Opinion Archives - Page 14 of 24

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff July 14, 2015

Opinion

IT Talent Crunch Echoes a Bigger Problem

Delcie Bean IV was one of the panelists at a forum on entrepreneurship hosted recently by the Mass. Small Business Development Center Network. He devoted most all of his roughly five minutes of mic time to what he called a “crisis” intruding upon his industry — the IT sector.

It involves a distinct and disturbing shortage of talent, noted Bean, founder and president of Paragus Strategic IT, who used mostly the future tense to talk about the matter, but hinted strongly that the problem is, in many respects, already here.

He and his colleagues in the IT sphere dissect the matter in greater detail for a story in this issue of BusinessWest (page 36). They talk about how the talent crunch is real and stifling growth opportunities; about how this development seems to make little sense, because there are jobs with good wages available and few individuals seemingly willing to position themselves to take advantage; about how they plunder good workers from each other, often with higher wages as the requisite carrot, a tactic with short-term benefits but long-term consequences; and about how they’re not sure when, or even if, the situation will improve appreciably.

They were all talking about IT, but in many respects, they were speaking about the economy as a whole. Indeed, you could easily substitute software designers and computer-related business owners with manufacturers, nursing-home operators, and even players in the hospitality industry, and the conversation would be essentially the same.

The question remains: where will the workers come from?

As they talked about the matter, those in the IT sector speculated that some might be scared away by the seemingly complex nature of the work in that realm and the notion that they’re not smart enough to thrive in it, when the opposite is generally true.

Joel Mollison, president of Northeast IT in West Springfield, hinted strongly at this when he said, “the tech field can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not absolutely sure that’s where you want to be.”

Others noted how the so-called Millennials tend to follow their passions, not just a paycheck, and wonder out loud how to get people passionate about a career still described with terms such as ‘Geek Squad.’

The answer comes with creating some passion, or something approaching it, and here again, we’re not just talking about IT. This also holds for the manufacturing sector, which suffers not only from lingering misperceptions about what this field is like, but the real fear that jobs in that sector will be sent offshore or to a lower-cost state.

Creating passion for designing software or troubleshooting IT problems will not be easy, but this is the direction our society and our economy are heading in, and talented individuals will be needed to keep things humming.

What’s needed are more programs that will encourage young people — and when we say young, we mean elementary-school age — that such careers are attractive, potentially lucrative, and attainable. At the same time, we need to emphasize quality-of-life issues here in Western Mass., and thus convince those who do have the requisite aptitude for this work that they don’t have to leave the area to launch a career.

Bean went so far as to express the hope that a television show, CSI: Cyber, might fuel interest in this sector in the same way that The Big Bang Theory has for physics.

We hope his optimism is warranted, but industry leaders know it will take more than TV shows to ensure that not only the IT field, but all sectors of the economy will have enough of that most precious commodity moving forward: talent.

That’s because the crisis is already here.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff July 14, 2015

Opinion

Social Security: A Modest Suggestion

By BEN BRANCH

The U.S. retirement system is beset with challenges. First, the shift from defined-benefit to defined-contribution plans coupled with low contribution rates and poor investment performance means many will have inadequate resources at retirement. Second, longer life expectancies and declining birth rates are increasing the ratio of retirees to workers. Third, the Social Security trust fund is projected to run dry in about 20 years.

The present system does provide a comfortable retirement for those with generous coverage under the remaining defined-benefit plans as well as for those with large sums in their defined-contribution accounts or elsewhere. Those having modest pre-retirement incomes may, however, have little or nothing built up in their retirement accounts. They must largely look to Social Security, which was not designed to be their sole support.

Moreover, unless something is done about it, the Social Security System will in the future be unable to continue to fully fund its payment obligations.

Suggested approaches include increasing the Social Security tax rate and/or increasing the standard retirement age (very difficult politically). Moreover, a higher standard retirement age would force everyone to defer retirement or accept a lower benefit when many people are physically unable to continue working. And even if something is done to improve the system’s finances, that would not necessarily address the problem facing those who retire with too little put aside to live comfortably.

Under the current system, those over age 62 who wish to retire prior to their standard retirement age (66 for most people) must do so at a reduced benefit rate. If, however, they are willing to defer drawing benefits beyond their standard retirement age, their benefit rate increases by 8% for each year they defer up to their 70th birthday.

Note, however that each additional year deferred has a greater impact in terms of reducing the post-retirement payments. A 66-year-old with a 20-year life expectancy who defers a year reduces the years of drawing benefits by 1/20th. One who defers one more year, five years later, with a 15-year life expectancy, has reduced the remaining years of drawing benefits by 1/15th.

To the extent that people can be induced to defer their retirement, our Social Security system benefits both from the additional tax revenues and from the years for which benefits are not paid. Similarly, the overall economy benefits from the additional production of those who continue working. Even the Medicare system would benefit to the extent that those covered by their employer would defer signing up for Medicare.

Clearly, increasing the propensity of people to defer their retirement has many pluses for both the individual and the economy. Can such deferrals be increased? I suggest the following ways for encouraging people to defer their retirement:

• Allow the benefit rates to continue to increase for those who wish to defer retirement past age 70;
• Allow retirees the option of drawing partial benefits while the percentage of benefits that are deferred continue to be increased;
• Promote SSI-benefit-payment deferrals with an education campaign; and
• Encourage additional years of deferral by increasing the rate of increase in the benefit. For example, benefits could be increased by 7% for the first year, 7.5% in the second, 8% in the third, and so on. This process would reflect the advantage to the system for people retiring well past age 66.

Clearly, increasing retirement deferrals would reduce the payments going out while increasing the funds coming in to the Social Security trust fund. Once benefits begin, the benefit rate will be higher, but paid for fewer years. Thus, the total amount paid out may not be very different from what would have been paid out without the deferral. Indeed, the overall economic system would also have been helped out by the tax payments resulting from the additional years of working.

This modest proposal would not only allow, but encourage those who are able to do so to continue to work productively well past the standard retirement age, without forcing continued employment on those who would find such a requirement onerous.

Ben Branch is a professor of Finance at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst; [email protected]

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff June 30, 2015

Opinion

Washington Betrays Americans — Again

Much is being said and written in the wake of the recent Senate vote to extend to President Obama complete authority to negotiate trade agreements in a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal known as TPA (Trade Promotion Authority).

The vote is being called a triumph for big business, especially the giant multi-nationals likely to benefit from softened trade restrictions. But we see this backroom deal (yes, Americans were kept in the dark regarding the details, and that’s a big problem for a democracy) as a major defeat for American workers and democracy itself. The bill, from the scant details available, will most likely result in lower wages and more job outsourcing. At least, that is what big labor, which our readers know we are no fan of, is saying.

The secret deal is seen by many as a key victory for a lame-duck president sorely in need of a legacy-boosting piece of legislation. But we don’t see much legacy in this piece of twisted legislation. Others say it is a victory for Republicans and giant corporations who will get preferential tax treatment and more HB1 visas to bring in more foreign workers to replace American ones.

Politicians in Washington, both Democrat and Republican, who continue to benefit themselves in their Washington enclave of privilege and entitlement, see the bill’s advancement as a rare example of how a historically divided government can actually slice through crippling gridlock and get something accomplished. We disagree. And those brave politicians who fought this secretive measure tooth and nail and came very close to handing the president what would have been a very embarrassing setback need to take a bow.

While the legislation may in fact be beneficial to big business, we believe the Senate vote is something else, something more significant and, quite frankly, sinister. Indeed, it’s an example of how our government is still very much broken, with our elected leaders acting in a disturbingly non-transparent manner to advance their own agendas, not effectively representing the people who elected them.

For what it’s worth, TPA, hailed as the most significant trade measure of the 21st century, could very well turn out to be a meaningful — and beneficial — piece of legislation, one that will enable this country to better compete in what is now truly a global economy.

What’s more, the measure will enable the U.S. and the other nations involved a chance to write the rules for this more-global economy — and not China, which is not part of the deal.

But in this case, that end — if it does become reality, and it certainly appears it will — doesn’t justify the means. It doesn’t justify the 60 votes to essentially give the president a blank check to negotiate the rest of the trade package with no chance of amendments from Congress. The same president whose name has become affixed to a disastrous piece of healthcare reform legislation. The same president whose record of foreign policy has been a travesty and resulted in a world on fire. The same president who has essentially shown that he is anything but worthy of such trust.

The fact is, no one really looks good with this bill’s passage. Not the Republicans. They’re not acting out of any desire to break gridlock or work with the president. They’re looking to protect and advance the interests of big business, which is an important constituency, but not the one senators are elected to represent.

And not the Democrats, many of whom, while claiming to be looking out for the interests of the little people, are instead pandering to the labor unions and environmental groups that have long been their cornerstone supporters.

As we said at the top, this vote can be considered many things depending on one’s point of view. From our standpoint, it clearly shows that Washington continues to betray Americans, not serve them. And unless we express our dissatisfaction with such betrayals at the voting booth, the same results will continue to occur.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff June 30, 2015

Opinion

Don’t Underestimate Driving Spirit

By JERRY CIANCIOLO

You may have heard that Millennials aren’t starting businesses at the rate of previous generations.

According to the Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to studying entrepreneurship, startup rates among Americans age 20 to 34 peaked at 35% in 1996 and has since declined to 23%.

Why?

Forget the pundits and their talk of the Great Recession’s effect, monopolistic corporations, student debt, and slowing population growth. It’s much simpler than that.

Raised by helicopter parents, Millennials just can’t shake the habit of listening to advice. And as an entrepreneur myself, I know how critical it is to ignore so-called experts.

Within two weeks of hanging our shingle, my partner and I submitted to a class project for a local college. A business professor and eight students visited to grill us for 90 minutes. A month later, the retinue returned.

“Let me be candid,” said the professor. “Your business has little chance of succeeding.” Kathy and I flinched.

“We’ve run the numbers, researched the market, factored in your resources and level of experience, and, well . . . ” He looked down and shook his head, delivering the coup de grace non-verbally.

His advice, in so many words? “Update your résumés — today, if possible.”

Almost three decades later, I look back on that afternoon and marvel that my now-wife and I succeeded. The odds were certainly stacked against us.

On our side of the ledger were resolve, resiliency, and a longing for independence. On reality’s side were revenue projections, capital outlays, return on investment, and market share. We were anorexics on the mat with a Japanese sumo.

Yet our business thrives to this day. By any measure, we won the match. But how? If the professor and his students returned and asked how we proved them wrong, what would we say? Simply this — the weaknesses you identified proved to be our camouflaged strengths. For example:

• We were blind to the odds. I remember leasing a postage meter in our first month. The company rep recommended a three-year contract. I suggested five, hoping to shave the fee. She demurred: “businesses like yours, well, let’s stay with three.”
• We didn’t know much about business. I didn’t have financial expertise, nor did Kathy. You wouldn’t find even one economics course on our transcripts. But we possessed what Mark Twain described as the two things you need in life to succeed: ignorance and confidence. The former we had in spades. As for our lack of business savvy, we wore it like a chip on our shoulders.
• We had little patience with systems. At a meeting with a volunteer from SCORE — a group providing free business counseling — I did my best to suppress a yawn as the retired exec plotted a series of steps we needed to take before opening the doors. He also wanted to know whether we had a mission statement. I kept tapping my foot; Kathy withheld her sighs. Paperwork was make-believe to us. It wasn’t going to determine whether we succeeded. Our wits would have to do that.
• We weren’t strategic. Our business goal was basic — survival. Improvise or die was our clarion call. We couldn’t afford to procrastinate, so we ran with whatever seemed sensible at the moment. No one at Wharton would call our carpe diem approach strategic.
• We didn’t delegate. In the early days, there was no alternative. If the computer froze, one of us dug out the manual to thaw it. If a mailing had to go out, we were the clerical staff. But even as profits grew, and hiring was an option, we continued our labor-intensive ways. Granted, we didn’t always put our skills to the best use, but running lean kept margins high and overhead low.

Of course, my wife and I have grown wiser over the years. We wouldn’t advise would-be entrepreneurs to follow our model. But, then, we wouldn’t advise them to follow any model except one that feels right.

That’s why we politely listened to the professor and then went about our business. We encourage Millennials to do the same.

The professor understood business. But entrepreneurs and their driving spirit? Not so much.

Jerry Cianciolo is chief editor at Emerson & Church, Publishers, the company he and his wife, Kathleen Brennan, founded in 1986.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff June 16, 2015

Opinion

Make the State More Business-friendly

The ‘bad-waiter syndrome.’
We’re not sure which Bay State business owner used that descriptive phrase to capture what it’s like to run an enterprise within the Commonwealth (see story on AIM’s centennial celebration, HERE), but whoever it was really hit the nail on the head.

The proverbial bad waiter is the one who takes your money without really caring about whether you’re happy with the service — which means you generally are not happy. And in the end, it’s not only the bad waiter who suffers — no tip or a very small one — but also the restaurant in question, because the patron is unlikely to come back, as much as he or she might have liked the food and the atmosphere.

So it is with the state of Massachusetts. There’s a lot to like about this state from a business perspective — especially the workforce and many of the communities that give the Commonwealth its unique flavor, if you will. But a persistent anti-business attitude that prevails in most regions of this state leaves business owners and managers with, well, a bad taste in their mouths.

And that leaves many to take their business elsewhere — quite literally.

Which is why we’re encouraged by AIM’s recent initiative — part of its 100th birthday celebration — to compel change that might eventually make the state more business-friendly. The employers’ association has released a document called “Blueprint for the Next Century,” which identifies key concerns, or public-policy initiatives, and possible courses of action.

The four key focal points are workforce (meaning quality and quantity), creating what the authors call a ‘uniform business climate,’ promulgating efficient regulation (the lack of which is perhaps most responsible for the bad-waiter analogy), and reducing health insurance and energy costs.

Taking on such issues is admirable — and a more lasting way to mark 100 years in operation than honoring specific companies and business owners, such as Yankee Candle founder Michael Kittredge, which AIM will also do this year — but these are problems with deep roots and no easy solutions.

The workforce problem, for example, is one that virtually every business organization and economic-development agency has seen coming, and dire warnings have been issued as the Baby Boom generation nears retirement. Our guess is that the matter won’t really be taken seriously (in most quarters, anyway) until it is very real and not just something that’s coming. And we’re not quite there yet, at least in most sectors.

