Innovator Stories
Jack Wadsworth has been bullish about North Adams for decades, a place he sometimes refers to as an adopted hometown. His commitment to the city started on River Street and has expanded from there. Wadsworth understands that cities need more than tourism and real estate development to thrive. With philanthropy, investment, and planning, Wadsworth aims to make sure North Adams has something for everyone – visitors, new residents, and long-term community members alike.
A Williams alum, he often makes note of his efforts to raise the city’s profile. “Harvard and Columbia have Boston and New York,” he said. “Williams has the city of North Adams.”
Innovator Stories
Meet Jack Wadsworth
Jack Wadsworth has been bullish about North Adams for decades, a place he sometimes refers to as an adopted hometown. His commitment to the city started on River Street, and has expanded from there. Wadsworth understands that cities need more than tourism and real estate development to thrive. With philanthropy, investment, and planning, Wadsworth aims to make sure North Adams has something for everyone – visitors, new residents, and long-term community members alike.
A Williams alum, he often makes note of his efforts to raise the city’s profile. “Harvard and Columbia have Boston and New York,” he said. “Williams has the city of North Adams.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
It began in 1999 at MASS MoCA’s opening. Standing with founding Director Joe Thompson and looking out at a window overlooking a row of derelict row houses on River Street, Jack said to Joe, “If MASS MoCA is to succeed, we’ll need to clean up the surrounding neighborhood.” Without missing a beat, Joe replied, ‘why don’t you do it?’” After Jack purchased the houses, Nancy Fitzpatrick, the owner of Main Street Hospitality Group, proposed turning the properties into a world-class hotel. Now, those row houses are The Porches, a 47-room hotel with historic charm and modern amenities.
Over the years, Wadsworth’s commitment and philanthropy rose to meet other opportunities in the area: He and his wife, Susy Wadsworth, launched a $500,000 challenge to establish MASS MoCA’s endowment. The endowment is now worth over $20M, which gives the institution financial stability.
He built Studio 9, a recording studio and performance venue that is poised to transform the recording industry, on the Porches campus. One block over,he purchased and demolished a bar on the corner of River and Houghton streets, working with architects to turn it into the beloved UNO Community Center. On State Street, he purchased, then donated property to the City so it could be turned into a skatepark, which is now packed every weekend.
“That’s only so far,” he said. “There will be more.”
“Great ideas, courage, guts, persistence, and flexibility”
Wadsworth has the insight and experience to identify successful ideas in their infancy. Among a long list of notable achievements, Jack broke ground in Asian capital markets for Morgan Stanley, led the deal for Apple’s initial IPO, and launched one of the first venture funds in China.
He commissioned a strategic Master Plan for North Adams, which calls for more green space to take the place of areas demolished during urban renewal, and for activities that create employment opportunities and bring new residents to the region.
New ideas are a powerful resource. This is what led him to co-found Lever, which has now worked with dozens of entrepreneurs in the region. “The idea of economic development in a small, urban city in an outdoor setting is a magical combination,” he said.
“When Lever started, so many of the conversations we were having revolved around what was missing from North Adams. But there are assets here—the old housing stock, MASS MoCA, MCLA, the remnants of manufacturing,” he said. “Changing the conversation is important.”
“The world runs on vision, great ideas, courage, guts, persistence, and flexibility—and the people involved are the most important issue,” he said. “Great ideas make a difference when they respond to specific problems and incorporate solutions that draw on a consensus-based plan of execution.”
Lever’s focus is on those kinds of ideas, and the entrepreneurs with the vision and courage to execute them. Its Challenges have helped countless companies launch, pivot, and access funding, supporting more than 400 entrepreneurs since its founding in 2014. Those companies have created jobs, moved businesses to the region, been acquired by national companies, hired local interns, and secured major federal contracts.
“Now Lever is in high gear, and its impact is starting to be felt,” Wadsworth said. “It’s a cycle that feeds on itself.”
