Economic Development Town of Bedford

A 47K transit funding grant was secured from the state. This money will go towards the shuttle pilot program to expand local transit. Chamber to help promote the launch of the new shuttle to local businesses.

There was a discussion on how free cycling of items such as furniture could be combined with the existing Bedford DPW Paper Shredding and E-Waste days that are currently being held every few months. There is currently not enough room at the DPW facility to provide this.

Cultural District. This project is currently on hold. The selectman thought they really need a non-town sponsor to manage this program before they are comfortable going forward. Selectman  asked if the Chamber would be willing to take this on (at least for the first year). After some discussion, it was thought best for Selectman  to present to the Chamber Executive Board after the Summer.

Preliminary BDC Goals for the next 12 Months:

1. Tourism - After some discussion, this appears to be an area with a lot of potential. Bedford has a lot of history and favorite places but they are not well publicized. By including these places/sites in review sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp, we can significantly increase tourism.

For example compare Lexington - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g41643-Activities-Lexington_Massachusetts.html with Bedford - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g41456-Activities-Bedford_Massachusetts.html

To make this happen we will need town residents or other interested parties to give reviews of the places/things to do they love in Bedford.

After some additional discussion, it was thought to begin this program in September.

2. Attract More Retail - A detailed discussion followed on how can we attract more retail to Bedford that tie in to what town residents, employees and visitors are most interested in. It was agreed that the results of the market study that will be done by Firepoint Associates would be a good starting point about how to proceed. The group agreed to revisit this after the market study was finished (most likely January 2017).

3. Help Attract Specific Retailers. Discussion about a program in another state where cards were provided to town resident and employees that were designed to be given to retailers/restaurants to help recruit them to come to that area. The idea is that a town resident may frequently visit her favorite restaurant which is located  in Nashua NH. Resident would love the restaurant to open an additional location in Bedford. So she would give a card to the restaurant management. This card would have information on the benefits of opening a business in Bedford along with contact information for additional information/next steps. This could be a pretty powerful program in that it leverages town residents and company employees to help recruit businesses they actually would like to come to Bedford and provides a proactive approach to doing so.