Founder of Main South Business Association shifts focus to Worcester’s Pleasant Street

Photo | Courtesy of MassDevelopment Ivette Olmeda, Transformative Development Initiative senior fellow for MassDevelopment

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By Timothy Doyle

MassDevelopment has promoted Ivette Olmeda to Transformative District Initiative senior fellow and will work a three-year stint in Worcester’s Pleasant Street district.

Olmeda was the TDI fellow in Worcester’s Main South district for the past three years, ending with the neighborhood’s graduation from the program in June. During that time, she created the Main South Business Association and worked to advance economic development within the neighborhood.

Prior to joining MassDevelopment, she spent 12 years as a program manager for the Center for Women & Enterprise of Central Massachusetts in Westborough, according to a Friday press release from MassDevelopment.

“I’m very proud of the transformative impact that the Main South TDI partnership was able to achieve over the last few years and I’m looking forward to the collaborative work to come in the new Pleasant Street TDI district. One of the most important things for me is planting the seeds to empower people from the community to use their talents and skills to create equitable economic growth in Worcester," said TDI Senior Fellow Ivette Olmeda via email.

MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative aims to accelerate economic growth in targeted commercial and residential districts within Massachusetts Gateway Cities.

Districts in Fitchburg, Chicopee, Lawrence, and Fall River joined Worcester’s Main South in graduating from the program in June.

The new cohort, selected in February, is the largest yet with districts in 13 cities: Worcester, Attleboro, Barnstable (Hyannis), Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Revere, Springfield, and Taunton.

TDI fellows are MassDevelopment employees who provide on-the-ground economic development expertise and collaborative leadership in cities and help TDI partnerships utilize an arrangement of tools to catalyze development, such as technical assistance, grants to support local market development, arts and cultural infrastructure, collaborative workshops, and placemaking, according to the press release.

Artist, organizer, and entrepreneur, Joshua Croke has been appointed TDI fellow in Springfield. They are president and cofounder of Love Your Labels, Inc. of Worcester, a nonprofit advocating for LGBTQ+ youth, and founder of Action! by Design, a Worcester design studio.