Good morning, friends,

The Healey-Driscoll administration just launched a webpage to track the impact of federal actions on funding in Massachusetts and the governor also wants to know how cuts are impacting your organization.

If your business, nonprofit, city or town has been impacted by federal government actions, use this form to report your experience.

Recent examples include, but are not limited to, funding cuts, grant or program terminations and freezes of awarded funding.

The Boston Fed wants to hear from you, too

At the end of her (sobering) presentation at our “Spring Business Breakfast: 2025 Economic Forecast” on Wednesday, economist Dr. Mary Burke of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston had a request for business owners.

The Fed is looking for businesses interested in becoming a contributor to its Beige Book, which reports on current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve districts eight times annually.

Beige Books are widely used to set economic policy and read by economists (including Jerome Powell and Burke’s boss, Susan Collins), policy makers, elected officials, business leaders and others.

Your participation would be in the form of periodic online surveys. Your company’s specific information will be confidential, Burke assured us.

But this is a unique opportunity to make sure our region and your business sector is represented in the overall picture.

Apply here if you’d like to be considered as a contributor on behalf of your company.

And here’s what happened on Wednesday

It was standing room only at the Needham Sheraton on Wednesday, and it was great to see so many different business sectors and civic leaders represented.

Big thanks to Ashley Stolba, the state’s interim economic development secretary; Eastern Bank’s Bob Rivers; Burke; and former economic development secretary Yvonne Hao, who stole the show and gave us the encouragement we needed to watch the Celtics that evening and think about how we move forward amidst so much uncertainty.

Don’t take my word for it. Here are reports from:

• John Chesto at the Globe: “After leaving Healey administration, Yvonne Hao rips Trump cuts, cheers Mass. Resiliency”

• Doug Banks at the BBJ: “Six takeaways from new economic secretary Stolba, Boston Fed economist”And here’s the full video thanks to the talented team at NewTV
  
  

On deck: Our second Transportation Forum

Following last year’s conversation with Secretary of Transportation Monica Tibbits-Nutt, we’re diving deeper into our transportation challenges with MBTA General Manager Phil Eng at our second annual Transportation Forum, June 17, 1 p.m. at Tripadvisor.

Eng will share progress made turning the T around, including significant strides in eliminating slow zones, orders of new electric commuter rail trains, and bus network redesigns.

We’ll then examine what it takes to sustain and grow a stronger transit system. Luc Schuster, executive director of Boston Indicators and Jarred Johnson, former executive director of Transit Matters, will present findings from their report highlighting how most communities in greater Boston — especially ours — are failing to build the kind of density needed to support transit.

RSVP

Need to goes

• It’s the Wellesley Wonderful Weekend, this Saturday and Sunday, honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Events include an antique car show, a tour of the renovated town hall, a veterans parade, a concert and fireworks.
• Watertown Porchfest returns Saturday, from noon to 6 p.m., with free music and performances on porches, patios, driveways and lawns across the city.  Celebrate the new Community Sculpture Walk at 11 a.m. behind City Hall. Block parties at Spring and Buick streets with after-hours from 6 to 9 p.m., at Ritcey East.
• Newton Community Farm’s annual seedling sale – with over 90 varieties of seedlings grown on the farm –is this Saturday and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.
• The six-week Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts begins tonight in Newton.

Friday grab bag

• Looking for a way your team can give back? The Watertown Community Foundation has a full list of volunteer Watertown Helps Out Month events.
• Fig City News reports on yet another ICE arrest in Newton, this one on May 12 on Lexington Street. And CBS Boston reports that a 12-year-old boy was left behind on a street after an ICE arrest in Waltham.  
• The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources hosts a webinar on Tuesday (May 19)  to walk through the energy reporting guidelines for the Large Building Energy Reporting Law.
• Needham’s Sunita Williams visited the governor and received an honorary degree yesterday.
• Clarification: I goofed when reading the Swellesley Report’s interview with newly elected Wellesley Select Board member Kenny Largess. Largess actually said he believes Town Meeting got a lot done this year. It’s just that the meetings are too long.
• Clearly, fed cuts are showing no mercy.
• Also, sometimes $27.50 can go further than expected.
• The Town of Needham is seeking volunteers to fill five vacancies on the town’s Council of Economic Advisors to advocate for economic development policies within Needham.  Don’t just gripe that you're not being heard. If you live and/or work in Needham, you can apply.
• Looking for a gift or restaurant to celebrate a graduate? Here’s our Support Local directory.

Ignoring traffic will never fix it. Can this help?

Finally, the suggestion that congestion pricing could be used to mitigate Greater Boston’s traffic has been talked about, studied and dismissed for years.

Here’s the basic concept: Could we use tolling to encourage drivers to alter their travel behavior by shifting to off-peak times, using alternative routes, or switching to public transit?

New York City, as you probably know, instituted congestion pricing in January amid much skepticism and legal challenges.

But as the New York Times reported this week (gift link), benefits were felt almost immediately.

New York is now seeing fewer cars on the streets, overall traffic speeds have increased, buses are moving faster and seeing fewer delays, transit ridership has increased, car crashes have decreased, more kids are getting to class on time, fire response times have improved and reservations at restaurants have increased.

Even traffic immediately outside the restricted areas has improved.

Any system employed in Greater Boston would need to differ from New York’s. And we should be concerned that rush hour tolling would divert more drivers to our local streets.

But there are models in many cities worth considering. And it’s well past time to stop thinking the problem will get better if we ignore it.

I’d appreciate your thoughts.

And that’s what you need to know for today — National Pizza Party Day — except you really need to watch the video of the guy who built a real-life Wallace & Gromit contraption.

Go win another one, Celtics!

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.

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