Good morning,

The President of the United States posted a celebratory message on social media early yesterday morning, hailing the launch of new import taxes ranging from 15% to 41% from many countries and even higher from nations subject to punitive tariffs over separate political matters.

“IT’S MIDNIGHT!!!"  he posted. "BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”

Small business owners I heard from yesterday weren’t nearly as happy.

“Prices are already going up for us,” said one local retailer. “Vendors have been dealing with the guessing game for months now so they started raising prices to us. We have raised prices to the customer.

“We expect this to keep building into prices everywhere so inflation will build and build over the next 3-6 months.”

The owner of a well-loved local fast-casual restaurant was even more direct.

“Make no mistake about it, some small businesses will not exist,” he predicted.

“America gets its food from everywhere,” he noted.  Most foods, and meals, include ingredients from abroad.

Just this week, UPS demanded he pay a tariff surcharge before delivering a shipment of tea from France. That’s especially infuriating considering that tea, along with coffee, cocoa, bananas and many other foods we enjoy daily aren’t grown in the U.S., negating the argument that tariffs are supposed to spark domestic production .  

“I can’t absorb tariffs,” the restauranteur said.  “And customers don’t have interest in paying the prices I’m going to need to charge.”

A small sandwich shop owner in another one of our communities shared an invoice he received Thursday from his coffee supplier, with a new column listing tariff surcharges.  

“This is the first time I’ve seen that,” he said.

Other owners told me they were still in the wait-and-see phase.  Some business that don’t deal with perishables have stocked up in anticipation.

“Customers will cut back,” said one. “Where they will cut, not sure but history says they will cut in discretionary areas like restaurants and they will postpone big ticket spending. But everything discretionary will suffer. Money will shift into basics.”

Consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 20.2%, the highest since 1911, according to the Yale Budget Lab.

How are import taxes impacting your business? Please me know.

Are you a Republic Services commercial customer?

Our chamber has been working with Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office to assist commercial Republic Services customers who are experiencing issues with solid waste pickup during the ongoing strike.

Republic tells the AG’s office that it is back to covering most service routes and has established an email address to respond to concerns.  

The email is BostonMetroEscalations@republicservices.com.

If, after reaching out to Republic at that address, you still have difficulty receiving a response, or receiving acceptable service, let me know. We will forward your information to the AG.

Two ballot questions choose different paths to boost housing

The Globe, WBUR, BBJ, MassLive and other media outlets reported this week about a proposed 2026 ballot question that would allow municipalities to impose rent control.

Fewer (Michael Jonas at CommonWealth Beacon was one exception) wrote about a different ballot question that aims to increase the supply of small starter homes by legalizing single-family homes on lots as small as 5,000 SF anywhere in the state that has access to public sewer and water services.

Wellesley resident Andrew Mikula, a senior housing fellow at the Pioneer Institute, is leading the starter home petition.I’m one of its ten signatories, along with Jesse Kanson-Benanav from Abundant Housing, Harvard economics professor Ed Glaeser and Needham resident Felix Zemel.

Both questions are among more than 40 petitions (including cutting taxes) filed this week. It’s a long process. Some, if not all, will never make it onto the ballot.

But if you want to know now why rent control can harm housing production, read this study.

End of a political era in Newton

Newton City Councilor Rick Lipof has decided not to seek reelection this fall, after 24 years of service on the council and, before that, the Board of Aldermen.

Lipof has been a dependable advocate for housing and our businesses over the decades. His voice will be missed.

His late father, Michael, was an alderman for a decade. His sister, Cheryl Lappin, served for 18 years. That’s 52 years of combined Lipof service on that one body and a lot of missed Monday Night Football games.

Lipof’s last minute withdrawal also means that newcomer Jason Silber will become an at-large councilor representing Ward 8 without having faced an opponent or participated in a debate.

As a result, there will be three first-term councilors (Brittany Hume Charm and Brian Golden are the others) who will assume office on Jan. 1 without needing voters’ approval — never ideal in a democracy.

