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Date: 4/3/2019
CHICOPEE – The city of Chicopee will gain an additional 20 acres of property designed for industrial development thanks to a grant of $850,000. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito made the presentation of the funding at the terminal for Westover Metropolitan Airport. Officials from all over the Commonwealth gathered for the event and to receive the notification of their award.
Mayor Richard Kos explained the grant would allow The Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation to buy the 20 acres that would be combined with approximately 70 to 80 acres the economic development group already owns in the city.
Kos said, “These are the sites people are looking for.” The property that would be marketed for economic development is in the Airport South area abutting the civilian side of Westover.
The grants were part of the latest round of funding from the state’s Site Readiness Program. Ten communities received more than $2.3 million in funding. Chicopee received the largest grant from this round.
According to the state, the Site Readiness Program provides resources to municipalities, developers, and community development corporations to overcome obstacles to developing otherwise prime locations. In a statement from Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, “The Site Readiness Program aims to boost the Commonwealth’s supply of large, well-located, project-ready sites; accelerate private-sector investment in industrial and commercial projects; and support the conversion of abandoned sites and obsolete facilities into clean, actively-used, tax-generating properties. It was created as part of the 2016 Economic Development Bill, which authorized $15 million for the program to be administered by MassDevelopment. The first two grant rounds included $3.4 million to 26 projects in almost every region, increasing the development potential of 1,885 acres across the Commonwealth. The Baker-Polito Administration announced it would make $2.5 million available for the third round of the program in October 2018.”
Robert Ruzzo, the senior executive vice president/deputy director of MassDevelopment, likened the program to the Red Sox, an organization that is always changing and said the program, like the team, “provides a constant pipeline of new talent.” Polito said that she and Jay Ash, the former Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, traveled around the state and listened to what officials said they needed. “I took a lot of notes and figured out there were gaps [in the assistance the Commonwealth was providing].
One of those gaps involved the development of property, she said, adding, “We heard a lot about parcels of land that were not be used properly.” She called the Site Readiness Program “a truly great program.” Polito added, “Westover is an asset to your region.
According to a report prepared by MassDOT that was released in January on the Commonwealth’s airport economic impact study the combined military and civilian sides of Westover have a total employment of 4,571 people, with a payroll of $172,687,000 with a total economic output of $245,257,000.
In statement’s made by the city’s legislative delegation, the program was lauded. “WMDC’s receipt of a FY2018 Site Readiness Grant is another example of the Commonwealth’s partnering with municipalities and developers to attract new business and economic development opportunities,” said state Rep. Joseph F. Wagner.??
“It is nice to see the state making investments in Western Massachusetts, especially in conjunction with a well-run organization like the Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation,” said state Rep. Michael Finn.
State Rep. José F. Tosado said, “Congratulations to the quasi-public Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation for acquiring the FY18 Site Readiness Grant. Your recognition of hard work and dedication to providing environmental services is noteworthy and sets the extraordinary example of which, ‘hard works pays off!’”