As for healthcare and energy costs … good luck with those. It might be easier to broker peace in the Middle East or end poverty. And a uniform business climate? Perhaps something can be done to improve the lot of the state’s gateway cities, the older industrial centers like Holyoke and Fall River that have struggled to reinvent themselves. But it’s unrealistic to think that Greenfield can ever be on anything approaching a level playing field with Cambridge or that state leaders will cease falling in love with whatever the ‘hot’ industry is at a given time (it’s currently biotech).

But one area where progress can and must be achieved is with the number of regulations imposed on business and the seemingly irresponsible way they are enforced.

‘Inefficient’ is one way to describe the current system. We would prefer punitive, a word we’ve heard from constituencies ranging from real-estate developers to manufacturers to farmers.

And as long as that adjective continues to apply, this state will be at a distinct competitive disadvantage with states and countries that don’t just say they’re business-friendly, but back up those words with actions.

The Baker administration currently has a moratorium on new regulations and is undertaking a review of everything currently on the books. We hope such actions can yield a more conducive environment for new and existing businesses.

If AIM’s action plan can generate significant improvement with the state’s regulatory nature, as well as progress in those other areas of concern among business owners, then the state may actually be able to rid itself of the bad-waiter syndrome.

That would be a milestone even more worthy of celebration.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff June 16, 2015

Opinion

UMass Needs Continued Support

By ROBERT CARET

Over the past two years, Massa-chusetts has been a national leader in providing support for its public research university — boosting funding for the five-campus UMass system by an eye-catching $100 million.

And the state’s financial investment translated into something truly remarkable: the average net cost of attending UMass declined for the first time in recent memory, decreasing by more than $200 per student for the academic year just completed. Our leaders on Beacon Hill should take a bow — and I know that students and their families breathed sighs of relief.

Looking ahead, the state budget for 2015-16 has not been finalized, so we don’t know how much money UMass will receive, but it will be between the House’s $519 million and the Senate’s $537 million. Either would represent an increase over the current $511 million, but neither is enough to spare UMass its first fee increase in three years, so an increase of some magnitude seems inevitable.

Although Massachusetts has been at the head of the funding class over the past two years, we had a lot of catching up to do, since funding for UMass had been flat for more than a decade leading up to this period.

My hope is that the Commonwealth, dealing with budget problems of its own, regards this as a one-year retreat from a long-term major fiscal commitment to UMass and will not slip back into an era of relative inattention. Over the years, UMass has demonstrated that it is very good at doing more with less, but ‘more with less’ is not a good long-term strategy for a state that builds its economy on a foundation of brainpower.

I leave my post as president of UMass at the end of this month to become chancellor of the University System of Maryland. I will oversee a public university system where the flagship campus at College Park this past year received a state subsidy of $15,860 per student. Looking further south, the subsidy at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was $16,595 per student.

But here in Massachusetts, even after our $100 million increase, state funding per student for our flagship campus in Amherst during the past year was $9,025 — dramatically less than the level we see in North Carolina and Maryland, two states that compete head to head with Massachusetts in the global innovation economy. This is not a good position for Massachusetts, which will be going into battle against states that are spending dramatically more to arm their flagships.

Having seen the University of Massachusetts take major steps forward over the past four years, I fervently hope that UMass will receive the support it deserves and needs in the years to come — as an investment in UMass truly is an investment in the Commonwealth and its future.

Robert L. Caret is president of the UMass system.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff June 2, 2015

Opinion

Summer Jobs Are Economic Development

The calendar has turned to June. That means thousands of college students who call Western Mass. home are now back in this region for more than three months. And it means that, in just a few weeks, several thousand high-school students will have completed their studies for the year, and most of them will be looking for something to do.

Therefore, June is also a time for area employers large and small to step up and try to create opportunities for some of these young people in the form of summer jobs. Doing so will not just put a few dollars in someone’s pocket, it will also be part of a critical economic-development strategic initiative.

Indeed, as we acknowledged a few weeks ago when the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission released a 20-year update of its Plan for Progress, the creation of a large, qualified workforce is certainly this region’s biggest challenge moving forward as it seeks to grow, diversify its economy, and replace the retiring Baby Boom generation.

There are many facets to this assignment, and many of them are related to this notion of creating summer jobs, or opportunities for young people. When companies do that, they not only help the individuals in question, but they also help themselves, and the region.

By giving a young person a job, an employer is introducing a young person to the world of work — in many cases, for the first time. And as we’ve said on many occasions, that first job is a tremendous learning experience on many levels. It provides lessons in a particular skill or vocation, but it also provides important life lessons involving everything from punctuality to teamwork.

Providing young people with jobs also introduces those individuals to the companies in this region and the career opportunities they provide. And such exposure might one day compel someone to stay in the 413 area code rather than feel they have to leave it to find success and happiness. What’s more, today’s young people can bring energy and a different perspective to a company — concerning everything from their products to the use of social media to promote them — something many businesses need.

There are other practical reasons for creating a summer job. Such positions build confidence, they give people a sense of self-worth, and, in many cases, they can help keep individuals off the street and out of trouble.

Yes, there are many reasons why companies should create a summer job or internship — or several of each. And as the economy continues to improve, more businesses should be in a position to add to their payrolls for at least a few months.

We hope businesses will seize what would have to be called an opportunity on many levels. An opportunity for young people to learn and gain respect for the workplace and the rules that govern it, an opportunity for the hiring companies to take advantage of young talent, and an opportunity for the region to achieve some much-needed progress in its assignment to build a large, competent workforce.

It’s June. Time to think about summer and beaches, family vacations and long, hot days. It’s also time to create some all-important summer jobs.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff June 2, 2015

Opinion

Bold Steps Needed to Curb Opioid Abuse

By DENNIS M. DIMITRI, M.D.

An epidemic of opioid use and the associated overdose deaths has been slowly building across the nation and Massachusetts for the last decade, and has now reached a crisis point. It is affecting nearly every city and town in the Commonwealth. In some communities, the crisis is unprecedented.

State officials estimate that more than 1,000 Massachusetts residents died of opioid overdoses last year — 33% percent more than in 2012, and nearly three times more than in 2000. A Harvard School of Public Health survey found that nearly four in 10 state residents personally know someone who has abused prescription pain medications.

While the total numbers may be startling, we should also remember that each individual overdose death has a human face. Each tragedy has changed a family forever. It has to stop, and the time for action is now. Physicians must step forward immediately to do everything we can to help bring this devastating problem under control. How can we do this? It starts with education.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80% of people who misuse prescription pain medications are using drugs prescribed to someone else. These drugs are most often obtained from a friend or relative — for free, purchased, or stolen. This tells me that there are too many doses of opioid medications in circulation. By limiting this supply and ensuring that opioids are available only to patients who truly need them, we can make a big impact on the Commonwealth’s opioid crisis.

That is why the Mass. Medical Society is launching a comprehensive campaign to educate prescribers and the public about the safe and responsible prescribing and handling of these medications. The campaign has three components: guidelines to help physicians make the right decisions for their patients, free education resources for prescribers to help inform their judgments, and storage and disposal information for patients and their families.

• Prescribing guidelines. The guidelines not designed to micromanage care, but to provide guidance and information based on evidence that will improve the care of patients and lessen the risks associated with opioid prescribing. At the same time, we recognize that each patient is different, and, in all cases, a prescriber’s sound clinical judgment is important. However, we also believe that several principles should govern the exercise of this clinical judgment.

First, physicians and patients should discuss family and personal histories of substance-abuse disorders and behavioral-health concerns, before any prescription is written. Second, patients and physicians are encouraged to mutually develop agreements that outline the expectations and goals of the treatment, along with the conditions for continuing opioid therapy for chronic pain after initial treatment. Finally, there are exceptions for hospitalized patients, those in hospice and palliative care, and for those being treated for cancer. These patients have special circumstances that do not yield readily to hard and fast rules. Their care must be based upon long-held medical principles of relief of suffering.

We’re offering these guidelines with the hope that they will be adopted by physician practices throughout the state. We are also sharing them with the state Board of Registration in Medicine, in the event that the board will consider incorporating them into its prescribing guidelines for physicians.

• Prescriber education. The Mass. Medical Society has long been a leader in providing continuing medical education to physicians and other clinicians about pain management. We will now make these pain-management courses available to all prescribers, for free, until further notice. This includes not only our current suite of courses, but those currently in the pipeline that are due to be released in the coming weeks and months.

• Public education. An effective first step to reduce non-medical opioid use is through education. Therefore, in an effort to curb the supply of prescription opioids in the community, we are partnering with the Partnership for Drug Free Kids and its Medicine Abuse Project to broadly disseminate information about the safe storage and proper disposal of opioid medications.

Most people are probably unaware that their medicine cabinets are attractive targets for those who would misuse opioids, and that they could be an unwitting supplier. Our education program will provide guidance on how to safely store and secure medications, and how to get rid of them when they are no longer needed.

There is no more important public health issue today than the opioid epidemic. It is devastating communities, families, men, women, rich, poor, and, most tragically, children and adolescents. It has to stop — and we are ready to do our part.

Dr. Dennis M. Dimitri is president of the Mass. Medical Society.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff May 19, 2015

Opinion

A Smart Choice for UMass

A university looks for many things from its president — everything from an ability to raise money (yes, we put that first for a reason) to a capacity for not only setting lofty goals, but reaching them, to a talent for inspiring others to reach higher.
Marty Meehan put all those talents on display at UMass Lowell, which he led for several years as chancellor after serving as a U.S. congressman. And we have the highest confidence that he will continue to exhibit those traits as the next president of the University of Massachusetts.
Long the favorite to succeed Robert Caret as leader of the five-campus UMass system, Meehan, a graduate of UMass Lowell, was officially given the job earlier this month. Suffice to say, selection committees at the university have had more difficult choices to make in recent decades — Meehan was the obvious choice here — but we’re not sure there’s been a more important one.
Indeed, Caret accomplished a good deal in his tenure at the university — initiating or completing projects ranging from the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke to the UMass Springfield facility in Tower Square, to the building of several new buildings, not only on the Amherst campus, but other facilities as well. And beyond those physical, landscape-altering accomplishments, he helped the university set and exceed lofty goals for fund-raising, research dollars, and that intangible known as prestige.
The next president has the difficult but appealing task of building upon this solid foundation, setting the bar higher, and then clearing that height.
Meehan has shown that he is capable of doing just that. At UMass Lowell, he led efforts to build new dorms and laboratories, strike partnerships with private companies for research, create a far more diverse student population, improve graduation rates, and, perhaps most importantly, increase private fund-raising by 67%.
He didn’t do all that by himself, obviously, but he set the tone and created an environment in which nothing short of excellence was expected — and demanded.
Doing the same at UMass Amherstwill be much more difficult, because the stage is much bigger, the politics are much thicker, the expectations are greater, the stakes are much higher, and, let’s face it, the spotlight under which he’ll be operating will be much brighter. And let’s not forget that he’ll be leading the public university in a state that has not supported public higher education in the manner that it should.
But we believe Meehan is capable of shining in that spotlight, succeeding on that bigger stage, and overcoming the overriding challenges because of his ability to build consensus and generate support for a cause — in this case, what is arguably the state’s most powerful economic engine.
Meehan has already vowed to stay in his position for 10 years. We view that as a commitment to the school, the state, and the Commonwealth’s public higher-education system as a whole.
Given Meehan’s past track record for success, this should be a decade of progress and growth for the UMass system, and development of new and different ways for it to become a difference maker, not only locally, but nationally and globally as well.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff May 19, 2015

Opinion

Pipeline Proposal Makes Economic Sense

When asked to study how a shortage of natural-gas capacity in Massachusetts will affect future power needs, Synapse Energy Economics didn’t mince words.
Specifically, Cambridge-based Synapse reported, even if all technologically and economically feasible alternative-energy resources — including the introduction of Canadian hydroelectric power — are deployed within the next five years, the state will be short by up to 800 million cubic feet of natural gas on a typical cold winter day in 2020, and up to 900 million cubic feet short by 2030. As a result, winter electricity prices — already higher in Massachusetts than in most regions — would spike dramatically during periods of peak demand.
Then-Gov. Deval Patrick commissioned the Department of Energy Resources to conduct the study last summer after meeting with opponents of the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project, by which energy giant Kinder Morgan would extend natural-gas pipelines from the Midwest into the Northeast, cutting a route across Northern Massachusetts. That proposal has activated a loose (and often organized) cadre of conservationists, alternative-energy advocates, and potentially affected land owners and effectively kept the project at bay (see story, page 6).
Their concerns are legitimate; properties would be disturbed by a pipeline, and their owners left to grapple with right-of-way issues. And there is value in moving toward more renewable energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
But if the Synapse report is accurate, the state still needs more natural gas — a relatively clean, abundant fuel, at least compared to some others, and one that has kept energy prices low for residents and businesses in regions that use it widely. The Kinder Morgan pipeline could do the same, with the capacity, the company claims, to deliver 2.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to New England markets and beyond. That would be a relief to New Englanders, who pay, on average, 10 times more for natural gas right now than customers in the Mid-Atlantic states.
But another issue is in play, one that also pits Massachusetts against other regions of the country — this time, in a competition for companies looking to locate in a business-friendly climate.
Economic-development leaders in Western Mass. say this region has become at least more friendly in recent years, touting its affordability, quality of life, cultural amenities, and supply of brainpower from its myriad colleges and universities. As the economic downturn of the past decade moves even further into the rear-view mirror, and an undercurrent of entrepreneurship has the business community excited (see related story, page 20), there is a palpable feeling that Western Mass. is set to surge.
And much of that could be undone if businesses looking to relocate, or small firms based here that need to grow, realize they can’t access the affordable natural gas so plentiful in other areas of the country. In short, a capacity crisis that has already shut off service to new energy customers in many communities could seriously throttle overall economic growth.
That’s why the position taken by the Western Mass. Economic Development Council — which doesn’t back a specific pipeline project, but claims the state needs to approve one, the sooner the better — makes sense.
Economic vibrancy often requires some tradeoffs, and if Massachusetts wants to continue to grow and prosper, more solar and wind energy, by themselves, are not going to get the job done.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff May 5, 2015

Opinion

The Focus Should Be on the Talent Pool

The authors of the recent 10-year update of the region’s Plan for Progress (see story, page 6) are right to put a hard focus on the region’s talent pool and the obvious need to make sure it is large and deep enough for businesses large and small to thrive in the years and decades to come.

The update, released by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission this week after more than 16 months of research and deliberations, lists a host of opportunities, challenges, and goals for the next decade, and improving the talent pool falls into all three categories.

