GREENFIELD — In her new role as coordinator of the Greenfield Business Association (GBA), Hannah Rechtschaffen hopes to serve as a “beacon” for business owners navigating a post-pandemic environment.

Rechtschaffen, a Greenfield resident who grew up in Northampton, comes to the association with a background in business development and creative placemaking. She earned a master’s degree in arts administration and most recently served as director of placemaking at W.D. Cowls Inc. in North Amherst. Creative placemaking is described as the use of arts and culture to shape a place in a way that spurs economic development, promotes social change and improves the physical environment.

“I wanted to — and nurtured a desire to — come home and work in my home community, or in Franklin County,” said Rechtschaffen, who is taking on the position previously held by Rachel Roberts. Rechtschaffen moved to Greenfield in 2018 after about 17 years away. “Everybody has a slightly different idea of what should be happening here.”

Speaking about how she plans to work with the city as it moves forward with its own plans for revitalizing the downtown, Rechtschaffen said she is “a big communicator” and a “big proponent of leveraging resources.”

“I think resources span far more than financial resources; there are resources of time and knowledge and people and creativity,” she said. “I see, in the city, really awesome efforts and focus and institutional knowledge.”

In her work at the GBA, Rechtschaffen said she strives to consider the past and weave that into a vision for the future.

“Change and development are things you can’t avoid,” she said. “But you can be inclusive in those processes and bring people with you, whether those people are new to the place or they’ve been here for generations.”

And Greenfield, she said, is in what she considers to be a “sweet spot” of “creativity, affordability and room to grow.”

“Those are not always easy to find,” she said.

In addition to working with the city, Rechtschaffen said she plans to maintain a connection with other leaders in the business community, including Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessye Deane. She also hopes to help grow membership at the GBA from its current 80 members, and — acknowledging the perception that the GBA is “very downtown-focused” — broaden its reach to make businesses citywide feel more included and supported.

“I think Greenfield is in a real moment where there is a lot of fresh energy, a lot of desire by the community to invest in the community,” she said. “COVID left a lot of people with a sort of renewed sense of what it meant to shop locally, to live locally, to support locally. That’s a major goal I have for the GBA, to be a driver of that.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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