Alex Krogh-Grabbe addresses Amherst Select Board
The Amherst Business Improvement District announced rather suddenly this morning by way of unscheduled email that rookie Director Alex Krogh-Grabbe will step down as Director on July 1st, start of the new fiscal year.
Krogh-Grabbe was hired last year to lead the fledgling BID which, like the Director, is still in its start-up year.
The Amherst Select Board gave final approval for the BID in October of 2011 after business icons Barry Roberts and Jerry Jolly spent two years laying the groundwork for formation of the district.
Northampton created a BID in 2009.
According to Executive Committee Chair Barry Roberts the decision of the Executive Board was unanimous and mutually agreeable to the current director, as the BID "needed somebody with different management skills."
According to Krogh-Grabbe, "I'm proud of everything we've done at the BID in the past year, and I look forward to seeing the BID do many more exciting things in the years to come!"
The Executive Board will meet this Thursday and the full board on Friday to discuss the immediate future of the position.
33 comments:
Perhaps it's that he looks like a beatnik? Love the sandals.
Even though Alex wears a skirt when he dances (yes, he does), I was encouraged to see some young blood in the hallowed halls of Town Hall.
Out with the new, in with old!
who on earth cares if Alex wears a skirt when he dances? lots of guys do...
what's the backstory to this? DID HE 'step down' or was he fired?
Good luck. Treat students like shite long enough and they stop spending money downtown...
The BID came to the AACoC when I was there and asked all of us if we wanted to run it. I said no. The climate for business in Amherst is absolutely horrible. Amherst is anti-business! There's no way in hell I would want that job, no matter how much they paid me
Tony and the Chamber of Commerce have made great strides. I wonder why they couldn't have partnered with the BID or did they?
Alex was the only one to host a successful block party.
I don't know why he is no longer in charge, but I do know that Alex is a young man of fine character. Best of luck to him!
Adam Siegel
"The BID came to the AACoC when I was there and asked all of us if we wanted to run it. I said no.'
I'm sorry but that's completely false.
I am sorry to hear this news. He seemed to have a lot of fresh ideas. His future is bright!
How did they announce it suddenly? They just announced it. Like any other announcement. What are they supposed to do, leave a series of mysterious hints first? You are always exaggerating things.
Alex is definitely a competent and engaged young man. I wish him all the luck in the world. That block party was one of the best new things that happened in town in several years.
Sad to see. Maybe they wanted to buy another useless trolley bus and he said how stupid the idea was.
It was obvious from the start (and I posted as much on this very blog), that Alex did not have sufficient experience for the job of Amherst BID director. He was straight out of grad school with not a second of real world work experience. Amherst BID Director is not an entry-level job.
I am glad that the Town finally realized this and came to its senses about this silly patronage hire. And, yes, he was fired.
All the best to Alex. He never should have been hired in the first place.
Boy you people sure make stupid comments in your little make believe world. If you knew the players like Roberts and Jolly, you would know this little boy got canned. These guys are old school, this job is nothing but a figure head for Amherst's version of the five families. Your looking at guys who have run profitable ventures all their lives, you honestly think they would let someone else tell them how to run BID. God, they started it. Get out of your little "Touchy-Feely" world and wake up to the reality. It's either their way or the highway!
Walter,
You seem to be the perpetual doom and gloom voice of negativity. Nobody is going to change your narrow mind on anything, but for anyone else reading this blog, the trolley's are not useless. They were bought at a very low cost and are an excellent resource for promoting the downtown. They are the same type of trolley that is successfully used in other towns and cities, as they are attention-getting in contrast to buses.
Is it possible to contract the trolleys for a private event? If so, I think it could be a really useful tool to bring together town services with privately-organized events.
"They were bought at a very low cost and are an excellent resource for promoting the downtown. "
Sure they were purchased at a low cost. So many towns and cities tried this gimmick only to see it do nothing and now these buses are cheap to buy now. Salt Lake City is a perfect example even though comparing Salt Lake City and Amherst is a stretch.
These buses promote downtown as much as a lawn sign. It will make a nice addition to the Amherst parade. The Amherst float is you were. And considering how little Amherst does to even keep a prosperous downtown and invite growth, this bus will be sitting in Ernie's lot permanently before you know it. But then again, they hired a kid with no experience to promote the town so it shows how well-thought-out any plan they might have for 'downtown' is going to turn out. And as Alex said, such shuttles are not common in western Massachusetts, but some coastal and tourist towns use them. He's right. They are not common for a reason.
I know "doom and gloom". Sorry I have a lot of positive things to say but if you think a bus is going to save business in Amherst or even improve it, your looking at things completely backwards.
That's a good idea 9:34. There's also always sports tournaments going on at the University during summer, maybe a loop during those times. Also camps at the colleges, and conferences too.
I wonder if the town would consider renting the trolley to a private company who would like to do historical tours from the common at times when it gets filled with out of towners.
Could local advertising inside the trolleys offset some of the expense?
Well, I disagree and I own one of the businesses downtown and I am all for the trollies. They can bring students downtown, bring people on the campuses for conferences and conventions downtown, shuttle people from off-site over-flow parking for large town common events, and I am sure that more uses will appear as they get integrated into the downtown.
They need to hire someone like me -- and no, I am not available. But they need to hire someone who understands the angst (and anger) of UMass students, and who will (perish the thought) advocate for them.
Your downtown will only thrive when there are things there for UMass students to do -- and which they want to do, and which meet their social needs. Of course Amherst will have to realize that the 1970's are over, and I doubt it ever will, but I digress....
Ed,
You must be kidding. Have you ever been to Antonio's, Miss Saigon, Bart's, Amherst Coffee, Crazy Noodles, or Go Berry, Bueno y Sano, to name but a few? Amherst gets lots and lots of students.
Is this Dr. Ed guy for real? He sounds like a crank just trying to stir things up and have people reply to his posts, which I did.
There is obviously plenty for UMass students to do in downtown Amherst and UMass students take full advantage of the town's restaurants, bars, movie theater, bookstores, parks, coffee shops, etc.
The trolley seemed ill-fated from the start. Why do we need a trolley when we have a perfectly suitable bus system that serves downtown and the campuses, when parking is plentiful and relatively cheap and when downtown is within walking distance of two of the five local college campuses?
Trolleys work best in cities that have these traits:
1. Big tourist or convention destinations
2. A downtown that is difficult to get to, navigate around, or park in.
Amherst obviously does not meet either of these criteria. And paying 50 cents to park across the street from your downtown destination does not count as difficult.
Don't give him a thought. Ed is always spouting off and has predicted the closing of UMass and the collapse of Amherst a dozen times over. His prognostications are a counter-barometer to reality.
"a counter-barometer to reality."
I thought once they give you an OCPD diagnosis your supposed to stop trying to define everyone's reality.
Christ, shot me the hell down.
OCPD? ROTF,L.......
r
Is this Sweeps Week or something?
When a woman with influence in this town makes a hire and then corrects the action through a firing, she is accused of not knowing what she's doing, made a "major mistake"; when several men in this town with much more power and influence do the same, they are "old school".
Your (sic) looking at guys who have run profitable ventures all their lives...
...and they still haven't gotten the successful hire thing down.
School is not out yet. Get back to work.
Personal day.
Lucky me.
"Dr. Ed said...
They need to hire someone like me -- and no, I am not available. "
What a pity, Ed, I'm sure they were looking for someone delusional as the next BID Director. Thanks anyways for the hubris.
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