Massachusetts Updates: Transit Funds, Dry January, and Restaurant News

On today’s program, we talked to the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about the MBTA communities act. We’re also joined by the senior reporter for the Boston Business Journal Greg Ryan who outlined the states influx of $8 billion into the transportation system. Stephen Clark president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association explained the impacts of “Dry January”  and the growth of Mock Tails. Boston Globe  reporter Diti Kohli will shared her story about the layoffs at a popular Boston restaurant chain having to do with immigration issues. And finally, Martha Sheridan president of Meet Boston  talked about a new survey praising the city for its restaurants.

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):
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the New England Business Report.
So great to have you with this on the nineteenth
day of January Sunday, of course, I'm Kim Carrigan along
with Joe Schwartzleeve. And are you bundled out? My friend?

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I am so done with the cold, you know, Kim,
I'm a New England right and you can have Florida.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
I don't want Florida.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
It's good for one weekend in January in my mind,
but something about this winter has just got me.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
I am sorry. This has gotta go.

Speaker 5 (00:39):
Well.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I heard some stats this past week that this is
our coldest January since twenty eighteen, So I mean, I
think our blood's just not ready for this.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
When it hurts to walk outside, that's where that's where
I draw the line.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
You know, yeat me out of here. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, stay bundled up for everybody, good reason to stay
in doors and to listen to the New England Business Report.
And we've got a good one for you today. We're
going to get started this morning with the Attorney General
of Massachusetts, Andrea Campbell. She's going to be here to
talk to us a little bit about the recent events
I'm calling them events Joe, surrounding that Controversial Communities Act.

(01:19):
Of course, this is that act that requires MBTA communities
to zone for housing. The SJAC a couple of weeks
ago ruled that that act was constitutional after a number
of these communities brought a lawsuit against the state, namely Milton.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Milton said no, no, we're not going to do this, and
then the SJAC said, oh, guess what, you are right absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
But you know what's been so interesting about it is
even since that SJC ruling, there have been some communities
that have still voted to remain non compliant. So the
question right need, So we're going to talk to Andrea
Campbell about what that means and what's going to mean
for those communities and the kind of steps that she's

(02:01):
going to take to move forward with what this administration,
the Heally administration says is something very important to housing
in this state. Also coming your way this morning, senior
Boston Business Journal reporter Greg RAN's going to join us. Now,
he's going to update us on the governor's transportation proposal.
She put this out this past week. Jo She is

(02:21):
saying that it's time to take some of that millionaire's
tax money and use it for ways other than just
school districts, which primarily is how and what has benefited
from the millionaire's tax so far. So she wants to
fix the MBTA with its billion bucks.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Apparently, you know, I mean, you know, I've been a
reporter in this city since the nineteen eighty four and
it seems like every year over the past forty they
have just talked about how the MBTA's broke. Well, supposedly,
supposedly this eight billion bucks is going to solve that problem.
So you know, we'll see, but you know, yes, kudos
to the governor.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (03:01):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
By the way, also, Greg Ryan's going to talk to
us about something that when I saw this this week, Joe,
I kind of just shook my head sitting there alone.
Apparently Mayor Wu, of course, Boston's mayor. She has decided
that she doesn't care what happened before. She is pushing
again for that commercial property tax increase, which was defeated

(03:23):
up on Beacon Hill. It's a you know, it's a
home rule petition, correct has to be passed by the legislature.
She says, I don't care. We're going to try again.

Speaker 7 (03:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
Well, good luck to the markets there, all right.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Also, how about this, We've got Stephen Clark. He's the
president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, and boy does he
have some explaining to do. Let's let's start. How are
you doing with dry January? By the way, Kim, I'm
doing good, so good. Go yeah, great, And I'm wondering
what restaurants think about this, and so we're going to
talk to them about the impact of dry January and
the restaurants in the state. We're also going to talk
about the rise of mock tails. Uh, and then of

(03:59):
course a little something from the Surgeon General talking about
cancer and alcohol. See how you know local restaurants are
dealing with that whole issue. And then another major restaurant
story that you know popped this week is a story
that did Coli The Boston Globe brought us and has
to do with Tate, which is of course a very
popular cafe here in Massachusetts. They have a number of

(04:22):
locations and basically sixty workers. Sixty workers had to resign.
Now they think this is all immigration related, but they
think this is really sort of a microcosm of what
is to come with this new administration in Washington, d c.
And promises of mass deportations. And finally we'll be talking
with Martha Sheridan meet Boston. Yeah, apparently they got some

(04:45):
award about how good our restaurants are.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Kim, is that we're the sixth best in the nation.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, we're the sixth best dining destination in the United States.
So while we talk about restaurants, we'll we'll just fill
the gamut second half of the show with that kind
of business.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, Martha Sheridan, she's always a guest, all right, Kim.
You know, as promised we said, we're going to be
talking with the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
She is the forty fifth Attorney General, Andrea Campbell. And
you know, she's just about to celebrate our anniversary. I
think it's like two years in office on January the eighteenth. Well,
she just did celebrate it. I guess that is what

(05:22):
I'm trying to say. So happy at two years in office,
and Andrea, you got a big present from the SJC
over the past week or so. They sided with you
when it comes to the MBTA Communities Act. In other words,
cord is saying that it is okay to force local
communities to zone for multi family housing around these MBTA stops.

(05:43):
How important is this and how important is this decision?

Speaker 7 (05:47):
First all, good morning, and thank you for having me.

Speaker 8 (05:49):
It is a very important decision.

