How to lure the workforce:
Photos/Emily Micucci
A downtown shot of Westborough, which was voted one of 2015's “Best Places to Live” by Money Magazine.
Photo/Courtesy
Jack’s Abby Beer Hall & Kitchen, a popular restaurant and brewery, recently expanded in a new downtown Framingham location.
Westborough Economic Development Committee Coordinator Francisco Torres
Framingham Town Manager Robert
Halpin
(Updated) Attracting qualified employees to MetroWest is not a simple case of “show me the money.”
As an alternative to Boston as a place to work and play — with lower housing costs and easier commutes for those in biotech, sciences, advanced manufacturing and other industries — communities have been ramping up the benefits so that employees can find them here, right in their own backyard.
Getting companies and employees to the area actually isn't only about what goes on with payroll, but also the status of Main Street, district classrooms and other quality-of-life factors. Recruiting and selecting new employees for high-skill positions isn't always easy. Recognizing this, more and more area communities are making strides in pumping up their amenities in order to increase business and economic opportunity.
Take Westborough, for instance — home to BJ's Wholesale Club, Integrated Genetics, eClinicalWorks, BNY Mellon, Astra Zeneca, and other companies — which was just voted No. 14 out of 50 of 2015's “Best Places to Live” by Money magazine, a publication that gave it accolades in 2005 and 2007 as well. Last year, Family Circle magazine named Westborough one of the 10 best towns in the country for families. With roughly 18,500 residents, Westborough has a small-town feel with good parks, low crime rates, water recreation and good schools — with a Boston commute of about 45minutes.
“The greatest challenges we hear from businesses is that they can't get talent from Boston or even Worcester,” said Westborough Economic Development Committee Coordinator Francisco Torres. “We want to pull that life science sector in. We're really seeing high, well-paying jobs increase ... we're trying to get people to live in Westborough.”
So should the goal of MetroWest communities be to become family-friendly, in order to draw companies to the area?
An even more pro-active move, says Robert Halpin — who led efforts for a “Choose Framingham” initiative in the past and a “Choose Framingham for Business” campaign last year — is to appeal to younger folks before they are ready to start families.
“The whole value proposition is changing with the millennial generation,” Halpin said. Framingham, where he is town manager, is home to large employers Staples, TJX and Bose Corp. “Employees want to know they have a range of things important to them.”
'More urban flavor'
Halpin said that trying to be relevant to younger engineers and scientists includes not just a bike commute or a hockey arena, quality soccer fields, bike paths or great schools, it also involves having something Boston has: nightlife. Millennials may be priced out of Boston but are still looking for a more diverse, urban flavor, he said.
If they move to MetroWest, Halpin said, they will in turn support and demand amenities. He refers to coffee shops, or places like the popular Jack's Abby Beer Hall & Kitchen— which has just relocated within town — as a great way to appeal to a younger crowd. “There have been lines out the door,” he said of the establishment.
Westborough, according to Torres, was one of the first area towns to form an economic development committee (EDC), in 2008. Like Halpin, Torres feels that an engaged downtown or local business atmosphere is important to lure employees. “We want a vibrant downtown, to get people out of their cars and into the streets,” he said.
But Torres still says that the top issue for manyemployees is the quality of schools.
Class considerations
According to GreatSchools.org, with factors like test scores and college readiness considered, on a scale of one to 10, Westborough schools earned a 9. Framingham and Marlborough each earned rankings of 5.
“If you are a family, we have great ... recreational assets, a new library [opening in January, it's tripled in size], and a new play area at Cushing Memorial Park.,” said Halpin, of Framingham.
Mayor Arthur Vigeant of Marlborough acknowledges the city has work to do in strengthening its schools. He said that there has been a lot of turnover in school leadership, but lauds Superintendent Richard P. Langlois, who has been at the helm since July of 2013, as a change agent.
But Vigeant says Marlborough schools do have a unique offering: great diversity. “We have a charter school that's No. 3 in the state, private schools and Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School,” he said, along with the Massachusetts International Academy, for English immersion. “I don't know of anyone that has as many options as we do.”
In the trenches
Marlborough's top employers include GE Healthcare, Quest Diagnostics, SanDisk, Boston Scientific, RXi Pharmaceuticals, Marlborough Hospital and Ken's Foods. Vigeant began the Marlborough Works! Initiative in 2012, with an annual job fair to showcase the city to these and other corporations. Recognizing the need for city amenities, with matching state funds, the city also sunk $1 million of improvements into Marlborough Memorial Beach last year, resurfacing a parking lot and creating trails, picnic areas, a new playground and basketball court. Vigeant is also reaching out to high school juniors to serve on the city's youth commission, to get feedback on what's important to them in the community.
In Westborough, Torres said the personal outreach that his office does “the old-fashioned way” has been effective. He and committee members visit local businesses in person. Most of the time, he said, companies say they had no idea about the Westborough EDC, what it does, or that its services are free. Building a relationship this way, he said, makes it more likely that the company will come back to the EDC when it wants to expand and share its plans. “We may know of a building in town that could better serve their needs,” said Torres.
The Westborough Ambassador program, meanwhile, involves corporate representatives from town using personal and professional connections and leverage to get businesses to come to Westborough.
Westborough, in addition to its work / play promotional efforts, also encourages buying local, says Torres. That effort will ramp up for the holiday season as a way to get residents out into the streets. The Big Shop Local initiative began last year at Christmas time, with 10 local merchants who were provided with free marketing and advertising from the EDC. Torres hopes that number will grow this year, and the number of shoppers as well.
The road ahead
Last year Westborough partnered with the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA), to offer a shuttle from companies and tech parks in town to the commuter rail. It was another step in connecting people with Westborough, said Torres, and for a $1.25 fare, they could ride in a clean shuttle with free Wi-Fi to get to their train home or to work.
“The shuttle is a great attractor for business,” he said, and has almost doubled in ridership each month. “There have been times drivers have had to leave passengers and come back and pick them up later.” Now the plan is to create funding for more runs, said Torres, to potentially get more employees from Boston into Westborough for work. As they get to know the community, he said, they could be future residents.
Biking to work is another mode of transportation that resonates more with millennials, said Halpin, of Framingham, the result of focus group meetings in area companies themselves.
Creating vitality in MetroWest, Halpin said, begins with creating housing opportunities.
Hipsters at home
Calling it “the other shoe to drop,” Halpin says urban residential housing is the next logical step for a younger workforce.
Vigeant agrees that along with school improvements, housing that appeals to millennials is needed in his community as well.
“We listen to companies and they all are concerned about their employees,” and getting their needs met, he said. “We want to keep them happy.”
“We want to promote the notion that you can have it all in MetroWest,” said Halpin.
(Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 26 to correct information about The Big Shop Local Initiative. It is a Westborough initiative and comments came from Westborough Economic Development Coordinator Francisco Torres.)
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