High Tech Councils MassTrack Website Ranks State's 351 Communities

For Immediate Release: November 26, 2007                                                            

Contact: Cort Boulanger (339) 222-2442

High Tech Council’s MassTrack Website Ranks State 's 351 Communities

Streamlined Permitting Boosts Municipality Tech Competitiveness

The latest MassTrack (www.masstrack.org) municipal technology rankings, released today by the Massachusetts High Technology Council, showed significant gains for cities and towns that have streamlined their municipal permitting process.  Nine of the top 10 MassTrack-ranked municipalities have approved expedited local permitting – also known as chapter 43D – passed by the Legislature in 2006.

MassTrack, launched in March 2006, is a dynamic website designed to provide data to technology employers and employees on how state and local political leaders measure up to the technology community’s agenda. The site ranks all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns on a range of variables that measure tax policy, workforce strength, and openness to development and growth.  Local adoption of 43D was added as one of the 12 variables for the 2007 rankings.

"The slow pace of development has historically been a competitive disadvantage for Massachusetts ," said Council President Christopher R. Anderson .  “But more forward-thinking communities are embracing expedited permitting and creating a competitive advantage that is apparent in this year’s rankings.  Streamlined permitting is a key part of a balanced community agenda to attract and retain technol