But let's not hurt any local immigrant-owned businesses, individuals and families in the process.
That was the message shared by Gov. Charlie Baker and Sen. President Karen Spilka yesterday amidst steps taken by several other states to stop doing business with Russian companies or selling Russian-made products.
"We're taking a look right now at what an executive order might look like with respect to those enterprises who do business with the commonwealth," Baker said yesterday,
But Baker also said he was concerned “about shutting down some Russian immigrant family that's been here in Massachusetts for years and runs a business that may have some sort of Russian overtone,” according to at Alison Kuznitz at MassLive.
“I think you need to be careful in cutting off purchasing and using Russian businesses," Spilka added. "We don’t want to hurt small businesses, individuals, small families.”
Baker and Spilka both vowed to help any refugees from Ukraine settle in Massachusetts, while others are calling on state Treasurer Deb Goldberg to rid the state pension fund's portfolio of any holdings in Russian-owned companies, reports Steph Solis at the BBJ.
Lawmaker seeks to ban all Russian products
And then there’s a bill filed Friday by State Rep. Patrick Kearney that would block the purchase of all Russian-made products in Massachusetts.
"What we're trying to do here is build local support throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the people in the Ukraine," Kearney told NBC10 Boston.
"We're not trying to hurt small businesses in Massachusetts, but we are trying to make sure that we're not supporting an economy of an authoritarian dictator," he added, although its not clear to me how his bill wouldn’t have local repercussions.
And our communities are home to many Russian-owned businesses.
The Massachusetts Package Stores Association is advising that there could be federal Commerce Clause implications to a state ban.
AG move questions municipal electrification efforts
Attorney General Maura Healey's rejection last week of two electrification bylaws in Brookline should confirm, once and for all, that local environmental advocates should be focusing on state, not municipal efforts, to ban fossils fuels in residential and commercial buildings.
Just as she did two years ago, Healey said she shared Brookline Town Meeting’s desire to cut greenhouse emissions. But she said the state building code and other laws would not allow it, writes Bruce Mohl at Commonwealth.
Many members of Newton’s City Council are hoping to joinArlington, Lexington, Acton and Concord in looking to movethis home rule petition through Beacon Hill that would presumably preempt those laws so as to ban fossil fuel use in new construction and "substantial" renovations.
Given the slim chance of any of these home rule petitions moving through Beacon Hill anytime soon, advocates might want to focus instead on proposed new building code revisions and a new opt-in net zero specialized stretch code put forward by the Baker administration.
Baker’s bill doesn’t go as far as Newton and the other municipalities’ electrification proposals, in that it would not allow municipalities to ban fossil fuel infrastructure.
That’s because the administration worries a ban could hinder new housing starts and leave a smaller pool of customers carrying the financial load for the remaining natural gas system, Mohl explains.
But it would allow municipalities to require new homes or commercial buildings using gas to achieve greater energy efficiency and also mount solar on the roof and pre-wire the building for full electrification.
And given the urgency isn't that better than a series of dead end home rule petitions?
Whet your appetite at these new restaurants!
Downtown Wellesley has a shortage of places to meet for coffee. Asaro Bakery & Cafe will come to the rescue in June when it opens at Church Square, at Lyn Evan’s former location, according to the Swellesley Report. (Swellesley also reports the closed Starbucks on Central could be reopening this spring.)
The Friendly Toast has brought it’s 70-item menu (and kitschy decor, I hope) to the The Shops at Chestnut Hill. This is the restaurant’s fifth location. (Newton Patch)
Crown Cafe—a family-owned Watertown staple for years— has reopened under new management and renovations, bringing a unique Persian flair to the classic all-American diner (B.C. Heights)
The Heights also takes us inside Tous Les Jours, the international bakery and cafe chain which opened a new location in Newton Centre in December, bringing fresh and authentic South Korean and French goods to the city.
After closing at the end of 2021 Nonantum's popular KOKO Bakery has reopened under new management as Little Bakery.
BBJ: Forgive and forget PPP microloans
Editors at the BBJ are calling on the Small Business Administration to automatically forgive Paycheck Protection Program loans of $25,000 or less.
The editorial is in response to a letter from the Center for Responsible Lending and a coalition of 51 small-business advocates saying that more than 400,000 microbusinesses nationwide that received PPP loans of $25,000 or less are being required to repay all or a portion of their loans.
“They argue that while the process was complicated for all, it was especially so for microbusinesses, which are unlikely to have accountants or attorneys on staff and which often lack the resources to access such professionals. “Now, it's up to the New England delegation on Capitol Hill to support microbusinesses and urge federal leadership to forgive the smallest loans and let those businesses focus on rebuilding."
Other need to knows
The process to become "woman-owned certified" in the Woman-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program is changing.Join the SBA's workshop on today (March 1) at 10 a.m. to learn how to become certified and leverage your business with the federal government. Register
Any Newton restaurant interested in offering any form of outdoor dining this spring must apply for licenses to serve food and/or alcohol by filing for an alteration of premises. This includes every restaurant that offered any form of outdoor dining last year. The only exceptions are for those restaurants which had their outdoor dining locations approved prior to the pandemic. Details
The Foundation for MetroWest is accepting applications for its Emerging Leaders Academy for employees in the nonprofit serving the MetroWest region. The free ten-session series is best suited for those who are new senior managers or anticipate becoming senior managers in the near future. Details
Our heart breaks... Over the unthinkable loss of Preston Settles, a Newton teenager whose 22-day fight for life ended Sunday night.
Our condolences to his father -- our good friend, chamber member and former director, Darryl Settles -- his mother Dr. Lisa Owens, and Preston's extended family and friends. May his memory be a blessing.
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That’s today’s Need to Knows, unless you need see two guys pop10 balloonsbetween their bodies in 15.25 seconds to break a Guinness World Record
