Jobs for New Bedford

Matt Morrissey ~ Sept. 24, 2005

To the citizens of New Bedford,

The economy of our nation and state has undergone a massive transformation over the last decade, and it is imperative that New Bedford begins to take bold steps to equip its citizens and small businesses to compete in the highly competitive global economy. City Hall must be transformed as dramatically as the world economy has changed. That is the only way that we can help our citizens and business community compete in this global economy. We need to end the days of City Hall being dominated by lawyers, political wise guys and backroom dealers.

Today, following the four months of dialogue with workers, small business owners and major company executives, I offer my thoughts on job creation for New Bedford in this new era of global competition. There must be urgency to our task. There must be a willingness to shake off the old ways of doing business, the old ways of playing politics. There is no time to waste.

We need a new generation of leadership that:

• recognizes the real-life challenges of building a 21st century business. I have first-hand experience starting a high-tech business and fighting through economic downturns.
   
• embraces the importance of lifelong learning to our collective economic future. I have spent much of my adult life fighting to create educational opportunities for young people and adults.
   
• understands the challenges of working families and job-creating entrepreneurs. Seafarers, Elevator, and Commercial Food workers have endorsed me and I have received the support of small and large-business executives across this community.

New Bedford is blessed with so many assets that can allow it to compete – a workforce with an unparalleled work ethic, innovative business leaders, a world-class university and first-rate community college, talented and dedicated teachers, and a unique coastal location. And, as greater Boston becomes too costly a place to do business, we can attract them here rather than let them escape from Massachusetts altogether. Yet, our economy continues to struggle. Job growth has been stagnant for the past eight years and New Bedford faces major challenges that can be summed up in the following equation: 4+33+17=54.

• New Bedford has the 4th highest unemployment rate,

• Nearly 33 percent high school dropout rate,

• A crime rate that reflects 17 unsolved murders (now tragically 18) –

• All of these supported by staggering 54 percent increase in our property tax bills.

The Morrissey campaign has already outlined detailed plans on education, city services, strategic planning, and neighborhoods; and has watched as other candidates have adopted most of the ideas offered in those plans. “A Stronger Economy for New Bedford,” is offered in the spirit of creating a new way of doing the business of our community. Together, these proposals create the cornerstone of our strategy to create new and real jobs that can support families and neighborhoods. Highlights of “A Stronger Economy for New Bedford” include strategies to:

Build our economic engine through education by sending a strong and clear signal that New Bedford is serious about reducing our dropout rate, improving education and preparing our young people and adults to compete in the global economy.

Make it easier to do business in New Bedford by creating a pro-business climate that fosters the expansion of existing companies and attracts new investment to New Bedford.  We will eliminate the existing barriers that inhibit internal growth and that send the wrong message to the business community about growth opportunities in New Bedford.

Invest in our workforce to insure that New Bedford workers are educated, well-trained and competent to participate in the new innovation economy.  We proposed the creation of a $1M “citizen’s scholarship” initiative to assist city residents to improve their academic and skill competencies and to acquire their high-school equivalency diploma.

Restore focus on small business by re-focusing our economic development strategy on small business in neighborhoods rather than devote all of our energy and resources to meeting the needs of out-of-state “big box” companies such as Home Depot. Even as technology and innovation dominates the economy, the backbone of our economy remains the small and family owned business in fishing and many other sectors.

As with our earlier plans, our proposal to create new jobs is offered as a strategy to spread opportunity throughout New Bedford rather than limiting opportunity to a select few lawyers and backroom operatives. Many people – from shop floor workers to CEOs, have provided valuable input to this plan. I am grateful to everyone who has contributed thus far. We do not claim to have all of the answers and it is my hope that this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful dialogue about our collective future.

Sincerely,

Matthew A. Morrissey

Summary

To create a vibrant, sustainable economic future for our city and for our children, the Morrissey administration will:

• Create a pro-business climate that fosters the expansion of existing companies and attracts new investment to New Bedford.  We will eliminate the existing barriers that inhibit internal growth and that send the wrong message to the business community about growth opportunities in New Bedford.
   

• Rebuild our educational system as the foundation for economic future.  We will send a strong and clear signal that New Bedford is serious about improving education and preparing our young people and adults to compete in the global economy. We will lead a direct assault on the high school dropout rate which not only sentences nearly one-third of our students to dead-end low-paying jobs and lives of crime, but also sends a loud negative message to potential employers.
   