Quality of life
That cycle, and the philanthropy and development Wadsworth has executed, fits into North Adams’ master plan, which describes a city that stays true to its community values while adapting to change through economic development, infrastructure improvement, job creation, green space development, improved schools, and other aspects that create the quality of life people look for in a hometown.
“A hometown needs to be something you relate to, that you can feel roots in, that feels comfortable,” Wadsworth said. North Adams hits those marks for him, which is part of the reason he has chosen to make an impact there. “There are a lot of good ideas that will never make a difference,” he said. “In the end, you want people to be happy, prospering, and growing.”
Decades ago, this vision of North Adams was “a dream,” he said. “Now it’s more than a dream.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
It began in 1999 at MASS MoCA’s opening. Standing with founding Director Joe Thompson and looking out at a window overlooking a row of derelict row houses on River Street, Jack said to Joe, “If MASS MoCA is to succeed, we’ll need to clean up the surrounding neighborhood.” Without missing a beat, Joe replied, ‘why don’t you do it?’” After Jack purchased the houses, Nancy Fitzpatrick, the owner of Main Street Hospitality Group, proposed turning the properties into a world-class hotel. Now, those row houses are The Porches, a 47-room hotel with historic charm and modern amenities.
Over the years, Wadsworth’s commitment and philanthropy rose to meet other opportunities in the area: He and his wife, Susy Wadsworth, launched a $500,000 challenge to establish MASS MoCA’s endowment. The endowment is now worth over $20M, which gives the institution financial stability.
He built Studio 9, a recording studio and performance venue that is poised to transform the recording industry, on the Porches campus. One block over,he purchased and demolished a bar on the corner of River and Houghton streets, working with architects to turn it into the beloved UNO Community Center. On State Street, he purchased, then donated property to the City so it could be turned into a skatepark, which is now packed every weekend.
“That’s only so far,” he said. “There will be more.”
“Great ideas, courage, guts, persistence, and flexibility”
Wadsworth has the insight and experience to identify successful ideas in their infancy. Among a long list of notable achievements, Jack broke ground in Asian capital markets for Morgan Stanley, led the deal for Apple’s initial IPO, and launched one of the first venture funds in China.
He commissioned a strategic Master Plan for North Adams, which calls for more green space to take the place of areas demolished during urban renewal, and for activities that create employment opportunities and bring new residents to the region.
New ideas are a powerful resource. This is what led him to co-found Lever, which has now worked with dozens of entrepreneurs in the region. “The idea of economic development in a small, urban city in an outdoor setting is a magical combination,” he said.
“When Lever started, so many of the conversations we were having revolved around what was missing from North Adams. But there are assets here—the old housing stock, MASS MoCA, MCLA, the remnants of manufacturing,” he said. “Changing the conversation is important.”
“The world runs on vision, great ideas, courage, guts, persistence, and flexibility—and the people involved are the most important issue,” he said. “Great ideas make a difference when they respond to specific problems and incorporate solutions that draw on a consensus-based plan of execution.”
Lever’s focus is on those kinds of ideas, and the entrepreneurs with the vision and courage to execute them. Its Challenges have helped countless companies launch, pivot, and access funding, supporting more than 400 entrepreneurs since its founding in 2014. Those companies have created jobs, moved businesses to the region, been acquired by national companies, hired local interns, and secured major federal contracts.
“Now Lever is in high gear, and its impact is starting to be felt,” Wadsworth said. “It’s a cycle that feeds on itself.”
Quality of life
That cycle, and the philanthropy and development Wadsworth has executed, fits into North Adams’ master plan, which describes a city that stays true to its community values while adapting to change through economic development, infrastructure improvement, job creation, green space development, improved schools, and other aspects that create the quality of life people look for in a hometown.
“A hometown needs to be something you relate to, that you can feel roots in, that feels comfortable,” Wadsworth said. North Adams hits those marks for him, which is part of the reason he has chosen to make an impact there. “There are a lot of good ideas that will never make a difference,” he said. “In the end, you want people to be happy, prospering, and growing.”
Decades ago, this vision of North Adams was “a dream,” he said. “Now it’s more than a dream.”