Baker creates dedicated business team
As part of a buildup to the governor filing jobs legislation early next year, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday he would create a "BizWorks" team of senior level staff across three secretariats to serve as the single point of contact for large and small businesses with a dedicated hotline.
Putting his own stamp on a business-friendly theme also highlighted by his predecessors, Baker said the team's formation will coincide with a planning process to better align economic development, workforce training and education efforts tailored to specific regions of the state.
Baker made his announcement at the offices of Amazon in Kendall Square Tuesday morning where the company was also celebrating the completion of a land transaction in Fall River that will allow the tech giant to add 500 jobs at a new 1-million-square-foot fulfillment center under construction.
Since locating in Cambridge, Amazon has expanded to Stoughton where it operates a sorting center and has become, according to the administration, a model for businesses that can locate and then grow their footprints in Massachusetts.
"We don't always sing off the same sheet of music, and one of the things we believe BizWorks will make it possible for us to do is to tailor all of the various elements of the Commonwealth's capacity to support businesses that are looking to grow here to locate here into a single enterprise," Baker said.
The senior staff members on the team are Assistant Secretary of Employer Services David Muldrew, who was hired from the Pyramid Hotel Group to head up the effort, Assistant Secretary of Business Development and International Trade Nam Pham, Assistant Secretary of Business Growth Michael Kenneally and David Cedrone, associate higher education commissioner for economic and workforce development and STEM.
The BizWorks initiative comes out the work done by the Workforce Skills Cabinet that was established by executive order in February, and has been led by Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ron Walker, Education Secretary James Peyser and House and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash.
All three secretaries were on hand Tuesday to thank Amazon for their commitment to Massachusetts and to outline their focus on improving and streamlining the state's interactions with business to create and fill jobs.
"We want to make sure that we're all aligned in every area, from my perspective, on the jobs front," Walker said.
The regional planning process is expected to bring together a sampling of elected officials, business leaders, hospitals, and higher education institutes to indentify region-specific workforce needs and develop programs to meet those demands.
Peyser said the administration would also be undertaking efforts to expand high school and community college manufacturing and vocational trade programs, as well as science, technology, engineering and math instruction, to better connect programs with the needs of employers.
Peyser said those efforts, for instance, could take the form of dual-enrollment programs between high schools and colleges, or partnerships between community colleges and businesses.
"If we're able to do this well, we're going to be able to fill the skills gap that is leaving thousands of vacancies unfilled across the Commonwealth and limiting our economic growth," Peyser said.
Though there is no money attached to the proposals rolled out Tuesday, Baker hinted that the economic development bill he expects to file "shortly after the first of the year" could include new investments, including incentives to "encourage educators to more directly play to medium- and long-term employer expectations."
"There's a big opportunity there," Baker said.
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