With Congress unlikely to fund another business relief bill anytime soon, the new $50 million grant program rolled out by Gov. Charlie Baker last weekmay be the last chance many employers have at getting financial support for a while.
Baker's HireNow program offers employers (including nonprofits) grants of $4,000 for each new hire to be used for worker training, hiring bonuses, or both.
Employers may be approved for up to $400,000 for 100 eligible newly hired employees. But it's first come first serve, so time could be of the essence and other qualifications apply.
We’ll start with a presentation about HireNow from the Jennifer James, Undersecretary for Workforce Development for the Baker administration.
We’ll follow that with a panel discussion exploring some places you may not have thought of to look for job applicants as well as some training opportunities to help get your new hires up to speed.
The latest Census data illustrates just how bad the housing crisis has become and how our suburban communities have failed to address the problem.
The bottom line: Housing production has not kept pace with population growth. Massachusetts' housing stock grew 4.5 percent between 2010 and 2020 while population grew 7 percent, the Globe reports.
The result: We have the third-highest home values in the nation, behind only Hawaii and California, notes Daigo Fujiwara and Christina Prignano.
The data for our four chamber communities are also alarming:
Wellesley actually had 3.6% fewer total homes (owner-occupied and rentals) in 2020 than it did in 2010. The median home price for owner occupied homes rose nearly 36% over the decade.
Needham’s total housing stock increased a mere 4% over the decade. The median home price for owner occupied homes rose nearly 40%.
Newton’s total housing stock growth over the decade was only modestly better, 5.4%. The median home price for owner occupied homes was up about 38%.
Only Watertown's new housing stock growth reached double digits over ten years, up 10.5%. But the median price for owner occupied homes was still up nearly 39%.
If we’re going to remain competitive; if we’re going to welcome diverse families and young workers to our communities; if we're going to avoid gridlock and combat carbon emissions, we’re going to need to do much better this decade.
Needham to create plan to market downtown
Needham Center is home to dozens of small, independently owned businesses including 23 restaurants and cafes; 20 retail shops and boutiques; more than 10 salons and personal care businesses; plus, banks, tailors, drycleaners, medical offices and more.
And the town has just been awarded a $25,000 grant from the state Department of Housing and Community Development’s Massachusetts Downtown Initiative to develop a marketing strategy aimed at growing foot traffic to support small, local businesses in Needham Center.
Officials hope to use the funds to create a brand identity for the downtown that showcases its unique downtown offerings.
And you can help: Businesses, employees, residents and visitors to Needham are needed to take this short survey to help identify Needham Center's strengths and character.
Watertown wants say in closing Greenough Boulevard
Watertown City Councilors want to sit down with the Department of Conservation and Recreation before DCR makes any decisions to close Greenough Boulevard to motor vehicles again this year, reports the Watertown News.
Back in late 2020 the council asked to close the “Little Greenough” section which runs along the Charles River from Arsenal to North Beacon streets on weekends during summer and fall of 2021 for recreational use.
But DCR closed the section of the road from April to November, seven days a week instead.
Efforts to hijack plans to build a new Newton Senior Center in Newtonville by saddling the existing center with a historic designation were stymied last week, reports Gavin Zhang at the Heights.
Meanwhile, the amount of COVID-19 detected in Eastern Massachusetts wastewater and the number of confirmed reported COVID-19 cases are inching up, the Globe reports.
Also yesterday: The FDA approved an extra COVID vax booster for some people. Go here if you're wondering if you can, or should, get it.
MBTA Need to Knows
Here’s three MBTA-related items from Chris Lisinski at State House News:
Commuter rail users working hybrid schedules will be happy to know that the T is making its Flex Pass program permanent. For most of the pandemic, the commuter rail struggled with ridership but since late last summer, travelers have been flocking to commuter rail trains at an increasing clip. The system today is approaching 50 percent of pre-COVID ridership.
Long delayed plans to install anti-collision technology on the Green Line (following a trolley crash last year that injured more than two dozen riders, as well as crashes in 2008 and 2009) is finally moving forward. The $24 million system will deploy radar signals, cameras, improved communications capabilities, and measures to prevent train crashes. It's scheduled to be complete by 2023.
And the agency has approved a $157 million purchase of 160 diesel-electric hybrid buses, embracing the vehicles as a step along the way toward full electrification but upsetting transit advocates who want the agency to move away from any fossil fuels faster.
Turns out the grass is greener here
Finally, we turn to the least-believable story I found while doing my nightly headlines scan last night:
We’re not as stressed as we think we are.
Or, at least, we’re not as stressed as folks are in other states.
That’s according to a Wallet Hub survey which ranked Massachusetts among the “least stressed” states in the nation.
“Massachusetts residents work the least hours of any state in the country, and have among the best credit scores,” notes Peter Chianca at Boston.com.
“We have among the most psychologists per capita, meaning when we do get stressed it’s easy to find somebody to talk to about it for 50 minutes.
“Overall, Massachusetts placed 43 out of 50 on the list of most stressed states, with the top honor going to Louisiana, known for its hurricanes, floods, tornados, high poverty rate (second only to Mississippi), and nation-high crime rate, which makes our stress over Dunkin’ messing up our coffee order seem, granted, less pressing.”
That’s today’s Need to Knows, unless you need to know how to keep candidates happy throughout your hiring process
