DOING BUSINESS IN HOLYOKE

Holyoke: "Green Business Grows Here"

The Office of Planning and Development has developed a promotional Video/DVD to market the City of Holyoke to potential businesses, industry, realtors, and developers. The Video/DVD, titled, Holyoke: "Green Business Grows Here", touches on the cities historic past as the "Queen of Industrial Cities", while at the same time making the case that Holyoke, MA is the ideal place for any kind of modern business.

To access the video click on the following link: www.hged.com/video or contact The Office of Planning and Development at 413-322-5655.

Regionally Competitive, Locally Strategic

Holyoke sits at a major interstate interchange.  At the Crossroads of New England, Interstate 90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) and Interstate 91 (I-91) quickly connect Holyoke to metropolitan hubs like Boston (1.5 hours), New York City (3 hours), Montreal (5 hours) and to New England's second largest airport, Bradley International Airport (30 minutes).

The City also enjoys its location at the center of the Knowledge Corridor, an academic research district extending along I-91 from Hartford to Greenfield.  A collection of 32 colleges and universities encourage a talented and qualified workforce for prospective employers in the Pioneer Valley and further the region's reputation for high quality of life standards.

As a Gateway City, Holyoke has the ability to serve the business community.  In addition to convenient access to interstate highways and academic institutions, the City offers existing infrastructure, affordable housing costs, a growing workforce, available rail connections, and an active and aware regional perspective to encourage economic development.  Whatever your interest, Holyoke has a lot to offer.

Holyoke stands out in its competitive region as a center for job growth, business development incentives and, above all promise.  In addition to many state and federal programs, the City's unique tax and assistance services add further incentive to invest. 

Finally, Holyoke is ahead of the curve when it comes to "Green Energy".  The City was built on water power and continues to use this incredible asset through the municipally run dam.  Two-thirds of the electricity produced by Holyoke Gas & Electric is derived from non-greenhouse gas producing, renewable hydroelectric generation resources.  With a growing consumer interest in sustainable production practices, Holyoke's hydroelectric production capacity is more than just an environmental decision - it makes business sense.

From the Knowledge Corridor: Industry's Best Educated Workforce

Education thrives in the Pioneer Valley.  There are 14 colleges and universities convenient to the city, which cooperate to provide skilled graduates to the area.  Holyoke is at the center of New England's Knowledge Corridor, which extends from the Vermont border to just below Hartford.  Locally employers have available the Dean Technical High School that partners with businesses to supply both skilled workers and customized training programs. 

Area Colleges and Universities:

1.    Amherst College
2.    American International College
3.    Bay Path College
4.    Elms College
5.    Hampshire College
6.    Holyoke Community College
7.    Mount Holyoke College
8.    Smith College
9.    Springfield College
10.    Springfield Technical Community College
11.    University of Massachusetts
12.    Western New England College
13.    Westfield State College
14.    Williams College

Superb Transportation and Shipping Access

As a business location, Holyoke is highly accessible through a network of highways, railways, and airports.  Interstate 91 connects the city directly north and south with Vermont, Canada, Hartford, New Haven, and New York City.  The Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) provides convenient access east and west to both Boston and Albany. 

Bus and rail service includes Peter Pan Bus Lines, the country's second largest bus company and the city is serviced by Boston & Maine Railroad for north and sound-bound traffic and locally by the Pioneer Valley railroad. 

Bradley International is one of the fastest-growing airports in the United States, serving 20 domestic and international carriers plus FedEx and UPS.  In addition Westover Metropolitan Airport in Chicopee and Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield  

Getting Connected

The City of Holyoke offers businesses telecommunications services that you wouldn't expect to find outside of a major metropolitan area.  Under the trade name HGE.net, the City of Holyoke Gas & Electric Department (HG&E) has constructed an advanced fiber optic network in Holyoke, Chicopee and in Downtown Springfield at the Towersquare and Monarch Place office towers.

HGE.net currently connects several hundred business customers to this network, delivering internet content to well over 10,000 computers each day. The redundant design of our network has resulted in a fiber backbone that has not had a single interruption since its installation.

Our multi-site networking services can establish secure high-speed connections between multiple customer sites. For sites located on the fiber network (Holyoke, Chicopee, and Downtown Springfield) we can offer links at speeds up to 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) utilizing a Metro Ethernet protocol.  Our 1 Gbps connection is nearly 650 times faster than the T1 copper lines that businesses have traditionally used to link multiple sites together. Outside of the fiber network footprint, we can utilize leased T1 (1.54 Megabits per second) or fractional T1 copper lines to link branch offices anywhere in the 413 area code.

To learn more about how a fiber optic internet connection can empower your business contact the Telecommunications Sales Department at (413) 536-9444.

Holyoke Utilities

Electricity is vital to the operation of your business, and HG&E offers your company an extremely reliable source of electricity at some of the lowest rates in New England. In addition, ownership of the Holyoke Dam and Canal System allows HG&E to offer your company an electric generation services product that is over 50% powered by hydroelectric sources. In addition to being environmentally-friendly, an electric connection from HG&E is also extremely reliable, with our average customer experiencing less than one outage every two years and an average time to service restoration of less than 90 minutes.

HG&E also offers some of the lowest natural gas rates in the region, backed by a gas distribution system that has been constructed with several layers of redundancy. These reliability features include multiple interconnection agreements with neighboring gas systems and a state-of-the-art LNG vaporization system with the capacity to provide the City (and your business) with uninterrupted gas service even in the event of an intermittent pipeline supply failure.

In addition, HG&E offers a district steam system in the Downtown area that essentially eliminates the infrastructure costs and permitting hassles that are common with the development of a new boiler facility. Designed with fuel efficiency in mind, this centralized boiler system employs cutting-edge technology including flu gas re-circulation, low NOx burners, and smokestack heat exchangers. Efficient fuel consumption means lower rates for our customers, while respecting the environment.

To learn more about how your business can benefit by relocating to Holyoke, contact HG&E at (413) 536-9319.

Available Properties

Click on the following links to access a listing of known industrial properties, commercial properties, and office space in the City of Holyoke that are available for sale and/or lease:

2010_Industrial_Inventory.pdf

2010_Commercial_Inventory.pdf

2010_Office_Space_Inventory.pdf

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