It’s clearly a goal and certainly the most important one for this region moving forward. It’s an opportunity, because every state, every region, and every city will be facing the same burden over the next decade, and those which can tackle it successfully will have a huge competitive advantage over those who don’t. And those who fail to tackle it, well, they are going to be left behind.

And it is a stern challenge because the Baby Boomer generation is huge, and it will soon be leaving the workforce. In fact, many of its members have already departed. Replacing these individuals will be a stern test, not just with regard to sheer numbers, but also when it comes to the skill sets the next generation of workers must possess.

As we’ve noted on many occasions, members of previous generations could fairly easily earn a decent living and support a family without a college education and, quite often, even without a high school diploma. That will certainly not be the case moving forward.

But efforts to ensure a large, deep talent pool are not just about replacing retiring Baby Boomers — although that’s a big part of it. It’s about fueling the economic growth we anticipate that this region will experience over the next few decades, and, even more to the point, it’s about making sure that growth can occur.

As we’ve noted in recent months, there is in fact an entrepreneurial renaissance taking place in this region. Supported by groups like Valley Venture Mentors and inspired by the region’s colleges and universities, many young people are deciding that business ownership is an attractive career option.

The fledgling businesses and next-stage ventures now populating the Valley will need many things to succeed beyond a viable product or service. They’ll need capital, technical support, and mentoring to help ensure they don’t make the mistakes that derail so many new businesses.

But eventually, they’ll need talented employees. And without them, they won’t get very far.

There’s a theory that people will always go where the jobs are, and to a certain extent that’s true — Boston and Silicon Valley are perfect examples of this. But Greater Springfield is a very long way from being in that category.

Thus, this region most develop a workforce the hard way, by cultivating it. And as the updated Plan for Progress states, this must be a multi-pronged effort that includes everything from early childhood education (and making sure everyone has access to it) to introducing college students to career opportunities in this region in hopes that they will stay in this area code rather than start their career elsewhere.

Also, there must be targeted training programs such as those developed by the Training Workforce Options program to address needs within specific industries.

Getting this job done will not be easy, but for that reason, this matter of talent-pool development simply must have the region’s full attention.

The stakes are way too high, and failure simply is not an option. v

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff April 21, 2015

Opinion

Now This Is a Sound Investment

We’re not at all sure how the nonprofit agency Common Capital intends to market its Community First Fund moving forward — to date, it has relied mostly on word of mouth — but we’re sure it could do a whole lot worse than letting Beverly Weeks become a designated spokesperson.

Indeed, the retired West Springfield High School librarian hits all the right notes and makes a truly compelling case as she discusses why she became involved with this endeavor (see story, page 6).

Weeks had become dismayed that one of her many investments was heavily involved with fossil fuels. She was looking for a different, more sustainable, and, well, more rewarding place to park some of her hard-earned money. After a lengthy search on the Internet, she found the Community First Fund.

Launched in late 2012, it invites area residents to invest in area small businesses — the startups and next-stage companies that often turn to Common Capital for help because they usually don’t qualify for traditional bank financing.

Weeks liked the terms of the loans — three years with 2% interest paid semiannually (much better than going CD rates and comparable to the return on a 10-year T-bill) — and really liked the fact that she would be helping a small-business owner, or perhaps two or three, get the money to move their enterprise forward.

“It’s rewarding to lend a helping hand — or a helping dollar, as the case may be,” she told BusinessWest.

Like we said, she would make a good pitchperson.

Not that Common Capital really needs one. We hope that this fund will essentially sell itself. The concept makes sense, and the timing is absolutely perfect.

The loan program is essentially risk-free (the loans are secured by Common Capital, which now has more than $3 million in net equity on its balance sheet), and it comes at a time when Baby Boomers are both coming into money — and looking for something to do with it — and approaching retirement.

And it also comes during a period of perhaps unprecedented entrepreneurial energy in the Western Mass. region.

Indeed, at all of the area’s many colleges, there is renewed emphasis on promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, groups and institutions ranging from Valley Venture Mentors to the Grinspoon Foundation to MassMutual are encouraging entrepreneurship and assisting companies with getting off the ground or to the next stage.

Eventually, such companies will need capital — to hire their first employee, or their second; to introduce a new product; to expand into a new market; to buy needed new equipment; or perhaps all of the above.

Common Capital has been there to assist such companies through a number of financing programs, and the Community First initiative will simply allow it to do more, because it will have more money to lend.

At the risk of sounding like one of those disclaimers at the end of an informational piece written by a certified financial planner, BusinessWest does not offer investment advice, nor does it recommend specific investments (there are experts who can do that).

But participation in the Community First Fund makes sense on a number of levels — from the relative safety of the investment to the return to the manner in which it will help fuel the entrepreneurship movement (OK, let’s call it that) taking place in this region.

What’s that word the experts use to describe such investments? That’s right, sound. That’s what this program is.

Just ask Beverly Weeks.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff April 21, 2015

Opinion

A Bitter, Necessary Pill for Holyoke

There is considerable angst, not to mention anger, in Holyoke these days, among residents and elected officials alike, as the state mulls whether to take over the city’s long-underperforming public school system.

And we certainly understand such emotions. No one wants to see a community cede control of its finances or its schools to the Commonwealth; receivership is truly an ugly term.

But sometimes, it is necessary. Sometimes, there is no real option. Sometimes, it is the proverbial desperate measure required in desperate circumstances.

This is one of those times.

Indeed, while some might argue that Holyoke Superintendent Sergio Perez, who came into this role less than two years ago, hasn’t had enough time to put his stamp on the system and engineer a turnaround, one can’t argue that the city has had plenty of time to generate improvement.

And it hasn’t happened.

In some ways, this is understandable. Reversing more than a decade of underperformance and unacceptably high dropout rates doesn’t happen easily. It usually happens only when those in authority have a license to institute bold initiatives and extricate themselves from restrictions forced upon them by powerful unions.

This can happen when a receiver takes charge.

It has happened in Lawrence — a city very similar to Holyoke demographically, with a high percentage of Hispanic residents — where receivership went into effect in 2012.

There, according to statistics quoted by the Boston Globe, the dropout rate has decreased by 46% since 2011, the graduation rate has gone from 52% in 2011 to 67% last year, and the number of level 1 schools (those deemed least in need of improvement) has tripled over the past three years.

State Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester cited Lawrence’s improved performance as he talked about the urgency of the situation in Holyoke and his recommendation that the state take over Holyoke’s schools.

As we said at the top, this is a drastic, yet needed step for this city and its schools. Holyoke is registering considerable progress when it comes to entrepreneurial energy and economic development. But for this city to truly revitalize itself, its schools must improve, thus giving students a chance to succeed in a changing, more technology-driven economy.

The state wouldn’t be punishing Holyoke by taking over its schools; it would be aiding in its comeback. v

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff April 7, 2015

Opinion

In Springfield, Now Is the Time to Dream

The event was called “Vision 2017: The Right Direction.”

Staged on March 24, it was the second edition of what will apparently become an annual get-together at CityStage, where city officials and others involved in the broad spectrum of economic development gather to talk about what’s happening and what might happen. And the focus is on a number — in this case $2.8 billion — that represents the sum of the public and private projects ongoing or in the pipeline.

This year’s presentation included a detailed breakdown of projects in progress — MGM Springfield, Union Station, and others — and those that will start soon, such as the expansion to the Sr. Caritas Cancer Center, the new Innovation Center, and the highly anticipated but also dreaded I-91 reconstruction project. There was also an entertaining update and look ahead concerning efforts to create an entrepreneurial renaissance downtown.

But easily the most intriguing aspect of the program was one titled “Dare to Dream.” It was a sequence of computer-generated images depicting what could happen in and around downtown Springfield in the years to come.

It’s amazing what one can do with the right software. Indeed, the Republican building was transformed into a minor-league baseball stadium and the so-called Steiger’s parcel, a.k.a. ‘a little park for a little while’ (it’s going on 20 years now, but who’s counting?), had been filled with, alternately, an ultra-modern, market-rate housing project or a beach populated with young entrepreneurs soaking up some sun (the beach concept garnered more crowd approval).

Meanwhile, the former Chestnut Middle School parcel was now home to a sparkling mixed-use facility, a new performing-arts center had been built in Mason Square, and Riverfront Park (complete with sailboats on Connecticut) had been given a serious makeover.

Kevin Kennedy, the city’s chief development officer, stressed repeatedly that all this was merely speculation and that people shouldn’t take any of those pretty pictures as givens or even firm possibilities.

But he also noted that it’s certainly OK to dream. And he’s right.

Indeed, years ago, and not that many years ago, people would have laughed at those computer-generated images and considered them unreasonable and not doable. And while some of those sentiments may linger to a certain extent, they are largely being replaced with feelings that all or certainly most things are not beyond the city’s reach.

An $800 million casino project becoming reality in the South End will help do that, and so will an official end to more than 40 years of roadblocks to the renovation of Union Station.

But there’s more to it than that. There are the three colleges now populating downtown Springfield in some manner. There’s TechSpring and the Innovation Center and the arrival of HitPoint Studios at 1350 Main St. There’s new market-rate housing like Silverbrook Lofts, and the promise of more to come. There’s an aggressive, results-oriented DevelopSpringfield already changing some neighborhoods.

There’s a palpable sense of momentum and a sense that, yes, things can happen here.

Of course, there are a number of challenges facing leaders as they strive to revitalize the city, from struggling public schools to sky-high poverty rates to lingering perceptions that the city and its downtown are not safe. But unlike years ago, there seems to be a sentiment that these systemic problems can be overcome. Because of that, this is a time to heavily promote Springfield, tell its story, and inspire private developers to invest here, because it is likely to be a sound investment.

We’re not sure how many of those computer-generated images will become reality — maybe none of them. What we do know is that now, perhaps more than at any time in the past 30 or 40 years, you don’t have to dare people to dream.

Just encourage them a little.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff April 7, 2015

Opinion

Olympics Numbers Just Don’t Add Up

By Andrew Zimbalist

The UMass Donahue Institute’s recent report on the economic impact of a 2024 Summer Olympics in Boston wasn’t surprising, given its assumptions and methodology — it projected gains of more than 50,000 jobs and billions of dollars.

While parts of the report are well-reasoned, the predicted impacts are suspect. That’s because the institute accepted the unrealistic assertions of the Boston 2024 organization regarding costs, revenues, and financing; used an inappropriate input-output methodology; ignored scholarly literature on the economic impact of hosting mega-sporting events; and misapprehended some items contained in the Boston bid.

In essence, the report’s results flow out of the assumptions that all operating costs will be covered by revenue from the Games, all construction costs will be covered privately, and the federal government will pick up 100% of the security costs (optimistically forecast at only $1 billion).

Consider each of these elements. The Boston 2024 bid shows operating costs and revenues at $4.7 billion. To get to this figure, Boston 2024 invokes $1 billion in “additional” or “other” revenue, the sources of which are not revealed. Boston 2024 also assumes it will take in $1.15 billion in ticket sales. London had an 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, replete with luxury boxes and other revenue-generating accoutrements. Boston 2024 is planning a temporary, spartan, 60,000 seat stadium. London generated only $990 million in ticket sales. How will Boston top that by more than 16%?

Boston 2024’s operating costs include a $600 million payment to the U.S. Olympic Committee in recognition that some of the domestic sponsorship money will come from corporate relationships built by the USOC. Illogically, the new report figures $220 million of this money will go toward creating business and employment in Boston. This number is then multiplied by roughly 1.9 (the new employment generates new income, which brings new consumption, etc.), according to the IMPLAN model used in the report.

But this model is inappropriate for estimating the economic impact of mega-events. The sheer volume of construction around mega-events leads to the use of companies and workers from outside the hosting region, leading to much larger leakages out of the local economy and unrealistically high multipliers, among other problems.

It is noteworthy that most macro-economic models of the entire U.S. economy have multipliers of around 1.2. Since the Boston economy is only a small fraction of the U.S. economy, it is not feasible that it would have a multiplier that is more than 50% larger. Yet, that is what the report’s results depend on.

Although the institute expresses some skepticism, its report incorporates Boston 2024’s claim that all the venues will be built with private money. Why would a U.S. company build an Olympic stadium that will be torn down? Or a velodrome? Or a pentathlon stadium? Why has no company stepped forward and declared its intention to even explore this opportunity?

Based on its IMPLAN model, the report estimates that hosting the Olympics will generate more than 50,000 new jobs in 2024. It says these workers will spend some of the money they earn here, further boosting the local economy. But that makes no allowance for the fact that Olympic Games are notorious for relying on voluntary labor.

The Donahue report also examines the uncertainty of the impact of hosting on tourism, both during the games and after. It mentions that London tourism during the summer of 2012 was down by 8% compared with 2011. The report might have added that 2012 was one year further removed from the financial crisis of 2008-09, and, other things equal, we would expect higher tourism figures in 2012. The report neglects to mention that tourist arrivals in Beijing in 2008 were down 20%. Despite this evidence, and that from scholarly studies, the report curiously projects a substantial boost to Boston’s tourism.

If one builds an empirical model and simply assumes that all the investment will be private and that the investment won’t displace other investments, it is easy to show output and job growth. But these rosy projections are no more realistic than Boston 2024’s starry-eyed claim that no public money will be spent.

Andrew Zimbalist is a professor of economics at Smith College. His new book is “Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and World Cup.”

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff March 24, 2015

Opinion

Cutting Tourism Dollars Isn’t the Answer

We understand that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has a huge budget deficit to close — more than $750 million, by most estimates — and we don’t intend to overanalyze his efforts to do so, because almost all budgets are unpopular — and debatable.

But his announced intentions to slash funding for both the Mass. Office of Travel and Tourism (from $14.2 million to $6.1 million) and the regional tourism councils (from $5 million to $500,000) represent a tack we wouldn’t recommend.

That’s because the tourism sector is becoming an increasingly important contributor to the state’s economic health and well-being, and it will be even more so in the years to come as the casinos currently on the drawing board open their doors to the millions expected to visit those resorts each year. And also because, in this sector, perhaps even more than in some others, you really do have to spend money to make money.

Already, state legislators who understand the importance of tourist dollars to the cities and towns they represen are casting serious doubt about whether the governor’s proposal will fly, and we hope they’re right in their assessments. Dollars spent to promote the state and individual regions like Greater Springfield, the Berkshires, or the Amherst-Northampton corridor are not so much expenditures as they are investments, and the new governor’s administration needs to recognize that and find another way to trim some $12 million from the budget.

In a way, we can understand the administration’s thinking with regard to tourism funding, especially given the dearth of attractive options when it comes to cutting the budget. After all, the Commonwealth’s major attractions and convention facilities are not exactly state secrets, and Internet-savvy site finders have a wealth of information at their disposal.

