December 8, 2024 • 58 mins
On today’s program, we talk with the CEO and president of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce about federal funding for the replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges. Is this funding secure with a new administration coming into Washington DC? We also talk with the managing editor of the Boston Business Journal Don Seiffert about medications, therapies which cost millions of dollars for a single dose. We’re also joined by Laverne Lovell of Lovells Nursery in Medfield to talk about the business of Christmas trees this holiday season. Michelle Micone of The Boston Globe explains a project they have underway highlighting new successful businesses in the Boston area. And finally, Andrew Gilman, chief marketing officer with NWN Carousel talks about AI and applications for children’s sports.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe short
Sleeve and Kim Caragan, a weekly round up 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.
I'm Kim Caerra getting along with Joe short Sleeve and
good morning to you sir. Here we are right in
the middle of the holiday season.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, we are leaning on it, aren't we. I've been
now spending all my money on the grand kids. You know, yes,
I guess think what you're supposed to do, right.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It is amazing how you just feel everybody pulling your
wallet right out of your pocket, don't you.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's all about the kids at this point.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, well it's a lot of fun. I hope everybody's
having a great season. It's a short one, so it's
just sort of like you, you know, we came out
of Thanksgiving and it was like you were being shut
out of a cannon to get all in that you
need to in this very short season. So enjoy, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
In our program today, Kim, we're going to talk with
Laverne Lovell, remember her, right, I mean, we did the
Bloomberg Radio program. We had her on a character. She
runs a levels nurse tree out there in Midfield and
Route one O nine, and I remember during COVID you
couldn't get enough trees, and now the question is does
she have too many? Absolutely a great conversation.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, we're going to talk to her about that. We've
got a few conversations about the holiday season because of
course it's so impactful when it comes to the business community,
and we've got a really great show for you. We're
going to take our off the top a trip down
to Cape Cod talk to the CEO of the Cape
Cod Chamber of Commerce, Paul Nudswiki, great guy, and anxious
(01:30):
to talk to him about a couple of things, not
the least of which is the holiday season on the
Cape and how they try to promote it and what
the holiday season means for that area in the off season.
But we also want to talk to Paul a little
bit about those Cape Cod bridges. And we've talked to
him about this before, but it's it's sort of interesting, Joe,
(01:52):
and you and I both have chatted about this off
the air. You know, now we are facing a new
administration in Washington, d C. And the question becomes, how
might that impact the progress of these bridges. Federal funding
is certainly important when it comes to replacing these two bridges,
which need to be done desperately. But we've also got
(02:13):
an administration that's not too crazy about our congressional delegation.
So yeah, we're going to see what he thinks. We're
our governor for that matter, right.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Certainly didn't endear ourselves to the anyway. So yeah, that's
a very interesting conversation because the money, as I understand it,
for the Sagamore Bridge is pretty much out of the
gate and in process, so that most people aren't worried
about the Sagamore money. It's the Born Bridge money that
is not allocated at this point, and that would have
(02:47):
to come out of DC, and so people are wondering, Okay,
well what's going to happen there, And you know, Kim
in that vein, I actually heard the conversation saying, well
maybe we need tolls.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You know, tolls the last thing of people who spend
a lot of time on the KPE want to hear.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Also, this morning, Don Seifert's going to join us. He's
a managing editor of the Boston Business Journal. We're going
to talk to Donal a little bit about the business
community and the reaction to the fact that the administration
is changing. But we also want to talk to him
about a story that they have been reporting on. It's
it's about how pharmaceutical companies are considering a new federal
(03:27):
program that would help patients pay for things like gene
therapy treatment. These would be one time treatments that will
cure a disease, but the issue is the expense. I mean,
some of these drugs are millions of.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Dollars or five million dollars right right.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So a new federal program has been proposed in this
program would would help people pay for those over time,
but it's based on the effectiveness of the drug. Really fascinating.
We're going to talk to down about that.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Okay. We're also going to be having a conversation with
Michelle McCone. And Michelle is the vice president of Innovation
and Strategic Initiatives at the Boston Globe Media and they're
doing an interesting list these days headline of the Globe.
They're looking for New England's fastest growing companies. The Globe
wants to highlight the region's top businesses with impressive revenue growth,
(04:26):
and basically this is an outreach program, and Michelle McCone
basically says that there's a lot of interest. And then
if you make this list, if you can actually make
the Globe list of the fastest growing companies, it's going
to be good for these as they look at their
bottom line going forward if they're highlighted the Globe, right,
that makes sense. Also, Andrew Gilman's going to be along.
(04:48):
He's a chief marketing officer of NWN Carousel, and we're
going to talk about all things AI, especially how it
relates to kids and young athletes. Conversation I'm looking forward to.
Our next guest is the president and CEO of the
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. He's been a regular visitor
(05:08):
to the program. He's a Paul Ned's Wiki he is
all things cape Cod. And one of the reasons we
reached out to Paul is because we've been hearing a
lot about concern about federal funding, federal funding with the
change in the leadership down to Washington, d C. How
that will impact Massachusetts moving forward, And in particular, Paul's
(05:28):
expertise is probably more about these Cape Cod bridges. The
Born and the Sagamore Bridge that need to be replaced
or in the process of being replaced. In particular, I
understand that the Sagamore Bridge has pretty much got its
funding in the pipeline Born not so much, so there's
a bunch of questions being asked out there. But let's
(05:50):
bring in Paul. So Paul talked to us about funding
for these two bridges. Well, let's start with the Sagamore
Bridge if we could. And concerns that maybe out there
because of the change in administration.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Yeah, Well, because Sagamore is the good news. Replacement of
both bridges is a four and a half billion dollar project,
so it's basically about two point twenty five per bridge.
And for Sagamore. Last summer we received notice that we
got almost a billion and a half in federal funds
and the States has allocated the rest of the money.
(06:27):
So Sagamore is ready to go as far as federal
funding and state funding is concerned. So that's good as
it relates to federal funding in the future. The by
Parson infrastructural legislation was the source of that federal revenue
for the Sagamore Bridge and there's one more round of
funding that will happen under that by Parson structural legislation,
(06:49):
but whether it's reauthorized or not, it is really going
to depend on the incoming administration. And I think Massachusetts
and general is bracing for you know, less federal money
coming in our direction as sort of a deep blue state,
and with the new administration coming in and the offer
money's gone, so you know, I think there is some
(07:11):
nervousness about where's the money for Born going to come from.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So, Paul, has anybody talked to you about that? I mean,
are you hearing whispers that there could be issues?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah, I think it's but it's I don't think it's
it's it's not that anyone's been notified about anything.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I think people are.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Just exercising common sense and looking at sort of the
political realities out there. And Massachusetts received, you know, our delegation,
our federal delegation worked really hard. So over the last
five years or so, you know, there's been over eight
billion dollars that's come into the state. So that's a
significant sum. You know, the state budget is over forty billion
annually now, but the eight billion is a big number.
(07:51):
And so the programs that benefited from that, that's good
for them. And if it's a capital investment, that's great too.
But going forward, I think people are bracing for less
money coming our way.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Right, Okay, Well, let's assume that the Sagram, the Sagamore
money is in place, and then we don't have to
worry about that. And let's assume on the other end
that the Born money is not and that it's not
coming our way, especially bringing the next next four years.
So what happens then, Paul?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
They both have to be replaced. You know, those two
bridges were constructed ninety years ago to accommodate a million
trips a year. They currently see thirty eight million trips
a year. So that's the equivalent of the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco. And they've got to be replaced.
If Born, if there's no money for the replacement of Born,
the Army Corps of Engineers is notified everybody with a
(08:46):
report that they put out in twenty twenty that that
bridge is going to have to undergo a major rehabilitation,
and a rehabilitation of the Born Bridge would require a
complete closure of that bridge for three to six months
and would probably be a three year project which would
involve a lot of single lane restrictions on Born And
what that will do is that'll move traffic over to Sagamore,
(09:08):
and Sagamore will see on average ten thousand trips a day,
more than it's ever seen.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So it just.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Nare we see the backup which with the regular maintenance
happens on the existing bridges. Yeah, that would be stunning.
And the Cape Guy Commission has recently done an economic
impact study of what a bridge closure would mean. It
hasn't been finalized that they have shared the draft with
the Cape Islands Bridge Coalition, which is a coalition that
(09:39):
the Chamber of Commerce has put together to follow the project.
And basically, we would lose a third of our economy
with any sort of any closure bridge closure, whether it's
it's a temporary for a rehabilitation or a longer one
because they find something on one of the bridges on
the Born Bridge that would make it unsafe.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
And Paul, what would a rehabilitation cost? I mean that
seems like that's throwing you know, good money after bad.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Yeah. No, And that is definitely the sentiment out there.
It's in the hundreds of millions. Yeah, so it's not
two point twenty five billion, but it's still a significant
sum of money. And if that were to happen and
they cap economically sort of survived that process, that would
(10:29):
be the bridge that we would have for another twenty
five fifty years.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
All right, Paul NEEDSWICKI would tolls make a difference here?
I mean, are tolls being whispered? I mean I've seen
some articles say, well, maybe we need to put up tolls.
I mean, is that a reality.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
It hasn't been discussed. It's not part of the plan.
I mean, the current environmental review is underway for the
replacement of boat bridges, and the planning today doesn't have
any tolling configured in it. But if there's a big
whole we don't have money for born that, I think,
you know, we need to evaluate all options. All options
need to be on the table. And I've been I'm
(11:09):
a member of the Governor's Transportation Funding Task Force, and
so they're looking at projects like the MBTA deficit, which
is you know, about seven hundred million for next year,
and the East West rail project as well as the
canal bridges, and so the state could take a look
at its Bonding Authority and see if there's flexibility there
(11:31):
or that there are some changes that they could make
so that they could could come up with the remainder
of the fund. So it's not like totlling is the
only other option out there, and it hasn't been really
formally discussed as it relates to these two bridges as yet.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So let's go back to the Sagamore for just a moment.
So it looks like the dollars are secured there. When
can we anticipate that might start?
Speaker 4 (11:57):
That will start, Well, the environmental review is underway. We're
probably twelve We've been another twelve to eighteen months before
the environmental review is complete. Once the environmental review is complete,
they'll put out a bid and that's when we could
start to see construction. So twenty twenty six if there
aren't any issues with the environmental review process.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Paul, did I read that the final design is actually
two bridges for the sagamar to replace the old bridge.
Is that that built inside of the old bridge?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
The design is it'll be two spans that replace the
one existing span, So there will be one span for
on board traffic and one for off board traffic. So
that's a huge safety concern. Is some redundancy involved in
that as well. So they will build the first single
(12:51):
span next to the existing bridge in board of it,
and then once that span is done, they'll reroute track
over the single span two ways temporarily while they demolish
the old bridge and then build the second span.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
So the old bridge is definitely going away, because there's
some chatter that maybe you keep it for bikes or walkers.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, you know, I'm not that's the plan right now.
