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Businesses weren't asked if they liked this idea, or not

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Businesses weren't asked if they liked this idea, or not

Why can’t we get fake fire fighters to show up at our city or town halls?

Here’s today’s edition of your twice-weekly newsletter from the Charles River Regional Chamber.

Goodwill hunting for place to park this baby 

Goodwill donation center

For more than 50 years Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries operated an attended donation center trailer in Newton.

The drop-off trailer was first located at the municipal lot at Austin Street and later moved to the Rumford Ave recycling facility once 28 Austin Street was redeveloped in 2016.

Goodwill closed the trailer during COVID and is now seeking a new location in Newton, Needham, Watertown or Wellesley.

The space needed would be approximately three parking spaces. Goodwill staff are on site seven days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. accepting clothing and household items.

“We ensure the area is maintained at all times and provide certificate of insurance,” says Adam Dossas Goodwill’s director of donations and outreach. 

“The donations made to Goodwill are the lifeblood that fuels our mission service programs. These programs provide critical services to individuals with disabilities and other barriers.”

If you own or manage a property that might be able to host the trailer in one of our chamber communities, contact Dossas at 617-816-0490 or by email.

Businesses didn't get a chance to even say if they liked this idea, or not 

In a move that surprised pretty much everyone, the House approved legislation yesterday requiring Massachusetts employers give workers paid time off to vote in person.

The bill passed, without discussion, about 90 minutes after the House Ways and Means Committee released it, reports Alison Kuznitz at State House News.

Employees who don't have enough time to vote at the polls outside of their working hours can request time off and give their bosses three business days' notice, according to the bill.

Employers cannot force employees to vote by mail or during early voting, which is based off a proposal by Watertown state Rep. John Lawn, Kuznitz adds.

But the Globe’s Matt Stout reports that even the state’s top election official, Secretary of State Bill Galvin, had no advance warning from lawmakers about the bill, which Galvin said is “well intentioned” but too vague.

Two business groups that keep a close eye on Beacon Hill told Stout they also had no idea the vote was coming.

Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said the proposal “came out of the blue ” in the middle of the House's holiday recess.

Chris Carlozzi, Massachusetts state director of the National Federation of Independent Business said to require employers of any size to allow time for voting on Election Day adds another burden on businesses already struggling with staffing shortages.

The law still needs the Senate's and governor's approval.

Watertown City Council got to play Santa this week 

"It’s not every day you have the opportunity to give away over $10 million,” Watertown City Council President Mark Sideris said this week after the council voted to allocate ARPA funds to 18 projects.

Just under half of the $10.7 million was allocated for water and sewer system upgrades.

Also receiving grants in excess of $1 million were funds to upgrade the McSherry Gardens senior public housing development; expand the Boys & Girls Club Childcare facility; and install solar panels on the roof of the new Watertown High School.

Other awards will underwrite moving the food pantry to a city building and matching funds for the Watertown Cultural District.

Watertown News has the full list.

MBTA Communities Law updates

Milton joined Newton and other communities this week by passing its upzoning plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Law. But the Globe reports that the town may not be as lucky as Newton in avoiding a ballot referendum from opponents.

Also this week: Salem and Lexington became the first municipalities to have their compliance plans approved by the state’s the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Bryan McGonigle at the Newton Beacon explores reasons why Newton’s plan might not pass muster with the state, something that James Sanna at Banker & Tradesman also flagged recently. 

Friday grab bag 

  • Shares of C4 Therapeutics were up 98% earlier this week upon news that Merck & Company will provide C4 with up to $2.5 billion to develop cancer drugs. The Watertown biotech's headquarters is at 490 Arsenal Street. (BBJ)

  • There's only a few days left to savor one final meal before Latina Kitchen & Bar in Needham Center closes for good this Sunday.  The restaurant will transition to new owners under the new name, The Common Room, early next year.  (Needham Observer)

  • Here’s an interesting statistic cited by the Swellesley Report: Wellesley collects about $100k in parking meter revenue annually. But it costs $36K to process the coins.  That’s led some select board members to ask it would make sense to replace the meters with an on-app or another system.

  • MassBay Community College and Wellesley's Temple Beth Elohim's TBE Table are celebrating the second anniversary of their partnership to address food insecurity among students. Since 2022 the partnership has provided more than 3,700 meals to students.


  • The IRS has announced another delay to the $600 transaction threshold that would impact small businesses using payment platforms including Venmo, PayPal, Etsy, and Airbnb. The new threshold will be phased in starting at $5,000 in 2024. 

  • Dr. Regina Wu, the remarkable volunteer president of the Newton Food Pantry for more than three years (and one of our Business Leaders of Color) will be phasing out her role once Jeff Lemberg comes aboard in January as the pantry’s first ever executive director. Wu will remain president until October and then also retire from her medical practice to do some traveling.

Must-see TV for Newton politics junkies this Monday

You may want to grab some popcorn and logon to NewTV’s YouTube channel Monday night (Dec. 18) at 7 p.m. when six members of the Newton City Council deliver farewell speeches -- an annual tradition at the final council meeting of a term.

Three councilors who did not to seek reelection (Emily Norton, Brenda Noel and Chris Markowitz) and three councilors who were unseated in the election last month (Alicia Bowman, Deb Crossley and Holly Ryan) will all get a chance to speak.

That list includes some pretty interesting folks who been in the center of many interesting deliberations and, in some cases, controversies over the years.

We're grateful to them all for their service. 

Look who's ending 2023 in style! 

Finally, this morning, give a big Charles River Regional Chamber welcome to 24 members who’ve just joined or reinstated their membership after a lengthy absence.

  • Digital of New England
  • Lau Lapides Company
  • OpenDoor Sales Consulting
  • Bumble Bee Blinds
  • Proprioceptive
  • AIM Therapy, LLC
  • Lash Mama Studio
  • The Village Bank - Waltham
  • Carole Alpert VO- Freelance Voice Over Actor
  • John Rufo Studio
  • Fly Together Fitness, LLC
  • Charles River Orthodontics
  • Four Paws Dog Wash
  • BBSI
  • Engel & Völkers Newton
  • Grocare Management
  • Beth Saunders Associates
  • Flink Consulting LLC
  • Auburndale Wine & Spirits
  • Hirsch Copy Communications
  • Corey Marie Spaulding
  • Joyce Plotkin
  • Newton Community Education
  • Rail Stop Restaurant & Bar

It’s not too late to join the class of 2023. The best team in the chamber world is standing by to answer your questions. 

That’s what you need to know for today -- National Cupcake Day -- unless you need to know what a self-employed company holiday party looks like.
 
Be back next week.
 
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President & CEO
617.244.1688
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