• Immediately initiate the master planning process by developing within 160 days of taking office, a strategic master plan that identifies property for economic development and engages citizens in the process.
   

• Re-focus our economic development strategy on small business in neighborhoods rather than devote all of our energy and resources to meeting the needs of out-of-state “big box” companies such as Home Depot. Even as technology and innovation dominates the economy, the backbone of our economy remains the small business, yet too often we focus on big business.
   

• Support the small business community with progressive lending programs, greatly improving access to local, state and federal economic development programs.
   

• Support local and unionized labor that provides workingmen and women professional development opportunities, wages that can support a family and provide health care benefits. 
   

• Streamline the municipal permitting process.  The lack of a coordinated permits review and approval process is a significant barrier to new investment.  We will streamline the municipal permitting process and eliminate the delays that restrain growth.
   

• Establish a code of ethics for the mayor and the administration so that any business coming into City Hall seeking a permit knows that their case will be considered on the merits.
   

• Invest in our workforce, ensuring that New Bedford workers are well educated, well trained and competent to participate in the new innovative economy.
   

• Create formal partnerships with UMASS Dartmouth and Bristol Community College to assist in our economic development planning and efforts.
   

• Develop strategies that target new industry sectors to locate and expand in New Bedford such as marine science and life science/biotechnology. 
   

• Support and grow the creative economy in the downtown.  A vibrant arts community generates economic development in ways that enrich our city and create jobs for our citizens.  We will facilitate growth of the arts economy by redeveloping properties in the downtown, improve public safety and provide incentives to better support the creative economy.
   

• Increase external marketing efforts to build awareness and attract new companies.  We will aggressively promote New Bedford to growing technology-based companies and convince them to locate their business here rather than in the North Carolina or other states.
   

• Expand tourism based marketing efforts and take the lead in promoting New Bedford as a premier tourist destination. 
   

How will the Morrissey administration differ from the Kalisz administration on economic development?

• We will develop clear and thoughtful strategies for economic development. 
   

• We will ensure that our policies and initiatives are developed in an inclusive fashion working with all of our community partners.
   

• We will ensure that development and business opportunities are for all people, not for only the politically connected few.
   

• We will be dedicated to investing in our workforce.  These programs will be part of an overall strategy and will be assessed for their effectiveness.  The current administration lacks focus and a unified approach with current efforts in job training. 
   

• We will restore business confidence in municipal government and establish a real public-private partnership to create jobs.
   

• We will promote the city to executives in emerging technology sectors and position New Bedford as a pro-business community.
   

• We will provide the clear vision and the strong leadership needed for effective economic development partnership with the private sector.
   

• We will capture and cultivate emerging opportunities by working closely with UMASS Dartmouth as a key partner in our economic development efforts.
   

• We will welcome opinions and ideas that come from outside the administration.  There will be no predetermined outcomes and no monopoly on good ideas.

We CAN do better

We can no longer allow New Bedford’s economic future to be at the whim of back room politics and development deals intended to profit the well connected.  Real growth and better jobs will come when these deals are brought out from the back rooms of city hall and out into broad daylight.  We can no longer afford to have economic development only exist as a “façade”, propped up to only give the impression of the business community having real input into developing real solutions.

The New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC) is a public/private partnership whose mission is to “provide leadership by building consensus on the city’s economic future…in order to create and strengthen economic development opportunities in greater New Bedford.”  This organization was created by the current administration and it was intended to be an independent entity, led by private sector business leaders, who know best what businesses need to succeed. Currently, the efforts of the excellent men and women of the NBEDC are dramatically weakened by the lack of a cohesive and unified approach. It is also clear through the current administration’s actions, that City Hall is primarily interested in controlling the NBEDC and not acting to serve the needs of us all, but rather the wants of a well connected few.

The lack of a master plan: The current administration has failed to deliver on its promise, made eight years ago and repeated many times since, of creating a strategic master plan to guide the social and economic development of the city. Instead, the administration has retreated to word games such as “many master plans” to cover up its failure to deliver on its promise.  A series of sporadic, disconnected, “quick start” projects with monikers such as “make safe” and “smart growth” are typical of the haphazard way that this administration operates.  There is no consideration of how these projects relate to one another, no sustaining focus and no community involvement.  In general, major priorities are not set in relation to a larger, more comprehensive, framework. 