Speaker 7 (05:52):
Let's not forget that the number one issue affecting residents
of Massachusetts is affordability, and under that umbrella of affordability,
housing housing costs, rents are too expensive, and so this
MBTA Community's law is one tool to help with that crisis.
Of course, I did not see a municipality lightly. We

(06:12):
made it clear that the MBTA community's laws mandatory, and
the SJC court sided with us and also made it
clear that I have the authority to enforce that law.
So now we're circling back with municipalities and working with
them like we always have to provide technical assistance to
bring them into compliance.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Madam a. G If we could just back up though
to that ruling, there was just a bit of maybe
procedural issue that the SJAC didn't like. Can you explain
that to everyone.

Speaker 7 (06:40):
Absolutely, it didn't undermine the decision. But what they said
was the Executive Office of Housing and Liverpool Communities had
to go back to the drawing board and redo their
guidelines to make them regulations, which there's a process to do,
and so they said you have to redo that because
they didn't. But the Governor, working with Secretary Augustus and
his team, they issued emergency regulations and now have said

(07:05):
two communities that they have an additional six months to
come into compliance, which I think is more than enough
time given the fact they had to go to the
drawing board to redo those regulations, which are now out
and available to communities.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Talking with Andrea Campbell, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth,
all right, you know our job as reporters is to,
you know, play devil's advocate.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Now.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
There was an opinion piece out this week written by
Ed Dombrowski, and it basically talks about how the headline
is misguided. MBTA Communities Act is based on a myth,
and the headline there in the Globe says it sets
a dangerous precedent for the state to further usurp local
control and that's essentially what's happening here. You're taking away

(07:52):
zoning authority on the local level. Are you okay with that?

Speaker 7 (07:55):
I absolutely disagree. You do not get a handle on
this housing crisis. It affects our economy. Companies will not
want to come here. If anything, they will want to
leave along with our residents. It affects our public servants,
our elders, and our young families. This is a major crisis.
And so this tool is mandatory. But while it's mandatory,
it works with communities and it works with rincipalities to

(08:18):
come into compliance. Understanding it cannot be a one size
fits all to a flexibility in the regulations. When we
offer our technical assistance out of my office, we of
course want to be reasonable and work with communities because
we understand every community is different. But what's made clear
by the court recently is that it is mandatory and
that communities have to work to come into compliance. And

(08:41):
I want to actually celebrate over one hundred communities already
have actually passed zoning to come into compliance.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
That's a huge.

Speaker 7 (08:49):
Victory compared to the few communities that have not. And
we'll work with those non compliant communities over the next
six months to bring them in compliance to affect this
housing crisis, because they will take all of us to
solve it.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
So how do you deal with the municipality like Needom
that has just passed a referendum not to comply.

Speaker 7 (09:08):
I was, of course very disappointed with that, but you know,
NEEDAM what isn't necessarily reported on is that folks rolled
up their sleeves, including municipal leaders. They came up with
a few zoning options, and I think there was a
back and forth in the community about which option was better.
And so they have six months to come back into
compliance and I'm confident they will as we work with

(09:31):
them in that community and of course not only make
sure they're aware of the SJAC decisions, but also their
role in solving this housing crisis. And let me be clear,
if we don't solve this, Massachusetts, which of course right
now in my opinion is the greatest commonwealth and the
greatest state in the country, will lose that standing quickly,

(09:52):
and so it will certainly take all of us to
solve it. And I'm confident NEEDAM will come into compliance
in the next six months.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, I think we all agree that housing is a
major issue here in the Commonwealth. My question is this,
when you project out and you look at one hundred
and seventy seven communities that are on the hook for this.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
What kind of difference does it make in our crisis?
Does it?

Speaker 3 (10:16):
You know, what kind of dent does it make? Is
it a little splash in the pond? I mean, how
big a deal can it be?

Speaker 7 (10:22):
It's a great question, and I'm pushing Secretary Augustus and
we're working in collaboration to put out those numbers. Or recently,
a group of elected officials including the governor and lieutenant
governor and the Secretary and so many others, showed up
in Somerville, which has come into compliance and really pushed
the envelope of what's possible created transit oriented development that

(10:44):
is really solving the housing crisis there. So it can
make a dent. Well, it make a dent all by itself,
absolutely not, but it can make a significant one if
we all come to the table wanting to work in
collaborations to solve this crisis. And it's also a reminder
that the community that have the key as a public
good have an additional obligation in many ways to create housing,

(11:06):
especially housing that's transit oriented which not only helps with
the housing crisis, but also our climate goals, which are
equally important. And so I'm confident that this tool will
help us if we can come together pass owning that
is think compliance and also, you know, get shovels in
the ground to build housing immediately.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Andrea Campbell is our guest, of course, she's the Attorney
General of the State of Massachusetts, and we're talking about
the MBTA Communities Act. So you just said it, try
to get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.
I mean, what is your ultimate goal in your mind?
How quickly can we get housing? I mean, this seems
like a really long way off.

Speaker 7 (11:45):
To me, and I agree, and it can't be a
long ways off because if it is a long ways off,
elders who want to downsize won't be able to public servants,
including our law enforcement, police officers, teachers will no longer
be able to live in massive which is from my
advantage point, absolutely unacceptable. Right now, it costs close to

(12:06):
a million dollars, that's the median sales price as a
home right here in Massachusetts. So we know supply and
building more housing is critical to solve that issue. There
are some municipalities that are doing that exceptionally well, and
others can catch up. We have time to be able
to catch up and become on compliance. But my goal
is to stress the importance of folks coming together to
solve this crisis so that Massachusetts remains the best state

(12:29):
in the Commonwealth. We really are blessed to live here,
all right.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
So let's say we're up and running and everybody's in
compliance and we're moving forward. Kim just touched upon it.
You mentioned that the pricing issue is still there now.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Is there a low.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
Income piece to this state law? I mean, when we
put up this multi family housing near these MBTA stations,
is there a percentage that has to be low income?

