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413-967-3001

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23 West Main Street · Ware, Massachusetts 01082

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The CDC is involved in a number of projects that benefit the overall economic welfare and potential of the region as well as several individual communities.

The CDC, acting with advice from its members and a member-based Board of Directors, works in partnership with the Quaboag Valley Business Assistance Corporation, and Quaboag Valley Chamber of Commerce and other regional organizations to provide a wide range of programs and services to enhance the economic climate of our region.

Tourism

As a result of collaborative efforts between the Quaboag Valley CDC and the Quaboag Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Quaboag Hills logo and theme were developed in 2000. Subsequently, the Chamber changed its name to the Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce. The goal of this collaborative project was to provide the 15 towns in the region with a common vision of the beauty and natural resources of the area and to develop a theme around which new and growing businesses might develop and expand. Tourism development is one additional tool in the arsenal against unemployment and underemployment in the region that the CDC and Chamber ontinue to support.

Commercial Development

In its quest to expand opportunities for living wage jobs in the region, the CDC has engaged in a number of commercial development activities, usually in collaboration with a municipality. To contact the CDC regarding a commercial/industrial project in your town, email us or call the office 413-967-3001 and speak to Sheila.

Some of the projects undertaken to date include:

Development of 23 West Main Street, Ware as a nonprofit center. In 2006 the CDC purchased this property and obtained a deferred loan from the Town of Ware. Funds were used to add handicapped accessible features to the property in order to accommodate the CDC and two additional nonprofits, the Ware Adult Learning Center and KidStop, a daycare program of the Valley Human Services.

Assistance to the Town of Hardwick regarding its municipal needs. In 2010, the CDC assisted Hardwick in Housing Needs and Municipal Facilities' Needs Analyses, performed by independent consultants. These were followed by a Zoning Bylaw and Master Plan Upate Project in 2011-12 by a separate consultant. Prior to these projects, the CDC had engaged with the Hardwick Planning Board on a "ground truthing" mini conference regarding the former Hardwick Knitters Mill in Gilbertville.

Assistance to the Boys and Girls Club of Western Worcester County in Spencer. Originally contacted by the town, the CDC was engaged to help the Boys&Girls Club examine the David Prouty Middle School for potential re-use. The CDC hired an architect to assess the building and performed an analysis of both the capital costs for refurbishment and a projection of the operating costs and income needs to sustain it. Utlimately the Town chose a housing organization to develop the property.

Assistance to the Palmer Redevelopment Authority regarding the Palmer Airport. The CDC performed a brief but comprehensive study for the PRA to determine the feasibility of doing a business plan on the property. Results concluded that a business plan was warranted if the PRA or the Airport Association could garner substantial public and municipal support for its continuation.

Development of a Commercial and Industrial properties Database (c/i database). The database lists all of the properties in the fifteen towns that are assessed as commercial, business and/or industrial. A summary of the zoning laws for each town is included.

South Main Street School project in Monson. Using a grant from Mass Development, the CDC engaged a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) to complete the assessment on environmental contamination of the property that was left by the previous owner. The presence of lead and other toxic materials caused the property to be considered a brownfields project. Ultimately the property was demolished by the Town.

For more information, please call the office (413-967-3001), email us or contact us through our website.