Milford’s new economic development director proposes full‑time specialist to sustain growth

Robert Towns, appointed last July as Milford’s economic and community development director, outlined a strategy on April 20 to keep the city competitive by investing in staff capacity and place‑based initiatives.

Towns proposed upgrading a part‑time clerk aide to a full‑time economic development specialist who would handle business recruitment and retention, maintain property databases, coordinate outreach and support grant tracking. "In order for Milford to not just survive this inflection point and to thrive past it, we need to make investments in economic and community development," he told the board.

He highlighted local indicators the office will track: the city recorded 688 new business starts this past fiscal year (tracking roughly 730 annually over recent years) and housing permits ticked up to about 129. Towns noted the city administers a roughly $550,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from HUD that limits salary costs to 20% by rule, constraining how the CDBG coordinator’s time can be used.

Why it matters: Towns framed the staffing change as a modest investment to increase capacity for business outreach, developer coordination and statutory compliance on affordable housing goals. He also emphasized collaboration with permitting and land‑use staff and proposed weekly coordination meetings.

Ending: Aldermen expressed support and asked to track affordable housing reporting responsibilities; Towns said he would meet individually with board members to refine priorities.