A growing number of area residents embrace optimism about the future of the North Quabbin region, and an important leader in this effort is Athol native Mark Wright, 55, who is completing his fourth year at the helm of the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber President Sara Lyman of Hometown Realtors praised Mark in an email to me, stating that “he took the Chamber from a part-time organization that supported local businesses to a full-time organization that supports the North Quabbin region, from local businesses to tourism, economic development and workforce development.
Mark has been able to network with policymakers and local and state legislators to help position the North Quabbin region for many state projects and grants. He also serves on the town Economic Development Industrial Corporations (EDIC) for Athol and Orange, helping to bring new businesses to the area. He helped to put our ecotourism back on the map. He really is the go-to person for regionwide commerce, tourism and local business people who need help understanding employment law changes and business planning.
Like me (as a writer) and other area boosters, Mark strives to combat a far-too-frequent negative view of the North Quabbin as a kind of Appalachia-style backwater where no intelligent and sensible person would want to live or do business.
Though he currently lives in Petersham, Mark is proud of his hometown, having graduated from Athol High School in 1980. He attended college in Boston, and has had varied work experience including lighting design and financial analysis. He has interests that range from “an infatuation for agriculture” to playing jazz on the vibraphone.
During our conversation, I enjoyed the sharing of warm feelings about common friends, such as Esther Shepardson and her daughter Nola Shepardson (both deceased). Esther was Mark’s beloved AHS science teacher and he briefly worked with the two women at their gardening business on Templeton Road.
Mark follows in the footsteps of another devoted optimist, the late Arthur Platt of Royalston, who was largely responsible in the 1980s for taking the moribund Athol-Orange Chamber of Commerce and transforming it to the North Quabbin Chamber.
Our local chamber, Mark told me earlier this week, added Barre and Hardwick to the usual nine towns of Athol, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick and Wendell. There are about 200 members, including businesses, organizations and municipalities – all endorsing the goal of “improving the socio-economic climate of the region through good practices and stewardship” and “providing services to each other and the larger economic community.”
Mark states that the chamber has become “more healthy and stable and has improved its credibility and presence.” Obtaining new funding for various efforts, including a workforce development professional, is a constant necessity.
For a while, Mark had an excellent colleague, Mia Haringstad of Rutland, who occupied the state-funded position of tourism director. She left when funding ran out, but the work on tourism continues. The office at 80 Freedom St. in Athol serves as a visitor center for people near and far.
Emily Boughton, the Chamber’s communications manager (the only other paid staffer), is a big help to Mark, along with volunteers – all working in the spacious well-furnished office where members and the public are welcome to pick up helpful literature.
Among the Chamber’s accomplishments, Mark said, has been connecting with state and local officials on the Hulu TV production of “Castle Rock,” which was filmed primarily in Orange. He has assisted Athol’s EDIC on the North Quabbin Commons, including grand openings and ribbon-cuttings there and elsewhere in the region.
Mark explained that members have a variety of needs, depending on the size or nature of the enterprise, and he encourages “engagement,” so that he can help. For example, he will organize workshops, but he needs to know “what do you want to learn?”
With a typical work week of 70 hours, Mark is in regular contact with elected legislators on policy issues and he works closely with publisher Marcia Gagliardi on Uniquely Quabbin magazine. Instead of a big “home show,” the Chamber is working on plans for two “mini-expos” – one on home acquisition and improvement and another on health care (including veterinary medicine).
Mark is proud of collaborative work with other chambers to the east and west. The Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce is “a strong ally and partner,” he said, and he is animated about having a good relationship with the Franklin County chamber’s new head, Natalie Blaise.
The Chamber’s board is an impressive group of diverse area leaders, and the website, www.northquabbinchamber.com states, “Our board members represent a wide diversity across the spectrum of business leadership including small business, retail, healthcare, professional services, tourism and non-profit action groups. With longstanding ties to the region, all of our board members are thoroughly invested in its success — now and for the future.”
With Sara as president, the other officers are Kim Stewart, Kessler Investments, president elect; Chris Milusich of Stan’s Liquor Mart, past president; Carol Courville of Athol-Orange Community Televiosn, clerk; and Lisa Carey, CPA, treasurer. The other directors are Kelly Chaisson, TD Bank Athol; Zach Rand, Kimball-Cooke Insurance; Amy Sanden, Pete’s Tire Barns; Tristan Bedinger, Athol Credit Union; Tabitha Fournier, Athol Savings Bank; Cindy Hartwell, LP Athol Corporation; Deni Ellis, Clamber Hill Inn & Restaurant; Marc Ostberg. Hometown Bank; Attorney Nicholas R Kimball; and Jeff Cole, Witty’s Funeral Home.
Anyone who wants to know about what’s going on in the community can benefit from the informative well-designed newsletter that the chamber creates and sends out often to 20,000 email addresses worldwide. Sign up where it says “join our mailing list” at northquabbinchamber.com. That website and a second one, visitnorthquabbin.com, are user-friendly.