Doing Business in Hadley:

It's All About Maintaining Proper Balance

Wed., Jun 9 - BusinessWest Gerry Devine and his wife, Denise, love to eat dinner on their patio. It sits directly behind their business, Devine Overhood Doors in Hadley, which is separated from their home by their driveway.

“I like being able to sit in the backyard of my office and home and have dinner. We are within 500 feet of Route 9, but we have mountains and a clock tower from the First Congregational Church in the background,” said Devine, as he looked across the stretch of cornfields which back up to his property.

In fact, the pastoral landscape in Hadley is one of the draws that business people and townsfolk enjoy. “We have a historic village, a vibrant commercial center, and lots of open space and farmland, so the town is very picturesque,” said Town Adminstrator David Nixon.

“Hadley is all about balance,” said Molly Keegan, president of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and a business owner in town.

Nixon agrees. “Everything in life is about balance, so we are seeking to achieve the right balance between population, open space, business, and our historic area, so there are opportunities for people to work and play here,” he said.

Town officials are proud of the fact that they have more permanently preserved open space and farmland than any other town or city in Massachusetts. “No one comes close to us, which creates a special quality of life in Hadley,” Nixon said.

Even Route 9, which is the town’s heavily traveled business corridor, is punctuated with farmland. Businesses along the busy stretch, which range from hotels and big-box stores to small, mom-and-pop operations and farmstands, enjoy the town’s single tax rate. And although they sit on a scenic route, Devine said, traffic studies show that between 40,000 and 50,000 vehicles travel Route 9 each day.

The town’s location is another bonus. “Hadley is located between the two largest population centers in Hampshire County, which are Northampton and Amherst,” said Tony Marouslis, executive director for the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. “It is uniquely positioned, as it is right off of Route 91.” The large numbers of people who visit, work, or study at UMass Amherst, Smith College, and Amherst College keep Hadley’s hotels, restaurants, and businesses busy.

“Route 9 offers a lot of opportunity for shopping, whether you want to go to the mall or to a home-improvement center. There are also many wonderful small businesses like Hadley Garden Center,” said Devine, who was a town selectman for six years.

A number of restaurants have undertaken renovations, or are looking to set up shop in Hadley. Zoe’s Fish and Chop House recently relocated to Hadley from Easthampton, and Building Inspector Tim Neyhart said several franchises, including the Olive Garden and Outback, along with other steakhouses, have inquired about available property. “There are several sites which haven’t been developed yet. Most of the restaurants are vying for the old Aqua Vitae site, situated at the intersection of Route 9 and Old Bay Road,” he said, adding there is another pad of land available for a restaurant in front of Home Depot where a grocery store is also being built.

Home-based small businesses are a mainstay in Hadley and are operated by professionals whose occupations range from creative services to marketing to computer specialists. “There is a hidden tech community in Hadley who find that its unique position and wonderfully low tax rate make it a great place to live and work,” said Maroulis. “The schools are really good, the town is welcoming toward business, and it is a wonderful place to live.”

People who want to run a home-based business can take advantage of the town’s home-occupation bylaw, which allows people to operate a small business from their home with a special permit, Neyhart said, adding that whether the business falls within the law depends of the number of employees and the amount of traffic it generates.

Individuals such as accountants or engineers don’t need a permit, however, to operate from home. “All they have to do is register with us,” Neyhart said.

The town recently entered into a long-range planning project to identify growth opportunity. Keegan said there is commercial space available along Route 9 as well as in University Park, which borders UMass Amherst.

“Pearson has doubled its space in the past few years,” she said, explaining that, from an employer’s perspective, there is an ample supply of prospective employees in the area because of UMass and other nearby colleges.

Keegan says the town is an attractive place to live because the tax rate is low, the schools are strong, property values have remained stable, and there are a significant number of recreational opportunities, including kayaking and fishing on either the Connecticut River or Mount Warner Pond, along with biking on the Nonotuck Trail.

“There is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. We are a destination for sports camps and programs at UMass, which bodes well for retail establishments and restaurants. And Sam’s Outfitters is moving to town on Route 9,” Keegan said.

Nixon calls Hadley a “great place to start, expand, or relocate a business. The town has a stable financial platform and great municipal services. We have not made any cuts in police, fire, ambulance, education, water, sewer, or snowplowing,” he said. “We have zoning in place to enhance business development, plus a willingness of the community to engage productivity with business partners.

“Not only is Hadley in good financial shape, but we have a program and plan in place to make sure it will stay that way in the future,” he continued. “The town has a AA bond credit rating through Standard and Poor’s, which speaks to our financial stability.”

This means business owners don’t have to worry about sudden fluctuations in taxes or utilities, as the town boasts its own water and sewer system.

Keegan grew up in the area and says there is a real air of cooperation between the old and the new. “Everyone is accepting here, and when you need to get something done at Town Hall, you get the sense that people are there to help you,” she said.

The beauty of the landscape and the lifestyle in Hadley play major roles in making it a desirable place to do business. “We have a diversity of landscapes and plenty of fresh and abundant local food produced by farmstands,” Nixon said. “Not only does Hadley also have its own recreation and entertainment opportunties, we are very close to Northampton, Amherst, and UMass, which all have cultural venues and exhibitions.”

Nixon said he and his wife moved to Hadley 18 years ago because they wanted to raise their family in a rural community.

“If you get off of Route 9 and go a quarter of a mile in any direction, you find some of the most beautiful farmland in Massachusetts,” Devine said.

He loves the town and has roots there, as his family has been farming in Hadley for five generations. “It’s just a great place to work and do business,” he said, “and although Route 9 is almost built out, there are still opportunities for smaller businesses here.”