But as traditional sources of employment and economic vitality (especially manufacturing) have declined in recent years, competition for tourism dollars has become increasingly intense.

And in this environment, visibility is critically important. Even states and cities that have long been popular destinations, spots that one might think wouldn’t need to advertise — Florida, California, Hawaii, New York City, and Las Vegas all come to mind — have invested millions in keeping themselves front and center when it comes to the minds and wallets of tourists.

Such a mindset has created a good amount of momentum locally, especially with regard to conventions and meetings. Greater Springfield is an attractive — and reasonably priced —alternative for convention planners, and these assets have been a big factor in an increase in bookings in recent years.

And now, those pushing this area as a convention or meeting site have something more to sell — the resort casino that will soon be taking shape in Springfield’s South End.

That’s an attractive addition, one that has the potential to make this area a real player in that segment of the tourism industry and one that should open some doors that were previously closed.

But for that door to open all the way, this state and this region have to be able to promote themselves — and now. Indeed, many conventions are booked years in advance, and now is the time to strike.

As we said at the top, closing a $750 million budget gap will be difficult, and it’s easy to say ‘don’t cut here’ or ‘don’t cut there.’ But in the case of funding for the Office of Travel and Tourism and the individual convention and visitors bureaus, cuts now could have some serious consequences later.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff March 24, 2015

Opinion

State Gets Serious About Opiate Abuse

By RICHARD PIETERS, M.D., BARBARA HERBERT, M.D., and DANIEL ALFORD, M.D.

Prescription drug abuse is now one of the toughest problems communities face, and officials at local, state, and federal levels are all wrestling with what to do about it. Multiple actions have been taken, including new laws and regulations, monitoring programs, and restrictions on prescribing, with varying results.

The Commonwealth’s new governor and attorney general, Charlie Baker and Maura Healey, have made opiate abuse one of their top priorities. That’s good news, because we are losing hundreds of lives to prescription and opiate abuse.

While drugs like heroin remain a prime cause of overdoses, 52% of the 44,000 drug-overdose deaths in 2013 were related to pharmaceuticals. And of those, 71% involved prescription pain medicines — mostly by people using drugs prescribed to someone else.

As the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has noted, pain is a significant public health problem. Some 100 million adults have chronic pain alone — more than those with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. Whether chronic (constant and long-lasting), acute (of shorter duration), or cancer-related, pain is one of the most frequent reasons for physician visits and taking medication, which often helps with the acute pain of trauma, injury, or surgery.

Healthcare providers write a huge amount of prescriptions for pain medicines — 259 million in 2012 alone. Yet, with some 12 million Americans using prescription medications for non-medical reasons and with more than three out of four people who misuse prescription pain medicines using drugs prescribed to someone else, the reasons for abuse go beyond the number of prescriptions issued.

Physicians and patients together can work together to help reduce the abuse. Here’s how.

Physicians believe patients who experience pain should be able to get relief and understand that appropriately treating pain helps patients heal. Medications carry risk, however, and with opioids, one of the risks is addiction. Physicians must balance the risks and benefits of opioids — while exploring other kinds of treatment in open communication with patients.

Medicines like opioids, taken exactly as prescribed under a physician’s supervision, are excellent therapies for certain kinds of pain, but they may not be appropriate for all people.

Patients must clearly communicate expectations to their physicians. They understandably want immediate relief from pain, but taking more pills than the prescription calls for and dismissing the vital instruction of ‘take only as directed’ may risk harm and make the medicine less effective.

Insurers, who are reluctant to pay for other treatment options, such as physical therapy, acupuncture, and cognitive behavioral treatments, should begin to do so, giving physicians and patients other options besides pills.

Physicians must partner with their patients to figure out what the best treatment is, when opioids are best, and, when they’re not, what the best approach is for treatment. In many cases, the best approach may be one combining opioids with other medicines and additional methods like those named above.

Patients should be candid about their level of pain and tell their doctors what other medicines or substances (such as alcohol or marijuana) are being taken. Mixing substances is dangerous and can be lethal.

Above all, patients should be aware of the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s three elements of prescription abuse: (1) taking someone’s else’s medication; (2) taking medicine in a higher dosage or another manner than prescribed; and (3) taking medications for purposes other than prescribed. Patients have the power to act on all three.

Patients can stop the diversion of medications with responsible storage and disposal. Leaving prescriptions in medicine cabinets is a bad idea; it’s the primary way people who aren’t prescribed medicines get them. Medicines should be stored securely, preferably in lock boxes, and unused medicines should go to ‘take-back’ programs within communities.

Beyond prevention, adding more substance-abuse treatment programs to help with addiction and increasing the availability of naloxone, a prescription drug that prevents death from overdose, are steps that will save lives.

Dr. Richard Pieters is president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Dr. Daniel Alford is director of the Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Barbara Herbert is medical director of Addiction Service at Commonwealth Care.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff March 10, 2015

Opinion

Boston, Bay State Don’t Need the Olympics

Under most all circumstances, a business magazine like this one would support any effort that would bring people, dollars, and attention to this state and, when possible, this region.

But in the case of 2024 Olympics, we’ll make an exception. Now that Boston has been selected as this country’s entry, or candidate, for those games, speculation has run rampant, expectations are soaring, and political officials, including many from this area code, are seeing dollar signs and a chance to showcase their communities.

We can’t end all that, and we certainly won’t, but maybe we can add a few much-needed doses of reality to this equation, starting with what some might consider a bold pronouncement: Boston and Massachusetts don’t need the Olympics!

That’s right. We don’t. Those who think we do, or are quite sure we do, are focused on three, perhaps four things: money, exposure, prestige, and jobs. And it’s really all about the first item on that list.

The money comes from building the infrastructure and facilities that would be required to host an Olympics, and perhaps from the spectators who would come to watch them and the media who would come to cover it. Revenue is always welcome, but there must be easier ways to amass it and more effective means to spread that wealth.

As for exposure and prestige, first we have to debate whether the Olympics actually supply those things, and if so, what does it amount to? Did Athens gain any real exposure in 2004, and did it gain any prestige? How about Moscow in 1980? Los Angeles in 1984? Atlanta in 1996? Or London in 2012? The answer in each case is ‘no.’

As for Massachusetts, it has always been known around the world for its institutions of higher learning, its hospitals and medical centers, and its noted vacation spots — Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Berkshires (and none of those locales would be hosting any Olympic events). What is there to gain?

How does a few weeks’ worth of 45-second aerial shots of Boston and its suburbs at the start of each Olympics broadcast help put the Bay State on the map? It’s already on the map in every way that it needs to be.

As for jobs, yes, there will be some of those — mostly construction jobs, and those are important to that industry. But the benefit will be concentrated to a few huge firms and for a relatively short period of time. And a city doesn’t host the Olympics to gain a few thousand construction jobs — or, at least, it shouldn’t.

No, a city hosts the Olympics to do what Barcelona did in 1992 and, to a lesser extent, what Beijing did in 2008, and what Rio de Janeiro hopes to do in 2016 — announce its presence and make a statement.

Barcelona was an industrial backwater into the late ’80s, granted one with stunning architecture, great weather, and one of the best harbors in the world. It used the Olympics to showcase itself and make itself into one of the top tourist destinations in Europe, if not the world.

Boston in 2014 (let alone 2024) is not Barcelona in 1983. Cranes fill the skies in the Hub, and there are more than 15 million square feet of new buildings under construction. Boston doesn’t have to tell the world it has arrived any more than London did in 2012.

Overall, we see the Olympics as an unneeded extravagance. Worse, it is a distraction at a time when the state and individual communities need to be focused on other, more pertinent matters, such as creating viable, long-term sources of jobs. Instead, the mayor of Fall River is trying to get the rowing competition on Watuppa Pond, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is trying to bring the basketball competition to the city where the game was invented (good luck with that one), and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse is pushing hard to bring Olympic volleyball to his city, where that sport was conceived (where they would host those matches, we don’t know).

As we said, this is a distraction, one this state just doesn’t need for the next nine years.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff March 10, 2015

Opinion

Adjust Health Law for Small Businesses

By Jon Hurst

Congressional Republicans and President Obama continue to wrangle over the future of the nation’s healthcare law. But they need to focus on fixing the law rather than repealing it or threatening vetoes on any form of improvement.

It is no surprise to us in Massachusetts that the shortcomings of the basic framework of the Affordable Care Act mean marketplace discrimination for small businesses and their employees. We saw that in our state model of the ACA. Powerful lobbying groups protected certain consumer groups from harm. Big businesses were protected and retained the ability to self-insure, while lower-income individuals qualified for taxpayer-funded premium assistance.

Left unprotected and arguably disadvantaged were those in the middle — owners and employees of small businesses. Several years of double-digit premium increases here resulted in changes to state law to help empower small businesses.

Washington should make changes to the ACA like those made in Massachusetts to make sure health-insurance reform works for everyone. Here are four recommendations:

• Allow existing organizations — associations, professional societies, and chambers of commerce — to form nonprofit, small-business cooperatives to enhance purchasing power, provide more choices, and better educate their members and employees on the importance of wellness programs and the use of provider-transparency tools. This is how small businesses want to buy their insurance. Consider that, since their start in 2012, the Massachusetts cooperatives have served more small businesses than the state’s Health Connector, and they haven’t cost the taxpayer one dime.

• Allow insurers to give discounts to small businesses as they get bigger. It is a fact that, for both actuarial and administrative reasons, the more people a business covers, the lower the cost per person. Yet the Affordable Care Act is phasing out this ability for any employer with fewer than 99 employees, since the law eliminated the size-rating factor from the small-group market.

Those businesses with 100 or more employees are not hurt by this policy, which in turn gives them a huge premium competitive advantage. The phaseout of the size-rating factor means artificially higher premiums for growing small businesses. The logical way to avoid unreasonable premiums is to leave the fully insured small-group market entirely and to self-insure. Already, 55% percent of the Massachusetts market is self-insured. This trend will grow rapidly unless this discriminatory ACA policy is fixed.

• Change the definition of full-time employee from 30 to 35 hours per week. Massachusetts used the 35-hour threshold without disruption, but the same can’t be said of the 30-hour ACA requirement. Most small employers consider employees working 35 hours or more to be full-timers, but few have the same view about 30 hours.

• Allow small businesses to avoid state mandates — just as big businesses do. Self-insured employers operate under federal law and can avoid state mandates. But small, fully insured employers have no escape. Twenty-four new mandates and/or assessments have been passed in Massachusetts since 2006, making the health-insurance marketplace increasingly discriminatory. The ACA needs to address the proliferation of state mandates.

Unfair provisions in the healthcare law are putting small businesses and their employees at a huge disadvantage.

The Affordable Care Act can work for everyone, but not under today’s model. Unfair provisions are putting small businesses and their employees at a huge disadvantage, endangering their futures. Washington needs to fix the problems.

Jon Hurst is president of the Retailers Assoc. of Massachusetts.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff February 24, 2015

Opinion

TWO Is One Solid Strategy for Region

When the Boston Foundation issued a report in 2011 that came down hard on the state’s community colleges, including those in the four western counties, for not doing enough to properly train individuals for jobs in the state’s knowledge-based economy, the initial reaction locally was to be defensive and try to shoot holes in the report.

Eventually, though, administrators at area schools came to acknowledge that maybe the Boston Foundation was right, at least on some points, and that community colleges were slow — and quite reactionary — when it came to workforce issues, and were too insular in their approach to problem solving.

As a result, Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College created TWO (Training & Workforce Options) to not only answer the Boston Foundation’s criticism but address one of this region’s most critical — and nagging — problems, the so-called skills gap.

This gap — actually, it’s a series of gaps — is the primary reason why, despite high unemployment rates, companies across many sectors of the economy continue to struggle mightily to fill positions. And it also explains why many individuals have been unable to break through and attain some of the attractive jobs being created in this technology-driven economy.

TWO addresses these gaps through collaborative initiatives involving a host of partners — from area businesses of all sizes to workforce-development-related agencies such as the regional employment boards and other colleges and universities — and in three short years, it has enjoyed considerable success in closing some of them.

So much so that the Boston Foundation awarded the two colleges, which applied jointly, the first Deval Patrick Award for efforts to address workforce issues (see story on facing page). Both schools are rightfully proud of that honor, but they should be more proud of why they won — because of the success stories written in conjunction with those aforementioned partners.

Some are large in scale, such as the advanced call center and customer service certificate program, which has trained individuals for jobs in the growing number of call centers across the region and placed them with many of those operations, and a medical coding incumbent worker training academy, which has involved more than 50 companies and helped ready them for the impact of a new and much more detailed coding system.

However, many others are small in scope, involving a particular company, but certainly not insignificant in terms of impact on the big picture — the overall health and well-being of the business community.

As we’ve said before on many occasions, the broad realm of economic development is not confined to filling industrial parks with tenants, luring large employers to the area, or spurring the development and growth of new sectors such as the biosciences and clean energy. Indeed, it also involves initiatives to help existing companies thrive and improve any region’s best asset when it comes to economic growth — its workforce.

Thus, TWO has become a vitally important economic-development program, one that will hopefully grow and involve more companies in this region and also inspire other regions of the state to do similar things and thus help close the considerable gap between this state’s haves and its have-nots.

The Deval Patrick Award might help with all that, and we hope it does. That will be a far bigger reward than the cash prize that goes to the two colleges, and one that truly reflects the importance of this unique initiative.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff February 24, 2015

Opinion

Hopefully, the Economy Will Thaw Out

Gov. Charlie Baker recently took a rather unusual — some might call it desperate — step in this state’s battle against what Mother Nature has wrought this winter.

Indeed, as yet another huge storm barreled down on the Eastern part of the state the day before St. Valentine’s Day — a huge day and night for restaurants and a host of other businesses — he urged residents to make this year’s holiday Valentine’s Week instead.

That’s right, he made a rather impassioned plea (in the form of an official proclamation) to people who were going to cancel whatever plans they had for that night and stay in — something his own office encouraged them to do — and spend that money another night. Beyond that, he encouraged state residents to find ways to spend money with those small businesses that have been getting clobbered by this brutal winter. And Boston Mayor Marty Walsh did pretty much the same thing.

Like we said, a desperate measure. But desperate times call for those, and in the Bay State, well, things are getting pretty desperate, and unless things change, we’re looking at a repeat of last year.

That’s when people here and across the state were introduced to — and then painfully familiarized with — the phrase ‘polar vortex.’ You remember — several weeks of intense cold that seemed like it would never end.

