One voice, one agenda: Could it work on Cape Cod?
by Kate BavelockCould a chamber of commerce merge with town government? That’s what’s happened in Plymouth.
When Denis Hanks, Plymouth’s head of economic development, changes hats for his other job, he doesn’t have to alter his message or agenda, because he also directs the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce.
In this unusual relationship, Plymouth has brought together two organizations under one umbrella to speak and work with one voice – maximizing town growth and regional economic assets.
Hanks moves agilely between his chamber office and another one in town hall, where he manages the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation – the umbrella for the Plymouth Industrial Development Corporation.
Funding for his town work comes from both the municipality and foundation, which also created the Plymouth Industrial Park.
Hanks headed the foundation – led by volunteers – for two years before he assumed his chamber duties a year ago. The 780-member organization had a very strong economic development committee – so Hanks’ position straddling the chamber and town was a natural fit.
He’s very sensitive, however, to the different needs of both jobs.
“The largest component of chamber members is small businesses with five employees or less. They have made it very clear what they want from us are networking opportunities, joint advertising opportunities and a health-care program,” said Hanks.
In that regard, he runs the chamber in a traditional model, creating a busy agenda for businesses to promote themselves through relationships with one another.
But when he’s the town’s subcontracted economic development officer, Hanks becomes more of a macroeconomist, pursuing opportunities for Plymouth to grow in a thoughtful way amid great changes in the region’s population and business climate.
For example, the Massachusetts High Tech Council recently named Plymouth the third-best place in the state to locate high-tech businesses. “We are looking to rezone accordingly,” said Hanks. There are 20,000 acres left undeveloped in Plymouth and 95 percent are zoned residential.
One of the biggest projects is converting 1,000 acres of mostly pine barrens off Route 25 in South Plymouth into an industrial park. The land had to be purchased piecemeal after extensive title research. Now, any development must address critical gauntlets involving highway access and endangered species.
With the Plymouth Industrial Park almost at capacity and demand still growing, the PIDC is eager to develop another park. Pivotal to success is the town’s master plan, written in 2001. It laid out five critical areas to develop and detailed costs and benefits related to each one.
As economic development officer, Hanks also can negotiate tax incentives. He’s done that 26 times so far for approval by the board of selectmen, town finance committee, Town Meeting and state authorities.
Other major projects under way include:
• Redeveloping the courthouse and Registry of Deeds.
• Exploring the possibility of ferry service to Boston for commuters and tourists
• Constructing two large parking garages.
• Developing commuter rail service at Cordage Park, where the chamber has its office.
• Converting parts of Cordage Park into housing.
• Management of the downtown historic sites by the U.S. National Park Service.
• Creating a ‘Pilgrim Necklace’ connecting the waterfront area to Brewster Gardens and Burial Hill with paths and parks.
• Moving bus parking off the waterfront to more appropriate areas.
• Bringing minor league baseball to Plymouth with the River Eels franchise – a $20 million project that includes the stadium, picnic areas and conference space.
“We are connecting all the dots now,” said Hanks. “Plymouth has growing pains, including a school system bulging at the seams. We haven’t seen the state trend of decreasing population here. Residential growth will continue to bring challenges. Growing tourism and business will help offset that. We have been very successful at getting groups that never talked to talk.”
One high priority area is affordable housing – critical for economic development. Plymouth is only at 3.6 percent, far below the state goal of 10 percent. The redevelopment of Cordage Park to residential, with 20 percent of 500 projected units being affordable, will help.
As on Cape Cod, the village center concept is taking on growing importance. Throughout town, there are five centers with the possibility of creating two new ones. “Plymouth has tried to grow around its village centers to shop and dine. That helps retain the flavor of a quaint New England town,” said Hanks.
How does Plymouth compare with the Cape?
Currently, there are several public/private partnerships for economic development on Cape Cod. None go quite so far as to combine chambers of commerce with town development departments, but they are a start in that direction.
Falmouth
The Falmouth Economic Development Industrial Corporation is the granddaddy, founded in 1981 by state statue to create an industrial park in Falmouth to attract jobs and enhance tax revenue. It spent 10 years building an infrastructure and 10 more year selling properties to tenants. Now the FEDIC is reinvesting in other properties such as a medical park.
Harlyn Halvorson, who heads the FEDIC, said pre-permitting the Falmouth industrial park by the Cape Cod Commission was important to its success. “It was much easier for industry to get in and get started,” said Halvorson.
Halvorson points with pride to 400 jobs created at the Falmouth Industrial Park. “It was the right thing at the right time, before build-out was reached. When we saw land disappearing, we saw the need to do this,” said Halvorson. With so little developable land left, it is too important to leave job growth to chance.
Now, the FEDIC has received state funds to set up a Regional Technology Development Center to promote economic development in technology in Mashpee, Bourne, Sandwich and Falmouth. It also advises the towns as they individually seek to create their own economic development investment corporations. It already has assisted Bourne and has begun helping Mashpee.
The RTDC will serve as an incubator for job retraining and economic investment corporations. A grant from the state will fund a management team.
Bourne
The Bourne Financial Development Corporation is six years old and should be instrumental in revitalizing Buzzards Bay. (See story on page ___.) Chris Bailey, a real estate consultant, sits on the board. He points to the work already accomplished to build consensus among town officials, community leaders and businesses represented by the Canal Region Chamber of Commerce. This has included a land-use planning study, a visioning process, marketing analysis, a fiscal-impact analysis, infrastructure analysis and studying the needs for wastewater treatment.
“Economic development as a concept is becoming a little more understood by the public,” said Bailey. Early on, the idea was viewed suspiciously, as a subsidy for businesses or with fear of changing a town’s charm and history.
To the contrary, EDICs give towns greater control over development. Town administrators and selectmen sit on the board and approve all projects. “The board reports to Town Meeting and can be abolished by Town Meeting,” Bailey said.
“Having a [town] master plan is very pivotal,” he emphasized, echoing comments by Plymouth’s Hanks. “Once you get to build-out it’s a lot harder to plan.”
Hyannis
The Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District seeks to promote a lively and attractive downtown linked to the harbor. However, the BID model is privately funded through an assessment on the businesses within its boundaries. The businesses vote to create or disband the BID and its Improvement Plan requires periodic review. Despite close work with town and regional authorities, a BID has a different structure than an economic development corporation, with no municipal representation on its board of directors. It is an organization by business owners for business owners, a permutation of chambers of commerce and town development functions. There are thousands of BIDs in the country, 40 in New York City alone and only two in Massachusetts.
Because the assessment provides a reliable source of funding, a BID can plan and implement its projects smoothly. Some projects are capital improvements, such as street signs, kiosks, area beautification and streetlights. Some are ongoing, such as maintenance, security, events, assisting with permitting processes and advocating for redevelopment and new development.
Cynthia Cole, executive director of the Hyannis Main Street BID, is proud of the appearance and success of recent projects. Her office helped secure funding and provide planning for the Walkway to the Sea. Now, their greatest focus is bringing residential units into the downtown area for a healthy, livable Main Street.
Barnstable County
The county’s Economic Development Council is an advisory body only. However, their grant program – financed largely by the sale of Cape Cod license plates – has given away a great deal of money to support projects for housing and redevelopment. “The awards are for projects that involve infrastructure issues and master-planning,” said Dan Dray, head of the county EDC.
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