By Brooke Thomson
President & CEO

What’s ahead for the Massachusetts business economy in 2025?

You’ve come to the right place to find out. AIM is starting the year off with a bang to give our 3,400 member employers the intelligence they need to successfully navigate what promises to be an eventful 12 months.

The highlight will come on January 23 when Governor Maura Healey again appears at the AIM Executive Forum to articulate her policy priorities and economic strategy for the coming year. The event will come a week after the governor delivers her annual State of the Commonwealth address to a joint session of the Massachusetts Legislature.

The January 23 Forum marks the third consecutive year that the governor has chosen to outline her economic agenda to AIM. We expect a sold-out crowd of more than 450 people at the Waltham Westin hotel, so get your tickets early. Meet the governor, ask a question, network with fellow business executives, and talk with senior members of the administration about what your company needs.

REGISTER FOR THE EXECUTIVE FORUM

These two-way conversations with the state’s chief executive have been remarkably valuable in building a shared vision of economic development that melds competitiveness for the business community with affordability for the residents who work in our companies and live in our communities.

AIM worked closely with Governor Healey and the Legislature during 2023/2024 to reduce the short-term capital gains tax rate, and to make the commonwealth a leader in wage equity and transparency. We also worked with Massachusetts lawmakers to pass a multi-billion housing bond bill, a comprehensive energy siting bill and an economic-development measure that invests $3.9 billion to ensure that Massachusetts builds on its strengths in life sciences and clean technology for the next decade.

AIM is planning to outline its own economic agenda this month as well. As president and CEO of this respected110-year-old organization, I will be honored to deliver the 2025 AIM State of Massachusetts Business address via streamed video in mid-January. The address sets the policy and economic priorities each year for the business community in Massachusetts.

AIM will use the State of Massachusetts Business address to put forward proposals that address the key issues of business costs, housing, transportation, talent retention, energy, health care and the need to support the industries in which the commonwealth holds a competitive advantage. Across all the initiatives is a consistent theme: We need to make it easier for businesses and individuals to thrive in Massachusetts.

Separately, AIM will today release its annual HR Practices survey, which gathers data on employment practices from more than 200 Massachusetts employers. The survey shows that wage increases are moderating, health-insurance costs are accelerating, and Massachusetts employers plan to spend 2025 strengthening workforce stability and optimizing compensation.

HR Practices paints a vivid picture of the ways in which companies are responding to the developing economy around them.

I invite you, as always, to contact any member of the AIM staff if there is an issue you think should be on our radar. AIM is your association, and we count it a privilege to work on your behalf.

We hope to see you this month.