While it is important to control the rate of budget growth and identify all efficiencies, we can’t be the community we want to be unless we work to expand our commercial tax base as well. The Historic Mill District presents great opportunities, but that should not be our singular focus. We must also attract new commercial/industrial businesses and aggressively work to keep those we have with more business friendly initiatives. Marketing our town to take advantage of industrial spaces along I-93 and I-495 will increase tax revenue while also maintaining the services, character, green space, and sense of community which exemplify Andover. Larger corporate businesses provide the biggest revenue and we need more of them to chose Andover or expand here as Schneider Electric and Pfizer have recently done. Proactively bringing in new business should be a focus of the BOS and Town Manager. Andover must have a plan and a strategy for marketing itself. We can’t wait for businesses to come to us — we need to sell our town to them!
Laura Gregory for Andover Select Board 