Massachusetts Mix: Leaders, Landmarks & the Latest

On today’s program, we relive some of our greatest hits. We share a recent conversation with a former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Today he’s the executive director of the NHL players Association. Also Mary Kay Wydra of explorewesternmass.com talks about the most popular tourist destinations in the western part of the state. Jim Rooney President and CEO of the greater Boston Chamber of Commerce brings us up-to-date on the current business climate. And finally, Paul Niedzwiecki, President and CEO  of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Looks at the summer season 2025.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe short
Sleeve and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of
the top business news impacting our New England economy.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
And good morning and welcome to the New England Business Support.
On this a Sunday morning, it would be July sixth. Yes,
we have gone by the exit, so to speak, on
July fourth. Kim Kerrigan, Joe Shortsley with you this morning,
and Kim, how is your July fourth?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
It was fantastic, full of lots of friends and lots
of family and I'm exhausted. So it's time to get
back into the swing of life. Although I think this
is just the beginning of being out of the swing
right right.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
No, come on, we just have to cherish every moment
of summer that is coming our way here, that's for sure,
that's right. Okay. So this week on the program a
little bit different. We're going to relive some of well
Kim's stellar moments on the program. You know, yes, that
is what it is, exactly how it's built. That'll keep them,

(01:02):
you know, because if you miss some of these conversations
that you know, we wanted to share them again. Okay,
so we're going to be relive a conversation that we
had with Mady Maddy Walsh. Of course he was today
he is the executive director of the NHL Players Union.
He of course was the former Labor Secretary under Joe
Biden and of course Boston mayor from twenty fourteen to

(01:25):
twenty twenty one. And he's involved in an interesting program
now in his new NHL hat that he wears, and
it has to do with well, Boston College, among other schools.
But it's about these players who you know, many of
them say, I am going to be a superstar. I
am I do not need a college degree, and well,

(01:45):
sometimes things just don't work out the way you think
they're going to work out.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
And a lot of they do a lot of the time.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
So Marty's arranging this program that helps players get a degree,
and in this case from Boston College, right.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Kim, right, exactly. One of the many things that Marty
has done as the head of the Players Union, you know,
and I think he's really proud of this particular program
because it was a very similar one that he went
through at BC to get his degree.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, exactly. Okay, Also on the program today, you know,
folks are traveling this summer season. In this month of July,
we're going to talk with Mary kay Wydra now she
is with Explore westernmass dot com. She is the president
of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bueer Bureau. And

(02:35):
of course we've had many people on this program, whether
they're from southern New Hampshire or down in Cape Cod
to talk about the hot tourist spots this summer, and
Mary kay Wydro will share some of the spots in
the Western Massachusetts what folks are exploring this summer, and
then what else we got going on.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Absolutely after traveling out to the West, we'll come back
into Boston and take some time to talk to Jim Rooney.
He will be our guest and was our guest just
a couple of weeks ago. Of course, he's the President
and CEO of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. We like
to talk to Jim pretty frequently because he really has
his finger on the pulse of the city and during
these times that are, you know, uneasy for a lot

(03:12):
of small businesses, Jim is really in contact with a
lot of these business owners. He's got a real sense
of what's driving them and what's holding them back. He's
going to talk to us about these challenging times, and
he's also going to talk about the summer months here
in the city and what he anticipates is going to happen.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah. I think there's an interesting thing about Jim is
that when we often talk about, well, it's a Chamber
of Commerce weather report, we often think that the folks
involved with the Chamber of Commerce are going to, you know,
just kind of sell you a little bit on all
the sunshine and.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Not sunshine and rainbows.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
But Jim, you know, he tells you the way it is,
and you know, I always appreciate him in his candor
and what's going on with the businesses in Boston and anyway,
this is a good conversation. We thought, folks, if you
hadn't heard it, you'd enjoy hearing it.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah. Absolutely. Jim is one of those guys who I
think really feels an obligation to fight for the members
of his chamber, and so I think that's why we
see sometimes that side of him. After chatting with Jim,
we're going to head to the south and we're going
to be on Cape Cod with the CEO of the
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Paul NDSWICKI. Now, this is
another guy who's pretty candid about what's happening down there

(04:19):
on the Cape. And while he anticipates it's going to
be a great summer, lots of rentals and lots of
people coming to visit, he's also got some concerns and
he talked to us about that. And that's related to
those two darn bridges down there.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
On the well, the Sagamore and the Bourne. And there's
two very different stories apparently, the Sagamore, the you know,
the rebuild has been the money's in the bank, so
to speak.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, he was looking for the Bourn. As you know, Joe,
the administration changed, and he's a little nervous about that.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I think, oh, yeah, I know, there's no doubt about it.
And then you know, we did sneak in a question
with him about okay, here you are, the head of
the Chamber of Commerce, give us your five favorite spots
on Cape Cod.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah. I think he was happy to answer that, which
is really cool. So that's all coming up in this edition.
All right, Joe, we have been promising in our next
guest is certainly somebody who's familiar to our audience, the
former mayor of Boston. He is the former Labor Secretary.
He's now the executive director of the NHL Players Union.

(05:25):
Of course we're talking about Marty Walsh. Good morning, sir,
Good morning.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
It's great to be on again.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Great to hear your voice.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, welcome Marty. We were delighted that you joined us,
so we're really delighted. So go ahead, Kim.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
Well, we've got lots to talk to you about today, Marty,
but we want to get started with I tell you
this grabbed my attention. Glob brought a couple of weeks
ago about a wonderful program that is now started over
at BC, but has been on a number of campuses,
and you were instrumental in making this happen over at BC,
and it's an opportunity for professional athletes in the NHL

(05:59):
and the MLB to get their degrees. So tell us
a little bit about this program and why it's important
to you.

