[UPDATE] BostInno spoke with Grossman campaign Communications Director Chandra Allard, who told us that “Steve’s asking the business community to pitch in and ask them to pay for half of the 5,000 proposed internships.” During the Q&A portion of his discussion, the treasurer noted that paying 5,000 interns as much as $5,000 for summer intern work would cost $25 million.
State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman spoke in front of the Boston Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning to outline his plan to streamline economic growth in Massachusetts. The announcement detailed a series of statewide investments, public-private partnerships and means of fighting the commonwealth’s troubling economic disparity.
Treasurer Grossman’s address is part of The Chamber’s Government Affairs Forum, a themed discussion that helps anchor the organization’s April lineup of Influential speakers.
The economic disparity in Boston is one that many people here in The Hub recognize on a daily basis, whether it’s because they are unable to secure a job, pay their bills or find affordable housing. But what Grossman describes as “A Tale of Two Commonwealths” in his jobs plan – a reference to Charles Dickens’s similarly titled exploration of European social standings “A Tale of Two Cities” – is actually true. Though in many respects Boston continues to push to become a nationwide innovative force, some former industrial hubs like Fall River on the South Coast are suffering.
“We must be one Commonwealth. One Commonwealth where we invest in the future – where we must build an economy in which everyone prospers, in every region of the state,” posited Treasurer Grossman to The Chamber. “Even as we recover from recession ahead of many other states, too many communities suffer from double-digit unemployment rates and a widening achievement gap.”
In order for Massachusetts to battle away from this growing economic dichotomy, he’s vowed to undertake a handful of initiatives that encompass the entire workforce spectrum, from interns to seasoned executives.
He’s proposed to create 5,000 new summer internships which he sees as a means of retaining young student talent and cultivating what he calls a “cross-fertilization of ideas.” Though internships are certainly one method of garnering experience in the workplace, Grossman fails to touch upon paid internships, and how affording interns some type of stipend could promote economic growth even more, not to mention the confidence of interns who are often subjected to quasi-indentured servitudes.
The treasurer also wants to increase the state minimum wage. The Massachusetts House passed a minimum wage resolution on Monday night to raise the minimum wage to $10.50 over a three year period.
Through investments in STEM studies in the classroom, the Democratic candidate for governor has set a goal to create 50,000 new manufacturing jobs over a five year span. This, he hopes, will be bolstered by an added focus on vocational and technical schools to better train prospective workers for jobs that are available and attainable, but still vacant.
Like Mayor Walsh proposed for Boston specific to the betterment of public transportation and infrastructure at the municipal level, the treasurer has also suggested public-private partnership with developers in order to create housing that’s an immediate need for young professionals and middle-class workers to often live paycheck-to-paycheck. There’s a luxury housing boom and an initiative to build low-income housing courtesy of government subsidies; Grossman hopes that by partnering with private developers, he’ll be able to create housing for those in between.
“To those who have lived in despair for decades, without hope or economic opportunity, I pledge that we will build one Commonwealth – a commonwealth that levels the playing field and leaves no one behind,” continued Treasurer Grossman to The Chamber. “Today, I have a challenge for the business community: work with me, and invest in a progressive, forward-looking agenda for unparalleled economic growth.”
