March 2, 2022 - Senator Adam Hinds presented a check for $50,000 to the Hilltown Mobile Market on the porch of the Sawyer Farm Store in Worthington this afternoon. The funding comes from the Massachusetts legislature through the American Rescue Plan or ARPA.

Hinds was quoted saying that the Hilltown Mobile Market solves many of the challenges we face in the Hilltowns with one innovative project, connecting residents with limited access to food and transportation to a market that also prioritizes the economic viability of local farms.

Hilltown CDC is grateful to the Senator for his support and to all the partners that have made this project possible. Hilltown Community Health Center, the Collaborative for Educational Services, and Cooley Dickinson Health Care have all worked together with Hilltown CDC over the years to address food insecurity in our communities.

The Hilltown Mobile Market 2022 season will begin July 16th and run through November 18th. Farm shares are will be available for purchase soon as well! For more information about the market please visit www.hilltownmobilemarket.info

The Channel22 WWLP story can be found at https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-market-makes-food-more-accessible-for-community/

2021 Mobile Market Operator Monica Guzik, originally from Huntington, recently completed her master’s degree in Sustainability Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For her final coursework she prepared an analysis of the impact that the Hilltown Mobile Market has had on farms and consumers in the Hilltowns since its inception in 2019.

Click here to read the 2019-2021 Impact Report!

Hilltown Mobile Market: Fresh & Local!

We are back for our third season in 2021! Visit our website to sign up for farm shares, view our market schedule and find out more about our amazing farm producers!

The Hilltown Mobile Market is a different kind of grocery store.  We carry produce grown by the farmers you know in the Hilltown places you love. We gather fresh and affordable Hilltown-grown produce from our neighbor farms each week for our mobile market. Everyone can shop for produce from our colorful veggie van at one of our four weekly stops in Blandford, Cummington, Huntington and Worthington. Purchases with SNAP, HIP, WIC and Senior FNMP Coupons are welcomed!

Our popular Hilltown Community Farm Share is a convenient and affordable way to enjoy fresh food grown on neighbor farms. Each share contains 5 items of produce, perfect for senior and small households. You get to choose the items in your share each week.  It's easy, fun, and delicious! 

The full value of a share is $180 worth of fresh vegetables - or approximately $15 per week. We understand this amount may not fit everyone’s budget. Thanks to grant funding and donations, we are able to offer additional reduced payment options. 

• Low-Income Share: $60 ($5 per week)

• Moderate-Income Share: $120 ($10 per week)

• Fair Share: $180 ($15 per week)

• Helping Hand Share: $240 ($20 per week)

 Please choose the option that best reflects your household’s ability to pay.  For more guidance, check out our sliding scale guidelines.  If you qualify for SNAP (food stamps) the cost will be fully reimbursed by the HIP program!  If you are able to afford a little more, our Helping Hand Share covers the cost of your share plus a Low-Income Share for another family in town.

 The share pickups are weekly for 12 weeks starting July 22-October 8. You can pick up your share at any of our market locations: Blandford, Cummington, Huntington or Worthington. Shares are limited so be sure to sign up early!

Sign up for the Hilltown Community Farm Share!

Our market opens on July 22, 2021 and end on October 8, 2021. Last year, we distributed over 80 farm shares, more than half of which went to low-income families. The “veggie van” moved over $20,000 of locally grown produce from 9 participating Hilltown farms. And 39% of customers reported an increase in their weekly fresh food consumption. Learn more to support our work or get involved!

Applications are now being accepted!

Hilltown CDC, on behalf of the Town of Chesterfield and with potential funding provided through both their CDBG FY19 grant and a CARES Act grant has established a Micro-enterprise Relief Program (MRP) to help businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Program Summary

The Micro-enterprise Relief Program (MRP) is designed to assist businesses with 5 or less employees (including the owner) that have been negatively impacted due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The program will provide one-time grants for business owners who need financial assistance to support business operational costs in order to keep the business sustainable. Grant funds must be used within two months of award. Applications are now being accepted. Funding will be awarded based on a first come, first eligible, completed application basis, subject to the availability of funding. 

