Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

46 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS EMBRACING ENTREPRENEURS W ith its small town feel and big city proximity, Amesbury, Massachusetts has it all. Located at the junction of Highways I-95 and I-495, the city of 17,000 is a welcoming presence at the mouth of the Merrimack River on Boston’s north shore near the New Hampshire border. “We have a highly accessible location,” says Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove. “Amesbury is a very desirable place for people’s employees to live and work and play. We have a very vibrant downtown community with a lot of our residential neighbourhoods walkable to that area. And we are surrounded by open space and farmland, so you get a real mix of everything. We have all the necessities here.” Founded in 1668, Amesbury was formerly a farming and mill town. Now, it is primarily a bedroom community for nearby cities but also caters to the manufacturing industry, as well as businesses with a unique business model. “Our largest employer is the city itself and next