At a time when public service is frequently subject to criticism by members of the
community, those of us who have served in Greenfield and in Franklin and Hampshire
counties are reflecting with a mixture of sadness and deep admiration for former
Greenfield Community and Economic Development Director, MJ Adams, one of the very
best of what it means to be a public servant. Mari-Jon, MJ, Adams passed away during
the week of Jan. 26 at her daughter’s home in Maine.

I had the pleasure of knowing and working with MJ for many years while on
Greenfield’s Planning Board and then as mayor. By the time I became mayor, we were
colleagues and friends. We shared many common interests: a love of politics, the
importance of women serving in elected positions, talking about our children, and a
great desire to see Greenfield move forward economically. I looked forward to
collaborating with her on our city’s downtown revitalization, the redevelopment of the
Wilson’s building, which had closed the year before, and the expansion of our industrial
park to acquire additional lots for light industrial manufacturing. To accomplish even a
fraction of that, I needed a savvy, top-tier community and economic development
director. MJ did not disappoint; in fact, on day one, she was ready with a list of things
for us to work on. Fortunately, her list and mine jibed.

To MJ, described by many as passionate about her work, community development wasn’t just about bricks and mortar; it was about harnessing local talent and opportunity to develop an inclusive, community-oriented place where everyone could live and work. As she put it, “there’s momentum here, so let’s get to work.”

One of her passions and a shared interest was creating more housing in Greenfield, not just for our working citizens but also for the homeless and those less able to afford single-family homes. We agreed that the Wilson’s building had the potential to accomplish mixed-income workforce housing and downtown revitalization. So, she set out to find that solution. I distinctly remember her inviting me in 2022 to participate in a meeting with Mass Development, then headed by former mayoral colleague Dan Rivera, together with Rachana Crowley from Community Builders. I had no idea she had been quietly using her substantial list of contacts to see if the city could interest a developer in housing and retail in the building. The downtown anchor project is underway, with the construction of 65 mixed-income apartments above a new, larger Green Fields Market on the first floor. I so wish she were here to see it, too.

During her time before retiring in 2023, MJ helped facilitate, along with a private donor, a small renovation and the addition of housing at the CSO (Community & Support Options) building on Wells Street. Today, a much larger expansion of that essential housing and services for the homeless and those in treatment for substance abuse is being built on that site, with state, federal, and $100,000 of the city’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money, authorized by me in 2022.

What MJ and I hadn’t counted on as 2020 began was that within six weeks of my taking office, we would need to add fighting a global pandemic to our list of work. Among all of MJ’s many accomplishments for our city, her work to ensure that our small businesses could stay viable in the face of the pandemic was a saving grace, both economically and spiritually. When on March 23, 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker issued an executive order requiring all businesses and organizations that do not provide COVID-19 Essential Services to close their physical workplaces and facilities to the public until May 4, a date subject to change, Chief of Staff Danielle Letourneau and I knew who to call: MJ and city Finance Director Elizabeth Gilman, two of the smartest, can-do women I’ve ever known. One with her finger on community and economic development, and the other on the wherewithal of our city finances. Director Gilman was almost certain that grant money would be available from the state and federal governments to help our businesses and that most of the money would have to be funneled through MJ’s Community and Economic Development department. I admit that I was skeptical, but I had to trust them.

By May of 2020, with $600,000 from the federal CARES Act and some funding from that year’s annual Community Development Block Grant funding, the Microenterprise Assistance Program was opened to Greenfield small businesses, mostly but not exclusively retail and service businesses. We were able to give at least 25 business applicants up to $10,000 each in forgivable loans to cover documented business losses due to the COVID-19 economic shutdown. Most of those businesses did not qualify for other economic assistance loans as they were too small. A survey of the recipients revealed, in their words, “we were able to stay open even on a limited basis, pay the rent, and prevent going deeper in debt.”

Again, in late 2020, early 2021, as the city began to contemplate reopening, MJ and her two-person staff, along with our Licensing Department and Chief of Staff Letourneau, took on a new project to rebuild in the face of the pandemic. With a portion of an $825,000 Community Development Block Grant and state funding, we were able to restart the Downtown Revitalization Plan developed in 2019. Thanks to that funding boost, the city launched a program known as “Shared Streets,” which helped local restaurants set up outdoor dining areas and takeout options, expand their liquor licenses for outdoor service, and offer state-approved “to-go mixed drinks.”

On the manufacturing front in 2022, MJ and her staff, working with Mass Development, accomplished a modest expansion of the I-91 Greenfield Industrial Park, making two pad sites available for purchase for expansion by an existing business or a new business coming to Greenfield.

In 2020, while the city was shut down, and we opened the John Zon Senior and Community Center as the Emergency Operations Center for COVID-19 information and services, MJ stepped up as a volunteer to coordinate and help find volunteers for the COVID-19 telephone hotline, answering residents’ calls regarding questions about services, vaccinations, and simply to find someone to talk to.

As Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” MJ spent much of her life as one of the helpers.

Roxann Wedegartner is the former mayor of Greenfield.