Marlborough Leader Among Banker & Tradesman’s Women Of FIRE

From MEDC: Marlborough Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) executive director Meredith Harris has become the first leader of an economic development organization to be named among Banker & Tradesman’s Women of FIRE.The 2018 Women of FIRE awards recognize an elite list of 17 female innovators from around Massachusetts, who are making a significant impact on the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) industries.

Harris was chosen for her successful leadership of MEDC, where, alongside the Marlborough City Council and the MEDC Board of Directors, she has been working with commercial real estate professionals, developers and tenants to create and implemented a series of programs that have helped attract a number of companies to Marlborough, including WholeFoods Market, Allegro Microsystems and the China Boston Innovation Center. As a result, Marlborough’s unemployment rate has fallen to a 15-year-low and commercial vacancy rate has dropped to a five-year-low, creating positive net absorption and more than 1,000 new jobs.

Harris has also been instrumental to the implementation and success of the Marlborough Economic Development Toolbox—a set of financial incentives programs, including a revolving loan fund, aimed at helping small businesses set up and grow in the city. Since its launch, the Toolbox has helped eight successful Marlborough companies secure gap financing and grant funding to launch or grow their businesses, create jobs and fill commercial space.

Harris will be honored during the eighth annual Women of FIRE awards event, which will celebrate the best and the brightest women in their industries on July 19th at the Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown. “I am truly honored and humbled to be recognized among this impressive list of Women of FIRE,” said Harris. “Being a successful leader of any gender is impossible without the support of an excellent team. So, I want to thank my MEDC team, the City of Marlborough officials and the MEDC Board of Directors for championing innovation and giving me the opportunity to take on the challenges that I have. It has been an exciting few years and I look forward to witnessing and initiating even more growth in the Marlborough community in the future.”

“As the underrepresented gender in these industries, women work particularly hard to rise to the top and achieve excellence on a day-to-day basis. I am pleased to announce that the nomination process has brought us an exemplary class of winners for this year’s Women of FIRE. Whether executive, innovator, philanthropist, or all of the above, their powerful influence is being felt in some crucial sectors of our state’s economy. Please join us in giving them their well-earned praise,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Image via MEDC