25th Anniversary BVCC

Home & Community Expo

Early Bird Registration NOW OPEN!

Business Resource Open Office Hours; Free & Open to the public.

November 6, 10:45AM-12:00PM, 30 minute sessions at BVCC.

Here’s who will be here:

MGCC (Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation)

Offers financial solutions to businesses that struggle to obtain traditional financing, focusing on job creation, retention, and promoting economic development.

MassHire BizWorks

Aligns workforce development, economic growth, and education resources to help businesses expand and thrive.

MassDevelopment

Provides flexible financing and real estate solutions for projects that create jobs, expand the tax base, or revitalize communities.

MOBD (Massachusetts Office of Business Development)

Assists businesses relocating or expanding in Massachusetts by providing access to resources, expertise, and incentive programs.

How to get an appointment? Contact Kristen Kearnan kkearnan@blackstonevalley.org with your full name, address, contact information, business name and primary reason for your appointment will be very helpful.

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for (audience)? Why should they care (benefit)? What do I want them to do (call-to-action)?

Create a great offer by adding words like "free," "personalized," "complimentary," or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take action, so consider inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for (audience)? Why should they care (benefit)? What do I want them to do (call-to-action)?

Create a great offer by adding words like "free," "personalized," "complimentary," or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take action, so consider inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"

Willard House & Clock Museum

3rd Annual David Gow Scholarship 

$5000 will be given to an individual wanting to establish/continue a career in clockmaking.

Last year's recipient, Patrick Mont, is a MA resident.

Read more here!

EANE and our law partner Skoler, Abbott & Presser have joined together to present the 2024 MA Employment Law Virtual Summit. In today’s workplace regulations are constantly evolving – this half-day summit will keep you informed on new and revised initiatives that impact your business. Stay up to date on Federal and state laws, immigration, work-related injuries, sexual harassment, diversity initiatives and much more. Protect your organization with the latest updates and information on law and regulation changes.

November 12 | 8:30am Virtual

Massachusetts Sick Leave Law Expanded New Reason Added

With relatively little fanfare, Governor Healey signed into law a bill entitled:  “An Act Promoting Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth Options.”

While the measure is focused on providing greater access to health care for pregnancy and reproductive needs, one of the little-known provisions within the new law expands the Massachusetts Sick Leave Law by adding a new covered reason. 

Specifically, the law adds the following new reason for using Massachusetts Sick Leave - to:

• Address the employee’s own physical and mental health needs, and those of their spouse, if the employee or the employee’s spouse experiences pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption or surrogacy.

As a result of the change, Massachusetts employers should review and update their existing Sick Leave policies and practices to ensure that this additional reason is covered prior to the change taking effect – which is on November 21st, 2024.

As of press time, Massachusetts has yet to update its model sick leave poster to account for this change (though we expect them to do so prior to the November 21st date).

If you have questions pertaining to this or any of your policy-related needs, please feel free to contact our hotline toll-free at (877) 662-6444.

Business Resilience Guide: Reducing Risks and Building on Strengths

SBA Federal & Disaster Funding September 2024 Virtual Trainings

SBA Non-Disaster Business Funding

SBA Resources List

MA PFML Figures Updated for 2025!

Contributions Remain Unchanged but Benefits Are on the Rise!

Under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law, the Massachusetts Department of Paid Family and Medical Leave (MDPFML) is responsible for setting the contribution rates and benefit amounts no later than October 1st for the following calendar year’s contributions and benefit allocation thresholds.

Well, the MDPFML announced the rates for 2025 as follows:

Contributions:

Total PFML contributions (that is considering both the employer and employee PFML contributions) will remain unchanged for 2025; remaining at .88% (or to illustrate in terms of dollars: remaining at 88 cents in total PFML contributions per $100 in wages).

This total contribution amount is further broken down to account for contributions for family leave purposes with the remainder allocated for medical leave purposes. Under the law, employers with 25 or more employees are responsible for 60% of the medical leave contribution amount.

Therefore, for 2025, employers with 25 or more employees are responsible for .42% of the .88% contribution figure with the employee share accounting for the remaining .46%.

