28 September, 2011
The partnership between the Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Hopkinton, which will allow the Chamber to lead the town’s economic development efforts, is now official. Selectmen voted earlier this month to approve the agreement between the two groups after an update by Chamber Executive Director Tim Kilduff and President Bob McGuire which introduced the goals of the public private partnership dubbed “Hopkinton 20/20”
The idea to leverage the business acumen of the Chamber was first proposed by Town Manager Norman Khumalo in December of 2010. In January of this year, representatives from the Chamber met with the Board of Selectmen and in March of 2011 an agreement to proceed was reached. Once the decision was made to move forward, the Chamber assembled a task force comprised of local business people representing a broad range of skills. The Task Force is chaired by Finlay Perry, and the other members include Kim Collins, Ron Eldridge, Tim Kilduff, Bob McGuire,Joe Markey, Peter Mezitt, Ben Palleiko, Scott Richardson and Steven Zieff, the project manager for Legacy Farms.
“We haven’t found a community of similar size and character as Hopkinton that has a group as strong as this one,” said Kilduff.
According to McGuire, the goal of “20/20” is to breathe life into the economic development portion of the Hopkinton Master Plan. The group has been hard at work, meeting weekly over the summer months, and has already accomplished a review of the 2007 Master Plan, as well as researching comparable communities and infrastructure particulars, and interacting with commercial brokers, property and business owners and managers, and with the state through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. A timeline for planned activities through the end of 2012 has been completed.
“I look at this and I think we are getting a pretty good deal,” said Selectman Chairman Todd Cestari.
“They have really accomplished a lot in a short period of time,” said Selectman Ben Palleiko. “It’s working out as hoped.”
The other members of the board were equally impressed. Michelle Gates said it was clear that the Task Force had taken charge and run with the task.
“I look forward to what comes in the future,” said Gates.
“This is good stuff,” agreed John Mosher. But he also said that economic development is more than just bringing businesses to town. “It’s about creating amenities; shopping, walking trails and places to eat,” said Mosher. “It’s not a simplistic pro-business thing; it’s taking Hopkinton to the next level.”
Town Manager Norman Khumalo, while fully supportive of the partnership, and calling it an honest and diligent effort by the town to work through its civic organizations to reach its goals, stressed the importance of preserving the existing work done by town boards.
“The partnership does not substitute for the work done by town boards relative to plan review, business promotion and the formulation of our zoning bylaws,” said Khumalo.
McGuire agreed, calling the Chamber a facilitator.
The only point of discussion involved the length of the agreement. As proposed by the Chamber, the partnership would remain in effect until the year 2020. Some of the selectmen thought that was too long without interim reviews to check progress and outcomes. The Memorandum of Agreement was finally unanimously approved by the board, but not without amendments to include quarterly reports to the board and annual reviews through 2020.