Grant amounts will range from a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000 to cover business losses incurred after May 10, 2020. 

Eligible Towns for CARES Act funds: Ashfield, Blandford, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Plainfield, Williamsburg and Worthington.

Examples of potential allowable grant uses:

·         Operating costs – rent, mortgage, utilities, business insurance premiums

·         Inventory, materials or supplies

·         Small equipment/tools needed due to altering product or service to be provided

·         Personal protection equipment purchases or alterations to location to allow ease of reopening due to COVID-19

·         Payment for professional services needed to pivot business including but not limited to marketing related activities or website improvements

Examples of grant uses that are not allowable (not exhaustive):

·         Payment of outstanding debt incurred prior to COVID-19

·         Vehicle purchase / lease for business use 

·         Payment of any existing Tax liens

Your business may be eligible if:

-          You have been in business as of Jan 1, 2019

-          You have 5 or fewer employees (including yourself)

-          Your place of business has temporarily closed or has reduced hours due to COVID-19

-         You live and have a business in an eligible town (listed above).

-          The business owner’s family income falls within income guidelines (if more than 1 owner, each owners family income must be below 80% AMI) See application for income limits.

You are NOT eligible if:

-          You have a not-for profit business

-          Business owner’s family income is above 80% AMI income level

-          Business owner does not live within in an eligible town

-          You have received emergency funding through another source for the purposes for which you are applying

-          Assistance is for one of the following types of businesses: real estate rentals/sales, owned by a person under age 18, businesses that are chains, liquor stores, tobacco sales, pawn shops, weapons/firearms dealers, lobbyists or cannabis related businesses, adult entertainment or social clubs.

Please be sure to save your completed application and email it, along with required documentation to:

  Bea von Hagke at beavh@hilltowncdc.org

or mail to: Hilltown CDC, PO Box 17, Chesterfield, MA 0101

List of Required Documents 

This is a list of the anticipated documents applicants will need to submit in order to be considered for financial assistance.

 -         Completed Application

-         Copy of most recent tax returns

-         Current Profit and Loss statement

These additional documents may be needed due to individual circumstances.

 -         6 months recent bank statements

-         Pay stubs for household members over the age of 18

-         Investment income documentation

-         Child support received, if applicable

 All questions should be directed to: Bea von Hagke at beavh@hilltowncdc.org

The Hilltown Arts Alliance and Hilltown Community Development invite you to come celebrate and support the Arts in the Hilltowns!

We all know that the Hilltowns possess a well-kept secret: the creativity per capita is amazing! For a population that is spread thinly over an expansive rural geography, there are a surprising number of artists and artisans that have made their homes and studios here. The mission of the Hilltown Arts Alliance is to connect and support local Hilltown artists and makers in their creative endeavors. With the support of Hilltown Community Development, our artists have benefited from business classes, new exhibit opportunities, and greater exposure through the Hilltown Open Studio Tour.

Through our creative partnership, we are expanding opportunities for working artists to develop, create, and share their incredible work in our region and beyond. We need your support to expand our collaborations and enhance our annual Hilltown Open Studio Tour, creative place-making, and cultural district formation work.

Join us for a fantastic silent art auction, live music, art trivia, and a seasonal buffet dinner and cash bar at the Velvet Restaurant in Worthington. Fall for the arts and be a vital part of growing our creative community!

Tickets may be purchased online or by mailing a check made out to Hilltown CDC to PO Box 17, Chesterfield MA, 01012 no later than October 5th, 2019. Advance tickets only - there will not be tickets available at the door. Your donation of $1,000 or more may qualify for a 50% MA State Tax Credit - learn more about the Community Investment Tax Credit program here. Thank you for supporting the arts in the Hilltowns!

The Baker-Polito Administration has announced $8 million in tax credit allocations to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and Community Service Organizations (CSOs) through the state’s Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) program. 

