Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com February 1, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 25 Embracing foreign-born Central Mass. residents E D I T O R I A L The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. T he announcement that General Electric will be moving its headquarters to Boston marks a great victory for the state of Massachusetts. We will now be home to a multinational and multibillion dollar conglomerate with world leading technology divisions in transportation, energy management, aviation, pharmaceuticals, software development, health care and engineering. GE is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. This move is a result of our commitment and investment in a number of areas, including: 1. Health care: The Commonwealth Fund reported Mass. has one of the best health systems in the country. 2. Our world class universities and education system: A recent report by Education Week found schools in Massachusetts are the best in the nation. 3. A state of the art public transportation and infrastructure network: U.S. News & World Report ranked Boston fourth in nation for public transportation, investment and safety. 4. Our economy: No. 6 best ranked economy of any state, according to a recent Business Insider report. Let's not forget the integral role Massport has played in doubling down on our international footprint. Under the leadership of CEO Thomas Glynn, domestic and international flights have continued to grow. We now have nonstop flights to more than 40 international destinations including London, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong and more than 70 domestic destinations. These flights are linking our state with major high-tech hubs, diversifying our economy in more innovative ways than ever. GE has a presence in many of these destinations and the access to a fully connected transportation system held a lot of sway for GE's move, as cited by CEO Jeff Immelt. GE has a highly educated, mobile and hungry workforce. As this robust and growing business center grows, a challenge arises: higher rents for small companies, as well as higher home and rental prices. Currently, the median price of single family homes in Boston is more than $500,000, and rents are soaring to new levels. Worcester, with excellent public schools, timely public transportation to Boston, and above all else, an affordable housing market, is perfectly positioned to house these workers and their families. Since we're the most innovative state in America, as reported by Bloomberg Business this past month, we'll have no problem providing a fully qualified candidate for any future position they seek to fill. This will provide outstanding opportunities for our children, students and graduates from our local universities. All of the work that is being done at MIT and WPI in regards to robotics, cyber security, energy and engineering will dovetail nicely with the placement of GE in Boston. This means that our state's burgeoning, small startup businesses will be able to work in the same ecosphere as GE. None of this happens in a vacuum. As noted in the nationwide rankings I mentioned, our continued investments in Massachusetts' transportation, education and health systems have borne fruit, and they will continue to do so. GE's longstanding investment in research and development will pay off for the state in the short term and in the long- term future. This is a big deal for our state, and I'm proud that we are continuing to cement our leadership as a fixture for technological and economic innovation. n John J. Mahoney is a Democrat who represents the 13th Worcester District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Mass. strong enough for GE BY JOHN J. MAHONEY Special to the Worcester Business Journal V I E W P O I N T John J. Mahoney I am writing in response to the article, "Solar Without Subsidy" from Jan. 18. It is important to note that, despite assertions by utility industry spokespeople that solar is doing just fine, in fact the current net metering caps and uncertainty in the creation of solar power are actually slowing down potential installations The numbers and size of projects would be even higher if the Massachusetts Senate version of current solar bills were to prevail in ongoing negotiations. I know this because my organization has built several solar projects and has been working to help build solar projects that directly benefit low-income people in Central Massachusetts. Some projects have stalled, and the size and impact of other projects have shrunk because of the net metering caps. Many residents here in Central Massachusetts cities and towns would like to see the net metering caps eliminated altogether and the retail rate for net metering (higher than the wholesale rate) preserved. This would allow more solar projects to be built that would benefit the majority of ratepayers in Central Massachusetts – homeowners without solar- compatible rooftops, renters and low-to-moderate income residents. Additionally, as a dad and parent in Central Massachusetts, I have a vested interest in ensuring that we mitigate the terrible anticipated effects of climate change. I believe the dad mandate outweighs utility industry concerns over market share and competition. The moral imperative for an even greater expansion of solar rests on our shoulders at this crucial juncture. I hope that common sense prevails in the debate and that we continue to build a public infrastructure for clean energy by expanding our shared solar opportunities in the commonwealth. n Dave McMahon is the co-executive director at Dismas House of Massachusetts, Inc. in Worcester. Net metering needs to be preserved L E T T E R David A. Jordan, president of Worcester nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation, got fed up with all the bigoted talk about the corruptive influence of foreign-born populations in America – "Send them back to their countries!" "Put up a wall!" – and performed an assessment of how these people are impacting Central Massachusetts and its economy. The results of the Seven Hills study are quite interesting, but not surprising. It turns out that naturalized foreign-born residents in Central Mass. have higher incomes, rates of homeownership and workforce participation than people born in America. They are less likely to live in poverty and use public benefit programs than native residents. Anyone who is a regular reader of the Worcester Business Journal listing of new business incorporations (page 22 of this issue) can't help but notice that the majority of people who are founding new companies in Central Massachusetts on a month-by-month basis are coming from non- traditional backgrounds. In an economy driven by small business, most of the new enterprises are being started and run by people not originally from this country. While the hurlyburly battles in the political arena have competitors throwing some very sharp elbows, it's insulting when those leaders use the well-oiled cudgels of ignorance and stereotyping to curry votes. Rather than fight the flood of immigrants and send them back from where they came, we ought to re-read our history books – and our family histories – as well as look ahead and see what a flow of new, determined, ambitious immigrants can do for our economic prosperity. Ask any number of growing firms across the state, whether from health care, technology or many other fields, about the strong need to recruit foreign-born professionals, and you'll get a very clear answer. They are critical to the growth of many companies, and efforts to further slow any efforts to bring them into the country is bad for business. Business people who are the first and best to engage non-traditional communities often gain a hefty advantage from the start. The first African- American millionaire was a woman who developed hair care products specifically for black women. The foreign-born entrepreneurs profiled in Laura Finaldi's front-page "Land of opportunity" story in this week's WBJ say part of the reason for their success is their insider tracts to these non- traditional communities, like Spanish-speaking clients preferring Spanish-speaking employees. While their place of origin has evolved over time, the foreign-born population always has been strong in Central Massachusetts. Not only do new immigrants to the state represent future employees, they also present significant market opportunities to sell products and services to. It's time to embrace the region's new populations, not reject or seek to marginalize them. These are tomorrow's citizens, and understanding their unique needs and becoming actively involved in their communities will have a positive return on investment. n I n an election year where fear-mongering and playing off people's biases have seemed to rule the day – we've recently observed a sensible, intelligent approach to one of the nation's hot button issues that is worth noting.

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