I think we look at the mass Coot plant, the
bridge would have to be demolished. Hard deck gets caught
up in the fact that the two bridges right now
are both federal assets that are managed to maintained by
the Army Corps of Engineers. But under an MoU that's
been signed between the federal government and the Army Corps
and the States and Massachuse Department Transportation, those bridges will
(13:37):
then become state assets. So if it does, if it's
not demolished, it's still kind of a federal asset, all right.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He's Paul Need's WICKI he's a president and the CEO
of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, where we do
appreciate you joining us this morning on the New England
Business Report.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
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 (16:11):
Welcome back everybody to the new England Business Report. Great
to have you with us on this Sunday morning. Joining
us now is Don Seifert. He is the managing editor
of the Boston Business Journal, and it's always great to
have Don with us. Don, before we start to talk
about a story that I know you guys have been covering,
and that's about Vertex and Bluebird and about gene therapy
(16:32):
and new federal program coming about to pay for gene therapy,
I want to just extend the conversation that we were
having in the last block with Paul NEDSWICKI and that
being you know, you're reporting on the business community and
this change of administration in Washington. What are you guys
hearing there at the BBJ and what is the business
(16:55):
community saying about this change that's coming in January.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, I mean we've been we've been talking to a
lot of business leaders and uh and people you know,
inside and outside the business community, and I mean, obviously
there are a whole lot of unknowns at this point,
and you know, they haven't even started yet or anything.
But you know, you know, I've talked to us a
couple of weeks ago on this program about the whole
clean energy you know, big questions around that and whether
(17:19):
funding would be cut for clean energy. You know, Master
Chusetts is kind of going all in on that. But
I think the other big one that we've been trying
to get a handle on is is the terraffs. Obviously,
you know, the Trump has made a lot of noise
about about wanting to increase tariffs. I mean, there are
already tariffs that he that he rose from eight years
(17:40):
ago that that you know President Biden kept on, but
now he wants to kind of double down on it
and increase them even further. We I mean, you know,
we've been trying to get a handle on what it is.
But again, I mean there's so many unknowns with this.
And the one thing I think we can say a
lot of the business that are telling us well, at
(18:02):
least this time, we know that this is coming, and
since we had to deal with this eight years ago,
a lot of companies have you know, have already made
other plans around tariffs, such as you know I Robot.
I Robot does a lot of the manufacturing in China,
but they have switched largely because of the tariffs that
were imposed before, to doing some some manufacturing in Malaysia.
(18:25):
For instance, And so you know, I think that there's
a greater sense of preparedness this time around, but still
a whole lot of uncertainty on that. But well, you know,
we'll be continuing report on that and try to get
some more stronger answers on it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, certainly, as we move into twenty twenty five and
the inauguration of a new president, it's going to be
a story that is only going to get larger and
larger and it Yeah, Don Sefford Seiphered is our guest.
He's the managing editor of the Boston Business Journal. You
also told Kim and I that you really wanted to
talk about one time drug treatments that are intended to
(19:03):
cure a disease. But here's the catch. As you point out,
they cost like two or three million dollars each, So
how do how do you get from A to Z? There?
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah, I think this is interesting. This just came out,
came out this past week, and it's a new program.
It's something that that's been talked about for quite a
while with these gene therapies. Gene therapies are you know,
they're not like cancer drugs where you take it like
once a day or once a week or something. They're
like a one time thing that is that is meant
to cure the disease. Uh. You know, these are literally
(19:38):
like diseases that are caused by a faulty gene in
the body, and it either puts in a new version
of the gene that works, or in the case of
gene editing, then it would actually fix the faulty gene.
So these, I mean, these are really a new kind
of drug and they're super expensive. Is you know, people
have known that they're going to be expensive for years now,
(19:59):
and there's been a lot of talk on how to
pay for this, and one idea that's that's been batted
around as well, maybe instead of paying for the entire
treatment up front, you pay something at the beginning when
when a patient gets it, but then pay paid the
rest of it in installments later on. And those installments
might depend on how effective the drug remains, maybe to
(20:21):
tree four years out. Both of these drugs. That So
the news this past week was that Vertex Pharmaceuticals and
Bluebird Bio they both make a gene therapy for sickle
cell disease and they're both they said, you know, really
expected I think, uh, Vertex is Vertex is two point
two million, and Bluebirds the drug is called Lythgenia, and
(20:44):
that's three point one million dollars you know, for one
treatment for one patient, which sounds crazy, but again, you know,
I remember this is meant as a one time treatment,
so it's not been ongoing. You know that you only
pay this amount once. So what I thought was interesting
is that finally this idea, idea for like paying these
drugs and installment is coming to fruition. And you know,
it's one of the last things that the Biden Harris
(21:07):
administration is doing as they're heading out the door, is
trying to put this, you know, put this idea to
the test to see if this really works. I think
insurance companies will be a lot more willing to pay
for these really expensive treatments if it is dependent on
how how effective they are, you know, years after the
treatment comes in. So, I mean, this is the first
(21:29):
time that it's been done, so I'll be very interesting
to see how it works.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So don what's the upside though for companies like Vertex
or Bluebird, because how can they be guaranteed they'd get
those payments?
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Well, I mean they are they do have to make
these agreements, and you know, part of the stipulation is
that how effective these drugs are in a couple of years.
I mean, if the drugs are not of effective, then
these companies are in effect agreeing to okay, okay, we
will we will accept less payment in the future. So
they don't know exactly. But but again, I mean, these
(22:04):
drugs are you know, they are tested. You know, they've
been tested that they work in the short term, but
since they're kind of new, then we haven't seen how
long the effects last. You know, they're originally built as
kind of cures for a disease. But but you know
the things you know, obviously nobody knows over the course
of like ten or fifteen years, if it's going to
(22:26):
be a permanent Europe or somebody is going to need
another treatment and have to spend another two three million dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Talking with Don Seiffer of Managing editor at the BBJ,
you know, that's an interesting concept, you know, paying for
a drug only if it works. I mean, that's not
that's not the way you know it's worked up until now.
I mean, I can certainly understand why insurance companies love that. Yeah, Okay,
that works for us. We only pay x now or
maybe a little more later. But I figured to Kim's point,
(22:54):
drug companies, you know, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, also maybe vary right on the patient.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, so well, I mean I think that drug companies
are under pressure to make some concession to insurance companies
knowing that these are incredibly expensive. That I mean, other
companies in the Boston area. There's those companies named Orchard Therapeutics.
They just came out with the gene therapy for and
even rarer to these and theirs is the most expensive
drug in history. It's four point five million dollars for
(23:21):
one single treatment. So I mean, if these agreements work
and these convince insurance companies that it is worth paying
for you know, keep in mind, you know, sickle cell anemia,
it costs insurance companies, you know, to to you know,
to treat these people. Anyways, if you know, presumably if
a drug actually like dramatically improves their health for years
(23:43):
on end, then you know, even though they're paying two
or three million dollars, they are saving money for those
years because they're not having to do as much cure
care for this patient later on.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, that works. Absolutely. Well, it's a fascinating story and
when I know you guys will continue to follow and
we'll be interested to see exactly how this all shakes Don,
thanks so very much, appreciate your time this morning. Well,
I feel like this is sort of the question of
the holiday season, Joe, Is it real or is it fake?
Our next cast is counting on the idea that you
(24:18):
love the smell of pine in your home and you
like needles in your carpet.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
All your trees are fake? Correct?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Mine are fake? Yes, yes I do. Laverne Lovell, the
co owner of Lovell Nursery in Midfield, is going to
join us and talk about holiday tree sales. That's coming
up next.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.
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to New England for New England Weather and welcome back
(27:28):
to the New England Business Report on this Sunday morning,
you know, counting down to Christmas. Since Kim is a
new survey out that has to do with how much
we're going to be spending this time around. It's actually
a survey done by the University of New Hampshire and
it covers all the New England States, and it basically
suggests that folks in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts
(27:49):
are looking to spend less this year than last year.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Now, would that please don't tell this because my husband
may be listening and.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I'm just wondering, would be your sentiment or not.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I don't know. I mean, yeah, I think maybe maybe.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Certainly not more than last year, right.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
I think that's a fair statement.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I think that's kind of where I'm at. You know.
The survey from again the University of New Hampshire basically
says that fourteen percent of base staters plan to sit
out gift shopping all together, and forty seven percent plan
to decrease their spending. Our next guest has a repeat
guest we had her on over the years, Kim Kerrig,
and I'm sure you remember. She's Laverne Level. She's the
(28:32):
owner of Levels right there on Route one poh nine
in Midfield. They are a large nursery and they do
all things holidays, Christmas, plants, whatever whatever you want. And
I remember having Levernon during COVID twenty twenty twenty twenty one,
and she said people weren't going away. Everybody stayed home,
(28:53):
so everybody needed a Christmas tree, and all of a sudden,
you know, she was selling not two hundred trees, but
three hundred trees. Maybe the number might have reached four
hundred trees. You know, she's a great barometer of the
local economy as it relates to Christmas. And she joins
us this morning. So Laverne Lovell, tell us what's going
on with Christmas trees this year.
Speaker 8 (29:12):
Well, first of all, we've got thirteen one hundred and
fifty trees this year, so we've gotten quite a bit.
I think we were having one thousand during the COVID years.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Oh wow.
Speaker 8 (29:23):
Yeah, So we've got a week less to sell them,
which is a little scary because Thanksgiving was so late.
So we're working on that. And we've got some really
tall ones eighteen feet tall. We had one of those.
We sold six ninety nine fourteen foot thirteen foot. You'd
be surprised that these big houses out here in the suburbs,
(29:46):
huge houses. By the way, we sell about fifteen of
those gigantic trees. I don't even know how they lift them.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Yeah, well, Vern, what do you learn so far about
the local Christmas economy? What are you taking away at
this point.
Speaker 8 (30:00):
Well, I don't want to sound braggadocious, but this area
that we're in, Dover, Medfield, Walpole, Westwood, Uh, it's a
pretty pretty price. Price doesn't I don't know, it doesn't matter.
But they want the tree, they'll buy it. And people
aren't looking for a bargain. Not to say that our
trees are more expensive, but we've got the bigger trees
(30:22):
because you know, they don't want a little beuny tree.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So, Oliverne, you said something about the fact that Thanksgiving
was later has that I've read in some places that
that has meant that there's been a bigger rush and
that more trees are being sold because the season is
just shorter, and of course the nice.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
And that has happened. The day after Thanksgiving we sold
like one hundred and fifty trees, and Saturday we had
our big open house with Santa. That's always a big success.
