Seeking common solutions to common problems

By Ruth Melville

At the invitation of the Economic Development Commission, over 25 Norfolk business owners gathered at the Hub on June 27 to explore new ways of supporting town stores and businesses. Interviews with some of the attendees indicate that the general response to the meeting has been positive.

Lori Hoyt, who owns Noi Salon on Station Place, called it “a great business meeting, a shot in the arm for me.” She feels she now understands the other businesses in town better, and she loves some of the ideas that were proposed. “I’m most interested in how we can network with each other,” she says, and brings up the possibility of offering her clients a small, one-time discount to one of the other stores in town. She notes a lack of marketing and would like to explore ways to get people attending Botelle School events or the farmers market to come down into town.

Christal Prenszler, Special Projects and Grants Manager of the Hub, also liked what she calls “the positivity of the meeting. People were there to find new ideas and solutions.” She agrees with Hoyt that town businesses and events need to be marketed better. “It’s hard to sustain ourselves with such a small population.”

Ryan Craig has run the Berkshire Country Store for over six years. He notes “how few customer-facing businesses we have” in Norfolk and believes that any new small businesses with a retail front would help. He supports the EDC-sponsored forum, saying that “it’s the beginning of a dialogue that should have happened 10 years ago.”

Melissa Robinson, of Robinson/Scholastic Objectives LLC, runs her business out of her home, but she too says that “we all need to try harder (to be more strategic) to drive business to the brick-and-mortar locations.” She points out some underlying issues, such as the declining enrollment at Botelle School and “the lack of jobs and housing for young people” and acknowledges that, in Norfolk, locals and weekenders or summer people might have different needs. She praises the Hub, which she says “has been a nice positive for my business, allowing me a private space . . . and [internet access] when I need it.”

Sean Sweeney, the proprietor of The Guilded Artisan, thinks that, for a first meeting, the forum went very well and was happy to see a lot of people there, but he adds cautiously that “we got too sidetracked at times.” He hopes that, going forward, the agenda will be more strongly focused on what he terms “the crucial issue of how to get people into town.”

Suggestions that came up repeatedly in conversation included better marketing, with a stronger social media presence; better signage to draw people into town and more collaboration between businesses.

Attendees also reported that ideas tossed around for new business opportunities in town ran the gamut from renting e-bikes or cross-country equipment, to a maker space, to a launderette, to a catering kitchen.

Reporting on the forum at the EDC’s July 13 meeting, the commission’s co-chair Michael Selleck described it as “a cross between a chamber of commerce and a rotary club.” He said he was pleased with both the turnout at the June meeting and the liveliness of the discussion. “Everybody recognized the same problem: we need to create more activity downtown.”

In order to focus the discussion at future forums, the EDC plans to create a smaller steering committee of business leaders from town who will work together with the EDC to refine the list of topics and suggestions that were raised in June. Follow-up letters will go out to all interested businesses to set up a date and agenda for the next forum. EDC Co-Chair Libby Borden summed up by saying, “We hope we can keep the momentum going.”