Events, Products and Head-shots… Oh My! Choosing The Right Photographer For Your Business Needs

Whether you need full-color photos for your restaurant menu, headshots for your annual report, or mobile-friendly videos to add to your website, investing in professional photography services can deliver great returns for your business.

Here’s what you need to know about choosing the right photographer for your business needs:

Consider Your Priorities

While virtually anyone can snap digital pictures, there’s a real art to taking clean, attractive photos that enhance your business and appeal to your audience.

Start by making a list of what you need a photographer to do for your company. Are you looking for headshots to add to your webpage, static product shots for a brochure, or action photos for your social media feed? Professional photographers tend to specialize in one or two types of photography such as portraits, real estate, product photos, or live-action images.

Ask About Ownership

Simply hiring a photographer to take pictures for your business doesn’t necessarily give you the rights to use the photos they take on your website, print materials, or business cards. Be sure to discuss ownership of the images up front, and get your agreement in writing. For example, you may need to negotiate a Digital Rights Fee – a contract that clearly outlines how you can use the photographs and whether or not you need to give the photographer credit each time you publish a photo they took.

Discuss Retouching Fees

Thanks to the magic of photo-editing programs like Photoshop, many photographers now offer value-added services to remove small blemishes, clean up backgrounds, and even edit in people into photographs. All this digital photo magic comes at a price, so be sure to explore exactly what photo editing will cost before you sign a contract.

Ask For A Portfolio

Professional photographers are expected to maintain an active portfolio of their work so they can show of their skills to prospective clients. Review recent work of photographers you’re considering using, and as with all contractors, take the time to ask for references.

The Baker-Polito Administration today released the Future of Work Report, commissioned by the Administration to evaluate the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed work habits in Massachusetts as the Commonwealth emerges from the pandemic. The Administration also outlined steps that it is taking to address the key findings of the report, with investments and other initiatives to boost housing production and downtown economies, connect workers with skills for high-demand fields, support changing transportation needs, promote flexibility in child care, and more.

Click here to read the report.

Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced the release of the report today at an event held at the Tufts Launchpad location for BioLabs, a biotech startup accelerator that is receiving $102,000 to train 27 workers and create 20 jobs as part of the latest round of awards from the Administration’s Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP). In total, the WTFP program is awarding $8 million through this latest round to about 100 businesses statewide to support the training of 4,300 workers with a range of skills like project management, advanced software training, and other technical skills. A key takeaway from the report is the need to re-credential hundreds of thousands of workers over the next decade, and the Administration is proposing to boost investments in programs like the WTFP through its $2.9 billion plan to spend part of the discretionary funds received by the Commonwealth from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The Administration’s plan includes $240 million for workforce development and job-training programs.

“Massachusetts is well-positioned as we emerge from the pandemic and look to promote economic growth, and the Future of Work Report provides us with a roadmap to build on our strengths and address areas that remain challenges,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Our Administration is working to respond to this report’s findings by pursuing significant investments in housing, job-training and downtown development through our plan to invest $2.9 billion in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. We are also making investments and using other tools to provide more flexibility for residents in child care and transportation, and we look forward to continuing to partner with workers, businesses and communities to respond to the needs raised in this report.”

“The Future of Work Report provides us with a blueprint for building up the Commonwealth’s housing stock, workforce, downtown economies, and infrastructure,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “The Report evaluated potential changes in the economic landscape for each region of Massachusetts, and underscores the importance of our proposals to invest in housing, job-training and communities.”

The Future of Work Report explores what the implications of COVID-19 might be for the Commonwealth across its regions, demographics, economic sectors, commercial centers, local downtowns, transportation, and public spaces. COVID-19 has shifted how Massachusetts residents work, which has accelerated many existing factors that impact the future of work (such as the use of e-commerce and the pace of adoption of automation).  In addition, new factors have emerged (such as the spread of remote and hybrid work and a reduction in business travel). These factors impact Massachusetts residents differently based on region, industry, occupation, gender, and race. Recognizing this, the report evaluated implications of these trends across different regions and analyzed their impact on the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities.

Report Takeaways:

The report concludes that changing ways of working – such as hybrid and remote work – may shift the “center of gravity” away from the urban core.  At the same time, changes in the economic landscape will mean that expansive workforce training will be needed to connect workers with the skills they need for the future economy, with potentially 300,000-400,000 people needing to transition to different occupations or occupational categories over the next decade.

