Downtown, new restaurants and art galleries are opening, and the old theater marquee is restored. And it always seems to be a dot-com industry. Such is the cultural transformation of a small town turned high-tech haven in the rural northwest corner of Massachusetts. But for years, the mood on Main Street was anything but upbeat. When Mayor John Barrett began his first term 15 years ago, the unemployment rate was around 14 percent and businesses were leaving the area.
Residents remember much better days.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Sprague Electric employed 4,000 people and its young engineers were the techies of 50 years ago. I didn't have a clue. But I knew that there was something on the horizon. I knew something was there. One was the area's very first high-tech success.