Speaker 4 (06:07):
Yes. So, when I took over the National Hockey Player Association,
they were working on a program for players to be
engaged in thinking about business opportunities for them and getting
the experience they need to kind of grow their profession
off ice with the intention of not just the intention
after playing hockey, but a lot of these players, you know,

(06:30):
they went to college, they left college, they didn't do
any college. They came into the NHL, They started playing
competitive hockey at a young age, so the education kind
of wouldn't It was put in the back burner, but
wasn't front and tenor now they make it into the NHL.
Not everyone plays twenty years in NHL. Some players pay
play two years, some players play three years, some players

(06:50):
play ten years. And when their career is over, they're
still young young men, younger men, and they're looking to
what's their skill? What can they do after hockey? Not
everyone could be a broadcast and not everyone's built to
be a coach. Some people want to go into business
and what have you. So we started to we had
some agree with some We have agreements with some colleges

(07:12):
to do online courses. Nothing really confirmed in Boston College
and myself I went to a night school. We end
up having a conversation about creating a program to get
college former college players back into school or or players
that haven't had any college the ability to go to college.
And I work with the Wood school of Boston College.
That's where I went to school. I was a state

(07:33):
rep in the daytime. I was going to school at night.
Took me a long time to get my degree, but
I also got my degree. So we talk about this.
It makes sense to EMBAC on a conversation. We started
a conversation which turned into an agreement, a program, and
the program turned into reality where we where we work
with Boston College to have a graduate program undergrad and

(07:56):
graduate schools students if they wanted as graduate students of
Boston College. Which cool, and we have an agreement. Now
we have a couple of players in there getting their education.
They're playing hockey, they're getting their education. It helps them
enhances their opportunities after hockey. You know, not every professional
athlete is a millionaire. Not every professional athlete makes millions

(08:16):
of all is playing sports that people think they do,
but they don't. And if they don't have that opportunity,
they're going to do need to do something for the
rest of their life when they've done playing hockey and
having an education, having that degree, as everyone knows, is
important in a lot of ways. I mean, they're probably
not going to go into the building trades, they're probably
not going to go into manufacturing, so we're looking to

(08:36):
how do we create opportunities and pathways into better careers
for them when they've done playing hockey.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Oh, it makes a lot of sense. We're talking with
the Marty Wallace, of course, the former mayor of Boston
and now the executive director of the National Hockey League's
Players Association. I guess I'm curious, Marty, is what percentage
of players say in the NHL. I mean, I know
it also covers the other major sports leagues as well,
but in the NHL, how many players find themselves in
this situation where they, you know, want to go back
and get that college degree.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
I think I think as they get old, a lot
of them, do you know what I mean get You
get a player that plays ice college hockey and left
after a year or two, and now they're out of
college for a while and they've been in the NHL
three or four or five years. As they get older, like, oh,
you get older, you start thinking about, you know, what
might be next, and how do you create opportunities and
unlimit the way for them if they want to get
into business, if they want to create expand their relationships

(09:27):
helps them, but a lot of them do. They'll grab
me on the side. I'll explain my story to them
how I went to school. I was thirty five, thirty six,
three seven years old going to school, and they kind
of perk up and watch it and like, well, we
could do that too. You know, a lot of these
a lot of these players found up kids. They want
to have the college degree for the because the children,
they want the children's college degrees. I don't have a percentage,

(09:47):
but there's a lot. The agreement that we have is
just with the NHL Player Association and the Boston College
would School. Baseball has a separate agreement, but it's all
under the same premise. It's about creating all coportunities and pathways.
All of these different unions that represent all of these
different players in different leagues, all are all thinking about,
what you know, helping their player, you know, after their career.

(10:10):
You know, I often say this, I represent the players
while they're in the union, while they're in the Collectibogony agreement.
But when they're out, we still represent them because they're
phoning members. So you want to make sure that they've
set up.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Success when they leave, all right, So let's talk a
little bit about the new gig. We call it the
new gig. You've been there for a couple of years.
You have really started to have some impact on the NHL.
I know you were intimately involved in the Four Nations tournament,
which turned out to be a huge success. You've got
players going back to the Olympics, which I know the

(10:41):
players were very much looking forward to that. Talk a
little bit about some of the impact that you've had
on the NHL.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting to go there. When I
first went there, you know, it was not something I
was expecting to happen. It just happened with when a
recruiter reached out to me and asked me if I'd
be interested in having a conversation, and I started to
talk to players and the board, the board that was
set up to recruit a new executive director, and as
they got more into the conversations, I thought, it kind

(11:09):
of brings me back to my beginning route. So being
in the labor woman a little different because you're in
the labor moment, but you're also on the business side,
development side of growing the game of hockey. And one
thing the players said to me in the very beginning,
almost all of them. With international hockey Best on Best
competition is an important place for them they want to

(11:29):
get back into. And we start to negotiate with the league,
not negotiate with Lee, but talk to the league about
the Olympics and getting the NHL players back at the Olympics.
And we're able to sit down the NHL and the
player association along with the International Hockey Federation and the IOC.
You don't have the committee and get an agreement done

(11:51):
that the players will come back into the twenty six
and twenty thirty Olympic Games. And then they wanted to
also talk about the World Couple of Hockey. As a
hockey fan anyone who works hockey growing up, there are
certain periods that wasn't consistent. It was every you know,
maybe every decade there was a World Cup of Hockey tournament.
And now we have it on a consistent base. We're

