To the editor:
I'm a local business owner who enthusiastically supports the concept of a new and modern hotel proposed for downtown Gloucester.
My company, HireClix, is a digital marketing agency based in Gloucester. We are 2 years old and continue to grow.
We recently moved our office from Commercial Street and decided to stay in Gloucester on Heritage Way. I want to continue to grow our presence here and create new economy jobs in Gloucester. We also have West Coast colleagues who come to Gloucester several times per year for strategy sessions and meetings.
Unfortunately, the lack of a modern business-style hotel makes their trips here somewhat difficult for us. We find there are only business-class hotel options down the highway in Danvers or Peabody.
During their business trips, they will eat dinner or shop in or near their hotel, possibly at the Northshore Mall. If we want to have a team dinner here in town, they have the long ride ahead of them to an out-of-town business hotel.
If there were a modern hotel for them to stay in downtown Gloucester with state of the art business amenities, they would stay at this hotel and eat dinner on Main Street or on the waterfront. A modern hotel similar to the boutique-style Kimpton Hotels would blend into the environment, and provide up-to-date services and infrastructure for businesses. It would help Gloucester businesses like mine spend more dollars in Gloucester.
I'm sure many other Gloucester businesses have employees, clients or vendors that come here for meetings and then leave for their out-of-town hotel at night. Those are Gloucester business dollars that could and should be spent here in Gloucester.
We need a modern year-round hotel in downtown Gloucester.
Neil Costa
Gloucester
