SPRINGFIELD – Rick Sullivan, the president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts (EDC) believes the next chapter in economic development for Springfield and the region is connecting local companies in the supply chains of the CRC rail car factory and MGM Springfield.

“Those dollars stay here,” Sullivan said during an interview on “Government Matters” on FOCUS Springfield. He added that CRC and MGM have been active in making that happen.

He believes that “other companies can be attracted” to Western Massachusetts.

“I’m a big believer that when you have momentum that’s easier to play off of that because success kind of build on success there,”   

Sullivan has been a prominent person in local politics for two decades as the long-time mayor of Westfield. He then was named as the commissioner of Conservation and recreation under Gov. Deval Patrick, who subsequently selected him as the secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs and then as his chief of staff. He joined the EDC as its president and CEO in 2014.

It’s not just Springfield, but the region as a whole that should be examine for “sector of excellence” that are possible growth fields, he said. Sullivan noted water technology is one such sector with one of two clean water centers in the nation at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Cyber security for “Big Data” is another sector with ties to Western Massachusetts.

The “biggest issue,” though in job growth for the region is creating an adequate pool of trained employees, Sullivan said.

“Western Massachusetts is not alone in that,” he added.

CRC worked closely with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) and Putnam Academy to develop the workforce they needed, Sullivan said. MGM is working with STCC and Holyoke Community College with training programs for its workforce, he added.

“That has sort of become the model,” Sullivan said.

He believes a conversation about manufacturing jobs should start between parents and children in middle school.

“Manufacturing is the invisible backbone of our economy here,” Sullivan said.

Promoting the region also includes going south of the border as the EDC endorsed the effort of Enfield, CT, to make the list of communities to be considered by Amazon for its second facility. Sullivan was not surprised by the list of 20 major metropolitan areas – Boston made the cut – for the Amazon center that promised 50,000 jobs.

Sullivan said that after Amazon announced it would embark on a national search, the EDC gathered area mayors to determine if any community had the attributes for which Amazon was requiring. No community had all of the qualities Amazon needed.

The EDC supported the Enfield, CT proposal because, Sullivan said, “it was unique because as far as I know it was the only multi-state proposal. We did play to what Amazon said they wanted in terms of being creative. Obviously that wasn’t the case as none of the 20 are way out of the box thinking.”

Sullivan added, “It was a good exercise. We did get all of the mayors together, the colleges and the universities came together to play a role and I do think moving forward that while we were not successful with Amazon it was a very good exercise because we can create a template that tells the Western Massachusetts story for the next company that comes along.”

Sullivan said that east-west passenger rail is “certainly a piece of the puzzle” when it comes to future economic development. He said that whatever passenger rail linking Springfield Boston is it must be “high speed and truly reliable” and have more than train on the schedule.

If the study comes back positive for passenger rail, Sullivan said, he believes such train service may be five to ten years out before it becomes a reality.

The rail project is an example of why it’s important to speak as a region, Sullivan said.