(12:12):
going to do World Cup of Hockey in twenty eight
and thirty two, so every two years now in nonth
of February, we'll have Best on Best Hockey with with
with countries around the around the world competing against each
other on the ice to see as the best hockey
team in the world and the Four Nations. We didn't

(12:32):
have enough time to do a full World Cup of
Hockey in twenty twenty four, so we decided to take
the route that we could do it with all NHL players,
which we did. It was Sweden and Finland, Canada and
the United States. We were looking at the cities to
have it in and we ultimately landed on Montreal and Boston,
two great hockey towns, and I think it was more

(12:56):
exciting than people would have thought. You know, everyone was
talking about the ratings were incredible, and people were talking
about it that not the you know, everyday hockey fan.
We actually just got awarded from the Sports Business Journal
the other night, myself and Gary Batman accepted the the
best hockey event of the year, which was the Four Nations,
which was exciting. And the players, I mean from the

(13:19):
drop of the first puck in the first game, the
players really were into this tournament and you could see
the intensity. There's a lot of intensity. People obviously know
the USA Canada game, but it was intensity in the
Sweden Finland game. Sweden US game, Finland Canada game. There's
a lot of great intensity there because these are all
professional hockey players that are all stops. Every one of them,
you know, was on the first one, most of them

(13:41):
on the first line in the teams. And it was
great for the fans. I think the fans loved it.
I mean, it was just one of those things.

Speaker 5 (13:47):
I mean, it was.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
Great having in Boston. The great side of having in
Boston was in Boston. The bad side having in Boston
it was in Boston. So I got a lot of Yeah,
last a minute.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, yeah, recognize the voice, folks, it's Marty Walls, right,
he is the former mayor of Boston, and so Marty,
you know, you were the star player with the Biden
administration between twenty twenty one and twenty thirty three until
you left. You still talk to the former president, I do.

Speaker 6 (14:14):
I talked.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
I haven't talked to him since obviously he's been diagnosed
with cancer, but I talked to him. He's doing great.
You know, we's I've talked to you know, we talk
a lot about what we accomplished in the first couple
of years of the administration of the bipodistant legislation, the
infrastructure Bill, the chips and science aacked all of that,
you know, he's I was supposed to go see him,

(14:35):
and a couple weeks ago I was wasn't able to.
He went to to go to the pope funeral. But
the other I mean, the cancer diagnosed obviously is sad
in my opinion, And you know, and it's also bothers me.
What what some members of the media doing to him
right now. You know, they don't go back to twenty
twenty one. In January when he took over as president,

(14:59):
the country was was and there was major concerns. January
sixth just happened. Those major concerns in our country. We
had COVID. President came in, uh steadied the ship, worked
across the aisle, got things done. And you know, seeing
some of the people speak out against the president now
that work for him bothers me a lot, because they're

(15:19):
doing pretty well themselves, and they're doing it off his back.
And they didn't do it not because if they were
great leaders, because they had an opportunity that president gave
them to work in the administration.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
So it bothers me.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
To see what's happening here with the president. You know,
I think I think that people will look back on
history and see this moment in time when he was
the president, and what do he accomplished. Just just take
the infrastructure bill alone. I meant one point for a
trillion dollar infrastructure bill, We've never done to build that
lodge in the United States his history, and that's the infrastructure, roads, bridges, highways, trained.

(15:53):
And you look at China that invests trillions of dollars
every year in their infrastructure. I mean, infrastructure is the
is the lifeline of in America. We need to make
sure we have good infrastructure. And he's not getting the
credit today, but he will eventually.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
So Marty, I know that you keep an eye on
city Hall even from Afar. And of course we've got
a big mayor's race coming up this fall. Of course
Mayor Michelle who running against Josh Kraft. Give us a
sense of what you're thinking about when you're watching that race.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, well, I think you know Josh Josh. I talked
to Josh a bunch of times. He called me before
he decided to run. He loves the city's passionate about
the city. He you know, he works for the Boys
and Girls.

Speaker 5 (16:38):
Clubs for the years.

Speaker 4 (16:39):
A lot of people in the communities know him, and
you know, and he's just passionate about making sure Boston
continues to move forward. I have not spoken to the
mayor in a while. You know, she ran, she was
running against me in twenty twenty twenty one. When I
decided before I left the Washington I was just fine.
I mean, you can do whatever you want. I think

(17:00):
it's going to be an inesting race. I think the
problem is that for both of them, that people don't
always pay attention to the man's race until after living ding.
And you know, I remember when I ran in twenty thirteen.
I was out there working hot every day, seven days
a week, you know, eighteen hours a day, literally out
knocking doors, and then all of a sudden, labor they
came and everyone in the world knew there was a

(17:22):
mass race. And I'm like, before that, he's like the
people you bumped into do as a mass race. So
it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
I think I think.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
I think races are good. I think it's good to
have an opponent. I had Tego Jackson my first reelection.
It's good to have because you have to talk about
It gives you an opportunity to reflect on your administration,
to see where the problem's are and where the challenge
is on. It gives you, It gives people in Boston
an opportunity to see if there's another another alternative. And
you know, what we'll see is that some of those on.

