Here's something every employer should contemplate

Anti-Asian hate incidents occur at places of businesses more than anywhere else.

 

That’s according to nationwide survey released last week by Stop AAPI Hate.

 

Incidents included mostly verbal harassment and name-calling but also included civil rights violations such as workplace discrimination or refusal of service and online harassment.

 

Most of the incidents took place against women.

 

And, the group noted, the number of incidents were likely higher because many incidents go unreported.

 

Many people do not report hate crime incidents because of language barriers and fears surrounding law enforcement and retaliation, Jessica (Jay) Wong of the Massachusetts Asian American Commission tells the Globe.

 

Locally, a smaller survey conducted by MAPC found that one in four Asian American-operated businesses in Greater Boston had to deal with some form of xenophobia during the pandemic.

 

The Asian American Commission is holding a public virtual town hall Thursday (March 25) at 6 p.m. to provide an opportunity for Asian-American legislators to hear directly from community members. The event will be streamed on Facebook Live.

 

 

 

The MBTA will restore all of the cuts it has made during the pandemic to bus and train service, the agency announced yesterday.

 

The restored service will return when the new fiscal year begins on July 1, reports Chris Lisinski at State House News.

 

Commuter rail also withstood significant cuts, including the end of weekend service on seven lines. Rather than restore those, the T plans to implement a new schedule starting in April running fewer trains at traditional rush hour times and more trains at other points in the day.

 

The pivot comes after the state's Congressional delegation criticized the cuts, shortly after approving the stimulus bill which will provide more than $1 billion, with more potentially on the way.

 

“These cuts have been harmful to essential workers," Chris Dempsey, director of the Transportation for Massachusetts said in a statement.

 

"It's good to see that MBTA management supports reversing course and bringing back subway and bus service to pre-COVID levels. Bravo to the state's Congressional delegation and many riders and workers who have helped push back on these cuts through their advocacy.”

 

 

It’s looking like the US Senate will join the House in voting to extend the PPP's March 31 deadline to May.

 

But it appears that many sole proprietors, independent contractors and the self-employed will have to wait longer to see if the size of their loan will be retroactively increased.

 

In late February President Joe Biden allowed those workers to use gross income rather than net profit when determining the size of their forgivable loan, a change that could be a difference of tens of thousands of dollars for some.

 

Roughly 164,000 loans have been submitted using Biden’s new formula. But 136,000 small-business owners who might have qualified had already received their PPP second draw. They’re now hoping for a retroactive fix.

 

Meanwhile, don’t forget to sign up for our PPP Forgiveness Workshop, with the SBA’s Ili Spahiu this Thursday at 2 p.m.

 

 

 

Theater companies looking to access the SBA’s Shuttered Venue Program may have spent the past several months thinking they were living through a production of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”

 

Congress established the program to help arts groups and venue operators back in December. Frustrated closed-venue owners have been waiting ever since, wondering what was taking the SBA so long.

 

Godot has arrived. Last weekend the agency said applications will open April 8.

 

 

 

 

Wellesley’s Select Board met in executive session last night to discuss negotiations for the land lease of real estate with Trinity Financial at the Tailby and Railroad Commuter Parking Lots, according to the Swellesley Report.

 

The town agreed to enter a ground lease discussion with Trinity in 2018 for a potential new luxury and mixed-income residential buildings, park space, a theater and gallery.

 

Back in 2018, the health of the Wellesley Square seemed much more robust than it did back a couple years ago when a group dubbed Rescue Wellesley Square expressed concerns about the traffic and other impacts development might have.

 

The Swellesley Report also tells us that the Paper Source store at 50 Central Street is not on the list of the chain’s stores that are being closed nationwide as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

 

 

Federal Reserve Bank Chair Jerome H. Powell is expected to tell Congress today that the economy is healing, while many businesses and workers continue to suffer, the New York Times reports.

 

Powell is expected to share concerns about risks behind bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, even as the central bank itself is studying the potential costs and benefits of a digital dollar.

 

And speaking of the fed, reserve April 12 at 1 p.m. on your calendar for an chamber zoom event with Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. Registration details soon.

 

 

 

The Needham Community Council honored The Front Steps Project at its virtual 90th Anniversary Celebration last week (Video here).

 

Front Steps began taking pictures of Needham families on their front steps just as the pandemic began, ultimately photographing 800 Needham families and raising over $50,000 for the council. 

 

The project went viral and swept the country raising over $3.25 million for local food pantries, hospitals, animal shelters, and more.