Earlier this month, we were thrilled to bring our members together for the Roundtable’s 44^th Annual Meeting, featuring Attorney General Andrea Campbell. We also elected new officers and committee members, including electing the Roundtable’s new Chair of the Board, Lisa Murray, President of Citizens Massachusetts.

In case you missed it, earlier this month we released a new Roundtable report: Tapping Untapped Talent: How Foreign-Educated Immigrants Can Strengthen the Massachusetts Economy. The report highlights the challenges faced by foreign-educated college graduates and offers solutions for how this key population can fully participate in the state’s labor market. You can learn more about this exciting new report in the newsletter below! We hope that our members, partners, and policy leaders will join us as we turn our policy recommendations into action.

It has been a busy fall, and we look forward to the work that lies ahead before the end of the year. As always, thank you for your engagement and continued support of the Roundtable.

Best,

JD

Citizens Massachusetts President Lisa Murray elected as Chair of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable

The Roundtable held its 44^th Annual Meeting on September 19, hosted by Roundtable member Martha Coakley of Foley Hoag. It was a packed meeting which included three main agenda items: a vote on a new Roundtable Chair and governance structure, a report of our annual summer meetings with members and its implications for the Roundtable’s policy agenda, and remarks and discussion with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

At the meeting, the Roundtable elected a new Chair, Lisa Murray, President, Citizens Massachusetts. You can see the press release about the announcement here. We also expressed our heartfelt appreciation to Jane Steinmetz, Office Managing Principal at EY for her leadership and support during her tenure as Chair over the past two years. After the election, JD Chesloff shared the key takeaways from the summer meetings held with nearly 50 members and how they would inform our policy agenda. The headlines from the meetings included:

• Cost of living and doing business dominating concerns
• Remote work still evolving
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s mind
• Cautious optimism about the Massachusetts economy; and
• Economic pressures impacting hiring and growth

You can learn more about the summer meetings takeaways in our blog post.

Finally, we were honored to host Attorney General Andrea Campbell who discussed her first nine months in office and the strategic planning process that is currently underway. Member discussions with the Attorney General touched on issues such as AI, the MBTA Communities Law, integrating formerly incarcerated persons into the workforce, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Welcome to the Roundtable

Please join us in welcoming new members who joined the Roundtable this past quarter

Anthony Bowling

Senior Vice President, Greater Boston Region

Comcast

Brenda Burdick

Director, Marketing and Strategic Communications

General Dynamics

Ryan Dalton

Senior Director of External Affairs & Policy

Siemens

Patty DiOrio

Senior Vice President, Head of Project Development

Americas at Orsted

Elissa Flynn-Poppey

Chair, Government Law Practice

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C

Kevin Kopanon

Office Managing Partner

RSM

Kristen Lepore

Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer

Beth Israel Lahey Health

Open Forum Recaps

SEPTEMBER OPEN FORUM

The September Open Forum brought together members for a discussion on "Transitioning to a Clean Energy Future.” It included a presentation led by Roundtable members Steve Woerner of National Grid and Jim Hunt of Eversource on how the Commonwealth’s transition to a reliable and resilient clean energy future will impact the state’s business community. The discussion highlighted the importance of the electric-sector modernization plans (ESMPs) in facilitating the Commonwealth’s transition to clean energy; how clean energy can address the projected increase in electrification demands; the need for policies in the areas of anticipatory planning and investment, permitting reform, and demand flexibility; and the costs associated with complying with energy efficient regulations for both businesses and the state.

OCTOBER OPEN FORUM

The Roundtable’s newly released report, “Tapping Untapped Talent: How Foreign-Educated Immigrants can Strengthen the Massachusetts Economy” was the focus of the October Open Forum. Panelists who led the discussion included Representative Josh Cutler, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development; Evan Horowitz of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University; Roundtable Member Shaun Cusson of Hillcrest Educational Centers Inc.; and Emmanuel Owusu of the African Bridge Network. The discussion highlighted how the 106,000 foreign-educated college graduates in the Commonwealth can meet workforce needs and enhance the state’s competitiveness. Members and panelists addressed solutions to harness this untapped talent which emphasized a collaborative effort by employers, the state, and immigrant-serving organizations. Challenges in hiring this population such as credential evaluation and delays in obtaining work authorization permits were also discussed.

