Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Boston Planning and Development Agency on December 7, 2023.
12/07/2023
3:00pm - 4:00pm
Virtual
Jenny Holaday will share her journey into leadership as President of Encore Boston Harbor and first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts.
12/13/2023
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Encore Boston Harbor
Step into Winter Wonderland at our BIMA Holiday Gala. Gather your digital media and marketing peers for a night of networking and entertainment.
12/14/2023
6:30pm - 9:30pm
InterContinental Boston
Designed for mid-level managers and supervisors, this new certificate program addresses workplace well-being through unique, innovative, and actionable methods.
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.
09/12/2023 -
09/16/2023
Greater Boston
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 nearly 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.
July 27, 2021
Download PDF Version
Testimony of Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President & CEO James E. Rooney to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight
Senator Lewis, Chairman Hunt, members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, and members of the House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight, thank you for inviting the Massachusetts Business Coalition on Skills to participate in today’s hearing. My name is Jim Rooney, and I am the President and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
The Massachusetts Business Coalition on Skills is a diverse coalition of 28 business groups from across the state that formed to originate and advocate for statewide policy proposals to promote equitable skills development and attainment in the talent pipeline, in the current workforce, and for the jobs of the future.
I am here today to highlight three ways we think the state should use ARPA funding to equitably close current and future skills gap.
Data Collection
First, we believe any workforce development programs and grants should require participant-level data collection on outcomes, including skills or credentials attained and employment. Further, this data needs to include a breakdown by race, and the state should aggregate the data for public release.
Governor Baker’s recent Future of Work report estimates the state will need to retrain 30,000 to 40,000 workers annually over the next decade to not impede economic growth. As we prepare for shifting skill requirements coming out of the pandemic and into the future, we must actively counter the potential for rising inequality in skills attainment. Massachusetts cannot accomplish that without data collection.
Essential Skills
The state should also use ARPA funding for workforce development programs targeting skills gaps that we know exist today, namely essential skills training and career/vocational technical education (CVTE).
Essential skills – or soft skills – are in high demand among employers, and the demand is projected to increase in the years to come. These are foundational and transferable skills that put learners on a path toward career success.
Career/Vocational Technical Education (CVTE)
On CVTE, we must eliminate the Chapter 74 waitlists that drive ongoing capacity constraints. A DESE survey from earlier this year found there are almost 2 applicants for every available CVTE seat, and that waitlists disproportionately impact students of color, English language learners, the economically-disadvantaged, and students with disabilities because they receive fewer offers of admission to the limited supply of CVTE seats compared to admission offers to their peers
I am joined by two of my colleagues from the Coalition that can elaborate more on the issues I have outlined. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
James Sutherland, PhD
Director of Policy & Research
[email protected]617-557-7312
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