Part of a Two-Year State Grant to Improve Northwest Corner Town Centers

By Ruth Melville

At the January meeting of Norfolk’s Economic Development Commission (EDC), Jocelyn Ayer, of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG), introduced the development consultants her council recently hired to consult with Norfolk, and seven other towns in this part of the state, on revitalizing their town centers.

As part of a $249,000 state grant, NHCOG retained the firm of East Hartford-based Goman+York Property Advisers, LLC, to consult with the Northwest Corner towns for two years. Representing the firm at the meeting were Michael Goman and Hiram Peck.

Since the grant was announced last fall, there has been much anticipation about the new consultants. At the meeting, several interested Norfolk residents joined EDC members and all three town selectmen, Sue Dyer, Leo Colwell and Josh DeCerbo–a clear indication of the importance and expectations attached to this initiative.

According to NHCOG’s scope of work for the project, the consultants’ activities will “be focused on supporting existing businesses, creating jobs and filling vacant commercial spaces.” Specifically, in consultation with local business groups, Goman+York will carry out “at least two priority economic development projects in each town, and perform a targeted site analysis and create marketing materials” for one vacant storefront.

Ayer stressed that NHCOG wants to see “measurable progress on specific goals.” Goman agreed. “We’re focused on getting things done. I don’t even like the word ‘consultants.’ We want to help and perhaps take the lead in getting things done.”

The key word of the evening was “data.” Although the firm is proud of its strong design team, they never start with design, but with data, especially information relating to what the local market can support.

Goman+York get their marketing data from a company called Esri, whose Geographical Information Systems software is able to break down populations into demographic segments, a process Esri calls “tapestry segmentation.” Esri software sorts the U.S. population into 67 market segments. Based on experience, Goman predicted that 80 percent of the population within a 15-minute drive from Norfolk will fall into only a few of those market segments.

Goman+York feel that this kind of information is crucial for learning what businesses or municipalities need to do to attract more visitors and customers. Another important factor is “drive time,” the distance a visitor or customer is willing to go for a particular service. As an example, Goman said research shows that people will only drive five minutes to a Dunkin’ Donuts, but 15 to 20 minutes to a grocery store. A 20- to 25-minute drive time is usually the limit of local drawing power.

Over the next few weeks, the consulting team will visit small businesses in town, taking a look at their storefronts and the merchandise they carry. Robert Rowlson, the third member of the team, who will be in charge of visiting the local businesses, was not at the meeting.

After his introductory remarks, Goman encouraged attendees to give their top three priorities for development, their “wish list.” There was general agreement on several key questions: How do we attract more people to town, both visitors and full-time residents? How do we make Norfolk a destination spot in our area? How can we use the cultural amenities we already have—our nature trails, the musical offerings of the Chamber Music Festival and Infinity Hall, our distinctive architecture—to differentiate us from other towns?

Mary Fanette added that “we need to know what will really work, not just now, but for the future.” Goman concurred, saying that he wants to look at trends, what has happened to the economic situation in our area recently and what is likely to happen in the future.

The real work will start at the next meeting of the EDC on February 12. By then, Goman will have the segmentation data for Norfolk. Once the EDC looks over the data and considers it, commission members and Goman+York can draw up a draft agenda together for the next steps.

Toby Young, who co-chairs the EDC with Libby Borden, is eager to hear what the economic development consultants have to offer. “We think Goman+York will have a lot of valuable insights for us, so that we are better able to analyze the needs of the town. We are pleased to have them as a resource.”

Photo by Bruce Frisch.