🔒Webster’s growing downtown led by influx of restaurants

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, downtown Webster had 19 vacant storefronts, a number already falling before the health and economic crisis hit. Now, those vacancies are down to six. 

Aided by the town’s rising popularity as a place to live and the local government’s incentive programs, in the past year alone, five new businesses have opened in downtown Webster, with two more scheduled to open in August, Town Administrator Doug Willardson said.

Most of the new Main Street establishments are restaurants, including Monte Bianco, an Italian restaurant which moved from Thompson, and Southern-inspired Stave & Still across the street. A CBD farmstand and a convenience store are among the new stores balancing out the restaurant-laden downtown.

“The pandemic in a way helped because it got people looking for different alternatives for employment,” Willardson said. “A lot of people started moving to downtown Webster.”

In the months following the pandemic coming to Central Massachusetts, unemployment rates hit the highest levels ever recorded, with Greater Worcester reaching 14.7% in April 2020. The hospitality industry was among the hardest hit, but it has seen a steep recovery of jobs in the past few months, including 3,000 jobs added in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This has led to food entrepreneurs finding Webster as a viable place to start new eateries, Willardson said.

This was certainly the case for Mike Chiler, who owns Mike’s Crunchies & Munchies on Webster’s Main Street with his wife, Patti Chiler. After losing his job and struggling to find many reemployment options during the pandemic, Chiler decided to open up his own shop.

“It was time to do something for myself,” said Chiller.

The seafood-and-chicken wing restaurant first opened as a food truck in September 2020 and transferred to 32 Main St. in May. The restaurant is now expanding with a remodel of the second floor dining area to increase capacity for events and beer nights, after receiving its liquor license in April.

“Webster is becoming a food mecca, and it’s a growing population,” said Chiler, a 12-year Webster resident.

Government funding

A big part of Webster’s Main Street resilience through the pandemic came from grants and loans.

Restaurants in the town received a total of nearly $2.2 million in grants from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund, placing it among the 10 most highly funded municipalities in Central Massachusetts from the U.S. Small Business Administration program.

Chiler’s transition to an in-store location was aided by a $10,000 vacant storefront grant, part of a state initiative established in 2018 to encourage downtown development in Gateway Cities. The state also awarded a vacant storefront grant to Wine Studio 51, a self-serve wine bar and brick-oven pizzeria, set to open in Webster this year.

In April, the town received $40,000 as part of Massachusetts’ Regional Pilot Project Grant Program to create a micro-grant program for local entrepreneurs.

An upward arc

Historically, Webster has weathered a number of challenges, including industrial plant closures and a 2018 tornado wreaking havoc on the town’s infrastructure. In the last decade, however, its population has increased by 41%, with nearly 17,000 current residents, according to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data. 

“People have an idea about Webster, and they don’t think it can make it, so I’m glad we’ve opened our business here so we can prove that idea wrong,” said Jessica-Lee Sabine, who opened the Rose Room Cafe in 2018 and grew up in the neighboring Dudley.

Collaborative efforts from town officials are pushing for a more walkable, family-friendly center to draw residents and outside visitors, said Willardson. The town pushed forward investments in infrastructure this year, repaving roads downtown and installing new pedestrian lighting.

New parks and green space are blossoming around town. A dog park was finalized this year on Main Street and a second section of the French River Greenway and riverwalk was completed this summer.

Sabine, a mother herself, said she hopes the revitalization, as well as Webster’s convenient off-the-highway location, will draw young couples and families who may be pushed out of Worcester’s competitive housing market.

She envisions Webster growing further beyond food. As secretary of the Webster-Dudley Business Alliance, she is pushing for a Sturbridge-esque farmer’s market to draw people off I-395 and into town.

“I would love if some of the storefronts downtown become shops as well as restaurants to keep people in the downtown area for longer,” she said.