Speaker 7 (12:51):
It says it has to be multifamily and the zoning
has to be reasonable and as of right. So it
doesn't set price points for communities. They can set those,
and there has been real conversations and communities on how
to do that well and to ensure that there is
pricing that is affordable for families all across the commonwealth.
And so that's an ongoing conversation with the Administration Secretary

(13:14):
Augustus and the Governor's office. Our goal, of course, in
the immediate is to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth.
That's my job and that's what we'll do. Will also
reminding folks that when they are to build this housing,
if they do it in a very reasonable way and
in an affordable way, it will allow the public servants
in their communities to be able to stay there. It
will allow young families to be able to stay there,

(13:37):
would also allow our elders to be able to stay there.
In so many others, this really for me is about
families and families being able to have a place to
call home, and especially our public servants as well.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
One final quick question for me, Madam Attorney General, is
there a legal piece left here? I mean, the SJAC ruled,
so does everything else just fall off the shelf at
this point?

Speaker 7 (13:57):
Essentially, the SJAC, which is the highest court Massachusetts, made
it clear the decision was written exceptionally well, that the
NBTA community Law is mandatory. And now our job is
to work with the municipalities as we always have, to
provide them the resources, the technical assistance so that they
can come into compliance, so they don't feel like they're
out there on their own trying to figure this out

(14:19):
and hopefully in the near future of these communities, of course,
all come into compliance so that we can take one
step forward in solving this housing crisis.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
All right, she's Andrea Campbell.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
She's the forty fifth Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
and she's celebrating two years in office. We appreciate you
taking time and joining us this morning on the New
England Business Report. Up next, senior reporter for the Boston
Business Journal, Greg Ryan, and he's going to talk about
well an eight billion dollar investment in the state's transportation system.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston WRKO six 't eighty Joe and
Kim Will you're right back.

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Speaker 2 (17:10):
Welcome back everybody to the New England Business Report. Gim
care or get along with Joe Schwartzley this morning. Great
to have you with us if you missed it this
past week. Governor Heally making a big announcement she wants
to use some of the money collected from the millionaire's
tax to boost MBTA funding. Here to tell us a
little bit more and what that might mean for the

(17:30):
beleaguered MBTA is Boston Business Journal Senior reporter Greg Ryan.
Greg always great to have you so so far most
of these dollars have gone towards schools, correct, that's right.

Speaker 7 (17:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (17:43):
The main announcement here from the governors that she wants
to use more of this billionaire's tax money for transportation
as you recall, you know that all the money is
supposed to go to one of two things, education and transportation.
This current fiscal year, the split is like almost sixty
percent pretion forty percent for transportation. So the Governor's proposing

(18:04):
using more of this money to fix the T and
for other transit related issues.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
Greg Ryan's are guesting a report of the Boston Business Journal.
You know, Greg saying to Kim earlier in this program,
I've been in the city since nineteen eighty four, uh,
and it seems like we've been talking about, you know,
financial problems for the MBTA ever since, over the past
forty years. The way this the way this is being
pitched at this point, and they're saying this is solving

(18:29):
their problem, that the MBTA is actually going to be
solvent moving forward.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
Is that true?

Speaker 8 (18:38):
I don't I don't know about that. I mean, you know,
make no mistake, this is a significant amount of money.
You know, they're you know, just just this last fiscal year,
you know, the state raised over one billion dollars more
from the millionaire's tax, and they expected and the governor
said this week that she's going to use you know,
the vast majority of that alone for transportation. So this

(18:59):
is lot of money. This is supposed to cover the
te's budget gap next fiscal year. But no, this, this
will not solve everything. I mean, the you know, Dylan
came out a couple of years ago and said that
he had twenty four billion dollars uh in defer maintenance needs,
you know, as but you know as highs. You know,
eight billion dollars was the headline number.

Speaker 6 (19:21):
This.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Oh good, I feel so much better now. I was
worried that the problem was solved.

Speaker 8 (19:27):
Not quite.

Speaker 4 (19:30):
Oh boy, Hey.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
Well I have you greg a lot of chat about congestion,
pricing and and this this report that came out, uh,
there didn't seem to be but a bare mention of that.

Speaker 7 (19:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (19:45):
So the announcement, the funding announcement this week stems from
this task force that the governor can dem to look
at sources of new revenue for the TEA and his recall.
Last spring there was a uh, you know, uh, some
controversy because the Transportation Secretary came out and said, oh,
we're going to look at border tolls and we're going
to you know, look at all these these ways to

(20:06):
raise money. And the governor had to do some damage
control and say no, we're not going to do border tolls.
So I think after that happened last spring, that that
narrowed the ambition of this task force. And so their
main recommendation was was the split with the millionaire's tax,
but you know, tolling and things like that. They said, well,
their conclusion was basically, well let's you know, let's consider

(20:29):
that later on in the long term, and the sort of
punted that entire issue.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Well, it feels like congestion pricing means you have a
good transportation system, right, that is what you're trying to do.
Push people onto the transportation system. Let me go back
to that for just one second. Here is there pushback
on the idea of using some of the millionaires tax toward.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
The t.

Speaker 8 (20:54):
You know, I have not heard much pushback, you know,
you know, this has been the vacation from the get
go with the millionaire's tax is going towards these two things.
You know, certainly the state has education funding needs, but
I think a lot of people realize, given the state
of the tea the past few years, that that really
needs to be a focus.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
So Greg, what, what what's the mechanism in play here?
At this point. Now, this what was announced this week,
according to the Globe article I'm looking at here, basically
is from a thirty one member transportation task force that
heally appointed last year and this long awaited.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
Report just been released. Okay, so there it is.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
So what does Healey have to do it put out,
you know, put it in terms of legislation and then
get the House and the Senate and the whole bit.

