North Central Massachusetts e-Newsletter » North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce

E-Newsletter

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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Chamber News

Chamber Updates

Posted on October 2nd/in Chamber News /by northcentralmass

SMALL BUSINESS ENERGY RELIEF GRANT PROGRAM: The Chamber is offering one-time energy grants of $1,000 to small businesses to help to off-set high energy prices and financial obstacles. Thank you to National Grid for contributing $100,000 to the Chamber to help make this grant program possible. Since launching the grant in July, we have already awarded $49,000 in grants to 49 small businesses. There are still grants available, so we encourage members to reach out to us to see if they are eligible. We are prioritizing chamber members for the grants.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT: In August, Travis Condon, the Chamber’s Public Affairs Manager, and Kat Deal, the Chamber’s Programs & Events Manager, completed their second year of the US Chamber’s Northeast Institute for Organization Management (IOM). IOM is a four-year national professional development program geared towards chamber of commerce and association professionals. Participants complete a week-long intensive session each year taught by university professors, industry experts, and leading practitioners in the chamber industry. Courses included advocacy, media training, membership, finance, legal issues, human resources to name just a few. They also had an opportunity to reconnect with other Chamber and Association professionals from all over the country.

ACCE CONVENTION: Chamber President & CEO Roy Nascimento was invited to present at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives National Convention in Salt Lake City in August. He spoke at two sessions titled “Data-Driven Workforce & Economic Growth Strategies” and “Overcoming Barriers to Upskilling Workers” where he shared our experiences and efforts with chamber and economic development leaders from throughout the country.

NASCIMENTO ELECTED TO ACCE FOUNDATION: In related news, Chamber President & CEO Roy Nascimento was elected recently to serve on the board of directors for the ACCE Foundation, a 501(c)3 that supports the work of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. ACCE’s Foundation was established to fund programming, peer-to-peer learning, and leadership development for chamber professionals seeking to create positive change by addressing the issues that challenge the long-term economic health and quality of life in our country’s cities and towns. Directors bring their knowledge and expertise to help the ACCE Foundation understand industry trends and the needs of members working in the priority areas of the Foundation. Those include education and talent; diversity, equity and inclusion; and economic and community development.

NEW LOANS: The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC), the Chamber’s economic development arm, has approved and closed on a total of twenty-three small business loans totaling $1,145,000 to date for FY23. The smallest loan was just $5,000 while the largest was $216,000. Our loans helped to leverage an additional $1,066,579 in capital from banks, public entities and from the borrowers. The majority of the loans helped fund start-up businesses as well as some existing small businesses that were expanding. Two of the loans were made under our new Regional Business Investment Fund and are helping with real estate development projects in two of our communities that have been prioritized for economic development. These loans resulted in the creation of 63 new jobs and the retention of 35 jobs.

MINI-GRANTS: The NCMDC continues to offer mini-grants between $500 – $5,000 to our borrowers to assist with technical assistance. For FY2023, we have approved a total of ten mini-grants totaling $35,288.93 for bookkeeping, marketing, signage and other professional assistance. Prioritization is given to existing loan clients but we will consider other small businesses in North Central Massachusetts with a demonstrated need.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: Our economic development team has provided a total of 2052 hours of direct technical assistance to existing and start-up businesses in the region. During the last quarter, our team also worked with the Massachusetts Export Center to help several businesses with questions around certificates of origin. In addition, the Small Business Development Center at Clark University has resumed holding office hours at the Chamber to help support start-ups and expanding small businesses in the region.

NORTH CENTRAL COMPACT: In June, the members of the Compact met again to continue to explore collaborative strategies to the workforce challenges in the region. The North Central Talent Compact is a collective impact coalition convened by the Chamber and other major stakeholders to address the complex talent and workforce challenges facing the region. The group consists of a group of prominent business, education, workforce and community leaders who are committed to collective action and leadership. An outgrowth of the Compact meeting is an expanded Career and Hiring Event in October, with more schools participating and bringing students to connect with employers to learn about available careers.