The lack of trust: The current administration has lost the support of the business community and betrayed the public trust by ignoring the needs of its citizen’s while providing preferential treatment to political insiders. Instead of representing the interests all of the people of New Bedford, this administration plays favorites.  This shroud of secrecy has created conditions where by community leaders and average citizens are discouraged and lack confidence in this administration.

The lack of investment: The current administration has failed to invest in education and workforce development and has refused to invest in external marketing and promotion.   Our school system suffers from inadequate city investments to educate our children and adult learners. This administration does little to attract new businesses to New Bedford and lacks any meaningful commitment to aggressively promote our city.

We WILL do better

The Morrissey administration’s goal is that New Bedford become on of the nation’s most livable communities.  Developing a strong local economy is instrumental to accomplishing this goal.  Under a Morrissey administration economic development will be aggressive in support of small business, local labor and work force training and investment.

Create a pro-business climate:  We will create a pro-business climate that fosters the expansion of existing companies and attracts new investment to New Bedford.  We will eliminate the existing barriers that inhibit internal growth and that send the wrong message to the business community about growth opportunities in New Bedford.  It is critical that we grow our economy in ways that we did not think were possible. 

We will empower the New Bedford Economic Development Council (NBEDC) to achieve its mission of providing leadership, coordinating initiatives and serve as a business innovator with city hall. The NBEDC will work in close partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Greater New Bedford Industrial Foundation, higher education institutions and key city departments/boards to develop a comprehensive strategy to bring this climate into existence.  A well-planned and unified approach will be critical to our success.  We can no longer rely on scattered efforts and political pressures to form economic polices. 

An educational system that attracts business: Companies looking to expand into New Bedford look at our educational system first.  What are our MCAS scores? What is the high school drop out rate? How many residents have college degrees?  We will not be successful in attracting substantial new business unless we make real strides in improving our educational system.  A better educated work force has recently become a focus of business groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the Greater New Bedford Business Industrial Foundation.  We will develop a citywide strategy that ensures neighborhood schools are open longer hours, strengthen partnerships, enhance teacher development and establish the New Bedford Education Foundation.  The details of our plan to deliver stronger and more comprehensive educational opportunities are outlined in our proposal “Foundation of Our Future”. 

Master planning process: Our city lacks a clear vision of the future to which we aspire. We have been waiting eight years for a master plan. We don’t have any more time to waste.  We will develop a plan that ties economic growth and neighborhood development together, and not as exclusive efforts that are at odds. The plan will focus on a clear and measurable citywide vision that is implemented through individual “neighborhood development plans”.  The master planning process will be built on the foundation of real input from people who live, work and own businesses and property in our community and will yield countless new ideas for continued engagement and authentic inclusion of all of New Bedford’s citizens. 

We will create a Master Planning Committee comprised of business, neighborhood and community leaders and initiate a planning process that incorporates a full range of opinion about our city’s future.  That committee will be empowered to convene neighborhood “town meetings” throughout the city to engage citizens in the development of a master plan that will shape our future.  These efforts will ensure that business is a proactive partner in the development of our neighborhoods, creating new development that compliments, rather than threatening our community.

Because of the absence of a master plan, all neighborhoods, across the city, are vulnerable to misguided development.  The Fairhaven Mills/Home Depot development project is one example. 

In this case the question should not have been “Home Depot or not”, but rather “how” and in relation to “what”?  Neighborhood residents and small businesses should not be forced to react to surprise proposals where they are pitted against a “national corporate identity”, hoping that what’s being proposed can fit in and be a good neighbor.  The developer should be reacting to, and working within, the framework of a “neighborhood development plan.” 

Neighborhoods across the city should have potential development sites identified and goals for the highest and best use articulated as one component of a master plan.  Potential projects should be measured against the question: “Does this fit into what we envision and what we have planned for?”

Support the small business community:  Small business is the backbone of the American economy, providing greater growth and more jobs than any national retail chain. Small businesses reinvest profits back into our community, help to stabilize neighborhoods and provide better salaries and benefits for their workers. We will do more than just cut ribbons for grand openings.  We will bring a new philosophy that is aggressive in our service of small business throughout our city, making sure they have the support they need.  We will enter into strong partnership with business associations across the city and we will not pursue development that hurts our small and family owned businesses that are the foundation of our local economy.  

In many cases our neighborhood-based businesses lack the basic information about state and federal programs to support growth and job creation.  We will develop a strategy that strengthens our existing network of support for small business and provide them with “equal access” to loan programs and other incentives.  We need to make better use of the Community Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) to foster neighborhood revitalization. 