(17:50):
It's gonna be a long summer. It's gonna be lots
of john knocking and lots lots of activity out there,
and we'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, Marty, we know you have a great job and
you're very busy at this point, but where are you
on a lege? Did politics as we talk about, you know,
I mean home.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
Pay attention to it obviously, you know, it's in the blood.
I was talking to somebody the other day about about
callings in life, and I think, like you know, some
people have religious callings, some people have political calling people
have different types of callings in life. And you know,
I was, I was. I say fortunately, because I still
think the elected office is very important to our democracy
and to our city a democracy on a national level

(18:25):
and our city on a local level. You know, I
just hope that, you know, I hope it comes around
a bit. I mean, I know a lot of people
are down on politics today, but you know, you're elected
representative is the person that represents you in whether it's Congress,
the state House, city hall, where it might be, town
halls across the Massachusetts. So I'm still very much watching
it and paying attention to it. Sometimes it's hard because

(18:49):
you get frustrated with with decisions being made, or you're
frustrated with with some some elected officials are saying, like
down in Washington, you know, towards the end, you know,
I'd be called in front of Congress one of hearing
on the budget, and there's congressional members that wouldn't ask
me a question about the budget. They asked me ridiculous
questions about foolishness.

Speaker 6 (19:11):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (19:11):
And I think that they don't think the public is
paying attention. But the public is paying attention, and I
think that's part of the problem with today's politics. I
think some of them are are, you know, trying to
grab headlines or juice a post on social media, and
they don't really take into account the people that represent So.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Marty, you said, it's a calling. Is the Governor's office
going to call you back here to Massachusetts eventually?

Speaker 4 (19:33):
No, Well, Governor mar Hilly hasn't called me so well, yeah, Governor,
and Also, you know, Ma mar Hilly, governor heally has
been been governor. You know, everyone has different different challenges.
You know Governor bakerhead COVID and before that he was
working in the economy. Governor Heally has the migrant situation

(19:57):
and lack of federal funds now potentially coming. So every
governor has different challenges. So, I mean, mar Hilly is,
in my opinion, has done a good, very good job
as governor. She looks like it seems like she's going
to be running for another term. Mush, she pulled me
an ounce. But you know, I think she's doing good.

Speaker 2 (20:14):
You know, he says, I guess my nephew, you know
that right?

Speaker 4 (20:18):
I heard that? Yeah, Oh my god, what am I
worked into? You know who knows? I mean, you can
never say no, but you just you can't. I don't
want to speculate. It's about where you are in life
and timing and all that stuff. And you know where
I am in life now is a good place. I'm

(20:40):
working with the nhlpa's still involved in a lot of
different charities around Boston and the Boston area, which which
I love. Still helping as many people as I can help.
But I mean, That's what I missed the most about
the maximum ability to help people every day, so you
can still do it when you're out of office.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
You're in it.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
You have such a profound impact, potentials, just a profound
impact on so many people's lives.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
Well, Marty, we got to leave it right there. We
thank you so much for being a part of the
show today. Of course you're welcome anytime, So thank you
very much.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w RKO six't eighty. Joe and
Kim will be right back.

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Speaker 3 (23:35):
Hi, everybody, I'm Kim Kerrigan and.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
I'm Joe Shortsley. If you want to be part of
the New England Business Report, sponsorships are still available.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
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Speaker 2 (23:48):
That's Any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Oh Joe, you mentioned it off the top of the show.
But here we are. It is go time when we
start to talk about the summer economy. We have had
a chance to talk to some folks down on the Cape,
We've talked to folks north up in the Lakes region
of New Hampshire, and now we are very anxious to
chat with our next guest. And she represents the western
part of our beautiful state. Joining us today is Mary

(24:25):
kay Widra. She's from Explore Western Mask Great.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
To have you with us.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
Let's talk a little bit about what are some of
the big attractions out there in the western part of
the state that people can enjoy at this time of year.

Speaker 6 (24:37):
Yeah, summers, like summers are our top season and we
have some incredible attractions that people can take advantage of.
Six Flags New England is located in our region and
this year they're introducing a brand new ride. It's called
the Quantum Accelerator, So for people who've been there before,
they need to come back and try that one out.

(24:58):
We have, of course, be Candle and South Deerfield, the
Inky Candle Village, the Doctor Seuss Museum in the heart
of downtown Springfield, along with the Basketball Hall of Fame,
and of course our casino MGM Springfield. There's a lot
to do during the summer.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Is there a big winner there, I mean, is there
a number one attraction or you don't do it that way.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
We don't do it that way. I mean, And we
love them all. They're like our children, right, we love
them all. They are very popular attractions. You know, when
people talk about the western part of the state. Our
research shows they know us for that laundry list of
attractions that we have, but they also know us as
a place to recreate. And you know, we have a

(25:43):
lot of open green space out here, and I should
tell your listeners that they should come out and take
advantage of some of the natural assets. Great hiking, biking,
rafting on the Deerfield River, zip lining, mountain biking.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Sense great, there's a lot to do.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
All right, Well, let's say you somebody's listening saying that
sounds pretty good to me. Am I am I renting
a place? Am I staying in a hotel? And how long?
How much time do I need?

Speaker 6 (26:12):
Well, you know what, we we always like to encourage
people to take advantage of our accommodations that we represent
our hotels. Short term rentals have become a big thing
here in Western mass I think that shows the types
of visitors that we have. You know, a lot of millennials,
a lot of families looking to stay together, tend to

(26:33):
rent homes. Typically, we want our guests to stay as
long as they want. We tend to be kind of
a short getaway, you know, one, two, three nights. But
I could certainly develop an itinerary that could take a week,
and that would be our goal to get people here
as long as we can.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Mary Kay, talk to us a little bit about how
important this summer season and the tourism that it brings
is to your part of the state.