[The PFML total contribution encompasses both an employer share as well as an employee share. Employers with fewer than 25 employees however are exempt from having to pay the employer share.]

For a further graphical breakdown of these contribution amounts including the split of contributions between family leave benefits and medical leave benefits, click here.

Benefits:

The maximum PFML benefit is adjusted by accounting for the state average weekly wage. Considering the Massachusetts state average weekly wage increased from $1796.72 to $1829.13 (which is also measured as of October 1st), the Massachusetts maximum weekly PFML benefit will be rising from the 2024 benefit amount of $1149.90 per week to $1170.64 per week.

This comes as the MDPFML paid out over $1 billion in PFML benefits ($1,049,721,590.56) during the July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 period which is an increase of 26% from the $832.5 million ($832,548,618.16) paid out in the prior fiscal year.   

The average duration of a claim lasted approximately 8.66 weeks (which is a reduction from the 9.4-week average duration in the prior fiscal year). 15.26% of all submitted claim requests were denied for various reasons). For further details on PFML claim activity, you can access the department’s activity report by clicking here.

Do you have questions about how this impacts your organization?

Give us a call at 877.662.6444.

Ballot question 5 proposes to change the way that tipped employees are compensated. Fearing that passage of this question would lead to reduced compensation for employees, increased costs for restaurants and increased costs for consumers a number of employer groups have come together under the "Committee to Protect Tips".

National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Deployment Plan

Reminder that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is hosting a series of Open Houses across the Commonwealth to provide an update on its Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Deployment Plan as required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

At each event, MassDOT will provide information on the status of the Program, electric vehicle charging station site selection, future construction operations, and next steps.

For more information on the Plan please visit the program website: https://www.mass.gov/massdot-nevi-plan

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources

The 2024 Organic Cost Share Reimbursement application period is now open!

The deadline to submit applications is December 16, 2024.

MDAR is authorized by the USDA – Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to reimburse certified Organic Crop and Livestock Producers and Handlers (processors) for the Federal 2024 Fiscal Year. Reimbursements are limited to 75% (seventy-five percent) of an operation’s certification costs, up to a maximum of $750 (seven hundred fifty dollars) of certification, for the program year. Organic operations certified for crops, wild crops, livestock and handlers are eligible to participate.

Click here to apply!

The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce supports the MRA initiative!



Vote NO this November on "a Law Requiring the Full Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers with Tips on Top."

In Massachusetts, tipped employees and restaurants are drivers of our local economy. Currently, an out-of-state group of organizers from California has pushed a narrative about the tipped wage industry in Massachusetts that lacks empirical evidence and support from the very servers, bartenders, and other tipped employees they say they represent.

In fact, 86% of current tipped employees believe that the current tipping system works for them, and 90% believe that if tipping wages are eliminated, they will earn less. While it is clear that employees will suffer at the hand of this legislation if passed, restaurants are also incredibly vulnerable to financial burdens.

On average, it will cost restaurants $18,500 more per tipped employee annually. That is a nearly 225% increase in costs. For local businesses in Massachusetts, this increase in is a financial burden that will undoubtedly lead to closures and staffing cuts like we have seen in Washington D.C.. Since the implementation of their version of this legislation, over 10% of the workforce has already been laid off or faced closures in just over 9 months.

As a state that prides itself on economic development and diversity, this ballot question will only hurt our residents and provide substantial losses to the local economies that rely on meals and other taxes.

We hope that you will join us in opposing this ill-conceived ballot question.  Please certify your opposition by using this form: https://www.protecttips.org/endorsement

• Fidelity Bank promotes Deborah Sendrowski to Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer.

• Fidelity Bank appoints Michael Archambeault to Banking Center Manager for Front Street Banking Center in Worcester

• Fidelity Bank Launches Growth Spending Account, Geared to Teaching Children About Money Management

• Fidelity Bank promotes Brad A. Kirlin to Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer

• Veterinary Urgent Care Center Begins Construction of New Worcester Hospital. The new urgent care hospital in downtown Worcester will provide important veterinary services to central Massachusetts 

• Fidelity Bank’s Lemonade Learning Club Drives New Level of Youth Financial Literacy in North Central Massachusetts