What’s our choice?
What’s our choice?
Good morning,
Thanks for opening this email and happy parade day!
If your business still waiting for the IRS to issue your Employee Retention Credit payment, will it help to know that you’re not alone?
Didn’t think so.
The backlog has soared to some 1.4 million companies as the agency sifts through what it believes to be hundreds of thousands of improper applications, reports Andy Medici for the Business Journals.
One expert says it could be several years before businesses with legitimate ERC claims see any money.
Which is infuriating since the program was created to help employers recover from the pandemic.
It’s not easy going green, but what’s our choice?
This week’s heat wave is yet another reminder about how our changing climate is impacting pretty much everything.
That goes for all the floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and other devastating weather events happening globally with increasing frequency.
It’s overwhelming, right?
So is the feeling that any steps we might take in our small corner of our small state won’t make any difference unless more of the state and more of the nation — along with China, India, Russia and other countries — do much more.
Still, this week the Newton City Council took one of the only steps it could towards phasing out the use of fossil fuels.
By a 20-1 vote the council passed an ordinance requiring that all new construction and major renovations be all-electric, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
It’s part of a state pilot program that allows ten communities to test all-electric ordinances, with exemptions for research labs, hospitals, medical offices, freestanding outdoor cooking and emergency generators.
Gas cooking in restaurants will likely qualify as exempt too, according to Ann Berwick, the city’s director of sustainably. But if we’re being realistic, there will be a day when restaurants will need to be all-electric too.
Councilors granted a one-year indoor gas cooking extension (until Jan. 1. 2026) for all properties for major renovations only. But even those projects must include the electric infrastructure to allow for future indoor electric cooking.
At the chamber’s request, there’s also a waiver for circumstances in which electrification will increase the costs of a project by 50% percent or more, compared to the costs of complying only with the requirements of the city’s specialized stretch code; and a waiver provision for instances in which sufficient electrical service is unavailable at the location. We appreciate that the Fuller administration took the time to meet with the chamber and listen to many businesses before crafting the regulation.
(The final ordinance wasn’t available as of last night but email me and I’ll share it when it is.)
Ultimately we supported the ordinance, even though we recognize this is going to be challenging for some property owners and businesses, particularly with renovations.
We also know that the region’s electric grid is nowhere near ready for increased demand (although, see below) and our utility companies can be maddening to work with.
But we have to start somewhere.
Then again, we’re talking about Newton…
Even as the Newton City Council voted 20-1 in support of the new electrification ordinance after years of deliberations, this may not be the end of this saga.
Some of the same folks behind the “Save Our Villages” effort to undo multi-family zoning and to unseat growth-friendly councilors are vowing to overturn the ordinance via referendum.
So stay tuned.
…And a positive note about the grid
It’s appropriate to be alarmed that our region can’t accommodate added electric demand; or that individual properties may not be able to handle or afford needed service upgrades; or that utility companies aren’t capable of providing timely upgrades and service.
But it’s encouraging to read Sabrina Shankman’s story in the Globe detailing that even as electricity demand soared during this week’s heat wave, the region’s power grid “has hummed along uneventfully, backed in part by a relatively new source of energy: thousands of solar panels on rooftops, over parking lots, and along highways.”
“It’s not just helping make the grid more reliable, experts said, but proving that non-fossil fuel generated power is finally playing a significant role in the operation of the regional power grid, with even more due to come online from major wind farms and other large-scale resources under development,” Shankman added.
Friday grab bag
- The Natick Mall faces “looming trouble” this fall with a $505 million loan maturing. (Bisnow)
- There will be a memorial service tomorrow (June 22) at 2 p.m. for longtime Wellesley Townsman editor Cathy Brauner at the UU Wellesley Hills Church.
- High-income earners and businesses are leaving Massachusetts at an alarming rate, according to a new report from the state’s largest society of accountants. (BBJ)
- Whether you want to try and stomach next Thursday’s Presidential debate with others or alone; consider doing so while supporting Newton's small businesses and a local non-profit. Ninebark Kitchen & Drinks and Dunn-Gaherin’s Food & Sprits will both be showing the debate. For dine-in or takeout, use code “DEBATE10” and 10% of your sale will go to Welcome Home, a Newton-based home goods pantry.
- The Needham Select Board holds a hearing June 25 on a proposed pilot that would eliminate the first and last trains from and to Needham Heights commuter rail station. Rather than start and end at the Heights, those trips would originate or terminate at Needham Junction. The change aims to eliminate the train horn at five of the town’s six crossings. (Needham Observer)
- Another piece of Haynes Management’s extensive portfolio in Wellesley has reportedly changed hands. Angelo Gordon & Co and SenderoCapital are in the process of acquiring, 65 Walnut St., a 67,250 SF medical office building. (Real Reporter)
- $100,000 for a one week Nantucket rental, for real? (Globe)
- Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is looking for a new CEO following Kenn Turner departure. (BBJ)
Report: hiring woes ease but housing hunt handcuffs
Finally for today, Massachusetts continues to be viewed as a leader in education and technological innovation and an attractive home for talent.
But the rising cost of living — led by the cost of housing — are now the dominant factors influencing local employers’ hiring and location decisions, according to this year’s Massachusetts Business Roundtable survey.
While still a challenge, organizations report a modest decline in the difficulty recruiting talent compared to one year ago. Still, more than half of respondents indicated that the top recruiting challenge is candidates’ unwillingness to move to Massachusetts.
And 91% of respondents believe investments in housing production will improve the state’s competitiveness.
“Employers still love being in Massachusetts for all it has to offer, however, the cost of living and fundamental changes in mobility have given employers alternatives that they are exploring,” said JD Chesloff, president & CEO of the Roundtable.
Are you finding hiring easier now than one year ago? What about recruiting from out of state? I’d be interested in hearing how the Roundtable’s findings compare to your company’s hiring experiences.
That’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know that this is not this Celtics team’s first duck boat ride.
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President & CEO
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688