John Garvey

John Garvey has spent his career betting on downtown Springfield. The founder of Garvey Communication Associates Inc. — a 28-year Metro Center business and the publisher of The Tower Square Times and Metro Center Voice — traces the instinct back to his first venture as a kid running a news stand in the South End. When he launched GCAi, he was in the South End, but he knew where he wanted to be.

In 1998, opportunity knocked, and the firm moved to the 24th floor of Tower Square. Twenty-eight years — and even a Los Angeles office — later, Garvey says they have never looked back and never wavered: Metro Center has always been their center.

Today, he argues, downtown is doing well, and it deserves the state’s support to keep thriving. His concern is that the promise behind the courthouse project has quietly shifted from “the catalyst for growth” to simply “the cheapest.” The best use of public funds, Garvey insists, is the one that strengthens the private sector and draws more growth and investment downtown.