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Regan: Priority for Massachusetts is Economic Recovery

Posted on January 22, 2021

The unprecedented upheaval of 2020 will change the way we live and work for years to come, AIM President and Chief Executive Officer John Regan said Friday.

Regan punctuated the annual State of Massachusetts Business Address with a call for state policymakers to support the recovery of an economy that remains fragile in the wake of the ongoing public-health crisis.

“Hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors in Massachusetts remain out of work because of the pandemicMany have left the workforce altogether,” Regan said during a virtual speech to the Aim Executive Forum.

“Addressing the COVID crisis by shutting down the economy again and impeding the ability of people to support their families is not a solution. Neither is imposing Draconian tax increases to address the state’s fiscal issues on the backs of businesspeople trying to keep people employed amid permanent, structural changes to the way we live and work.”

Regan noted that the unprecedented convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a cataclysmic recession and a reckoning on racial equity combined to alter the economy, the workplace, health care, manufacturing supply chains and transportation. It affected schools, government, family life, shopping patterns, the housing market, race relations and social interactions. 

The upheaval has accelerated ongoing seismic shifts in the nature of the workplace, Regan said,

“What the e-commerce revolution did for physical stores, the telepresence revolution could do for office-adjacent employmentSome of the repercussions are positive – less traffic in major urban areas, more flexibility for workers and expanded opportunities for employers to hire talented people virtually anywhere,” he said.

“The bad news? Cities like Boston that have thrived on proximity-driven innovation and community intellectual energy could see that energy dissipate as companies accelerate the move toward virtual operations. Given the okay to go remote, workers may use their freedom to move to cheaper metros where they can afford more space, inside and outside.

Four distinguished economic experts offered commentary about which changes generated by the pandemic might be lasting. Pamela Everhart of Fidelity Investments, Edward Glaeser of Harvard University, Dr. Lee Schwamm of Mass General Brigham and Nada Sanders of Northeastern University said the nature of any long-term structural economic shifts will become evident only after governments moderate the spread of the pandemic.

Regan said AIM and its 3,300 members look forward to working with state and federal leaders to craft a long-term economic recovery for the commonwealth.

“Massachusetts businesses have responded responsibly to the pandemic by prioritizing their employees and customers, investing in workplace-safety protocols, adapting operations to ensure compliance with business-specific requirements and finding creative ways to offer services and goods while remaining operational,” Regan said. 

“Businesses prioritized these things because this is what our businesses do. They invest, they change, and they adapt. These are the qualities that have made Massachusetts an economic leader for decades.