The Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) will contract consulting services to pursue downtown development across the county with help from a $171,000 grant.

The grant, awarded by the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, will fund a consultant or team of consultants who will work over an 18-month period “to develop strategic approaches to sustaining long-term downtown revitalization and economic development” in Greenfield, Turners Falls and Shelburne Falls, FRCOG announced in a statement.

Consultants will be guided by a project steering committee composed of regional stakeholders and district task forces. According to FRCOG, the consultants will “identify critical economic issues, assess potential organizational structures for downtown district management and outline actions necessary to enhance downtown areas.” Work is expected to begin in winter or spring 2023.

“With limited capacity and resources, it can be challenging for rural communities to sustain an engaging downtown atmosphere to retain local customers and attract visitors, which then generates revenues for local businesses,” FRCOG Economic Development Program Manager Jessica Atwood said in a statement. “This project proposes to better understand the current assets, opportunities and challenges faced by these three downtowns, and determine how they can be elevated or addressed.”

Montague Town Administrator Steve Ellis, who will work in tandem with Assistant Town Administrator Walter Ramsey to represent the municipality, said he doesn’t “want to pre-suppose what the grant funding will suggest.” While Ellis is unsure of what specific projects might eventually be supported, he said he is “very excited to begin the planning process that will bring those possible improvements into focus.”

“We just have great confidence that this will serve to support revitalization at the regional level,” Ellis said, praising FRCOG’s “intimate knowledge” of local needs.

Greenfield Community and Economic Development Director MJ Adams also spoke to the benefit of working alongside other communities on downtown revitalization and economic development planning. Ultimately, she said the consultants will help answer the question of what type of entity could best serve and represent the local business communities.

“It facilitates the ongoing regional collaboration we have with trying to support the business community in the downtowns,” she said. “FRCOG took the lead in doing this application, and we’re so happy we received funding for it. It really lets us look at the models of what type of business organizations might be able to support the needs of small-business activity, especially as we do (Greenfield’s) downtown revitalization.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne. Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

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