For Western Mass. country store, grant helped raise a new barn (2025)

ASHFIELD — In the Franklin County town of Ashfield, a new country store stands where an old barn was crumbling and teetering.

“We built the store with brand new (concrete) footings,” said Rachel Foley, the farm manager and apothecary assistant at Sweet Birch Herbals. The barn’s old wooden footings were rotting. “Everything was starting to sag and crack,” Foley said.

A farm dog runs up to visitors, welcoming them to the shop on Creamery Road where construction of the 500-square-foot building cost $40,000. The new structure used some wood from the old barn.

Foley said the project was helped by $10,000 from the Massachusetts Biz-M-Power grant program.

“Instead of waiting for it to collapse, we were able to rebuild it with this grant,” Foley said. “Farms rely on grants to not only sustain what they have, but improve, grow and provide more for the community.”

The state program recently awarded $780,000 in grants to boost 62 small businesses in Massachusetts. In the state’s western four counties, 21 businesses received a total of about $250,000.

That investment doubled as the businesses were required to raise matching funds.

Another business in Ashfield also received a grant. Clark Brothers Orchards is using nearly $20,000 to build a repair shop where manure used to be stored under a barn on the property.

Isaac Clark, who uses a wheelchair after an accident on the farm, will work in the space constructed to be accessible to him. He is responsible for repairing all of the equipment used to grow and harvest apples on the 260-acre farm.

“It could be really bad if I couldn’t make repairs,” he said. “Equipment breaks when we need it most, and that’s when everyone else’s stuff is breaking. Any of the repair shops we would need are always booked way out. Plus, it costs a lot more to take it somewhere.”

Ripple effect

State and federal grants typically have a broader impact than simply boosting businesses that receive the funding. The money has a ripple effect when those businesses grow and take on new employees, purchase and sell local products and hire construction workers to expand their operation.

“Any time we can help small businesses make critical improvements, that reduces financial strain and increases the chance those businesses are going to do well, stay open and support our communities,” said Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and Regional Tourism Council.

“When our small businesses are doing well, the community as a whole is doing well,” Deane said. “Grants support capital improvements that help our businesses grow and thrive, and that helps all of our residents. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.”

With a population of about 70,000 people, Franklin County is the third smallest of the commonwealth’s 14 counties. Homes and business can be far apart.

With relatively few local businesses, residents may have to travel a half hour or more to shop for what they need in other towns or cities.

Sweet Birch Herbals is trying to address that by producing and selling tinctures and medicinal products made from the flowers and herbs they grow.

“We give people access to these medicines and herbal remedies,” Foley said. “They help with things like adrenal support, allergy relief, stress and focus, digestion, energy and sleep.”

While Sweet Birch Herbals also makes its own tea, hand sanitizer and insect repellant, Foley said the store supports other local small business by purchasing and selling what they produce, such as eggs, honey, maple syrup, pickles, soaps and greeting cards.

“A lot of the community will buy our products because they’re not always available in other stores,” Foley said. “We also help with tourism. When people are coming through town, they’ll stop at this cute little apothecary. We are a destination that brings people into our communities to spend money at other places.”

Tough breaks

For as long as farmers have been working the fields, success has been at the whim of mother nature and equipment. The Clark family has been doing its own repairs for well over two centuries.

“Our family has been in Ashfield since 1775, when Silas Clark got married here,” said Aaron Clark.

Timing can be everything in farming, and when the crops are ready, they need to be picked.

“If a tractor goes down and you take it to a dealer, you might not get it back for a couple months,” Aaron Clark said. “When we’re in the middle of harvest, we’ve got highly perishable crops and the vast majority is harvested in six weeks. You can’t be without your equipment when you need it.”

Isaac Clark is beginning to do repair work in a space the commonwealth helped him build.

“The grant didn’t pay for everything, but it helped,” he said. “Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to build out the space for another five or ten years.”

The other businesses that received grants include: Fruit Fair Farm in Chicopee, Nails & More by Manny in West Springfield, and Ohana School of Performing Arts in Chicopee.