Jan. 16, 2026

Good morning,

Max Woolf here.

During the earliest days of the pandemic, we worked with Sen. Cindy Cream to secure state funding to provide meals for neighbors facing food insecurity and to direct critical dollars to independent restaurants struggling to stay afloat.

Nourishing, our food assistance program, has continued ever since. And as federal food assistance shrinks, its importance will only grow.

Recent reductions to SNAP benefits following the federal government shutdown left many Bay Staters with fewer resources to put food on the table. Now, with deeper cuts coming this year and next, an estimated 4 million people per month are expected to lose some or all of their SNAP food benefits.

Meanwhile, restaurants are facing the most significant period of uncertainty since the pandemic, driven by tariffs, inflation, soaring utility costs and immigration shocks.

Once again, Creem has secured a state grant to continue the program in the three communities she represents: Newton, Wellesley and Brookline.

“I am thrilled that this program will continue to provide much-needed relief to local households and support our restaurant community,” said Creem.  

The Brookline Chamber has been administering the program in that town. We’re now preparing to continue the program in Newton and restart it in Wellesley, with $95,000 in combined grant funding.

The earmark will enable us to purchase and deliver more than 4,000 locally prepared meals from late January or early February through early spring.

Independent restaurants in Newton or Wellesley interested in participating should contact us.

MLK Day Celebrations on Monday, Jan. 19

• Needham’s “We the People” celebration at the Needham High School Auditorium will begin at 9:30 a.m. and feature a collaborative performance by Needham Public School students and the OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center.
  
  
• Newton’s Harmony Foundation’s “The Courage to Love Turns the Tides of Hate” celebration will be hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church at 9 a.m. with a reception and resource fair in support of the Setti D. Warren Food Drive.
  
  
• In Watertown, the 26th annual Unity Breakfast will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the Hellenic Cultural Center, featuring breakfast, music, roundtable conversations, student essays and the presentation of the Unity Award in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  
  
• World of Wellesley will host a ticketed program at Wellesley College at 11 a.m. with a keynote, discussion, and lunch exploring Dr. King’s legacy.

Some breathing room for bio

A new study suggests Massachusetts’ biotech sector has found some breathing room amid optimism around the return of federal science funding.

MassBIO’s annual funding report shows that after a turbulent first half of the year marked by tariffs and proposed federal funding cuts, some momentum returned to the region’s biotech industry in the back half of 2025.

Several of the sector’s largest global deals closed in Greater Boston in recent months. That includes Watertown's Treeline Bio, which led the region with a $621 million financing round and Newton’s Abcuro, which had the sixth-largest deal at $200 million. Both communities rank among the top five suburban markets for biotech investment this year.

Biogen CEO Adam Keneally credited the rebound to proposed funding cuts and cost increases being stalled in the courts, reversed by the administration, or, most recently, Congress.

Scientific American reports that Congress is now moving to reverse many of the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to federal science funding, a shift that helped drive these most recent investments and is expected to restore confidence next year across the biotech sector.

Wellesley has questions for the state about MassBay

The Wellesley Select Board has sent the state a seven-page laundry list of questions regarding the proposed redevelopment of the MassBay parking lot into housing.

Taken together, the 37 questions make clear the town has moved beyond concerns about protecting the adjacent forest. The focus is now on the scale of any development—and whether or not this is a proper use of the state’s authority.

This move follows the board's decision last month to retain legal counsel after postponing the site's visioning study.

It also comes days after Building a Better Wellesley urged the town to accept a deal without “lawsuits, delays, and obfuscation” that would preserve the forest, create 180 homes and help MassBay upgrade its facilities.

That’s the same position Globe editors recommended in October.

Friday Grab bag

• Andrew Mikula has a convincing op-ed in the Globe about his ballot initiative to legalize starter homes by reining in municipalities' minimum lot size requirements. Learn more when Mikula speaks at our Real Estate Forum on Jan. 27.
  
• Every business should check out the state’s new one-stop shop for business support, “Business Front Door.” Watch yesterday’s chamber webinar on the new service.
• Newton’s Economic Development Commission is asking the City Council to reject an effort to dismantle the Newton Centre Plaza.
  
• The BBJ has more on Kestrel Therapeutics’ move from Boston to the Arsenal on the Charles campus in Watertown. Spoiler alert: They loved Watertown.
• Longtime Newton city planner and zoning encyclopedia Zach Lemel will be leaving the city at the end of the month. He joins former Planning Department Director Barney Heath and Deputy Director Jen Caira, who recently departed for MetroWest CD and the City of Cambridge, respectively.
  
• Babson College has broken ground on a 77,000-SF, 70-room executive lodge. (BBJ) Earlier this fall, we wrote about the project, which will bring more visitors to the campus and provide a state-of-the-art space for Babson’s executive education programs.
• MIRA will host a panel to explore immigration’s impact on Massachusetts’ workforce and economy on Jan. 22 at the Winthrop Center in Boston. Speakers will include Secretary of Economic Development Eric Paley and Chamber President Greg Reibman. Register
  
• Attorney General Andrea Campbell warned Tuesday that her office is prepared to “take action as appropriate” by the end of this month against the 12 towns still out of compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. (State House News/Banker and Tradesman)
  
• Mount Auburn Cemetery's Artist-in-Residence program is accepting applications for the 2026–2027 cycle through Feb. 1. The program invites artists of all disciplines to create work inspired by the Cemetery’s landscape and history.

Newton to move eco. dev. to the mayor’s office

Newton is reshaping City Hall to give economic development a stronger voice in decision-making.

Earlier this week, the Zoning and Planning Committee unanimously approved a reorganization that would transition new hires Lauren Berman and Cheryl Lappin from the Planning Department into the Mayor’s Executive Office.

Council President John Oliver said he hopes the new roles will focus on streamlining Newton’s notoriously arduous internal processes, making it easier to secure even basic approvals and reducing the perception that the council is always the bad guy.

“I’m tired of the city council getting blamed for all of this. It’s not entirely our fault,” Oliver said, pointing to administrative bottlenecks in the permitting process. 

Oliver was also “tired of seeing all these large businesses move into adjacent cities and towns when we’ve got that kind of space,” and emphasized the need for Newton to compete more effectively for employers.

Read our letter to the council outlining all the potential benefits of this decision.

This reorganization heads to the full council for final approval on Tuesday night.

Need a ping pong table?

The West Newton Cinema is looking to give a brand-new ping-pong table to an organization that can put it to good use.

To promote the new film Marty Supreme—starring Timothée Chalamet as a 1950s table tennis star—the cinema recently hosted its own ping-pong tournament.

The twist? The tournament winner declined the prize, leaving the table in search of a new home.

Interested parties can contact the West Newton Cinema to learn more.

That’s what you need to know for today—National Fig Newton Day—unless you need to know how to make them yourself.

Max Woolf (he, him)

Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager

Charles River Regional Chamber

617-431-6101

I also value your feedback