Mass. High Tech Council Update
September 21, 2010

Massachusetts Tax and Cost-Competitiveness Policy
 
Policy brief on tax policy

Last week the Council, led by our Tax and Cost-Competitiveness Team and in partnership with the Pioneer Institute, released the first in a pair of policy reports that examine the state's business climate and explore ways to make Massachusetts more globally competitive. This first report (click here to view) builds off the results of the Council's 2010 annual CEO survey, which showed that 77 percent of Council members view tax policy as the primary determinant of the state's business climate and that 40 percent believe the business climate is "worsening" - its highest level since 1991. This policy brief also outlines the changes to the state's tax code in recent years and how those changes - and inaction in other areas - have impacted the state's business climate.  In October, the Council and Pioneer - with Global Insight - will release a white paper that examines the potential economic and employment impacts of reforms to different aspects of state taxation policy. 

For Boston Globe's coverage of this release, click here.
 
For Lowell Sun's coverage, click here. 
 
For gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker's press release which references this white paper, click here.
 
No on Question 3
 
The Council's Board of Directors voted last week to oppose Question 3 appearing on the 2010 statewide ballot that would reduce the state sales and use tax to 3% as of January, 2011. The vote is noteworthy since the Council supports a reduction in corporate, personal income, and other taxes that impede the innovation economy to stimulate economic activity and make Massachusetts more competitive. However, given the existing structural deficit in excess of $2 billion projected for FYI2, the Council determined that reducing the sales tax to 3% and increasing the projected deficit to $4.5B would have too deleterious an impact on state and local budgets at levels required to sustain the Commonwealth's competitiveness and quality of life. The Council joins several other business leadership groups and all major candidates for governor and treasurer in opposing this ballot initiative.
 
The next Tax and Cost-Competitiveness Team meeting will take place on October 25, 9-11 a.m. at Dynamics Research Corporation in Andover. This team is chaired by Council Chairman Jim Regan, Chairman and CEO of DRC.

Regional Talent Development
 
Race to the Top
 
MHTC and the RTTT Coalition released recent statements congratulating the Commonwealth (and ourselves) on finishing first in this competition (MA received a score of 471 out of a possible 500 points). Council Vice President Jim Rooney attended press conferences on behalf of MHTC featuring the Governor at the State House and U.S. Education Sec. Duncan in Springfield, respectively, at which the RTTT Coalition was warmly recognized; special thanks to the Boston Foundation for spearheading that effort. More than half of the $250M the state received will be allocated to local districts that voted to participate in the program; other funding will support statewide efforts to train teachers, strengthen data systems, and other systemic reforms. MHTC will continue to monitor related issues such as the Commonwealth's likely adoption of national assessments.
  
TalentConnect!

Seven Council members - Deloitte, Kronos, MITRE, Philips Medical, SolidWorks, Textron, and WPI - have concluded beta testing this platform, which is scheduled to become operational in Q1, 2011. We appreciate the positive response we are receiving from members and partners about participating in TalentConnect! including the Natick Soldier Systems Center. Participating businesses that belong to the Council receive a significant discount on TalentConnect! membership - we encourage all members to contact us about joining this program to strengthen talent development, recruitment, and placement. 
Boston turnaround principals advisory initiative

Special thanks to Jeff Ray of SolidWorks, Simon Dolan of Zoran, Bertrand Loy of Entegris, Bill Gelnaw of Choate, Tom McNamara of Textron, John Stuart of PTC, Paul Gudonis, and Dalia Hochman of Mass Insight for volunteering to serve as non-academic professional development mentors to Boston's turnaround school principals, building off of our recent charette with those principals facilitated by the Boston Public Schools. We are working to match our members with principals to help inform their non-academic professional development needs in areas such as rebranding/marketing and improved utilization of technology and invite other Council members to participate in this targeted effort; we anticipate it requiring no more than 3-4 hours per month but adding targeted value to an important implementation of the new Achievement Gap Law.

University Technology Transfer Initiative
 
This working group led by Bill Gelnaw and Karen Copenhaver of Choate Hall & Stewart and Tim Ehrlich of Gunderson Dettmer is pursuing the following two initiatives in conjunction with the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC) and invites participation across Council membership:
 
Model terms development. MTTC invites members to advise on the development of a set of "model terms" that could serve as guidelines for more uniform technology transfer agreements and make networking more efficient. Competitor states like North Carolina have utilized such model terms to their competitive advantage.

Clean energy grant reviews. MTTC currently has $200K in funding from the MA Clean Energy Center and is poised to release an RFP for five $40K grants, due early November. Two rounds of external review will follow, in which our team members are invited to participate. The time commitment is 2-3 hours in the first round (mid November) and a full day in December. Participating would provide MHTC members with an opportunity to learn about cutting-edge developments in this sector as well as to help strengthen local technology transfer.
 
The Council also recently joined the Put Students First Coalition for a 21st Century Contract, a Boston Foundation-led effort to influence negotiations for a new teachers' contract in Boston. More information is available by clicking here.
 
The next Education Team meeting is November 18, 2-4 p.m. at the MHTC offices in Waltham. Council Vice Chair Jeff Ray, CEO of SolidWorks, is chair.