Going Around the Table

Sharing a few highlights from member companies!

Roundtable Participates in Two Panels on Driving Business and Innovation: In September, the Roundtable joined MassEcon for an event focused on workforce, the state’s competitiveness, and how Massachusetts delivers value to employees and employers. JD Chesloff moderated a panel discussion which included Nicole Gilmore from Roundtable member organization MITRE Corporation and keynote remarks from Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Lauren Jones. The Roundtable also joined PNC Bank at the Boston Globe Summit for a discussion of how to harness the power of connections to drive business and innovation. JD Chesloff, Brooke Thomson of AIM, and Colette Phillips of Get Konnected had a lively conversation moderated by Roundtable member Jon Bernstein, Regional President, PNC Bank. Both provided the opportunity to share the Roundtable’s workforce policy agenda and the importance of building networks and partnerships to advance it.

Commonwealth Selected to Lead Microelectronics Hub: In September, the U.S. Department of Defense selected Massachusetts to lead a regional microelectronics hub. The $19.7M award to the Northeast Microelectronic Coalition (NEMC) will help support a group of more than 85 organizations that are working together to help establish a regional hub. Congratulations to project lead Roundtable member Carolyn Kirk, Executive Director, Mass Tech Collaborative and other Roundtable member organizations that are a part of the coalition including MITRE Corporation, Northeastern University, Raytheon, Siemens, UMass Boston, and Western New England University! Read more about the announcement.

Takeda and National Urban League Form New Partnership: Roundtable member company Takeda announced a new community-based initiative with the National Urban League. The new initiative will seek to address the obstacles that disproportionately hinder access to better health care for historically marginalized populations in the U.S. Through the partnership with Takeda, the National Urban League will create a Health Equity Continuum of Service Structure across their network. This includes the development and implementation of local health equity plans to address identified health inequities and barriers across communities.

UMass Boston and Mass General Brigham Launch New Partnership: Roundtable member organizations, UMass Boston and Mass General Brigham, announced they are investing $20M in an enhanced partnership that will educate and train 400 diverse nurses over the next five years. The new funding will expand UMass Boston’s Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing and students who attend the program will become eligible for employment at Mass General Brigham system hospitals during their clinical rotations. This partnership comes at a time when the health care system is experiencing a workforce crisis, including a shortage of nurses. Read more about this exciting partnership.

Expanding the Table

Roundtable member companies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace

National Hispanic Heritage Month Event: On October 2, the Roundtable was honored to join Conexion and Roundtable member organization EY for an engaging conversation with Manuel Pastor, Distinguished USC Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity, Roundtable member Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, Chancellor of UMass Boston, and Rosalin Acosta, Managing Director of Government & Public Sector at EY. These distinguished panelists discussed the changing demographics of the United States, its profound implications for our country and economy, and actionable strategies to empower Latinos to play a vital role in shaping our collective future.

OpEd–The Moral and Economic Case for Addressing Health Inequities: JD Chesloff and Lee Pelton, President of The Boston Foundation, recently co-authored an OpEd on health equity, citing both the moral and economic case for addressing health equity. Also highlighted in the OpEd, is the annual $5.9B cost of health inequities and the lost labor productivity of about 64,000 full-time equivalent workers per year. Read the OpEd in the Boston Business Journal.

MA Apprenticeship Network Roundtable with Lt. Governor Driscoll: The Roundtable participated in an apprenticeship roundtable with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones, Accenture, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. The Roundtable, as one of the founding members of the MA Apprenticeship Network, views the apprenticeship model as one way to reach untapped talent and build diverse pipelines. Members of the MA Apprenticeship Network are able to build connections with other employers, promote effective apprenticeship models, and access best practices and talent sources. If your organization would like to learn more about apprenticeship and how this model might be a good fit for your organization, reach out to Roundtable EVP Tonja Mettlach anytime.