State awards $400,000 grant to Covington to rehabilitate former school; 49 rural projects share $10 million

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Secretary Yvonne Howe announced that the town of Covington received a $400,000 1 Stop for Growth grant from the state’s Rural Development Fund to advance construction documents and rehabilitation of the town's former school building, a local project planned to house municipal offices, a food incubator and other community uses.

The award was presented at a public ceremony in Covington attended by state officials and local representatives. The project — which local organizers described as a plan to restore the “Berkshire Trail” school building for town government space, a children’s library, preschool, co‑working and commercial rental space — will also host the Hilltown Community Development Corporation as an anchor tenant for a rehabilitated kitchen and cafeteria to support a mobile market and food‑production incubator.

The grant follows an earlier feasibility study funded by a previous 1 Stop grant. According to local remarks at the ceremony, an ad hoc group gathered community input in late 2019 and early 2020; the feasibility work completed in late 2020 showed the project was viable but that construction costs were higher than expected. The town applied for another round of 1 Stop funding in spring 2024 and received the fall 2024 award.

"Please think of us as an ally in the work that you're doing," Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said at the event, framing the awards as part of a state effort to support rural communities. Secretary Yvonne Howe, whose office manages the grants, said the program is competitive and reviewed against a scorecard. "They review every application. Multiple people review it," Howe said, congratulating the Covington recipients.

State officials said the Rural Development Fund round announced at the ceremony included 49 grant awards totaling $10,000,000 and that the awards will support projects in 51 rural communities across the Commonwealth. The administration emphasized geographic equity in funding and noted recent changes to formulas such as Chapter 90 transportation funding to better account for small towns with large infrastructure needs but small populations.

Senator Paul Mark, who represents Covington and 56 other communities in western Massachusetts, and Representative Lindsay Sabadosa praised the partnerships between towns, the Legislature and the administration. Sabadosa highlighted local contributions and the cultural assets of small towns, and Mark said the awards showed the state working across branches to support rural areas.

Local speakers recounted the project timeline: community visioning in 2019–20, help from the Hilltown Community Development Corporation and a feasibility study in 2020, a spring 2024 application and a fall 2024 award. Officials at the ceremony declined to specify a construction schedule or firm timeline for when town offices or incubator operations would open.

The ceremony functioned as both an announcement of the Covington award and a broader presentation of the Rural Development Fund recipients. Attendees included Under Secretary Ashley Stolba and Anne Gobi, among other state staff; John Way and a regional staff member identified as Kristen Lehi were also mentioned by speakers.

The town project and the statewide awards do not represent formal regulatory or legislative actions recorded at the ceremony; they are grant awards administered by the executive branch. No votes, ordinances or binding legislative approvals were made at the event.

Officials said the grants are intended to help turn local ideas into actionable projects — for example, rehabbing a former school into a multiuse community hub — and to leverage additional local and private resources. The administration and legislators urged communities to continue applying for state programs and to collaborate with regional partners and community development corporations.

Copies of application criteria and the list of awardees were referenced at the event but not printed in full at the ceremony. Specific next steps for the Covington project — such as procurement schedules, construction bidding, and accessibility upgrades — were not specified during the remarks.