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03/26/2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Virtual
Join us for the first BIMA thought leadership event of the year, featuring industry experts on TikTok's future and YouTube Shorts.
03/27/2025
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Digitas
Join us to hear from two influential leaders as they discuss how the Commonwealth can lead the AI Revolution.
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Go deeper than basic DEI training to achieve higher productivity, satisfaction, and revenue growth with our new corporate workshop.
This program is in redevelopment. Click this page for DEI resources.
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.
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Join us for our first Words of Wisdom dinner of the year featuring Callie Crossley, host & commentor at GBH.
04/16/2025
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Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.
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 over 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.
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.
Dear Mr. Baldino:
As Massachusetts business leaders, we are highly cognizant of the important investments coming to our Commonwealth via the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. As the Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s office undertakes the vital task of developing the 5-year BEAD Action Plan and Initial Proposal, we want to provide context about the importance of investing in digital skills. The Massachusetts Business Coalition on Skills urges the Institute to invest in workforce development, which is a core element of Massachusetts’ BEAD planning and implementation.
A recent study1 found that 92 percent of “Help Wanted” ads in Massachusetts seek workers with digital skills. Demand is high across all industries, including not just those that are traditionally thought of as technology-related (such as finance, insurance, and broadband infrastructure) but also healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and warehousing/logistics.
The study also found that jobs at every level need digital skills, including entry-level roles that require a high school diploma or 2-year degree. And workers of all ages need opportunities to acquire new digital skills to advance their career and economic mobility.
Earlier research has documented the importance of particular strategies that can help workers build in-demand technology skills. 2 They include: investing in workers’ essential, foundational digital skills; providing contextualized, real-world learning opportunities to learn industry-specific skills; and fostering collaborations between businesses and education and workforce development providers.3 Our coalition has long advocated for investments in exactly these types of strategies — essential skills, experiential learning, and career vocational technical education (CVTE).
Massachusetts is in an enviable position compared to other states. Our Commonwealth has already invested robustly in broadband access. As a result, your office will likely be able to use federal BEAD funds for both last-mile deployment and non-deployment activities. Given this extraordinary opportunity, we urge you to prioritize investments in digital skills as the new federal funds are distributed.
In particular, we encourage you to support industry sector partnerships that bring businesses together with education and workforce training providers to prepare workers with in-demand skills, including digital skills. These partnerships can play an important role in closing digital skill divides and ensuring equitable access and credential attainment for all Massachusetts residents. We welcome the opportunity to further discuss these issues with you and your staff.
We would be glad to provide additional examples of how digital skill-building issues are affecting Massachusetts businesses today, and what your office can do to ensure that businesses and workers thrive as the Commonwealth’s BEAD plan is implemented.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Massachusetts Business Coalition on Skills
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