This month marks the start of the business retention and expansion program in Watertown. This program will include visits to industries in town to identify their concerns and needs and explore how to improve the business climate.
Emily McFarland, mayor of Watertown, said that there are a few main purposes for the visits to the businesses. McFarland said that the first goal is increase communications and deepen the relationships that have already been established. The second is to understand business concerns and to address them at the local level or advocate at the federal and state levels. The last is to engage the business community in setting the priorities for economic development. Cities can use poster printing to announce such programs to the community and the list of businesses to be visited.
Strategic initiatives and development coordinator, Alex Allon, said that this program is an extension of the visits to companies the mayor has been making in recent months. He said the mayor realized that the city could partner with businesses to help them with the challenges they face so it was decided to create a formal retention and expansion program for businesses to show that the city appreciates the many contributions which businesses make to the community.
The first visit will be to Symbol Mattress on Tuesday October 19 and the second to ITW Shakeproof the following Tuesday October 26.