The CITC program provides eligible CDCs and CSOs with a tool to leverage support from stakeholders and local residents to increase fundraising efforts and expand organizational capacity. These organizations partner with nonprofit, public, and private entities to improve economic opportunities for low and moderate-income households and communities. Since 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded more than $22 million through the CITC program, and during this time, the CITC program has generated more than $34.5 million in private investments across the Commonwealth.

“Community Development Corporations undertake important work in our communities by supporting affordable housing, community development, and critical services for residents,”said Governor Charlie Baker. “We are proud to work with these organizations to ensure all Massachusetts residents have access to affordable housing and safe neighborhoods.”

“The Community Investment Tax Credit Program is a unique tool to encourage private investment,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “From instituting new lead paint programming in Central Massachusetts, to bringing on a full-time community planner in Boston’s Chinatown, our CDCs have leveraged significant funding to bring impactful programming to communities across the Commonwealth.”

Lt. Governor Polito announced the awards at an event at the Hilltown CDC in Chesterfield.  Through the CITC program, CDCs have been able to employ more staff, reach communities more effectively, and pursue new programming to the benefit of Massachusetts communities.  CDCs help families find homes, connect residents to jobs, grow small businesses, and bring communities together in rural, urban, and suburban areas.

“Hilltown CDC is grateful to host the Lieutenant Governor as she announces the state’s CITC awards to CDC’s.” Says Hilltown CDC Executive Director Dave Christopolis.  “CITC has been a successful financial and community organizing tool for our rural region. Access to capital is very limited in rural communities and this is no different in the Hilltowns of Massachusetts.  This is due to declining rural populations and decades long urbanization.   CITC provides a vehicle for people to invest in rural communities through Hilltown CDC.”  Hilltown CDC has used it’s CITC donations to expand work with local farmers and retailers, expand our senior van with a driver pool and offer marketing and organizing support to our local artists and musicians.   It has provided capital to build rural senior housing and provide technical assistance to our rural town governments.   “Rural communities are struggling to survive,” says Christopolis.   “Twenty-first century rural communities need a vision and the capacity to carry out this vision.  It requires our government and philanthropy to invest in people and to reimagine the importance of a vibrant rural economy.  CITC allows this to happen.”

“It is truly exciting to see what happens when banks, hospitals and individuals work together to make their communities a better place to live,” said Joe Kriesberg, President of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. “Today, because of their collective belief and investment in their local community development corporations, millions of Massachusetts residents, regardless of their socio-economic status in life, will see demonstrative improvements to their neighborhoods and share in the benefits of Massachusetts’ success. For those unable to participate in the CITC for this year’s tax filing, be sure to visit the MACDC website to learn about how you can get involved next year.”

The CITC program awarded the maximum $150,000 in credit allocations to the Hilltown CDC. CDCs apply for tax credits to support fundraising for the development and implementation of their community investment plan from the CITC program. Individuals, corporations, and other entities that make a qualified contribution to a CDC earn a 50 percent state tax credit. For more information on the program and how to contribute, contact Finance Director Denise LeDuc at denisel@hilltowncdc.org or call 413-296-4536 x114.

This spring we are launching our new quarterly newsletter to share some of the many things we are working on here at the Hilltown CDC. Take a peak inside to read more about planning the new Worthington Senior/Community Center, Climate Resilience planning, the new Rural Policy Advocacy Commission, and the upcoming Hilltown Open Studio Tour!

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It’s here! Watch your mailbox for the 2019 edition of the Hilltown Business Directory. It’s your go-to resource for finding what you need locally, full of at-your-fingertips information on local businesses and services throughout the Hilltowns. No wi-fi necessary, and it even works in a power outage! Produced each year since 1986, the Hilltown Business Directory now covers 23 towns and is mailed to over 15,000 households each spring. It contains a comprehensive listing of everything from contractors and snow plowing, to attorneys, surveyors, doggie day-care providers and yoga classes. Please remember to tell them you found them in the Hilltown Business Directory! Working together we can support and grow our local Hilltown economy!

You can also find local businesses using our searchable online database at www.hilltowncdc.com!