Adams Hiring Part-time Workers for Visitors Center
The Selectmen approved the job description for the part-time visitors center staff on Wednesday. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The town is looking to hire part-time staff to man the visitors center this summer.
On Wednesday, the Board of Selectmen approved a job description and pay for two to five part-timers to welcome visitors at the Hoosac Street building, which now hosts the Thunderbolt Ski Museum.
"It's a good job for a college student or seniors," Town Administrator Jonathan Butler said.
The positions will allow the town to keep the center open longer, later and with more consistency. Last year, volunteers staffed the building for four hours day. With hired staff, the town is looking to double that and keep the center open until around 7 p.m.
"We're going to try and professionalize it," Butler said.
With volunteers, Butler said the director had trouble scheduling staff. With paid employees, the town expects to be able to manage hours better to ensure the center is staffed. The position is being paid with town funds and a $12,000 state grant the town has to use on visitors center activities.
"We're trying to get the doors open and get some qualified people in there to get the concern over who is going to be there off of our plate," Butler said.
The position will pay $10 an hour and the part-timers will be asked to fill between 10 to 20 hours. However, the number of employees hired will depend on availability so a smaller number of hours per week could be possible. The position will be seasonal and end around Columbus Day.
Butler said he'd like employees to know about town and county attractions but they don't necessarily have to be from Adams "if it is someone who can give off some energy and get people excited about Adams."
Chairman John Duval added that he would like an orientation to be given to those employees so they know even more about the town and the county.
In other business Wednesday, the Selectmen began to "roll up their sleeves" in creating an economic development strategy.
"We do have a plan. I've had a vision for Adams in my mind since I started," Butler said. "I think it would make sense to put that economic vision on paper."
The plan is a narrow aim at ways the town is looking to grow economically, which includes types of development and incentives the town is willing to give in order to entice certain businesses. The goal would be to get Community Development, administrators and the Board of Selectmen on the same page with the various aspects of development.
The three- to five-page Economic Development Plan will have more of a narrow focus than a community development plan, which includes things such as housing.
"We really need to be strategic," Community Development Director Donna Cesan said, adding that the plan should have specific goals that could be accomplished in a certain period of time rather than being an overarching comprehensive plan.
On Wednesday, the Selectmen discussed protecting industrial lands from being taken over by "box stores," providing technical assistance to small businesses, creating a "chamberlike" presence, identifying obstacles — such as blighted, privately-owned properties — and encouraging schools to make stronger links to businesses.
The workshop meeting was the first of many the board expects to have while developing the plan. Duval was appointed the "point person" to work through drafts with Butler and move the plan along until the next meeting.
"Economic development for me, being on this board, is my No. 1 priority," Duval said.
Tags: economic development, visitors center,