It was a tough time for everyone, but especially for business owners, as people took ‘hunkering down’ to a new level. Talk to any car dealer, or any retailer, for that matter, and they’ll tell you that business just stopped last winter. Consumers stayed home until the trees started budding, and when they eventually came back out, they weren’t exactly in a spending mood.

Indeed, the economy didn’t really thaw out until the fall, when people finally started spending again. What was supposed to be a great year for the state’s economy turned out to be a good quarter — if that.

Now it’s 2015, and the polar vortex is back with a vengeance, only this time it’s been accompanied by about four feet of snow in the Greater Springfield area and about twice that in Worcester, Boston, Lowell, and Fall River. And with that snow have come a number of lost days for workers and businesses — three Mondays in a row, to be exact — and a significant amount of lost momentum when it comes to a state economy that’s still somewhat fragile.

By most estimates, Massachusetts companies have lost more than $1 billion, and perhaps as much as $2 billion, due to faltering sales and lost productivity, causing the economy to contract by a full percentage point. And to make matters worse, many businesses have incurred significant, and unanticipated, costs from the cleanup of all those storms. While it’s true that some businesses are thriving from all this — travel agents, ski areas, snow-thrower dealerships, and any store that sells snow shovels — and that matters are far worse in the Boston area than they are here, many local businesses are suffering mightily.

It’s probably enough to put a serious dent in all those rosy projections about the state’s economy that were put forth late last fall, when all the arrows were seemingly pointed upward and most of the usual-suspect obstacles to growth — everything from a lack of consumer confidence to high gas prices to a struggling job market — were trending positively.

That’s probably. We saw what a bitterly cold winter can do the economy last year. We can hope that the weather — and spending — warm up, and quickly. Or we can do as the governor suggests and hunker down when the snow is falling but support local businesses when it stops — if it stops.

Valentine’s Week? Maybe it should be Valentine’s Month.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff February 10, 2015

Opinion

Early Education Is a National Priority

By JOAN KAGAN

All of us in the broad field of early-childhood education and care were elated to hear our vital services underscored as a priority in President Obama’s State of the Union Address late last month.

As executive director of Square One, which has been providing these services since 1883, I believe the president’s remarks to a joint session of Congress shows us that our leaders are willing to spend political capital to acknowledge the value of investing in our young and vulnerable citizens.

The president stressed that child care is something that’s not merely good to have, but something that middle-class and low-income families must have. It is a message that Square One, together with our colleagues in the field, has been sharing for years, and we are ecstatic to know that the most powerful people in Washington have decided it is worthy of discussion on a national stage.

Universal child care is not a new idea. During World War II, the young men went off to war. Having women in the workforce was a national priority, and this country responded by providing universal child care. Today, in much the same way, enabling middle-class and low-income parents with young children to work and support their families has to become a national economic priority. Even as our economy continues to recover and grow stronger, families where both parents work are more prevalent than ever. And in the case of single-parent households, every parent in the family works.

A stronger economy has been good news for ‘Mary,’ who was overjoyed at finding her first professional job. Mary, who had been homeless and on welfare, first came to Square One as a participant in our Mom Squad program. This innovative model helps mothers who receive aid from the Department of Transitional Assistance engage in volunteer service at community agencies, including Square One. By performing a minimum of 30 hours per week of community service, participants can get voucher assistance to enroll their children in high-quality early-education and care programs.

While Mom Squad members work without pay to gain on-the-job training in a supportive, nurturing environment, their child is cared for at Square One. It is a great model. However, there is a problem that arises when someone like Mary ‘graduates’ from the Mom Squad and applies the skills she learned to get a real job earning a decent wage. She lifted herself and her family out of homelessness and dependency on welfare. So what is the problem? Now that she has a job, she is no longer eligible for a child-care subsidy, and she needs child care in order to work. Mary has confided in her Square One social worker that, if she cannot find a child-care solution, she may end up back on welfare.

Quality child care for five days a week often costs more than a month’s rent. Over a year, quality child care can cost as much as it costs to attend community college. A quality early-education and care experience for our children is costly when quality is (and should be) maintained. Research-based materials, professional development for teachers, a stimulating learning environment supplemented with developmentally appropriate supplies, and activities to support a child’s early learning do not come cheap.

It is a labor-intensive industry, despite the fact that child-care workers are among the lowest-paid professionals nationwide. The cost of care is particularly difficult for low-income working parents, like Mary.

Access to affordable, high-quality early education and care is a national priority if we want to help more middle-class and low-income families get ahead or avoid welfare assistance, and if we value giving every child an opportunity to enter kindergarten ready to learn. In the president’s words, child care is no longer nice to have; it’s a must-have.

Joan Kagan is executive director of Springfield-based Square One; (413) 732-5183.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff February 10, 2015

Opinion

A Worthy Class of Difference Makers

BusinessWest’s Difference Makers Class of 2015 may be the most compelling to date, and for many reasons.

For starters, many of the honorees might be considered non-traditional by some. There’s a local employer (granted, a Fortune 100 company); a nonprofit that is, by most standards, still just getting started; the director of another nonprofit, tasked with community events such as fireworks displays and parades; the organizers of a bike race that raises funds to battle cancer; and the new ownership team at a landmark Springfield restaurant, one that only reopened its doors 10 weeks ago (see story HERE).

Because these honorees are non-traditional, that might lead to speculation, if not open debate, about whether some — or all — are worthy of that designation Difference Maker. While we acknowledge that some of these selections are certainly different, a very strong case can be made for each. And we’ll make those cases. In no particular order:

• MassMutual. There are some, perhaps many, who would say that giving back to the community is what is a Fortune 100 is supposed to do. Perhaps, but not all of them do, and not many do it to the extent that this Springfield-based institution does.

Meanwhile, it’s not merely the level of philanthropy, or community involvement, that sets this company apart, but the nature of that involvement. Its giving is part of a considered strategy to build a stronger community and a capable workforce for the long term — a holistic approach, as one observer called it.

• Judy Matt, executive director of the Spirit of Springfield. While some might debate whether someone who organizes a fireworks display should be placed in the same category as an individual devoted to improving childhood literacy, we do not.

They are both making a difference in their own way. Matt, who has been at the forefront of creating, enhancing, and continuing community-focused, family-focused events for more than three decades, deserves a huge amount of credit for improving quality of life here and providing some light in some otherwise very dark times in Springfield’s history. Bright Nights is her best piece of work, but it is a deep — and powerful — portfolio.

• Katelynn’s Ride. When BusinessWest launched this recognition program in 2009, one of the goals was to show that you don’t have to change the world — or be a Fortune 100 company, for that matter — to make a difference. You can do that by changing a small part of the world.

And Katelynn’s Ride does just that. The K-Ride, as it’s often called, named in honor of Katelynn Battista, who lost a courageous battle to leukemia at age 11, makes a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families through donations to Baystate Children’s Hospital and the Jimmy Fund. And, more specifically, it makes a huge difference locally through its support for a new position at Baystate — a liaison of sorts between families of cancer patients and the specialists who provide care. And it’s making a difference simply by bringing together hundreds of people to battle a common — and hated — enemy.

• Valley Venture Mentors. While this nonprofit, economic-development agency is really just getting started, it is already making a difference as it works toward creating what its founders describe, alternately, as an entrepreneurial renaissance and an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Springfield is light years away from being Silicon Valley or Cambridge, and it will likely never approximate what those communities have done. But at least people can talk in those terms. Years ago, there was no such talk, and VVM has brought about that change.

• The new ownership team at the Student Prince and the Fort. ‘The restaurant has only been open for two and a half months!’ ‘No one’s really sure how it’s going to fare!’ ‘It’s just a restaurant!’ ‘How can these individuals be Difference Makers?’ We acknowledge all these opinions and questions and understand their origins.

But this new ownership team — The Yee family, Peter Picknelly, and Kevin and Michael Vann — are already making a difference by keeping another of Springfield’s institutions from being relegated to the past tense. And they’re making a difference because of the energy they’re creating in Springfield, and for ensuring a better future.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff January 27, 2015

Features Opinion

Free Community College: A Worthy Concept

President Obama proposed plans for providing a free community-college education for many students at his State of the Union address last week. The proposal, “America’s College Promise,” which would benefit an estimated 9 million students annually, is still very much in the formative stages, and there are a number of rather sizeable hurdles to be cleared before this concept can advance, let alone become reality, but we believe the proposal should be given full consideration and at least a chance to succeed.

Why? Because, as we’ve said on many occasions, the key to economic growth and prosperity for this region — and one of the keys to closing the huge income gap between the haves and the have-nots in this state and across the country — is education, and free community college for those who qualify is a possible place to start.

Not everyone who attends community college goes on to graduate — in fact, far more than half don’t — or get a good-paying job, and these facts won’t change if such an education suddenly becomes available free of charge. But such a development could have enormous potential to prompt more people to start college and finish it. And since one needs a high-school diploma, or the equivalent, like a GED, to get into a community college, it makes sense that providing that option free would inspire more people to stay in school.

And that’s important in communities like Springfield and Holyoke, where high school drop-out rates are sky high and a major contributor to poverty and a growing skills gap within the workforce.

But let’s back up a minute. Free community college as a national policy is certainly a long shot. The principal problem is funding it. Under the plan the president is proposing, estimated to cost $60 billion over a decade, states would have to pay roughly 25% of the cost.

Well, this state, according to Gov. Charlie Baker, is facing a budget gap of roughly $765 million, and none of the options for closing that gap are particularly attractive. And there are many states in that same boat.

Beyond the fiscal challenges, though, there are some stern logistical challenges as well. Can community colleges like the four in this region handle a surge in their student populations? Perhaps, but not easily and not without expansion of current infrastructure and the hiring of more teachers and administrators, which would greatly increase the program’s price tag.

Also, whenever something is provided free, it tends to lose some of its value. This can’t be allowed to happen in this case, and to ensure that it doesn’t, strict eligibility guidelines must be attached to a free community-college education. In the case of the president’s plan, there are such rules — students must attend at least half-time, maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5, and make “steady progress” toward graduating.

And there are philosophical and political challenges to overcome as well. Indeed, some lawmakers simply don’t believe it is the government’s — and, ultimately the taxpayers’ — responsibility to be providing a free college education. Garnering necessary political support will be difficult.

But as we said earlier, Obama and his administration should fully explore this concept. Many governments around the world subsidize or partially subsidize higher education, and they do so because they view such expenditures as a sound investment in their future.

We should have the same attitude here. It should be clear to everyone by now that, while one could become a member of the middle class decades ago without a college education, or even a high-school education, the odds of doing so now are much slimmer.

And while there are many reasons why individuals don’t enter or finish college, financial wherewithal is easily the biggest.

Providing a free community-college education is a bold, challenge-filled proposition, but it’s a concept that holds great promise and should be pursued.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff January 27, 2015

Opinion

Education Reform: More Work to Do

By PAUL REVILLE

When the education reform bill was enacted in the early 1990s, its main goal was to educate all students to high levels. And all meant all. Many reforms and investments were implemented, and the state is now the national leader in student achievement. Still, there are deep, persistent achievement gaps and inequality of opportunity that don’t meet our goal of “all means all.’’ Too many students leave school unprepared for college or a career. Until this is addressed, we cannot consider our prodigious reform efforts and investments successful.

Since the early 1990s, education reform has been a collaborative effort between leaders in the public and private sectors and educators. This has allowed the state to avoid many of the “education wars” that have embittered the climate in other states. To be sure, there have been fierce and healthy policy disagreements here, but opposing parties have usually kept their eyes on the consensus goal of education reform: all students learning at high levels.

Education reform is always a work in progress, requiring regular changes in policy, strategy, and practices. And now, after more than two decades of good work, we must admit that our strategies — regardless of their comparative success — have failed to achieve our overall goal of all students learning at high levels. We need to ask once again: What more needs to be done? How do we customize education to meet each child’s needs so that every child achieves success?

Looking ahead, one of the major challenges is obviously the budget. Current and anticipated budget shortfalls will pose serious threats to progress. Of course change in education doesn’t always have to cost more money, but it’s clear that we will eventually have to spend more on specialized services, including early childhood education, extended school days, summer learning, tutoring, and health and human service supports. We also need to reduce the cost of higher education.

Another challenge will be to avoid distractions and debilitating conflicts. Extremists would happily drive us into full-blown warfare over their favorite causes — whether safeguarding a sacrosanct version of standards and tests or tearing down the reform architecture of the past 20 years. For example, extremists in the charter school war want us to do continuous battle over whether charters are the “silver bullet” salvation of the public schools or the scourge of public education. We have fought these battles many times before and they are costly distractions from the business of formulating effective, long-term strategies for improving the education of our students.

There are a number of strategies that the state needs to develop over the next few years, including early childhood education, expanded learning time, career pathways, increased turnaround work, the better utilization of education technology, expanded access to top quality charter and innovation schools, higher education reform, and improved quality of teaching.

This is an enormous agenda. No single player could begin to accomplish it. Collaboration will be essential. Innovation will be vital. Making progress will depend on the cooperative efforts of the state and local elected officials, educators, unions, business leaders and the media, as well as students and their families. Education is vital to our success as a people, as a state, and as a nation. Getting to “all means all” would be an unprecedented achievement, but Massachusetts is still very well positioned to make a run at such an ambitious and historic goal.

Paul Reville is professor of practice of policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he also leads the Education Redesign Lab. He is a former Massachusetts secretary of Education.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff January 13, 2015

Opinion

A Role Model on Many Levels

Two decades ago, BusinessWest launched a new recognition initiative. We called it our ‘Top Entrepreneur’ award. (We would have called it ‘Entrepreneur of the Year,’ but that phrase was, and still is, copyrighted.)

And besides, most of the people we’ve honored over the years weren’t recognized for accomplishments in a given year, but instead for what they’ve done over a lifetime — or at least to that point in their career.

We started this award to honor those who are continuing what would have to be a called a tradition of entrepreneurship, not only in Springfield, but across the region. It’s a tradition started by people like Milton Bradley, gunmakers Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson, Everett Barney, inventor of the clip-on ice skate, and many others, and continued by people like Peter Rosskothen, co-creator of the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House (honored by BusinessWest in 1997) and the extended Sandri family in Greenfield (honored just last year for the expansion and diversification of their energy business).

In the process of telling these stories, what has become clear is that the winners, while entrepreneurial at heart, are committed to much more than making money. Each one has been passionate about giving back, and in a number of ways.

