Page 6 - BusinessWest April 15, 2024

“There are a lot
of things we
have to move on quickly, meaning right now, to set ourselves up to beinaplaceof continued growth so that, 10 years from now, some of these trends that we’ve seen, like outmigration and tax-return dips, don’t continue. But it’s going
to require some strong action right now.”
Work in Progress
Thomson said she can usually tell what day it is — or isn’t — by the volume of traffic in and around Boston.
While it’s still difficult to get where one wants to go most of the time, Mondays and Fridays are at least somewhat better, she said, adding that, by and large, these are the days when many who can and do work a hybrid schedule are not in the office. And the impact of that many people working from their home offices or dining-room tables is felt not just on the roads, but in the office towers in that city, where valuations are falling, and the countless diners, restau- rants, and service businesses that rely on foot traffic from people working in the city.
“Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday — that’s when people are coming in,” she said. “And that presents a whole host of challenges; it exacerbates transit, and if you have a workforce, like ours, that’s in this sandwich generation where they’re caring for children but also caring for parents, not only do we not have enough support there, but our systems are not set up where daycare facilities have a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday schedule.”
While Boston is the poster child for the challenges that have come post-pandemic, the same issues are being seen in communi- ties across the state and in businesses of all sizes and in most every sector.
Indeed, she said AIM, which employs more than 25 people full- time, exemplifies the current colliding forces and trends. It has seen a few of its valued employees leave the agency and the Common- wealth for more affordable states, she said. Meanwhile, it is prepar- ing to move into new quarters and reduce its overall footprint to reflect a need for less space amid more remote work.
“Like a lot of businesses in the wake of COVID, we re-evaluated what our footprint should look like and where we should be,” she said, adding that the agency is slated to move in June into space that is slightly smaller, but also features more “collaborative space,” as she called it, and more gathering and event space amid fewer private offices.
As for losing employees to other states, “we’ve lost two people in the past year who were under 30,” she said. “It’s not because they
didn’t love Massachusetts; it’s not because they didn’t love AIM. One moved to Tennessee, and one moved to Texas because those states are more affordable, and they have the prospect of buying a home.”
Extrapolate these recent developments across the state and its business community, and it’s easy to see why this is a critical junc- ture for the Commonwealth, Thomson said.
She can cite some positives and possible reasons for optimism — everything from the tax cuts Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last fall to projections that falling state tax revenues may pick up in the last few months of the fiscal year; from persistently low unem- ployment rates to signs on Beacon Hill that leaders there under- stand what needs to be done.
“I remain cautiously optimistic because many municipal leaders, and our administration, are laser-focused on providing incentives to try to make it very clear to the business community that Massachu- setts wants businesses to be here and wants businesses to grow,” she said. “And they recognize that, for there to be good jobs and good quality of life and affordable housing, we have to have a strong economy.
“I haven’t seen that messaging in recent years as strong as I’m hearing it now,” she went on. “The question is ... will the actions that go along with that be put into place and be effective? From AIM’s perspective, that’s why we’re working alongside the adminis- tration and the Legislature to say, ‘now is the time to act.’”
Elaborating, and citing ways in which in the state and its leaders need to act, she listed the housing bond bill proposed by Healey, as well as the so-called ‘Mass Leads’ legislation, an economic-develop- ment bill that contains incentives for businesses.
“There are a lot of things we have to move on quickly, meaning right now, to set ourselves up to be in a place of continued growth so that, 10 years from now, some of these trends that we’ve seen, like outmigration and tax-return dips, don’t continue,” she went on. “But it’s going to require some strong action right now.”
It’s About Time
Thomson kept repeating those words ‘right now’ for emphasis, and they apply to everything from housing to how the state will
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