Dear Members,

It has been a busy summer filled with legislative activity on our key public policy priorities, as well as meetings with individual members that are helping to shape the Roundtable's agenda for 2013.

We will devote significant time during our Board of Directors meeting on September 6, 2012 to discuss what we are hearing from members and to get your input on the next set of public policy issues the Roundtable will address.

Best, 
JD

Working in partnership with the New England Council, the Roundtable helped to convene an important discussion on federal immigration policy that featured New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and News Corporation Chairman & CEO Rupert Murdoch. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino offered opening remarks for the event on August 14, which was hosted by the New England Council and sponsored by Savings Bank Life Insurance. The discussion was moderated by Wall Street Journal assistant managing editor and executive Washington editor, Gerald Seib.

Mayor Bloomberg and Mr. Murdoch co-chair the Partnership for a New Economy, a bi-partisan group of mayors and business leaders including Mayor Menino, who are working to "raise awareness of the economic benefits of sensible immigration reform." 

Mayor Menino said that "immigration has made Boston a better city." Mayor Bloomberg and Mr. Murdoch made a strong economic argument for immigration reform, and both leaders believe it will be achieved within the next two years.

Mr. Murdoch said we are reaching a "crisis" in this country with the lack of students graduating with proficiency in science, technology, engineering and math. Mayor Bloomberg said that our immigration policies are severely hampering our ability to retain highly educated, talented individuals coming out of our institutions of higher education.

Following the discussion, the leaders answered questions from the audience of more than 200 people at the Seaport Hotel in Boston's Innovation District.

Photo Credit: Image Photo/Margaret Bret

The Massachusetts Business Roundtable joined with our colleagues from the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and the Associated Industries of Massachusetts to host the state's Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), Mitchell Chester, for a conversation about ESE's vision and goals, how the various state education initiatives interconnect and support one another, and the role of stakeholders—such as the business community—in implementing state policy. Attendees were able to speak directly with the Commissioner about the issues and challenges employers face in building a strong workforce and skills pipeline for the future. MBR members in attendance included Pattie Jacobs from AT&T and Dave Lehman from MITRE Corporation.

The conversation focused on four areas, including: curriculum and addressing the question of whether schools are pursuing the correct courses of study; the adult workforce in education, namely teachers and administrators; turning around chronically underperforming schools and districts; and technology, both as a data tool but also as a way to deliver education in new ways in classrooms. During the course of the conversation, MBR Executive Director JD Chesloff conveyed a theme that has emerged through deliberations of Roundtable members regarding the importance of aligning the state's education and workforce development systems with its economic development strategy to ensure that those systems are providing skills to current and future workers that match those needed by employers. He highlighted MBR's leadership in STEM as an example of this alignment, as well as the recently enacted community college initiative and the importance of vocational technical education. Participants mutually pledged to work together to promote this alignment.

Commissioner Chester issued a call-to-action to the business community to engage in education policy like never before.  "There is no more significant time than now for business input and engagement," the Commissioner said, citing the implementation of difficult reforms that will be "uncomfortable" to the status quo. 

MBR will continue to offer opportunities for its members to engage with public leaders on issues of importance to MBR.

MBR is a member of the Workforce Solutions Group, which includes the Center for Market Studies at Northeastern University, Mass. AFL-CIO, Crittenton Women's Union, Mass. Communities Action Network, Mass. Workforce Board Association, Mass. Workforce Professionals Association and SkillWorks. This coalition is working to develop public policies and harness resources to build and strengthen the pipeline of talented workers. The availability of a talented workforce is a major competitive advantage that employers need to fuel innovation and growth in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Legislature passed an economic development law in July 2012, which included $5 million to re-capitalize the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund managed by Commonwealth Corporation. MBR along with its partners in the Workforce Solutions Group advocated for the passage of the economic development bill and the re-capitalization of the Fund, which will help to bridge the middle skills gap and provide important training in collaboration with employers in regions throughout the state.