This year’s honoree, Delcie Bean, is no exception. He’s being honored, in large part, for his exploits with Paragus Strategic IT, a company that can essentially trace it roots to when Bean was 14 years old (that was just 14 years ago, by the way), and is now a fixture on Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country.

But his story goes much deeper, and it should serve as an inspiration to all business leaders in this region — and well beyond.

Indeed, Bean made it clear in his wide-ranging interview with BusinessWest (see page 14) that, while he’s passionate about growing his companies and taking them to the next level, that energy also applies to his desire to play a large role in the revitalization of Springfield and the region as a whole.

He’s off to a very solid start, not only through the creation of Tech Foundry, a unique educational facility designed to address the Valley’s nagging skills-gap problem, but also through his involvement with Valley Venture Mentors and other groups and initiatives focused on creating what’s been called an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region.

As part of these efforts, Bean mentors young entrepreneurs, both formally and informally, and helps individuals (especially young people) determine if they have the many skills and attributes needed to be a successful entrepreneur.

As he mentioned to BusinessWest, Bean has a number of mentors himself, or business leaders who inspire him. Chief among them is Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, who is committed not only to continually growing his company, but also to playing a direct part in efforts to revitalize sections of Las Vegas, which was devastated by the Great Recession and its aftermath.

“It’s rare that somebody with that much money, where there’s so little that he’s going to gain from this personally, is so passionate about a city and its revitalization,” Bean said of Hsieh.

Rare indeed, but this is the philosophy that also drives this year’s Top Entrepreneur.

Who knows where and to what levels his business exploits will take him in the years and decades to come? As he mentioned, to continue growing at its current and profound rate, Paragus will certainly need to expand its footprint well beyond Western Mass.

What seems apparent, though, is that, when it comes to returning this region to its status as a center of entrepreneurship, innovation, good jobs, and vibrancy, Bean is in it for the long haul.

And the Valley will certainly benefit as a result.

Editorial 2

By BusinessWest Staff January 13, 2015

Opinion

A Big Blow to Cape Wind

Last week, two power companies, National Grid and Northeast Utilities, terminated their contracts with the developers of the controversial, $2.5 billion offshore wind-farm project known as Cape Wind.

Analysts immediately began speculating that the action taken by the two utilities, which cited missed deadlines contained in the 2012 contracts outlining this bold initiative as the reason for their decision to terminate, could put the future of the turbine project’s future in serious doubt.

We certainly hope they are right.

Indeed, while we’ve opined on numerous occasions that this state and this region, in their efforts to secure new sources of jobs and economic vibrancy, must aggressively pursue renewable-energy sources as one means to that end, we’ve come to acknowledge that, while Cape Wind might help the state accomplish those goals — that’s might — it will come at too steep a price.

That price, in the form of some of the highest prices for electricity ever negotiated, would certainly constitute a serious burden to both taxpayers and the state’s business community at a time when neither constituency needs another one.

We have said on a number of occasions that, while Massachusetts has made some progress in recent years to shed itself of that old ‘Taxachusetts’ moniker, it still has a lot of work to do in that regard.

From higher-than-average rates for unemployment insurance and workers-comp insurance to its highly regulated business environment, to high energy rates stemming from its location at the end of the supply lines, the Bay State has historically been a very expensive state in which to do business, and it still is.

And this is an extreme handicap at a time when the competition for businesses and jobs is truly global, and it becomes more intense with each passing year.

Now-former Gov. Deval Patrick made renewable energy one of the priorities of his administration, and he was right to do so. Such a philosophy makes a degree of sense from an economic-development standpoint (jobs) and an environmental one as well.

But renewable-energy initiatives often do not translate into what would be considered reasonable rates for electricity, and that is certainly the case with Cape Wind.

Officials leading that initiative are already making the case that missed deadlines with regard to the start of work on this project are the result of “extended, unprecedented, and relentless litigation by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound,” a leading opponent of the project, and they will fight to see that the utilities hold off on voiding their contracts.

They face an uphill battle, and that’s a good thing for the Commonwealth.

Advances in the state’s renewable-energy and efficiency policies have lessened the importance of Cape Wind when it comes to the overall energy landscape, and the expensive power that it would produce would be a burden to the state’s business community as it strives to make a full recovery from the recession.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff December 30, 2014

Opinion

Five Reasons to Be Optimistic About 2015

As the curtain comes down on 2014, a memorable year in many respects and one that produced large doses of momentum across the region, there are many reasons for optimism when it comes to the year ahead.

No one can truly predict what will happen regionally, nationally, or internationally in the months to come, but most signs are pointing to new levels of properity and vibrancy for the region. Here are five reasons for the business community to welcome the new year with its head up.

• An Improving Economy. Granted, not all businesses or business sectors saw bottom-line improvements in 2014, but many did, and both hard and anecdotal evidence reveals that something approaching real recovery may finally visit this region after steering clear of it since the Great Recession officially ended in 2009.

Indeed, jobless rates have improved, the housing market is slowly inching its way back up, and business confidence, as measured by Associated Industries of Mass. and other groups, has been steadily rising.

Even gasoline prices are cooperating in a big way. While they scare investors because of their potential to stifle the all-important energy industry, cheaper gas and oil are boons for consumers and business owners alike, and they amount to a huge stimulus package that puts money into the economy.

• The Casino. It will be at least two and a half years before anyone pushes the buttons on a slot machine, doubles down at the blackjack table, or brings a convention to the hotel being built by MGM. But one can already sense that the $800 million facility soon to rise in the South End is generating not only excitement, but opportunity.

Downtown Springfield’s commercial real-estate market is finally picking up steam; the long-suffering construction sector will soon have some long-term, lucrative work; and the tourism sector is aglow with expectation about what the casino will mean for the convention business. Meanwhile, the casino’s promise is spurring action on some long-delayed projects like the Court Square revitalization.

• Subway Cars. As we’ve written before, the announcement that Changchun Railway Co. will be building subway cars at the former Westinghouse site in East Springfield is positive news on several levels. It will bring jobs, and the kinds of well-paying jobs that everyone wants, but it has also brought a sense of accomplishment, a feeling that, yes, things like this can really happen here. And sometimes, developments like this one can give a region and its economic-development leaders a huge boost of confidence.

• A Surging University of Massachusetts. President Robert Caret announced recently that he will be leaving the university to take the helm at the University of Maryland. While that’s a setback in some ways — Caret brought strong direction to the school — UMass has in many ways reached a critical turning point when it comes to being the economic engine the state and this region always hoped it would be, and there seems little chance of it falling back.

While many of the recent developments at the school have involved Springfield, the impact is truly region-wide, with projects ranging from the High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke to the recently announced plans to establish a National Aeronautics Research, Development, and Training Center at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, with UMass Amherst as the lead institution. Expect more of the same in the months and years to come.

• A Focus on Entrepreneurship. This may well be the most compelling reason for optimism in the region, because this area will need much more than a casino to recover. It will need thousands of new jobs and opportunities to retain the young people who grew up here or attended college here. And the recent focus on fostering entrepreneurship — best exemplified by Valley Venture Mentors, its new accelerator program, and MassMutual’s Springfield Venture Fund — has the potential to provide both.

Springfield is not going to turn into Boston or Cambridge overnight, or even in a decade, most likely, but it will become a hub of entrepreneurial activity, and thus it can become home to dozens and perhaps hundreds of new startup companies.

For all these reasons and many more, 2015 is worthy of the growing sense of optimism this region is experiencing.

Editorial 2

By BusinessWest Staff December 30, 2014

Opinion

Another Company Bets on Springfield

It has been written — and Aaron St. John believes it’s true — that economic development is a three-legged stool, with the legs being access to talent, quality of life, and access to capital. A region with all three, the theory goes, should be able to attract and retain businesses and, in some cases, foster entire industries.

When it comes to Western Mass., quality of life has never been in question. Families and employers alike praise the region’s lower cost of living than, say, Boston, as well as its natural resources, myriad recreation opportunities, and access to major highways and Bradley International Airport, just to name a few traits.

And the talent being pumped out by the Pioneer Valley’s colleges and universities is unquestioned; the challenge has always been keeping them in the region with attractive career opportunities.

But St. John, co-founder of video-game developer HitPoint Studios (see related story page 6), says accessing capital hasn’t always been easy for entrepreneurs in Western Mass. — but that’s changing. His company recently won $1.25 million in funding from River Valley Investors and MassMutual’s Springfield Venture Fund, two entities that provide capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses trying to grow in Western Mass.

And efforts to keep talent local have picked up steam in recent years as well, with the rise of entities like Valley Venture Mentors, Tech Foundry, and others dedicated to mentoring and training the kind of workforce that companies looking to locate or grow here will need.

HitPoint is only six years old, but its rapid growth and reputation in the social and mobile gaming world — and its rising image as an independent game developer — makes its move last week to downtown Springfield big news. More accurately, it’s one more headline in what has become a string of activity downtown, with entrepreneurs, established businesses, and colleges all clamoring to have a presence on or near Main Street.

But is Springfield really a better landing spot for a promising game developer than, say, Cambridge or Silicon Valley, just to name two regions where investors were actively checking out HitPoint? St. John and company co-founder Paul Hake say yes — and they believe there’s room for many other firms in their field to grow alongside them.

In fact, some are already here. Two years ago, Hampshire College hosted a symposium of area companies involved in video-game design and development, and the overriding message that day was that there’s no reason why Greater Springfield or the broader Pioneer Valley can’t become a recognized hub for that industry.

Cambridge didn’t become the impressive high-tech cluster it is today overnight. Neither did the Research Triangle in North Carolina. Both, however, took advantage, in various ways, of those three stool legs: access to talent, quality of life, and access to capital.

They also benefited from huge doses of creativity, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit, and we believe this region possesses those in spades. And every bit of news about a company growing in the Valley or taking a chance on Springfield only makes that clearer.

St. John said he wants people to look at his industry, and other high-tech clusters, and ask, “why not Western Mass.?”

Good question.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff December 16, 2014

Opinion

Diocese Must Rebuild Cathedral High

In many ways, Bishop Mitchell Rozanski’s decision to hit the pause button with regard to the planned rebuilding of tornado-damaged Cathedral High School is to be expected. He is the new bishop for Greater Springfield and needs to be comfortable that a Catholic high school in the city is viable.

There are persistent and difficult-to-answer questions about why attendance at parochial schools has decreased in recent years — Cathedral once boasted nearly 3,000 students, and now there are just over 200 attending a makeshift facility in Wilbraham — and about whether they will ever rise sufficiently to make rebuilding Cathedral a sound investment.

And we emphasize the word ‘investment,’ because that is how this must be viewed. For the Catholic Church to continue being relevant, it must invest in Catholic education. For these reasons, we believe the bishop is approaching this exercise with the wrong mindset.

Instead of asking whether Cathedral High School has a future — which is essentially what he’s been doing since he announced last month he was reviewing the matter and not fully committing to rebuilding, despite repeated assurances to the contrary from the diocese — and determining how to answer that question, he should instead be focused on making sure Cathedral has a strong, viable future.

For inspiration, he needs only to revisit the building of the present Cathedral on Surrey Road in Springfield’s East Forest Park. Before that facility was built, attendance at Cathedral was limited, probably because of the school’s cramped, limited facilities on Elliott Street.

The new Cathedral was state-of-the-art in every way, and students from not only Springfield but also a host of surrounding communities that had just built their own glimmering new high schools (that list includes Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, and Wilbraham), and all faiths, flocked to it. By the early ’70s, there were nearly 800 students in each class, and Cathedral was synonymous not only with size, but with excellence.

Granted, times have changed, and enrollment at Cathedral has fallen precipitously in recent years. There are many theories about why — ranging from strict oversight of the school by a dogmatic diocese to limited financial assistance to families — but it’s clear that parents faced with paying nearly $10,000 a year in tuition for Cathedral or sending their children to high school in a community where they are already paying taxes are, in many cases, choosing the latter.

Building a new, smaller Cathedral isn’t about trying to relive the past, continue a tradition, honor the previous bishop’s pledge to rebuild when the high school was destroyed in 2011, or answer pleas from alums who don’t want their alma mater to be referred to only in the past tense. It’s about preserving a Catholic education and providing young people and their parents with an important option.

As we said, we can understand (almost) why Bishop Rozanski is hitting that pause button. He’s waiting for some kind of affirmation that this is the right step for the diocese to be taking. The community has responded in a resounding way, pledging millions of dollars to help with the rebuilding effort. We believe he shouldn’t have to wait any longer.

The money (from FEMA and insurance) is there to rebuild. And the sentiment is there as well, as evidenced by impassioned, controlled outrage and strong school spirit exhibited since the bishop made his announcement to put rebuilding on hold.

The time to build is now. And it doesn’t have to be the size of the former Cathedral. Plans on the table presently allow for a much smaller, more manageable high school that can easily be expanded along with increasing enrollment. The challenge is to build not just a new school, but an institution of excellence, so parents will be proud to make Cathedral their school of choice once again.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff December 16, 2014

Opinion

Money Can’t Buy Vision

By PAUL McMORROW

In most formerly industrial Massachusetts cities, big, game-changing real-estate developments — the kinds of projects that have the potential to turn an entire city around — can’t get built because they don’t make sense economically for developers. And if the state started lining up smart but unfinanceable development projects from New Bedford and Haverhill to Pittsfield, and handing out subsidies to each one, the tab would quickly soar into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Instead, the state earmarked just $16 million.

The notion that $16 million is enough to turn around a handful of economically lagging cities, let alone more than two dozen of them, should be absurd. The need in places like New Bedford, Lawrence, and Springfield is several orders of magnitude bigger. Even so, the state has managed to turn the sum into a big pile of money. It did so by focusing first on the thing that makes the state’s older industrial cities so compelling — the fact that they’re not faceless suburban subdivisions.

From Cambridge to Cleveland, cities are surging. Economic development is largely an urban game, because urban centers offer residents and businesses something they can’t get in a subdivision — authentic, compelling environments.

The comeback of the American city is a place-based phenomenon. It’s about tapping into what’s unique and vibrant about a specific neighborhood in a specific city. Boston’s Back Bay, Brooklyn’s gritty waterfront, and Pittsburgh’s booming public market are all contextual; they don’t happen in the abstract, which is why they’re all so difficult to replicate at the bottom of a suburban highway off-ramp.

From the canals in Lowell and Holyoke to New Bedford’s port, Malden’s classic downtown, and Chelsea’s industrial architecture, Massachusetts’ smaller cities are full of the types of urban amenities that have catalyzed development in other cities. Most just haven’t put all the pieces together in a systematic way yet. The $16 million the Legislature committed to turning these cities around was earmarked for a fund for transformative redevelopment projects. As one slug of money in a real-estate deal, the money won’t transform much. So the fund is being stretched as far as it’ll possibly go, by asking cities across the state to think deeply about the characteristics that make them compelling places.

