Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal • April 13, 2015 www.wbjournal.com Hopkinton widens its door to business Legacy Farms and 280 on Lumber Street, within three miles of downtown. Ron Foisy, secretary of the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce, estimates that the town's population could top 20,000 within 10 years. "Hopkinton is blessed geographically … and it also has a great heritage of hav- ing a great community and a great school system," he said. "The challenge we face is finding a balance." Chamber goal: Tax base with 20 percent business The town is residential-heavy, and offi- cials and community members are push- ing to add more business and reach more of an economic equilibrium. While Hopkinton's commercial tax base relies heavily on EMC Corp., the data storage giant, the town wants a mix of both large companies and smaller biotech startups, says Elaine Lazarus, the town's director of land use, planning and permitting. Such an approach can help grow the business base from about 16 to 17 percent of all taxable property to reach the chamber's goal of 20 percent by 2020. And in the wake of recent residential projects, the town's Planning Board has a renewed eye toward commercial devel- opment, Lazarus says. "(The Planning Board's members) have concertedly tried to be more (busi- ness) friendly. The town has set aside land for this purpose. Why not make it work?" she said. "There is a thought that it might be time to slow down with (residential growth) and let the com- mercial catch up. It's all about achieving that balance." There has been a growing friendliness to business in the last five to seven years, chamber President Scott Richardson says. A number of zoning initiatives that have allowed the commercial base to expand have been supported by the board and adopted at Town Meeting, he said. Those initiatives have included the formation of overlay districts that allow additional types of development, such as homes in a commercial zone, higher building heights and eased parking requirements for businesses in the downtown area. The biggest expansions are happen- ing outside downtown, where there is room for more commercial growth, Richardson said. This friendliness toward business does not just extend to large companies, Jeff Barton said. During his 18 years running Water Fresh Farm in Hopkinton, he has had to tackle many of the issues locally owned businesses face around the coun- try, such as larger stores that can offer lower prices. So, to carve out a unique niche, he opened a specialty market three years ago. "The town officials have been sup- portive of us in trying to find ways for us to survive as well as grow," Barton said. Dealing with change The ongoing change in the commu- nity can be uncomfortable, though. "Growth is what is happening and growth is what is panicking people in town. And that would include me," Foisy said. "Growth is going to happen and we have to manage it and balance it." The town is acutely aware of these concerns, he said, and actively taking steps to maintain the connection among the population with ongoing public activities and projects such as a new downtown library and the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, which helps bring members of the community together through classes and events. But some things, such as attitudes, can't be addressed with new facilities. Sandy Varnum, who owned Colella's Supermarket with her three sisters, recently sold the 70-year-old business, long a downtown fixture, to retail developer Crosspoint Associates. While Varnum said the ultimate reason for the sale was a lack of successors within the family, she has also seen a shift in recent years with the growth in Hopkinton's population. There has been a changing attitude among residents, Varnum said, with local businesses being valued less because of the lower prices from nearby chain stores. And the loss of community extends beyond shopping, she said. "The sense of togetherness and community and friendliness is gone. It's almost like living in the city. No one knows their neighbors anymore," she said. As much as the town may be experi- encing growing pains, whether through expanding the business base or feeling a loss of community, Hopkinton's location and reputation as a good place to live are still helping to pull in new business. For example, when Jeffrey Peters was looking to move his manufactur- ing company, Precision Digital Corp., from Holliston to a larger site, he was drawn to a South Street property in Hopkinton because of its proximity to Route 495, as well as the town's name recognition that comes from being the marathon's starting point. Peters had so much faith in the area that he pur- chased a building for $5.35 million after renting in Holliston for 40 years. "I like the South Street corridor there. It seems like a logically laid out, indus- trial setting," he said, explaining that having EMC as a prominent neighbor is a bonus. "It's important when (potential employees) look and see where you are located that it lends a legitimacy to the business and even saying you are on South Street in Hopkinton is a recog- nized location." Q >> Continued from Page 1 (Above) Colella's, a downtown mainstay for years, has been sold, while PerkinElmer, based in Waltham, maintains a notable presence in Hopkinton after buying Caliper Life Sciences in 2011. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 16.4% 16.7% 17.2% 17.4% Commercial, industrial and personal property as % of total tax levy 15 16 17 18 19 20 16.6% 16.6% Business growth in Hopkinton Over the last six fiscal cycles, business property has taken up a slightly larger chunk of Hopkinton's tax base. Source: Mass. Department of Revenue

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