Council In the News Index

Bill Builds on State’s Solid Foundation (Boston Business Journal)
August 12, 2011

Job creation remains the No. 1 concern of people in the commonwealth. We must continually renew our focus on and commitment to helping create stable, good-paying jobs here in Massachusetts. We can and will do this by advancing an economic development strategy that invests in and utilizes our number one resource: brainpower.

There is presently a bill before the Legislature that does just that — builds on our brainpower, and would have an immediate economic impact of more than a billion dollars. H3563 invests $100 million in a matching grant fund that positions Massachusetts as a global leader in technologies just being discovered and helps to ensure that existing industries where the state is already strong remain competitive.

We’ve built a solid foundation. Massachusetts is a world leader in research and innovation based industries because of our unique blend of world-class universities and research labs, proven industry leaders, skilled workforce and entrepreneurial spirit. Increasingly, industry is turning to innovation-rich regions of the country for solutions emerging from university-based research. Universities are working with industry to integrate the needs of the market place into the innovation taking place on their campuses. We should support these research centered collaborations.

We are home to the world’s greatest research universities and labs; we have a real leg up on the competition for federal grants. But we risk falling behind other states that have stronger matching grant programs. The matching grant program funded by H3563 will capture three or more times its $100 million in federal or private funds. While Massachusetts does well in bringing in research money because of the quality of our institutions, we could unequivocally do better. That’s why the Legislature must pass H3563. This investment in research will help create the kind of quality, high paying jobs that we want here in the commonwealth.

Rep. Tom Sannicandro House chairman, Joint Committee on Higher Education

Sen. Michael Moore, Senate chairman, Joint Committee on Higher Education

Christopher Anderson, president, Massachusetts High Tech Council

Richard Lord, president and CEO, Associated Industries of Massachusetts

Daniel O’Connell, president and CEO, Massachusetts Competitive Partnership