Mission

The purpose of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation is to stimulate a more vital, rural economy, to maximize community control over our future economic destiny, and to expand opportunities for low and moderate-income residents.

Guiding Principles

Community-Driven
While the potential full community we serve covers the 26 towns of Franklin County plus 4 towns in the north Quabbin area, the individual communities we serve are both location based (for example, sub-regions, towns and villages) and communities of interest (for example, new entrepreneurs, small food processors, employees and employers).

We are community-driven because we want to help residents and other stakeholders identify what they need and whether and how to use our resources and skill-sets to help them achieve it. We support economic development through community organizing methods, facilitating self-empowerment of individuals and local groups. We also apply a community-oriented focus to our own operations.

Cooperation
We believe in cooperation with all the towns across our service area and with all other public service oriented entities across our region. The CDC is an organization through which healthy things happen for the community and a vehicle for dreams, but not always the entity that carries out the support work.

We believe in collaboration and other methods to work with organizations that have similar missions to ours. We are out in the communities and can act as a lead "vision-holder" across our service area, and thus aid other organizations in the area along with the people of the region.

Sustainability
We believe that the ability of a business to sustain itself is key, but also that the effect the business has on the environment and on the community is of great importance. As the CDC nurtures a business to become more successful in its bottom line, it needs to work with that business on plans to utilize community and environmental resources in healthy and sustainable ways for the long term.

Diversity
In terms of its programs, the CDC will not discriminate against any applicant. We also believe in programs that focus on the under-served. While under-served is often defined in economic terms, it may also be defined in relation to aspects like gender, ethnicity, age and geography.

In terms of the composition of its board, committees and staff, the CDC will strive for a diversity of viewpoints that help us understand the community and people we serve. This can includes aspects of ethnicity, income level, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, geography, and skills and occupational background.

Employment Choice
We believe in creating, retaining and supporting jobs and entrepreneurial work that offer residents a choice of employment possibilities. High pay is important, but there should be options for enjoyment and self-fulfillment as well as economic gain. The concept of 'right livelihood', where people can select employment paths that meet their life needs the most, is an important one that we will strive to assist.