A Jan. 27 workshop on the future of work featured (clockwise from top left) Rachel Lipson, director of the Project on Workforce at Harvard University, Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, Massachusetts Department of Transportation Undersecretary Scott Bosworth and Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta.

When the current COVID surge forced the MMA to transition its Annual Meeting to a virtual format, MMA staff quickly turned the timely and informative workshops that are a mainstay of the event into a series of free, hour-long Zoom webinars.

This change has a silver lining, making it possible for members to attend, or watch, all of the Annual Meeting workshops, instead of having to pick just a few from concurrent sessions. The Muni Workshop Webinar Series began on Jan. 24 and will run through Feb. 17. Members may register for the webinars at any time, even the morning of.

On Jan. 24, just two days before Gov. Charlie Baker filed his fiscal 2023 state budget proposal, members joined a webinar that discussed the fiscal outlook for the state and cities and towns.

Other webinars during the first week covered approaches their colleagues are taking to enhance public engagement opportunities digitally and in-person, and the challenges facing workforce development coming out of the pandemic and strategies to ensure the Commonwealth stays competitive.

Thus far, webinar attendees have heard from members of the administration, including Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder, and Sean Cronin, senior deputy commissioner of local services for the Division of Local Services, as well as their colleagues in municipal government.

Coming up next week, members can register for Municipal Law Update on Jan. 31, Overview of Draft Zoning Rules for MBTA Communities on Feb. 2, and Creative Placemaking in Your Community on Feb. 3.

Here’s the lineup for the rest of the series:
• Feb. 7: Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Public Works and Other Municipal Departments
• Feb. 9: Labor Law Update: New Laws, Recent Cases and Agency Decisions
• Feb. 10: Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness: Tools and Tales
• Feb. 14: Building a Culture of Cybersecurity: Minimum Baseline for Municipalities
• Feb. 16: The State of Waste and Recycling
• Feb. 17: Advancing Diversity in Public Safety

The Annual Meeting workshops page has complete information and the Zoom session registration links, as well as the links to recordings of each webinar, which are being posted within 24 hours.

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