Success of Gardner MA

The Gardner Economic and Community Development Committee met on December 12th and focused on updates for numerous municipal projects. Those projects are seen in the infographic below.

Many Project Updates at Development Committee Rounds out Busy 2025

Listen to the lengthy meeting on any device. CLICK PLAY.

The Gardner Economic and Community Development Committee met on December 12th and focused on updates for numerous municipal projects. The Rear Main Street infrastructure project is at a stage which involves moving utility lines underground. There was a lengthy discussion on the Maki Park Project focusing on ADA compliance concerns and project financials. Director Stephens acknowledged that while the Maki Park solutions are not perfect, the park is ADA compliant subject to railings to be installed in Spring 2026 and the Building Commissioner’s approval of the stone dust currently being used.
The committee also reviews several Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) initiatives, such as the downtown phase 5 upgrades and the Greenwood Memorial Pavilion construction, while also addressing ongoing planning efforts like the Master Plan update and the Hazard Mitigation Plan. The director’s report emphasizes the city’s success in securing and efficiently utilizing numerous state and federal grants for these projects, specifically noting that taxpayer funds are minimized. View our infographic below. Click Image for a larger view.

Gardner Magazine Upgrades Servers – Again!

Gardner Magazine has upgraded its servers once again. Due to website traffic and visitor volume, we have upgraded our servers to provide the most robust site experience. The private server has a processor with 16 cores. We have plenty of bandwidth and storage to handle our rich multimedia content. The upgrade resulted in 10 minutes of downtime on the morning of December 15, 2025.

Here are some statistics which illustrate why the upgrade was needed: In the month of November 2025, Gardner Magazine had $5.3 million hits, 579,000 pageviews, 263,000 visits, and a unique circulation just over 90,000. See attached chart from our servers.

Gardner Magazine is pledged to provide you with the content you utilize for many years to come. Thank you for your readership. And remember, we love to publicize non-profit organizations. Just email News@GardnerMagazine.com or leave a voicemail at (978) 632-6324.

Why Gardner’s First Morning Newscast is a Big DEAL

Gordon Deal headlines the WGAW “America’s First News” every weekday morning at 5am and Saturday mornings at 6am. The show stands out and is an essential listen each day for thousands in the region on AM 1340, 98.1 FM, and streaming.

The Chair Man and the Chair Lady explain what the show is all about and why it’s such a big hit in a “Deep Dive” podcast. Listen on any device. CLICK PLAY.

With Gordon Deal you get the first look on politics, business news, and more. The show’s success hinges on the whole team. Gordon Deal started out as a play-by-play sports announcer and became a popular host on New York City radio, developed a distinctive reporting style, and still serves as the public address announcer for Army Football. Like any great broadcast, it’s not a one-man show. Nicole Murray is the news anchor and also anchors the “Your Money Now” reports. Producer Mike Gavin teamed up with Gordon Deal almost 2 decades ago and they have a unique, positive synergy.

A very positive interview about Gardner’s Future. We cover many areas. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.

Focus on Gardner’s Future – Interview with Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson

On November 17, 2025, Gardner Magazine spoke with Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson in a very positive interview “Focus on Gardner’s Future” Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.

We covered a myriad of topics. Here are some highlights of what the Mayor said.

Roads and Paving: ” I think there’s going to be a lot of the continuation of the work that we’ve done to keep up with our infrastructure. You know, we’re already starting to think about what the paving list is for next year. We recently just appropriated just over $210,000 to add supplemental funding so that when we go into paving season next year, we’ve already got some seed funding in. So by the time we get our Chapter 90 funds, we’ve already got some money in there. And working through the priority list of the roads that we have, and again, we rank our streets on a list of how many houses are on that road, how many cars normally drive on that road, if there’s any businesses on that road. And all of those things come into mind. So those are the conversations we’re having now so that when the spring comes around, we can start to really execute that”

Massachusetts Native Headlines Noon Hour on WGAW Radio

The Grace Curley Show airs from noon to 2pm on Gardner MA WGAW, heard on AM 1340, 98.1 FM, and streamed worldwide. Shown in the graphic is the complete weekday program schedule.

For more information including the Saturday, Sunday, and special program schedules, visit the WGAW website, CLICK HERE.

Grace Curley is from Milton, Massachusetts and off the airwaves is also a contributing writer for the Boston Herald and Spectator USA. Curley graduated Magna Cum Laude from Providence College in 2014 and became a mailroom manager’s assistant for the Howie Carr Radio Network. Curley learned about the radio industry from Howie Carr and soon earned the position of Executive Producer. In the fall of 2019, Grace produced the top charting podcast Dirty Rats and quickly became a radio personality, amassing a large following.

Gardner Magazine often reports on the WGAW Hotline Radio Show which airs Saturday from noon to 2pm. Listen to archived shows, CLICK HERE.

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City of Gardner Seeking Public Input on Hazard Mitigation

The City of Gardner is updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan, a key document that helps the City prepare for and reduce the impacts of natural disasters like flooding, severe storms, and winter weather. The 248 page document was last updated in 2015. View on pdf, CLICK HERE.