WEBSITE: The Chamber has started a project to redesign the Chamber website to make it a more dynamic and valuable resource for our members and communities. As part of the process, we plan to consolidate our Chamber website – northcentralmass.com – and our economic development website – choosenorthcentral.com – to make it easier to manage and avoid duplication. We also recently completed a homepage redesign of our tourism website – visitnorthcentral.com. We are excited about the project and look forward to launching the redesigned site in the coming months!

ONLINE TRAINING: In conjunction with the Chamber website redesign project, we are also launching a new online training platform called Initiate. Initiate is a comprehensive online training resource that will be integrated with our redesigned website and offers several modules around starting a business, marketing, operations, bookkeeping and more that many small businesses need.

LATINX OUTREACH: The Chamber and NCMDC continue to prioritize efforts to engage more with Latinx business owners/entrepreneurs and connect them with financial resources, programs and business networks. Latinos are the largest minority group in the region and increasingly playing a larger role in our economy. We are currently in the process of interviewing candidates for the bi-lingual Community Business Advisor role to help with these efforts.

PODCAST: We continue to trend upwards with our Inside North Central podcast series. Over the last year we have had 2,549 plays on the major podcast services, which reflects a 300% increase over the previous year. Our podcasts are currently available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, and Google. Thank you to all the members who have participated in interviews and/or listened to the new Podcast series.

SOLAR: From its inception in August 2014 through July 2023 the solar field on Pleasant St. has produced 12,843,986 kWh of Net Metering Credits to the manufacturers participating in the program. Total value of these credits is $3,015,926 and the collective savings to participants totals $2,563,537. As one of the participants, the Chamber has received $241,274 in energy savings to-date.

CHAMBER GIFT CARDS: In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, we encourage member merchants interested in accepting the new revamped Gift Local E-Gift Cards to contact the Chamber. We are approaching the one-year anniversary since the transition to the new platform for processing the gift cards. Feedback from participating members and gift card recipients has been positive so far. There is no charge to participate and the new cards are easy to process via the Mastercard network, however participating merchants must run an activation card from the Chamber in order to be able to accept the cards.

Local Supporting Local: ECI Stores to celebrate 25 years in business

Posted on October 1st/in Chamber News, Member Spotlight /by northcentralmass

When it comes to supporting the local community, you can look no further than Cassandra and Neil Abramson, owners of ECI Stores.

ECI Stores is the parent company of four local consignment shops in Leominster, Ma: Cutie Patuties, CP & Company, Cutiques, and Q for Teens. Established in October 1998, ECI Stores has grown into four locations that are conveniently right near each other.

“You can do all of your shopping in one day!” Abramson said.

Cutie Patuties specializes in gently used items, sized for newborns to preteens, which can be anything from clothing, toys, and baby equipment like strollers. Q for Teens is everything you can imagine that’s fashionable for a teenager and young adult, including clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, and more. According to the website, “Q is You! Q can be whatever style your young adult is all about: retro, vintage, hip, modern, romantic, or rustic – we’ve got it all!”

CP & Company provides a large selection of misses, petites, and plus size clothing for women and adults, which also includes bags, accessories, clothing, and more. Cutiques just recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary with their ribbon cutting this past March 2023. This division of consignment focuses on home décor and furniture, with everything from a kitchen table to lamps and lighting, wall hangings and more.

“One of the things that we really try to do is community involvement,” Abramson said. “More than most businesses, your local consignment store is your community, because that’s how we source our inventory – there’s no truck pulling up that has inventory in it. It all comes in from your neighbors: things that they’ve outgrown, things that they don’t need, and things that they are ready to move on from. It’s all community driven.”

When their daughter was approximately six months old, Abramson would visit her favorite consignment shop in Worcester and do all her shopping there for her newborn, until one day, that shop decided to go out of business. Disheartened, Abramson thought about where she was going to shop next. She decided right then and there that she was going to open her own store instead.