We have hot chocolate and I make three hundred cookies
and my children each make two hundred cookies, so we
have all homemade cookies and hot chocolate, and that was
a huge success. So I think they sold over the weekend.
I think we did about four hundred trees. So we
(31:05):
need to sort of do that again this weekend in
order to keep up with trying to sell them all.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Yeah, what was the average price of a tree this year?
Laverne level and talk to us have in general in
the bigger picture here, you know, in your annual revenue,
how important is the Christmas tree.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Season in my annual revenue. You'll be surprised it's not
that big of a deal. Our biggest deal is that
May June July when we sell wholesale in the back
to the landscapers.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
You know.
Speaker 8 (31:34):
So the Christmas tree is probably ten percent, maybe ten
percent of the year goes towards Christmas. In all, we
sell hundreds of wreaths that we decorate ourselves. Also, the
Christmas tree is about about eight foot. Is what everybody wants?
They run between ninety nine and one hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
We have a third particular tree that they like more.
Now or you know, do people want to pine or
a fur or what do they want? What do you want?
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Well, we carry both the Fraser fur and the balsam.
Now the balsam has a better smell, but the Fraser
fur has a better needle retention. So I think I
would say we sell more Frasers, but it's about fifty
to fifty.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well, let's talk about artificial trees, Laverne Level. Now, you know,
we've got Kim Carrigan here right now. She doesn't have
one artificial tree, she doesn't have two or three. She
has six artificial trees in her house. Okay, yeah, I know,
So what do you have? What do you Laverne Level,
I have to say to Kim Kerrigan about what she's
what she's doing here.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
Well, it's interesting. I did a little research because the
Wall Street Journal had an article about the North Carolina
Christmas tree growers, and in the article they had some
interesting statistics. So seventy five percent of Americans put up
a Christmas tree, which I thought was a huge amount,
and seventy seven percent of those seventy five percent put
(32:55):
up an artificial tree. Yeah, so we're selling to the
other twenty three percent, which is you know, huge by comparison.
So everybody's putting up an artificial tree, a lot of people,
and that number is going up by one or two
percent every year.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Why is that so?
Speaker 8 (33:12):
Well, you know, people go away, they're fire, they're not
afraid of fire anymore. That used to be a big excuse.
Some people are allergic. At a woman today that came
in and she said, I can't buy my tree this year.
My husband's got asthma. So she was buying a fake tree.
We do sell fake trees also, by the way, beautiful ones.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Well, well, if Christmas tree sales are going down a
percent or two every year, why is Laverne level buying
thirteen hundred trees this year as opposed to one thousand
last year.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Well, we've got more people in our area. Okay, you know,
the population is going up, so we need more trees.
And it's it's good. It's going to be all good.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So Laverne, I've always been interested in knowing when Christmas
Eve rolls around and you close the lot and there's
still trees on the lawne typically, how many are there?
What does that cost you in the end, and what
do you do with them?
Speaker 8 (34:07):
Very good question. So you know, five or six years ago,
when I first talked to Joe, shortly during the pandemic,
we didn't have one tree left. As the pandemic ended,
people were going to a room for Christmas and they
were going to Miami and then we saw a big thing.
We had one hundred trees left over about two years ago,
(34:28):
three years ago, and they either go through the chimper
or now we have a place in Sherburn if I
can remember the name of it, that will take the
Christmas trees and feed them to the goats. They also
take our leftover pumpkins. Rather than put them in a landfill,
they take leftover pumpkins and feed them to the goats.
(34:50):
So we've found ways to get rid of the trees
without just chipping them.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
And is that just a loss for you? Is that
just a financial loss for you?
Speaker 8 (34:58):
It's just money in the waistback get complete loss. That's
why we have to be careful with how many trees
we buy, because it's you know, if you don't sell
it to day after, it's a goner.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yeah, Oliver and Lovell, owner of a levels nursery there
in Midfield. Where do you get your trees and when
do you make decisions about purchases and how far are
you going to find these trees?
Speaker 8 (35:19):
So our trees are coming down from Quebec and Nova Scotia.
We ordered them so this year on December twenty seventh, Jay,
who's my key man out there will have a whole
list of every day, how many trees you sold each day,
how many were left over, and right then we order
next year's trees so that we're sure we're going to
(35:42):
get them. We get them when we want them, we
get the best one, so you know, it's kind of
scientifically done like that.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
My understanding, Laverne is that Christmas tree farms and places
that sell Christmas trees, the number of those have also
declined over time.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
Well I'm just looking just even this year, not so
much farm. But there's a place called the Big Apple
that's been in Rantham for many, many years. They're going
out of business this year. And Stobart's Nursery in Franklin.
I think they've been there fifty sixty years. They're selling
their land to build apartments, so they're going to be
going out of business. You're finding these independent guarden centers
(36:24):
very very difficult to keep up with the weather, trying
to get the help. Well, I don't have any trouble
getting help because I have my daughter Colleen, my grandson Andrew,
my two nephews, Jay and Mike, their children, and I
have seven grandchildren who all work here at some point
during the year when they say the family business. You
(36:46):
have to have the family because they're not going to
call you and say I'm not coming in right.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
And what kind of trade does Laverne Lovell have in
her house?
Speaker 8 (36:55):
I have a fraser for about seven or eight feet
because I don't want to decorate anything anyway.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
Well, listen, I'm Merry Christmas to you and your whole
family there, and we do appreciate you taking time and
joining us this Sunday morning on the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know, Joe, we've been reporting here on the show
that a lot of businesses in New England have been
struggling in this current economy while others, on the other hand,
have been thriving. The Boston Globe has decided to seek
out some of those businesses that have seen increases in
their revenue and their production the last couple of years
and find out who they are. They want to find
(37:31):
out how they've done it, and they want to find
out how well they have done if they're out there, Yeah,
they certainly are. We're joined by the vice president of
Innovation and Strategic Initiative at Boston Globe Media. This is
Michelle my Cone. And it's great to have you with us. Michelle.
Let's talk a little bit about this project. What made
you guys decide that this was something you wanted to do?
Speaker 10 (37:52):
Well, thank you for having me. You know, New England
is really this amazing epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurship, and
as the leading meetia organization, we just thought, how can
we build something that will highlight all this amazing work,
and so we are devising a list that will kind
of shine a light on those inspirational stories of companies
(38:13):
that are thriving and shaping the industry despite the media,
the business landscape.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
Now, Michelle, one thing I have to say is we
have to do this interview. I love your title vice
President of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives. I mean, you know,
if I were going to have a title, I think
i'd like that. That title, I don't know something about it. Okay, well,
all right, I'm looking at some of the criteria here
for these New England's fastest growing companies that you're going
(38:40):
to highlight. Give us some of the criteria. What do
you have to be to make your list?
Speaker 10 (38:44):
So first of all, you have to have your headquarters
in New England, Most people think of us as covering Boston.
Of course it's in our name, but we really strive
to cover New England and highlights what's going on in Connecticut,
Me Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island of Vermont, so first
of all having a headquarters there, and then we're looking
for businesses that have generated at least one hundred thousand
dollars in revenue in twenty twenty and then at least
(39:06):
growing to at least one point five million by twenty
twenty three. We're looking for independent companies and being not
a subsidiary or branch and have revenue growth in the
last three years. It's primarily organic versus being purchased or something.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Now, I know you guys are looking and hoping to
find this list by the fifteenth of December. So far,
how has the search been and can you reveal any
of these companies to us?
Speaker 10 (39:32):
We can't yet. Our editorial team reserves that right, but
we know it's been challenging. A lot of these companies
may be smaller, certainly privately held, So that's why we're
talking to you guys, trying to get the word out.
We've published some articles in the Boston globe. We're reaching
out on social media. We really just want to make
sure people know that this is a great opportunity to
(39:53):
highlight their business. It's not a long application. And actually importantly,
the data that they've provide private companies are often protective
about that will not go to us. It'll go to
a company called PISA that we partner with that handles
that data in a very confidential manner.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
And what does it mean to a company you think
to make your list? What kind of difference do you
anticipate this will be for some of these companies?
Speaker 10 (40:20):
Such a great question. I think for a company, if
I put myself in their shoes, you know they need
brand awareness, right, so people want to use their company services.
Brand awareness PR always helps also hiring employees. They can
then use this accolade if you will, the fastest growing
one of the fastest growing companies in New England, they
can use that on their website and their emails and
(40:42):
in other business dealings to kind of back up all
the great work their company is doing.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
So let's talk a little bit about you know, what
kind of companies you guys anticipate. I'm sure you've sort
of looked into this I mean, are these primarily going
to be tech companies? What do you think think who's
doing that? Well, Michelle, because those are pretty big numbers
you're talking about.
Speaker 10 (41:04):
Yes, it really is all sectors. You know, we've looked.
We've seen a lot of tech companies for sure, but
also many companies in the food services business, companies that
have I just looked at one this morning in Connecticut
that I I was wanting to get their attention about
coming up with innovative food services. There's insurance companies, there's
(41:25):
law firms. We're really not looking for one industry. We're
looking across all industries. And there's certainly a lot of
energy companies and construction companies. Really, really, any business of
this size is qualified for this list as long as
they meet the revenue goals.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
And what has been the response so far? And I mean,
what are you going to do if you get a
title wave? I mean, how many companies actually get to
make bus listens?
Speaker 10 (41:50):
We haven't determined the number yet. I think we want
to see first how many people apply, but we'd love
to highlight as many as possible. You know, we do
this across other industries. We just have we just highlighted
the companies that were top places to work. We have
a tech list that we release we've been releasing for
four years that highlights tech power players in the Massachusetts area.
(42:13):
So we really feel this is a great way to
tell company stories that people may not other know and
companies that may not be household names otherwise. So we'll
settle on the number later, but we'd like to highlight
as many as as possible.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
So Michelle, let me change gears just a moment if
I could. By the way, this is Michelle McCone. She
is the vice president of Innovation and Strategic Initiative at
the Boston Globe Media. Talk to me a little bit
about Joe's pointed out your title earlier. Tell me a
little bit more about what you do there with Boston
(42:47):
Globe Media and what are some of the things that
you know you've been tasked with doing.
Speaker 10 (42:51):
Thank you for asking. We We are, of course a
legacy media company over one hundred and fifty years old.
We've been in this business for a very long time
and we're experts at it. But I really focus on
doing new things. So really outside of the core business
of producing the wonderful journalism every day digitally and in
the newspaper. So lists are relatively new for us, and
(43:12):
so when we do more lists, my team and I
kind of start them up and eventually when they become
mature products that people might handle it. But we're kind
of the internal startup group. We focus on new technology.