Meanwhile, the report finds that the high cost of housing will remain a challenge – as will the need to ensure all communities can share equitably in the Commonwealth’s growth. The report estimates that the Commonwealth will need to produce 125,000-200,000 housing units by 2030.

The report provides eight core insights:

1. Demand for office real estate may fall as workers spend more time in residential areas due to hybrid work.
2. Hybrid work will likely drive demand for flexible childcare options, requiring childcare business models to evolve.
3. Public transit ridership is likely to fall, with the steepest decline likely in commuter rail.
4. Business travel may be structurally reduced from pre-pandemic levels.
5. Workforce training may be required at an unprecedented scale and pace.
6. The Commonwealth population is likely to grow, albeit more slowly than pre-pandemic
7. Existing equity challenges will intensify.
8. Equitable housing opportunities will be key to retaining and attracting people.

Administration’s Plans to Address Report’s Findings:

The Baker-Polito Administration is using a variety of tools to address the key findings from this report:

$2.9 Billion Plan for ARPA Funds: The Administration’s proposal to spend $2.9 billion in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan addresses many of the key needs presented in the report. It focuses on building up the Commonwealth’s housing stock, workforce, downtown economies, and infrastructure. The Administration filed this plan in June and believes it is critical to act quickly to address these urgent priorities.  The Future of Work Study underscores the importance of these investments, which would immediately begin to address the key challenges presented in the report, including:

• $1 billion for housing priorities, with a particular focus on creating homeownership opportunities in communities of color. This proposal would be a significant step toward addressing the concerns raised in the report around the cost of housing and continued challenges around equity in different communities.
• $240 million for workforce training opportunities to help train workers to connect with high-demand industries, a key priority raised in the report. The report makes clear that these types of retraining efforts could especially benefit women and communities of color, addressing additional equity concerns raised by the report.
• $350 million for downtown development and economic growth, to help communities re-imagine their downtowns and spur development as the center of gravity shifts away from the urban core.
• $175 million to boost substance use and behavioral health programming, a key area where communities of color have been most impacted throughout the pandemic.

Child Care Improvements: The Future of Work Report calls for innovation in child care to meet the changing needs of working families and employers. To address continued challenges in the early education space as the Commonwealth emerges from the pandemic, the Administration is taking a series of actions:

• Investing over $640 million in federal funding for child care, focusing on building capacity at early education providers and targeting funds to the greatest areas of need according to the Social Vulnerability Index.
• Sustaining increased child care subsidies for low-income families and other pandemic-era changes that expand access to care.
• Leveraging the Commonwealth’s workforce development programs to develop a stable pipeline of early educators to expand access to affordable care.
• Partnering with the business community to best understand specific needs for flexibility across specific industries and regions.

Transportation Flexibility and Improvements: To support shifting work habits and other trends identified in the report, the MBTA and MassDOT are modifying schedules and making other adjustments:

• The Commuter Rail’s new Regional Rail Schedule represents a shift toward more consistent, regular service throughout the day, compared to pre-pandemic service that was heavily skewed toward AM and PM rushes. These adjustments reflect analysis of ridership trends throughout the pandemic and into the recovery. The new Regional Rail Schedule supports increasing travel habits like intra-line (non-Boston) trips and reverse commutes to Gateway Cities. It also supports teleworkers’ local trips and 3-day-per-week commuters.
• Continued promotion of weekend service, such as $10 weekend passes will also promote travel to key recreational and tourist destinations outside of Boston. For example, thanks in part to this Commuter Rail promotion, Salem is seeing 110% of 2019 weekend ridership this year.
• The Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program has helped communities make streetscape changes to support outdoor dining and alternative transportation modes like cycling, walking and off-road trails. Since last year, the program has awarded $33 million to 183 communities, resulting in over 300 projects.

Fuente del artículo: State House News Service

Author: Matt Murphy

A deal to raise tax collection estimates by more than $4.2 billion and spend nearly $48.1 billion in fiscal year 2022 came together Thursday with House and Senate lawmakers filing a compromise budget that would also make the state’s controversial film tax credit permanent.

The budget deal, according to House and Senate officials, accounts for surging tax collections over the last six months that have far outpaced the projections agreed to by legislative leaders and the Baker administration at the start of the year.

The expectation of additional tax revenue was used by budget negotiators, in part, to create a $350 million trust fund that could be tapped in future years to help cover the cost of a $1.5 billion school funding reform law passed in 2019, known as the Student Opportunity Act.

