What else Zoom gave us

Hope you had a great holiday weekend and that the lions, tigers, bears and ferrets at the Oakland Zoo aren't feeling too sore today.

 

Love it, hate it, or both, Zoom kept a lot of enterprises functioning through the pandemic.

 

But as companies pivot back to in-person or hybrid meetings, investment banker Jennifer Nason reminds us of another, important way Zoom and other teleconference platforms contributed that we shouldn’t forget.

 

“Over the course of my career I have pushed and shoved my way to the head of the conference table,” she writes in a Wall Street Journal column.

 

“Like many other women, for a long time I would choose a seat at the back of the room. I remember the gestures at me to move out of the way so others could get down to business. I remember what it was like at the far end of the table, so far from the client I had to flick my business card down the table in a desperate attempt to be acknowledged.”

 

But Zoom changed that dynamic, says Nason, J.P. Morgan’s global chair of investment banking.

 

“Zoom is the great equalizer. Everyone’s box is the same size. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or the summer intern, your real estate is the same. A box with a name but no title became a tool of empowerment.

 

"Your name and face are consistently visible, making you more memorable, familiar and known. When you speak it is very hard for anyone to interrupt and it is also very hard to be ignored with your face staring back. You get invited to a lot of meetings that you wouldn’t have attended if travel were involved."

 

 

 

Here’s another reason why the Newton City Council needs to quickly approve adding two life sciences buildings to Riverside Station.

 

The Biden administration is proposing vast increases in National Institutes of Health funding, adding more fuel to a market that saw $10B of venture funding in the first three months of 2021 alone.

 

The investment means regional innovation centers would get more capital to expand, JLL Life Sciences National Practice Leader Travis McCready tells Bisnow.

 

Newton has a chance to join other suburban municipalities that are competing for these companies. Or we can watch from the sidelines while deliberating swing sets.

 

 

 

Needham’s Select Board and Planning Board are working on zoning changes that would allow restaurants to apply for outdoor dining seating on public parking spaces beyond the extended to April 2022 emergency order. You do not need to be a resident to participate. Share your thoughts here.

 

 

 

 

 

Our communities felt oddly quiet this weekend without the usual July 3 fireworks in Needham and July 4 display in Newton (some other events took place). 

 

That’s all the more reason to be looking forward to the return of one of my favorite annual Newton events, the St. Mary of Carmen Society Festival, returning after one year's absence to Pellegrini Park in Nonantum next week: July 14-18. Details.

 

Also: Watertown’s annual Faire on the Square will return to Saltonstall Park on Sept. 25. The Faire was also canceled in 2020. 

 

 

In spite of some early predictions and well-publicized financial struggles, co-working is not dead. 

 

In fact, it’s thriving in the suburbs, writes Samantha Subin for the Globe.

 

"As homebound workers look to ditch crowded trains and traffic jams, but still want a place to go that’s social and free from the distractions of home, more are finding it in the suburbs," Subin writes.

 

 

Like co-working giant WeWork, Sweetgreen bet heavily on the urban, white collar office market. But post-pandemic the company is beginning to set up more restaurants outside the city, reports the New York Times.

 

“There’s definitely some following customers in their dispersion,” said Jonathan Neman, chief executive of Sweetgreen. The company had been planning a suburban expansion before the pandemic, but it has accelerated those initiatives.

 

 

 

Fare collection on MetroWest Regional Transit Authority buses will resume Oct. 1, reports Wicked Local Wellesley.

 

The MWRTA stopped collecting fares in April 2020 to limit contact between drivers and passengers during the pandemic. The transit authority will also explore options for a more technology-based fare collection system.

 

That will presumably include Catch Connect, the on-demand ride service between any destination in Wellesley with connections to the Waban and Woodland Green Line Stations in Newton, Newton-Wellesley Hospital; the bus hub at the Natick Community Center and even Volante Farms in Needham.

 

Even at $3 a ride, the service is a great option for Wellesley employers looking to get workers and customers to and from their place of business.

 

And a reminder: Newton's new on-demand system NewMo 2.0 begins today.

 
 

 

We broke a chamber monthly membership record last month! Please join me in welcoming our 29 -- that's right 29 -- newest members: 

 

Our sincere thanks to all of these businesses and nonprofits for their confidence and the recognition that we're stronger working together.

 

That’s today’s need to knows, unless you need to know if your Charlie Card has expired.

 

President, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber

617-244-1688

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