Pandemic Doesn’t Halt Greenfield’s Progress
For MJ Adams, 2020 felt like someone had pushed a ‘pause’ button. Adams, director of Community and Economic Development for the city of Greenfield, had taken part in a dynamic public forum early in the year titled “A Deliberate Downtown” that focused on revitalization plans for Greenfield. Then the pandemic hit. And when it became clear the pause would last for more than a few weeks, she and her staff shifted their focus. “We knew there was going to be an immediate cash-flow problem for local businesses, so we moved quickly to develop a small-business assistance program to provide micro-enterprise grants,” Adams said. Working with other Franklin County towns, Greenfield pooled its available block-grant funds with those from Montague, Shelburne, and Buckland.