An Electronic Publication of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce
Inside this edition, you’ll discover the latest Chamber initiatives and success stories from across our region. From economic development projects and upcoming networking events to policy updates and workforce training opportunities, we’re keeping you connected to what matters most for your business and North Central Massachusetts.
June 2026
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The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC) granted a $19,000 micro-loan to Charles Simmons, owner of Simmons & Sinclair Logistics located in Leominster, to assist with the purchase of a tractor. Simmons & Sinclair Logistics will offer local and long-distance transportation for a variety of products to include wood and metals. Ray Belanger, Director of Small Business at NewVue Communities in Fitchburg assisted Charles with his business plan and projections. This loan was a referral from Workers Credit Union and will create one job.
Winston Burrell received a $5,000 loan from NCMDC to start Barrington’s Autumn, a home-based business located in Lunenburg. With many years in the medical industry and having researched various approaches to holistic health, Winston recently started Barrington’s Autumn and will specialize in environmentally friendly, dye-free essential oils and fragrances to promote healing and wellness. This $5,000 loan will assist Winston with purchasing inventory and marketing expenses. For more information visit www.Barringtonsautumn.com. Winston also worked NewVue Communities on his business plan and projections. This loan was a referral from NewVue Communities and will create one new job.
As a microloan lender, NCMDC can provide loans to small businesses up to $150,000 for working capital, equipment, inventory, expansion and working with our banking partners to provide gap financing for the final piece of a project.
On the surface, Question 1’s proposal to implement nurse staffing ratios seems like a good idea. Assigning fewer patients per nurse sounds good, but the reality is that the provisions of this proposed mandate would have devastating unintended consequences for our community hospitals and patients.
Should this measure pass, hospitals in Massachusetts would be held to rigid, no-exceptions nurse staffing ratios imposed by the government that would have a profound impact on their ability to provide care. Just imagine what would occur under these mandates if an emergency department were to reach its full legal allowance of patients. New arrivals would be sent to alternative hospitals, compromising their care and risking their safety in the process.
Of the 50 states, only one, California, has adopted mandated nurse staffing ratios and that was over ten years ago. If government mandated nursing ratios were such a good idea, why haven’t more states adopted them since then? The reason is that there is no evidence that it has led to improved care. According to 2018 Leapfrog patient safety data, the gold standard for assessing quality outcomes, California hospitals rank 25th for patient safety. Massachusetts ranks fourth. Likewise, United Health Foundation ranks California seventeenth nationally in terms of statewide health, while Massachusetts ranks first. Our hospitals equal or in many cases exceed California’s in nearly every meaningful measure of quality patient care and safety.
If voters pass Question 1 it would also raise costs substantially for hospitals and patients. The independent, non-partisan Massachusetts Health Policy Commission has estimated that passage of Question 1 would cost the state up to $949 million annually. Patients, employers and taxpayers will end up footing the bill for these new government mandates through increased taxes and higher premiums. Most of our community hospitals operate now on razor thin margins. UMass Memorial HealthAllianceClinton Hospital reports that this will add $8.9 million more to their cost structure year over year moving forward. Likewise, Heywood Hospital will see $5.6 million in additional costs and Athol Hospital an additional $1.9 million. The pressures on them to break even are immense, and it is likely that they will be forced to make deep cuts to critical programs, such as opioid treatment and mental health services, in order to implement these mandates. In some parts of the state, local community hospitals could close altogether, creating a significant hardship for those dependent upon them.
Staffing decisions should be left to the experienced doctors and nurses who operate our hospitals, and not imposed upon them by the state through a rigid set of mandates. Nursing is a well-organized and respected profession, whose members are protected by their elevated skillset and long established union representation. Concerns about working conditions and patient loads should – and regularly are – negotiated at the hospital level and should not be imposed via the ballot box. This produces the best results for each institution, and is perhaps why many doctors and nurses have come out openly in opposition to this ballot proposal.
On November 6, voters will decide whether to tie the hands of our experienced health care professionals by voting ‘Yes’ or allow them to make the right decisions for patients with the flexibility in staffing that is essential to their important work.
On behalf of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, we urge you to vote “No” on Question 1. For more information, please go to www.protectpatientsafety.com.
Roy M. Nascimento, CCE, IOM
President & CEO, North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce
The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and its economic development affiliate the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation hosted a special manufacturing bus tour on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 for education and community leaders as part of their efforts to promote careers in manufacturing and highlight the importance of manufacturing to North Central Massachusetts.
Attendees on the tour, which also included school superintendents, legislators, economic development officials and members of the media, visited several manufacturing companies where they were able to get an insider’s look at how select manufacturers operate as well as learn about the growing employment opportunities in manufacturing and the necessary skill-sets needed.
The manufacturing bus tour, part of the Chamber’s “Amp It Up!” initiative, included stops at AIS, Inc., a furniture manufacturer based in Leominster that specializes in high-end office systems; Burkhart-Phelan, Inc., a company founded in 1982 that specializes in the precision manufacturing of high quality flutes and piccolos; SMC Ltd., a worldwide contract manufacturer of various medical devices and medical equipment; and Mount Wachusett Community College’s Devens Manufacturing Center, which offers technical training in a number of different areas including advanced manufacturing. The tour also included a lunch presentation and discussion with Dr. James Vander Hooven, president of Mount Wachusett Community College and Roy Nascimento, president & CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce on ways that schools and communities can collaborate with employers.
With over 440 firms, North Central Massachusetts boasts the largest concentration of manufacturing in the state. Fully one-third of all private wages paid in the region are from manufacturing jobs. Companies range from the world class plastics industry cluster, to pharmaceuticals, photonics, paper, and biomedical devices.
