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“Business confidence is up. The Confidence Index is up. Consumer confidence is up” noted Barbara B. Berke, Director of Business and Technology for the Commonwealth and a member of Governor Mitt Romney’s cabinet.
Berke was the keynote speaker at WeWantWorkBoston’s Economic Development Conference and Dinner on May 11. She discussed current and upcoming initiatives to promote both job stabilization and job growth in the Commonwealth as well as how emerging and maturing technologies will impact the growth of specific vertical markets in Massachusetts.
Berke began by addressing the “big picture” questions, “With all the budget cuts, how do you generate jobs?” and “What are we trying to do to create jobs across the Commonwealth?
She responded that the Romney administration is going out and fighting for job creation, She then outlined her department’s 3-pronged approach, focusing on keeping the regions of Massachusetts competitive, meeting the needs of industry, and providing technology support.
“We have a very small staff. We formed Team Massachusetts to partner with universities, businesses, and quasi-public organizations. We have a sharp focus on creating a strategy. We focus on collaboration, an open architecture model, and we are fact based. We have a technology roadmap. The key is – having standards, an open system, and setting clear goals.
“Each region has its competitive strengths,” she continued, “but there is a need to ‘segment’. So we formed Regional Competitive Councils, which ask, ‘What do we need to do to revitalize our area and to compete? We organize meetings with business leaders, where each region pitches what it has to offer.
“We have created a strategy, now we have created a group to hear it. We connect to the regional clusters, who say, “Here’s what we have” “Here’s what we need.”
While the cost of doing business in MA is high, but the Commonwealth does have competitive advantages. Berke pointed to the single sales factor taxes in MA, which benefit businesses that locate corporate headquarters in the state and do business elsewhere. She cited other tax credits – for example, R&D credits and abandoned buildings credits -- which encourage business to locate in the state.
“There are additional inducements to add new jobs -- Housing funds, Low interest loans, Public transit incentives, Tax grants, Fast permitting, a reserve fund to offset increased schooling & housing costs, and healthcare cost controls using technology.”
Noting that the cost of Housing is high and the supply of housing is low, Berke added, “Up to now, the discussion has been about the lack of affordable housing. Mitt Romney would like to frame the discussion in terms of ‘workforce housing’.
Regarding technology, Berke added, “The State has never had a technology strategy before. Now there is the Science & Technology Caucus – a non-partisan ‘idea group’ with industry, education and e-government components. For example, we now have e-tools for State matching grants, technology matching funds, and technology transfer.”
During the Question and Answer session, the issue of outsourcing came up, and Berke stated that Massachusetts has not been impacted that much by outsourcing – less than 2000 jobs have been affected. It will grow; it will continue. Yet, a recent analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute showed that there is a net gain from every dollar outsourced. The question is, ‘How do you get ahead of that?’ As a way to ameliorate the impact of outsourcing, Gov. Romney wants MA to be a global economy; to make MA a “gateway” to International markets. The Massachusetts Office of Trade & Investment has a mission now to grow investments, and is pitching the Commonwealth as a place to in-source.
On a positive note, Berke stated that, “When business people were asked about the National economy – they said they think it’s improving. When asked about the Massachusetts economy – they think is hasn’t improved. When asked if their business’ numbers were up – they replied that they were doing fine. Business is skittish – but changes in business processes have given them more confidence to compete”
