City2City Pioneer Valley to Visit Local Collaborations on Oct. 30

SPRINGFIELD — The City2City initiative, formed in 2010 as a way to identify best practices in metro areas that can be applied to the Springfield metro region, will host a one-day trip around the Pioneer Valley on Monday, Oct. 30 to highlight new or ongoing collaborations.

Organizers will fill a Peter Pan coach, and stops include the Basketball Hall of Fame, where a major renovation is planned; the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club, which has opened the Connecticut River to rowing and recreation; the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke; the Ludlow Mills project and renovation of Mill 10 into a residential community; and Union Station in Springfield.

As part of the program, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts will host TED-style talks on a number of collaborative local initiatives, including the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley, the Springfield Innovation District, Leadership Pioneer Valley, Valley Venture Mentors, and Partners for a Healthier Community/the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.

The full program can be accessed online by clicking here.

There is limited seating on the trip, but space is currently available, and the cost is $75 to cover meals. Peter Pan Bus Lines has donated a coach to transport participants on the trip, being dubbed “One Day, One Region, One Experience,” as travelers will see and hear about successful collaborations up close.

City2City was created to connect leadership from the Pioneer Valley with other metro areas adopting successful strategies in a number of areas, originally with the assistance of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Previous learning trips have been taken to Winston-Salem and Greensboro, N.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; New Haven, Conn.; Bethlehem and Allentown, Pa.; and Chattanooga, Tenn.

The trip to the Pioneer Valley was designed to take stock of current collaborations in economic development, technology, health and wellness, tourism, and innovation. The initiative is being hosted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and is co-chaired by Shayvonne Plummer of the Economic Development Office of the City of Springfield and Paul Robbins, principal of Paul Robbins Associates Strategic Communications.