We're working a lot with generative AI and how to
incorporate that into our business. You know, there's a lot
of sort of repetitive tasks that can be it can
(43:35):
be automated as generative AI. Not the journalism, but other
parts of the business, and we're really looking at just
how do we continue to digitally transform and modernize this
wonderful brand.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
Tell us more about the AI integration and how you're
dealing with that.
Speaker 10 (43:51):
I think we're just being very careful but learning a lot.
We're really focused on being aware of what's out there
and learning and using tools like Google Gemini that are
now built into the software products we use every day,
things like that that can just make the small tasks
every day a little easier and a little faster.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
You know, Michelle, I know that this is not a
secret to you. It's not a secret to anyone who's listening.
We all know that the newspaper business has faced a
lot of challenges over the last couple of years. Is
this kind of and I'm going to use the term innovation,
but is this kind of innovation what's keeping the Boston
Globe moving forward?
Speaker 10 (44:31):
Absolutely, this type of innovation and new thinking is critical
in a business that has been around a long time.
And we have an incredible team of people that are
always thinking about new things on top of doing the
things we've always been doing really well every day, and
I think it's what powers our growth and what really
keeps us relevant. And we're for example, we just launched
(44:55):
a new suite of games on our site. If you
go to Globe dot com Slash games, many of them
are free for all users. That allows people to engage
with us outside of news. So we're really thinking of
new ways to just be part of people's live and
be useful every day.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Well continued success, Michelle macohone. We thank you so much
for being a part of the New England Business Report today.
Coming up next to Local Business working to make sure
that inner city kids can have a knowledge about AI
and computers so they can explore it.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
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 2 (45:41):
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That sounds great. But what about the cost, Bill, Because
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(47:01):
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(47:22):
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Speaker 6 (47:37):
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Speaker 3 (48:56):
And welcome back to the New England Business Report on
this Sunday morning, the eighth. We're going to close the
show today, Kim talking about well AI, I think, I
think AI pretty much is taking over the whole world.
So who knows better than that than our next guest.
He's Andrew Gilman and he's the chief marketing officer for
NWN Carousel. Now NWN Carousel delivers AI powered technology and
(49:22):
solutions to the modern workforce. And well, Andrew, let's say,
looked at his LinkedIn page, a seasoned executive with over
two decades of experience in the tech industry. He's a
recognized leader in the world of IT services, cloud data
and AI and cybersecurity. And we welcome him to the
New England Business Report. So Andrew, tell us about NWN Carousel,
(49:46):
and you know what's on your desk every.
Speaker 11 (49:48):
Day, absolutely, Joe and and thank you so much and
really appreciate the opportunities. So NW and Carousel we're the
leading tech services company, national company, but based here in Boston.
I'm actually sitting here right in one eleven, Huntington, and
we really provide organizations with the ability to deliver extraordinary
experiences for their employees and for their customers, leveraging the
(50:10):
power of AI and really advanced technologies. We've been around
for over thirty years. We have about five thousand accounts
that we support, but half public sector, half in the enterprise,
and our team and our teams are really client focused
to help again break down the bearers, make AI attainable,
make it applicable, and make it impactful. As you said, Joe,
(50:32):
AI is taken over the world. So there's a lot
of organizations that are just trying to figure out how
it fits and how it can be impactful and how
they can deliver a great employee and customer experience. And
that's our job is to help them be really consultative
and help break through the noise and deliver high impact,
high solutions. And so we're really excited to share what
we've been working on here at the Boys and Girls
(50:54):
Club this week.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yeah, and we want to talk about that program here
in just one second, but before we do. I want
to ask you, Andrew, what's a reaction to AI from
some of your clients. I mean, are people afraid of it?
Are they concerned about losing jobs as a result of it?
Give us a sense of what you're hearing.
Speaker 11 (51:12):
Well, AI is going to be like the new electricity, right,
It's going to be a utility that's really integrated in
every capability, in every aspect of every business in the future.
And so really being in the first stage of AI,
everyone's really looking forward and trying to understand, Okay, what
does it mean for my business, what does it mean
for my organization, what does it mean for my employees?
(51:32):
And ultimately, how does it help us deliver a better
customer experience? How does it enhance our product and capability.
So there are many organizations that have been over the
past several years in sort of investigative phases of really
trying to understand what it means. We've seen a lot
of experimentation, but being able to really apply it and
integrate it has been probably more of a twenty twenty
(51:55):
five opportunity for many many organizations in some cases requires
them to rethink. You know, where they're where their services
and capabilities live. You know, if they're on premise, it's
hard to deliver AI capabilities. You need to go to
the cloud. If you're using old networks, you know, it's
hard to deliver advanced capabilities. They need faster processing, lower latency.
(52:19):
That's why we've seen organizations like Nvidia just explode in
a market cap. Right, everyone needs to be thinking about
what's required to deliver against AI, but more importantly, really
thinking about what the outcome we're trying to drive drive towards.
And it's not like the problem is you know, it's
like hammer nail, what the problem? MAYI is the answer?
That's not always the case, and so we're really looking
(52:40):
and spending a lot of time with clients around identifying,
you know, how could AI benefit them, what problems are
they trying to solve, and then how does AI come
in in a effective, in a safe and a compliant way,
and also in a way that doesn't balloon the cost
but ultimately helps drive costs to a point where you
(53:00):
can continue to innovate. Regarding your question on jobs, you know,
it's it's again the tail is all this time on innovation. Right,
people were concerned that.
Speaker 3 (53:10):
Kim Kim and I I just want to Andrew Kim
and I just want to know where we going to
be replaced. Okay, we be replaced by AI. That's our
straight up question.
Speaker 11 (53:19):
At this point. You cannot be replaced by AI.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 11 (53:22):
I am going to AI is going to be a tool,
and you are still going to be critical and delivering
great news and information to the constituents.
Speaker 3 (53:31):
Here, let's talk about the New England Patriots Foundation and
the headlines you were making NWN Carosel is making this
week in that genre absolutely.
Speaker 11 (53:39):
On Giving Tuesday, we partner with the New England Patriots Foundation,
Josh Kraft and the team, along with the Boys and
Girls Club BOP, scannal To and an Intel Corporation to
deliver Boston's first AI Athletics Day at the Boys and
Girls Clubs at Dorchester the mar Clubhouse. You know, we
were so so grateful to come together and the intention
(54:00):
really really was to inspire, educate and empower the kids
in Dorchester with hands on access to AI technology through
these advanced aipcs that we deliver as a service along
with Intel, and we created a custom curriculum with with
with Bob and the team and the Patriots to bring
the magic of AI and demystify it through the use
(54:23):
of sports. So we had some great players there and
we were able to have a full day, a full
afternoon excuse me, of activities that demystify that broke down
very advanced AI concepts to the point where, you know,
eight to twelve year old kids in Dorchester were able
to learn about you know, things like prompt engineering and
(54:45):
the magic behind chat GBT that many people are familiar with,
and computer vision and all sorts of concepts, and you know,
doing it through sports, through physical activities with accompanying projects
on the computer that brought it all together.
Speaker 2 (55:01):
It seems like to me, Andrews, that teaching these young
kids about AI at this stage of the game just
means that they're going to grow up with it and
it's going to be second nature to them, right absolutely.
Speaker 11 (55:12):
And the intention is that we make you know, you
mentioned is it going to replace my job? Is it scary?
Is it going to take over the world. We're making
it attainable, we're making it fun, we're making it exciting,
we're making it accessible, and we're ultimately by you know,
bringing it into communities like in Dorchester, we're making it
equitable by bringing very advanced technologies. We donated these aipcs
(55:35):
to the Mark Clubhouse and they're going to have access
to this curriculum. They're going to have access to this
technology so that the kids, you know, it's not going
to be scary, it's going to be fun, it's going
to be exciting. It's their first interaction with AI was
with the New England Patriots, some of their heroes we're
playing on TV, and so just making it fun and
(55:56):
exciting and then very approachable with these activities. You know,
my goal and artical at n w N is that
this becomes a repeatable curriculum that Bob and the team
over at the Ploys and Girls Clubs can continue for
many years to come and we can continue to bring
them new innovative approaches to you know, technologies that are
going to really impact the lives on the positive for
(56:17):
for the for the teams and the communities around Boston.
Speaker 3 (56:20):
There have to be some guardrails, right Andrew, Absolutely.
Speaker 11 (56:25):
Yeah, you need to. Everything needs to be legal, complying, ethical,
especially when AI is involved. Tom and so that's really
that's really where the people come in to identify what
are the rules of the road, put the put the
rules into the AI and make sure that you know,
the AI doesn't go haywire.
Speaker 3 (56:44):
Thank you. Thank you for that, and.
Speaker 11 (56:48):
The world keep that. Do want AI to help, you know,
to help make up. We do want AI to be accessible,
and not just in the m I T s and
the Harvard's here and and then in our financial institutions.
We want AI to really be brought to the neighborhoods,
to the schools, to the communities in which we support
(57:09):
as a business to give them access and information about
how it all works.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
All right, Well, as long as you're in charge, we
feel better. We thank you. He's Andrew Gilman and he's
the chief marketing officer with NW and Kearrosel. Thank you
very much for joining us on the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Well, Joe, that's going to do it for this edition
of the New England Business Report. We hope everybody can
join us again next Sunday at eight am. Looking forward
to tapping a chat with Ernie Buck. He's going to
join us to talk about the change in the administration
in Washington and what that might mean to the auto industry.
In the meantime, we hope everybody has a great week
(57:50):
and be sure to join us again on the New
England Business Report right here on WRKO at eight am
next Sunday.
This is the New England Business Report with Joe short
Sleeve and Kim Caragan, a weekly round up 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.
I'm Kim Caerra getting along with Joe short Sleeve and
good morning to you sir. Here we are right in
the middle of the holiday season.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah, we are leaning on it, aren't we. I've been
now spending all my money on the grand kids. You know, yes,
I guess think what you're supposed to do, right.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It is amazing how you just feel everybody pulling your
wallet right out of your pocket, don't you.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's all about the kids at this point.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, well it's a lot of fun. I hope everybody's
having a great season. It's a short one, so it's
just sort of like you, you know, we came out
of Thanksgiving and it was like you were being shut
out of a cannon to get all in that you
need to in this very short season. So enjoy, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
In our program today, Kim, we're going to talk with
Laverne Lovell, remember her, right, I mean, we did the
Bloomberg Radio program. We had her on a character. She
runs a levels nurse tree out there in Midfield and
Route one O nine, and I remember during COVID you
couldn't get enough trees, and now the question is does
she have too many? Absolutely a great conversation.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, we're going to talk to her about that. We've
got a few conversations about the holiday season because of
course it's so impactful when it comes to the business community,
and we've got a really great show for you. We're
going to take our off the top a trip down
to Cape Cod talk to the CEO of the Cape
Cod Chamber of Commerce, Paul Nudswiki, great guy, and anxious
(01:30):
to talk to him about a couple of things, not
the least of which is the holiday season on the
Cape and how they try to promote it and what
the holiday season means for that area in the off season.