MassDevelopment, the quasi-public agency administering the fund, put out a call earlier this year, asking cities to identify priority redevelopment districts for transformative projects. The agency put a few parameters on the call: cities could focus on just one development district, it had to be compact enough to walk through in five minutes, and cities had to identify private and civic redevelopment planning partners. Three winning cities would receive a slice of the state’s $16 million, in the form of a redevelopment planning fellow.

The MassDevelopment program asks cities to take a far more granular approach to development planning than they usually take. It leads with an authentic vision for a specific urban place.

“The older approach would be just putting something in, and assuming that, naturally, others would come after it,” says Anne Haynes, the director of the transformative development program at MassDevelopment. “We want to focus on the types of places and spaces that generate activity. So when the larger project comes in, it feeds off what’s around it.” For example, if a large new development rises in a downtown that’s full of storefronts that don’t make sense, the downtown won’t get the kind of boost it should.

This approach assumes that there will be more money coming down the line for large, transformative real-estate developments, but it also recognizes that these larger developments will work only if they’re tapping into a strong sense of place and a workable local development vision. It acknowledges that money to make unfinanceable developments financially feasible is important, but it also acknowledges that money can’t buy vision, and it can’t conjure a strong neighborhood out of nowhere.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at Commonwealth Magazine.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff December 2, 2014

Opinion

New EDC Leader Faces Stern Challenges

In a way, Richard Sullivan is assuming leadership of the Economic Development Council (EDC) of Western Mass. at an ideal time.

Indeed, there are many signs of progress in this region, and the outlook is generally quite positive.

A Chinese company is making Springfield its North American headquarters, and it will soon begin producing subway cars at the old Westinghouse site. Meanwhile, in the city’s downtown, there is a burgeoning undercurrent of entrepreneurship and innovation that could eventually lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs and put this region on the map as a place to start or build a company. And then, there’s that $800 million casino that will soon start to take shape in Springfield’s South End.

Beyond the city’s borders, a host of promising developments are taking place. Holyoke is building its own innovation district, and the Paper City is increasingly seen as a destination for entrepreneurs because of its abundance of affordable real estate and improving quality of life. Meanwhile, Westfield’s long-moribund downtown is coming back to life, East Longmeadow is booming and becoming a preferred residential and commercial mailing address, and the Northampton-Hadley-Amherst corridor continues to thrive.

There are other success stories unfolding, and together they would seem to put Sullivan, former mayor of Westfield and currently Gov. Deval Patrick’s chief of staff, in the right job at the right time.

But there are some obvious challenges ahead, and many fall outside of what many see as the standard definition of economic development — filling industrial parks with new employers.

Let’s start with workforce issues. If this region is to thrive and attract new businesess, it will need a strong workforce in place, and there are emerging trends that will make this a difficult assignment. As the story on page 24 explains, analysts project a large and potentially harmful shortfall in the number college-educated people in the years to come, and Western Mass. could be one of the harder-hit areas.

Meanwhile, the demographics of this region are changing in a profound way. The minority population will soon comprise the majority, and for many in this constituency, there are roadblocks in the way of becoming part of a highly trained workforce.

One of the challenges for not only area colleges and universities, but also economic-development leaders, is to find ways to get more area young people through high school, into college, and then through college with a degree. If this doesn’t happen, the region’s economic growth will be stunted.

As for the casino, yes, it will bring jobs, change the landscape in downtown Springfield, and make this region a much more attractive site for meetings and conventions. But it will also pose challenges — to individual businesses in the hospitality industry, and to communities such as Northampton, which are popular destinations for tourists. It is incumbent upon the EDC and other business-related groups to develop ways to integrate the casino into the business community and not have it dominate the picture.

Other challenges include the ongoing consolidation of many sectors, especially financial services, which could cost this region jobs and career opportunities, as well as the need to develop new jobs in such fields as the biosciences and clean energy, because manufacturing and a casino will not be enough.

While doing all that, the EDC must also do a much better job of making this region’s business community aware of its mission, how it fulfills it, and why area business leaders must continue to support this agency.

Back in the spring, we encouraged Sullivan to pursue this position because we thought he had the various qualities — everything from intelligence to imagination to strong leadership — needed to get the job done.

He now has the job, and we believe he’ll do well with it. That’s because he won’t shrink from those challenges, but instead address them head-on.

He’ll have to do that, because the continued vitality of the region is at stake.

Editorial 2

By BusinessWest Staff December 2, 2014

Opinion

Invest in Public Higher Education

Over the past several years, the state Department of Higher Education has devised imaginative and compelling ways to make its case for increased funding for the state’s public colleges and universities. And this year is no exception.

In its recent report, creatively titled “Degrees of Urgency: Why Massachusetts Needs More College Graduates Now” (see related story page 24), the department uses words and numbers (lots of them) to describe what it calls a “perfect storm” of conditions that threaten to leave the state with a dramatic shortage of college graduates to fuel its technology-driven economy.

These conditions include everything from falling numbers of high-school students entering college following a somewhat lengthy population surge, to the rising percentage of jobs in the Commonwealth that will require some college education: 72% is the projection for the year 2020.

“In Massachusetts today, there are an estimated six job openings for every college graduate holding an associate degree or certificate in computer science or IT, and more than 17 openings for every graduate with a bachelor’s degree,” the report states. “Put another way, Massachusetts needs more than 5,000 computer-science and information-technology graduates right now.”

The report contains a number of quotes from business leaders about how finding qualified help is the biggest impediment to their success, and also many charts verifying the state’s merely average performance when it comes to funding public higher education. It’s all intended to open some eyes on Beacon Hill and change some attitudes about the state’s public colleges, and we hope the report is successful in doing all that.

That’s because the report’s authors hit the nail on the head when they say there has never been a time when the public institutions were more important to the economic health and well-being of the Commonwealth.

Indeed, the state’s bevy of prestigious private colleges, a list that includes Harvard, Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and MIT, educate the world — people who traditionally go back to the country or state they came from to earn a living. Meanwhile, the state’s public schools educate those who will stay in this state, or their region, to forge a career.

A quick look at the business community in Western Mass. provides strong evidence of this. While area companies do boast employees who graduated from Harvard, Boston College, Amherst, Babson, Western New England University, and the Elms, the ranks are far more populated with graduates from UMass Amherst, Westfield State University, Holyoke Community College, and Springfield Technical Community College.

And it is the same in other regions of the state.

If Western Mass., and those other areas of the state as well, are to remain competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining businesses and, therefore, jobs it must have a solid pipeline of qualified workers. And this pipeline is going to be filled mostly by the public colleges and universities.

The Department of Higher Education report calls for a stronger commitment, or investment (that’s the more fitting term) in public higher education. It specifically calls for an additional $475 million over the next five years to help bring more individuals into the pipeline — and see them through to the end.

We hope the Legislature will heed this request and make that investment. That’s because Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland was right when he told BusinessWest that the state has been historically average when it comes to funding public higher education in comparison to other states.

And average isn’t going to be good enough in the future.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff November 18, 2014

Opinion

Americans Repudiate Obama, Finally

At an address last month at Northwestern University, President Barack Obama gave his critics a present and the voters a unique opportunity, one they certainly seized.

“I am not on the ballot this fall … but make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them,” said the president in words that would come back to haunt him, apparently referring to everything from his administration’s foreign policy (whatever that is) to Obamacare.

With those words, Obama made the election all about him — not the Democrats who have faithfully carried his water for six years, but him. And in many ways, the voters made it all about him as well. By giving the Republicans full control of the House and Senate and handing the Democrats one of their worst defeats in decades, the voters spoke loudly, and what they said was that this president is not a leader and his administration is failing the country.

Indeed, from the government’s ill-fated takeover of what most consider the best healthcare system in the world to its policies that allow illegal aliens to have more and better benefits and healthcare than U.S. veterans, the Obama presidency has been a disaster, and the voters finally, and thankfully, acknowledged this on election night with a stern repudiation.

On Nov. 4, Americans rejected Obama’s policies, which have left so many of America’s middle class and poor worse off now than they were six years ago and this nation going backward, not forward, on a changing global stage.

The message was sent, loud and clear, that progressive liberalism is certainly not the answer. Rewarding the takers (those staying home taking a government handout while fully capable of working) over the givers (those who go to work every day, pay taxes, and balance a family budget with no expectation of a government handout) has no sustainable path in a free-market economy.

But it’s not just the substance of this president and his administration (or the lack thereof) that clearly rankled voters. It’s also the arrogant style.

It’s best summed up by presidential historian Jonathan Turley, who said, “Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be … he’s been allowed to act unilaterally in a way we’ve fought for decades.” He’s right. From actions that most see as ordering the IRS audits of conservative groups for political purposes to tapping the phones of journalists (and untold others) and monitoring their e-mails, to allowing illegal aliens to step in front of the line and grab jobs from U.S. citizens through executive amnesty, to ignoring the U.S. Constitution, this administration has embarked on an attack against everything America stands for.

And when it comes to foreign policy, well, this administration doesn’t have one — or at least one that works. The infamous Hillary Clinton ‘reset button’ with Russia has reset relations back to Cold War status. Meanwhile, the Arab Spring has turned into the Arab Fail, with Muslim extremists taking control of Libya and many parts of Syria and Iraq, forcing our hand into fighting a new foe that this administration allowed to take hold: ISIS.

When the president told reporters in early September that “we don’t have a strategy yet,” he was referring specifically to ISIS, but he might as well have been talking about his foreign policy since he was elected. The world is on fire, and it is a direct result of the greatest power leading from behind on virtually every major world issue.

As the president said in 2009, just after he was swept into office, elections have consequences. In his post-election news conference just two weeks ago, our so-called chief executive must have forgotten that phrase he so triumphantly uttered. The hubris, arrogance, and ineptness that has characterized this administration was indeed a sight to behold as Obama so indigently dismissed what had just happened the night before. It was inarguably one of the worst Democratic landslides in recent memory, and the president was in total denial.

It is our hope that the November election results will remind the president that the consequence of this election is to change course. Yes, elections do have consequences.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff November 18, 2014

Opinion

How to Repurpose Your Thanksgiving

By BAYSTATE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Thanksgiving is about more than just enjoying a delicious holiday feast of turkey with all the trimmings, then heading out the door before the day is over to get a jump start on Black Friday bargains. Enjoying a healthy Thanksgiving also means sharing time with others and nurturing the mind and spirit as part of the holiday. In that spirit, Baystate Health professionals offer the following five tips to repurpose your Thanksgiving.

Get unplugged. “With our hectic lifestyles, many families find it increasingly difficult to maintain the valuable routine of having a family meal. Fortunately, the tradition of families eating a meal together is preserved on Thanksgiving. In order to make the most of this, it’s helpful for both young people and adults to strive to be truly present at the Thanksgiving table.

Consider adopting a new tradition which may not have been relevant in previous generations: as the food is being served, ‘un-serve’ all of the smartphones by asking everyone to put them onto a tray and remove them from the room. This will eliminate the temptation of checking e-mail and texting during the meal and help everyone to get the most out of the precious time of sharing a meal together and valuing the relationships and traditions of the family.” — Dr. Barry Sarvet, chief of Child Psychiatry and vice chair of Psychiatry, Baystate Medical Center

Exercise in the name of family and health. “It’s well-known that exercise has many health benefits, from lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol to helping prevent heart disease, to uplifting your spirits and managing depression.

Instead of plopping down on the couch and watching football all day on Thanksgiving, why not consider continuing quality family time after leaving the dinner table and taking a nice family walk, or even playing touch football outdoors? Other outdoor sports like soccer, or anything that gets you moving, such as turning up the music and dancing after your Thanksgiving feast, is good for your health.” — Dr. Quinn Pack, Heart & Vascular Program, Baystate Medical Center

Remember, it’s a time for giving. “Faced with the over-consumerism of today, especially on Thanksgiving, when some children may see a parent heading out the door even earlier now to grab up all the Black Friday bargains, it’s important to remember that our national holiday is made up of two words, thanks and giving. Adults need to remember what they were hopefully taught as youngsters, that it is better to give than to receive, and to pass that same wisdom onto their children.

Whether adult or child, scientific studies show that there are pleasure centers in the brain that are stimulated when we connect with someone in a meaningful way, such as volunteering at a homeless shelter or providing food for a family in need at Thanksgiving. Other research points to the fact that we are happier when giving and not focusing on the ‘me,’ and that can lead to both better physical and mental health.” — Dr. Laura Koenigs, interim chair, Baystate Children’s Hospital

Be thankful and mend relationships. “The ‘thanks’ in Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful for being together on the holiday. But what about those loved ones and friends we might be estranged from? Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on ways to improve family relationships. And eliminating latent feelings of disappointment and sadness over a stressed relationship can also benefit both one’s mental and physical health.” — Dr. Benjamin Liptzin, chair, Department of Psychiatry, Baystate Medical Center

De-stress your Thanksgiving. “Sure, you want everything to be just right for Thanksgiving, from a perfectly cooked Turkey to avoiding any conflict among relatives who might not always see eye-to-eye. It’s stress, holiday style. Making sure you get enough sleep leading up to the holiday can benefit your immune system and help keep you free of illness. Getting a good night’s sleep can also help to relieve stress and keep you alert, productive, and focused on the true meaning of the holiday.” — Dr. Karin Johnson, director, Sleep Clinic, Baystate Medical Center

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff November 4, 2014

Opinion

Another Triumph for Springfield

When it was first announced that CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., a manufacturer of urban mass-transit vehicles based in China, was interested in building replacement subway cars for the MBTA’s Red and Orange lines in Springfield, the news was greeted with a large dose of skepticism.

And why not? Things like that just haven’t happened in Springfield in recent years— or decades, for that matter. They’re talked about, but the talk rarely translates into anything substantive. The $565 million contract to build nearly 300 subway cars was the kind of development that simply went somewhere else.

The fact that it didn’t, and that the subway cars will be built in the former Westinghouse complex in East Springfield, is perhaps the best aspect to this encouraging story, although there are many positives to take from it.

First and foremost are the jobs — a projected 100-plus new construction jobs from the building of a 150,000-square-foot plant, and more than 200 new manufacturing positions — as well as the quality of those jobs. Indeed, at a time when many of the jobs coming to the region are in service, distribution, or call centers, these are manufacturing positions, the type that every region covets.

