×

New Milford Improvement Team director off to a good start

We like the way that Wendy Hunt, the new director of the Milford Improvement Team, is thinking. In our profile of her last week, we mentioned new projects she will introduce this year:

? Milford Pride Day – a town-wide cleanup and barbecue on May 3.

? A town tour with the Improvement Team joining with the Milford Heritage Commission, Historical Society and Conservation Commission.

? A vacant building tour to highlight available spaces for potential businesses.

All of these seem like good ideas and the first two will be fun, too.

But perhaps the most important of the three will be the building tour.

Milford has a handsome downtown. The Oval area would be the envy of many communities, and areas off the Oval have their own charm, but no town likes to see vacant buildings and storefronts.

Milford certainly is a great place to live, and business helps to make it so by giving us local shopping options and by helping to keep taxes down.

Of course, just pointing out vacant buildings and storefronts is not going to attract businesses to the area. They need to know what Milford has to offer and over the years, the Improvement Team has done a lot in that direction.

More can always be done and Hunt has the right attitude.

Plus, she has the expertise and, undoubtedly, the support of Tracy Hutchins, her predecessor and now the executive director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce.

We know that Hunt will call upon Hutchins and her expertise vis a vis Milford and its business community, and perhaps even for some Pumpkin Festival advice. We think they’ll work well together.

One thing to remember, though, is that the Improvement Team is not a business organization. It is, for lack of a better phrase, a Milford booster organization and it boosts on many levels. Business is just one of them.

Whatever folks in Milford can do to give MIT a boost will be welcome.