Gov. unveils economic development package

At the state’s second annual Economic Development Summit on April 10, Gov. Deval Patrick announced an economic development package designed to bolster workforce training, invest in Gateway Cities, and provide incentives to businesses to create jobs.

“I am convinced that we can reach more of our residents and accelerate our job and wealth creation, indeed that we can position ourselves to sustain our growth for many more years,” Patrick said in a statement. “That’s why I am filing this [bill] … to expand opportunity more broadly into communities we have not yet reached, and to accelerate the growth of our innovation sectors.”

The multi-year, $100 million bill would remove the statutory limitation on the number of liquor licenses a local liquor authority may issue, allowing municipalities to create a plan for the number of licenses appropriate based on their own development needs.

The bill would also expand opportunities for municipalities to access the state’s Infrastructure Investment Inventive (I-Cubed) program, which provides financing for projects with significant economic returns, by eliminating the three-project maximum per municipality.

The governor’s bill includes a number of initiatives targeted at the state’s older, industrial cities, known as Gateway Cities, including:

• The creation of a Middle Skills Job Training Grant Fund to train students and workers for middle-skill careers in advanced manufacturing and information technology

• The recapitalization of the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, the state’s working capital lender, to small businesses

• The creation of a Transformative Development Fund at MassDevelopment to make equity investments, provide funding for collaborative workspaces, and provide technical assistance to support transformative development in Gateway Cities

• The expansion of the Housing Development Incentive Program to promote market-rate housing in Gateway Cities

• An appropriation of $10 million to the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which facilitates the return of old manufacturing properties to productive use in economically-distressed areas

The summit at which the package was announced, a gathering of 300 business, academic and government leaders, was convened to discuss the implementation of the administration’s 2012 economic development plan, “Choosing to Compete in the 21st Century.” The plan includes 55 action items and outlines five strategies for making Massachusetts a competitive player in the global economy: building and retaining talent; supporting the innovation economy; empowering regions and communities to create economic development; making it easier to do business; and improving cost competitiveness.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo was expected to file a comprehensive economic development bill in May.