Editor’s note – The following is the text of speech delivered by AIM CEO Brooke Thomson to the Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce last week.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak to the Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce this morning and to highlight the close working relationship that AIM and the Chamber have enjoyed for many years. Tim Murray is an indefatigable champion of the business community, and our work together creates a strong and clear voice for employers here in Worcester and throughout the commonwealth.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts, or AIM, collaborates with employers and organizations like the Worcester Chamber on public-policy issues that provide economic opportunity to the people of Massachusetts.

At AIM, we believe passionately that the role of business is to increase value for society. We work to ensure that the businesses and economy of Massachusetts will thrive today and tomorrow, creating a brighter future for all. We do this by empowering businesses with the information and tools to successfully navigate a fast-paced business world.

With that in mind, let’s begin by acknowledging that the Massachusetts economy today is a study in contrasts.

The question we face in 2026 is whether it is also a study in contradictions.

On one hand, our economy remains the envy of the other 49 states and a global center of business and commerce.

We maintain world-class strengths in education, health care, innovation, advanced manufacturing, defense technology and financial markets. We rank first nationally in eighth-grade reading and math achievement, third in venture-capital funding at $14.4 billion and second nationally in economic output per capita.

On the other hand, Massachusetts faces a unique set of challenges at a uniquely uncertain time in our nation’s history.

The federal government is attempting to restrict support for the “eds and meds” growth industries that have driven our economic enterprise for more than a decade. At the same time, Massachusetts faces an affordability crisis as excessive costs for housing, energy, medical care and transportation choke business formation and drive working-aged people to competitor states.

A May 2026 poll by the MassINC Polling Group revealed deepening economic anxiety across Massachusetts. The poll found that affordability pressures are increasingly influencing broader economic and demographic trends in the state. Many residents say they are delaying homeownership, moving out of Massachusetts, postponing having children, or reconsidering career opportunities because of the financial burden.

It’s no wonder the AIM Business Confidence Index has lingered in pessimistic territory for 14 of the past 15 months.

It sometimes feels as if Massachusetts is thriving and struggling at the same time. Boston Globe Editor Brian McGrory summed it up well during a conversation we had at the AIM Annual Meeting recently – Quote: “We know we have the foundation to be the best economy in this country. On the other hand, we also have to pose legitimate questions about why it doesn’t feel like that right now.”

The contrasts are everywhere: Economic growth continues, but at a slower pace than many would like. Employers in key sectors are still hiring, especially in health care, technology, and research-driven industries, yet many businesses are struggling with rising costs, labor shortages, and uncertainty surrounding global trade. Analysts project moderate growth for Massachusetts in 2026, but they also warn that high costs and demographic pressures could limit our long-term competitiveness if left unaddressed.

So, ultimately, what’s the playlist for the future of the Massachusetts economy? Is it Adeline’s You Know It’s Going to Be OK? Or REM’s The End of the World as We Know It?

And more importantly, whichever playlist we choose, how shall we respond?

I suggest an approach this morning that is very much like the advice I give my teen-age daughters – play to your strengths, control what you can control and minimize outside distractions. Ignore the noise and focus on the steps needed to ensure long-term success. Be adaptable. Remember what got you here.

At the risk of giving away the ending I remain optimistic about the fundamental strength and stability of the Massachusetts economy. Our commonwealth will prosper because we own the economy of tomorrow.

First and foremost, many of the challenges Massachusetts faces today are political, not structural or economic. They are ephemeral, cyclical, temporal. Many of the most immediate threats – reductions in research funding, tariffs and immigration policy – have already been moderated or invalidated by the courts. Those that remain are subject to volatile political winds that may change direction altogether in a matter of months or years.

The bottom line is that while these federal changes provide real challenges for Massachusetts, they do not shift the fundamental economic infrastructure that has made the commonwealth a global economic center.

Our innovation economy remains one of the most powerful in the country. Research institutions, hospitals, and universities continue to fuel breakthroughs in biotechnology, robotics, climate technology, semiconductors, and AI. According to recent studies, the Massachusetts research and development economy supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity. That innovation pipeline remains one of our greatest competitive advantages.