But we also want to talk to Paul a little
bit about those Cape Cod bridges. And we've talked to
him about this before, but it's it's sort of interesting, Joe,
(01:52):
and you and I both have chatted about this off
the air. You know, now we are facing a new
administration in Washington, d C. And the question becomes, how
might that impact the progress of these bridges. Federal funding
is certainly important when it comes to replacing these two bridges,
which need to be done desperately. But we've also got
(02:13):
an administration that's not too crazy about our congressional delegation.
So yeah, we're going to see what he thinks. We're
our governor for that matter, right.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Certainly didn't endear ourselves to the anyway. So yeah, that's
a very interesting conversation because the money, as I understand it,
for the Sagamore Bridge is pretty much out of the
gate and in process, so that most people aren't worried
about the Sagamore money. It's the Born Bridge money that
is not allocated at this point, and that would have
(02:47):
to come out of DC, and so people are wondering, Okay,
well what's going to happen there, And you know, Kim
in that vein, I actually heard the conversation saying, well
maybe we need tolls.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You know, tolls the last thing of people who spend
a lot of time on the KPE want to hear.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Also, this morning, Don Seifert's going to join us. He's
a managing editor of the Boston Business Journal. We're going
to talk to Donal a little bit about the business
community and the reaction to the fact that the administration
is changing. But we also want to talk to him
about a story that they have been reporting on. It's
it's about how pharmaceutical companies are considering a new federal
(03:27):
program that would help patients pay for things like gene
therapy treatment. These would be one time treatments that will
cure a disease, but the issue is the expense. I mean,
some of these drugs are millions of.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Dollars or five million dollars right right.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So a new federal program has been proposed in this
program would would help people pay for those over time,
but it's based on the effectiveness of the drug. Really fascinating.
We're going to talk to down about that.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Okay. We're also going to be having a conversation with
Michelle McCone. And Michelle is the vice president of Innovation
and Strategic Initiatives at the Boston Globe Media and they're
doing an interesting list these days headline of the Globe.
They're looking for New England's fastest growing companies. The Globe
wants to highlight the region's top businesses with impressive revenue growth,
(04:26):
and basically this is an outreach program, and Michelle McCone
basically says that there's a lot of interest. And then
if you make this list, if you can actually make
the Globe list of the fastest growing companies, it's going
to be good for these as they look at their
bottom line going forward if they're highlighted the Globe, right,
that makes sense. Also, Andrew Gilman's going to be along.
(04:48):
He's a chief marketing officer of NWN Carousel, and we're
going to talk about all things AI, especially how it
relates to kids and young athletes. Conversation I'm looking forward to.
Our next guest is the president and CEO of the
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. He's been a regular visitor
(05:08):
to the program. He's a Paul Ned's Wiki he is
all things cape Cod. And one of the reasons we
reached out to Paul is because we've been hearing a
lot about concern about federal funding, federal funding with the
change in the leadership down to Washington, d C. How
that will impact Massachusetts moving forward, And in particular, Paul's
(05:28):
expertise is probably more about these Cape Cod bridges. The
Born and the Sagamore Bridge that need to be replaced
or in the process of being replaced. In particular, I
understand that the Sagamore Bridge has pretty much got its
funding in the pipeline Born not so much, so there's
a bunch of questions being asked out there. But let's
(05:50):
bring in Paul. So Paul talked to us about funding
for these two bridges. Well, let's start with the Sagamore
Bridge if we could. And concerns that maybe out there
because of the change in administration.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Yeah, Well, because Sagamore is the good news. Replacement of
both bridges is a four and a half billion dollar project,
so it's basically about two point twenty five per bridge.
And for Sagamore. Last summer we received notice that we
got almost a billion and a half in federal funds
and the States has allocated the rest of the money.
(06:27):
So Sagamore is ready to go as far as federal
funding and state funding is concerned. So that's good as
it relates to federal funding in the future. The by
Parson infrastructural legislation was the source of that federal revenue
for the Sagamore Bridge and there's one more round of
funding that will happen under that by Parson structural legislation,
(06:49):
but whether it's reauthorized or not, it is really going
to depend on the incoming administration. And I think Massachusetts
and general is bracing for you know, less federal money
coming in our direction as sort of a deep blue state,
and with the new administration coming in and the offer
money's gone, so you know, I think there is some
(07:11):
nervousness about where's the money for Born going to come from.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So, Paul, has anybody talked to you about that? I mean,
are you hearing whispers that there could be issues?
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah, I think it's but it's I don't think it's
it's it's not that anyone's been notified about anything.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I think people are.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
Just exercising common sense and looking at sort of the
political realities out there. And Massachusetts received, you know, our delegation,
our federal delegation worked really hard. So over the last
five years or so, you know, there's been over eight
billion dollars that's come into the state. So that's a
significant sum. You know, the state budget is over forty billion
annually now, but the eight billion is a big number.
(07:51):
And so the programs that benefited from that, that's good
for them. And if it's a capital investment, that's great too.
But going forward, I think people are bracing for less
money coming our way.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Right, Okay, Well, let's assume that the Sagram, the Sagamore
money is in place, and then we don't have to
worry about that. And let's assume on the other end
that the Born money is not and that it's not
coming our way, especially bringing the next next four years.
So what happens then, Paul?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
They both have to be replaced. You know, those two
bridges were constructed ninety years ago to accommodate a million
trips a year. They currently see thirty eight million trips
a year. So that's the equivalent of the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco. And they've got to be replaced.
If Born, if there's no money for the replacement of Born,
the Army Corps of Engineers is notified everybody with a
(08:46):
report that they put out in twenty twenty that that
bridge is going to have to undergo a major rehabilitation,
and a rehabilitation of the Born Bridge would require a
complete closure of that bridge for three to six months
and would probably be a three year project which would
involve a lot of single lane restrictions on Born And
what that will do is that'll move traffic over to Sagamore,
(09:08):
and Sagamore will see on average ten thousand trips a day,
more than it's ever seen.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So it just.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Nare we see the backup which with the regular maintenance
happens on the existing bridges. Yeah, that would be stunning.
And the Cape Guy Commission has recently done an economic
impact study of what a bridge closure would mean. It
hasn't been finalized that they have shared the draft with
the Cape Islands Bridge Coalition, which is a coalition that
(09:39):
the Chamber of Commerce has put together to follow the project.
And basically, we would lose a third of our economy
with any sort of any closure bridge closure, whether it's
it's a temporary for a rehabilitation or a longer one
because they find something on one of the bridges on
the Born Bridge that would make it unsafe.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
And Paul, what would a rehabilitation cost? I mean that
seems like that's throwing you know, good money after bad.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Yeah. No, And that is definitely the sentiment out there.
It's in the hundreds of millions. Yeah, so it's not
two point twenty five billion, but it's still a significant
sum of money. And if that were to happen and
they cap economically sort of survived that process, that would
(10:29):
be the bridge that we would have for another twenty
five fifty years.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
All right, Paul NEEDSWICKI would tolls make a difference here?
I mean, are tolls being whispered? I mean I've seen
some articles say, well, maybe we need to put up tolls.
I mean, is that a reality.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
It hasn't been discussed. It's not part of the plan.
I mean, the current environmental review is underway for the
replacement of boat bridges, and the planning today doesn't have
any tolling configured in it. But if there's a big
whole we don't have money for born that, I think,
you know, we need to evaluate all options. All options
need to be on the table. And I've been I'm
(11:09):
a member of the Governor's Transportation Funding Task Force, and
so they're looking at projects like the MBTA deficit, which
is you know, about seven hundred million for next year,
and the East West rail project as well as the
canal bridges, and so the state could take a look
at its Bonding Authority and see if there's flexibility there
(11:31):
or that there are some changes that they could make
so that they could could come up with the remainder
of the fund. So it's not like totlling is the
only other option out there, and it hasn't been really
formally discussed as it relates to these two bridges as yet.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So let's go back to the Sagamore for just a moment.
So it looks like the dollars are secured there. When
can we anticipate that might start?
Speaker 4 (11:57):
That will start, Well, the environmental review is underway. We're
probably twelve We've been another twelve to eighteen months before
the environmental review is complete. Once the environmental review is complete,
they'll put out a bid and that's when we could
start to see construction. So twenty twenty six if there
aren't any issues with the environmental review process.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Paul, did I read that the final design is actually
two bridges for the sagamar to replace the old bridge.
Is that that built inside of the old bridge?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:30):
The design is it'll be two spans that replace the
one existing span, So there will be one span for
on board traffic and one for off board traffic. So
that's a huge safety concern. Is some redundancy involved in
that as well. So they will build the first single
(12:51):
span next to the existing bridge in board of it,
and then once that span is done, they'll reroute track
over the single span two ways temporarily while they demolish
the old bridge and then build the second span.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
So the old bridge is definitely going away, because there's
some chatter that maybe you keep it for bikes or walkers.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, you know, I'm not that's the plan right now.
I think we look at the mass Coot plant, the
bridge would have to be demolished. Hard deck gets caught
up in the fact that the two bridges right now
are both federal assets that are managed to maintained by
the Army Corps of Engineers. But under an MoU that's
been signed between the federal government and the Army Corps
and the States and Massachuse Department Transportation, those bridges will
(13:37):
then become state assets. So if it does, if it's
not demolished, it's still kind of a federal asset, all right.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He's Paul Need's WICKI he's a president and the CEO
of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, where we do
appreciate you joining us this morning on the New England
Business Report.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
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 (16:11):
Welcome back everybody to the new England Business Report. Great
to have you with us on this Sunday morning. Joining
us now is Don Seifert. He is the managing editor
of the Boston Business Journal, and it's always great to
have Don with us. Don, before we start to talk
about a story that I know you guys have been covering,
and that's about Vertex and Bluebird and about gene therapy
(16:32):
and new federal program coming about to pay for gene therapy,
I want to just extend the conversation that we were
having in the last block with Paul NEDSWICKI and that
being you know, you're reporting on the business community and
this change of administration in Washington. What are you guys
hearing there at the BBJ and what is the business
(16:55):
community saying about this change that's coming in January.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, I mean we've been we've been talking to a
lot of business leaders and uh and people you know,
inside and outside the business community, and I mean, obviously
there are a whole lot of unknowns at this point,
and you know, they haven't even started yet or anything.
