Letter to the Editor: Council needs to bring in year-round business

It seems that this year’s PGI fireworks convention will not be held in Newton after all, resulting in local businesses losing out on around 3 million dollars of revenue. That’s unfortunate for all involved.

But why is the city council so bent on bringing these one-time events to Newton instead of focusing on actually bringing in some industries and retail businesses that would hire more than 10 people? Newton is not some tourist town on a lake or mountain or the coast that relies on seasonal tourism to survive. One week of fireworks and a couple of race weekends, while great for businesses for those few days or week, cannot sustain Newton businesses all year long. That’s like expecting a business to make all their year’s sales the week of Black Friday.

So let’s not give up on these special events as long as residents’ concerns are taken into consideration, but also start making plans that will promote new lucrative industry and retail in Newton the other 48 weeks of the year. Let’s give folks a reason to live in Newton and boost our population that has remained the same for as long as I can remember.

John Moore

Newton