Bosley Named CEO of North Adams Partnership
 Bosley said he has added a sixth priority to the partnership's list: passenger rail from New York to Greenfield. |
Bosley was named chief executive officer of the private investment group on Thursday morning, formalizing a role he'd been filling for the past month after moving into an office at DeRosa Dohoney LLP as president of the North Adams SteepleCats.
"We need to have some bold strokes and we need to coordinate those bold strokes to bring North Adams back to what it used it to be ... it has been a long time since we did Mass MoCA, which was the last big bold stroke in North Adams," said Bosley at a press conference at the law firm announcing his appointment. "We need to build on that and we need to build on MCLA, the two biggest strengths we have in this area."
John DeRosa of DeRosa Dohoney LLP, a principal of the partnership that includes Joseph C. Thompson of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and Mary Grant of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, said Bosley's mission will be to integrate and implement priorities laid out by the group and the city of North Adams at its formation in January.
"He brings a very unique skill set to this important position," said DeRosa. "He has written most of the economic development bills for the state of Massachusetts and by coming back and applying his good efforts to North Adams, we will get full advantage of is expertise and knowledge and he will make a very, very significant contribution to our community."
The full-time paid position is the first step in staffing up the partnership; members of the board will be named in the next week or so. DeRosa said the board's makeup will reflect the group's goal of sparking private investment in the region. (Bosley will continue to wear the 'Cats hat.)
"This is really rubber to the road," said Mayor Richard Alcombright. "We can all put a pie-in-the-sky document together with some pretty lavish goals to do some pretty great things in the community and within several short weeks we've got a director on board, a board is to be named very shortly. This is coming together very, very quickly and I think it's just great."
 John DeRosa said the partnership's board will be announced in the next week or so. |
The 12-term representative was tapped by Gov. Deval Patrick in his first term to be his economic adviser, withdrawing after the position's authority was significantly watered down. The North Adams Democrat, who saw his influence wane under the new House leadership, declined to run for a 13th term representing the 1st Berkshire District to launch an unsuccessful campaign for Berkshire County sheriff.
Bosley's many connections on the state and federal level, with various public and private agencies and serving in other capacities, such as on the board of MountainOne Financial, were cited in his apppointment. His legislative experience in reaching across the aisle and bringing diverse groups together are in tune with the partnership's goals, said DeRosa.
"Most of the time it's hard to pull people around the same table; this organization we've established will do that," said DeRosa. "Part of what we've been doing over the past weeks is collaborating with other organizations and exploring ways in which we can work together with one approach and one effort.
"For the first time I think we really have a unique opportunity to work together and make that happen."
Bosley is reaching out to other communities, agencies and initiatives across Northern Berkshire and connecting with development efforts across the border in New York and Vermont and groups closer to home such as the Hoosic River Revival and the Northern Berkshire Industrial Park and Development Corp. The partnership may have been named for North Adams, but it's hoping to enhance investment regionally.
 Judith Grinnell of the Hoosic River Revival Coalition and Mayor Richard Alcombright said public and private investment were needed. |
Bosley has another project to add to the list: passenger rail.
"Five years ago, everybody would have just said it's not possible to do anything in rail but that world has changed in five years," he said. "We've got a president who's talking about passenger rail,
we've got a major rail project happening to the east going through Greenfield and we have a major rail happening west of us, going from Albany to Hoosick Falls to Bennington, and right between those two projects is North Adams with its own rail line.
"You know it's 15 miles of track from Williamstown to Hoosick Falls. It seems to me, we could figure out a way to do that."
The projects are big but the steps will be incremental. One of his first actions was submitting a joint application for federal technical assistance on behalf of the Hoosic River Revival Coalition in conjunction with the partnership, MCLA, Mass MoCA, the city and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.
The river coalition's leader Judith Grinnell said her steering board had approached the master planning process with "trepidation" over its ability.
"We said we can't do that alone; we have to be working with all the other major entities and that is now happening and we're all going to be stronger for it," she said. "The city, the college and museum and the partnership that has pulled us together."
"We will all have our own projects but we won't be working alone," said Grinnell.
All three stressed the importance of public/private investment in developing and enhancing the community.
"You can't depend on this sort of investment through the government, through municipalities and the state or federal government," said the mayor, who criticized the city's dependence on state aid during his campaign. "It truly depends on finding private investors for some of these projects and that's where I think Dan will be so instrumental, and the partnership will be instrumental, in helping the city and the region grow."
Bosley harkened back to the days when North Adams was the leader in neckties, then capacitors and now culture.
"We need to build on all of those things we've done in the past and on the resilience of the people of North Adams to do what we can to enhance our economy and to enhance our business community."
Grant and Thompson were unable to attend the meeting because of scheduling conflicts.
There seem to be a lot of questions about the Partnership's funding. It is a private nonprofit established to promote investment in the city. It's articles of incorporation can be found here.