But you know, you know, I've talked to us a
couple of weeks ago on this program about the whole
clean energy you know, big questions around that and whether
(17:19):
funding would be cut for clean energy. You know, Master
Chusetts is kind of going all in on that. But
I think the other big one that we've been trying
to get a handle on is is the terraffs. Obviously,
you know, the Trump has made a lot of noise
about about wanting to increase tariffs. I mean, there are
already tariffs that he that he rose from eight years
(17:40):
ago that that you know President Biden kept on, but
now he wants to kind of double down on it
and increase them even further. We I mean, you know,
we've been trying to get a handle on what it is.
But again, I mean there's so many unknowns with this.
And the one thing I think we can say a
lot of the business that are telling us well, at
(18:02):
least this time, we know that this is coming, and
since we had to deal with this eight years ago,
a lot of companies have you know, have already made
other plans around tariffs, such as you know I Robot.
I Robot does a lot of the manufacturing in China,
but they have switched largely because of the tariffs that
were imposed before, to doing some some manufacturing in Malaysia.
(18:25):
For instance, And so you know, I think that there's
a greater sense of preparedness this time around, but still
a whole lot of uncertainty on that. But well, you know,
we'll be continuing report on that and try to get
some more stronger answers on it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, certainly, as we move into twenty twenty five and
the inauguration of a new president, it's going to be
a story that is only going to get larger and
larger and it Yeah, Don Sefford Seiphered is our guest.
He's the managing editor of the Boston Business Journal. You
also told Kim and I that you really wanted to
talk about one time drug treatments that are intended to
(19:03):
cure a disease. But here's the catch. As you point out,
they cost like two or three million dollars each, So
how do how do you get from A to Z? There?
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah, I think this is interesting. This just came out,
came out this past week, and it's a new program.
It's something that that's been talked about for quite a
while with these gene therapies. Gene therapies are you know,
they're not like cancer drugs where you take it like
once a day or once a week or something. They're
like a one time thing that is that is meant
to cure the disease. Uh. You know, these are literally
(19:38):
like diseases that are caused by a faulty gene in
the body, and it either puts in a new version
of the gene that works, or in the case of
gene editing, then it would actually fix the faulty gene.
So these, I mean, these are really a new kind
of drug and they're super expensive. Is you know, people
have known that they're going to be expensive for years now,
(19:59):
and there's been a lot of talk on how to
pay for this, and one idea that's that's been batted
around as well, maybe instead of paying for the entire
treatment up front, you pay something at the beginning when
when a patient gets it, but then pay paid the
rest of it in installments later on. And those installments
might depend on how effective the drug remains, maybe to
(20:21):
tree four years out. Both of these drugs. That So
the news this past week was that Vertex Pharmaceuticals and
Bluebird Bio they both make a gene therapy for sickle
cell disease and they're both they said, you know, really
expected I think, uh, Vertex is Vertex is two point
two million, and Bluebirds the drug is called Lythgenia, and
(20:44):
that's three point one million dollars you know, for one
treatment for one patient, which sounds crazy, but again, you know,
I remember this is meant as a one time treatment,
so it's not been ongoing. You know that you only
pay this amount once. So what I thought was interesting
is that finally this idea, idea for like paying these
drugs and installment is coming to fruition. And you know,
it's one of the last things that the Biden Harris
(21:07):
administration is doing as they're heading out the door, is
trying to put this, you know, put this idea to
the test to see if this really works. I think
insurance companies will be a lot more willing to pay
for these really expensive treatments if it is dependent on
how how effective they are, you know, years after the
treatment comes in. So, I mean, this is the first
(21:29):
time that it's been done, so I'll be very interesting
to see how it works.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So don what's the upside though for companies like Vertex
or Bluebird, because how can they be guaranteed they'd get
those payments?
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Well, I mean they are they do have to make
these agreements, and you know, part of the stipulation is
that how effective these drugs are in a couple of years.
I mean, if the drugs are not of effective, then
these companies are in effect agreeing to okay, okay, we
will we will accept less payment in the future. So
they don't know exactly. But but again, I mean, these
(22:04):
drugs are you know, they are tested. You know, they've
been tested that they work in the short term, but
since they're kind of new, then we haven't seen how
long the effects last. You know, they're originally built as
kind of cures for a disease. But but you know
the things you know, obviously nobody knows over the course
of like ten or fifteen years, if it's going to
(22:26):
be a permanent Europe or somebody is going to need
another treatment and have to spend another two three million dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Talking with Don Seiffer of Managing editor at the BBJ,
you know, that's an interesting concept, you know, paying for
a drug only if it works. I mean, that's not
that's not the way you know it's worked up until now.
I mean, I can certainly understand why insurance companies love that. Yeah, Okay,
that works for us. We only pay x now or
maybe a little more later. But I figured to Kim's point,
(22:54):
drug companies, you know, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, also maybe vary right on the patient.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah, so well, I mean I think that drug companies
are under pressure to make some concession to insurance companies
knowing that these are incredibly expensive. That I mean, other
companies in the Boston area. There's those companies named Orchard Therapeutics.
They just came out with the gene therapy for and
even rarer to these and theirs is the most expensive
drug in history. It's four point five million dollars for
(23:21):
one single treatment. So I mean, if these agreements work
and these convince insurance companies that it is worth paying
for you know, keep in mind, you know, sickle cell anemia,
it costs insurance companies, you know, to to you know,
to treat these people. Anyways, if you know, presumably if
a drug actually like dramatically improves their health for years
(23:43):
on end, then you know, even though they're paying two
or three million dollars, they are saving money for those
years because they're not having to do as much cure
care for this patient later on.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah, that works. Absolutely. Well, it's a fascinating story and
when I know you guys will continue to follow and
we'll be interested to see exactly how this all shakes Don,
thanks so very much, appreciate your time this morning. Well,
I feel like this is sort of the question of
the holiday season, Joe, Is it real or is it fake?
Our next cast is counting on the idea that you
(24:18):
love the smell of pine in your home and you
like needles in your carpet.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
All your trees are fake? Correct?
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Mine are fake? Yes, yes I do. Laverne Lovell, the
co owner of Lovell Nursery in Midfield, is going to
join us and talk about holiday tree sales. That's coming
up next.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
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for just three nineteen per month with three thousand, two
(25:37):
nineteen duet signing four. Complete details and to find your
authorized Subero retailer visit Subaru of New England dot com.
Speaker 8 (25:45):
Five.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Hi, everybody, it's Kimcare or get along with Bill Chase
of High Tech Windows and Siding. Now, Bill, we've been
hearing a lot about your windows being the same windows
installed at the top of my Washington and that these
windows are only sold by high Tech.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
That's right, Kim.
Speaker 9 (26:04):
Our Summer Series windows are designed to keep your house
warm in the window and cool in the summer and
can withstand the harsh New England weather better than any
other window on the market.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
That sounds great, But what about the cost, Bill, Because
things have been pretty tight for people these days.
Speaker 9 (26:18):
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 by one window get
one off, but call us now. This is our biggest
sale of the year.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
It sounds terrific. So the best prices and the best
quality call high Tech Today at ninety seven eight seven
seven one eight nine three nine. That's nine seven eight
seven seven one eighty nine thirty nine, or visit high
Tech Corp dot biz for a free estimate. Hi everybody,
(26:52):
I'm Kim Kerrigan.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
And I'm Joe Shortsley. If you want to be part
of the New England Business Report, sponsorships are still available.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
That's any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.
Brought to you by high Tech Windows. Their windows are
installed at the top of Mount Washington and are made
to New England for New England Weather and welcome back
(27:28):
to the New England Business Report on this Sunday morning,
you know, counting down to Christmas. Since Kim is a
new survey out that has to do with how much
we're going to be spending this time around. It's actually
a survey done by the University of New Hampshire and
it covers all the New England States, and it basically
suggests that folks in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts
(27:49):
are looking to spend less this year than last year.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Now, would that please don't tell this because my husband
may be listening and.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I'm just wondering, would be your sentiment or not.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I don't know. I mean, yeah, I think maybe maybe.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Certainly not more than last year, right.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
I think that's a fair statement.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I think that's kind of where I'm at. You know.
The survey from again the University of New Hampshire basically
says that fourteen percent of base staters plan to sit
out gift shopping all together, and forty seven percent plan
to decrease their spending. Our next guest has a repeat
guest we had her on over the years, Kim Kerrig,
and I'm sure you remember. She's Laverne Level. She's the
(28:32):
owner of Levels right there on Route one poh nine
in Midfield. They are a large nursery and they do
all things holidays, Christmas, plants, whatever whatever you want. And
I remember having Levernon during COVID twenty twenty twenty twenty one,
and she said people weren't going away. Everybody stayed home,
(28:53):
so everybody needed a Christmas tree, and all of a sudden,
you know, she was selling not two hundred trees, but
three hundred trees. Maybe the number might have reached four
hundred trees. You know, she's a great barometer of the
local economy as it relates to Christmas. And she joins
us this morning. So Laverne Lovell, tell us what's going
on with Christmas trees this year.
Speaker 8 (29:12):
Well, first of all, we've got thirteen one hundred and
fifty trees this year, so we've gotten quite a bit.
I think we were having one thousand during the COVID years.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Oh wow.
Speaker 8 (29:23):
Yeah, So we've got a week less to sell them,
which is a little scary because Thanksgiving was so late.
So we're working on that. And we've got some really
tall ones eighteen feet tall. We had one of those.
We sold six ninety nine fourteen foot thirteen foot. You'd
be surprised that these big houses out here in the suburbs,
(29:46):
huge houses. By the way, we sell about fifteen of
those gigantic trees. I don't even know how they lift them.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Yeah, well, Vern, what do you learn so far about
the local Christmas economy? What are you taking away at
this point.
Speaker 8 (30:00):
Well, I don't want to sound braggadocious, but this area
that we're in, Dover, Medfield, Walpole, Westwood, Uh, it's a
pretty pretty price. Price doesn't I don't know, it doesn't matter.
But they want the tree, they'll buy it. And people
aren't looking for a bargain. Not to say that our
trees are more expensive, but we've got the bigger trees
(30:22):
because you know, they don't want a little beuny tree.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So, Oliverne, you said something about the fact that Thanksgiving
was later has that I've read in some places that
that has meant that there's been a bigger rush and
that more trees are being sold because the season is
just shorter, and of course the nice.
Speaker 8 (30:42):
And that has happened. The day after Thanksgiving we sold
like one hundred and fifty trees, and Saturday we had
our big open house with Santa. That's always a big success.
We have hot chocolate and I make three hundred cookies
and my children each make two hundred cookies, so we
have all homemade cookies and hot chocolate, and that was
a huge success. So I think they sold over the weekend.
I think we did about four hundred trees. So we
(31:05):
need to sort of do that again this weekend in
order to keep up with trying to sell them all.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Yeah, what was the average price of a tree this year?
