BUSINESS BRIEFS: Bristol County CIO,MTF Migration Webinar, County Employment, NFIB vs $20 minimum

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Bristol County Appoints VP and CIO

Bristol County Savings Bank (BCSB), headquartered in Taunton, with a branch in Franklin has named Thomas A. Foresta, Jr., (above) to the position of Executive Vice President/Chief Information Officer. In this capacity, Foresta is responsible for leading a team which provides technical direction, solutions and support for all business functions within the Bank. Prior to Foresta’s appointment at the Bank, the 25-year veteran of the banking industry held several positions, including: SVP/Chief Information Officer for Envision Bank in Quincy, Massachusetts; Chief Information Officer with Dean Bank, Franklin, Massachusetts; Vice President and Director of Information Systems at Capital Crossing Bank, Boston, Massachusetts; and Director of MIS at Abington Savings Bank, Abington, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation to Host Webinar on Impact of National Migration Trends on State

The 495/Metrowest Partnership has shared that on October 19th, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) will host a webinar that will explore national migration trends and assess their impact on Massachusetts. The discussion will provide an orientation to how national patterns of movement affect the state, while also considering how public policy can be a tool for reducing out-migration and compensating for its impacts.

The webinar will include a presentation from Pew State Fiscal Health Project demographics expert Joanna Biernacka-Lievestro, Ph.D. Following this presentation will be a moderated discussion with panelists Tricia Canavan (CEO at Tech Foundry), Pam Eddinger (President of Bunker Hill Community College), and Luc Schuster (Executive Director of Boston Indicators). Click here to register for this event.

2023 Q1 County Employment And Wages In Massachusetts

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Suffolk County had the largest over-the-year increase in employment at 3.0%.
• All nine large counties reported increases in the average weekly wage from the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023.
• The largest average weekly wage gains occurred in Barnstable (+8.4%), Plymouth (+8.1%), and Hampden (+7.9%) Counties.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

https://www.bls.gov/regions/northeast/news-release/countyemploymentandwages_massachusetts.htm.

Employment rose in 8 of the 9 largest counties in Massachusetts from March 2022 to March 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

NFIB Knocks $20 Minimum Wage Proposal

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation's leading small business advocacy association, commented on legislation raising the state’s minimum wage to $20 per hour and its impact on small businesses ahead of today’s hearing on the bill in the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development. “Now is not the time to raise labor costs for small businesses by increasing the minimum wage to a whopping $20 per hour,” said Christopher Carlozzi, NFIB’s Massachusetts state director. “Raising the base wage to $20 is not only unsustainable for Massachusetts employers who are already raising compensation to counteract the state’s labor shortage and attract workers into the workforce, but additionally, these types of one-size-fits-all mandates hurt smaller, Main Street businesses that cannot absorb the cost the most.” Last spring, NFIB commissioned a study conducted by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) to determine the impact of the proposed bills before the Legislature that drastically hike the minimum wage. The study finds that Senate No. 1200 and House No. 1925, which propose increasing the state’s minimum wages by 33% to $20 per hour, could lead to significant job losses, income reductions, and closures for small businesses across Massachusetts.