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Date: 1/23/2024
AMHERST — Gabrielle Gould, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District and the Downtown Amherst Foundation announced on Jan. 12 that she will be stepping down from her position at the BID to form a consulting business.
“I’ve walked into the office each day with passion, excitement, a million ideas on how to make downtown Amherst a vibrant, beautiful and destination-worthy town for all to experience and enjoy,” Gould said. “The BID and downtown Amherst are in a great place and I feel that now is the perfect time for me to transition to a new chapter in my career.”
Gould was appointed as BID executive director in August 2019 and the organization credits her with a number of successes; strengthening the BID’s relationship with town government and institutional partners; teaming with the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce on COVID-relief for small businesses; producing signature downtown events and launching The Drake, the downtown’s first-ever live performance venue.
“The BID board is forever indebted to Gabrielle for her ideas, energy, and integrity,” said Barry Roberts, board president of the BID. “She has changed the discussion about downtown and her leadership has been a model for BID directors throughout the commonwealth. We wish her well.”
Gould and her work have been recognized on multiple occasions, she was the recipient of the Amherst Area Chamber’s Leader in Innovation award and shared Family Outreach of Amherst’s Helen Mitchell Community Spirit award in 2022 and the 2023 Business West Difference Maker award with Claudia Pazmany, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce.
Tony Maroulis, BID board member and board president for the Downtown Amherst Foundation, applauded Gould for her work.
“Gabrielle has been an amazing asset to the Amherst area and to Amherst’s downtown,” he said. “Since 2019 when she came aboard with us, we’ve been blessed to have her energy, her enthusiasm and her creativity to help take downtown into its next era.”
Maroulis said that it was not an easy time for Gould at the beginning with the onset and through the coronavirus pandemic.
Maroulis noted that at present the organization’s relationships with the institutions of higher learning, town hall and with Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce are as about as good as they’ve ever been.
“I think that we are in a really terrific place right now and well positioned going forward, Maroulis said. “Gabrielle is leaving us but she’s leaving us in a really good place.”
Gould said she will continue in a leadership capacity for the DAF and its management of The Drake.
Her final day at the BID will be Feb. 22.
“My family has put down roots here,” Gould said. “I’m an Amherst resident, a mother of an ARHS student, a [University of Massachusetts] student, a champion of downtown Amherst and the area. I’m looking forward to ascending and enjoying town and BID events now and look forward to being an active community member.”
As for her new venture, Gould said it comes about after being approached by passionate community members and developers who expressed interest in working with her outside the BID. She said she is excited up for the challenge and will be maintaining an office in the downtown area.
“I’m really looking forward to the next chapter and the new things and seeing what the next person does with the town of Amherst,” Gould said.