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Is this Newton company about to take a walk?

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Is Rockport about to walk away from Newton?
 
Last week my favorite shoe company took preliminary steps to possibly close its West Newton corporate headquarters and eliminate up to 148 jobs, the Globe’s Jon Chesto reports.
 
Rockport Company LLC, filed a notice filed last week with the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development saying it anticipates employee separations may occur between July 8 and July 22.
 
The exact number of workers, date, or even if it will happen for sure, is not yet certain, according to the filing “but these kinds of notices usually aren’t filed unless there is a good possibility of pending layoffs,” Chesto adds.
 
Rockport (a chamber member) shares its facility at 1220 Washington St. with the corporate offices for café chain Panera. 
 
Davis Company owns the property. 
 
Start a company here, yes. But stay here?
In last Friday’s newsletter, I pointed to an interview with the founders of Tripadvisor who both said now is a “great time” to start a company, particularly in the tech sector.
 
The same theme emerged, but with a troubling dose of reality, when Globe’s Larry Edelman asked another local tech leader the same basic question.
 
“There aren’t many places in the world where I would do it,” said Mohamad Ali (in photo) chief executive of Needham-based IDG.
 
“Boston is one of them.” 
 
“But as soon as you get the scale, you can’t recruit a large number of people. Starting a company here is great, but as soon as it gets big, a lot of employees would be elsewhere,” added Ali, whose HQ is just a few blocks from Tripadvisor's building.
 
The tech sector accounted for nearly one out of every ten Massachusetts' jobs in 2021, the nation's fourth-highest percentage. But we didn’t crack the top 10 for net job gains that same year, or projected percentage growth over the next decade in tech jobs across all industries, Edelman writes
 
Ali is one of the lone voices in the business community who believes too much blame is being placed on high taxes over other reasons talent is leaving the Bay State.
 
“Our fixation on taxes on high income is a huge distraction from what we should focus on, which is how we actually become more competitive,” said Ali.
 
He believes “how we address our high cost of living — housing, education, child care, transportation, health care, energy — the real issues driving people away and hurting our businesses will determine our economic viability.”

UPDATE: Ali has just announced that he is leaving IDG.
 
Indigo a no go
 
A proposal to convert the mothballed Hotel Indigo at Riverside Station into temporary emergency family housing is not moving forward, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced last week.
 
The state Department of Housing and Community Development “decided that the tremendous costs to open the building for two years made the project unfeasible.”
 
The hotel became available because property owners Mark Development have paused the Riverside Station project due to a spike in construction costs and interest rates rise.
 
Proposal would allow retailers more liquor licenses
 
A proposal before Beacon Hill would establish a new class of alcohol licenses for convenience stores, supermarkets and other businesses, reports State House News Alison Kuznitz.
 
While package stores are only allowed to have nine licenses, the change would theoretically enable Cumberland Farms to have licenses at all of its 206 Massachusetts locations, warns Robert Mellion, executive director at the Massachusetts Package Stores Association.
 
But Matthew Durand, senior counsel with Cumberland Farms, said the legislation can provide a financial lifeline for small food retailers operating on "razor-thin margins." 
 
Three squares, be there
 
 
  • Union Street will be shutting down so Piccadilly Square can properly mark 50 years in Newton Centre with a big block party, Saturday (May 20) from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. All ages and pets welcome. See you there too!
 
  • Then it's back to Wellesley for the annual Wonderful Weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The annual celebration includes the veterans parade, fireworks, town picnic and concert plus the Wheels of Wellesley car show in Wellesley Square on Sunday. Yes. we'll be there.
 
The ‘Betty Crocker of cannabis’ is from Newton
Sabrina Clebnik
Clebby’s CEO Sabrina Clebnik, 22, is a lifelong baker who had to think creatively to get her box mixes for cannabis infused brownies and lemon pound cake to market.
 
“We can't sell them fresh in store, but we could do a baking mix,” she tells Cassie McGrath at Bizwomen. “That was the easiest innovation.”
 
Tuesday grab bag
 
  • No Dunks on the T? Did you know that eating and drinking is prohibited on the MBTA and at T stations? Neither did we, or Universal Hub.
 
  • Needham is conducting a local transportation study designed to identify gaps in service. Participate here.
 
  • Charles River Watershed Association celebrates the migration of herring up the Charles River at the Watertown Dam tomorrow (Weds.) 6 p.m. (Watertown News)
 
  • Apply now to be an exhibitor at Watertown’s fabulous Faire on the Square, Sept. 23 at Saltonstall Park.
 
  • Legislation filed by state Rep. Michael J. Moran would create a rapid bus line connecting the Longwood Medical Area, North Brighton, and Kendall Square, writes Alan Wirzbicki in the Are We There Yet newsletter. 
 
 
Feeling anxious today?
 
It's not like they can pull your DNA out of thin air. Oh, wait, yes they can.
 
Plastic bans would be more palatable with municipal support
 
The Newton City Council is deliberating a wide reaching ordinance that would ban restaurants and retailers from selling or distributing of a number of plastic products.
 
Our businesses hate plastic waste too. But we'd like to see Newton take a cue from a San Francisco program that helps businesses absorb the expense, rather than just take on yet another unfunded mandate.
 
Since 2021, more than 100 restaurants in 'Frisco received $24,500 in grants to participate in the city’s commercial reuse program.
 
Now, the program is being expanded to help restaurants cover the costs of buying reusable food ware and related equipment, like bus carts and bins, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
 
We're proud to be sharing this on Friday
On Friday our chamber in collaboration with Get Konnected! will publish our list of the “50 Most Influential Business Leaders of Color in Greater Boston’s Western Suburbs” as well as “20 Emerging Leaders of Color,” focused on those under 40 working in the same footprint.
 
The report will be an updated -- and expanded -- version of the original list published in 2020. 
 
That list became an essential resource for corporations and nonprofits looking to hire, looking for board members, looking for expert commentators, and looking for thought leaders across the region. We hope this edition furthers that effort.
 
Both lists will be available online and in a print publication. The Chamber and Get Konnected will partner on events in the months to come, spotlighting the honorees, as well as opportunities and challenges surrounding nurturing a diverse workforce.
 
We're grateful to Direct Federal Credit Union, Insource Services Inc., The Village Bank, Eastern Bank and NBC10 for their lead support of this endeavor.
 
 
 
That’s what you need to know for today -- National Mimosa Day -- unless you need to know why good weather isn't a good thing for stock markets.
 
Go Celtics!
 
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President
617.244.1688
 
Schedule time with me at https://calendly.com/greg_reibman

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