'Proud of where we are': Healey celebrates grant recipients who received $161M from state to invest in quality of life
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — Officials and organization leaders from across the state came to the site of an industrial redevelopment project in the Greendale neighborhood Thursday to celebrate the recipients of over $161 million in state funding.
Gov. Maura T. Healey said the grant funding is a part of the continuing effort to invest in communities and maintain Massachusetts' status as one of the best states for various quality of life rankings.
"I'm really proud of where we are as a state," Healey said. "We're on offense and it's why people are staying here. It's why businesses want to come here. It's why we're looking to grow here."
The One Stop for Growth program is a streamlined application process for state funding overseen by the Executive Office of Economic Development. The program offers access to 12 state grants. Thursday, Healey's office said 313 local economic development projects in 171 communities received awards.
Seven projects located in Worcester were awarded funding:
The Institute for Energy and Sustainability received a recommended $11,000 from the Collaborative Workspace Program to support workspaces and makerspaces that promote new businesses.
Technocopia received a recommended $46,000 from the Collaborative Workspace Program.
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission received a recommended $125,000 from the Community Planning Grant Program for a planning study to help historically disadvantaged communities connect to economic opportunities.
The Worcester Housing Authority received a recommended $3.5 million from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program for Phase II of the Curtis Apartments redevelopment.
The city received a recommended $2.8 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program for redeveloping an approximately 51-acre industrial campus in the Greendale neighborhood.
The city also received a recommended $1 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program for the Worcester Auditorium project.
The Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District received a recommended $100,000 from the Urban Agenda Grant Program to expand the Out to Lunch Festival and Farmers Market from six to 10 days.
The industrial portion of Greendale where the event was held is a part of the Greendale Revitalization Initiative a project helmed by the Worcester Business Development Corporation to reimagine that portion of the city.
The state received 756 applications this year for the One Stop for Growth program, Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll said. Of the 171 communities that received funding, 40 had never received an award from the program before.
"When we look at these, we wish we could fund them all. We fund a lot, but think about all the others that we haven't been able to get to that we hope we can get to next year, continuing to build the strong pipeline for economic development, housing, vibrancy," Driscoll said.
This year saw the most funding ever to the Rural Development Fund to support rural communities, Driscoll said.
Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development Yvonne Hao said the administration developed an economic development plan called Team Massachusetts: Leading Future Generations about how the state can continue as a leader. The plan's three pillars are the fundamentals that enable economic growth, retaining and attracting talent and supporting business sectors.
Hao said Thursday's grants support the fundamentals that make the other two pillars possible.
"You can't do any of the other stuff without the fundamentals," Hao said. "Today's $161 million investment is an investment in fundamentals."
Craig Blais, president of the Worcester Business Development Corporation, said the participants were once sitting on the site where 7,000 people once worked and he is proud to see the work being done to redevelop it. He said it would add to Worcester's formula for success.
"Worcester's success — we got the right recipe. We've got 10 colleges and universities. We have 35,000 college students here. We are building 5,000 units of housing here. We need a place to create jobs," he said.