Speaker 6 (27:03):
Yeah, summer tourism in general, you know, big industry out
here in the West. I think you know, for years
we were known as the hub of manufacturing and so forth,
but we are. We know, in terms of jobs out here,
tourism ranks third behind healthcare and education. And the summer seasons,

(27:23):
you know, a big season. We tend to mirror the
state in that our shoulder season is November to April.
Our season picks up in the spring. We have I
mentioned education, We have a lot of colleges and universities
and they tend to kick off the season with commencements
and then we roll in you know, weddings, our big

(27:46):
business out here, and then we roll into the summer
travel season in June when kids get out of school.
So we rely on a good season, and we rely
on mother nature for a lot of those outdoor activities.
But the good news is with our assets, what we offer,
we have a lot of things that visitors can do

(28:08):
indoors as well our museums. I mentioned the Hall of Fame,
the Armory. You know, we're getting ready to celebrate the
two hundred and fiftieth that armories are tied to that
celebration and it's a hidden little gem. It's a National
historic site.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's awesome talking with Amery Kay Widro. She is the
president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Business Bureau. Doing
business out there? Do they do business out there? Is
explore westernmass dot com. Mary Kay. When I was looking
up hotspots out there in the western part of the state,
the things that popped up were one and one they
said go to Lenox. Two they said go to Stockbridge,

(28:45):
and then they talked about the Mohawk Trail. Gives give
us a thumbnail sketch.

Speaker 6 (28:49):
Yeah. So my organization really promotes Hampton Hampshire, Franklin County,
and there's another regional Tourist Council over in the Berkshires.
We love our neighbors to the west. The Berkshires have
great name Cachet. They've got a brand that really resonates
those are you know, the the hotspots that you mentioned

(29:10):
Lennox is wonderful with tangle wood, and you know, the
Mohawk Trail is certainly something that people should take advantage of.
It's an incredible scenic byway. We get a lot of people.
You know, our our feeder markets tend to be Boston,
New York and Providence, and certainly the Boston market. Taking

(29:30):
the Pike out here, you go right through us to
get to the Berkshire. So our hope is that they
will stop off and check out our attractions as well.

Speaker 3 (29:39):
And Mary Kate, my last question for you is, you know,
obviously your big competition has to be coastal areas. What
do you guys do you know to combat that and
to get people to come west.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
Well, I think we lead with our strengths. You know,
we don't have a beach, but we do have a
beautiful Connecticut River and we have uh, like I said,
we've got some mountains in our region that we encourage
people to take advantage of. And and really there's something
for everyone. I know that that's a term that's used

(30:12):
a lot, but but there truly is. Uh. We've got culture,
we've got fun. Uh, we've got some great restaurants and
group hubs and dining, and you know it's we're We're
a great value destination too. I will say that that
you can do a lot. And I know, you know,

(30:32):
in this day and age, everybody's watching their pocketbooks. So
I think our region offers a lot for a lot
of people.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, how does explore Western mass dot com? How do
you reach their visitor? I mean, what what's your ad
money and and and like and and who? How do
you target them and in what format?

Speaker 6 (30:52):
Yeah, so we do a lot of we do a
lot of digital marketing right now, and we have We've
been fortunate. We received a grant from the state. We
always get a grant from the state, and we're very
grateful for those state dollars. In order to get the grant,
we have to match it with private dollars, So we
have businesses that invest in us and partner with us

(31:15):
most of our marketing. You know, it's interesting when I
talk locally to people, they don't even know at times
that they have a convention of visitors bureau or a
destination marketing organization. Because to do our job, we need
to put those dollars into the markets where the visitors
are and influence them with digital. We do a lot
of digital marketing. We rely on our web. We spend

(31:36):
a lot of money with SEO and SEM. We have
focused a great deal on social media and content creators
and having people actually come in and you know, post
about visiting our region and that's working for us.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
Well.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
Mary Kay, you have certainly sold me on the western
part of the state. I thank you very much, as
does Joe for being a part of the New England.
This report.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
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I want to get out.

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Boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting ready
to hang up your tools after thirty five years of
working your tailoff? Congratulations, you worked hard to build your
retirement nest egg. But now what Let me help you
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Speaker 9 (34:02):
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Speaker 2 (34:16):
We want to welcome back a regular guest here to
the program. He, of course, is the President CEO of
the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that won Jim Rooney.
All around a great guy and seems to know a
lot about what's going on with the business of Boston
and beyond. Jim, Welcome to the program. And it's been
a while so once we chatted with you, So why
don't we start with just you know, what's on your desk?

(34:37):
Big picture? You know, what does Rooney think about the
business climate in Boston? What are you concerned about? What
are your thoughts these days?

Speaker 11 (34:44):
Well, I think, like most people, a lot of focus
on what's coming out of Washington, DC right now with
kallis with research funding, with immigration policy, and how that
affects the local economy. I have the opportunity to talk
to my peas and chain is all over the country,
and all of those things seem to be top of
mind for people here in Massachusetts. The research funding issue

(35:09):
is particularly an acute issue and what's going on. You
know that we all here and read about Tavad University,
so I have to say those are kind of taking
over the focus of business leaders and organizations like the Chamber.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Well, Jim, I know that you guys have been integral
in relaunching the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition. It's
sixty chambers across some thirty states that are members, and
this all goes back to what you've just mentioned. You know,
this research funding, these cuts and the effects that that's
having on a number of states. Delve into that a

(35:49):
little deeper for us and give us an idea of
really the repercussions for the state of Massachusetts.

