Message from the President & CEO | |
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In keeping with tradition, the Roundtable staff enjoyed meeting one-on-one with more than 65 members over the past few months. This is an extremely valuable exercise—gaining insight on trends across a range of industries, challenges and opportunities for doing business locally and globally, and strategies for how the Roundtable can improve its agenda to help strengthen economic opportunity and competitiveness in Massachusetts. Thank you to our members for taking the time to contribute to this meaningful work.
Thank you also to Roundtable members for joining us for our 43rd Annual Meeting, featuring Attorney General Maura Healey. Echoing many areas of shared interest expressed by members over the summer, the Attorney General highlighted the importance of investing in workforce development, housing, child care, and transportation among top priorities to keep Massachusetts competitive, grow opportunities for underserved communities, and promote greater equity and inclusion for the Commonwealth’s diverse populations.
There is so much work ahead and we look forward to achieving more milestones and successes in partnership with our members, collaborating organizations, policymakers, and community partners.
Best,
JD
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Following the formal close of the legislative session, the Roundtable's 2021-22 Legislative Roundup highlights accomplishments on priority issue areas. Each achievement represents a collective effort across Roundtable members, advocacy organizations, policymakers and elected officials, Legislative Leadership, and the Baker-Polito Administration.
Among key priorities achieved in the 2021-22 session includes:
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Early Childhood Education
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Workforce Development
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Early College
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Mental Health
- Future of Work
There are still key issues left outstanding, and the Roundtable looks forward to working with its members and partnering organizations to advance issues like housing, tax relief, and clean energy in the months ahead. Read the Roundtable’s 2021-22 Legislative Roundup
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43rd Roundtable Annual Meeting | |
Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors | |
Roundtable Hosts Annual Meeting featuring Attorney General Maura Healey
In September the Roundtable held its 43rd Annual Meeting, hosted at the new Verizon Hub and featuring Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Following a presentation on key takeaways drawn from the series of summer meetings with members, Attorney General Healey spoke with members on maintaining the state's competitiveness by driving greater equity and investment in housing, job training, child care, and other issue areas the Roundtable has expressed as priority.
During the meeting, the Roundtable also voted to approve Executive Committee member Frank Sweet of AECOM as the Chair of the Energy & Environment Task Force.
Following the meeting, Roundtable member Stephanie Lee of Verizon and the Verizon team led Attorney General Healey on a tour of Verizon's new innovation center. The signage and digital technology featured on the tour and throughout the Verizon Hub was designed and manufactured by Design Communications (DCL), represented by Roundtable member Mike McCarthy.
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Spotlight on the Commonwealth's Innovation Economy | |
Opportunity to Show Support for ARPA-H in Massachusetts
The Roundtable recently expressed its strong support for locating the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in Massachusetts, an initiative spearheaded by the Coalition for Health Advances and Research in Massachusetts (CHARM). The Commonwealth is home to leading research, technology, and innovation thanks to the high growth health care and life sciences industry combined with world-class academic institutions. President Biden envisions ARPA-H as a dynamic organization that will push the limits of biomedical and health research, and there is an opportunity for this innovation to take place right in Massachusetts but we need to demonstrate significant support. The Roundtable signed on to this letter, and we encourage our members to sign the letter to demonstrate cross-industry support for this next great opportunity. Review and sign the letter
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Welcome to the Roundtable | |
Please join the Roundtable in welcoming members who joined the Roundtable this past quarter. | |
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John Barros
Managing Principal
Cushman & Wakefield
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Martha Coakley
Of Counsel and Co-Chair, State Attorney General Investigations Practice
Foley Hoag
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Mitch Schmidt
Regional Executive Officer, Northeast
Chubb
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Jim Vallee
Boston Office Managing Partner
Nixon Peabody
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Future of Travel
The Roundtable hosted a dinner in collaboration with Board Chair Jane Steinmetz of EY in July with a small group of members and featured guest, Lisa Wieland of Massport. As CEO of the state’s port authority, Lisa joined business executives to learn how employers are considering travel and how changes in the work environment continues to impact travelers. The future of travel was a hot topic among members. Read more about the future of travel and the Roundtable’s conversation with Massport CEO, Lisa Wieland
Best Place for Working Parents
The Roundtable hosted an Open Forum in July to introduce Best Place for Working Parents, an initiative to support family-friendly policies within the workplace. Roundtable member PNC Bank is among employer partners and encourages more employers to adopt strategies to promote a supportive work environment for working parents, a strategy that can also help attract and retain workers--especially women dramatically impacted by the pandemic. Read the Open Forum Blog Recap
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Conversation with Governor Baker
The Roundtable hosted a dinner in collaboration with Board Chair Jane Steinmetz of EY in August with a small group of members and featured guest, Governor Charlie Baker. Roundtable members represented a range of industries for an engaging conversation with the Governor on the state’s economic outlook, investments to attract and retain an increasingly mobile workforce, Massachusetts’ competitiveness, and more. The Roundtable also welcomed national executives from EY for the conversation.
Impact of the Massachusetts Elections
This fall Massachusetts voters will elect a slate of new statewide officeholders, state legislators, and will consider important ballot questions that will impact Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness. Less than 24 hours after the polls closed on Massachusetts' Primary Election Day, the Roundtable hosted an Open Forum featuring Steve Koczela, President of the MassINC Polling Group, to provide members with a breakdown on “what just happened” in addition to insights on public policy issues before voters including ballot question 1 which proposes a surtax on income over $1 million. Read the Open Forum Blog Recap
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Roundtable Guest Blog
An opportunity for guests to share perspective on a timely topic
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Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development Launches Equity Dashboards
In previous presentations to the Roundtable, Secretary Rosalin Acosta and Undersecretary Jenn James have referenced a major effort to provide economic data on populations hardest hit by the pandemic. In September, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development's Department of Economic Research (DER) released a new and interactive way to view economic data on Massachusetts residents, focusing especially on Asian Americans, Black/African Americans, Hispanic and Latinos, and Women based on information compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Previously disaggregated and inaccessible, data in the Equity Dashboard is now available through a user-friendly tool. Read the Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development
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Going Around the Table
Sharing a few highlights from member companies!