El budget filed Thursday evening (H 4002) also reflects the decision of negotiators to cancel a planned draw on the state’s reserves of at least $1.5 billion and proposes to make a supplemental deposit of $250 million into the state’s pension system.

House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz and Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues announced the compromise Thursday afternoon, and leaders in both branches hope to pass the budget on Friday and send it to Gov. Charlie Baker for his review.

Massachusetts is one of just four states in the country that started its fiscal year on July 1 and does not have an annual budget in place. Though the budget is already eight days late, the Legislature and Gov. Baker put in place a temporary budget totaling $5.4 billion to keep government operations funded through July.

The Legislature and Baker postponed implementation of the seven-year school funding reform law during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the new budget increases Chapter 70 school aid by $219.6 million in fiscal year 2022 to $5.5 billion. The spending puts the state back on track to meet the state’s funding commitment over the next six years, and one budget official said the new trust fund would protect against future setbacks.

In addition to resolving disagreements over spending, leaders for the two branches came to an agreement that would permanently extend the state’s tax credit for film production in Massachusetts, which supporters have defended as a job creator but critics have derided as too expensive.

The compromise plan calls for the January 2023 sunset of the tax credit to be cancelled, but would increase the eligibility threshold for a production company by requiring at least 75 percent of its filming budget to be spent or at least 75 percent of principal photography days to take place in Massachusetts.

The House had voted to simply eliminate the tax credit’s expiration date, while the Senate proposed a four-year extension tied to an increase in the minimum number of filming days from 50 percent, a cap on eligible salaries at $1 million, and a ban on the transfer of credit.

The salary cap and transferability ban were not included in the final compromise.

The compromise budget also scrapped a Senate-backed plan to raise fees on Uber and Lyft rides to generate new money for the municipalities, the MBTA, regional transit authorities and other infrastructure needs.

The House has voted in favor of tiered increases in transportation network companies fees in the past, but they were vetoed by Gov. Baker and the branch did not include the fees as part of its budget proposal this year.

After fearing the worst at the start of the pandemic, legislative budget writers have largely avoided having to deal with the massive tax collection downturn forecast by economists at the start of the pandemic.

Instead, Democratic leaders have had the opposite challenge – how to allocate billions in unbudgeted revenues.

After agreeing in January to an estimate of $30.12 billion in taxes, Michlewitz and Rodrigues agreed in the budget filed Thursday to increase the tax revenue projections for fiscal 2022 to $34.35 billion, a whopping $4.23 billion increase.

The new projection reflects what House and Senate budget official described as an increase of $362 million, or about 1 percent, above preliminary tax estimates for fiscal 2021 of roughly $34 billion. The Department of Revenue has not yet released final tax revenue figures for fiscal 2021, but lawmakers are expecting a sizable surplus to spend after leaders verbally rejected Baker’s call for a two-month sales tax holiday.

The new flexibility in the fiscal 2022 budget allowed negotiators to fund accounts across the board at the higher level of what was recommended by either the House or Senate, adding roughly $300 million in additional spending added to the $47.7 billion budgets passed by both branches this spring.

That step led to larger bottom lines for higher education, nursing homes, local health departments, mental health programs and early educator salaries.

The conference committee also agreed to boost funding for some accounts beyond what had been proposed previously, including an additional $17 million for the Workforce Competitive Trust Fund, $18 million for career-technical institutes, and $9.5 million for one-stop career centers.

House Speaker Ron Mariano’s initiative to incentivize training for jobs in the offshore wind industry also got included with a boost from $10 million to $13 million, and a new cyber security consortium will work community colleges and state universities to create careers opportunities in cyber security.

Additionally, the compromise bill, according to officials, would cancel a planned withdrawal of at least $1.5 billion from the state’s “rainy day” fund, and projects a deposit into the reserve account of more than $1.1 billion in capital gains taxes that would drive the balance of the emergency fund to $5.8 billion by the end of fiscal year 2022.

Other highlights of the compromise budget include one-time raises for sheriffs of about $20,000, the extension of an historic rehabilitation tax credit, a new tax credit for the hiring of disabled workers and the conversion of a child care tax deduction into a refundable credit that would allow more low-income families to qualify.

The final compromise also dropped a provision described in a letter last week by 40 House lawmakers as an “anti-worker” measure added to the Senate budget that would have reversed the state’s law requiring triple damages in wage and hour lawsuits.