Malden, Holyoke, Fitchburg, Chelsea, Peabody, and Lowell were selected for the latest round of support last week. Each city will receive a three-year economic development fellow who will provide on-the-ground expertise, leadership, and planning to help support small businesses, real estate development, and arts and culture projects.
Economic development
Posted inLocal Government
Everett’s new mayor inherits major development projects
Few cities have experienced the kind of growth Everett has seen in the last seven years. Now, further transformation of the city’s once-blighted Lower Broadway district will be overseen by newly elected mayor Robert Van Campen, who was inaugurated on January 5.
Posted inGateway Cities
No way in and no way out: Beacon Hill hasn’t kept track of which communities qualify for Gateway City status
Despite lawmakers’ good intentions, state statute fails to create an enforcement mechanism to periodically review each city’s eligibility. Over time, some cities have met the state’s criteria without being added to the list, while others no longer qualify yet continue to reap the benefits. Oversight of the designations seems to have been lost.
Posted inState Government
Lawmaker representing Randolph seeks to loosen Gateway City eligibility criteria
Census counts and income thresholds haven’t stopped state Sen. Bill Driscoll, who represents the town of Randolph, from trying to secure its Gateway City status. He has introduced legislation that would revise the eligibility criteria of a Gateway – something previously attempted but never done successfully on Beacon Hill since the Legislature codified the designation in 2009.
Posted inEconomy
Tax change lifts plans for “hyperscale” data center campus in Westfield
The increasingly digital world — in which people and businesses are constantly searching the Internet, turning to AI for help, or storing information in the cloud — has led to a growing need for data centers to support online activity.
Posted inPolitics
Everett soccer stadium language survives in $4B jobs bill
Top Democrats filed a compromise economic development bill months after their deadline-day talks collapsed, packing the measure with state support for the life sciences and climate technology industries and more.
Posted inState Government
More consolidation of economic development agencies proposed
Senators are expected to vote Thursday on the $2.4 billion borrowing bill, which also includes $350 million in tax credits, a provision helping the prospects of a soccer stadium on the Mystic River waterfront in Everett, and the reauthorization of a long-running initiative boosting the state’s life sciences industry.
Posted inEconomy
Senate preps for economic developent debate, including Everett soccer stadium
The Senate’s bill authorizes $2.444 billion in borrowing, giving the executive branch flexibility to put as much of that amount into use as it determines is necessary and wise, and $350 million in tax credits mostly to be deployed in the climate technology sector.
Posted inEconomy
Baker signs $626 million economic development billÂ
 Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday signed a $626 million economic development bond bill, which will provide money for a variety of COVID-19 relief funds as well as […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Shakespeare & Co. looking for partner
SHAKESPEARE & CO., a Lenox nonprofit that produces the Bard’s plays, educates teachers, and trains actors, is looking to diversify. Like most artistic groups, Shakespeare & Co. struggles to make […]
Posted inThe Download
Shakespeare & Co. looking for partner
Shakespeare & Co., a Lenox nonprofit that produces the Bard’s plays, educates teachers, and trains actors, is looking to diversify. Like most artistic groups, Shakespeare & Co. struggles to make […]
Posted inEconomy
Lights out for Doyle’s
THE BODY IS still warm, but the wake has begun for Doyle’s Cafe, the landmark Jamaica Plain saloon where cops, lesbian softball teams, and politicians of every leaning felt at […]
Posted inThe Download
Lights out for Doyle’s
The body is still warm, but the wake has begun for Doyle’s Cafe, the landmark Jamaica Plain saloon where cops, lesbian softball teams, and politicians of every leaning felt at […]
Posted inOpinion
The waterfront is for all
WALKING ALONG THE Boston Harbor waterfront today, it is clear that the area has come a long way from the days when the harbor was an open sewer and an […]
Posted inPolitics
Mayor of firsts
Photographs by Frank Curran YVONNE SPICER, like a lot of her fellow Framingham residents, freely admits that she voted against the charter question to make the state’s biggest town a […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
The promise of MASS MoCA
Photographs by Michael Manning TWO YOUNG MEN from Brooklyn tentatively inch down the hallway, holding onto a handrail because it’s so dark. They turn a corner and the room in front […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Walsh plays hardball at Quincy Market
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH is trying to play hardball with the company that owns the lease on Faneuil Hall Marketplace. City officials and heavily redacted emails obtained under the Public […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
How we turn Western Mass. into a high-tech hub
THOSE OF US in Western Massachusetts watched for two generations as the Route 128 corridor boomed and greater Boston turned into one of the world’s great tech centers. Meanwhile, our […]
Posted inPolitics
Panel gives Baker’s economic development bill a haircut
STATE HOUSE NEWS A scaled-down version of Gov. Charlie Baker’s economic development bill cleared a key House-Senate committee on Wednesday and included a new provision that would allow families […]
Posted inThe Download
GE coming because of our brains, not brilliant pols
With all the excitement and high-fiving among state and city and leaders starting to wind down, now comes the annoying reality check on the General Electric news that ruins all […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
Ash lends insight into Baker administration’s investment strategy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A TOP BAKER administration official on Thursday shared with lawmakers his philosophical approach to government investing, including a strategy that he said differs from the approach […]