Business Growth – Gardner MA

The City of Gardner Massachusetts has accomplished successes in Business Growth, including, but not limited to:

Over 3 dozen businesses added in the past few years

Ongoing Business Recruitment

Ongoing Industrial and Manufacturing Recruitment

A structured system of purchasing blighted buildings through the Redevelopment Authority and then selling them to those willing to renovate and bring back on the tax rolls

Cooperation with Businesses

Strong reputation of working with businesses including making a First Contact team available to steer new businesses in the right direction

Encouraging Smart Growth

Encouraging Revitalization

Encouraging Redevelopment

GardnerMagazine.com spoke with Gardner MA Mayor Michael Nicholson about accomplished successes in Business Growth. Here’s what he had to say:

Mayor Nicholson: Absolutely. I’ll start with the numbers. In 2022 we opened 33 businesses in Gardner and so far in 2023 were at 7.And we know there’s at least 4 more down the pipeline. What we do is we really just go out and show people Gardner. If you’re picking up the phone call. And sometimes its as much as picking up the phone call and calling these businesses and asking if they are willing to expand, asking if they thought of looking in Gardner before. A lot of the times though its we go out and try different places. We hear about a coffee shop that opened in Holden. So lets go visit, see what its like, see the experience first hand. And if we run into the owner there, introduce yourselves, give them a business card and be like, we’d love to have you in our city. Its those smaller personal interactions that have the biggest bang for your buck in the long run. Where they show you, showed them from the start that you’re willing to work with them by coming out and actually trying to get them yourself. And that’s something that people really appreciate, especially in the business community. So that’s been one of our biggest success stories and ways that we’ve been able to help get people here.