Incorporated: 1979

^{Printer-Friendly Format}

Stan Goddard worked at Rowe's Yankee Atomic Electric Factory until 1992, when it was forced to shut down. He was among 250 employees that had to find new jobs. For the rest of 1992 and most of 1993, Stan was unemployed. He was 42-years-old, had a wife, three young children, a house, a mortgage, two vehicles, and no income.

Then Stan and his wife Kim decided they'd try something different -they would open a grocery store. The only other food store in town had gone bankrupt and shut down. Both had previous experience in the industry and felt comfortable tackling the idea. However, they faced a dilemma: how were they going to pull this off?

Franklin County Community Development Corporation (FCCDC) provided the Goddards with technical assistance and 60 percent of the financing they needed to get their business up and running.

In December 1993, Stan and Kim Goddard opened Keystone Market in downtown Shelburne. "Without FCCDC's support," said Stan, "it would have been extremely difficult - almost impossible - to open the store." Today, Keystone Market has 20 full and part-time employees.

It wasn't just a grocery store to the Goddards though. They wanted their store to be "a place where people could come if they wanted to stop and talk with neighbors, with friends, or with us. We wanted people to feel like this was their hometown grocery store." Thanks to the Goddards' hard work and FCCDC's support, the people of Greenfield do.

Follow the link below to an AP story about FCCDC's Food Processing Center and how it helps local businesses develop.
http://www.nsfoods.com/buzz/entrepreneurs-cook.html