Community Impact Report

UMass Amherst is the largest employer in western Massachusetts.* Each year, our conferences, campus tours for prospective students and families, arts and athletic events, and sports tournaments draw large numbers. Campus activity drives business into local restaurants, hotels, and retail establishments. UMass Amherst is filled with activity throughout the year, contributing millions of dollars to our local economy in wages, taxes, and spending. UMass faculty, staff, and retirees also give back to hundreds of nonprofits through the University of Massachusetts Community Campaign (UMACC) with over half of all donations raised supporting western Massachusetts nonprofit organizations.

We have created a blueprint for success with our joint quality-of-life programs. Our town-gown partnership assists students with making a smooth transition from their on-campus residential experience to being good neighbors off campus. Our dean of students convenes a weekly town-gown meeting to review off-campus activity, where partners create a road map for the academic year and strategize when responsive action is necessary.

The Campus and Community Coalition (CCC), now in its 20th year, meets monthly with a larger group of interested stakeholders, including business leaders, elected officials, and campus partners to connect on off-campus trends and generate data-driven solutions. The CCC has incubated and piloted many of the campus’s long-running successes, such as Good Neighbor Registration (launched in 2016) and Team Positive Presence—both administered by UMass Off-Campus Student Life.

A shop. A resource center. An events venue. A community hub. A place of learning. Since its grand opening in March, the multipurpose UMass Downtown space on Amherst’s North Pleasant Street has swiftly become the place to be.

With popular items curated by the UMass Store, UMass Downtown features top UMass brand clothing lines, from new designs to favorite classics, as well as hats, pennants, and more.

It’s also a welcome center with valuable campus information. It’s a place for area job seekers to learn about campus employment through the UMass HR Is Here for You program. The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center also offers small-business advising sessions monthly.

UMass Downtown’s versatile space holds engaging public events like spring’s Politics and Policy discussion series, led by UMass faculty, and our current Writers Reading Series featuring local poets and writers. The space has also been a home for the university’s Donahue Institute Civic Initiative, an immersive exchange program for international students, scholars, and professionals.

A new vehicle for community engagement, UMass Downtown served as a hub for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Annual Daffodil Run in April and partnered with UMass Amherst Community Campaign and the United Way in hosting a nonprofit volunteer match night in May. As part of the Fifth Annual Ancestral Bridges Juneteenth Legacy Celebration, jazz musician Chuck Langford performed in the space in a tribute to the jazz roots of Amherst.