There’s also the prospect for more manufacturing coming to Springfield and this region in general if all goes as well as expected with these subway cars in terms of providing this company with a qualified workforce. This state and this region cannot sell themselves as being low-cost (at least when compared to southern states and foreign countries like Mexico), and they can’t market themselves as being business-friendly, because, by and large, they are not. But a quality, well-trained workforce is a strong selling point.

And then, there’s the needed boost the city gains with regard to its image. Newspapers in Boston and elsewhere were placing ‘Springfield’ in stories that had nothing to do with poverty, crime, or high dropout rate. And it had probably been some time since they’d done that.

But, as we said, maybe the best thing to come from this may well be a needed jolt of confidence — or another jolt, as the case may be. There is a growing sense that things can be done in this city, because they are being done.

This list includes the three colleges that now call downtown Springfield home — UMass Amherst, Bay Path University, and Cambridge College — as well as Union Station, a project that many thought they’d never see come to fruition; an emerging innovation district; and even the successful effort to keep the Student Prince restaurant (the Fort) from becoming merely a part of the city’s past.

And if voters do the right thing and vote ‘no’ on Question 3 on Election Day, there will be yet another boost in confidence, in the form of an $800 million resort casino that will rise in the city’s beleaguered South End.

Springfield still has a number of challenges to confront, including its high poverty rate and equally high dropout rate, but there is some real momentum in the city now, a sense that things are possible, that good things can happen here.

And with that momentum will hopefully come a change in attitude, so the next time a company announces its intention to bring jobs to the city, the news won’t be greeted with that same level of skepticism.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff November 4, 2014

Opinion

Is Marijuana Medicine? Questions Remain

By ALAN EHRLICH, M.D. and KEVIN HILL, M.D., M.H.S.

Despite a federal ban, little research into its effectiveness, and lack of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the use of marijuana for medical purposes has been approved in 23 states and the District of Columbia as of August 2014. More are likely to follow.

In Massachusetts, citizens overwhelmingly approved a ballot question in 2012 permitting marijuana use by patients with ‘debilitating medical conditions.’ With 63% of voters saying yes to the initiative, marijuana was declared medicine by plebiscite, a departure from the nation’s traditional way of testing and approving medications through controlled scientific clinical trials and subsequent FDA review and approval.

With regulations in place for the state’s medical-marijuana program that commenced in January 2013, and as marijuana dispensaries prepare to open, here’s a snapshot of the existing evidence on marijuana as medicine and what we believe patients should think about if they’re considering using it as such.

First, some background. Prompted by its potential abuse, the federal government initially banned marijuana in the 1930s. The U.S. Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970, now lists marijuana as a Schedule I drug, regarding it as having a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit. With growing public acceptance of the drug, however, the federal government has effectively ceded regulation of marijuana to the states. Because of the federal classification, few studies exist of marijuana’s medical value, making it hard to draw sound conclusions about its medical benefits.

Available research shows that marijuana has benefits for symptoms associated with some conditions, among them spasticity (spasms) from multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, pain from neuropathy, nausea or vomiting from chemotherapy, and inflammatory bowel disease. It also stimulates the appetite of patients with cancer-associated anorexia and in HIV patients with significant muscle wasting. Many patients believe it also helps with glaucoma because it lowers the pressure in the eyes, but there is no evidence that marijuana helps with the symptoms of glaucoma, and newer medicines are more effective for the condition.

Dosage and concentration remain major concerns. No guidelines on dosage exist for any condition, and different marijuana plants have different concentrations of THC, the drug’s active ingredient that gives it its narcotic and psychoactive effects.

While marijuana appears to have some benefits, research shows that clear harms are associated with its chronic use. It may worsen anxiety and depression, induce psychosis, and cause cognitive difficulties because of its effects on the brain. Cognitive effects are especially worrisome in adolescents and young adults whose brains are still developing. Chronic users trying to stop may also experience withdrawal symptoms, much like those of nicotine withdrawal.

The majority of people who use marijuana do not become addicted, but 9% of adults and 17% of teenagers do. Those percentages may be low, but considering that marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the U.S., with more than 18 million users, a small fraction of a large number can still be a very large number.

Patients considering marijuana as medicine should first talk with a physician who knows them well. We suggest starting with your primary-care doctor. If you’re under the care of specialists, such as a pain-management physician or oncologist, talk with him or her, too. All physicians treating you should know if you’re using marijuana for medical reasons, as it could interact with other medications.

It’s important to understand that physicians in Massachusetts will not be prescribing marijuana for patients. Rather, they will be certifying that a patient has a ‘debilitating medical condition’ eligible for medical marijuana according to state regulations. Also, physicians who are generally opposed to smoking are not required to certify any patient, and some may decline to do so because of the federal ban or limited clinical evidence.

Whatever role marijuana may have as medicine, we believe it should be a supplement to standard treatment. There isn’t any condition for which it should be the first line of therapy.

Dr. Alan Ehrlich is senior deputy editor of DynaMed, a clinical reference tool that examines medical articles for clinical relevance and scientific validity. Dr. Kevin Hill is director of the Substance Abuse Consultation Service in the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse at McLean Hospital in Belmont. This article is a service of the Mass. Medical Society.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff October 21, 2014

Opinion

Health Officials Vigilant Against Ebola

By CHERYL BARTLETT

To date, in Massachusetts, we are fortunate there have been no cases of Ebola virus, and the risk remains very low.

Ebola was first identified in the 1970s, and since that time there have been sporadic and limited outbreaks. This year, 2014, the Ebola outbreak has reached epidemic proportions in West Africa. The U.S. has treated several citizens evacuated from West Africa after contracting Ebola while caring for patients. One person exposed in Africa traveled to Texas and became symptomatic four days after arrival, was eventually treated, and then, sadly, died.

Since that time, two healthcare workers have been confirmed with Ebola. We are taking this very seriously, and I want to thank the many organizations and public officials that are working to stem this epidemic, including many healthcare providers, scientists, and public-safety professionals.

While Ebola is a very serious disease, it is one that health experts — and our medical community here in Massachusetts — understand and are prepared for. Ebola is less communicable than some other infectious diseases, as it can only be spread through close, direct contact with an infected, symptomatic person’s bodily fluids. As such, Ebola can be contained and prevented with careful, stringent application of core public-health measures. With our clinical partners, we intend to combat and treat Ebola very aggressively and provide all necessary supportive care in the highly unlikely chance a case is identified.

As such, we have taken the following proactive steps to ensure that our public-health and healthcare system partners are prepared:

• The DPH has established a dedicated Ebola webpage (www.mass.gov/dph/ebola) to provide a single reference point for clinical advisories, guidance, and links to information provided by the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).

• The department has issued a series of guidance documents, developed by DPH and/or the CDC, to address questions related to management of suspect cases, screening of returning travelers, laboratory guidance for the handling of suspected specimens, as well as preparedness checklists.

• Our Bureau of Infectious Disease and the state Public Health Laboratory (SPHL) are in regular contact with their counterparts at the CDC, and that contact has increased as the department has intensified Ebola preparations. Additionally, the department remains in close contact with other local and state agencies and professional associations.

• DPH has held a series of statewide conference calls with partners that include hospitals, community health centers, emergency medical services, ambulatory-care organizations, colleges and universities, local boards of health, and public safety.

• The BID Epidemiology Program routinely performs outbreak investigation, contact tracing, coordination with local health authorities and SPHL, and, when necessary, coordinates isolation and quarantine procedures.

• The Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory one of only a handful of state laboratories which the CDC has approved to perform preliminary testing for Ebola, with confirmatory testing performed by the CDC.

• To prepare for the possibility of receiving a suspect or confirmed case of Ebola, we have advised hospitals to review their infection-control protocols and provide preparedness trainings. DPH plans to send staff out into the field to partner with hospitals and their frontline staff to support implementation of these critically important protocols and trainings. The CDC is also stepping up its training and outreach to health care providers.

We should not let our guard down; preparation must continue to be a top priority. While the chance of Ebola transmission occurring in Massachusetts remains low, we continue to be proactive and comprehensive in our preparedness efforts.

Cheryl Bartlett is commissioner of the state Department of Public Health (DPH). These comments were condensed from her testimony last Thursday before the Joint Committee on Public Health Ebola Preparedness.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff October 21, 2014

Opinion

Yes on Casinos, No on Question 3

Voters will head to the ballot box early next month to decide, among other things, whether to allow casinos in the Bay State.

Putting aside the issue of our state’s highest court hijacking the legislative process by allowing this question to see the light of day, the ballot initiative attempts to circumvent a years-long process by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its elected officials, not to mention the casino operators who thought they were playing on a level field, having invested tens of millions of dollars in an open and competitive process to obtain the necessary permits and licenses to operate.

It also attempts to undo the will of the people by invalidating elections held in several Bay State cities and towns, including Springfield, where voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of allowing a casino to be built.

While we believe voters will see the light and vote down this initiative, we are concerned that many people may think they are voting in favor of allowing casinos when their vote may accomplish just the opposite. Question 3 is poorly written and confusing on many fronts, and voters need to understand what ‘yes’ and ‘no’ really mean. In this case, ‘no’ means you actually support the state’s plans to allow casinos by voting not to undo what has rightfully been approved by the state Legislature and cities like Springfield. A ‘yes’ vote means just the opposite — throwing away nearly three years of diligent, hard work by government and business, with government, for once, being a productive partner in a process that was open, competitive, and, we think, fair (or as fair as it can get on Beacon Hill).

Casinos have gotten a lot of bad press this summer and fall — and not just in the Bay State. The headlines out of Atlantic City have been downbeat to say the least, with several casinos, some with price tags well north of $1 billion, going out of business, leaving thousands out of work, and the future of that city in question. Some of these properties have new owners who have made promises to reopen, but the picture on the boardwalk remains bleak. Meanwhile, closer to home, business at Connecticut’s two casinos has slowed, and there is no shortage of analysts saying the Northeast is already oversaturated with casinos, even without the Bay State’s planned facilities — up to three resort casinos and a slots parlor.

But we believe MGM’s plan to build a resort casino in Springfield’s South End is strong and multi-faceted and does not rely mainly on gaming revenues, like its struggling counterparts in New Jersey, to stay profitable.

BusinessWest joins the chorus of voices, including area business and economic-development agencies (and, yes, unions) saying that voters in the Commonwealth should support the already-approved plan to allow casinos in Massachusetts.

Why? Primarily because of what it means for Springfield. MGM’s plan represents a unique opportunity — an opportunity for thousands of new jobs, an opportunity to perhaps spark a long-overdue revitalization of Springfield’s downtown and riverfront, an opportunity for this proud city to be relevant again and noteworthy for more than its high poverty rate and fiscal woes. Allowing a casino in Springfield builds on the region’s growing tourism industry, adding yet another successful venue to the many that already exist, like Six Flags, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Eastern States Exposition.

We understand the risks. Those who say the Northeast is oversaturated with casinos may be right. But we fully believe this is a risk worth accepting. Before MGM entered the picture, no one had ever come forward with a plan to invest $800 million in Springfield, and it’s highly unlikely we will see a proposal involving that many zeroes again.

We don’t fully know what’s going to happen over the next several years if the pro-casino forces prevail on Nov. 4 — no one does. But we have a pretty good sense of what will happen if they don’t. A decade from now, Springfield’s South End will look much like it does now — is there any incentive for anyone to invest there? — and the downtown will continue to struggle. And the all-important fight for new jobs, well … that will suffer a devastating setback, because, as we’ve said many times, there is simply no plan B for this city.

Considering what’s at stake, we believe it’s clear that the logical step for the state’s residents is to say ‘yes’ to casinos — or, more to the point, vote ‘no’ on Question 3.

Springfield’s future rests in the balance.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff October 7, 2014

Opinion

Gov. Patrick a True Friend to Western Mass.

They had come to cut the ribbon on the recently opened UMass Center at Springfield.

That was the official purpose of the well-attended gathering that took place late last month at the center, located in Tower Square. And while they certainly did that, this event quickly, and decidedly, turned into an occasion for the many officials in attendance to say ‘thank you’ to all that outgoing Gov. Deval Patrick has done for the university, its Amherst campus, Springfield, and this region as a whole.

While the accolades were somewhat dramatic in tone — some of those who took to the microphone called Patrick the greatest governor they’d known or the greatest in the history of the Commonwealth — they were certainly well-earned.

Indeed, while not all has gone right for the Patrick administration over the past seven years and nine months, one can certainly say that he has done more for this region — and the university — than any of his recent predecessors.

And while that’s not saying much Patrick and his administration have amassed a track record of support for this region that will, unfortunately, be a very hard act to follow.

And we’re certainly glad he did, because this region, and Springfield in particular, needed all the help it could get.

When Patrick took the helm in January 2007, the city was still scratching its way out of a deep and far-reaching fiscal morass that left economic as well as psychological scars. It needed help to get back on its feet, and the Patrick administration provided it in several ways, from steering Liberty Mutual and several hundred well-paying jobs here when the insurance giant was searching for a home for a new call center, to building a backup data center in the former Technical High School, to providing a wide range of support to help smaller businesses get to the next level.

And over the past several years, as the city has been hit with natural and man-made disasters, the governor and his administration, most notably Greg Bialecki, secretary of Housing and Economic Development, have provided help on a number of levels to help create both plans and optimism for the future.

But maybe Patrick’s biggest gift to Springfield and this region has been his deep commitment to UMass and support of programs to make it the economic engine that everyone wants it to be and, for the most part, it hasn’t been.

The long list of initiatives he’s supported — with funding as well as inspiration to get the job done — include everything from the high-performance computing center in Holyoke to the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, to the UMass Center at Springfield and countless other projects.

It’s fair to say that the university is in the midst of a period of explosive, if not unprecedented, growth, vitality, and newfound respect as a public university, and the Patrick administration has certainly had a great deal to do with that.

His appearance at the ribbon cutting in Tower Square won’t be Patrick’s last visit to Springfield as governor. He will be the keynote speaker at the breakfast for the Western Mass. Business Expo later this month, and, knowing him, he’ll probably be out for a few other events before he leaves office.

But it’s not how many ribbon cuttings, chamber breakfasts, groundbreakings, and press conferences one attends that truly matters when assessing a governor’s contributions to a region or city. Instead, it’s one’s ability to back up words — such as when governors say they represent the whole state, not just the stretch inside Route 128 — with definitive actions that really count.

Deval Patrick has certainly been able to do that. We’re going to miss him around here.

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Gov. Patrick a True Friend to Western Mass.

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