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Healey: 'Let me speak directly to the business community'

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Healey: 'Let me speak directly to the business community'

Back in the fall of 2020, our chamber, in partnership with Colette Phillips and her companies Colette Phillips Communications and Get Konnected!, published a list of “50 Most Influential Business Leaders of Color in Greater Boston’s Western Suburbs.”
 
We’ve been told many times since that the list was a valuable resource for corporations and nonprofits looking to hire, looking for board members, looking for expert commentators, and looking for thought leaders across our region.
 
Today we’re announcing that we’ll be partnering with Phillips again on the publication of an updated -- and expanded -- version of the list this spring.
 
Once again, we’ll showcase the individuals and employers who are making a positive contribution to the economic and social fabric of our west suburban businesses and nonprofits.
 
But we also want to measure whether our region’s employers have, or haven’t, fulfilled commitments towards becoming more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.  
 
In addition, this year we'll be adding a separate list of “Emerging Leaders of Color,” focused on those under 40 working in our suburban communities.
 
Nominations open later this month.
 
?We’re now seeking business partners to sponsor our 2023 edition. Interested? contact Lise Elcock.
 
Learn more about this year's project here.
 
Gov. Healey's message to businesses
 
“Let me speak directly to the business community.”
 
That’s how Maura Healey began a key section of her inaugural address yesterday after being sworn in as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts.
 
“You help drive our economy and you will help build our future. In me, you will have a partner every step of the way,” she continued.
 
“That begins with making sure you have the workforce you need. Tens of thousands of jobs in health care, transportation, and technology are going unfilled because the skills of our workers don’t match the demands of our economy. Let’s work with our community colleges and vocational schools, and make sure the training we offer meets the needs of our companies in every region.”
 
Healey went on to outline a series of initiatives of direct and indirect importance, to employers.
 
Her list included a substantial push to create more housing; free community college for anyone 25 years or older without a college degree; and a commitment to address the “unacceptable” state of our trains and roads and bridges.
 
?And, she added, “let’s acknowledge that we can’t have a functioning economy without a functioning T.”
 
 
Happy face: Wellesley lights stay lit
 
Wellesley’s Municipal Light Plant has agreed to leave the town’s holiday lights lit through the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The MLP had originally planned to unplug and remove the decorations this week. But local merchants and the chamber requested the extension because we believe the winter lights enliven the town’s shopping district during the darkest days of the year.
 
Frowny face: Watertown losing a landmark
 
Porcini's Italian Restaurant in Watertown -- beloved for its garden patio, fireplace, and old-school charm -- will serve its last plate of pasta on Jan. 14 after 23 years in business, according to a message on their website. 
 
“The past 3 years have been devastating to our business, as we have struggled through the results of the COVID pandemic. Like many restaurants, we tried to make things work, but unfortunately cannot keep this business going.”
 
Half sour face: Pickle company sues Wahlburgers 
 
Grillo’s Pickles, which was founded in Needham 15 years ago, is hauling Wahlburgers to court, saying the chain’s claims that its pickles are “all natural,” and contain “no preservatives” isn't kosher. Grillo’s says Wahlburgers used a “clandestine addition” to give it a longer shelf life and that they have the lab tests to prove it, reports Universal Hub.
 
Travis Grillo, who famously dressed with a certain relish started the company, based on an old family recipe, in Needham in 2007 and sold it to a California company in 2021. They're now based in Westwood.
Interested in sponsoring this newsletter?
 
Newspaper envy and why it matters 
 
Did you catch the story in the Globe this week about the “great newspaper war” underway in Marblehead?
 
Three independent publications have launched in the north shore town since publisher Gannett abandoned local coverage in dozens of other communities last year.
 
Great for Marblehead.
 
But you have to wonder how a community with fewer than 20,000 residents can have three publications, while Needham, with 31,000 residents, no longer has any publication covering municipal meetings, schools, economic development, and other local news? (There is Hometown Weekly, but it contains no news reporting.)
 
In our other chamber communities, we’re fortunate to have the Swellesley Report, Watertown News, and Fig City News (although they all could use more resources and financial support). And within days the Newton Beacon will be making its debut with coverage of Newton’s override.
 
But if you have any doubt as to why democracies need a healthy mix of local, regional, and national news sites, look no further than the scandal surrounding the election of New York Congressman-elect George Santos.
 
Months before Santos’ election (and before the New York Times reported in December that Santos fabricated pretty much every part of his biography) a tiny publication on Long Island was raising questions about his claims.
 
But no one paid attention to the North Shore Leader when it published a scathing editorial, raising questions that needed to be asked before he was elected.
 
“It was the stuff national headlines are supposed to be built on,” wrote the Washington Post. “A hyperlocal outlet like the Leader does the legwork, regional papers verify and amplify the story, and before long an emerging political scandal is being broadcast coast to coast.
 
“But that system, which has atrophied for decades amid the destruction of news economies, appears to have failed completely this time.”
 
And it's up to all of us to not let that happen.
 
 
That’s your Need to Knows for today, unless you want to know the names of every woman ever elected to the Massachusetts Legislature.
 
Have a great weekend. Be back Tuesday.
 
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President
617.244.1688
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