Tom Skwierawski

Executive Director of Community Development, City of Fitchburg

Tom Skwierawski has served as the Executive Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Fitchburg since 2017. While in the role, Tom has led efforts to achieve comprehensive zoning reform, including expanding Fitchburg’s Smart Growth district to allow up to 1000 additional units of by-right housing downtown. Tom worked to secure Fitchburg’s designation, and has served as the lead partner for, Fitchburg’s TDI District, which aims to transform downtown Fitchburg into North Central Massachusetts’s’ hub of arts and culture. In administering the City’s CDBG funding, the Community Development and Planning Department  has worked to creatively implement block grant funding to support the arts, small business development, and Complete Streets. Tom led City efforts to secure $3.3 million in MassWorks and Complete Streets funding to transform Fitchburg’s downtown traffic patterns to two-way Complete Streets traffic, and is managing the City’s role in the Twin City Rail Trail, a $18 million, 4.5 mile off-road trail connecting downtown Fitchburg and Leominster.   Prior to his role with the City, Tom served as Project Coordinator for ReImagine North of Main, a public-private partnership focused on revitalizing Fitchburg’s downtown neighborhood. Tom received a Bachelor Degrees in Urban Studies and Sociology from the College of Charleston, and his Masters  in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.