State leaders have also recognized the need to invest aggressively in the future. Recent economic development initiatives have focused on expanding housing production, supporting small businesses, strengthening workforce training, and attracting investment in emerging industries. Major state initiatives aimed at life sciences, climatetech, and advanced manufacturing are designed to ensure that Massachusetts remains competitive not only with other states, but with nations around the world.

My optimism about Massachusetts is fueled in large part by the extraordinary accomplishments of the companies that belong to AIM and to the Worcester Chamber. As CEO of AIM, I spend much of my time in the car visiting and being awed by companies ranging from manufacturers in Central Massachusetts to financial firms in the Berkshires to life sciences companies in Cambridge to ocean research institutions on the Cape.

Take Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Devens, which is preparing to revolutionize the U.S. energy landscape by developing fusion processes that will provide a near-limitless, zero-carbon, 24/7 baseload power source. Fusion from CFS holds the potential to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels while powering growing electrification needs, such as AI data centers.

CFS was spun out of MIT in 2018, combining decades of fusion research with the private sector’s speed and agility. Eight years and $3 billion worth of investment later (CFS may be the best-funded startup company that Massachusetts has ever seen), the company is on track to build commercial fusion power plants while working with policymakers and suppliers to make fusion energy available globally.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is showing us what Massachusetts can become. The enterprise is testament to the potential for clean-technology companies to drive the Massachusetts economy and address our pressing energy and environmental needs. AIM was pleased to honor CFS last month with its Excellence in Manufacturing Award.

The limitless potential of companies like CFS reminds us that during a season of chaos and uncertainty, we must concentrate on our own issues here in Massachusetts to ensure that the commonwealth is able to attract and retain the companies and jobs of the future. Control what we can control and play to our strengths.

We must remain clear-eyed about our own challenges as the commonwealth seeks to maintain economic growth.

• We must moderate the high cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts, from taxes to energy. Those costs continue to drive companies to expand to lower-cost states or to relocate there altogether. CNBC currently ranks Massachusetts 49th among the 50 states for cost of doing business and 42nd for business friendliness.
• We must address the prohibitively high cost of providing good health insurance to our workers.
• We must support accelerated production of housing to solve a crisis that makes it all but impossible for some of our best workers to live here. Massachusetts ranks 48th in the country for domestic outmigration of young adults aged 26 to 35. And let me make clear that the rent control referendum on the November ballot will only make the crisis worse.
• We must address the aging transportation infrastructure and highway congestion that affect productivity and logistics, particularly for companies that rely on commuting workers or regional supply chains. Workers often move farther from Boston or Cambridge in search of affordable housing, but longer commutes mean higher gas, toll, parking, and vehicle maintenance expenses.
• And we must fix a state Unemployment Insurance system that is projected to become insolvent in 2028.

The central policy challenge for state and local leaders is to balance strong economic growth with affordability — especially through housing production, transportation improvements, workforce development, and expanded childcare access. Achieving that balance will ensure that our economy maintains the contrasts that make it distinct and vibrant without the contradictions that threaten to tear it apart.

Massachusetts, after all, does occupy a special place in the nation.

As the United States celebrates its 250^th anniversary, it’s worthwhile to remember that the American Revolution commenced in Massachusetts with the words of Captain John Parker at the battle of Lexington and Concord: “Let it begin here!”

That phrase, “Let it begin here,” became a guiding principal for our commonwealth throughout the birth of the United States and has continued to this day. It has defined the leadership imperative that has driven Massachusetts in everything from the social contract to government to the economy.

It is the same principal that has made Massachusetts a center of wealth, innovation, education, research, re-invention and prosperity for the past 200 years. It has defined a unique system that has made Massachusetts an economy of firsts – from the World Wide Web developed at MIT to anesthesia for surgeries to the integrated circuit to liquid-fueled rockets to the first gas-powered automobile to the computer spreadsheet.

And yes, even the humble chocolate-chip cookie.

To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, “I do not speak with any fondness but the language of coolest history, when I say that (Massachusetts) commands attention as the town which was appointed in the destiny of nations to lead the civilization of North America.”

I believe that destiny remains and bodes well for the future of Massachusetts.

Thank you.