Murray meets with businesses to discuss economic stimulus

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and Secretary Dan O’Connell, along with various city and state government officials met with local business owners Friday in an attempt to stimulate discussion regarding innovative ways to rejuvenate the local economy and spur urban renewal across the region. Robert Hubbard, moderator of the meeting and executive director of the Gardner Redevelopment Authority, opened the meeting with a discussion of the current unemployment rate in the city, and how recent job cuts have negatively affected the local economy. “The job losses in the area, such as those at H&R 1871 and Nichols & Stone, are very difficult as you can imagine; over 300 families have been affected by the closings. The unemployment rate in Gardner historically runs about 1 1/2 percent above the state average. In March, the unemployment rate in the city was 6.7 percent, and the statewide unemployment rate was 4.8 percent,” said Mr. Hubbard. “If we look at these 300 or so new job losses — if just one-third of those people live in the city of Gardner — we are going to have an unemployment rate approaching 7 percent, and that is not a pretty picture.” Gardner Democrat and state Rep. Robert Rice introduced the lieutenant governor, and said that he was encouraged by the amount of attention that Mr. Murray has shown the region, because his level of involvement has been unlike other legislators in the past. “Since his election, Mr. Murray has been to Gardner area on many different occasions, and to have responsiveness from such a high level official is such a welcome change,” said Mr. Rice. “The lieutenant governor has always worked diligently to do everything he can to help our community.” Mr. Murray said he has seen meetings like this as particularly effective, and he welcomes the opportunity to meet with regional government officials and businesses in a personal way, so that he can gain a better understanding of the issues facing each individual community in the state. “I see this as an opportunity for us to open a dialogue about how we can forward this community,” said Mr. Murray. “One of the things we’ve been trying to do is to get out of the Boston area and travel around the state. We understand that regional economies are what drive the overall health of the Massachusetts economy, and we ought to be partners with the municipality, and it’s businesses to see how we can help them move forward.” Mike Ellis, president and CEO of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce, said that what many local businesses are looking for from state government is an innovative energy plan, and better use of the benefits offered to employees during this period of economic turmoil. “Utility prices are going up, we don’t have an energy plan in place, we have brownouts and blackouts predicted for the summer coming up, and that is going to greatly affect our manufacturing plants,” said Mr. Ellis. “We give the most generous benefits to people during the most robust time in our economy, we have all these benefits and the lowest unemployment rate in the commonwealth, it really boggles the imagination.” Mr. O’Connell, who is chief housing and economic development adviser for Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration, said that the governor has tasked his administration with changing many out-of-date regulations that can create new opportunities for manufacturers. “The building codes and many other codes in Massachusetts are definitely outdated,” said Mr. O’Connell. “We have been working towards integration of other national building codes as well as international building codes to try and bring our laws in line with other states and countries.” Although the unemployment rate in Gardner is rising with the most recent closures of businesses in the city, the trend does not correlate with the rest of the state, and Mr. Murray said that across the commonwealth many businesses are improving. “The unemployment rate statewide is the lowest it’s been since October 2001, and we as a state have an unemployment rate that is well below the national average,” said Mr. Murray. “The problems facing Gardner are unique to Gardner, and we need to look creatively at how we can help this community.” Mayor Mark Hawke has been asking state legislators for increased funding for the demolition of buildings, and mentioned to Mr. Murray that adding to the fund, which he said hasn’t occurred in eight or nine years, would greatly help the community. “I like to say that we have development sites that are so pad-ready, they already have buildings on them,” said Mr. Hawke. He added that if the state was to boost the funding for the demolition of buildings, it would allow the city to use the money it has to build rather than spend it taking down locations that are either old or abandoned. Mr. Murray said that although the local economy may be struggling, there is a lot of exciting research that is happening in the region that the rest of the state is looking to for inspiration. “We were recently at a farm in Whately, Mass., and a significant portion of the conversation was about what is going on at Mount Wachusett Community College with biomass,” said Mr. Murray. “So while there are definitely some challenges, there are also some innovative things that are taking place in the area.” According to Mr. Murray, the information gained from this meeting will be taken into account at a forum scheduled for next week that will be focused entirely on how the state government can help develop the Gardner economy. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 5/24/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 124)