Good morning, friends. Welcome to the halfway point of 2025.

• Marjorie Freiman becomes the new chair of the Wellesley Select Board today.  
  
  
• Katie King will be sworn in as Needham’s second-ever town manager Thursday morning.

But the main thing I wanted to talk about today is something that’s breaking the backs of many small businesses: credit card swipe fees.

Credit card fees are out of control

Every time you or I pull out our credit card, the merchant pays a processing fee.

And over the years, those fees have ballooned out of control, while nearly half of all consumers now report not using any cash in a given week.

Merchants paid a total of $172 billion in processing fees nationwide in 2023, up from roughly $116 billion the year before the pandemic — a 48 percent increase.

We’re now at the point where monthly credit card swipe fees — typically 2 to 4% of every transaction — are many merchants’ third-highest operating expense, after only rent and labor.

While efforts to rein in fees have languished on Capitol Hill for years, 48 states allow businesses the option of charging customers a convenience fee for using a credit card.

Only Massachusetts and Connecticut don’t let businesses charge a fee for using a credit card.

Yes, we know, some businesses in the state do so anyway.

But they’re not supposed to.

Massachusetts law permits sellers to offer a cash discount (a practice commonly employed by many gas stations), just not the other way around.

However, state disclosure rules make cash discounting onerous for any business that sells a wide variety of items. That’s because the law requires listing both cash and credit prices on every item sold.

That’s simple if you mainly sell one product (i.e., gasoline).  But it’s a daunting task for restaurants and stores, according to the Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM)

Guess which entity is allowed to charge a convenience fee?

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Yes, the state adds a credit card service fee for paying by card, but prohibits businesses from doing the same thing.

“Clearly the Commonwealth recognizes that there is a cost to processing payments, and the Commonwealth takes full advantage of the ability to pass that cost onto its customers,” says RAM. “Repealing its prohibition would be a valuable tool to help our struggling small retailers and restaurants.”

We join RAM in supporting House Bill 447: An Act regarding credit card surcharging, now before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure on Beacon Hill.

Here’s another credit card regulation we support

State Sen. Cindy Creem has filed a different bill aimed at helping restaurants and other businesses, which emerged following a meeting the senator had with the chamber’s Dining Collaborative.

Senate Bill 688 would help restaurant owners by ensuring they are not charged credit card processing fees on meals taxes or employees tips, saving thousands of dollars annually in burdensome fees.

It’s a practice that’s particularly frustrating when it comes to the meal and sales taxes, since the state or municipality receives 100% of the tax, but the business absorbs 100% of the swipe fee.

Add your name to the Mass. Restaurant Association’s petition supporting lower credit card swipe fees.

‘There’s a guy in Watertown’

The Globe’s Beth Teitell wrote a fun feature about Jim “Caino” Cain, a “semi-reformed chain-smoking 80-year-old from Perry, Okla. with a wispy gray ponytail and a shy smile [who] didn’t set out to become a plumbing supply store legend” but became one nonetheless.

Caino is the plumbing parts guru who holds court at F.W. Webb in Watertown (formerly Watertown Supply until 2014).

‘If you ever have a question you can’t answer,” says one plumber, who apparently speaks for many, “there’s a guy in Watertown.’”

Were your ears burning, Needham?

He probably wasn’t explicitly, um, envisioning the controversy in Needham related to a proposal to reduce the four-lane downtown section of Great Plain Ave.

Nonetheless, here’s an interesting quote from Rep. Jake Auchincloss from his recent email newsletter:

“Plan for people, not cars: Walkable downtowns are platforms for wealth creation. Where pedestrians congregate, customers spend. Walkability is also good for safety, civic cohesion, and children's development. The impediment to walkability is cars and parking.

“Narrow & slow down vehicular lanes. Widen sidewalks & plant trees. Zone for fine-grained storefronts rather than block-long walls with off-street parking behind them. At special spots, ban cars entirely. Prise the curb away from parking. Share it between parking, cycling, buses, outdoor seating, rideshare, and delivery.”

I value your feedback

Tuesday grab bag

• Did you read the heartbreaking story in the Globe about what happened to a Massachusetts small business owner in front of his family?
• Aliana de la Guardia is the new executive director of the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, replacing interim Executive Director Roberta Miller. De la Guardia was executive director of Guerilla Opera for nearly 20 years and, more recently, managed development and communications at the Academy of Music Theatre. (Watertown News)
• The annual St. Mary of Carmen Festival runs July 16-20, at Pellegrini Park in Nonantum.
• The state’s incoming Economic Development Secretary, Eric Paley told WBUR last week why he’s bullish about Massachusetts, including growing advanced manufacturing, but that he’s worried about the state’s ability to retain talent.
• Among LGBTQ adults surveyed early this year by Pew Research Center, 68% said all or most companies promoting Pride do so because they think it's good for business, 35% because they feel pressured to do so, and 16% out of genuine desire.
• MassArt is seeking nominations for the 2025 Common Good Awards, recognizing individuals or organizations working at the intersection of art and civic life. The event is Dec. 6.  Nominations are due Aug. 1
• The amount of office supply in the U.S. is on pace this year to contract for the first time in a quarter of a century. (Wall Street Journal, free link)

Do you know an outstanding Needham business or business person?

Thursday (July 3) is the deadline to submit nominations for our annual Needham Night Business Awards, recognizing Needham-based businesses, nonprofits, and individuals who’ve made a significant impact in the past year. 

Awards will be presented at Needham Night,  Aug. 6, at a (new) location to be announced.

Wondering about our other communities' award nights?

• Watertown Night took place earlier this year and is scheduled to return in 2026.
• New! Our first-ever Newton Business Awards happens Sept. 4.
• And we’re looking for an amazing location for the Wellesley Night in the fall if you have any suggestions.

This perk may give you a paw up on the competition

Finally, looking for new ways to attract and retain younger workers?

(Other than, given our housing shortage, letting them live in your basement, that is.)

How about offering pet insurance?

"Pet insurance has become more and more popular with the younger generation," the CEO of an employee benefits firm tells Andy Medici at the Business Journals. “We have done surveys at businesses and found that in many cases, younger employees value pet insurance more than they do health insurance.

“Their mindset is that a major medical event is unlikely to happen to them at that age but they would be devastated if something happened to their pet and they couldn't afford to pay for the veterinary bills."

OK, the boomer dad in me is a little uncomfortable with the “mindset.”

Still, Medici reports job openings advertising pet insurance has surged since 2022, more than doubling from 108,951 postings advertising the perk in June 2022 to 294,220 job openings so far in June 2025.

On the other hand, job openings advertising "paw-ternity" leave, or days off to care for a newly adopted pet, dropped from 400 in June 2022 to 266 in June 2025. Job listings for "pet-friendly offices" dropped from 2,431 job listings to 2,230 during the same time, he adds.

And that’s what you need to know for today — Bobby Bonilla Day — unless you need to know why your 4th of July burgers cost more than ever.

My colleague Max Woolf will be back with this newsletter on Thursday.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter. Enjoying this newsletter? Tell a friend.