The Concord Economic Vitality Committee presented its plan to help sustain and expand local businesses and capture more tourism on Tuesday, recommending a mix of marketing, regulatory changes and collaborative forums. "Our core areas of organizing for action are communication marketing, recruiting and retention, policy and regulations," committee chair Mike Lawson told the Finance Committee.

Lawson announced a new business web portal on the town website and said the committee will host quarterly business roundtables beginning in 2025 to bring together planning staff, the business partnership, the Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders. "We've developed a questionnaire that will be going out shortly to gather detailed information about local businesses to try to better understand what their needs are," he said.

On regulatory changes, Lawson said the committee will propose eliminating minimum parking requirements in business districts and pursue a zoning amendment to allow secondary retail uses in some industrial zones (for example allowing a brewery to sell merchandise or a small manufacturer to offer direct sales). "Those regulations do not generate parking spots. All they do is cause businesses to spend money to go get waivers for the parking they can't provide," Lawson said.

The committee also raised sewer improvement fees as a growth impediment and said it will lobby the select board and the MCI advisory board about fee structure. Lawson noted Concord's fiscal constraints: commercial property contributes roughly 10% of the property levy and indirect tax revenue from commercial activity is modest, so economic development is necessary but unlikely to fully offset property-tax pressures.

Committee members asked about potential reuse of the Peabody School and about strategies to capture visitors from Walden Pond and the National Park. Lawson said Peabody's reuse has been discussed but is not a current committee focus and suggested improved in-town transportation for visitors (trolley or shuttle options) combined with tourism marketing led by the town's tourism officer.

The Finance Committee thanked Lawson and discussed ways the finance committee could provide data to support the Economic Vitality Committee's work.