Cheshire Newcomer Offers Expertise to Aid in Grants
CHESHIRE, Mass. — New resident Bobby Quintos wants to leverage his contacts to help the town secure grants to address infrastructure challenges and support future energy and cost-saving initiatives.
"I'm not here to be a consultant or anything like that. I'm just here to help. I like the community. I'm involved with the church, and I think there's a lot of things we could do here in this little town of Cheshire, where we can take advantage of a lot of these grants," he said.
Quintos attended a Select Board meeting last month to highlight his experience in engineering, grant writing, and forging partnerships across government.
He is originally from New York and moved to Cheshire at the end of 2023 to be near his son and grandkids.
He heard about several challenges and initiatives the town has been undertaking, including infrastructure issues with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, roof repairs, and the potential for solar panels.
"I know how to raise money," he said, saying he'd helped the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority obtain $8.3 million in grant funding in his role as its general manager of Berkshire Transit Management. A year prior, he aided in the BRTA obtaining $1 million for hydrogen technology.
"I know that Cheshire has raised some grants. I've done quick research [on] you guys, and Massachusetts is fairly generous, too," Quintos said, listing a weatherization grant for the police station and the Community House, resurfacing funds for Fred Mason Road, and others.
He emphasized the importance of planning for grants, noting that applications often require a year's preparation.
"If you give me a wish list of what you want to fix I can work with [Town Administrator Jennifer Morse] with it easily, and do that, and then use my contacts that I have now in Massachusetts to move forward with any of the grants," he said.
He said the state Clean Energy Center is ready to work with the town such as alerting it to applicable grants and knowing when they apply.
He highlighted his experience from his time in the military and his career that took him around the world, dealing with government and U.S. agencies.
Quintos talked about what some towns have done with alternative energy, such as Sterling's 2-megawatt solar facility and on-site battery storage. That community was able to save about $400,000 per year on electricity costs by avoiding high utility rates and keeping the economic benefits local.
Cheshire could emulate this by purchasing its own solar facility and installing battery systems, leading to significant long-term savings and increased energy independence, he said.
Select Board Chair Shawn McGrath said he sees utilizing Quintos' experience in phases, starting on the immediate needs of the town, such as the smaller-scale projects then possible strategic planning in the future surrounding larger-scale projects.
Quintos will be collaborating with Morse to aid the town on obtaining grant funding to address current needs in the community.
