We're 'sitting on a massive untapped economic engine'
We're 'sitting on a massive untapped economic engine'
Good morning,
For many years, one of the most anticipated events on our chamber calendar was our annual economic outlook forecast, presented by Dr. Mary Burke, principal economist and policy advisor at the Boston Fed.
Burke has a knack for presenting the latest economic trends, tailored to our region, in an easy-to-digest way. In other words, you won’t need to be a data geek to gain genuinely helpful information.
We’re delighted that Burke has agreed to come back and present to us at a time when we’re all scratching our heads (or tearing out hair out) trying to make critical decisions about our businesses.
I urge you to join us for Burke’s presentation, May 14 at the Needham Sheraton, part of our Spring Business Breakfast: 2025 Economic Outlook, presented by Eastern Bank. RSVP.
P.S. Data geeks are welcome too!
Great Plain Ave. pilot project should be postponed
In just two months, the Town of Needham plans to launch a pilot program that aims to make its main downtown thoroughfare, Great Plain Ave., safer, more vibrant, and welcoming.
It’s a laudable goal. Great Plain needs a facelift. Needham’s downtown could benefit greatly from redevelopment.
But as became abundantly clear at a meeting with business owners yesterday, this pilot is nowhere near ready.
It needs to be postponed.
In a morning meeting yesterday, business owner after business owner expressed irritation with the process; fear about the harm it might create; and anger over a lack of specifics.
No renderings were presented. No maps. No data on the number of impacted parking spots or where they’d be. No answers about snow removal. No idea how deliveries would be managed.
And there’s no economic impact study.
Too many livelihoods are at stake to go on a hunch that this will be good for Needham and its small businesses.
We urge the Needham Select Board to announce immediately that the July pilot is off.
Then come back when there exists a distinct proposal (or multiple scenarios), clear answers and a thorough economic impact review.
I value your feedback
‘Sitting on a massive untapped economic engine’
There have been multiple reports over the past few years about how Massachusetts is suffering from an exodus of workers and struggling to fill jobs.
A new report finds that the picture would have been even more dire if it were not for the growth of one demographic in particular: Hispanics and Latinos.
Between 2014 and 2023, Hispanics and Latinos accounted for 84% of the state's population growth — a larger share than nationwide — according to the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation and We Are ALX study.
Hispanics and Latinos accounted for six in 10 new jobs over that same time period.
This matters when the state needs an estimated 143,000 more workers to fill jobs in manufacturing, clean energy technology and pharmaceuticals/life science sectors in order for those sectors to be competitive.
The Hispanic/Latino population in Massachusetts accounted for $30 billion of the state’s economic growth over the last decade — more than one-quarter of gross state product growth.
“The reality is that Massachusetts is sitting on a massive untapped economic engine,” Eneida Román, head of the Wellesley-based We Are ALX, tells GBH.
But Roman adds: “we [can] continue contributing more and more each day to the economy of Massachusetts” by closing gaps in education, workforce training and home ownership.
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Another day, another attempt to stop multi-family housing
Yet another multifamily project in one of our communities is being held up by an unhappy abutter.
This one is a suit against the Wellesley Planning Board for Encore Properties’ development off Route 9 on various procedural grounds. The town is denying the allegations.
The puzzling thing about so many of these lawsuits is that you’d think neighbors would be happy that a site that looks like this was getting a face lift.
Friday grab bag
- Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy and Congressman Jake Auchincloss will speak at the Theodore D. Mann Memorial Newton Mayor's Community Breakfast, May 28 on the UMass Mt. Ida campus. RSVP
- In Tuesday’s newsletter, I repeated incorrect information cited at Monday’s Envision Needham meeting regarding traffic fatalities in Needham Center. Data shared by the DPW with a chamber member identifies one fatal accident from 2020 – 2024, plus one suspected serious injury, three “possible injuries” and unknown injuries.
- A proposal before a U.S. House committee would cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for Massachusetts projects, including a $335 million pledge for the reconstruction of the Mass Pike in Allston. (Street Blog Mass)
- The New Art Center hosts its gala , May 17 at Garage B, featuring an exclusive art auction with over 90 works by 40 artists to support scholarships, community programs and emerging artists.
- Four Seasons Cafe in Watertown is no longer in operation. (Boston Restaurant Talk)
- Massachusetts employers are invited on May 8, 10 am to a free info session on the Workplace Safety Training Grant, which offers up to $25,000 to support workplace safety improvements.
- Due to continued drought conditions, Wellesley has imposed new outdoor watering restrictions on businesses and residents.
- NaisLee Catering is launching a new casual food service area offering Venezuelan-inspired cuisine along with American and French dishes, available for pickup or delivery from their West Newton location. Soft opening is this weekend.
- The Newton Boys & Girls Club gala is May 9 at the Newton Marriott. RSVP
- St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton has a new name.
- Date change: Wellesley’s Strategic Housing Plan will now be presented to the Select Board and Planning Board on June 3.
- Enjoy a Community Sculpture Walk on the Community Path in Saltonstall Park in Watertown on May 17, 11 a.m.at the Community Path Behind Saltonstall Park.
Needham to try again to comply with MBTA Communities.
Next week, Needham Town Meeting is expected to, once again, pass a zoning plan to comply with MBTA Communities Act.
Only this time, it’s not expected that anyone will try to repeal it.
That’s what happened in January to an expansive housing plan Town Meeting approved last October.
Articles 18 and 19 reflect a scaled-back approach. It meets the law’s requirements. But it’s expected to create few, if any, new homes.
The schools stalemate in Newton that didn’t have to be
Finally, the Newton Beacon’s Bryan McGonigle explores the legal issues in the budget battle between Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and the School Committee.
The bottom line: No one is quite sure what would happen if Superintendent Anna Nolin abides by the committee’s vote and attempts to spend more than the mayor authorizes.
But this seems like as good as anytime to note – again – that if the city hadn’t been as hostile as it has been to new development over the years, there’d be a lot more tax revenue available to spend on schools and other services.
“During the decade when our development remained flat, our neighbors, Needham and Waltham, both saw great investments in commercial development on properties bordering I-95,” writes Chuck Tanowitz, chair of Newton’s Economic Development Commission in a Fig City News op-ed.
“… But every proposal [in Newton] has ended up mired in special permits, local pushback, and City Council interference,” Tanowitz adds.
There was more shenanigans last month, although councilors can finally approve a scaled back Northland project next week. In the months ahead, we hope to see a revised Riverside Station development too.
But the sad reality is earlier, more ambitious, versions of both projects would already have been built and occupied (or very close to it), were it not for years of obstruction.
And that’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know that if you leave your phone on Mount Fuji, don’t go back to get it.
RIP Robert Campbell.
See you next week.
President & CEO
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.