Energy Efficiency and Environmental Stewardship
 
Following up on recent Council advocacy for federal energy legislation calling for carbon pricing, eliminating oil, gas, and coal subsidies, and increasing funding for R&D and infrastructure, Team Chair Mitch Tyson (Advanced Electron Beams), Tim Healy (EnerNOC), Nick D'Arbeloff (EnerNOC), Peter Rothstein (NECEC) and Jim Rooney joined several colleagues at a recent meeting with Sen. Scott Brown and staff to discuss potential next steps and encouraged the Senator to work with a rump group of business leaders on:
 
Comprehensive Legislation and a Price on Carbon. The group called for continued analysis and discussions on comprehensive legislation with a price on carbon, even if this issue may not be addressed until the new Congress.
 
China. We offered to help the Senator plan a future trip to China to see firsthand the implications for Massachusetts companies of China's rapidly expanding clean energy investments.
 
Recommendations on Stopgap policies.  We suggested that several non-controversial, but important, measures have the potential for passage this fall, and especially after the November elections.  These stopgap recommendations include support for clean energy investment tax extenders, and a federal RES/CES.
 
Bipartisan Collaboration on Comprehensive Legislation. The Council stands ready to join with sister organizations across New England to help inform consensus among Congressmen across the aisle on this issue.
 
The Team will continue to follow up with Sen. Brown and the MA Congressional delegation on these issues in conjunction with the New England Clean Energy Council and other partners as opportunities present. The next meeting of the Energy Efficiency and Environmental Stewardship Team is on Oct. 27, 9-11 a.m. at Biogen Idec which will feature a tour of the Council member's new "green" campus.

Council Welcomes Ben Daniels as Intern 
 
The Council is very pleased to welcome Ben Daniels, a 2010 Boston College Law School graduate who will be joining Choate Hall & Stewart next year, as an intern working with us over the upcoming months on a number of issues including coordinating our advisory role in developing model terms for technology transfer. Ben's bio is below; please join us in welcoming him to the Council. Special thanks to Choate for connecting us with Ben.
 
Ben is a 2010 cum laude graduate of Boston College Law School. He will work with the Council until he begins as an associate in 2011 with the Council member law firm Choate Hall & Stewart. While in law school, Ben worked at Citigroup and Choate, focusing primarily on corporate law.
 
Ben also holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University. While studying in D.C., Ben began working as an intern at the global headquarters of Special Olympics. He eventually assumed full-time responsibilities over his five years with the organization before starting law school, serving as Global Manager for the Families and Young Athletes programs. In his role, Ben worked with colleagues in more than 160 countries around the world to strengthen and improve Special Olympics programming geared toward involving and empowering family members of Special Olympics athletes.
 
Additionally, Ben worked closely with the Mattel Foundation to launch a global initiative designed to introduce young children with intellectual disabilities to sports prior to becoming eligible to compete in Special Olympics events. Ben traveled the world while at Special Olympics, working in countries such as El Salvador, South Africa, Ireland, China and Malaysia. Ben now lives in Boston with his wife Karla.

Council Encourages Members to be Politically Active
 
As Election Day draws near, we encourage you to become involved in statewide political campaigns. Whether you volunteer for a campaign or choose to make a contribution, your involvement contributes to the lifeblood of our political process. For those of you who elect to make a donation to a candidate of your choice, it is important to be mindful of Massachusetts campaign finance laws. The laws and regulations of the Commonwealth are complex, and we encourage you to consult the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance website before making a contribution. Below are some highlights from the laws: 

• Individual contributions to each candidate may not exceed $500 per contributor per calendar year.
• Individual contributions of $200 or more to a candidate require that the contributor disclose his or her occupation and employer.
• Registered state lobbyists are limited to contributing only $200 per candidate, per calendar year.
• Individual contributions to a political party are limited to $5,000 per contributor per calendar year to the state account and $10,000 per contributor per calendar year to the federal account.
• Corporations are prohibited from making contributions to either candidates or parties.

The Council is nonpartisan in its efforts to facilitate growth and competitiveness of Massachusetts in the global high tech economy. As such, we refrain from endorsing individual candidates, instead choosing to work with all elected policymakers to bring about the best results for Council members and the people of Massachusetts. Along those lines, the Council is pleased to offer members the following listing of all candidates running for statewide office. The list below includes the name of the major party candidates as well as their campaign website (in the interest of space, this list includes the Democratic and Republican nominees for each office as well as any third party or independent candidate with significant support in the polls; please contact the Council if you are interested in a candidate that is not listed and we will be happy to provide you with information on how to get involved with their campaign). If you prefer to supplement your direct support to individual candidates by also making contributions to either the Democratic of Republican parties funds in support of their nominees, simply click the name of the party that you wish to support.
 
Candidates Running for Statewide Office
 
Governor

Governor Deval L. Patrick (Democrat)
www.devalpatrick.com
 
Charles D. Baker (Republican)
www.charliebaker2010.com
 
Timothy P. Cahill (Independent)
www.timforgovernor.com
 
Lieutenant Governor
 
Timothy P. Murray (Democrat)
www.timmurray.org
 
Richard R. Tisei (Republican)
www.richardtisei2010.com
 
Paul Loscocco (Independent)
www.paulforlg.com
 
Treasurer
 
Steve Grossman (Democrat)
www.stevegrossman.com
 
Karen E. Polito (Republican)
www.karynpolito.com
 
Auditor
 
Suzanne M. Bump (Democrat)
www.suzannebump.com
 
Mary Z. Connaughton (Republican)
www.maryforauditor.com
 
Attorney General
 
Martha Coakley (Democrat)
www.marthacoakley.com
 
James P. McKenna (Republican)
www. jimforag.com
 
Secretary of State
 
William Francis Galvin (Democrat)
www.billgalvin.net
 
William C. Campbell (Republican)
www.billcampbell2010.com