Supporting local and unionized labor:  Labor provides workingmen and women professional development opportunities, wages that can support a family and provide jobs with health care benefits.  In short, Labor supports working families.  Therefore, the Morrissey Administration will be a labor-friendly administration.  We will support Project Labor Agreements and will work to have a labor representative on our boards and commissions.  The Morrissey administration will ensure that local companies, when all things are equal would be given local contracts.

Streamline the municipal permitting process: The municipal permitting process shouldn’t only work for those with political connections.  It must be open, transparent and provide fair and equal access to companies seeking to invest in New Bedford.  We need to coordinate and expedite the local permitting and approval process.  There is a fundamental lack of coordination among the different city departments involved with permit review and approval.  This creates a permit logjam that is unacceptable. 

The Morrissey administration will create a centralized permit review and approval process that assists developers with the permit review process while passionately protecting neighborhoods and the public interest. We will make it the responsibility of NBEDC staff to ensure that this process is organized, easy to understand and efficient. The results will be a more efficient and customer friendly experience that ensures these services are delivered in a professional and cost-effective manner. We will also establish a code of ethics for the mayor and the administration so that any business coming into City Hall seeking a permit knows that their case will be considered on the merits.

Invest in our workforce:  An educated and well-trained workforce is the central foundation for a vibrant and sustainable economy.  New Bedford must become a community that values and supports education and workforce development as the foundation for the future success and economic health of our community. 

We will develop strong and effective training partnerships with Bristol Community College, UMass Dartmouth, economic and workforce development agencies and the business community to ensure that all workers are competent in the new economy.

We propose the creation of a “citizen’s scholarship” initiative to assist city residents to improve their academic and skill competencies and to acquire their high-school equivalency diploma.

In the 21st century economy, workers increasingly need a least a high school diploma or more to be successful and gainfully employed. Education and workforce development are lifelong commitments and the only true pathway to economic self-sufficiency.  It is the role of government to provide workers with access to the skill training and general education that will enable us to be productive workers and good citizens.

Create formal partnerships with UMASS Dartmouth and Bristol Community College: This City is fortunate to have access to a world-class teaching and research university such as the University of Massachusetts and a wonderful community resource like Bristol Community College.  The current administration has made token efforts to partner with UMass and BCC.  We need real commitments and effective partnerships with higher learning to harness the intellectual horsepower of those two great institutions.

There are important economic development opportunities in life sciences, marine science and biotechnology for which we must prepare.  These companies are currently leaving Massachusetts for the Carolinas and other competitive states because they cannot find a suitable and affordable location in which to grow their business.  New Bedford can market itself as a convenient, affordable and dynamic location for these companies to locate.  A far stronger partnership with UMass and BCC will be instrumental in bringing these companies to New Bedford. 

We need effective strategic partnerships with UMass and BCC to train workers for these emerging growth sectors, to transfer technology into new products and to attract these growing companies to our great city.  We will aggressively work to create new internship opportunities for college students at local businesses. 

Target new industry sectors to locate and expand in New Bedford: We know more about outer space than the deep ocean, yet it represents 70% of the earth's surface.  We are right in the middle of a one-of-a-kind concentration of marine science assets such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, UMASS Dartmouth and the University of Rhode Island. Marine Science is an economic sector that will be sought after and brought into New Bedford’s economy.

Target new industry sectors to locate and expand in New Bedford: We know more about outer space than the deep ocean, yet it represents 70% of the earth's surface.  We are right in the middle of a one-of-a-kind concentration of marine science assets such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, UMASS Dartmouth and the University of Rhode Island. Marine Science is an economic sector that will be sought after and brought into New Bedford’s economy.

The marine science sector is a natural for New Bedford because it is technology-based & already in our community.  This is an area of the economy that is strongly supportive of the fishing industry and has growth opportunities for new products including: military, home land security, environmental monitoring, ocean exploration for fossil & wind energy fisheries. These markets are international and offer incredible potential for growth.

The Life Science/biotechnology sector can have an incredible upside if we get ready now.  The Biotech/Silicon Valley corridor currently extends from Andover MA to West Warwick RI where AMGEN has its newest facility.  In Massachusetts alone, there are 350 biotech companies in the FDA pipeline, a process that takes 7-8 years.  Of the 350 companies, about 12 currently make & sell a product.  The remainders are in the FDA pipe and predictably over the next 3-5 years, there will be 40-50 new companies competing FDA trials & cleared for commercial sales.  The state's job is to keep them here and not let them relocate to North Carolina or New Jersey.  Our job is to get these companies to see New Bedford as an opportunity that they might not have considered.  We will be aggressive in recruiting these companies and bringing them to New Bedford.

