andreas gottzmann racks up quite a few frequent-flyer miles, traveling to Germany on business, but getting to the gate is a hassle. With no flights to Europe from Hartford’s Bradley International Airport, the president and CEO of Süddekor, a German-owned company with offices in Agawam, treks to Logan International Airport six to eight times a […]
Growth and Development
Posted inEconomy, Education, Politics
Higher authority
weston To Regis College, it seemed like a win-win proposition. The 362-unit retirement community the college wished to build on its campus would reverse the school’s financial fortunes and bolster its educational mission, while also providing a valuable resource to the town. But when plans for the development were unveiled in 2005, many residents of […]
Posted inEconomy
Where the economic action is
after ranking 13th in growth of gross domestic product (GDP) over the period from 1997 through 2004, Massachusetts came in a lowly 42nd the following year, behind every northeastern state except Maine. We now account for 2.62 percent of the aggregate for all state GDPs. That’s down from our peak during the past four decades—2.98 […]
Posted inEconomy
THE LONG VIEW
boston’s recovery from the last recession has been slow and uneven. Some sectors of the region’s economy have crept back to pre-recession employment levels, while others—notably, information technology—remain below early 2000 peaks. More importantly, the road back has been marked by worrisome signs of ground lost to other regions, with a number of major hometown […]
Posted inEconomy
Pleas for highspeed and wireless Internet await broadband chief
INTRO TEXT when teresa martin, head of the Cape Cod Technology Council, moved from Palo Alto, Calif., to become chief operating officer of a South Shore software company six years ago, she was eager for a new challenge, but not for the one she found when she got here. Her office was equipped with the […]
Posted inEconomy
Now Fenway neighbors love the Sox but chafe at Longwood expansion
INTRO TEXT not long ago, there seemed to be as many civic organizations in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood as there were game-day parking lots. And they had one enemy in common: the Red Sox, with their scheme to build a new ballpark, redevelop the wedge-shaped block between Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street, and transform the neighborhood […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Anthony Flints This Land takes a whack at suburban sprawl
This Land:The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of AmericaBy Anthony FlintBaltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 310 pages with gov. mitt Romney a self-declared lame duck, it is by no means too soon to begin discussing his legacy. Among the chattering classes, that topic is already inviting smirks of derision. As Romney engages in the […]
Posted inEconomy
Devens advances toward independence
devens This former US Army base has turned into limbo for the 250 or so people who now live here. Depending on their address, they vote in Ayer or Harvard, two towns that contributed land for the base in 1917. Because the Devens community is too small to support its own school system, their children […]
Posted inEconomy
Springfield gets relatively good news
INTRO TEXT compared with 11 other older industrial cities in the state, Springfield has valuable things to offer businesses looking for a home: low commercial rents, high-skilled older workers, and plenty of colleges and universities. It also has some deficiencies, including high crime rates, parking limitations, and young people with lagging educations. But overall, in […]
Posted inEconomy
A smartgrowth law gets its legs
INTRO TEXT Two years after Massachusetts passed a law to spur housing construction while avoiding sprawl-style subdivisions, some communities are starting to get with the program. In recent months, six municipalities—Chelsea, Dartmouth, Lunenburg, North Reading, Norwood, and Plymouth—have approved the first “40R” districts, named for the section of the zoning statute that authorizes them. More […]