Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 27, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 25 Immigrants are important to the fabric of the Central Mass. community V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L W ith unemployment skyrocketing in Massachusetts and across the country, this may not be a good time for more people coming into Central Massachusetts, especially when resources to fight the coronavirus crisis are limited. Yet, President Donald Trump's latest move to curtail immigration – by limiting some legal immigration for the next 60 days – is detrimental to the local business community as immigrants play an important role in the economy, which is especially true for cities like Worcester and Framingham who have large populations of foreign-born residents. In the last few years we've had a desperate need for immigrants to fill jobs and contribute to the economy, now we find ourselves in hunker down mode, facing a much higher unemployment rate on the other side of this crisis. But does that mean we should shut off that engine of growth for the region? We don't think so. WBJ News Editor Grant Welker's story "Population downshi" on Page 12 points out that foreign-born residents moving into Greater Worcester have been key to keep the population of the region growing over the past decade. Because the net impact of the birth and death rates has largely been unchanged, international immigrants have been the main reason Greater Worcester's population grew 3.3% between 2010 and 2019. During the decade, the national migration rate (Americans moving between other American states and metro areas) saw a net annual loss of more than 2,000 people leaving Greater Worcester. If it hadn't been for the nearly 4,000 foreign-born immigrants who moved to the area each year, Greater Worcester would have lost population. Last year was a different story, as international immigration into Greater Worcester dropped more than 40% from its 2010s' average. e number of new immigrants was barely enough to offset the net loss of Americans migrating out of the region. While a number of factors could have influenced this, it's easy to point to President Trump's policies having their intended impact. is impact of immigration policies on Central Mass. population growth is important because you need a growing population to fuel a growing economy. When we get past the COVID-19 pandemic and want to switch back into growth mode, we'll need more people to fill the jobs we are creating, to bring their spending power to businesses, to eventually build wealth and start their own businesses. Worcester has a significant population coming from, among other places, Albania and Ghana, while Framingham is known for its Brazilian immigrants. All of our immigrant communities have a rich history of adding their own unique value to the cultural and economic life of Central Massachusetts, and their establishment was built up over decades. Shutting off immigration now will only have serious negative impacts months and years down the line. Our region has thrived by being welcoming to its immigrant communities and seeing that growth translate into a rising economy for all. is crisis is testing all of us in many ways, but it should not turn into a test of immigrants' historic role in contributing to the growth or our region, state or nation. W We need a free press and equitable technology access W BJ Editor Brad Kane and I were bantering a couple of weeks over an upcoming issue. Heed my advice! Don't banter with Brad. You may get asked to do an article! I'm inclined to say yes when people ask for something because I'm aware of asking people to do things, usually for Worcester, and I find they mostly say yes, too! Immediately, as our pandemic unfolded I found myself in a frenzied search for information! What would this mean for family or my business, already in a challenging position this year? What about colleagues in indus- try? What about policy? How would government respond? It was day 2 or 3 of the pandemic, and I noticed Worcester Business Journal took down its paywall. "Wonderful!" I thought! I worried, though, it is already difficult for local publications. In Worcester, we have watched the slow demise of our daily paper, and we have watched journalists we trust lose their jobs. We need a free press. My family has tuned in nightly to the 5 p.m. briefings by Mayor Joseph Petty and City Manager Edward Augustus and Dr. Michael Hirsh. I trust them. I believe they are telling me what they know to be true. Within the next 30 minutes, we watch President Donald Trump. I do not believe him. I really only want to listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx. en I want to find other news sources to help me determine the best path forward. A variety of news outlets enriches us and is the key to educating ourselves. e other issue I've thought about daily is equity. Equity as it relates to access to technology for education and employment. Many Worcester Public School students, and even college students, don't have devices at home, or even at school. Have you ever tried to read a document on a phone? Some have devices but no internet access. Everyone is on the hunt for hot spots, because our community values equi- table access to education. Technology access and proficiency is critical for our students and future workforce. is pandemic has forced many employers to have people go home to do their jobs. At my company we did not have anyone without internet access, but I know other employers who have employees with access issues. In the future, work from home options may grow, as the pandemic propelled employers to get comfortable with WFH. Our nation's severe job losses would have been even more severe if these options weren't available. I worry about people who have lost jobs. Do they have a solid internet connection in order to file for unemployment? e unemployment system has been overloaded. Some- one with poor access has to go somewhere to connect. Job hunting is an online experience. If you do not have adequate internet access, how do you search? I'm sure I'm not alone feeling overwhelmed at the pro- found issues we are discussing. My hope is this crisis will propel us to make true change such as we become a nation once again valuing a free press, figuring out how to pay for it, and giving equitable access to technology. at's it, Brad! Don't ask me to do this again! Sue Mailman is the owner of Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. & Coghlin Network Services Inc. in Worcester. BY SUE MAILMAN Special to the Worcester Business Journal Sue Mailman W WO R D F R O M T H E W E B Facebook feedback "And so it began in the early 50s with a little plastic Dutch boy & girl in the cereal boxes. Van Brode! Who remembers?" - Elizabeth Evangelous, April 21, on a WBJ story about the sale of the former Weetabix cereal manufacturing facility in Clinton for $2.5 million "Confidence that one can go into businesses safely is required for any business to be successful in this environment." - Tim Joost, April 21, on a WBJ story where Gov. Charlie Baker said businesses would be heavily regulated once the economy re-opened Tweets of the Week "Massachusetts can do better." – jbreen (@johnsbreen), April 21, on a WBJ story where Gov. Charlie Baker said businesses would be heavily regulated once the economy re-opened "Best time in 70 years for infrastructure repair." – JOB1120 (@jeffob), April 20, on a WBJ story about how motor vehicle traffic had declined 68% on Massachusetts highways

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