."
Pittsfield's 2024 business wrap-up can be found here.
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