Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

54 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 “We have our public school system, but we also have two vocational technical schools that our residents can choose to attend. The students at ‘Essex Aggie’ have a great experience and are entrepreneurial in spirit and they come back and contribute to this economy of entrepreneurs that we are talking about.” In addition to promoting small businesses, sustainable and green initiatives are also a priority for Amesbury. Cleveland notes, “We are trying to take a more sustainable approach to all of our projects. The state actually does require us to look at sustainability principles, but that is something that is also near and dear to me. It’s been part of every job I’ve had for the past 20 years. I encourage communities to look at the social, environmental, and economic ramifications and opportunities that projects can come to bear. So, from anything that we are doing right now– all of our infrastructure, as well as working with our residents and our businesses – that is the approach. We are hoping to use that as the underpinning of everything we do.” Amesbury was one of the first to process an application through the Massachusetts Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program, which allows property owners to finance the cost of energy improvements and pay it back over