Laverne level and talk to us have in general in
the bigger picture here, you know, in your annual revenue,
how important is the Christmas tree.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Season in my annual revenue. You'll be surprised it's not
that big of a deal. Our biggest deal is that
May June July when we sell wholesale in the back
to the landscapers.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
You know.
Speaker 8 (31:34):
So the Christmas tree is probably ten percent, maybe ten
percent of the year goes towards Christmas. In all, we
sell hundreds of wreaths that we decorate ourselves. Also, the
Christmas tree is about about eight foot. Is what everybody wants?
They run between ninety nine and one hundred and fifty dollars.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
We have a third particular tree that they like more.
Now or you know, do people want to pine or
a fur or what do they want? What do you want?
Speaker 8 (32:01):
Well, we carry both the Fraser fur and the balsam.
Now the balsam has a better smell, but the Fraser
fur has a better needle retention. So I think I
would say we sell more Frasers, but it's about fifty
to fifty.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well, let's talk about artificial trees, Laverne Level. Now, you know,
we've got Kim Carrigan here right now. She doesn't have
one artificial tree, she doesn't have two or three. She
has six artificial trees in her house. Okay, yeah, I know,
So what do you have? What do you Laverne Level,
I have to say to Kim Kerrigan about what she's
what she's doing here.
Speaker 8 (32:35):
Well, it's interesting. I did a little research because the
Wall Street Journal had an article about the North Carolina
Christmas tree growers, and in the article they had some
interesting statistics. So seventy five percent of Americans put up
a Christmas tree, which I thought was a huge amount,
and seventy seven percent of those seventy five percent put
(32:55):
up an artificial tree. Yeah, so we're selling to the
other twenty three percent, which is you know, huge by comparison.
So everybody's putting up an artificial tree, a lot of people,
and that number is going up by one or two
percent every year.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Why is that so?
Speaker 8 (33:12):
Well, you know, people go away, they're fire, they're not
afraid of fire anymore. That used to be a big excuse.
Some people are allergic. At a woman today that came
in and she said, I can't buy my tree this year.
My husband's got asthma. So she was buying a fake tree.
We do sell fake trees also, by the way, beautiful ones.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Well, well, if Christmas tree sales are going down a
percent or two every year, why is Laverne level buying
thirteen hundred trees this year as opposed to one thousand
last year.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Well, we've got more people in our area. Okay, you know,
the population is going up, so we need more trees.
And it's it's good. It's going to be all good.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
So Laverne, I've always been interested in knowing when Christmas
Eve rolls around and you close the lot and there's
still trees on the lawne typically, how many are there?
What does that cost you in the end, and what
do you do with them?
Speaker 8 (34:07):
Very good question. So you know, five or six years ago,
when I first talked to Joe, shortly during the pandemic,
we didn't have one tree left. As the pandemic ended,
people were going to a room for Christmas and they
were going to Miami and then we saw a big thing.
We had one hundred trees left over about two years ago,
(34:28):
three years ago, and they either go through the chimper
or now we have a place in Sherburn if I
can remember the name of it, that will take the
Christmas trees and feed them to the goats. They also
take our leftover pumpkins. Rather than put them in a landfill,
they take leftover pumpkins and feed them to the goats.
(34:50):
So we've found ways to get rid of the trees
without just chipping them.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
And is that just a loss for you? Is that
just a financial loss for you?
Speaker 8 (34:58):
It's just money in the waistback get complete loss. That's
why we have to be careful with how many trees
we buy, because it's you know, if you don't sell
it to day after, it's a goner.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Yeah, Oliver and Lovell, owner of a levels nursery there
in Midfield. Where do you get your trees and when
do you make decisions about purchases and how far are
you going to find these trees?
Speaker 8 (35:19):
So our trees are coming down from Quebec and Nova Scotia.
We ordered them so this year on December twenty seventh, Jay,
who's my key man out there will have a whole
list of every day, how many trees you sold each day,
how many were left over, and right then we order
next year's trees so that we're sure we're going to
(35:42):
get them. We get them when we want them, we
get the best one, so you know, it's kind of
scientifically done like that.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
My understanding, Laverne is that Christmas tree farms and places
that sell Christmas trees, the number of those have also
declined over time.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
Well I'm just looking just even this year, not so
much farm. But there's a place called the Big Apple
that's been in Rantham for many, many years. They're going
out of business this year. And Stobart's Nursery in Franklin.
I think they've been there fifty sixty years. They're selling
their land to build apartments, so they're going to be
going out of business. You're finding these independent guarden centers
(36:24):
very very difficult to keep up with the weather, trying
to get the help. Well, I don't have any trouble
getting help because I have my daughter Colleen, my grandson Andrew,
my two nephews, Jay and Mike, their children, and I
have seven grandchildren who all work here at some point
during the year when they say the family business. You
(36:46):
have to have the family because they're not going to
call you and say I'm not coming in right.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
And what kind of trade does Laverne Lovell have in
her house?
Speaker 8 (36:55):
I have a fraser for about seven or eight feet
because I don't want to decorate anything anyway.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
Well, listen, I'm Merry Christmas to you and your whole
family there, and we do appreciate you taking time and
joining us this Sunday morning on the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know, Joe, we've been reporting here on the show
that a lot of businesses in New England have been
struggling in this current economy while others, on the other hand,
have been thriving. The Boston Globe has decided to seek
out some of those businesses that have seen increases in
their revenue and their production the last couple of years
and find out who they are. They want to find
(37:31):
out how they've done it, and they want to find
out how well they have done if they're out there, Yeah,
they certainly are. We're joined by the vice president of
Innovation and Strategic Initiative at Boston Globe Media. This is
Michelle my Cone. And it's great to have you with us. Michelle.
Let's talk a little bit about this project. What made
you guys decide that this was something you wanted to do?
Speaker 10 (37:52):
Well, thank you for having me. You know, New England
is really this amazing epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurship, and
as the leading meetia organization, we just thought, how can
we build something that will highlight all this amazing work,
and so we are devising a list that will kind
of shine a light on those inspirational stories of companies
(38:13):
that are thriving and shaping the industry despite the media,
the business landscape.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
Now, Michelle, one thing I have to say is we
have to do this interview. I love your title vice
President of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives. I mean, you know,
if I were going to have a title, I think
i'd like that. That title, I don't know something about it. Okay, well,
all right, I'm looking at some of the criteria here
for these New England's fastest growing companies that you're going
(38:40):
to highlight. Give us some of the criteria. What do
you have to be to make your list?
Speaker 10 (38:44):
So first of all, you have to have your headquarters
in New England, Most people think of us as covering Boston.
Of course it's in our name, but we really strive
to cover New England and highlights what's going on in Connecticut,
Me Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island of Vermont, so first
of all having a headquarters there, and then we're looking
for businesses that have generated at least one hundred thousand
dollars in revenue in twenty twenty and then at least
(39:06):
growing to at least one point five million by twenty
twenty three. We're looking for independent companies and being not
a subsidiary or branch and have revenue growth in the
last three years. It's primarily organic versus being purchased or something.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Now, I know you guys are looking and hoping to
find this list by the fifteenth of December. So far,
how has the search been and can you reveal any
of these companies to us?
Speaker 10 (39:32):
We can't yet. Our editorial team reserves that right, but
we know it's been challenging. A lot of these companies
may be smaller, certainly privately held, So that's why we're
talking to you guys, trying to get the word out.
We've published some articles in the Boston globe. We're reaching
out on social media. We really just want to make
sure people know that this is a great opportunity to
(39:53):
highlight their business. It's not a long application. And actually importantly,
the data that they've provide private companies are often protective
about that will not go to us. It'll go to
a company called PISA that we partner with that handles
that data in a very confidential manner.
Speaker 3 (40:10):
And what does it mean to a company you think
to make your list? What kind of difference do you
anticipate this will be for some of these companies?
Speaker 10 (40:20):
Such a great question. I think for a company, if
I put myself in their shoes, you know they need
brand awareness, right, so people want to use their company services.
Brand awareness PR always helps also hiring employees. They can
then use this accolade if you will, the fastest growing
one of the fastest growing companies in New England, they
can use that on their website and their emails and
(40:42):
in other business dealings to kind of back up all
the great work their company is doing.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
So let's talk a little bit about you know, what
kind of companies you guys anticipate. I'm sure you've sort
of looked into this I mean, are these primarily going
to be tech companies? What do you think think who's
doing that? Well, Michelle, because those are pretty big numbers
you're talking about.
Speaker 10 (41:04):
Yes, it really is all sectors. You know, we've looked.
We've seen a lot of tech companies for sure, but
also many companies in the food services business, companies that
have I just looked at one this morning in Connecticut
that I I was wanting to get their attention about
coming up with innovative food services. There's insurance companies, there's
(41:25):
law firms. We're really not looking for one industry. We're
looking across all industries. And there's certainly a lot of
energy companies and construction companies. Really, really, any business of
this size is qualified for this list as long as
they meet the revenue goals.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
And what has been the response so far? And I mean,
what are you going to do if you get a
title wave? I mean, how many companies actually get to
make bus listens?
Speaker 10 (41:50):
We haven't determined the number yet. I think we want
to see first how many people apply, but we'd love
to highlight as many as possible. You know, we do
this across other industries. We just have we just highlighted
the companies that were top places to work. We have
a tech list that we release we've been releasing for
four years that highlights tech power players in the Massachusetts area.
(42:13):
So we really feel this is a great way to
tell company stories that people may not other know and
companies that may not be household names otherwise. So we'll
settle on the number later, but we'd like to highlight
as many as as possible.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
So Michelle, let me change gears just a moment if
I could. By the way, this is Michelle McCone. She
is the vice president of Innovation and Strategic Initiative at
the Boston Globe Media. Talk to me a little bit
about Joe's pointed out your title earlier. Tell me a
little bit more about what you do there with Boston
(42:47):
Globe Media and what are some of the things that
you know you've been tasked with doing.
Speaker 10 (42:51):
Thank you for asking. We We are, of course a
legacy media company over one hundred and fifty years old.
We've been in this business for a very long time
and we're experts at it. But I really focus on
doing new things. So really outside of the core business
of producing the wonderful journalism every day digitally and in
the newspaper. So lists are relatively new for us, and
(43:12):
so when we do more lists, my team and I
kind of start them up and eventually when they become
mature products that people might handle it. But we're kind
of the internal startup group. We focus on new technology.
We're working a lot with generative AI and how to
incorporate that into our business. You know, there's a lot
of sort of repetitive tasks that can be it can
(43:35):
be automated as generative AI. Not the journalism, but other
parts of the business, and we're really looking at just
how do we continue to digitally transform and modernize this
wonderful brand.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
Tell us more about the AI integration and how you're
dealing with that.
