GREENFIELD — Local entrepreneurs explored potential ways to boost business in the area of Deerfield and Mill streets this week, bringing up state funding and strategic parking during a Greenfield Business Association (GBA) roundtable discussion.

In the community room at Artspace Community Arts Center, located on Mill Street, GBA Director Hannah Rechtschaffen opened discussions, noting that while the city seems to be developing economically, the GBA aims to ensure that Greenfield’s business boom is not isolated to the downtown area.

“Development is one of those things that can become a really fast-moving machine. I think we all felt the starts and stops in Greenfield. I hear that a lot from folks in the business community — we’ve tried that before, it didn’t go anywhere, so on and so forth. Now I think we’re starting to see some indicators that development is really coming,” Rechtschaffen said. “This sort of line from Deerfield Street, Mill Street, River Street is that it’s a real gateway into Greenfield. People are traveling, commuting, really moving through the space every day in large numbers and shopping.”

Discussing ways to create a walkable route from downtown Greenfield to the Deerfield Street corridor, Greenfield’s Economic and Community Development Director Amy Cahillane mentioned plans to clean and install lighting under the Bank Row overpass. Since reaching out the state Department of Transportation, which owns the bridge, Cahillane said the city received permission to powerwash the overpass and install lighting underneath it, a project that she referred to as the “first baby step” toward visible changes in the area.

Cahillane explained that the city’s Central Commercial District is designated as a “Slum and Blight” community under the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, allowing the city to use its Community Development Block Grant funds for a broad array of projects in the area. With redesignations slated for June 2026, Cahillane said she was working with city officials as well as the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to both retain the downtown’s designation and designate the Deerfield and Mill street areas as a “Slum and Blight” community.

Since Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities designations are decided based on a district’s quantity of vacant or run-down properties, Cahillane said the re-designation process will include a door-to-door survey of the Deerfield and Mill street corridor. She said as a “Slum and Blight” area, the corridor would be able to use state grant funds for more comprehensive infrastructure projects.

“What that will let us do is use funding for things like sidewalk improvements, or engineering for water and sewer ... those kinds of very unsightly but important infrastructure needs,” Cahillane said. “Maybe in January or so, you may see them starting to come around to your business.”

Mike Nelson, president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society that runs the Franklin County Fairgrounds, noted that increased landscaping in the area might attract pedestrian traffic to the corridor, mentioning a need for weed removal near the river. He said he worked with the Mayor’s Office to allow for free parking downtown at this year’s Green River Festival and SoulFest — a decision that was intended to encourage concert attendees to walk around the city, popping into local businesses, before making their way down to the fairgrounds on Wisdom Way.

Nelson said he and Rechtschaffen previously discussed plans to install bicycles or electric scooters around the city to facilitate easier individual transportation. During fairgrounds events, he said it would be beneficial to have attendees “zipping around” the city on bikes or scooters, where they might stop at a local business or restaurant.

“We collaborated with the Mayor’s Office to do free parking in the garage, and that’s to get lots of people downtown to then either hop on a shuttle bus up, or ideally have lunch, or walk up,” Nelson said. “It might be too far of a walk, but if you’re on a motorized thing that takes 90 seconds, it might be pretty cool.”

GBA roundtable attendees also discussed commissioning artists to paint murals around the corridor, hoping that they might beautify the neighborhood and provide a chance for pedestrians to stop and take a photo. Others floated the idea of remarketing and renaming Greenfield’s Cheapside District to attract businesses and customers to the area.

“We want to really be advocating for Greenfield as it is, as it has been, as it wants to be,” Rechtschaffen said. “In doing that work, we need to address different opinions, different needs, and really making sure that we are advocating in a way that feels as inclusive as possible for small businesses, big business, housing, everything.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.