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BCBSMA Announces New President & CEO: The Board of Directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) announced its selection in August of Sarah Iselin as the company's new President and Chief Executive Officer. According to BCBSMA, Iselin is the first female CEO for the company and will take the helm on January 1, 2023. Iselin will step into this role after serving most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Blue Shield of California and with previous leadership experience in both the private and public sectors including in Massachusetts. The Roundtable also thanks member Andrew Dreyfus, President & CEO of BCBSMA, for his years of leadership with the Roundtable and Massachusetts business community.
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Hillcrest Education's New CEO: Shaun Cusson first began his career with Hillcrest Educational Foundation as a youth development counselor in 1997. Fast forward to today, Cusson is now the CEO of this not-for-profit human services organization. Based in Pittsfield, Hillcrest services students with behavioral needs from across the country through residential and non-residential programming for students. Cusson, a new member of the Roundtable, became CEO on July 1. Read more about Cusson in the Berkshire Eagle
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Hub on Causeway Transforms the West End: Roundtable member Charlie Jacobs of Delaware North is celebrating a major milestone for the $1.1. billion development that rises above North Station. The Boston Globe highlighted the significant investments, attracting a mix of entertainment venues and residential complexes. The new amenities including an apartment tower, office building, food hall, movie theater, boutique hotel, sports bar, concert venue with a restaurant featuring celebrity chef Guy Fieri are all slated to open this fall and winter. The site includes Verizon's Innovation Hub, which hosted the Roundtable's 2022 Annual Meeting. Read about the Hub on Causeway in the Boston Globe
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Northeastern University Merges with Mills College:
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on mergers in higher education, profiling Northeastern University and its merger with Mills College as well as a broader spotlight on the university, President Aon’s leadership, and the innovative co-op model preparing students for careers. Foreseeing a potential tread within higher education, President Aon predicted colleges and universities would be challenged by the pandemic and began exploring opportunities for mergers and partnerships within academia. Read the Wall Street Journal article to learn more about the merger with Mills College, which would have closed if it was not for the partnership with Northeastern, and other recent highlights underway at Northeastern. Read about the merger in the Wall Street Journal
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Expanding the Table
Roundtable member companies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace
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RSM Partners with Collettey's Cookies; Local Businesswoman Teaches Career Skills to People with Disabilities: Featured in WCVB’s “5 for Good” series, Roundtable member Chris MacKenzie, Office Managing Partner of RSM, is providing unused space at RSM's Charlestown office to support Collettey’s Cookies including their business and job training workshops. Collette Divitto was born with Down syndrome and after graduating from college found it difficult to find a job. Now Founder & CEO of her own company, Collette integrates her passion for baking and advocacy for individuals with disabilities to help grow her business. With that growth, RSM got creative by providing Collettey’s Cookies with spare space given their new hybrid work environment. In addition to baking 550,000 cookies a week, Collettey’s Cookies has teamed up with the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress to help build career readiness skills on-site for individuals with disabilities. Check out the WCVB “5 for Good” story
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Boston Business Journal Honors Ed Dugger: The Boston Business Journal recognized long-time Roundtable member Ed Dugger of Reinventure Capital among honorees for the 2022 Race, Equity, and Business Embracing Change Awards. Dugger is the founding partner and President of Reinventure Capital, a proven high-impact plus high-return practice that creates wealth and opportunity for ventures led by women and people of color. During the September awards event, Dugger acknowledged the conversation on race is well overdue but "if we take it and run with it, if we continue to run with this, this will be a different city." Congratulations, Ed! Read about the awards and all honorees
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Pacesetters Increases Spending with Businesses of Color: In early 2021, the Roundtable joined Pacesetters—an initiative led by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in partnership with business groups statewide to increase spending by employers with businesses of color. Pacesetters this quarter released its 2021 Data Report, detailing a significant increase in spending with businesses of color including $203.6 million spent statewide among 41 surveyed employer partners. Several Roundtable members are a part of this initiative, which is funded through support from Eastern Bank. Thank you to all partnering members and thank you to Greylock Federal Credit Union and Raytheon Technologies for joining in the past year, helping to extend Pacesetters' footprint statewide. Read the 2021 Annual Report
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13th Annual MA Jobs & Workforce Summit | |
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Join the Roundtable and over 200 policymakers, workforce experts, business, and non-profit leaders for this annual summit on jobs and workforce development, convening in-person on Tuesday, October 25 in Devens at the Devens Conference Center. This year's theme is "From Barriers to Breakthroughs" and will feature perspectives from stakeholders within the workforce ecosystem on the future of work, building talent pipelines, advancing child care as a work support, integrating equity within policy and the workplace, and more!
Among speakers includes opening remarks from Massachusetts Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development Rosalin Acosta and a keynote from former Boston Mayor Kim Janey, now CEO of EMPath. Additional speakers include representatives from Roundtable companies including State Street, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Thank you also to all sponsors including Roundtable members Eastern Bank, MassDevelopment, State Street, and Verizon.
Learn more and register
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