Speaker 11 (35:56):
Well, Massachusetts is one of the lot recipients of NAH
National Institute of Health spending, largely due to our university
and hospitals that we have here that research everything from
all timers to cancer to als treatments and cures and

(36:18):
there's been so many breakthroughs over the years. So the
medical science is important, but beyond that, you know, we
look at the economic and jobs impact, and there's many
people in our economy, not just the sciences themselves, but
when you think about it, the law firms and the

(36:41):
accounting firms that support the introduction of new treatments, new drugs,
startup companies that build and deliver these things. Overall, if
you look at it in this country, the research supports
about a half a million jobs in the country in
all fifty states. But there's other types of research. There's
defense industry R and D, there's aeronautics research. There's a

(37:09):
lot of types of research that the federal government has
sponsored and all fifty states benefits. So our strategy was
to launch a coalition involving, as you said, over sixty
chambers across the country and red and blue states who
benefit from this kind of investment in the economy, and

(37:33):
then includes Alabama, it includes Michigan, and includes Pennsylvania and
California and Texas because we all benefit it from it.
And strategically and on the political side, it's to talk
to each of our congressional delegations and say, look, this
matters at home, you know, going back to the all
politics as local strategies and try to make the case

(37:56):
that not just here in Boston and Massachusetts, but all
over the tree research funding is important.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
Well, uh, the Globe has an article out about how
Trump is after Massachusetts in particular, targeting US. And then
of course we have the Harvard issue that you've already raised. Uh.
I guess I'm wondering what are you seeing, you know,
on as the rubber meets the road here you talked
about the possibility of jobs cut backs and things like that.

(38:22):
So what do you how is this what has this
done to the business climate?

Speaker 11 (38:27):
Well, what it's meant is is that there's uncertainty, and
uncertainty creates paralysis in the business community. You know, it's
uncertainty is the is the enemy of economic development, economic growth,
business decisions. And I've seen surveys that have said that
businesses are freezing hiring, that they're freezing major capital investments.

(38:55):
We saw the decision by Hasbro to postpone the relocation
to buy then all based on the tariff issues because
much of their product comes from Asia. So it creates
a paralysis because you just don't know what direction, either
from a tariff perspective or research funding perspective, or from

(39:15):
a workforce perspective related to immigration, things are going to
go so right now, companies are behaving that way. And
when I say that, I'm talking about some of the
major companies. The ones I really fear for are the
small businesses who really can't sustain for a long time

(39:37):
if their market goes away. And we have about nine
thousand small businesses and messages that depend on international trade.
They're making things and messages and shipping them all over
the world, and if the tariff rules impact their ability
to do that, they can't sustain for a long time.

(40:00):
A big business can, so we may lose some of them.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
You know, Jim, There was a lot of business owners
who said the fact that these tariffs had been put
on hold for ninety days, and now, of course, this
past week a court has ruled that the president didn't
even have the right to, you know, talk about or
to put these kinds of tariffs in place. But the
idea of holding for ninety days was worse than had

(40:27):
those tariffs gone into effect, because at least business owners
would know what they were dealing with. Are you getting
that kind of feedback.

Speaker 11 (40:35):
Yeah, that's a great point, Kim, that it just speaks
to the to the uncertainty if you and even if
it's bad news, certainty is something that the business community appreciates.
You know, if if there's going to be tariffs, if
we're going to have reciprocal tariffs in other countries putting

(40:57):
on Massachusetts produced goods, businesses can pivot, Businesses can plan
around that. Businesses can either seek alternative markets or seek
alternative supply chains. We've heard a lot of talk, for example,
about sourcing product that was bought from China and Vietnam

(41:18):
because we have a better relationship or the Trump administration
has developed a better relationship with Vietnam. So when you
have that certainty, even if there you know it isn't
what you're used to, you can you can plan, you
can you can figure out how you're going to how
you're going to move forward. But not knowing and having

(41:42):
ninety days of this and you know, this deferral or
this change, it just paralyzes things.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Jim Muni's our guess is the CEO and president of
the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Jim taking a look
at an article that John Chester in the Globe about
your annual meeting there a week or so ago at
the Omni Hotel. You had some fourteen hundred people there.
Your guest was the US Chamber of Commerce, the US
Chamber of Commerce, the chief executive, Suzanne Clark. And you
asked her a question. And you know, you're a guy

(42:12):
who strikes me. You don't ask a question unless you
already know the answer. But what she had to say,
I guess it had to do with, you know, Boston
and do people feel welcome here? And her answer goes
it talks about this. You have to decide what inclusive
means to you, As she talked to the business leader
at the room, does diversity include conservative thought? A lot

(42:33):
of people in this country who aren't sure? Right And
quoting her again, now there's a lot of conversations about
would I be welcome in Boston? Would I be welcome
at some of the elite institutions? Would my viewpoint be welcome?
What are your thoughts about what she had to say?

Speaker 11 (42:46):
Yeah, Suzanne is a very smart leader of the US
Chamber of Commerce. She's exercises a great deal more diplomacy
than her predecessor, who is much more of a firebrand leader.
She's traveled, she's all over the country, she's all over
the world, and she gets a sense of the way

(43:09):
that city, states and regions are approaching economic development and
so forth. And I get a chance through the US
Chamber and through other mechanisms to interact with people all
over the country and from other countries as well. And
I'm always tuned into sort of what reactions they have
about Boston and Massachusetts, and just wanted to give Susannah

(43:32):
platform to share what she had to say. And it
is a feeling that's out there that you know, we're
the bluest of blue states, are very progressive liberal state
politically with that type of agenda, and the question of.

Speaker 5 (43:51):
Whether or not views on.

