Page 12 - BusinessWest September 4, 2023

EDITORIAL >>
An Investment in Education
It’s a significant investment: more than $20 million just for the first year. But it’s an investment that could bring a sig- nificant return.
That’s the hope, anyway, of Gov. Maura Healey and other state officials, who officially launched the initiative called MassReconnect with a press conference on Sept. 24 at Mass- Bay Community College in Wellsley.
The program, quite simply, establishes free community college — covering not just tuition and fees, but books and supplies — for academically qualifying students age 25 and older.
The governor laid out the compelling rationale for the program at the event. “MassReconnect will be transformative for thousands of students, for our amazing community col- leges, and for our economy,” she said. “It will bolster the role of community colleges as economic drivers in our state and help us better meet the needs of businesses to find qualified, well-trained workers. We can also make progress in breaking cycles of intergenerational poverty by helping residents com- plete their higher-education credentials so they can attain good jobs and build a career path.”
Let’s consider those points one at a time.
Western Mass., where four of the state’s 15 community colleges — Berkshire Community College, Greenfield Com- munity College, Holyoke Community College, and Springfield Technical Community College — are located, needs them
to be strong and vibrant to generate, and maintain, a strong pipeline of workers coming into myriad fields.
Meanwhile, at a time when businesses of all kinds are struggling to attract and retain talent, making it easier for non-traditional students — those who haven’t started in col- lege, or who have started but haven’t completed, for one rea- son or another — to enter career pipelines could make a real difference in those companies’ growth, and even survival.
Meanwhile, Healey is right: there’s no doubt that educa- tion is a key factor in overcoming barriers to economic suc- cess; it isn’t hard to imagine that many students taking advan- tage of this program will represent the first generation of
OPINION >>
their family to attend college.
Holyoke Community College President George Timmons
believes that “MassReconnect will enable our community col- leges to do more of what we do best, which is serve students from all ages and all backgrounds and provide them with an exceptional education that leads to employment and, ulti- mately, a stronger economy and thriving region.”
MassReconnect is expected to support up to 8,000 com- munity-college students in the first year, which could grow
to closer to 10,000 students by FY 2025, depending on how many students take advantage of the new opportunity. There are approximately 700,000 Massachusetts residents who have some college credit but no degree. MassReconnect could help bring back these students to finish their degrees, with the additional funding and support they may have lacked the first time around.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth’s 15 community colleges are a ticket to economic mobility for many residents. Nation- ally, employees who have earned their associate degree are paid 18% more than workers with only a high-school diplo- ma, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As for those jobs, in July, there were more than 26,000 job postings in Massachusetts that specifically required an associate degree.
The hope is that MassReconnect will harness the power of community colleges by allowing workers to earn the training and education necessary to jump-start their career growth and reinforce a pipeline of skilled professionals enter- ing the workforce. That’s what this is about, and why Healey and other proponents and believe the state’s investment will be more than justified by its return.
“MassReconnect will be a game changer for residents 25 and over in the Pioneer Valley and throughout the Common- wealth,” Greenfield Community College President Michelle Schutt said.
Let’s hope it changes the equation for employers — and the state’s entire economy — as well. BW
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Keep Supporting Local Farms
BY PHILIP KORMAN
The widespread flooding that hit our region in mid-July illuminates many truths: the vulnerability of many local farms, the hard reality of climate change, and the amaz- ing response that is possible when the community, nonprofit and foundation partners, and government all step up and work together.
Current estimates are that more than 100 local farms were affected by the floods and that they lost a combined $15 million in crops — but long-term effects are still being count- ed. The flooding came on the heels of two freezes that dam- aged peach, blueberry, and apple crops, and was followed by continued heavy rains that deluged even non-flooded fields. As our climate changes, these extreme weather events will become more common.
The response — from the generosity of individual donors to the speed with which our state government has acted — has been stunning. The governor signed a supplemental bud- get that includes $20 million in disaster relief to cover crop losses. The Emergency Farm Fund at Community Involved in
Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) is offering no-interest loans up to $25,000 to affected farms, and a recent disaster declara- tion will make low-interest federal loans available too.
What is missing is money to cover all the other losses that farms have suffered, including the destruction of property and equipment. The new Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund can help fill this gap, and it has set an ambitious fund- raising goal of $5 million to quickly get grants to farms.
Farmers are resilient, and they are adapting to their new reality — but they will need continued support and a robust emergency-response system as the climate changes. You can support them, as always, by buying local, and you can help build up the Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund now so it’s there in the future. Learn more at buylocalfood.org/helpflood- edfarms. BW
Philip Korman is executive director of Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture.
12 SEPTEMBER 4, 2023
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