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According to a town press release, in January 2025 the Town of Franklin released Phase 1 of the National Community Survey (NCS), which was developed by National Research Center at Polco, in an effort to gather resident feedback on a wide array of topics including economy, mobility, community design, utilities, safety, natural environment, inclusivity, engagement, and other elements of Franklin's overall livability. In Phase 1, five-thousand randomly selected households received mailed invitations to complete the NCS.
Phase 2 of the NCS began on February 5, 2025, and is the Open Participation Survey, which is open to all Franklin residents aged 18 and older.
Polco, founded by a pair of well-connected tech entrepreneurs, describes itself as an organization that "brings people and data together to help build stronger, healthier communities. With award-winning community engagement tools and services, Polco allows leaders to engage residents around their most important topics, align goals, and strengthen public trust." Polco also said it is committed to a strict privacy policy, designed to keep participants’ responses confidential and protect personal data.
When they started the company in 2015 and 2016 co-founder Alex Pederson had completed duty service in the Air Force and was a strategy and operations analyst at Google in Mountain View, California. Alex holds a technical degree from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard. Fellow co-founder Nick Mastronardi, boasts even more credentials. He is a Veteran Fellow at the Hoover Institution, was a senior economist at Amazon and served in the same role in the White House on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, served 10 years on active duty as Air Force officer, including time on the faculty at the Air Force Academy, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon, and as a research physicist and advanced munitions technology program manager at the Air Force Research Lab. He holds undergraduate degrees in honors math and physics from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, where his dissertation focused on game theory and econometrics applied to public finance.
The two interrelated companies serve a variety of government and public sector organizations across the country.
To participate, residents will need to visit polco.us/Franklin2025 and complete the survey. The survey results will show Franklin’s strengths and areas in need of improvement, highlight what matters most to residents, and provide the Town with valuable data to incorporate into future policy discussions and strategic planning.
“I encourage all residents to complete the National Community Survey.” stated Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. “This is a great opportunity for residents to help shape the future of Franklin. By providing Town staff and local officials like myself with critical insight into how residents feel about life in Franklin today, we can work together to make Franklin an even better community in the future.”
To participate, residents may visit polco.us/Franklin2025 or scan the QR code to complete the survey. The random selection survey and community-wide open participation survey will both close on February 19, 2025. The cost of the survey service to the town was not disclosed.
For more information, contact Project Manager Kate Hinckley, Director of GIS at (508) 553-5534 or visit our website at https://www.franklinma.gov/974/National-Community-Survey.
