Published: 2/23/2020 5:00:50 PM
The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and its affiliates, the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. and Visit North Central Massachusetts, have hired national economic development strategists RKG Associates, Inc. to assist in the creation of a new economic development plan for the region.
RKG Associates is an economic planning and real estate consultancy with offices in Washington, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Durham, N.H. Its consulting team will also include FXM Associates, a consulting firm based in Mattapoisett that specializes in real estate and transportation, and Hodge Economic Consulting, an economic development consulting firm also based in Massachusetts.
The RKG-led team was chosen after a selection process led by a committee comprised of 12 business and community leaders.
The purpose is to develop a multi-faceted and implementable plan to guide the Chamber’s regional economic development efforts over the next 10 to 15 years, providing for sustainable growth.
In the 1990s, the Chamber led a similar community and business-based planning effort. Recognizing that much has changed since that first plan was developed and the impact it had in advancing the local economy, the Chamber felt that the time was right to undergo this process again and develop a new plan for the future.
“In order to gain a competitive edge, we believe that it is time to reflect on the assets we have in North Central Massachusetts and how we can build on them,” Roy M. Nascimento, president and CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, said in a prepared statement. “We believe it’s important to go through this process to develop a shared vision for the future of the region and a roadmap to ultimately achieve success.”
“North Central Massachusetts is at an important point in its history,” RKG Vice President and Principal, Eric Halvorsen said in a prepared statement. “It needs to set a new economic path forward that capitalizes on its regional competitive advantages but does so in a way that leverages new economic development opportunities and outcomes.”
The project’s scope includes a data-driven assessment of the region’s competitiveness as a place to live, work, visit and do business; identification and analysis of comparable regions locally or nationally for benchmarking purposes; review and analysis of economic development resources and capacity within North Central Massachusetts; outreach and engagement with community, businesses and other stakeholders to gather input to help shape the plan; and the preparation of an economic development strategy and implementation plan.
The project is expected to take six to 12 months.
For more information on the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and its affiliate organizations, visit NorthCentralMass.com or contact the Chamber at 978-353-7600.
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