Speaker 10 (43:51):
I think we're just being very careful but learning a lot.
We're really focused on being aware of what's out there
and learning and using tools like Google Gemini that are
now built into the software products we use every day,
things like that that can just make the small tasks
every day a little easier and a little faster.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
You know, Michelle, I know that this is not a
secret to you. It's not a secret to anyone who's listening.
We all know that the newspaper business has faced a
lot of challenges over the last couple of years. Is
this kind of and I'm going to use the term innovation,
but is this kind of innovation what's keeping the Boston
Globe moving forward?
Speaker 10 (44:31):
Absolutely, this type of innovation and new thinking is critical
in a business that has been around a long time.
And we have an incredible team of people that are
always thinking about new things on top of doing the
things we've always been doing really well every day, and
I think it's what powers our growth and what really
keeps us relevant. And we're for example, we just launched
(44:55):
a new suite of games on our site. If you
go to Globe dot com Slash games, many of them
are free for all users. That allows people to engage
with us outside of news. So we're really thinking of
new ways to just be part of people's live and
be useful every day.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
Well continued success, Michelle macohone. We thank you so much
for being a part of the New England Business Report today.
Coming up next to Local Business working to make sure
that inner city kids can have a knowledge about AI
and computers so they can explore it.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
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 2 (45:41):
Hi, everybody, it's Kim Care or get along with Bill
Chase of high Tech Windows Insiding.
Speaker 11 (45:45):
Now.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Bill, we've been hearing a lot about your windows being
the same windows installed at the top of Mount Washington
and that these windows are only sold by high Tech.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
That's right, Jim.
Speaker 9 (45:53):
Our Summer Series windows are designed to keep your house
warm in the window and cool in the summer, and
can with stand harsh New England weather better than any
other window on the market.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
That sounds great. But what about the cost, Bill, Because
things have been pretty tight for people these days.
Speaker 9 (46:07):
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 forty percent off.
Speaker 3 (46:18):
But call us now.
Speaker 9 (46:19):
This is our biggest sale of the year.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
It sounds terrific. So the best prices and the best
quality call high Tech today at nine seven eight seven
seven one eight nine thirty nine. That's nine seven eight
seven seven one eighty nine thirty nine. Or visit high
Tech Corp dot biz for a free estimate.
Speaker 5 (46:39):
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Each October, Subaru of New England proudly partners with twelve
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(47:01):
Subaru of New England will donate five dollars toward our
local shelter partners up to seventy five thousand dollars. With
your help through SNE loves Pets, Subaru of New England
has donated over five hundred thousand dollars to animal shelters
across New England. Getting involved is easy. Your phone is
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(47:22):
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Speaker 6 (47:37):
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(48:11):
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Speaker 1 (48:41):
The New England Business Report on w RKO is brought
to you in part by Subaru of New England. Feel
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Speaker 3 (48:56):
And welcome back to the New England Business Report on
this Sunday morning, the eighth. We're going to close the
show today, Kim talking about well AI, I think, I
think AI pretty much is taking over the whole world.
So who knows better than that than our next guest.
He's Andrew Gilman and he's the chief marketing officer for
NWN Carousel. Now NWN Carousel delivers AI powered technology and
(49:22):
solutions to the modern workforce. And well, Andrew, let's say,
looked at his LinkedIn page, a seasoned executive with over
two decades of experience in the tech industry. He's a
recognized leader in the world of IT services, cloud data
and AI and cybersecurity. And we welcome him to the
New England Business Report. So Andrew, tell us about NWN Carousel,
(49:46):
and you know what's on your desk every.
Speaker 11 (49:48):
Day, absolutely, Joe and and thank you so much and
really appreciate the opportunities. So NW and Carousel we're the
leading tech services company, national company, but based here in Boston.
I'm actually sitting here right in one eleven, Huntington, and
we really provide organizations with the ability to deliver extraordinary
experiences for their employees and for their customers, leveraging the
(50:10):
power of AI and really advanced technologies. We've been around
for over thirty years. We have about five thousand accounts
that we support, but half public sector, half in the enterprise,
and our team and our teams are really client focused
to help again break down the bearers, make AI attainable,
make it applicable, and make it impactful. As you said, Joe,
(50:32):
AI is taken over the world. So there's a lot
of organizations that are just trying to figure out how
it fits and how it can be impactful and how
they can deliver a great employee and customer experience. And
that's our job is to help them be really consultative
and help break through the noise and deliver high impact,
high solutions. And so we're really excited to share what
we've been working on here at the Boys and Girls
(50:54):
Club this week.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yeah, and we want to talk about that program here
in just one second, but before we do. I want
to ask you, Andrew, what's a reaction to AI from
some of your clients. I mean, are people afraid of it?
Are they concerned about losing jobs as a result of it?
Give us a sense of what you're hearing.
Speaker 11 (51:12):
Well, AI is going to be like the new electricity, right,
It's going to be a utility that's really integrated in
every capability, in every aspect of every business in the future.
And so really being in the first stage of AI,
everyone's really looking forward and trying to understand, Okay, what
does it mean for my business, what does it mean
for my organization, what does it mean for my employees?
(51:32):
And ultimately, how does it help us deliver a better
customer experience? How does it enhance our product and capability.
So there are many organizations that have been over the
past several years in sort of investigative phases of really
trying to understand what it means. We've seen a lot
of experimentation, but being able to really apply it and
integrate it has been probably more of a twenty twenty
(51:55):
five opportunity for many many organizations in some cases requires
them to rethink. You know, where they're where their services
and capabilities live. You know, if they're on premise, it's
hard to deliver AI capabilities. You need to go to
the cloud. If you're using old networks, you know, it's
hard to deliver advanced capabilities. They need faster processing, lower latency.
(52:19):
That's why we've seen organizations like Nvidia just explode in
a market cap. Right, everyone needs to be thinking about
what's required to deliver against AI, but more importantly, really
thinking about what the outcome we're trying to drive drive towards.
And it's not like the problem is you know, it's
like hammer nail, what the problem? MAYI is the answer?
That's not always the case, and so we're really looking
(52:40):
and spending a lot of time with clients around identifying,
you know, how could AI benefit them, what problems are
they trying to solve, and then how does AI come
in in a effective, in a safe and a compliant way,
and also in a way that doesn't balloon the cost
but ultimately helps drive costs to a point where you
(53:00):
can continue to innovate. Regarding your question on jobs, you know,
it's it's again the tail is all this time on innovation. Right,
people were concerned that.
Speaker 3 (53:10):
Kim Kim and I I just want to Andrew Kim
and I just want to know where we going to
be replaced. Okay, we be replaced by AI. That's our
straight up question.
Speaker 11 (53:19):
At this point. You cannot be replaced by AI.
Speaker 3 (53:21):
Okay, thank you.
Speaker 11 (53:22):
I am going to AI is going to be a tool,
and you are still going to be critical and delivering
great news and information to the constituents.
Speaker 3 (53:31):
Here, let's talk about the New England Patriots Foundation and
the headlines you were making NWN Carosel is making this
week in that genre absolutely.
Speaker 11 (53:39):
On Giving Tuesday, we partner with the New England Patriots Foundation,
Josh Kraft and the team, along with the Boys and
Girls Club BOP, scannal To and an Intel Corporation to
deliver Boston's first AI Athletics Day at the Boys and
Girls Clubs at Dorchester the mar Clubhouse. You know, we
were so so grateful to come together and the intention
(54:00):
really really was to inspire, educate and empower the kids
in Dorchester with hands on access to AI technology through
these advanced aipcs that we deliver as a service along
with Intel, and we created a custom curriculum with with
with Bob and the team and the Patriots to bring
the magic of AI and demystify it through the use
(54:23):
of sports. So we had some great players there and
we were able to have a full day, a full
afternoon excuse me, of activities that demystify that broke down
very advanced AI concepts to the point where, you know,
eight to twelve year old kids in Dorchester were able
to learn about you know, things like prompt engineering and
(54:45):
the magic behind chat GBT that many people are familiar with,
and computer vision and all sorts of concepts, and you know,
doing it through sports, through physical activities with accompanying projects
on the computer that brought it all together.
Speaker 2 (55:01):
It seems like to me, Andrews, that teaching these young
kids about AI at this stage of the game just
means that they're going to grow up with it and
it's going to be second nature to them, right absolutely.
Speaker 11 (55:12):
And the intention is that we make you know, you
mentioned is it going to replace my job? Is it scary?
Is it going to take over the world. We're making
it attainable, we're making it fun, we're making it exciting,
we're making it accessible, and we're ultimately by you know,
bringing it into communities like in Dorchester, we're making it
equitable by bringing very advanced technologies. We donated these aipcs
(55:35):
to the Mark Clubhouse and they're going to have access
to this curriculum. They're going to have access to this
technology so that the kids, you know, it's not going
to be scary, it's going to be fun, it's going
to be exciting. It's their first interaction with AI was
with the New England Patriots, some of their heroes we're
playing on TV, and so just making it fun and
(55:56):
exciting and then very approachable with these activities. You know,
my goal and artical at n w N is that
this becomes a repeatable curriculum that Bob and the team
over at the Ploys and Girls Clubs can continue for
many years to come and we can continue to bring
them new innovative approaches to you know, technologies that are
going to really impact the lives on the positive for
(56:17):
for the for the teams and the communities around Boston.
Speaker 3 (56:20):
There have to be some guardrails, right Andrew, Absolutely.
Speaker 11 (56:25):
Yeah, you need to. Everything needs to be legal, complying, ethical,
especially when AI is involved. Tom and so that's really
that's really where the people come in to identify what
are the rules of the road, put the put the
rules into the AI and make sure that you know,
the AI doesn't go haywire.
Speaker 3 (56:44):
Thank you. Thank you for that, and.
Speaker 11 (56:48):
The world keep that. Do want AI to help, you know,
to help make up. We do want AI to be accessible,
and not just in the m I T s and
the Harvard's here and and then in our financial institutions.
We want AI to really be brought to the neighborhoods,
to the schools, to the communities in which we support
(57:09):
as a business to give them access and information about
how it all works.
Speaker 3 (57:15):
All right, Well, as long as you're in charge, we
feel better. We thank you. He's Andrew Gilman and he's
the chief marketing officer with NW and Kearrosel. Thank you
very much for joining us on the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (57:29):
Well, Joe, that's going to do it for this edition
of the New England Business Report. We hope everybody can
join us again next Sunday at eight am. Looking forward
to tapping a chat with Ernie Buck. He's going to
join us to talk about the change in the administration
in Washington and what that might mean to the auto industry.
In the meantime, we hope everybody has a great week
(57:50):
and be sure to join us again on the New
England Business Report right here on WRKO at eight am
next Sunday.
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