Manufacturers today are some of the most well-paid, highly trained and in demand employees in the workforce, working on advanced equipment and technology. However, many manufacturers have been challenged recruiting the workers they need. Despite the high wage potential and increasing employer demand, there is both a need for more young workers and a skills gap among an existing and a transitioning workforce.
The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation remain committed to supporting and growing this critical sector of the region’s economy. The organizations are working with partners to address this skills gap, retain the region’s young talent, and introduce them to the high-tech, high-skilled, and high-paying careers of the modern manufacturing industry. The Chamber believes that building successful education partnerships between businesses and the region’s schools is critical to collective,
on-going efforts.
The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce wishes to thank and acknowledge the support and assistance of the following partners who helped make the event possible: MassDevelopment; MassHire North Central Workforce Board; AIS, Inc.; Burkart-Phelan, Inc.; SMC Ltd.; Mount Wachusett Community College; and Fitchburg Access Television (FATV).
The purpose of the “AMP it up!” initiative is to leverage new and existing resources to continue ongoing efforts to reach career counselors, community organizations, youth-serving organizations, educators, and most importantly students throughout North Central Massachusetts. The Chamber’s “Amp It Up!” initiative is funded in part through a matching grant from MassDevelopment. Other partners include Fitchburg State University, Mt. Wachusett Community College and school systems throughout the region. Ongoing efforts to promote manufacturing careers have also included engaging the schools and offering career exploration activities to students, hosting student tours, participating in career day activities and promoting manufacturing via a targeted social media campaign.
For more information on the manufacturing bus tour or the “Amp It Up!” Initiative, please contact the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce at 978.353.7600.
El North Central Golf Tour: Viernes en la Cancha del Templewood Golf Course
31 de julio de 2026
Viernes en la Cancha en el Campo de Golf Templewood
31 de julio de 2026
Campo de Golf Templewood
El evento comienza a la 1:00 p.m. View
Event
Clínica de Golf Fore Then Pore, Juego de 9 Hoyos y Fiesta de Fin de Verano
21 de agosto de 2026
Clínica de Golf, Juego de 9 Hoyos y Gran Final de Verano
21 de agosto de 2026
The Woods of Westminster
Inicio del evento a la 1:00pm View
Event
Sponsors Reception: Old Mill
26 de agosto de 2026
¡Gracias a todos nuestros patrocinadores que ayudaron a patrocinar este pasado año del programa 2025-2026! ¡Nos sentimos verdaderamente honrados por su continuo apoyo y sus esfuerzos para que nuestra comunidad siga prosperando! View
Event
Massachusetts 2018 Small Business Day on Beacon Hill
April 10th, 2018 9:30 am – 12:00 pm Eastern
To ensure your voice as a job creator is heard, NFIB and our ally business organizations will host a Small Business Day on Beacon Hill as an opportunity educate policy makers on the effects of legislative proposals that increase the cost of doing business and prevent your business from growing and creating more jobs. This is your chance to say enough is enough!
The 2018 North Central Massachusetts Health and Human Services Legislative Breakfast Presents…
RESILIENT VILLAGES AT SCALE: A NEW PATH FORWARD
Hosted by
The Joint Coalition On Health
In Partnership with North Central Massachusetts Minority Coalition,
Indigenous Peoples Network, Tenderness Gathering Place, 4-9-North,
Boston Medical Center and Vital Villages
Friday, April 13, 2018
Chocksett Inn, 59 Laurelwood Road, Sterling, MA
7:30 AM to 10:30 AM (Breakfast and check-in starts at 7:30)
Keynote Speakers: BRIGADIER GENERAL (RET) RHONDA CORNUM, PHD, MDRENÉE BOYNTON-JARRETT, MD, SCD
Rhonda Cornum is a former United States Army General Officer, a former Desert Storm Prisoner of War and the former Assistant Surgeon General for the U.S. Army. Additionally, as the first Director of the U.S. Army’s novel Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) initiative, she offers a unique perspective into Psychological and Physical Fitness at scale.
Renée Boynton-Jarrett is a practicing primary care pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, a social epidemiologist and the founding director of the Vital Village Community Engagement Network. Through the Vital Village Network, she is supporting the development of community-based strategies to promote child well-being in three Boston neighborhoods. The CSF strategy represented the model for universal implementation of physical and psychological health promotion within the Department of Defense and having affected 1.1 Million Soldiers, remains the single largest implementation of wellbeing and positive psychological skills in scope and scale globally.
Dr. Boynton-Jarrett’s work focuses on the role of early-life adversities as life course social determinants of health. She has a specific interest in the intersection of community violence, intimate partner violence, and child abuse and neglect and neighborhood characteristics that influence these patterns. This event is free and open to the public, however, space is limited and advance registration is required.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT AT EVENTBRITE
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Go To WWW.EVENTBRITE.COM and search for 2018 North Central Massachusetts Health and Human Services Legislative Breakfast
For questions or if you experience any difficulty registering, please contact Susan Buchholz at
When the workday ends and the lights go down, Custom Cleaning Service of Peabody, Inc. gets to work. “We operate as our clients’ silent partner after business hours,” says Adam Paicos, of Templeton, who now serves as Director of Operations and oversees the company’s expansion into North Central MA. “We are not often seen, but we ensure facilities are clean, secure, and ready for business each day while serving as the eyes and ears for our clients when they are not on site.”
Discover local business stories through our Inside North Central Massachusetts Podcast series. Listen as Chamber members share their journeys, insights, and contributions to our thriving regional business community.
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