Join us for our final Words of Wisdom dinner of the year featuring Councilor Brian Worrell and Representative Chris Worrell.
10/10/2024
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Don’t miss our upcoming Government Affairs Forum with Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg. Register now!
10/15/2024
9:45am - 11:00am
Bank of America
The Transportation First Series offers a platform to discuss the challenges faced by our region, with the input of experts and changemakers.
10/30/2024
2:30pm - 4:00pm
Hybrid | Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Go deeper than basic DEI training to achieve higher productivity, satisfaction, and revenue growth with our new corporate workshop.
Join our Transformational DEI Certificate! Our comprehensive learning & development offerings are designed to connect and grow strong leaders who lead both inside and out of the office.
Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.
Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.
City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.
We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).
The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations, and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.
09/14/2024 -
09/17/2024
Suffolk University - Sargent Hall
BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.
For 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.
The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.
We support small business through public policy initiatives, events designed to connect small businesses in Greater Boston to their peers and established business leaders, professional development offerings, and free small business advising.
Explore our mission and values to better understand how we are leading the business community forward.
Our member directory is your resource to discover, connect, and engage with Boston’s businesses from every industry and sector.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce submitted testimony this week in support of H.2391, An Act encouraging employer student loan repayment, sponsored by Representative James Arciero. This proposal permits a corporate tax deduction of up to $2,000 per employee for employers making student loan repayment contributions toward an employee’s student loans and ensures that the benefit is not treated as taxable income for the employee receiving it.
As employers seek new ways to stay competitive in attracting and retaining talent, some have begun to offer student loan repayment assistance as an employee benefit. For employers and employees alike, this is a valuable benefit because most Massachusetts graduates enter the workforce with some level of student debt. In fact, the average student debt for Massachusetts graduates in the Class of 2018 is estimated at almost $32,000. [1]
In 2016, the Chamber partnered with Attorney General Maura Healey and released a report that looks at the impact that student debt has on our workforce and employers. The report found that borrowers with student loan debt face tradeoffs that affect their ability to take important financial steps like purchasing a home, saving for retirement, or starting a family. Not only is student debt a burden on individuals, employers also feel the effects because it can impact the choices people make in choosing career opportunities and potential employers.
This legislation will allow an employee to deduct the contribution that their employer makes towards their student loans and, as a result, put repayment programs on par with employer-provided tuition assistance, which is excluded from the personal income tax. [2] Furthermore, this legislation will incentivize more employers to offer the student loan repayment benefit because it will allow them to deduct the cost of those benefits from their tax burden.
We urge the Joint Committee on Revenue to report this bill favorably to encourage broader adoption of student loan repayment programs and to provide such programs parity with other education-related fringe benefits.
[1] The Institute for College Access and Success: Student Debt and the Class of 2018
[2] Employer-provided tuition assistance up to $5,250 is not subject to the personal income tax.
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