“I went to the car to call my husband and said, ‘I’m opening a consignment store!’”

As their child grew, her needs grew and expanded into the next size range, ECI Stores also expanded into the next steps: teen clothing, shoes, accessories, and more to what you see today.

With a focus on local, consignment stores live and breathe from the local community. Everything that you see in consignment stores is brought in by neighbors, family, and friends who have outgrown the item. These items could be useful for someone else and their family.

“We price it, make descriptions, put it on our website, and we can even ship directly to you if needed,” Abramson said. “There’s hardly any other business, especially a small business, that has about 3,500 unique, individual items on the website.”

And although it may be a lot of work, the Abramsons make it look easy, especially since after the COVID-19 pandemic nearly three years ago.

“We’ve been doing more online since the pandemic. It really provided us the time and necessity to be able to focus back on the business,” she said. “Businesses had the opportunity to either shut down and wait, or use the time productively and say, ‘what can we do for after?’ And that’s what we did, every single day.”

Abramson now provides online sales through their website, as well as Facebook and social media sales. “We reach our customers however they need it.”

Being able to think on their feet and find a solution for not just themselves, but for their customers as well is what makes ECI Stores unique, and providing sales online shows diversity in what they can offer as a consignment store.

“We try to keep everything locally driven – insurance, banking, office supplies, coffee…you name it. We do everything we can to support the North Central area and support local businesses,” she said.

As a long time member of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, ECI Stores loves the ongoing educational opportunities. The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce keep their members updated on everything that you need when it comes to business. They also make sure that you have everything that you need to ensure that your business succeeds. Additionally, ECI Stores has an appreciation for the business connections with other local businesses and Chamber members.

“Everything that you do makes an impact, and the local store needs your help and support as well because they’re employing your neighbors and the people around you. You get a better product and a better relationship with local. If you can keep it local, it makes a difference.”

You can find out more about ECI Stores and their four locations on their website at www.ecistores.com or giving them a call at 978-534-6604.

“Essential” Tax Relief And Reform Reaches Healey’s Desk

Posted on September 29th/in Chamber News /by northcentralmass

Source: State House News Service
Author: Sam Doran, Alison Kuznitz, Colin A. Young

Guv Has Until Oct. 8 To Act on Compromise

Senate President Karen Spilka (right) speaks to reporters outside her office Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 joined by Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues

After nearly two years of fits and starts, a long-awaited tax relief and reform package made it to the governor’s desk Thursday after senators overwhelmingly approved the legislative agreement.

The roughly $1 billion tax bill is among the most significant pieces of legislation to reach Gov. Maura Healey since she took office in January. The Arlington Democrat has been prodding lawmakers to finish their tax talks since she was a candidate last year.

In a statement Thursday, Healey called the Legislature’s product “comprehensive” and said she would be looking it over. She has until Sunday, Oct. 8 to act on the bill, which she could choose to amend and send back to lawmakers.

“As I’ve said on the campaign trail and from day one of this administration — tax cuts are essential for making Massachusetts more affordable, competitive and equitable. I thank Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chairs Rodrigues and Michlewitz and the Legislature for taking this important step,” the governor wrote. “This is a comprehensive package that delivers relief to families and businesses, including through our proposed Child and Family Tax Credit, and I look forward to reviewing the details and delivering for Massachusetts.”

The child tax credit was one of Healey’s signature pledges on the campaign trail last fall. The governor sought a $600-per-dependent credit, though House and Senate leaders landed on an eventual credit of $440 in their compromise agreement.

Sen. Walter Timilty, a Milton Democrat, said he agreed with the governor’s initial $600 credit proposal and expressed hope the Legislature could work on that “in the future.”

“I’m very happy with what we did today. I would have liked to have gone with more, but today is a great day for all of us, I believe,” Timilty told the News Service.

Sen. Susan Moran, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Revenue, also signaled a pathway for expanded tax relief when asked about the governor’s $600 child and family tax credit.

