A key project supporting both tourism and local business activity is the 501 Main Street parking lot, with additional plans for a pedestrian bridge across the Quinebaug River in the near future. The new lot, combined with the planned bridge, would allow access to the river and the future Grand Trunk Trail system. “It really is serving multiple purposes,” Grimm says. “If you go into the commercial tourist district at night and you visit our restaurants, you’ll see the parking lot is full. And we hope that eventually, we’ll find people parking there to take their bikes or just take a hike across the bridge and go walk on the beautiful trail system.” SUPPORTING BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY Along with a thriving visitor economy, and vibrant small businesses, Sturbridge has a strong base of light manufacturing, high-tech production, and medical instrument companies that anchor its local workforce. Bubon says,“It is extremely important for us to have those businesses locally and in the region. We have a very skilled workforce, and businesses want to be here, and they want to expand here.” A major part of that success comes from the town’s coordinated and business friendly permitting approach. The planning department, conservation, building, public works, health department, and economic development, and public safety staff work closely together to keep the process predictable and efficient. “We’ve realized that we really need to work with these industries as a team.And if we all get together in the same room, then it makes the process run much more smoothly,” Bubon says. Pre-application review meetings help resolve issues early, and cross-department communication is standard practice. “All the staff get together once a 157 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12 STURBRIDGE, MA
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