MetroWest495 Biz

12 MetroWest495 Biz | August 2015 BUSINESS CLIMATE SURVEY nesses today, with more than 18 percent believing that. That's followed by labor quality and government regulations, with each hovering around 14 percent. Susanne Morreale Leeber, president and CEO of the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce, has seen this problem play out in and around Marl - borough, where high-tech companies that hire students with advanced degrees are frequently arriving and expanding. "It's significant because the college students are coming right out of Boston. They're coming out of Worcester as well," Leeber said. This puts local businesses in a pickle, Leeber said. "It's very difficult to hire people who don't have cars, but they're very valuable." For this reason, Leeber and others have worked to increase transit options for urbanites who don't want to own cars and drive to work. These efforts are largely driven by the private sector, which has come up with solutions such as offering shuttle service to employees coming from the cities. The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority is also adding shuttle options for "last mile" commuters who take the commuter rail to work but need, say, a bus or other motor vehicle for the final leg of the journey. Still, Leeber said, it's hard to say when a robust public transit system will be up and running in the region. It's not a new problem, Leeber said. Back in the late 1990s, when Fidelity Investments opened its now former Marlborough campus, she recalled that the company had to offer shuttle busses from Boston to Marlborough (now a TJX campus). But despite the longstanding chal - lenge of bringing city dwellers to town, it's obvious that Marlborough is taking commuting obstacles in stride. It has been propelled forward into a new phase of high-tech growth with major compa - nies locating and expanding in the city. Leeber said small players are growing too, with ribbon-cutting ceremonies happening almost every day. Developer: Cars will continue their reign For Joe Zink, developer of the Marlborough Hills project that, when complete, will include a hotel, retail space, a day-care center, dining ameni - ties, apartments, and up to 1.1 million square feet of office and laboratory space (early tenants include GE's Healthcare Life Sciences division and Quest Diag - nostics), said commuting options might not be perfect in and around I-495, but they're still vastly easier than getting to and from Boston. He expects businesses will increasing - ly offer shuttle service options to reverse commuters, but the automobile will re- main the dominant option in MetroWest because ultimately, car commuters will outnumber those seeking alternatives for the foreseeable future. Zink predicted What level of additional hiring do you expect over the coming year? Q12 1% - 5% 56% Less than 1% of current staff 14% 6% - 10% 22% More than 10% 8% Over the course of the coming year, do you plan to expand your facilities in the 495/MetroWest region? Q7 Q10 Yes 12% Not sure, too soon to tell 23% No 64% We plan to reduce our facilities 1% Over the course of the coming year, do you plan to raise capital? Q7 Q10 Yes 15% Not sure, too soon to tell 30% No 55% Over the course of the coming year, do you expect to hire additional staff in the 495/ MetroWest region? Q12 Yes 40% Not sure, too soon to tell 31% No 27% No, we plan to reduce staff 2%

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