The Town of Needham Council of Economic Advisors opened its first meeting of 2025 and focused on clarifying the committee’s mission, expanding membership to include more downtown retailers and restaurateurs, and organizing listening sessions and targeted outreach to businesses.

Committee chair Amy, speaking at the start of the meeting, said, “This is the first meeting of the Council of Economic Advisors in 2025, and we are conducting this meeting in a hybrid fashion.” The group reviewed its charter text from 2005 and debated whether the council should remain strictly advisory or take on more active projects such as grant-seeking, event planning and marketing to recruit businesses.

Why it matters: Members argued that a clearer mission and more representative membership would make the council’s recommendations more useful to town officials and business owners. Several members described the current local retail environment as fragile — small storefronts and restaurants depend on foot traffic, and downtown construction or vacancies can materially affect their viability.

Discussion highlights

- Foot traffic and downtown vitality: Longtime member Rick said the core challenge for Needham Center and Great Plain Avenue is foot traffic. “Our storefronts . . . need foot traffic,” he said, and argued that residential density near downtown helps sustain retailers and restaurants. Rick and other members recalled past efforts such as sidewalk plows and door-to-door canvassing that produced concrete fixes for local businesses.

- Membership and representation: Members debated whether to assign specific seats (for example, a downtown retailer, an Avery Square restaurateur, or a property owner) versus recruiting broadly qualified volunteers. Some cautioned that narrowly defined seats can make recruiting difficult; others said guaranteed seats would ensure consistent representation of small retailers and restaurants.

- Outreach methods: The committee discussed multiple outreach models. Members recommended low-barrier options such as door-to-door canvassing of downtown businesses, short quarterly business forums, and a “getting started in Needham” checklist or small-business map to help new businesses navigate permitting and town processes. Several members urged that outreach be purposeful — focused on near-term concerns such as construction impacts from the downtown redesign and the 100 West building work in Avery Square.

- Special areas of focus: Mike and others raised the need to re-engage with Needham Crossing (the park/industrial area), where post-pandemic vacancies and zoning constraints (for example, restrictions on certain medical uses) are affecting leasing and economic activity. Members suggested subcommittees or working groups to allow focused, shorter-term work on multiple areas (downtown, Avery Square, Needham Crossing) without overburdening the full advisory group.

Decisions and next steps

Committee members agreed to form a small working group to draft a concise vision and mission statement and recommended targeted outreach to recruit retail and restaurant members. Chair Amy said she would handle interviews for prospective members in her capacity with the select board and asked current members to suggest recruits. The council also agreed to schedule additional business forums and pursue door-to-door canvassing in Needham Center and Avery Square to collect direct input from merchants.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to accept minutes: Approved by roll call. Recorded yes votes in the meeting included Dan; Bill; Mike; Jeremy; and Amy. (Mover not specified in transcript; Dan was recorded as second.)

- Motion to adjourn: Approved by roll call at the end of the meeting. (Motion and mover/second not specified in the transcript.)

Ending

The committee asked staff (JP) and co-chairs (Amy and Liz) to circulate a draft vision and to recruit volunteers for a working group; they said the group would also seek participation from outside experts (for example, a commercial broker) to inform outreach and marketing ideas. The council scheduled follow-up work outside the regular meeting to prepare agenda items for the next session, including a plan for business forums and a proposed approach to membership recruitment.