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MassDevelopment In The News
New, High-Paying Jobs Wanted for Industrial Park Site
February 7, 2006: Springfield Republican, Editorial
There's a one-word fix for the Springfield economy: jobs.
Not just any jobs. The city needs more high-paying, middle-class jobs - jobs that enable families to own a home and a car, spend some money at the mall, go out to dinner once in a while and help their kids pay for college.
That's why there is cause to celebrate any time the financially strapped city gets closer to the goal of expanding the tax base by adding new well-paying jobs. The announcement that MassDevelopment, a quasi-public economic development agency, has been hired by the city to act as project manager of an 86-acre industrial park project on Roosevelt Avenue, adjacent to gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, is just such a moment.
MassDevelopment, which has overseen or been a partner in projects ranging from the redevelopment of Fort Devens to the plans to convert the grounds of Northampton State Hospital to a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses, is well-suited to the task of coordinating development of the last industrial parcel in the city. The development agency will be responsible for planning, design and construction of infrastructure, grant efforts, marketing efforts for the project known as Memorial Industrial Park II. Richard Henderson, executive vice president for real estate for MassDevelopment, has sized up the vacant site and he has pronounced it is a very valuable piece of property. Indeed, its location near Interstates 91 and 291 and the Massachusetts Turnpike makes it extremely attractive to businesses that subscribe to the notion that location is everything.
Henderson said the site would be an excellent location for a range of office uses to a mix of office, research and development and manufacturing and distribution.
The future of Memorial Industrial Park II is an important piece of an economic development strategy that Springfield must continue to pursue with all the vigor it can muster. Officials have estimated that development of the site could generate up to 800 jobs and up to $1 million in additional tax revenues.
As this vital project takes another step forward, we hope that development officials concentrate efforts on finding companies that will improve the quality of life for potential employees. The region needs well-paying jobs, which will help prime the economy.
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