Your input needed: The City of Gardner held a public meeting in September to get public feedback and it was not well attended. The City still wants residents to share experiences of flooding, storms, extreme temperatures, and other hazards. It’s easy, you can share your experiences and ideas by completing a short online survey, CLICK HERE for link. Your input will help guide strategies to make Gardner safer and more resilient for years to come.

The scope of Gardner’s Hazard Mitigation Plan includes, but is not limited to: a list of critical facilities, maps including flood zones, an outline of existing protections and mitigation strategies, objectives relating to flood, dam failure, and severe weather. Assessing vulnerabilites is an ongoing process. Gardner Magazine also has a “Deep Dive” on hazard mitigation with 3 podcasts, CLICK HERE.

The City of Gardner is moving forward due to some very smart decisions and actions over the last 5 years. Turning $50,000 in to $50 million is a story to be told for the ages.

Editorial: The Grant Maze

So how exactly did Gardner Mayor Nicholson turn a $50,000 City investment into a $50 million return for Gardner?

It all started with a realization by the Mayor that because of the daily workload in the Economic Development and Planning Department, it was possible that some grant money was being left on the table. If somehow the City could get additional help in seeking grants by having a 3^rd party navigate the grant maze, perhaps the City of Gardner could gain more in grants than the expense of hiring a 3^rd party.

Gardner Mayor Nicholson went before the City Council and got approval after considerable discussion. Mayor Michael Nicholson knew it was likely that even one grant approval would bring in more money than the funds expended. Mayor Nicholson was both right and wrong – right in the decision to pursue getting a 3^rd party grant writer to help, but wrong in forecasting the extent of the endeavor’s success.

So far, a $50,000 investment by the City has returned more than $50 million. It’s a testament to the keen mind of Mayor Michael Nicholson and a big highlight of his 5 years of moving Gardner forward. And it’s documentation that when a City Council is willing to think outside of the box the rewards can be awesome. We hope the next 5 years are just as successful. Sometimes there are unexpected mazes involved in running a City, but when you have educated, experienced, and intelligent people involved, almost anything is possible.

Publisher’s Note: This has been the biggest return on investment in Gardner’s History. 50 grand has returned 50 million. That is a 100X (100 times) return on investment. When first proposed by the Mayor, there were some naysayers, but City Council approval was given. Even our optimistic editorial at the time predicted $6 million would come in (and we were being hopeful). Congratulations City of Gardner Team!

Men Who Brought Tens of Millions to Gardner Stop by City Hall

During interviews with Gardner Mayor Nicholson we have spoken about the $50,000 investment in 3^rd party grant writers which has brought in $50 million to the City of Gardner. The success of the effort is simple: Whatever a grant pays for, property taxes do not need to fund.

Gardner Mayor Nicholson provided this photo of 2 members of the Keller Team who came to his office in Gardner and the Mayor released this statement: “A few years ago, in order to make sure that the City stayed competitive and aware of any state or federal grant programs that became available, the City hired on-call grant writers, Keller Partners Co., to locate, apply for, and assist with reporting for various grants that the City would be able to utilize. Prior to this, our staff would have to research the grants, write the applications, manage the reporting, track the projects- all while performing their regular job duties. This made it so we missed out on several grant opportunities just because there’s only so many hours in a day. In the first two years of this partnership, tens of millions of dollars in grant funds have come to the City because of this new partnership. We meet every other week to go over ongoing projects, upcoming grants, our capital improvement plan, goals, etc. and as needed in between.

Because of the success of this so far, earlier this year, the City Council approved my request to award the company a 5-year contract with the City to continue this success.

Earlier this week, had a nice surprise at the office when Tom and Jon from Keller Partners stopped by the office after a trip they had to Boston, so they could see some of the work they’ve brought funding for in person.”

View a complete transcript of this interview with all of the questions and answers, CLICK HERE.

Mayor Nicholson: “It’s been a journey and a half, but it’s been fun. We’ve definitely gotten a lot accomplished here in Gardner, but there’s a lot left that we’ve got to do. I’m looking forward to continuing the momentum that we’ve started and really continuing to push us forward.“

Interview: 5 Years of Moving Gardner Forward – With Gardner Mayor Michael Nicholson

In the last 5 Years, the residents of Gardner have seen big, positive changes. From housing to infrastructure, from education to various initiatives, Gardner has moved forward. And the big announcement: The South Gardner grant came in and underground electric will be a go! We spoke with Gardner Mayor Nicholson on October 27, 2025 about “5 Years of Moving Gardner Forward.” Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.

We spoke with Mayor Nicholson about his background and how he became interested in local government. We discussed the 5 years of success through collaboration and cooperation “with the members of the city council, the members of the school committee, our department heads, the members of the public, our private sector partners, everyone coming together the right way and showing really what happens when government works in the way it’s supposed to work.”

The discussion also revolved around Mayor Michael Nicholson’s “Mr. Fix It” attitude utilizing his hands on approach and hard work to fix what’s broke. We spoke about business, housing, greater investment towards alleviating the homelessness crisis, public safety investments, feasibility studies, current projects, additional $250,000 from the MassTrails grant to complete the design of the 140 Pedestrial-Bike Bridge (construction in calendar year 2027), taxes, grants, the trust so many officials have placed in the Mayor, and the tremendously positive impact of the Gardner Elementary School project.