Also withdrawing yesterday was first-term Councilor Alan Lobovits, leaving three candidates for two seats in the Ward 6 at large contest Nov. 4.

Newton Beacon has more. Fig City has the final slate of candidates.

Friday grab bag

• We received 133 nominations for our first annual Newton Small Business Awards. Now it’s up to you to select from our top nominees for our three People’s Choice Awards which will be handed out Sept. 17 at the West Newton Cinema.
  
  
• Watertown’s Orna Therapeutics is the world’s Most Innovative Biotech Startup, according to LexisNexis.
  
  
• Fig City News’ Adam Bernstein reports on a court ruling in favor of Boston College related to the City of Newton’s 2019 appropriation of Webster Woods in Chestnut Hill by eminent domain.
  
  
• Former Newton and Framingham school committee member Geoffrey Epstein, who is now a candidate for mayor in Framingham, has been drawing attention he didn’t ask for from BZ-Radio, Politico, HuffPost, CNN, News Nation and even Jimmy Fallon for having a name similar to a certain deceased sexual predator creep. (Patch)
  
  
• Then there’s former Needham Select Board member Lakshmi Balachandra, who lists herself on LinkedIn as “ex-mayor” of Needham even though Needham doesn’t have mayors.

Goodbye, Brookline Bank.  Hello, Beacon Bank &Trust. 

Once Berkshire Bank’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Brookline Bank is finalized later this year the intuitions will operate at Beacon Bank & Trust, with a ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange of BBT.

Celebrating all things Needham

On Wednesday, we honored three outstanding businesses and one nonprofit for helping make Needham special at our 8th Annual Needham Night

We were proud to recognize Volante Farms with the Legend Award, Rotary Club of Needham with the Community Impact Award, Cook Restaurant as Business of the Year, and Needham Garden & Hardware Center with the Sparkle Award.

Huge thanks to presenting sponsors BID Needham, Briarwood Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, and Needham Bank — along with Rockland Trust, Middlesex Savings Bank, Fidelity Bank, Riptide LLC, North Hill — and to our gracious hosts at BXP for making the evening and strawberry shortcake possible. (Shout-out to the weather gods too!)

On the left in the photo above is the Rotary Club’s Don DeVeuve; Cook Craft Kitchen & Bar co-owners Edison Gutierrez and Diana Sepulveda; and Rep. Josh Tarsky. On  the right: Melodie Volante; Select Board Chair Heidi Frail; Volante Farms co-owner Teri Boardman.

Cameron Morsberger at Needham Local has much more, including many photos.

Chamber members give thumbs up to  Washington St. road diet

Finally, I asked for feedback in Tuesday’s newsletter, about the road diet pilot on Washington Street between West Newton and Newtonville.  Our members responded. 

Unlike many gripes seen on various Facebook pages and elsewhere, every comment we received (so far) was supportive, with one reader noting that he wished a similar pilot hadn’t been put on hold this summer in Needham on Great Plain Ave.

Here's some excerpts:

• “This project is fantastic.  The street is much more pleasant to be on and is generally not congested.  Crossing the street to get to the business on the other side is so much easier than four lanes.”
  
  
• “I am extremely impressed with the Washington Street traffic redesign pilot. Keep at it and the one at Newton Corner as well!.”
  
  
• “I appreciate the improved cycling infrastructure included in the project … People who haven’t biked down Washington Street really don’t appreciate how unsafe it is for cyclists.”
  
  
• “I have written to the [Newton] Beacon and begged them to stop printing articles that overly represent cranky individuals. Why not print an article about traffic engineering and the science that goes into the decision-making? Why not focus on the lives saved and the accidents prevented?”"
  
  
• “We could have had something like this in Needham right now.  I ask that you continue to educate your members about the benefits of these projects.”

I’ll add: There are other considerations, beyond accommodating cars, on on four lane streets.

And that’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know why you should stop complaining about Gen Z workers—and start helping them.

Tax Free weekend is tomorrow and Sunday. Our chamber retailers look forward to seeing you!

Max Woolf will be back with you on Tuesday.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

I value your feedback