Speaker 11 (43:54):
Certain public policies like energy and the environment, immigration, and
whether or not an intellectually honest discussion can take place
that welcomes maybe more conservative views that might exist in
at least half of the rest of the country is welcome,

(44:18):
or whether they would be just out of hand rejected.
You're either all in with us, or you know you're
one of them. And I think it's a valid point.
Sometimes we and not just boss their messages. It's other
parts of the country to live in our own bubbles
and don't appreciate and understand the way that other people

(44:38):
are thinking about things. So I was, I was glad
and others were glad that, you know, someone with a
fresh set of eyes made the point that was somewhat provocative,
that said, you know, maybe we don't listen to other
points of view well enough. And that's not saying to
abandoned principles. What it's just saying is to welcome other

(45:02):
thought processes.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
He's Jim Rooney and he is the president and the
CEO the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and we appreciate
him joining us this morning on the New England Business Report.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston WRKO six 't eighty Joe and
Kim will be right back.

Speaker 8 (45:25):
Are you a brother or sister of one of Greater
Boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting ready
to hang up your tools after thirty five years of
working your tailoff? Congratulations, you worked hard to build your
retirement nest egg. But now what Let me help you
break through the nonsense and financial speak so we can
get to the questions that are important to you. As
you know, nothing gets built without a set of plans,

(45:46):
and neither will you a financial future. My name is
Mike Marshall, President and CEO of Marshall Wealth Management and
creator of the Marshall Plan, a comprehensive customized plan that
will help you answer important questions in all seven key
You don't have to do it alone. There is no
cost or obligation. Call us at eight five seven three
four two ten thirty. That's eight five seven three four

(46:09):
two ten thirty. We'll check us out online at Marshallwealth
dot Com Marshall with two els, Marshallwealth dot Com.

Speaker 9 (46:16):
Advisory services offer to Capital Analysts or Lincoln Investment Registered
Investment Advisors. Securities offered through Lincoln Investment Broker Dealer Member FINRA, SIPC,
Lincoln Investment dot Com. Marshal Wealth Management and the above
firms are independent and not affiliated.

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Speaker 2 (48:13):
And you know, Kim, one of my favorite stories is
always this time of year is summer gets underway down
on Cape Cod. You know, I'm a cape Cotter. I
got a place down there, and anyway, I'm a real
cape Cod snob. But anyway, I wanted to bring in
Paul nets Wiki, he's the CEO and president of the
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, because summer is well underway
and well, we wanted to see how things are going

(48:36):
so far. Paul, welcome to the program. Give us an idea.
How is the summer of twenty twenty five shaping up?

Speaker 10 (48:42):
After a pretty strong start. Memorial Day was a very
strong weekend for us, even though the nor'easter on Thursday
and the rain on Friday got it off to a
slow start, but we finished really strong, with some of
our hotels that we checked in anecdotally having some of
the largest food service days that they've had. So we're
off to a pretty strong start with the unofficial start

(49:04):
on Memorial Day, and we're looking forward to the official
start on June twentieth, the first day of summer, which
is going to be co.

Speaker 5 (49:11):
Hog Day for us.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
More about that, what's that?

Speaker 10 (49:17):
For seventeen years now on the Cape Dug the co
hog has appeared on the first day of summer to
predict how many beach days there are going to be
for the rest of the summer. Every year, he'll be
at the Blue Water Resort in South Yarmouth four pm Friday,
June twentieth to make his appearance and make his prediction.

Speaker 5 (49:37):
So you're welcome to come down.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
Not known about this co hog, I know, yes, exactly.
That sounds terrific. You know, we checked with you earlier
in the spring and at that point, Paul, you felt
like things were a little behind when it came to
rentals and maybe hotel bookings. Does it feel like things
have caught up.

Speaker 5 (50:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (50:00):
I think we've had a little bit of a bounce
back from them from where we were in seat of
a February Morch time frame, and I think a lot
of that tends to indicate. I think what we're seen
earlier in the booking seasons. People there's some economic uncertainty
and so people were waiting longer to make reservations. But
we are starting to see a bounce back in the
occupancy numbers.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Well, is this economic uncertainty basically coming up in favor
of Cape cod In other words, folks are staying close
to home or or is it you know, having the
other effects.

Speaker 5 (50:32):
Well, it's both with different segments.

Speaker 6 (50:34):
You know.

Speaker 5 (50:34):
Obviously we're seeing sort of a decrease in international.

Speaker 10 (50:36):
Travel of bookings for the Cape, but the Capes is
a finite place, so we're then the demand is high,
so we're starting to see some backfill from that. And
as part of that economic on surety, where people might
want to not spend as much as they have in
the past flying to other places, they are driving.

Speaker 6 (50:55):
To the Cape.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
Well we heard because like the Canadians supposedly are staying away.

Speaker 10 (51:00):
Yeah, no, we've seen some of those polls that suggest
up to twenty percent of the Canadians that usually visit
the area won't be visiting the area. But I don't
think they're going to see that a twenty percent decline.
But we probably will see some decline, especially the Canadians
are going to see it in different pockets. Canadians are
make up a large component of the summertime peak season

(51:21):
visitors to Province Sound. For example, they like to stay
in campgrounds and they're a big part of the fall
bus tour season. So we'll start to see them pockets.
But having checked in with most of the major hotels
personally over the last week or two, they're all expecting.

Speaker 5 (51:40):
Really, really strong seasons.

Speaker 3 (51:42):
Let's talk about the rentals. You know, are they playing
in favor of those who own the rental properties? And
I guess what I'm really trying to get at is,
you know, what are prices like this year? And you
know who's who's winning the renter or the renters?

Speaker 5 (51:58):
Well, that's a good question.

