Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | October 17, 2022 | wbjournal.com BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer O ne of the first things Philip Duffy, director of economic development for the Town of Clinton, says, "We want to make Clinton a better Clinton." Duffy has been the director of economic development in Clinton for 11 years. An architect by background, he became enamored with Clinton aer visiting the town while living in Cambridge, which is why he believes the recipe for success is for the town to be true to itself and not try to emulate another place. In his role, Duffy's two major goals are to develop Clinton's downtown and to improve quality of life. "We're focused on improving the quality of life for the residents, not for the financial position of the town," said Duffy, "When you provide for a higher quality of life, you attract businesses and people at the beginning of the buying cycle." Duffy's philosophy seems to be working, as Clinton is rapidly growing, its population is up 13% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. Businesses are opening along High Street, the subject of a municipal beautification project, as well as elsewhere around downtown. Clinton packs more than 15,000 people into an area approximately three miles by two miles, making it one of the most densely populated communities outside of Route 128, said Duffy. When Duffy started working for the town, 1 million square feet of property was underused property. Now he estimates it's between 150,000 to 250,000 square feet. Renovating former industrial properties Near Depot Square in Clinton, Worcester's Cunningham Equities opened a new apartment development called Liam's Crossing in a former Clinton Wire Cloth Co. building, offering 39 one-bedroom apartments. e building retains the look of a factory built in 1910, but it offers modern amenities like community WiFi, a fitness room, and the ability to unlock the front door using a phone app. e main elevator has a modern car but is the size of the original freight elevator. "We wanted to repurpose as much of the facility as possible, and that includes using the original elevator sha," said Chris Conry, chief information officer for Cunningham Equities, "People love it when they're moving in." e development, which opened in November, is fully occupied, and Business and government leaders are working to bring more people from Clinton's growing pop- ulation into its downtown Making Clinton a better Clinton Population growth Clinton's population growth in the last decade outpaced Worcester County and the state, as well as select similarly sized towns in Central Massachusetts. Clinton 15,428 13,606 13.39% Gardner 21,287 20,228 5.24% Athol 11,945 11,584 3.12% Auburn 16,889 16,188 4.33% Millbury 13,831 13,261 4.30% Worcester County 862,111 798,552 7.96% Massachusetts 7,029,917 6,547,629 7.37% 2020 population 2010 population Growth Source: U.S. Census Bureau Philip Duffy, director of economic development for the Town of Clinton, on High Street PHOTOS | TIMOTHY DOYLE

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