 When people think about the work of a legislator, they often think of us sitting at the state house, writing legislation, sitting in public hearings, debating and negotiating with our colleagues. But a big part of the work of a state legislator in modern times is working with communities and businesses to help improve our communities and economic development in the regions that we represent. In the case of Greenfield where we're standing right now, we can see a lot of progress over the last 20 years or so. And right behind me is the new transportation center, the regional transportation center, which is largely funded with federal dollars but also some state dollars, and was a major project initiated to improve public transportation here in the region, but also to help with the revitalization and rejuvenation of downtown Greenfield. And this project is, you know, many millions of dollars, but they're also smaller projects. Right up the street, just about five doors up, is the old bank building. People around here call it the Regeri Bank Building. I think it was actually the first national bank. I got an earmark for about $800,000 to help renovate that building and restore it to its original glory, but putting in new kinds of economic development opportunities in there. And the local community development corporation has been working on that for a number of years. And then just around the corner, just down about five more buildings down on the other side, is the new Greenfield Downtown Center. I still call it the new Greenfield Downtown Center. It's actually more than 10 years old and was funded with a challenge grant that I was able to get in a budget bill in the state legislature of $500,000 to be matched by at least $500,000 in local dollars. The result is a building that might have sat vacant for a period of time turned almost immediately into a vibrant center for education and community activity. Community groups go in there and use it for public meetings and the college uses it to house some of its key administrative offices, including the foundation. But it also is obviously a site for education downtown. So if you continue past the GCC Downtown Center and head down to the Rotary at Route 2, you'll find that there's been significant improvement in the traffic flow there. That was all done with the help of the local city government and the legislative delegation as well. And right off of that Rotary is the home of the Franklin County Visitor Center, a project that was funded by the Massachusetts legislature as a result of a near mark that I got into a budget all about a decade or so ago. That visitor center is a stopping off point for people heading up and down Route 91 who want to learn about places they could visit, places they could eat, harder studios they could see, learn about the Mohawk Trail in Shelburne and Buckland and about the Great Discovery Center up in Montague. So it's a very active place where people from all over New England and the Northeast stop when they come to the county looking for places to visit and things to do. Well, and if you come back to the place where we're standing now and instead of heading left toward Route 91 and the Route 2 Rotary, you turn right down a block. You've got one of the oldest and most beautiful courthouses in Massachusetts, but a courthouse that needs to be modernized. And in the next couple of years, you're going to see that building completely renovated. It's going to be $30 to $40 million worth of construction and it's going to become a modern justice center and it's going to be one of the prides of this region. And having that courthouse in downtown Greenfield is very important because it creates lots of traffic of people coming in to do business at the courthouse, to the registry of deeds, to the Council of State Governments, excuse me, the Council of Governments here in Franklin County, which is located in that building. And by the way, soon we'll be relocated to the Transportation Center because the Transportation Center is not only going to be a Transportation Center, it's also going to be the home of our Council of Governments and we'll have other ancillary services located there as well. So, Greenfield and Franklin County is a county and on the move, Greenfield is a county seat on the move and every day when you travel around this downtown, you see construction, you see activities. The private sector has played a significant role. More than nine buildings in the last few years and heading into the next couple of years will have been renovated and restored for new downtown housing, new offices, new commercial sites and this downtown is becoming more and more vibrant with each passing year. And the state government and the state legislature, the local government, the town council and the mayor all play a significant role with their staff in identifying opportunities to work with the community, to work with the businesses to help improve the quality of life here, creating jobs in the process and improving the quality of life in general.