Winchester's New Business Park Offers Hope

The road to opportunity is open in Winchester, or at least the road to several available building sites, at the Stone Mountain Business Park. Construction on the 63-acre park, the former site of a sand and gravel pit, began in summer 2020 and is now complete. The park has parcels ranging from one acre to more than 15 acres with utilities at the lot property lines, including municipal water and sewer, a paved road, 3-phase power and high-speed cable.

The project was developed by the Winchester Economic Development Corp (WEDC), and according to WEDC chair, Mark Tigan, the project is expected to create close to 250 jobs and spur $19 million in private investment in the region.

A $666,000 Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant was matched by a $350,000 loan to install roads, utilities and internet. The NH Community Loan Fund helped launch the project with a $19,000 loan to cover consulting costs for the federal grant application and providing a loan commitment for the infrastructure grant match.

“The Community Loan Fund has been inspired by its partnership with WEDC,” says Community Loan Fund Senior Lender Betsy Segal. “WEDC’s vision and hard work to bring a manufacturing-focused industrial park to Winchester and create quality jobs is a mission opportunity that we fully share.”

Additional funding came from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the town of Winchester, Monadnock Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant.

Tigan says New England Solar Garden is installing a solar farm adjacent to the park on the town’s landfill that will reduce tenants’ electricity cost.

Following an RFP, the contract to market the site was awarded to Coldwell Banker. “Our number one selling point is that we are on the corner of three states,” says Tigan. “As businesses grow and want to spread their eggs in different baskets, our tri-state geographic location is beneficial.”

He says they are targeting machine tooling, furniture manufacturing and food processing and are even considering an incubator subdivided for small businesses. For more information, visit winchesteredc.org.