Hilltown Community Development Corporation has been listening to your thoughts and created new business development initiatives. The pandemic hit us all profoundly in ways that we could not expect. We are thinking about the future of business in the Hilltowns and how we can best support our unique village centers and foster a thriving but responsible business economy.

We have been taking a hard look at both the print and online Hilltown Business Directory and conducted a survey that 170 of you answered. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration! Based on that survey we have made the following decisions:

· We will promote the Hilltowns as a cohesive and wonderful place to live, work and play with a series of brochures distributed throughout the Hilltowns, the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley as relevant to the topic.

· For 2022 into 2023 these brochures will include: Fall Daytrips, Home & Auto; Health & Wellness, Business Services and Summer Daytrips.

· We have simplified both the look and categorization of the online directory and make it easier to find and highlight your business. We will increase our search engine optimization, social media marketing and Google Adwords outreach so more people find us online.

· We will create content features about local businesses and daytrip suggestions that are featured both online and in the brochures.

· We will cease printing the full directory due to the rising cost of paper and our concerns about sustainability. Additionally, the survey revealed that business owners have not found it that effective.

We have revised the website and will distribute the Fall Daytrips brochure mid August - October to take advantage of our most scenic, and well-traveled time of year. Please click here to see a mockup of the brochure that includes ad possibilities. The rate for 2022 will be $100 for an online listing that includes 35 words of copy, a photo carousel and inclusion in one of our brochures. Joan Griswold at the CDC (joang@hilltowncdc.org) is available to answer any questions you may have and take your ad insertions or you can place your ads through our web interface here. It's super simpler and should take less than 10 minutes. As always we welcome your thoughts and comments.

Sincerely,

Dave Christopolis

Executive Director

Letter to Hilltown Business Owners