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Launch 2.0 program seeks to boost Main Street businesses

The Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust is kicking off a new program—“Launch 2.0”—to assist current business owners in developing expansion plans and for potential new entrepreneurs to vet new business plans for the purpose of locating on Gloucester’s Main Street.

The Main Street Trust will partner with the Retail Alliance to offer a Retail Operations Certificate Class beginning this month.

According  to Jenny  Crittenden, executive director of the MSPT, Launch 2.0 is built on the 2015 Community Business Launch, which awarded the MSPT $100,000 in state grant money to help spur new business development in the downtown area.

Crittenden said Gloucester’s program was very successful and four new businesses opened as a result of it. She said one of the requirements of the initial program was to report statistics on those businesses such as job creation/loss and investment numbers. The MSPT provided further support by offering free consu...

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