MHTC

On October 12, the Massachusetts High Technology Council launched its first-ever legislative assessment system on MassTrack, a dynamic website designed to provide information on elected leaders to Council member companies, technology employees, and the public. The assessment system uses votes from the 2005-2006 legislative session on issues of economic and fiscal, health care, and education policy.

”MassTrack is the first assessment methodology used in Massachusetts to measure how legislators vote on key issues to the technology community," said Council President Christopher R. Anderson. "The goal is to help legislators gain a better understanding of the technology community’s legislative priorities on Beacon Hill and to initiate a dialog between elected officials and technology employers and employees.”

First, it assigns different weights for each previously identified legislative roll-call vote as set by the Council’s annual CEO survey. For its inaugural ranking, MassTrack recorded roll call votes for eight key issues over the two-year session. For the complete scorecard, scoring methodology and listing of issues, visit www.masstrack.org .

Overall, legislative support for technology issues in 2005 and 2006 was good. Five senators and 17 representatives received 100 percent scores. The lowest score in the Legislature was 49 percent, a score shared by one senator and three representatives. The average score for the Senate was 73.8 percent, with the House coming in slightly higher at an average of 75.1 percent.

Second, the legislative assessment section corresponds with a ranking of the competitiveness of the state’s 351 cities and towns on technology and site selection issues. The Council launched the initial list of municipal rankings in March, initiating a public conversation on how communities can create a more competitive climate for technology employers. In the updated municipal rankings, Hopkinton remained the top-rated community.

“In Massachusetts, the role of the local community and its impact on important state initiatives is extremely significant. A decision by a community can have a positive or negative impact on a state policy designed to help improve our state’s competitiveness,” said Anderson. “MassTrack is the only resource that makes the connection between public policy and political leadership between the state and local levels.”

Anderson noted that not all of the top performing communities were represented by legislators that scored high on the MassTrack legislative scorecard.

“We congratulate a majority of legislators whose votes reflect the technology focus of their districts,” said Anderson. “But it is important for technology employers and employees to understand how each legislator and their local officials are working to support technology growth.”

Each Legislative Profile page includes a full description of the issues and votes included on MassTrack, as well as contact information so that visitors can immediately correspond with their legislators. The MassTrack link was sent to all of the Council’s members so it can be forwarded to their employees.

The addition of updated variables shook up the community rankings. New variables include the commercial tax rate, the commercial/industrial growth rates, and trends of MCAS math scores. The MassTrack community rankings bring into focus the competitive priorities of technology employers and employees in 12 core variables, including the density of technology workforce, new housing created, property tax differentials and available commercial space.

MassTrack provides visitors the opportunity to explore interactive, color-coded maps of the state based on the MassTrack ranking and individual variables. A visitor can focus on a specific variable and quickly determine which communities are favorable or unfavorable for that competitive priority. In addition to the variables used for ranking, MassTrack collects other data points of interest to the public, like median home values, residential tax rates and average commute times of residents.

The MassTrack municipal rankings will be updated every September, while the legislative assessment tool will be issued in September of every election year.

While the added variables reshaped the rankings, going forward the same 12 variables will be used in the annual recalibration of the municipal rankings with one exception. In 2007, MassTrack will include whether or not a community opts in for “fast-track” permitting, designed to help employers expand or site new facilities on a faster timetable. The expedited permitting program was created by the Legislature’s approval in June of the permitting reform bill just before the close of the 2006 session. The Council used the support for the permitting reform bill as one of the votes for the MassTrack legislative assessment tool.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Business & Technology (MDBT), the state entity in overseeing the program, expedited permitting will benefit employers by:

The MDBT is expected to finalize the regulations for the program before the end of the year. Approval by local officials – by town meeting for towns and city councils for cities – is required for communities to enroll in the program.

For more information on the new expedited permitting program, please contact MDBT Chief of Staff April Anderson at (617) 788-3667 or april.a.anderson@state.ma.us.

On October 3, Millipore Corporation Chairman & CEO Martin Madaus hosted the opening of the company’s new $50 million Bioprocess Research & Development Center in Bedford. Millipore, a longtime Council member, is a leading provider of products and services that improve productivity in the laboratory and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. According to Millipore, the center will enable the company to leverage cutting edge technologies, further extending its applications expertise and positioning it to meet the growing demands of the global biopharmaceutical market and the life sciences industry.

“Our new Bioprocess R&D Center is a demonstration of our commitment to Massachusetts and our continuing investment in technologies and facilities that will help us to deliver innovative, quality products to our customers,” said Madaus.

Speaking at the event was Deval Patrick, who is the Democratic Nominee for Governor. Patrick highlighted his support for fueling innovation and new industries to grow the state’s economy. "Recently it was software and high- tech, now biotech, and in the future maybe renewable energy," Patrick said. "Millipore is a central example of the kind of innovation we have to encourage."

Patrick also reiterated his support for expanding stem cell research, which Madaus noted was a critical growth area for Millipore. The new center will initially employ 300, but Madaus indicated that the facility could hold up to 500 workers. “We're here to stay, hopefully another 50 years," said Madaus. "The journey to a better, more innovative company starts here.”

Other speakers at the opening included Council President Christopher Anderson and Michael Kowolenko, Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations and Technology of Biogen Idec, which has a strong working relationship with Millipore. Anderson noted the strong historical connection between the Council and Millipore, with three Millipore CEOs serving as Council chairmen over the last 30 years. He also reiterated the need for state leaders to support biopharmaceutical growth but also maintain clear opposition to policies, like price controls, that undermine the strength of the state’s life sciences cluster.

“From a public policy perspective, the state must be consistent and unambiguous in their support of our tech economy,” said Anderson. “For example, political leaders who support some form of stem cell research in Massachusetts on the one hand, and at the same time encourage the importation of foreign-priced prescription drugs on the other, undermine Massachusetts biotechnology employers’ ability to make important discoveries in the future, and ultimately cost us jobs.”

On October 5, Governor Mitt Romney signed legislation approved by the Legislature to provide $110,201 in state matching funds for the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI). The new funds will support MassDTI’s continued implementation of a new, proactive mission that builds off the success of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effort and promotes growth opportunities in the Massachusetts defense technology sector. This action enables MassDTI to tap funds remaining from the BRAC campaign appropriation that supported the successful efforts to protect Hanscom Air Force Base and Natick Soldier Systems Center from the Department of Defense base closure list. Like in BRAC, these funds will match dollar-for-dollar money raised from private contributors.

MassDTI, an affiliated group of MHTC, is very appreciative of the support of the Legislature and, in particular, commends Senate President Robert Travaglini, Senator Jack Hart, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Minority Leader Brad Jones and Representative Jay Kaufman whose leadership will help create new technology jobs in Massachusetts.

November 16, 2006 – 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reminder - Registration Deadline is November 9

The Massachusetts Business Roundtable, Council on Competitiveness and Massachusetts Institute of Technology – along with the Massachusetts High Technology Council and other groups – are convening a day-long Regional Innovation Summit at MIT for CEOs, university presidents and government leaders who understand the critical importance of our region being competitive and innovative in the 21st century – both nationally and internationally.

More than 200 corporate, education and government leaders will engage in a discussion to identify priorities and plot a strategic regional roadmap for innovation-led economic growth to sustain the region’s technology and talent preeminence and its global competitive advantage.

For more information or to register for this invitation- only event, please visit the High Tech Council’s website at www.mhtc.org

October 2006