Franklin County Community Development Corporation

Hundreds of community development pros gathered yesterday at the MACDC - Mass. Assoc. of Community Development Corporations' annual meeting at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. A group from the Franklin County CDC was there to cheer on a recipient of the MACDC's Rising Star Award, Kate Minifie! Kate is the FCCDC's Farm & Food Products Program Director. The Rising Star Award is presented to one person from each geographic region who is a CDC director, staff or board member, is less than 40 years old, and has demonstrated outstanding innovation and achievement by bringing new ideas, energy and leadership to the community development movement in Massachusetts. Congratulations, Kate! Kate Minifie is fourth from left in this photo.

45 years and going strong! Thanks to all who came out to celebrate the Franklin County CDC's 45 years of community economic development at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield! We felt the love from folks we've worked with and folks who've supported us. We are all woven into a tapestry of community, corny as it sounds. We rely on one another and need to care for one another. Thanks to the quartet of caterers who made the evening ?? shine ?? with their delicious food: Africana Bowl of Springfield, Firehouse Cafe of Adams, Ginger Love Cafe of Greenfield, and Black Sheep Deli of Amherst. We got all four counties of western MA in there! Thanks to the speakers who helped us mark the past (Alden Booth), the present (Mari Champagne), and the future (Harmony Gahagan). Thanks to the Greenfield Recorder's photographer Paul Franz news intern Amalia Wompa for covering the event! Thanks to Greenfield Community Tv Inc for sending Cody, your enterprising videographer! Jessica Atwood Rochelle Bellin Jack Clemente Scott LaRochelle Patricia Crosby Peg Hall Eve Brown-Waite, MPH, MS, CRC Dr Steven Goldsher Hannah Rechtschaffen Jessye Deane Shannon Martineau Traci Talbert Brianna Drohen Thomas Meshako Eric Dahl

Hearty congratulations to Agric Organic Farm owners Hameed and Ayo Bello whose new Farm Store 99 held its grand opening in downtown Springfield on Friday! The store features fresh produce, as well as other grocery items and prepared food. The Farm Store 99 is a lending client of the FCCDC through the Mass Food Trust Program. "Farm Store 99 is more than just a store—it is a Food Access hub, promoting healthy food choices and supporting local products and farmers," Hameed said. "At the heart of our mission is a commitment to sustainability and community development, values we believe are essential to the growth and vitality of Springfield." Pictured are FCCDC Lending Director Glen Ohlund, MAAIC Financial Business Advisor Myra Marcellin, Farm Store 99 owners Hameed and Ayo Bello, and FCCDC Executive Director John Waite at the store opening. #AgricOrganics #FarmStore99 #massfoodtrustprogram #healthyfood #foodaccess #sustainability #communitydevelopment LEAF, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund #MasschusettsDepartmentofAgriculturalResources #thefoodtrust

Join our awesome team! And please share with your networks! To learn more and apply, please go to fccdc.org/careers

A lot of cool things happened in 1979. ?? We danced to "My Sharona" by the Knack, "Heart of Glass" by Blondie, and "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. ??? "Apocalypse Now," "Alien," "The In-Laws," and "The Jerk" debuted. ? And a small nonprofit intent on strengthening small businesses in the wake of an exodus of rural manufacturing jobs came on the scene. ?? Yes, the Franklin County Community Development Corporation was born 45 years ago! Help us celebrate four-and-a-half decades of community development on November 13, 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center!

Advancing by retreating! FCCDC board and staff dove into meaningful discussions about mission, vision, and values with our strategic framework guides at Rainmaker Consulting. Thanks to our wonderful hosts at?the Northampton Country Club. Thanks to pictured board members Rochelle Bellin, Tamsin Flanders, Tina Stevens, and Mike Buckmaster and to FCCDC staffers in the photo, Kate Minifie, Liz Buxton, Hannah Sobel, Traci Talbert, and Shannon Martineau

??Thanks to everyone who came out to?Bardwell Farm?last night to learn more about the PVGrows Investment Fund, a way for community members to invest directly in the local food system for as little as $500. ??Thanks to PVGrows borrowers Harrison Bardwell and Maria Oliveras Gonzalez of?Flor Farm Foodies?for sharing their stories of the impact of the fund on their lives. We also appreciate the perspective of Tom Willits of the Lydia B. Stokes Foundation and a founding investor in the fund. ??Ready to invest? Visit https://www.pvgrows.net/ to view the offering memorandum and investment agreement or email hannahs at FCCDC dot org.

Did you know the Massachusetts Food Trust (MFTP) works to bring healthy food options to neighborhoods where folks earn lower than average incomes and there are few grocer store options? Jointly administered by the Franklin County CDC, LEAF, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund and The Food Trust with funding through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the MFTP provided financing for Worcester's Regional Environmental Council as it works to bring fresh produce to the region. REC's Grace Sliwoski, Director of Programs, spoke about the role it plays in increasing access to healthy food and serving diverse farming communities. "We work with preschoolers who are just getting started in the gardens through the farm to early childhood program and with older adults who have been gardening (or farming) for decades. Our farmers market vendors include New Americans who have created new farming businesses here in Central Mass, beginning and urban farmers, and multigenerational family farms. Worcester is a home for many immigrant communities and our farmers market customers reflect that diversity and culture." Read more: https://lnkd.in/eafBVQ5T

Invest in a multinational mutual fund? Or invest your values, locally. It's easy to support the western Massachusetts food system through the FCCDC's PVGrows Investment Fund. Our community investment vehicle allows your money to help farmers add a hoop house, tractor, or wash station to improve their income. With CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), PVGrows Investment Fund administered nine zero-interest Emergency Farm Fund loans, totaling more than $220,000. Want to learn more? Come to our event Tuesday, June 25, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Harrison Bardwell's Bardwell Farm in Hatfield. RSVP at this link: https://lnkd.in/eDZiqps9

??To everyone who braved the forecast of ??lightning and rain but witnessed the sun break through the clouds ????at our Small Business Block Party, THANK YOU! ??If you love the Franklin County CDC, please chip in so we can celebrate entrepreneurs every year! Venmo us at?@FCCDC?under charities! Or give online at www.fccdc.org/support. ??