Speaker 10 (52:00):
I mean, we have nineteen thousand registered short term rentals
on Cape Cod presently, so that's half of the short
term rentals in the state are on the Cape and
we sort of expected to see that average daily rate
for short term rentals dip a little bit this year
as social market correction because the inventory has been growing
so rapidly over the last three years. But we haven't

(52:21):
seen that initial indication, so the ADR for short term
rentals remains where it was last year or maybe a
little bit above.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
Talking with Paul NEEDSWICKI a CEO and president of the
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, you know, obviously we do
want we have we still have plenty of time, and
we do want to talk about the status of the
Cape cod Bridge replacement program. But before that, I guess
I could want to know what is the number one
issue on your desk? What's sitting there on Paul Ned's
WICKI is looking at and going, oh, I got to
get that done.

Speaker 5 (52:49):
Well, bridges are number one.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
Oh they are okay, Well, let's get there.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
You know.

Speaker 10 (52:53):
Yeah, No, the two bridges really present sort of an
existential threat for the Cape and the Cape's economy. We've
been working with a large group we put together at
Cape and Island's Bridge Coalition, which is a group of
over fifty organizations and businesses that sort of modeled on
the ABC A Better City model in Boston to sort
of follow this project from its inception through its completion.

(53:15):
And we're looking at it and we've been working with
the Cape Creak Commission as well.

Speaker 5 (53:18):
That's issue to report on what.

Speaker 10 (53:20):
The economic impact would be if one of those bridges
had to close for any period of time, like if
they had to rehab the Boorne Bridge. You're looking at
the six month closure and a three month long project
with single lane restrictions, and the results are not good.
The results would suggest any significant closing of one of
the bridges, we would lose about a third of our economy,

(53:42):
and in twenty twenty three that was two point seven
billion dollars in visitors spend that was responsible directly for
over fourteen thousand jobs and produced almost a quarter billion
dollars in taxes, one hundred and sixty million to the
state and eighty million split up between the local occupancy
taxes for the fifteen.

Speaker 5 (53:58):
Towns on the Cape.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
So where do we stand in the in the process.

Speaker 5 (54:03):
Well, we just had our.

Speaker 10 (54:05):
Quarterly meeting of the Cape and Onlan's Bridge coalition. So
Luisa Paiwanski, who is the Governor's executive director of Megaprojects,
was down to give us an update. So Sagamore is
fully funded, the environmental review is under plate underway, they're
taking borings under the Sagamore right now. They've expedited the
imminent domain process to give people as much an advanced

(54:26):
notice that may be impacted by where the bridge is
going to go.

Speaker 5 (54:32):
So we could break ground.

Speaker 10 (54:34):
Late twenty twenty seven, early twenty twenty.

Speaker 5 (54:36):
Eight for Sagamore. All right, then the Borne Bridge remains unfunded, Okay.

Speaker 2 (54:41):
So take us through the Born Bridge then at this point, yeah,
we still have.

Speaker 10 (54:45):
To find two point two five billion dollars for Born.
The Governor put in an application through the same source
of funds that produced the billion for the Sagamore last year,
and the Columns was unsuccessful in that grant application, but
that was not a surprise. So the governor and the

(55:09):
Army Corps continue to look for sources of revenue for Born,
while at the same time getting ready for the physical
actual construction of the new Sycamore Bridge to begin.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
Paul, do you worry about federal funding coming from this administration,
because Massachusetts I think is paying a bit of a
price just from political stand.

Speaker 10 (55:31):
Yeah, you know, I think it's a concern if you
look around the country at how things have been happening.
It's sort of the uncertainty and at times a lack
of process with which I think you concerned people. But
you know, the federal government just came out with a
notice of funding opportunity for those same funding sources that
have been funding these major infrastructure projects across the country.

(55:54):
So I see that as a good sign that the
federal administration is committed to infrastructure and moving forward with
these important road and bridge programs.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Paul and as Wicki is our guest and we're down
to the last minute. He's of course the CEO of
the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. So Paul, what's a
what's a hidden gem on Cape Cod? Where? You know,
what's the place you always make a point of stopping
in and you know, maybe some folks aren't overly familiar with.

Speaker 10 (56:19):
Well, they don't like it when we talk about hidden gems,
but I will. You know, the knob and Found that
is one of my favorite spots to go, as well
as Long Beach in Barnstable on the south side sort
of the extension of Craigville Beach Sandy Neck on the
north side of Barnstable is fantastic offer.

Speaker 5 (56:38):
Vehicles are allowed up there.

Speaker 10 (56:41):
Anytime you can get down to the Mountomoy section of Chatham.
That's amazing because it's always it's such a big barrier
beach and it acts like one. So we've got a
new break in front of the Chatham bars end uh
from the Nor'easter a couple of weeks ago. So there
are a ton of special places, but those are a
few months all right.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Well, he's Paul Needswickie and he's of course the CEO
of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and so, Kim,
there's a lot for you to do this summer. As
you make your way down to Cape Cod. You know,
we got to get you down there.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
I think you wait until the cicadas leave. How is that?

Speaker 2 (57:13):
I saw that story event years?

Speaker 3 (57:16):
Is that background music for her wedding? I hope not
for sure?

Speaker 5 (57:19):
Right?

Speaker 2 (57:21):
They're all invited?

Speaker 1 (57:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (57:23):
Or the marrier? All right, Kim. That wraps it up
for today. We, of course, are the New England Business
Support Summer rolls on. Kim and I will be out
there digging around finding the most fascinating business stories every week.
Here we are the New England Business Support on w RKO,
the Voice of Boston AM six eighty