GREENFIELD — With the launch of a summer shopping passport program and plans to launch a Greenfield Business Awards program, Greenfield Business Association Executive Director Hannah Rechtschaffen said the association has been fairly busy lately.
“It has been a really big year for us,” Rechtschaffen said.
Rechtschaffen shared that recently the Greenfield Business Association (GBA) started a summer shopping passport, inspired by the shop local passport program run by the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce in Turners Falls. While there is just over a month until passports must be turned in for a chance to win one of two raffle prize baskets, Rechtschaffen said the new program has been a hit.
“So far this passport has been even more popular than I thought,” Rechtschaffen said.
She said no purchase is necessary to get a passport stamped by one of the 20 participating businesses. People who visit all 20 participating businesses will be entered for a chance to win an $800 prize basket that includes a tote bag, a Carhartt hat, and gift cards to Catalpa Coffee, Outer Limits Cycle, Greenfield Records and more.
Folks who visit 10 of the participating businesses will be entered for a chance to win a $300 basket that includes items such as handmade bee earrings, a coffee maker, and gift cards to Antique Revival and Collectibles, Sweet Phoenix and other local businesses.
Passports can be picked up and turned in to any of the participating businesses, as well as online at greenfieldbusiness.org.
Rechtschaffen said she often hears that there is “nowhere to shop in Greenfield” but believes the city has a thriving business community with plenty of places to eat and shop, and hopes the passport will help introduce people to more local businesses. The GBA is planning a second passport series that will kick off later this fall or winter to challenge people to visit all of the restaurants and bars in town.
Additionally, the GBA is working to launch a new Greenfield Business Awards celebration, which Rechtschaffen hopes will become an annual event. In late September, the inaugural “Business on Tap” event will be held at the Four Phantoms Brewing Company on Wells Street.
“It’ll be a way for businesses to celebrate each other and highlight all the work being done to make Greenfield so vibrant,” Rechtschaffen said. “The GBA is standing on the shoulders of people for whom Greenfield is what they’re all about… we want to celebrate that.”
She said over the past few years the GBA has held smaller stakeholder meetings and roundtables, but has not had a large annual event for all of the businesses in town to meet and celebrate their work. This upcoming event will provide an opportunity for businesses to nominate and vote for other Greenfield businesses they believe are doing excellent work in the community.
Award categories will include collaboration, innovation, businesses that “everyone is talking about,” as well as a legacy award. Rechtschaffen said the details of the event are still being worked out, and nomination and voting information will be available close to the September event.
She noted that other recent initiatives have included monthly office hours on the second Friday of each month, where the GBA invites people to speak with GBA members and learn from guest speakers, such as Jim Giesman with the Greenfield Board of Assessors, who will be speaking at a future GBA event about the senior tax fund.
Rechtschaffen said these initiatives have been made possible through community donations. This past winter, Merrill Gagne of Gagne Wealth Management Group donated $25,000 to the GBA, which was matched by $31,477 raised at a fundraising event held at the Ja’Duke Center for the Performing Arts in February.
Rechtschaffen said that typically, grant opportunities are limited for program implementation or capital needs, and rarely can be used to cover staff salaries and overhead costs. These donations going to support GBA staff have allowed Rechtschaffen to focus more efforts on supporting local businesses, rather than keeping the GBA funded and operational, and said more initiatives are coming and the GBA “is just warming up.”
“This lets us focus on the real work,” Rechtschaffen said.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen what’s possible when people come together around a
shared vision for Greenfield,” Mik Muller, a member of the GBA board, said in a written statement. “This next phase is about building on that momentum and inviting more people to be part of shaping what comes next.”
