GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The City of Greenfield is heading into the Final Four of the 2025 Strongest Towns contest this week. Greenfield was one of 40 communities across the nation to be selected and was nominated by Greenfield resident Andrew Varnon for its work to become a more resilient community. Voting in the Final Four round begins today and will conclude on Thursday, April 3rd at noon.
From the City of Greenfield:
Greenfield Advances to Final Four of Strongest Town Contest
GREENFIELD – As college basketball teams continue to square off in the NCAA March Madness Tournament, the City of Greenfield is now progressing to the Final Four of the 2025 Strongest Town Contest. In this bracket-style voting tournament, Greenfield is competing for the “Strongest Town” title by shining a national spotlight on the work it’s doing to become a stronger, more resilient community. Greenfield was selected among approximately 40 community nominees across North America.
Final four voting will commence on Monday, March 31. Voting for that week will conclude on Thursday, April 3 at noon. The City of Greenfield will be facing off against Harrisonburg, Virginia in this voting round.
Residents and stakeholders can cast their ballots at – https://www.strongesttown.com/
After writing an op-ed in The Greenfield Recorder called “We Live in Such a Place,” Greenfield resident Andrew Varnon was encouraged to nominate the city to the Strongest Towns contest. He contacted the city and received assistance from Director of Community and Economic Development Amy Cahillane and Community Development Administrator Anna Oltman in composing a nomination for Greenfield.
The City of Greenfield advanced past Manchester, New Hampshire in the Sweet Sixteen and Silverton, Oregon in the Elite Eight.
“We are honored to advance in this year’s Strongest Town contest,” said Mayor Virginia “Ginny” Desorgher. “Greenfield is a community that I and so many others are proud to call our home.”
“Greenfield embodies the Strongest Town not because we have everything figured out, but because we have a community who is trying to do the hard work of embracing positive change while honoring Greenfield’s history,” said Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane. “We are balancing a multitude of needs and desires around a shared hope to preserve our unique, rural character while welcoming the new residents, improved infrastructure and increased housing that our city needs in order to remain vibrant and resilient into the future. It’s work that is slow moving, complicated and often messy, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to talk about – and celebrate – that work while it’s actually underway.”
“Being a Strongest Town nominee is a testament to Greenfield’s strengths and our continued work to growing our community,” said Greenfield Business Association Director Hannah Rechtschaffen.
“There’s something in this city’s bones: above the din of the tap and die machines, on a volcanic basalt ridge, there sits a tower, and they named it for a poet who wrote sonnets for his late wife,” said Andrew Varnon. “It’s a gritty city, but it has a poet’s heart.”
Interested in learning about why Greenfield was nominated? Click the link for an informational PDF
The 2025 Strong Town Contest includes the following cities:
· Almeda, California
· Albuquerque, New Mexico
· Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
· Bellingham, Washington
· Bend, Oregon
· Calgary, Alberta
· Decorah, Iowa
· Elizabethtown, Kentucky
· Greenfield, Massachusetts
· Harrisonburg, Virginia
· Manchester, New Hampshire
· Marion, Ohio
· Richfield, Minesota
· Sacramento, California
· Silverton, Oregon
· Warrenville, Illinois