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The $50 mil question: Will HireNow do what it's supposed to do?

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The $50 mil question: Will HireNow do what it's supposed to do?

Gov. Charlie Baker’s hiring incentive program is two days old and it's already drawing criticism.
 
Called HireNow it sets aside $50 million to help business offer training, or hiring bonuses, or both, to employers who hire job candidates who may need some extra training or skills.
 
But the program’s guidelines are minimal (purposely so perhaps to make Hire Now it easy for busy employers).
 
While you will be required to document your hires and verify that they’ve been on the job for at least 60 days, it doesn’t specify where those new hires come from.
 
Also, employers “are not required to document training methods or specific expenses” in order to qualify to receive a $4,000 per hire stipend. And there doesn't appear to be a requirement to report how you spent your grant after the fact.
 
Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, believes HireNow is “deeply misguided” and “designed the wrong way.”
 
Horowitz tells Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth that he worries the $4,000 stipends will quickly be gobbled up by employers hiring workers in the natural course of business and not in finding those workers who are only being selected because there’s funds available to train them to get up to speed.
 
If Horwitz is right -- and I fear he is -- this could end up like the earliest days of the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program when most of the grants went to large companies (remember the scandal with "The Bachelor"?).
 
?Then the funding ran out, leaving behind the employers and workers it was designed to help.
 
 
But where can you find workers?
 
Still, for those employers who are genuinely interested in finding new places to find workers -- and then using HireRight funds train them -- here’s one idea:
 
Give TikTok a chance.
 
Experts suggest the dance- and trend-driven social media app popular with Generation Z and others could be a good way for small business owners to not just build their brand, but attract prospective workers, according to Andy Medici at the BBJ, who offers TikTok tips to get started.
 
I’m also reminded of the webinar our chamber hosted last fall with Harvard Business School Professor Joe Fuller about his team’s ‘Hidden Workers’ research which explored new pipelines to find talent that is very much in keeping with Baker’s intentions.
 
If you're an employer searching for workers (who isn't?), here's the video.
 
And if you've found success looking for employees in untraditional settings, email me. I’d be interested in hearing about it.
 
A few reminders about HireNow
 
HireNow is open to all Massachusetts employers, including both for-profit and nonprofit entities (excluding federal, state, and municipal governments) on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
(And the nonprofit part is excellent news since many prior states and local COVID era grant programs excluded those employers.)
 
Hires must be made after March 23, retained for at least 60 days, given at least 30 hours of work per week, and paid between $14.25 per hour and $42.50 per hour (about $85,000 annually) for an employer to qualify for a $4,000 per-employee grant for up to 100 workers, or $400,000.
 
And this should be your very first step: Go online today and complete the online application so your company is set up in the system for once you’ve made a hire. 
 
 
Outdoor dining and to-go cocktails: Huzzah!
 
The state Senate voted yesterday to extend outdoor dining rules that are scheduled to expire at end of next week.
 
The extension to April 2023 has already been approved by the House and is said to have the governor’s support. It simplifies the hoops restaurants and municipalities would otherwise have to jump through to operate on sidewalks and parklets.
 
The move is especially important in Wellesley, which due to outdated town regulations, will not be able to allow any service on public sidewalks and parklets without this extension. (Now town leaders have a year to fix those archaic rules).
 
Lawmakers have also agreed to continue allowing restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktails for takeout until April 1, 2023.
 
Here’s something that doesn’t happen very often
 
Hummingbird Books, a new independent and female-owned bookstore, is set to open at The Street Chestnut Hill this spring.
 
It’s founded by Boston area native Wendy Dodson, owner of the famous Valley Bookstore in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, according to Annie Sandoli at Newton Patch.
 
Need to knows
 
  • There will be a Stand with Ukraine rally for peace at the corner of Beacon and Centre Streets in Newton Centre today 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. 
 
  • Newton’s New Philharmonia Orchestra’s March 27 performance at Newton North High School will open with a tribute to the people of Ukraine. Newton resident and Kyiv native, Olga Lisovskaya will sing the Ukrainian National Anthem along with a Ukrainian aria to open the program. Details.
   
  • GBH is continuing its State of Race live virtual forum series with “The State of Race: Equity in Business Ownership,” March 31 at 5:30 p.m. at the Boston Public Library. To attend in-person: RSVP here Or RSVP here to attend online 
 
  • The Needham Fire Department will be participating in emergency preparedness training exercises with Keolis, the operator of the MBTA’s Commuter Rail from Monday thru Thursday (March 28-31). Expect additional train idling during the daytime hours.
 
  • Mass DOT will hold a public information meeting Thurs. (March 31) on the proposed bridge replacement and rehabilitation at I-90/I-95 Interchange on the Newton-Weston line. Details
 
 
Enough with the need to knows, here's a need to have
 
Our communities feature a broad array of amazing places to dine, shop and explore.
 
But we don’t have a single microbrewery!
 
On Monday (March 28) at 8 p.m., Needham’s Planning Board will hold a public hearing  to solicit input on proposed zoning changes that would allow for the establishment of brew pubs and microbreweries in Needham.
 
If approved, the zoning changes would appear as a proposed amendment to Needham’s Zoning by-law at Town Meeting in May.
 
You can tell the Planning Board how much you love this idea by sending them an email here.
 
Understanding the state’s newest housing law
 
Just ahead of next Wednesday’s public comment deadline for the MBTA Communities Act, the 495/MetroWest Partnership and the Middlesex 3 Coalition will co-host a virtual presentation regarding the law on Monday (March 28) at 9 a.m.
 
Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, staff from the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership will participate. Register.
 
For more, I still recommend this excellent white paper from Boston Indicators.
 
Reminder about our scholarship program
 
If there’s any graduating high school seniors in your orbit let them know that the deadline for the chamber’s scholarship program is next Thursday (March 31). 
 
To qualify students must either live in Needham, Newton, Watertown or Wellesley or attend school in Needham, Newton, Watertown or Wellesley. Details.
 
One more before you go...
 
Before you head off for the weekend, find a few minutes to enjoy a crowd sourced poem curated by Needham Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick.
 
“My hope was to create an aspirational poem - not one about what we like, or what we wish for, but what we long for,” Fitzpatrick writes on her Very Kate blog.
 
“I sent out a call for feedback and received more than 50 responses from all over the country (and Australia)!
 
Here’s “We Long For A City Where We Go Hard On The Issues And Easy On The People.”
?
 
Be back Tuesday. Enjoy the weekend.
 
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
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