Developers Tour Local Sites

May 13, 2010 : Greenfield Recorder, by Anita Phillips

GREENFIELD – East met West Wednesday in Franklin County as several dozen developers from both sides of the state toured Orange, Turners Falls and Greenfield looking for opportunities.

The tour was organized by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and MassDevelopment, which works with businesses, nonprofits, and local, state, and federal officials and agencies to strengthen the state’s economy by helping to create jobs, increase housing and eliminate blight.

More than 50 developers, architects and financiers exited the Crystal Transport coach, which most of them traveled on from Boston earlier that morning. They were greeted by Mayor William Martin, who walked with them up Bank Row to Main Street to Wilson’s Department Store.

Before coming to Greenfield, developers toured Orange from Town Hall to Riverfront Park and took a walk on the bike path along the canal in Turners Falls.

Lunch at the Greenfield Grille was where they all talked about their experiences in the towns.

“The people of Franklin County are passionate, persuasive, persistent and powerful,” said Fred Kramer, a principal of Add Inc., a design company based in Boston and Miami, Fla. “That’s what’s making the area so successful.”