Project

Economic Recommendations for the New Boston Mayor

For the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, EDR Group (now EBP) provided the research and technical assistance for a new report, "A Growth Agenda for Boston." EDR Group's research was designed to help the newly-elected mayor of Boston identify business and economic development priorities, by showing the critical economic development role of policy and investment in five areas: (1) education and workforce preparedness, (2) global air and marine trade links, (3) local transportation and city-suburb links, (4) development permitting, and (5) tax policy.

In order to identify new directions and opportunities for improving local economic growth and development, EDR Group first performed a high-level but detailed analysis of Boston’s industry composition, export activity, and connections to the region. EDR Group conducted interviews with a cross-section of business leaders in Boston.  The City was then compared to several peer cities along a host of performance metrics known to affect business attraction and retention, including infrastructure quality and availability; access to national and global markets; the extent of intellectual and human capital; effectiveness of the commercial development process; and overall cost competitiveness. To develop the comparison of Boston to peer cities, EDR Group staff conducted telephone interviews with municipal staff in other US cities, as well as drawing on publicly available data. 

While Boston has many competitive advantages, EDR Group identified several investment priorities for the new administration, most notably in infrastructure and education.