“I appreciate the governor always shooting for the heights and really giving some kind of wind beneath the wings of the Legislature to really do something important,” Moran told the News Service. “And I look forward to continuing to work with the administration on that as we see where this step takes us — and maybe after that, reach even higher heights.”

The Senate accepted the conference report 38-1, with Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough casting the lone vote of dissent. President Karen Spilka of Ashland voted “yes,” which can sometimes be an emphatic sign of support from the chamber’s leader, who generally does not vote in roll calls.

Democrats then rebuffed a Republican attempt to suspend a rule and introduce amendments to the House-Senate compromise, before taking a final enactment vote and sending the paper to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk at 1:30 p.m.

Other components of the package include raising the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $2 million while eliminating the so-called cliff effect by imposing a credit of $99,600; increasing the earned income tax credit from 30 percent to 40 percent of the federal credit; doubling the senior circuit breaker tax credit from $1,200 to $2,400; and increasing the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000. The package also slashes the short-term capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to 8.5 percent and overhauls how Massachusetts calculates taxes owed by multistate companies.

“With inflation the way it is, every dollar goes a long way, and this will help people meet their daily needs,” Timilty said after adjournment. “It’s very important for all of us.”

The House approved the package 155-1 on Wednesday and kept its informal session open Thursday so that it could take its final enactment vote, ensuring that the bill could reach the governor’s desk by the afternoon.

The compromise between the House and Senate was crafted since June by a six-member squad of reps and senators led by the chambers’ budget chairmen — Sen. Michael Rodrigues, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Sen. Susan Moran, Rep. Mark Cusack, Sen. Bruce Tarr, and Rep. Michael Soter.

Gov. Charlie Baker kicked off the tax relief discussion in January 2022 when he filed his own proposal. To Sen. Patrick O’Connor, the ranking minority member of the Ways and Means Committee, the 2022-2023 tax relief talks represented something “very uniquely Massachusetts.”

“And that’s the fact that in January of 2022 we had a Republican governor file a bill with his administration, and they looked at, how can we make Massachusetts competitive and how can we make Massachusetts a more affordable place to live? And then that governor decided not to run for reelection, and 14 months later, a Democratic governor, with her administration, took a hard look at how to make Massachusetts competitive and how to make Massachusetts a more affordable place to live. And they filed almost an identical bill,” the Weymouth Republican said.

On the chamber floor, Tarr, O’Connor, and Sen. Rebecca Rausch all expressed notes of discontent with some elements of the compromise. But when the roll was called, Eldridge, who did not speak during the session, was the lone dissenter.

Tarr, the branch’s Republican leader, labeled three sections as “poison pills” — a new requirement that taxpayers who file jointly at the federal level also file their state income taxes jointly; an alteration to the state’s tax cap law, known as Chapter 62F, that would spread excess tax revenues back to taxpayers in equal shares rather than proportional to the taxes they paid; and a change to the cap on money going into the state’s rainy day fund.

Rausch said she “wish[ed] we could have done more” with the proposal, such as by including teenagers in the child and dependent tax credit, but called it a “good compromise.”

The only Democrat during the brief debate to cast a negative light on some aspects of the bill, Rausch looked ahead to next budget season and wondered aloud what services may be cut as a result of a smaller tax haul.

“[W]ith this bill, we’re cutting $1 billion from our coffers, wiping out the new revenues of Fair Share almost to the penny,” the Needham Democrat said. “If we don’t increase our revenues, whether through ultra-high-earning corporate taxation or otherwise, then the only other option for us is to put services on the chopping block. So come budget time next year, what are we gonna cut?”

Referring to “revenue that we’re losing today,” Rausch called for a future “debate in this chamber, on this floor, about revenue.”

As Tarr and Rodrigues collegially sparred during multiple budget and tax debates this year, the bipartisan duo enlisted the use of a prop — a large paper “I.O.U.” they exchanged, representing the promise of future tax relief measures.

Rodrigues presented the note back to the Republican leader with a handshake Thursday, and Tarr “marked the I.O.U. paid.”

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September 9, 2026

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