ROUNDTABLE BLOG
Black History Month: Reflections from Roundtable Staff
On February 14, in recognition and celebration of Black History Month, Roundtable staff visited the Museum of African American History. This reflective experience involved learning about the history of the abolitionist movement in Boston, the people involved, the community that supported it, and the places where the movement was born. We toured the Abiel Smith School, the state’s first African…
Taking Aim at the State’s Competitiveness
With the passage of significant economic development and climate legislation this month, the Governor and legislature are putting a bow on a legislative session that will be consequential to the state’s economy for years to come. Bookended by $1B in tax cuts and nearly $10B in bond authorizations for key policy priorities, this legislative session took direct aim at addressing…
Bentley and Roundtable Gather Executives To Discuss How Business Impacts Society
By Helen Henrichs, Director, News and Public Relations, Bentley University Bentley University and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable brought together Bay State business leaders for a dinner and discussion focused on the results of this year’s Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report, which reveals how Americans believe business is impacting society. The event in Boston included executives from Alkermes, American Tower Corporation, Berkshire…
Quarterly Policy Roundup: Q2 2024
This spring, and during the busiest months of the 2023-2024 legislative session, the Roundtable engaged with external partners, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, and the legislature on a variety of issues impacting our members and the state. Through testimony on the budget, economic development, data privacy, and more, to engaging with the State Workforce Board and MassSkills Coalition, the Roundtable helped to…
What We Learned on Our Trip to D.C.
Last month, Tonja and I attended the Annual Meeting of State Business RoundtableExecutives in Washington, D.C., hosted by the national Business Roundtable. Thisannual convening provides an opportunity to share experiences, priorities, andcompare notes with peers from around the country. It is a productive forum to discussboth organizational and policy issues and is always a fascinating peek into the psycheof other…
Conversations with Business Leaders: Navigating the Challenges Impacting Growth in Massachusetts
Over the past month, the Roundtable, in partnership with McKinsey & Co., conducted a series of one-on-one interviews with Roundtable members to supplement our Annual 2024 MBR Talent and Competitiveness Survey. These conversations have allowed us to explore some of the challenges businesses in the state and across different sectors are facing and how we can better partner with state…
Quarterly Policy Roundup: Q1 2024
Over the past three months, the Roundtable has been working with the Healey-Driscoll Administration, the legislature, and external partners on some of the biggest issues impacting the Commonwealth. Through our Talent Agenda, we have framed conversations around the types of policy priorities and investments that help attract, retain, develop, and diversify our Commonwealth’s talent pool and pipeline to meet the…
Roundtable Members Discuss Impact of Business on Society
By Helen Henrichs, Director, News and Public Relations, Bentley University Do Americans trust businesses to use AI responsibly? When should companies speak out on social and political issues? Should companies consider a four-day workweek? These were some of the topics discussed by Roundtable members during a dinner co-hosted by the Roundtable and Bentley University. The conversation focused on this year’s Bentley-Gallup…
Quarterly Policy Roundup: Q3 2023
Over the past three months, the Roundtable’s policy work has been guided by our Talent Agenda, framed by three pillars: Talent Recruitment and Retention; Talent Development; and Talent Diversity. We have engaged on issues around tax relief, in-state tuition for immigrants, early childhood education, pay equity, apprenticeship, MCAS, and more. Below is a short summary of our activities this quarter: Talent…
What We Heard This Summer in Our Roundtable Member Meetings
During our annual series of conversations with almost 50 Roundtable members this summer about their business, their industry, and the economy, one quote stood out: “The economy is throwing everyone for a loop.” There are high interest rates but low unemployment. It’s still hard to find workers in some industries, but the labor market has cooled. Inflation was up, then…
Health Equity in Massachusetts and Why it Matters
On Tuesday, June 13th, the Health Equity Compact of Massachusetts convened its first Health Equity Trends Summit. The event brought together over 700 people including leaders in the public and private sector for a public discussion of health equity in the Commonwealth. Key issues discussed include roadblocks and resolutions to address health inequity, the economic case for Massachusetts health equity…
Growing MA’s Labor Market: Why Immigrants Should be Part of the Solution
In Massachusetts, competitiveness is fundamentally about people. It always has been. Access to a well-educated, well-trained and diverse talent pool has been the state’s calling card for decades – even centuries – fueled by world-class higher education institutions, foundational industry clusters, and an innovation ecosystem like nowhere else in the world. There are signs, however, that our talent advantage could…
Massachusetts’ Future of Energy
By Marlene Motyka, Deloitte’s US Renewable Energy Leader, Kate Hardin, Managing Director, Deloitte Services, LP and Kevin McGovern, New England Managing Partner, Deloitte LLP What will it take for Massachusetts (MA) to achieve its 35% renewables by 2030 target and its 2050 net-zero ambition? The Massachusetts Business Roundtable convened educators, energy companies, engineering companies and policy makers in early April…
Roundtable Members Share Reflections on Workforce Dynamics
Last week, the Roundtable hosted our monthly Open Forum to discuss current workforce issues facing employers as part of the Roundtable’s Future of Talent and Competitiveness Survey. The discussion included live pulse polls and surfaced several themes that employers are grappling with in their workforce including hybrid work models, generational differences in the workforce, and talent attraction and retention efforts…
Quarterly Policy Roundup: Q1 2023
At the end of 2022, the Roundtable released a policy framework “A Talent Agenda to Drive Massachusetts’ Competitiveness” focused on talent in three pillars: (1) talent recruitment and retention; (2) talent development; and (3) talent diversity. This Talent Agenda, which is the foundation of the Roundtable’s public policy work, was developed based on the insights, ideas and perspective of members…
Business Community Engagement at the NAACP National Convention in Boston
This summer, the NAACP National Convention will be held in Boston from Wednesday, July 26 – Tuesday August 1. As the region prepares for this significant event, the Roundtable hosted an Open Forum discussion with Tanisha M. Sullivan, Esq., President of the NAACP Boston branch to learn more about the programming and how the business community can support it. The…
A Framework for Cultivating Corporate Trust
Is there a connection between trust and corporate performance? And is it possible to grow levels of trust? For the Roundtable’s first Open Forum in 2023, we welcomed experts from Roundtable member Deloitte including Ashley Reichheld, lead author of The Four Factors of Trust, and co-author Amelia Dunlop of Deloitte Consulting LLP, to learn about their research on why trust…
Roundtable Testifies on FY24 Budget at Ways and Means Committee Hearing
Earlier this week, MBR President and CEO JD Chesloff was invited to testify on an early education and care panel at a Joint Committee on Ways and Means hearing to review the House 1 budget filed by the Healey-Driscoll Administration. The invitation-only hearing, focused on the budget provisions relating to education and local aid, was held at the UMass Student…
Perspectives from the Annual Meeting of State Roundtables
Earlier this month, I joined with other leaders of State Roundtables from seventeen states across the country. MBR serves as the organizer of this national affiliation of business roundtables, hosted this year by the Florida Council of 100, providing a valuable forum of peers with shared experience to share best practices both on policy and organizational issues. This year we…
Strategies for Employers to Respond to Social Issues
At the Roundtable, we regularly hear from employers about the top issues they are navigating. In recent months, Roundtable members have explored what role, if any, employers should have in response to social issues. After hosting two convenings following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Roundtable has observed several common considerations and best practices applied when…