Speaker 8 (21:40):
That's right. Yes, So she made this announcement ahead of
her her budget. Her budget proposal will be coming out
in the next few weeks, so you know, a big
component of this will be part of the budget. So
we'll have to go before the House, before the Senate
before it, you know, goes into effect.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Greg Ryan is our guest. He's a senior reporter at
the Boston Business Journal. Greg, let me change gears just
a second. I know this past week you also wrote
a little bit about Mayor Michelle wou of Boston. Of
course a new mom by the way, for the third time. Yeah, congratulations,
congratulations to her. But you talked about the fact that
she is pushing once again in the new year, the

(22:19):
idea of that increased tax on commercial properties. Now we've
talked about this before, because this did not get through
last year, and it didn't get through with a lot
of support for not supporting it. So my question to
you is, why is it that she's so adamant and
that she's pushing it again.

Speaker 8 (22:37):
I think politics are definitely at play here. So one
of the big difference between this month and last month
is now everyone's gotten their tax bills. Those went out
January first, so people are seeing how much their taxes.
Residents are saying how much their taxes are going up.
So I think she's hoping to capitalize on that. You know,
I think that she will still face the same opposition

(22:59):
in the Senate. I don't think that's going to change.
There was a one the newest component in this this
new proposal is that she proposed using surplus city funds
to offer rebates to residents who who you know, are
struggling to pay these bills. So, you know, I wouldn't
be surprised if that's where it ends up. If you

(23:19):
know that this encounters the roadblock in the Senate again
and the city ends up giving out rebates to residents.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
I guess that's my question, Greg, what's different? What has
the flavor changed on Beacon Hill, and certainly I can't.
Is the business community had anything to say about this
recent move by the mayor.

Speaker 8 (23:37):
Yeah, well I was hoping to ask the mayor that
that very question this week, but she had other plans.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
She has the audacity to have a baby.

Speaker 8 (23:48):
Yeah, I don't. I don't think a lot has changed.
I think, I gu said, the opposition is still there.
I think the business community is still uh, you know,
very skeptical of as planned. Yes, they did agree to
a compromise in the fall, but that was before you know,
the new projections in December which showed residential bills aren't
going to go up quite as much as the mayor

(24:10):
had originally predicted. So I'm still going to be a
lot of oppositions, but we could see rebates coming out
of this as a result.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
All right, Well, he is Greg Ryan, and we thank
you so much Greg for being with us, Joe. It's
going to be interesting to watch and see the politics
of that and what ends up happening. She's very clear
that she believes that they had they had come to
a resolution and that they should have passed it up
there on Beacon Hill. So she's blaming it on the

(24:38):
folks up on Beacon Hill for not getting through. But
we talked to a lot of business community, a lot
of the business community who has been like.

Speaker 4 (24:46):
Oh yeah, this is not the time. Yeah, time to
cue up Jim Rooney and you know, see what he
has to say, right.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
See how Jim feels. I think we've got a pretty
good idea of how Jim feels about that. And I
don't think that he thinks that's a super great idea.
All right, Greg, thanks so very much. Still come in
your way here on the New England Business Report the
impact of Dry January on Restaurants, Kim and Joe.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Will explore more business news that impacts our New England
economy when they return.

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and that these windows are only sold by high Tech.

Speaker 4 (26:31):
That's right, Kim.

Speaker 11 (26:31):
Our Summer Series windows are designed to keep your house
warm in the winter and cool in the summer and
can withstand the harsh New England weather better than any
other window on the market.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
That sounds great, But what about the cost, Bill, Because
things have been pretty tight for people these days.

Speaker 11 (26:46):
Well that's a great reason to call us now, Kim,
our windows are half the price of the big window companies,
and right now we are offering buy one window, get
one off. But call us now this is our biggest
sale of the year.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
It sounds rue. So the best prices and the best quality.
Call high Tech Today at nine seven eight seven seven
one eight nine three nine. That's nine seven eight seven
seven one eighty nine thirty nine, or visit high Techcorp
dot biz for a free estimate. Hi everybody, I'm Kim
Kerrigan and I'm Joe Shortsley.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
If you want to be part of the New England
Business Support, sponsorships are still available.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
That's any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
And welcome back to the New Englo Business Report. You're
up early this morning.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
It's a Sunday, January, the nineteenth joke shorts of Kim
Kerrigan and this is the spot. Halfway through the program,
Kim and I sort of stopped, paused for a moment
and we take a look at another business story that
sort of caught our attention. And this will sort of
just sort of slipped by one day. And of course
written by our good friend John Cesto over there at
the Boston Globe. He always comes up with the most
interesting stuff. His headline is basically this, and this is

(28:05):
a story we've been following for years, Kim about people,
you know, hitting the exits in Massachusetts, and his headline
is this, This is really good news for us. People
are still leaving Massachusetts, but the exitus is slowing down.
We were once losing around eleven hundred people a week

(28:26):
to other states during the COVID nineteen pandemic, and now
that's been cut in half, down to pre pandemic levels. So,
I mean, you know, take a little good news there, right.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
Absolutely.

Speaker 11 (28:38):
You know.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Again, a lot of that has to do with the
idea that communities act we need more housing. If you
have more housing that's affordable for people, they may just stay.
That's what many of the experts say. All right, So Joe,
we've already established this here in the show, but you
and I are observing dry January. Is this first time
you ever?

Speaker 3 (28:57):
Did?

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Joe?

Speaker 4 (29:00):
Think it might be? I think it might be.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
I've had people around me do it, and I finally
decided to do it. And like I said to you,
I think last week, the darn of it all is
how good you feel? I mean, you go, well, why
didn't I do this before?

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Anyway, Well, we're doing a good job. We are past
the midway mark. But January and February, you know, can
be kind of tough months when it comes to the
restaurant industry, regardless of this new trend dry January. So
we were just wondering what this this idea of people
not drinking alcohol in this first month of the year
is doing, or whether it has an impact on the

(29:37):
restaurant industry. So joining us to talk a little bit
more about that. As the President and CEO of the
Massachusetts Restaurant Association, this is Stephen Clark and Steve. It's
great to have you with us. Happy New Year, sir, Happy.

