Good Morning,

This is the Chamber’s Public Policy Manager, Max Woolf, filling in for Greg.

I usually help out with our newsletter behind the scenes, but today I’m the one bringing you the latest updates from around our region.

Note that the chamber office will be closed today as we host our (sold-out) first annual Women’s Conference at Wellesley College.

What’s better than a parking lot?…Housing! 

MassBay Community College will hold informal meetings with Wellesley residents and other community stakeholders this summer to gather input on its plan to redevelop an underutilized parking lot into multifamily housing.

Their plans would utilize new provisions in the Healey-Driscoll’s administration’s Affordable Homes Act, allowing them to sell and redevelop their “surplus land.”

MassBay hopes to use proceeds to help construct a building that will house its flourishing cybersecurity program above a new gym (the school doesn’t have one now) and health and wellness facility.

The project would also help address what may be the town’s most pressing economic and social challenge…housing availability and affordability.

Formal public outreach will follow in the fall. However, as we emphasized last week and will continue to repeat, since the project is on state-owned land, it is not subject to Wellesley’s exhaustive special permit process. It may only need to satisfy basic infrastructure requirements and won’t require Town Meeting approval.

Needham Center redesign to get redesigned 

This week, the Needham Select Board decided to take a new direction in its redesign of the town’s downtown thoroughfare Great Plan Ave.

In a unanimous vote, the board directed town’s staff, consultants, and working group to study three alternative roadway configurations: a refined four-lane layout, a compromise three-lane option, and the previously proposed two-lane “road diet.” Each plan will be evaluated for its effects on traffic, parking, bike and pedestrian safety, cost, and economic vitality, followed by extensive public input.

What the board didn’t do was give up a $320,000 federal grant that requires the inclusion of controversial bike lanes. That decision marked a shift from the prior meeting, where board members seemed ready to forfeit the grant.

Vice Chair Cathy Dowd, who had pushed for abandoning the grant, argued it “tied their hands” by locking the town into a 12-month pilot of a two-lane design with bike lanes. She maintained that accepting the grant constrained the town’s ability to objectively consider a full range of alternatives. "If we don't give it up," she said, "it remains the dominant plan."

Others disagreed. Board Member Kevin Keane argued that it was premature to remove the grant from consideration before knowing which design the town might ultimately favor. “Never give up the playing card of a grant,” he said.

That sentiment was echoed by board members Heidi Frail and Marianne Cooley, who supported retaining the funding while the new options were explored.

With only two members in favor of rejecting the grant, that part of the motion failed. The direction to study different alternatives passed unanimously.

The board also voted to add a fourth business representative to the project's citizen working group, despite concerns about its growing size and governance challenges.

Cooley put it bluntly when she said, “Part of this process has been horrible governance.” Dowd called it "a mess.”

The Needham Observer has more.

MassBioEd reports optimism amidst uncertainty. MassBioEd reports optimism amidst uncertainty. 

Despite seemingly endless economic uncertainty, the Commonwealth’s biotech industry is still projected to grow, albeit at a slower pace, according to MassBioEd's Annual Life Sciences Employment Outlook.

While biotech job growth rose 4.2 percent from 2022 to 2023, it slowed in 2024 to just 0.03 percent. Yet even this modest increase still outpaced overall private sector job growth in Massachusetts by nearly fourfold.

Even with cuts to federal research programs, the sector continues to outperform the broader Massachusetts economy, growing at a rate of 11.6 percent compared to the state's 3.4 percent.

The report pushes back on the perception that the biotech industry is in peril. MassBio CEO Sunny Schwartz explained, “Despite the fact that there are a lot of headlines about layoffs in the industry, the workforce hasn't shrunk… So, that means while there have been layoffs in some big companies, a lot of other companies are hiring” (WBUR).

Still, Massachusetts is the largest recipient of NIH funding per capita and federal cuts are having a serious effect.

The BBJ warns that reductions in funding, combined with agency layoffs, may slow progress and create new challenges in the year ahead.

…while three local biotechs get state support 

Some of those “other companies who are hiring” are about to get a boost from the state, including three right here in our region.

Watertown’s Topo Therapeutics and Remix Therapeutics, along with Newton-based STC Biologics, are among 33 life sciences firms selected to receive significant tax incentives in exchange for creating new jobs.

Gov. Maura Healey announced the awards yesterday as part of the newly expanded tax incentive program made possible by the Mass Leads Act; last year’s economic development package that increased funding for job creation, climate tech, infrastructure, and much more.

So far, the administration has awarded $30 million in incentives, with an additional $10 million set to be distributed in a second round, opening on June 12. These investments are early signs of the Mass Leads Act’s impact in our communities, and we’re eager to see if this support continues.

