Page 70 - BusinessWest September 15, 2021

Jobs
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will, in all likelihood, slow any kind of return to some- thing approaching normalcy when it comes to the labor market.
“There are three large contributors — the federal stimulus, childcare, and the virus itself,” Creed said. “They all play a role to some degree within specific demographics and populations, and we just need to give it some time to play out and see what happens.”
Money Talks
Which leads to another question: just what consti- tutes normal these days?
Also, the surge in the pandemic has brought a whole new level of concern, as some people are afraid to enter the workforce, Gadaire noted. “A few months ago, I thought that problem was going away, but now, here we are again.
“And that has the ripple effects attached to it, like childcare and transportation,” he went on. “And then there’s the very real onset of people realizing, and businesses realizing, that remote work is now not just a luxury, it’s a reality, and people are redefining how they do work.”
For some companies, he explained, especially those in hospitality or the broad service sector where workers are face to face with customers, remote work is simply not an option. But for those where it is an
tive, so too does the region, said Sullivan, adding that a new ‘job trail,’ created by the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau and supported by the EDC, is one such example.
On Sept. 8 and 15, participating businesses throughout this region put out signage and orange and blue balloons to identify the ‘trail.’ Interested applicants could visit those businesses, fill out an application, and perhaps schedule an interview (par- ticipating companies were required to have people on site to handle inquiries during designated hours).
“There’s a focus on restaurant and hospitality jobs, but we have Yankee Candle, United Personnel, Big
Y, Monson Savings Bank ... we’ve had a really good response,” he said. “It’s a good cross-section of jobs,
Is normal what was seen in 2019, as described by Lynn and others? Is normal what existed a decade or more ago when unemployment was low, yet candidates were far more plentiful?
More to the point, what will be ... wait for it ... the new normal? And what do employers have to be thinking about as they try to navi- gate that new normal?
That’s a lot of questions, many of them without easy answers.
Indeed, as a result of the labor shortage of the past several months, wage inflation has become a matter to contend with, and it is one of many factors keeping matches from being made.
“
of a buyer’s market right now. They are in high demand, so they’re asking for higher wages than what most companies are offering or can offer, and that’s certainly a problem.”
and the timing of it is not incidental — we appreciate the fact that the unemployment benefits are running out.”
The Job at Hand
As with so much else with this evolving story, time will tell regarding how effective outreaches like the job trail have been when it comes to easing what has become a historically challenging labor market for employers.
For months, experts have speculated about why so many jobs have gone unfilled when so many people are out of work and supposedly
Job seekers have realized that they’re in a bit
“Job seekers have realized that they’re in a bit of a buyer’s market right now,” Gadaire said. “They are in high demand, so they’re asking for higher wages than what most companies are offering or can offer, and that’s certainly a problem.”
Creed agreed. “Not every business can afford
to pay $40 an hour,” she noted. “So when you hire someone, and they get pennies more at another com- pany, they’re going to switch; it creates a wage com- petition that small businesses just can’t afford.
“A lot of these businesses already have very thin margins — so there’s not a lot of wiggle room,” she went on, adding that budget concerns are further compounded by unemployment-insurance issues, paid family leave, hiring incentives and bonuses, and more.
option ... those companies should look long and hard at creating such remote-work opportunities because doing so will greatly increase the amount of talent available to them.
Creed said the companies may also need to rethink how they hire and whom they hire moving forward.
“Does that position really need a four-year degree? Can it be a two-year degree, or a certificate, or just a GED?” she asked rhetorically, while noting just one way companies may be able to widen the pool of applicants for a job. “We need to rethink our recruit- ment practices, which is something we’ve always talked about, but now, I think you have to start dig- ging deep into your workforce and saying, ‘how can I adjust?’”
While companies have to be creative and innova-
the city or town council or the board of selectmen,
as appropriate, in order for a property within that municipality to be eligible for the program. Forty-sev- en cities and towns have opted in; the city of Green- field was one of the earliest to do so in April 2018.
“This historic PACE financing for the complete energy-efficiency renovation of an underutilized building on Bank Row joins many energy-efficiency ‘first’ accomplishments in our city since we became the first green community in Massachusetts in 2010,” Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said. “It’s a legacy we should all take pride in and continue to support.”
Built in 1896, 56 Bank Row is a 12,696-square-foot office building. The energy improvements are pro- jected to save 189,000 kilowatt hours from the grid annually compared to a building built to current Massachusetts energy-efficiency code, which equates to a 28% overall reduction.
“Greenworks Lending from Nuveen is very proud to have worked with MassDevelopment to bring financing for Massachusetts’s first C-PACE project
at 56 Bank Row,” said Greenworks Lending from Nuveen CEO and President Jessica Bailey. “We hope that this is the first of many C-PACE projects to come with MassDevelopment as we work together to bring financial and environmental benefits to local busi-
looking for work. The federal unemployment ben- efits were presumed to be the main culprit, but as
the weeks and months go by, it’s becoming clear that there is far more to this story. And, as Lynn and others noted, what’s going on is really a continuation, and perhaps an escalation, of what was already happen- ing before the pandemic.
Answers to this crisis have been slow to emerge, and the hope is that, in the weeks and months to come, matters will become more clear and the pen- dulum will finally begin to swing back. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
nesses and communities in Massachusetts.” Bradley McCallum, owner of 56 Bank Row, added
that “the renovation of the Abercrombie Building res- cued a blighted historic property that was structur- ally failing. The project combines factors including a long-term lease with the Northwestern District Attor- ney’s Office, state and federal historic tax credits, an innovative design by Tom Douglas Architects, and a committed contractor, Mowery & Schmidt, and their team of subcontractors. Thanks to this team, we were able to transform the bones of this historic structure into a vibrant resource for the city of Greenfield.
“As with projects of this ambition and scale,” he went on, “we faced cost overruns, and one of the pos- itive contributions that PACE Massachusetts provides Abercrombie Greenfield is the ability to retroactively refinance key energy-efficiency investments that we made and consolidate the outstanding bridge financ- ing and private loans into a fixed 20-year repayment structure, providing credit beyond the 80% LTV, which our primary mortgage with Berkshire Bank is capped at. Berkshire Bank, which is our tax-credit investor and lender, has worked in partnership with Abercrombie Greenfield to secure our PACE Massa- chusetts financing.” u
Energy
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family prop-
erties with five or more units, and buildings owned by nonprof- its. The program enables commercial property own-
ers to fund energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects by agreeing to a betterment assessment on their property, which repays the financing.
Offering more flexibility than a direct loan, PACE Massachusetts allows property owners to undertake comprehensive energy upgrades without adding
new debt to their balance sheet and through longer financing terms of up to 20 years. MassDevelopment administers PACE Massachusetts in consultation with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
“DOER commends PACE’s first approved proj-
ect for its commitment to comprehensive energy improvements and building electrification using
heat pumps,” Department of Energy Resources Com- missioner Patrick Woodcock said. “As the number
of municipalities opting into PACE grows, we look forward to having more commercial properties take advantage of this program to finance renovations and retrofits to help meet the Commonwealth’s ambitious greenhouse-gas emission-reduction goals.”
Massachusetts cities and towns are required to opt into PACE Massachusetts by a majority vote of
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