Speaker 5 (29:49):
New Year, Thank you for having me on, and congratulations
on being halfway through, and good luck in the next
two weeks, I hope.

Speaker 7 (29:57):
Well are you are you?

Speaker 2 (29:59):
You remember noticing an impact now that drive January has
become such a trend.

Speaker 5 (30:04):
So absolutely, there definitely is an impact, and I would
say it's gone beyond a trend because it's been going
on for five, seven, eight years now, and so there
is a noticeable drop off, a drop off in January sales. Anyway,
people spend a lot of money around the holidays, people
go out to eat a lot around the holidays. January
is more of a time of how I'm gonna use

(30:24):
those gift cards. I'm going to do this, So people
are going out, but it's a quiet time in the
restaurant industry. But it's one of those things that I
think restaurants have started to adapt to. And it's not
just January. It's not January first, of January thirty first,
it's it's how they spend time on their menu. Now
you're seeing a whole effort dedicated to consumers that are
non alcoholics. Now, whether it's actually carving out space on

(30:46):
the beverage menu for mocktails, you're seeing more and more
non alcoholics options that have kind of an alcoholic brand name,
So if you think about na Guinness or Ana other
type of you know, so that people are actually ordering
more non alcoholic drinks throughout the year, and I think
restaurants have adapted to that and they're starting to market

(31:08):
it and take advantage of it. That having been said,
there are places that, you know, whether it's a brewery
or it's stillery or a winery that are alcohol specific,
they're seeing less sales in January because they don't have
an alternative to offer.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
Yeah, our guest is Stephen Clark, president of the Massachusetts
Restaurant Association. I guess i'm you know, do you have
any Actually, I mean what I wonder that the whole
idea of mocktails, And I guess my only objection to
mocktails it seems like they charge just as much for
a mocktails as they do for a drink. Now, I
know it's a little bit less so, but I mean, uh,
what portion of their business are mocktails at this point?

Speaker 5 (31:45):
It's enough of a portion of the business that there
are people are actually dedicating menu space toward it. So
you know, if you think about there's a limited amount
of space on a menu to have to advertise every
single thing you're going to offer, and you're dedicating a
quarter of a page to a mocktail, that's the significant opportunity.
And yeah, yeah, I won't I won't get you on
the on the price of a mocktail. But you know,

(32:07):
it's more than just splashing lime soda in a cup.
There's a there's a process that goes in and there's
artisans that get together and they they carver an ize beverage,
and its flavor profile. So it's more than just hey,
I'm gonna I'll have a vodkatonic and it's just a
tonic in a glass. So you know, it is a
fancy mocktail, but you know it's a significant percentage and

(32:28):
people are seeing it in terms of how they market
it to people, and uh, it continues to grow.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Sure, So Steve, I know that January and February typically
sort of down or slower, will use that term slower months,
and certainly as compared like you said, to the holiday season,
which would I think would be their highest season. But
February has got to be pretty decent with Valentine's Day
in the middle of it.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
Right, Valentine's Day is probably well back when the Patriots
were good and we used to reference, you know, the
AFT Championship game and the Super Bowl. We used to
talk about Valentine's Day being the a championship of the
industry obviously with Mother's Day being the Super Bowl. So yeah,
Valentine's Day is a an increase in business. Unfortunately, unfortunately, however,

(33:12):
the calendar falls this year. Valentine's Day is a Friday,
so I don't know if you'll have increased sales because
usually Friday and Saturday obviously your busier night. So you know,
it's oftentimes it's better when Valentine Day falls on a
shoulder day. You know, a Valentine's Day on a Tuesday
is great because not only you're getting Tuesday sales, but
you have those people that are taking advantage of the

(33:32):
weekend before and sometimes the weekend after. With Valentine's Day
falling on a Friday, it's going to be a busy night,
but it's it's not the boost to the restaurant because
you're already coming in that busy time frame.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Really, I was thinking that it was going to be
a home run because it was on a Friday night.
You're saying it already is a home run if it's
a Thursday or a Wednesday or a Tuesday, and so
it actually kind of hurts it us on Friday.

Speaker 5 (33:55):
It hurts the end. It's still going to be it's
still a busney night, and it's still pop potential for
a home run. But you already have that built in
business on a Friday night already, so you're not you're
not growing new business, you're kind of expanding existing business.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Well, a question about the Surgeon General made it a
big headlines across the country, establishing a link between.

Speaker 4 (34:16):
Alcohol and cancer.

Speaker 3 (34:19):
So, okay, you know, as I talked to my daughter
about it, she goes, yeah, Dad, and I get cancer
if I sit in the sun and I got cancer.
If I eat red meat and I got cancer, if
I hold my cell phone to my head. I said, Okay.
But restaurants, when they hear this headline from the surge
in General about alcohol and cancer, what's your what are
your members saying?

Speaker 5 (34:39):
So I think your daughter has one hundred percent, then
you know they're going to be a warning on every
single thing that we do. I think that's that's the
mindset this interesting times happening in DC. Obviously, that was
said by an outgoing Surgeon General, and the Surgeon General
doesn't have the authority to actually implement those type of warnings.
Does take an Act of Congress. Uh, there's a whole
entire conversation happening around dietary guidelines and food concepts and

(35:02):
food consumption and what's happening. So there's a number of
different things that are that are out there that are
still being considered, and so I think the initial reaction
is Oh, I don't know if we want that. But
if you go back in history and you look at
government warnings, certain times it's actually gone up. Sales have
gone up when the when the government intervened and put
the warning on something. So it doesn't necessarily correlate to

(35:24):
a to a decrease in business. And I'm certainly not
advocating that it should happen, but I think it remains
to be seen. What will happen. What's going to happen
in the next three, six, nine months, one year, you
know down in DC of where things go, not just
on alcohol, but the entire dietary guidelines.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Say, I sort of feel like, for me, this is
just a moderation issue, and there there you have it.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Huh, it's life and moderation, right.

