In the wake of the island’s public safety heads decrying the island’s large scale events earlier this week, the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce has gone to bat to defend such gatherings and underscore their importance to the island economy.
In a letter delivered to the Nantucket Select Board on Wednesday, the Chamber’s Board of Directors wrote “These large-scale events are significant economic drivers for Nantucket’s nonprofit organizations and small businesses. The loss of revenue from any of these major island events will have a detrimental financial impact on the island’s local economy.”
Calling on the town “to work in good faith” with the non-profits and businesses that stage events like the Boston Pops on Nantucket, the Daffodil Festival, and the Fourth of July, the Chamber’s letter was delivered just days ahead of a planned Select Board workshop at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 10 to discuss the feasibility of large events on the island in the future.
“We aim to ensure that our businesses are represented in a way that allows for us to work with the town to address these concerns while also finding a way to move forward with time-honored Nantucket traditions, safely,” the Chamber concluded.
Disclosure: I sit on the Board of Directors of the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, but did not attend or participate in the meeting in which this matter was discussed and the vote took place, nor in the drafting of the letter.