Friday grab bag

• Watertown City Councilors will be receiving a 70% pay raise. On Tuesday, the Council approved recommendations from an independent commission that suggested the salary increases; a decision we supported to help attract and retain strong civic leaders.
• The Asian Business Empowerment Council will host a free virtual workshop, The Sales Equation, on June 24 at 1:30 p.m. via Zoom, aimed at helping AAPI small business owners improve their sales skills, with interpretation available in six languages. Details
• Newton’s Upper Falls Splash Park opens next week. The new community amenity, constructed and funded by Northland Investment Corp., is one of Northland’s extensive array of community givebacks tied to its Needham Street project.
• The Needham Select Board has appointed Amanda Berman to the Needham Housing Authority following one-member’s resignation. A Housing Policy & Advocacy Liaison at Metro West Collaborative Development, Burman's appointment comes at a critical time as the town competes for over $88 million in planned affordable housing redevelopment.
• Bulfinch’s plan to drop lab space in favor of housing at the Muzi Motors site has caught some attention. Read the Globe’s BBJ’s,and Banker and Tradesman’s coverage,
• Feathers, Fur and Fun will bring owls, snakes, and more animals to the Linden Square Courtyard in Wellesley this Sat., June 14, at noon.
• Needham is looking to hire a new Deputy Town Manager. This position will soon be vacant when the current Deputy Town Manager, Katie King, takes over for Kate Fitzpatrick this July.
• Repair, don’t replace! Newton residents can bring broken small appliances to Newton at Home's free Small Appliance Repair Workshop and keep them out of the landfill. They are at the Scandinavian Living Center in West Newton every Wednesday from 1-3 pm.
• The Town of Needham has lifted all restrictions on outdoor water use.
• Explore how housing and transit intersect within our four communities at our annual Transportation Forum next week. Featuring MBTA General Manager Phil Eng, Tuesday’s event at Tripadvisor HQ is still open to registration.
• Read Jon Keller’s interesting take on the declining success of Boston’s business advocacy in Boston Magazine.

State Budget Stuck in Limbo with Federal Cuts Looming

Beacon Hill lawmakers are once again careening toward a budget deadline with many decisions still to be made.

In a year when economic uncertainty is the name of the game, the big question is how much Massachusetts can count on federal funding, specifically, Medicaid funding, which the President’s "Big Beautiful Bill" could cut by $1 billion annually.

Currently, the state budget is in the hands of the notoriously opaque conference committee, where lawmakers must decide whether to wait for clarity from Washington or finalize a plan before the July 1 deadline.

That leaves two options: They can hold off to see what happens in D.C. and risk being the ones to deal with the potential mess. Or they can pass the budget through now and make it the governor’s problem. Once the budget is signed, the responsibility and the blame shift to her.

I am not sure which is the right decision, but if lawmakers choose to wait, it had better be a purposeful decision, not just the usual Beacon Hill procrastination. This year’s budget is too important to get wrong. But thanks to the closed-door nature of the process, we might never know which it will be.

Juneteenth events next week 

• In Newton on Thursday (June 19), Families Organizing for Racial Justice is hosting a celebration at the Hyde Community Center to commemorate 160 years of emancipation.
  
  
• The Watertown Senior Center is hosting a Juneteenth Celebration Concert on Tuesday (June 17) at 1 p.m., where Richard Amir will perform Classics from the American Songbook.
  
  
• Needham Select Board Member Josh Levy will lead the community's observance on the Town Common at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
  
  
• For Wellesley Residents, the Natick Historical Society and Natick is United will co-host a community reading of Frederick Douglass’ powerful 1852 speech, “What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?” Thursday at 10:30 AM on Natick Common.
  
  

Newton Centre to get a little brighter

Finally, there will soon be twinkle lights lining the trees and fixtures of the Newton Centre Triangle.

The city council recently approved a $75,000 appropriation for their installation, citing the positive effect it would have on businesses and foot traffic, especially during the dark winter months.

Councilors were also moved by community support, including a letter from former Newton Community Pride chair Gloria Gavris, who wrote:

“Light has the unique power to change our perception of a place: to make it more attractive, more inviting, and safer,” Gavris wrote.

“This small investment in the beautification of the village green is an opportunity to increase pedestrian traffic and support our local restaurants and retailers that continue to struggle with tight margins.”

We also chimed in.

The lights are expected to brighten Newton Centre in late summer or early fall.

That’s what you need to know for today — unless you didn’t like today’s newsletter, in which case I remind you not to blame me but Greg, as today is National Blame Someone Else Day. 

Max Woolf (he, him)

Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager

Charles River Regional Chamber

617-431-6101

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