Speaker 4 (35:48):
Absolutely much of anything. It's probably you got it.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
So, Steve, let me ask you about what we're talking
about alcohol and this impact. What is the what is
the percentage of sales? If you can kind of get
us in the ballpark when it comes to alcohol in
a restaurant, how important is alcohol to a restaurant's success.
I feel like it's it's it's right up there.

Speaker 5 (36:11):
So on the surface, yes, it's obviously very important, but
don't forget there's a number of restaurants that are very
successful that don't have alcohol. You know, whether it's you know,
a breakfast operation, a lunch operation, et cetera. But if
you are a targeted full service restaurant and you have alcohol,
you know, you're probably looking at thirty thirty three percent
of your sales is alcohol based, and it's also your

(36:34):
highest volume product, so you're able to make your money
by offering alcohol. So, as I said, the successful restaurants
that don't have alcohol, and there's a number of people
in our population that do not consume alcohol and they
still go to restaurants, and they still they still do it.
But I do think that this is a this is
a conversation that's happening in the restaurant industry of kind

(36:55):
of where do we go from here. It seems that
the people in their twenties are probably drinking less. It
seems that they're they're drinking less than than prior generations. Now,
whether they're consuming more cannabis, they're betting more on sports.
You know, there's a whole number of different challenges that
are happening. But it does seem that the the trend

(37:15):
in the industry is going to be a challenge, but
restaurants have always adapted to the challenges and the trends
that's happening, and they'll do that again.

Speaker 4 (37:24):
Uh quickly, Steve, we're out of time here.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
But so on Saturday February the first do restaurant receipts jump.

Speaker 5 (37:35):
You tell me you're gonna go out on different marathon
versus jump right up. Some people talk about this. There's
there's dry jammer January, and then there's there's damn January.
And you know there's there's different versions of quote unquote
dry January where people might might mix it at chill
or too. But you know at Junior in February are

(37:57):
as we talked about Junior February our topper sales on
the industry, profitability is a challenge anyway, So you know,
anything to get people to consume more restaurant product is
a good thing. So if it takes a dry month
and then they come out in February and buy more.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Than Stephen Clark, he's the president and CEO of the
Messagets Association for Restaurants. Thanks so very much for being
a part of the show.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
Thank you for having me, all right, always an instant
conversation with Stephen Clark there, of course, head of the
Restaurant Association. Another restaurant story making headlines in the Boston
over the past week or so, this one in the Globe,
headline around sixty TATA workers forced to resign amid growing
immigration fears, written by Diddy Coley, somebody Kim and I

(38:43):
have talked to many times over the years, especially where
we're wearing our Bloomberg hat at that point, Diddy is
with us, now, you know, Diddy, Obviously your story caught
my attention because you know, this appears to be perhaps
a microcosm of what's going to happen to the restaurant
industry as we change it administrations down there on Washington, DC.
But but give us the headline first, What happened to

(39:04):
these top TAY workers.

Speaker 12 (39:07):
Yeah, these are around, you know, in total, about five
dozen folks, sixty people who were flagged repeatedly by the
IRS for some sort of discrepancy in their social security documents.
So that can be an indication of an issue with
immigration status. It can also be you know, a mismatched name,
a typeot and incomplete information but what the bakery chain

(39:30):
told me is that the workers were given an opportunity
for several weeks or even months to provide the proper paperwork,
if you know, they were found that they didn't have that,
and people who weren't able to present that, presumably because
at least a few of them were undocumented or had
other immigration uncertainties, eventually were forced to resign.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
Earlier this month, and T'TE really went out of its way,
it seemed to me to try to help these employees.

Speaker 12 (39:57):
Yeah, I mean, the line from the company is certain
that you know, these are people who were flagged repeatedly,
so it is not like they got a notice and
immediately terminated them. That folks were given an opportunity over
a longer period of time to present the paperwork that
they were provided, you know, potential legal counsel or other questions,
you know, if their work authorization was up to be

(40:19):
renewed or things like that. But that you know, the
company ultimately had to sort of act within the bounds
of the law. And I think, you know, it's right
to sort of think it's an interesting time for all
this to happen, with the inauguration coming up and do
some of the changes coming at the federal level.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
Youah talking with Diddy Coley, a Boston Globe reporter, taking
a look at her story.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
About these Tata workers.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
I didn't realize this, and so opening a two thousand
and eight Tata has become one of Boston area's most
recognizable businesses, expanding the twenty seven locations in the state,
plus sixteen storefronts in and around Washington, d C. Twenty
five hundred employees. Well did he You're also write that
you think that this immigrant it could be immigration related

(41:04):
terminations will rise. So do you see this as a
microcosm of a larger problem for the restaurant industry.

Speaker 12 (41:12):
It definitely could be. I mean, there are a thousands,
if not millions of foreign born workers in kitchens, fisheries,
farms across the state. These make up a large part
of our essential services. And I think that for immigration
attorneys and advocates that we spoke to, this has certainly

(41:33):
raised fears that some of the enforcement mechanisms for immigrants
that have existed for a very long time. You know,
the Social Security no match letters that Taipei workers received
have been a thing for decades, but that they will
be employed more, whether that's by actual individual companies like Tata,
which has grown so much in this much time, or

(41:55):
you know, by larger state or federal agencies just sort
of cracked down on illegal workers and it's had to
be seen, you know, what the actual economic impacts of
that will be.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
Tate just lost sixty employees. Did they say anything to
you about how they planned to replace those employees.

Speaker 6 (42:13):
No.

Speaker 12 (42:13):
I haven't been able to get much information from them,
but we do know that, you know, including at their
Brookline location, which is the original Tate, that they lost
several front of house people and their chef and some
of the major people in the kitchens. But those are
people that they're definitely going to have to replace soon.