We will do this by pre-zoning a site or sites with a science & technology overlay district so that certain zoning and building permits can be expedited. We will work with UMASS/BCC to establish course of study to prepare biotech production workers and other professionals.  New Bedford residents can do these jobs just as easily as people who live in New Jersey.  We will also promote the lower cost of housing as an attractive feature of the city compared to greater Boston and we will develop a strategic alliance with the Mass Biotech Council.

Companies that produce medical devices will be another market that we will focus on. There are currently nearly a dozen companies in greater New Bedford that manufacture these devices. These companies are already here and we need to help them expand.  We have always been very good in the region at precision machining & our proximity to Boston is a big advantage.  There are only a few real hotbeds of medical device manufacturing: St Paul MN; San Diego & Orange County CA; Massachusetts. We will pursue a strategic alliance with the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council to help expand this market in New Bedford.

These new industry sectors are at the core of the state's innovation economy.  These companies start in Massachusetts because of the teaching hospitals, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BU and increasingly the University of Massachusetts.  They are growing sectors and will grow elsewhere unless Massachusetts is more aggressive in keeping them here.  They leave in part because of the housing and general living costs in greater Boston.  What positions New Bedford as a great location for these companies is that the city is close to Boston (relative to NC/NJ), we have the workforce (30,000 daily commuters from southcoast to Boston/128 labor market) and enjoy a lower cost of housing. We also have a solid support infrastructure of machine shops to help with devices.

The creative economy: Smart redevelopment starts with providing an infrastructure to strategically grow this emerging sector.  Our downtown is no longer the center of commerce that it was in the 1940s-50s.  Over time, it has changed and now has enormous potential as a center of culture, and could be home to significant “high-end” professional service sector.

We can no longer pay lip service to our central business district.  An economic revival is at hand and with proper planning, and appropriate levels of public investment, New Bedford’s downtown will once again become a prosperous and vibrant commercial district anchored by a flourishing arts economy.  It must be seen as the leading edge of economic revival of any postindustrial urban community.  The Creative economy must be a focus of an integrated marketing effort for both residential, business, cultural and tourism investment.  Event programs such as AHA! must be embraced as economic growth projects and not simply as cultural events.  

In AHA!'s first year of operation (FY99-2000), the UMD Center for Policy Analysis measured the total economic impact of the monthly second Thursday AHA! Nights on the downtown economy.  AHA! generated a total economic impact that year of $216,483. That level of impact represents a 13:1 return on the state Mass Cultural Council money spent on AHA! and a 3:1 return on the total funds (state, local and donated) spent. This return is excellent considering that only industries such as manufacturing and construction typically get a $3 economic impact for every $1 spent.  Service industries' economic impacts range from $1.3-1.8

According to a 2000 report by the New England Council's Creative Economy Initiative, the state's creative workforce (employees of cultural organizations and individual working artists) accounted for more than 116,000 jobs in Massachusetts. That's 3.5 percent of the total workforce -more than the software or biotech industries.  The state's cultural assets are also a primary engine for tourism, the state's second largest industry. These cultural assets play a key role in attracting businesses to the state - a fact confirmed time and again by corporate relocation strategists.

Increase business marketing & tourism promotion: The competition for growing firms in the emerging innovation economy is fierce.  We need to aggressively promote this once great city and desirable and preferred location for business expansion and position New Bedford must capture its fair share of the growing life science, medical device and marine science sectors. 

Tourism can play a significant role in our local economy and we will not treat this market sector as window dressing. Currently there is only one professional who is responsible for the tourism and marketing efforts of New Bedford.  More, the tourism/marketing budget of the city is $66,000 with no line item for business development.  This is simply not an adequate approach for a city budget of approximately $240 Million, with our nationally significant cultural assets. We will take this city responsibility seriously by bolstering this department and linking the efforts of business development and tourism promotion with other key city departments and partner institutions.

For too long, the current administration has put up roadblocks to competing in this economic development arena.  We will develop a marketing campaign that promotes the best of what New Bedford has to offer and these efforts will be key to attracting new businesses to our city.  We must not be afraid to promote New Bedford.  If we don’t believe in ourselves, or see ourselves as worthy of being home to the best companies in the state, then who will?