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Hear directly from Congresswoman Trahan as she shares insights on the key federal policy issues impacting Massachusetts businesses, communities, and the region's economic future.
10/15/2026
9:45am - 11:00am
The Westin Copley Place
Enjoy networking with fellow members and hear from Chamber Staff on how to best leverage your Membership to achieve your business goals.
12/01/2026
3:00pm - 4:30pm
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
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The Chamber joined the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition’s Fly-In to advocate for sustained R&D funding.
In September, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce joined the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition’s Annual Fly-In to Washington, D.C. alongside 11 other chambers and business associations to advocate for sustained federal investments in research and development (R&D).
The Chamber and the Coalition understand that federally supported R&D is a cornerstone of both Massachusetts’ and the United States’ global leadership in innovation and discovery. While research funding has many stakeholders, local, regional and state chambers of commerce play a unique role in elevating the voice of the business and employer community on this critical economic issue. Today, the Coalition includes 89 members representing thousands of employers and job creators across 40 states. As Chamber President & CEO James E. Rooney said, federal research funding “supports job creation, helps develop private sector talent, and ensures the United States remains competitive with our global competitors.”
The Fly-In provided an opportunity to meet directly with federal policymakers during Congress’ last legislative session before the elections. Coalition members met with nearly 30 congressional offices, including appropriators and science and education committee members, to urge them to continue to promote American innovation and ingenuity by sustaining research investments.
We shared employers’ concerns about instability in funding over the last two years, including paused and cancelled grants, and the risk it poses to local jobs, workforce development, and start-up formation. The Coalition also shared their concerns about the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recently proposed changes altering the peer review of federal scientific grant applications (known as the Uniform Guidance), which risks injecting further instability into the funding process and politicizing federal science grants. We also had many thoughtful discussions about how to strengthen accountability and transparency in federal grants, including facilities and administrative costs.
Massachusetts is already experiencing the effects of the unstable funding environment as universities pause or rescind graduate admissions and cut cohort sizes, decrease research output, and lose researchers to other countries, which poses a significant risk to future talent pools as more than half of science and engineering P.h.D. graduates go on to work in the private sector.
As part of the Fly-In, Chamber President & CEO Rooney and the Dallas Regional Chamber met with Dr. Matthew McMahon, Director of the Small Business Education and Entrepreneurial Development, who manages NIH’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, to emphasize the importance of early federal support for high-risk start-ups across industries, including medical robotics, machine learning, and quantum computing.
While on Capitol Hill, the Chamber organized a roundtable featuring Rooney and Congressman Jake Auchincloss, that focused on the economic value of federal research funding, opportunities and challenges confronting the future of the STEM workforce, and the infrastructure needed to connect basic research insights to commercialization and advanced manufacturing. Other speakers included Detroit Regional Chamber President & CEO Sandy K. Baruah; Stephanie Rodriguez, Director of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance at the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Phillip Singerman, Senior Advisor to the Renewing American Innovation Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Collectively, these conversations reinforced that while many understand how scientific and technological advances have strengthened human health and revolutionized our everyday lives, not enough are aware of how impactful the broader R&D ecosystem is for the American economy and our global competitiveness. The Chamber and the Coalition will continue to share this message with policymakers and ensure the business community’s voice is represented in future R&D funding negotiations.
More information about the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition is available on the Coalition’s website.
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