Speaker 4 (42:29):
How did it affect operations with Tata?

Speaker 12 (42:31):
I think the operations of the company at large should
be okay, you know, considering that this is only sixty people.
But I think there is a real question of what
does this mean for industries that are already dealing with
a labor shortage you know, the past couple of years,
and really tough, particularly for restaurants and bars to staff up.
There was a lot of conversation late last year about

(42:53):
how many of these workers should make minimum wage if
they get tips, you know, around the state ballot question,
and there's definitely just a lot going on about, you know, ultimately,
what does this mean for consumers too, who are looking
forward to lowering prices for inflation to start to come down.
But if we're losing a lot of essential workers, that
that might not really happen.

Speaker 7 (43:14):
Did they?

Speaker 2 (43:15):
I know that you said, you know that this happened
now because Tate had made the decision that they had
to conform to the law. Are you hearing and I
know that we're all sort of saying it's coinciding with
the new administration stepping in next week. Are you hearing
specifically from other companies that they too, are at this
point going to start to enforce this, because it sounds

(43:36):
like to meet these employees knew for quite some time
that they were not in compliance.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (43:42):
I speaking with attorneys. They are at least advising companies
to potentially self audit themselves before some of this comes
from the federal government, or could come from the federal government.
That might mean just looking at employees' verifications, revisiting some
of these no match letters. It's unclear how many companies

(44:02):
have taken that directive so far, and TATA seems to
be the only example of an immigration based termination that's
come recently. But I think there is certainly the expectation
that we will see this more. And in talking to
you know, folks who have been placing some of the
migrants that have come into Massachusetts into jobs and getting

(44:23):
them temporary work authorizations, there's also growing fears of like
a self deportation rise. You know, people who are worried
that their companies might audit or might look closer at
their authorizations even if they are completely above board, and
just either choosing to leave those jobs, choosing to leave
the state. And I think there are already examples of

(44:44):
that happening.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
Did you I find a question for me? And we're
out of time here. I'm just wondering.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
I'm always curious, is how you heard about the story?
How did you hear about what was going on at TATA?

Speaker 5 (44:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 12 (44:55):
No, this this story actually came from a tip from
a worker themselves. Yeah, you see if it was part
of a larger trend, And of course I'm looking at it.
It was so pretend it comes right from the sort.

Speaker 3 (45:07):
There you go, Yeah, all right you, Tity Colly at
the Boston Globe. We do appreciate you taking time at
joining us on the New England Business Report on this
Sunday morning. And just a bumre we're gonna hear from
Martha Sheridan. Yeah, she's traveling the globe promoting Boston.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
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.

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Speaker 2 (47:34):
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If you want to be part of the New England
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Speaker 2 (48:11):
Welcome back, everyone, and it's great to have you with
us on this Sunday morning. It is a new year,
of course, and that means some big new news for
the city of Boston and its rankings as a dining destination.
We're joined by the President and CEO of Met Boston.
This is Martha Sheridan, and it's always great to have
Martha with us.

Speaker 6 (48:30):
Happy New Year, Martha, Happy New Year.

Speaker 7 (48:33):
Nice to be here.

Speaker 4 (48:34):
Now you're actually in Boston, h Martha.

Speaker 13 (48:36):
Yes, yes, yes, you're always somewhere well program Yeah, so
Boston today. I'm in Boston today, but you know we'll
be we'll be flying off soon to spread the good
word about our great city across the globe.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
So absolutely well, we love that too, and we're going
to talk to you about that here in just a second.
But first, as it relates to a dining destination, trip
Advisor puts out the best of the best top destinations
in the US each year. In Boston made really quite
a good showing. They're ranked as a premier dining destination.
Tell us about that.

Speaker 13 (49:12):
Yes, we're so excited. Trip Advisor obviously tracks a lot
of reviews, they track a lot of visitors sentiments, so
we trust their rankings implicit well not implicitly.

Speaker 7 (49:22):
It is always you know, some question.

Speaker 13 (49:24):
But they're great. They're a great resource for travelers, and
they have named you know, Boston the sixth best foody
city in America or city for food, and we are
thrilled about that, because obviously we spend a great deal
of time talking about our culinary scenes and our great
restaurants and our great dining events. So we're excited that
the word is getting out and people are really starting

(49:47):
to look at Boston as a food destination beyond our
incredible powder and lobster.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
Also, Marlon, I'm just curious, is that unusual unusual for
Boston to be out ranked this high when it comes
to food destinations?

Speaker 13 (50:04):
Well, I mean, I think I think we've been ranked
before on this list. I'm not sure what the number was,
but you know, I think people associate food destinations food
with destinations such as New York, San Francisco, New Orleans,
and you know, I don't think Boston gets its really
fair shake as when it comes to the perception of

(50:25):
us as a food destination. So, you know, for us,
it is exciting that people are finally starting to see
that we are ranking up there with some of the
other great food cities in America.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
So, Martha, beyond the restaurant community, tell us what this
kind of ranking means to the business community in you know,
the Boston area and most specifically tourism.

Speaker 13 (50:44):
Well, you know, it's people people visit destinations for a
multitude of reasons, visiting friends and family, you know, taking
in some great attraction, seeing a show, seeing a sporting event,
But always on their list of things that they consider
is food. So you know, it's exciting that when people
do a search, they're you know, prep don sip advise,

(51:06):
they do googles arch they're.

Speaker 7 (51:08):
Going to see that.

Speaker 13 (51:08):
You know, not only can they do all those great
things in Boston, but they can have a great dining
experience as well.

Speaker 4 (51:14):
Yeah, but like you pointed out, Martha, is it just the.

