Page 5 - BusinessWest April 15, 2024

Brooke Thomson says housing — and the need to build more of it — is among the many challenges confronting the Bay State at this critical time.
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the move would increase the burden on an already-struggling office market and could deter new investment.
Wu’s proposal, and the reaction to it, are examples of how com- plicated these problems are — neither side is really in a position to absorb a higher tax burden — and how elected leaders, the business community, and even residents are going to
have to work collaboratively in this time of stern challenges, Thomson noted, adding that the state’s businesses, despite some rumors to the contrary, cannot shoulder the burden itself.
“I think this is a critical time because there is so much uncertainty and because we are coming out of the COVID bubble,” said Thom- son, who took the helm at AIM at the start of this year. “Businesses, municipal leaders, state leaders, and federal leaders must make sure we’re putting in place the economic incen- tives and the regulatory pathways so that we can continue to have a strong economy in Massachusetts.
“Businesses, municipal leaders, state leaders, and federal leaders must make sure we’re putting in place the economic incentives and the regulatory pathways so that we can continue to have a strong economy in Massachusetts.”
“I think we’ve seen elsewhere in the country
that, depending on what actions are taken, cer-
tain cities that used to be centers of business
and growth are no longer there,” she went on.
“Part of this was out of our control, part of it
was this COVID bubble where everything was
shut down and then people re-evaluated how
they worked and where they worked, and busi-
nesses re-evaluated where they located and what their space looks like and where they draw talent from. But as we are moving out of that, we must collectively figure out the right sauce, the right recipe, sort of speak, for success.”
For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Thomson about this recipe and the ingredients that might go into it.
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