The Energy and Sustainable Development Committee of the 495/MetroWest Partnership invites you to a special forum featuring Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy.

A presentation from the Secretary focused on the Commonwealth's reopening from COVID-19 will be followed by a question and answer period.

This event will take place remotely via Zoom tomorrow, Thursday, October 15th at 8:30 AM. Click here to register.

The 495/MetroWest Partnership's Energy and Sustainable Development Committee focuses on issues related to land use, energy, brownfields remediation, low-impact development, broadband connectivity, placemaking, and environmental stewardship. The Committee is open to all interested participants.

From the Division of Local Services:

The Baker-Polito Administration announced a comprehensive set of resources, known as the Eviction Diversion Initiative, to support tenants and landlords during the financial challenges caused by the pandemic. The goal of this initiative is to keep tenants safely in their homes and to support the ongoing expenses of landlords once the Commonwealth’s pause of evictions and foreclosures expires on Saturday, October 17th.

In order to ensure tenants are aware of available resources, the Administration has kicked off a public information campaign, including a new option available to call the Massachusetts 2-1-1 information hotline, effective Tuesday, October 13th. Operators for 2-1-1 are trained to answer questions and connect residents to the agencies that administer RAFT and ERMA. An easier path to important information has also been launched on the state’s website: mass.gov/CovidHousingHelp. 

Last week, the Commonwealth announced a new $3.6 million funding initiative to increase testing capacity and address gaps that currently exist in coronavirus testing. The Accelerating Coronavirus Testing Solutions (A.C.T.S.) Program, designed and administered by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), will fund projects focused on two core areas:

The MLSC’s Request for Proposals is open to for-profit companies and not-for-profit institutions; teams working on solutions that provide low-cost, surveillance testing technology that can be deployed independent of Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) or medical personnel are encouraged to apply.

The MLSC will accept applications on a rolling basis with evaluations taking place in two-week cycles. Applications for the first cycle will close on October 16th, 2020 at noon EST. Subsequent cycles will close every two weeks after that point.

While Massachusetts has had a number of successes in supporting manufacturing through the Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (M-ERT), this program seeks to further refine the focus on remaining supply chain bottlenecks. From identifying ways to increase manufacturing capacity, to the development of specialized materials, this program will support critical areas of need to allow labs across the Commonwealth to fully utilize and leverage their existing high throughput testing platforms.

An application should provide solutions that significantly increase testing capacity, and may address a well-defined issue beyond an identified priority area, but must articulate the positive impact on coronavirus testing. The MLSC, with assistance from an advisory panel, will evaluate proposals based on:

Click here to access general program information. To access the application portal, click here.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, has released a simpler loan forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $50,000 or less. This action is intended to streamline the PPP forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to small businesses.

SBA and Treasury have also eased the burden on PPP lenders, allowing lenders to process forgiveness applications more swiftly.  

SBA began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders for PPP borrowers on October 2nd, 2020. SBA will continue to process all PPP forgiveness applications in an expeditious manner.

MetroWest Employer Town Hall Series:

Area employers are invited to join the 495/MetroWest Partnership and the MassHire Metro South/West Workforce Board for our continuing discussions, occurring every other week, surrounding critical issues business are facing. We will answer questions about the various resources that are available to companies and their workers during these difficult times.

Please join us for a special session of our Employer Town Hall series this afternoon, Wednesday, October 14th at 1:00 PM as we host a focus group, Navigating Workforce Wellness and Productivity During COVID, to hear from employers about the challenges they're facing in a new workplace environment under the current pandemic. We also want to hear about strategies that businesses are putting in place during these challenging times. Click here to sign up.

Hosts Jason Palitsch (Executive Director, 495/Metro West Partnership) and Greg Bunn (Executive Director, MassHire Metro South/West Workforce Board) will be accompanied by Kelly Joseph, Community Health Manager from the Framingham Department of Public Health and Katie Sugarman, Prevention & Outreach Program Manager from the Natick Health Department.

This in an important opportunity to have your voice heard and help determine how public resources are used to help the business community support its workforce and foster productivity as we move forward. Click here to register!

MetroWest Employer Town Hall Series Special Event: Navigating Workforce Wellness and Productivity During COVID

Wednesday, October 14th, 1:00 PM via Zoom

Featuring:

Thursday, October 15th, 8:30 AM via Zoom

Featuring:

Wednesday, October 21st, 8:30 AM via Zoom

Featuring:

Tuesday, October 27th, 8:30 AM via Zoom

Featuring:

Click here to register

Sincerely,

Jason Palitsch

Executive Director

The 495/MetroWest Partnership