Speaker 13 (51:18):
Going on No, No, No, I don't think so. I
think that's always been part of our cuisine culture. But
you know, we have some incredible restaurants in Boston, and
many of them opening, you know, recently, and and the
cuisine is varied, it's diverse, and and actually our great
restaurants are not just in the city of you know,
in the in the Boston proper or downtown area. They're

(51:40):
spread across all of our neighborhoods. Places like Comfort Kitchen,
which has gotten incredible accolades, and and you know, Jamaica
Plane has just opened a new coffee place, And there's
just some great dining options happening all over our city,
and I think, you know, people are excited to explore.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
That so well, Martha. In addition to the fact that
we have been named one of these great culinary cities,
the city as a whole ranks really high on trip
Advisor's list of places to visit in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 13 (52:11):
It does, and now we're excited about that because we
think Boston has had a really sort of an evolution
now since the days of COVID when I spoke with
you and we were struggling in this, but now there's
so much activity, so many concert venues, so much live entertainment,
so many tours to take advantage of. And again all

(52:32):
of this is happening in every neighborhood in the city.
There's people are they're visiting Dorchester, they're visiting Roxbury, they're
you know, obviously taking in the Freedom Trail, but going beyond,
as we like to say, Fenway Park to Saniel Hall,
who really get the essence of what this.

Speaker 7 (52:48):
City is about.

Speaker 13 (52:49):
So we think that helps with our rankings as well.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
Martha Sheridan's our guests. She of course, is the president
and CEO of Meet Boston. Okay, So when it comes
to events over the say, you know, the next couple
of months, three months, four months, what are the events
that draw people here?

Speaker 4 (53:05):
And I'm curious when you said, when you look at
the year and you.

Speaker 3 (53:09):
Break it up, say maybe in the quarters or you
break it in half, where are we doing better in
the winter of the summer or the spring of the fall.

Speaker 7 (53:17):
Well, I'm happy to say that in most years.

Speaker 13 (53:19):
Obviously, winter months are a little bit of a challenge
for us when it comes to, you know, drawing visitors
to Boston. But we now are really producing some fantastic
events and opportunities in the city. The first quarter of
this year is packed with some incredible events. We've got

(53:40):
the sixth Invitational, which is a big esports event at
the MGM Music Hall, already sold out. That's for three
days in February. We're excited to welcome for first time
event for the NHL, the Four Nations based off that'll
be on February seventeenth and twentieth as the TV Garden
and that's four international teams national teams playing against each other.

(54:02):
It replaces their All Star Game this year, so it's
going to be cited in Boston and Montreal exciting, exciting
hockey activity. And then March we host the World Figure
Skating Championships, which will bring people from across the globe,
you know, for this iconic event, which is obviously drawing
a lot of attention with you know, the build up

(54:22):
the Winter Olympics, and we have some great American skaters competing,
so so much to do along with just what's going
on around the city. Activations, igloose things on the Greenway.
The Downtown Alliance just launched their winter activation and it's
going to be incredible artwork all over the downtown. So

(54:43):
the winter months are really coming on strong for the
city of Boston.

Speaker 2 (54:46):
And of course, Martha, in the second quarter, we're going
to be hosting the NBA Finals, right, Yes, we hope.

Speaker 13 (54:56):
We hope that that happened at soon. Yeah, here for
a minute, I'm like, wait a minute, yea, we.

Speaker 7 (55:03):
Always you know, we will talk.

Speaker 13 (55:05):
I'm sure as we get closer to the you know
that that season. But you know, the Celtics are on
fire and that always helps us because people do want
to see the Celtics. And I'll tell you sports is
becoming an international American sports are becoming an international phenomenon
for visitors. They are seeking out great professional and amateur

(55:27):
sports events to come and visit, and Celtics are clearly
at the top of that list. So we're excited about
there run as well as the Bruins and all of
our other great teams out there.

Speaker 3 (55:37):
Martha, you're heading off to India in your capacity there
as a president of the CEO of Meet Boston.

Speaker 4 (55:44):
What's the goal?

Speaker 8 (55:46):
So I will be.

Speaker 13 (55:47):
Heading to India with Brandy USA, which is the nation's
destination marketing organization, and I'm going along with a flect
group of CEOs from organizations across America. And the goal
is it's called an immersion trip, but we will be
learning about the nuances of what Indian the Indian market

(56:10):
prefers when they travel to the US. How can we
approach Indian tour operators and Indian media with the right
messaging about our destination. We will be talking directly to
tour operators and media to excite them about sending people
from their very large country over to Boston as a destination.

(56:33):
And it might surprise you, India is our second biggest
travel market to Boston, So you know, we want to
grow on that it's a huge country use population, and
we want to spread the great word about about the
city of Boston to India and all of its residents.

Speaker 7 (56:48):
So that's the goal.

Speaker 13 (56:48):
And I'll be there for almost a week and excited
to really immerse myself there and talk all about everything
about Greater Boston, Cambridge, et cetera.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
Well, we hope you have a successful trip and a
safe one. Martha Sheridan, President and CEO of Meet Boston,
thanks so much for being a part of the show today.

Speaker 13 (57:05):
Thank you always nice to be here.

Speaker 5 (57:10):
All right.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
Always fun to talk with Martha Sheridan. And it's time
to talk about next week though. Next Sunday morning on
the New England Business Report, we're gonna shoot over to
Arlington and talk to the owner of Cambridge Typewriter. Yeah,
he's retiring at the end of March.

Speaker 5 (57:24):
Now.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
We actually interviewed this guy, Kim some years ago when
you and I did the Bloomberg Radio program.

Speaker 4 (57:29):
All he sells us typewriters, well you know what, they're hot.
They're hot.

Speaker 3 (57:32):
They're like record players at this point. But he's closing
up shop and he's a great, great guy, a great character,
and we will talk to.

Speaker 4 (57:40):
Him about that. Next Sunday morning, on the New England
Business Report,