GOVERNOR HEALEY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Image features Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll on the left and Governor Maura Healey on the right. Background is decorative.
BOSTON (12/13/23) - On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Governor Healey released her administration’s Economic Development Plan to chart Massachusetts for an innovative, mission-oriented, and high-growth economy. The plan aims to center equity, affordability, and competitiveness throughout their investments in life sciences, healthcare, and the climate tech sector. The three main priorities outlined by the Healey-Driscoll Administration are: 1) Investing in fundamentals to enable economic growth; 2) Retaining and attracting the world’s best talent across all backgrounds; and 3) Supporting businesses t0 power the state’s economy.
Massachusetts state law requires each new gubernatorial administration to create a formal economic development plan within its first year. The Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) assembled a 30-member Economic Development Planning Council with representatives from all sectors and regions of the state, including MASSCreative’s Emily Ruddock, to participate in five main discussion areas: business climate, community and neighborhood development, key clusters and innovation, workforce and talent, and equity and opportunity. These sessions were held in the Berkshires, Pioneer Valley, Central, Metrowest, Greater Boston, Cape and Islands, Merrimack Valley, Southeast, and Northeast.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Governor Healey’s Economic Development proposal maps out the following goals:
Address Housing and Transportation Challenges: Increase housing production and make transportation more reliable.
Invest in Infrastructure and Competitiveness: Projects and programs that ensure competitiveness for all communities, including rural communities and Gateway Cities.
Be the Global Talent Magnet: Launch programs to retain and attract talent, including college graduates, immigrants, non-college grads, and trades/professions.
Tell Our Story: Champion consistent branding and narrative around our vision, strengths, culture, and values.
Lengthen Our Lead: Advance bold leadership in life sciences and healthcare, advanced manufacturing and robotics, and in the application of AI for all key sectors.
Catalyze New Leadership Sectors: Capitalize on the opportunity to become new leaders in climate tech and tourism & culture.
Tourism & Culture: Own the 250th celebration of the founding of the country.
Make Things Easy for Businesses: Streamline access to state resources for businesses across all sectors.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
The plan also outlines strategies for addressing each of these goals. These strategies include:
Produce More Housing - Create more homes and lower housing costs, boost housing production, preserve and produce affordable housing, advance neighborhood stabilization efforts, and create more equitable homeownership pathways.
A Connected, Safe, and Reliable Transportation Network - Invest in keeping the state’s transportation network in good repair, while prioritizing additional large-scale investments such as the South Coast Rail, West-East Rail, the I-495/I-90 interchange project in Hopkinton and Westborough, intelligent transportation system (ITS) improvements in Gateway Cities, and the Bus Network Redesign.
Build on the Success of the Community One Stop for Growth, Seaport Economic Council Grants, and Transformative Development Initiative (TDI).
Uplift Rural Communities - Unlock funding to improve rural infrastructure, create a workable rural economic designation, increase opportunities for private funding, improve visibility for rural communities, and ensure consistent and high-quality internet access and cell service. Invest in economic strengths such as eco-tourism, farming, fishing, and arts and culture, and create career pathways from traditional and vocational high schools and community colleges to municipal jobs.
Statewide Internship Program and College Students - Retain more college graduates through a statewide internship program and create a tax incentive for Massachusetts companies that are willing to host and support college interns. Help international students find ways to stay here after graduation to pursue careers and build lives.
Convene Communities Under a “Team Massachusetts” Storytelling Campaign.
Find Solutions to Better Treat and Support Health - Identify better ways to treat mental and behavioral health issues, eliminate bottlenecks in pharmaceutical discovery and curing disease, address the geographical and cultural disparities in health outcomes for mothers and infants, and determine ways to improve the timing and accuracy of early disease detection.
Pioneer Industry Strength - Continue leading on climate technology and clean energy job creation. Foster a dynamic climate tech innovation ecosystem with leading research universities, venture capital deployed in the climate tech sector, nation-leading incubator and accelerator organizations, and prominent thought leaders in corporate sustainability.
Increase Support for Small and Micro Businesses - Create a user-friendly Business Front Door portal, increase access to all levels of capital stack, and provide more robust technical assistance for small business, including increased funding to the Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) Program.
TOURISM & CULTURE
The Healey-Driscoll Economic Development Plan also includes strengthening investments in tourism and culture in Massachusetts. In 2022, the tourism industry accounted for $24.2 billion in domestic and international spending, 21 million domestic and international travelers, $1.9 billion in state and local taxes, and 131,200 jobs in Massachusetts.
And yet, the tourism industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Administration is proposing convening, coordination, and increased investments in marketing and branding to the Massachusetts Office of Tourism and Travel (MOTT) to allow for more meaningful destination marketing, as well as amplifying Gateway Cities, coastal towns, and rural communities as tourism destinations.
The plan also calls for reinstating the annual Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism to align industries and create marketing and communication cohesion.
Finally, the Healey-Driscoll Administration commits to using the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution as a catalyst to increase travel to and throughout Massachusetts by hiring special events staff for the 250th anniversary and planning statewide celebrations between 2024 and 2026.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
We are pleased to see that Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll regard tourism and the creative sector as critical drivers of the economy, and they are including plans to catalyze the sector for the state’s overall economic development.
This session, MASSCreative is working with key sector and cross-sector partners to advance the Creative Sector Legislative Agenda. The Creative Sector Agenda includes five bills that would each support the Administration’s overarching goals of increasing tourism destination marketing, investing in small businesses and downtown communities, and centering equity and access. MASSCreative will continue to work with our coalition partners, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, and House and Senate leadership to make sure these policies are considered in the Legislature’s economic development packages.
The House and Senate are expected to take up their own economic development spending plans in Spring 2024.
