• Mayor: Program a ‘helping hand’

    The Salem News – Mayor: Program a ‘helping hand’

    The state’s Gateway Cities program — a subject of distrust and controversy for some in town — was the topic of a public forum last night at the Salem Five bank.

    Benjamin Forman, research director at MassINC, spoke and answered questions along with Driscoll. MassINC is a nonprofit think tank and research organization that publishes CommonWealth Magazine.

  • FOCUS: Incomplete assignment: 20 years of school reform in Bay State

    Tauton Daily Gazette – FOCUS: Incomplete assignment: 20 years of school reform in Bay State

    Two decades after a sweeping law ushered in MCAS exams, charter schools and other major changes in the classroom, state leaders and experts say Massachusetts still has more homework to do on education reform.

    Nonprofit think tank MassINC is kicking off a project on closing the achievement gap in older, so-called Gateway cities and ensuring students can compete in the highly skilled Bay State economy, said research director Ben Forman.

  • , Lowell MA – Lowell as a Gateway City

    Blog from the Office of the City Manager, Lowell MA – Lowell as a Gateway City

    Through the work of MassInc, with support from municipal and state officials, Massachusetts is beginning to recognize the vital role that Gateway Cities like Lowell play in the health of the Commonwealth.

  • Incomplete assignment: 20 years of school reform in Bay State

    Wicked Local Newton – Incomplete assignment: 20 years of school reform in Bay State
    Two decades after a sweeping law ushered in MCAS exams, charter schools and other major changes in the classroom, state leaders and experts say Massachusetts still has more homework to do on education reform.

    Nonprofit think tank MassINC is kicking off a project on closing the achievement gap in older, so-called Gateway cities and ensuring students can compete in the highly skilled Bay State economy, said research director Ben Forman.

  • Gateway Cities $1.7 billion investment proposal could drive projects in Springfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield and Westfield

    Springfield Republican – Gateway Cities $1.7 billion investment proposal could drive projects in Springfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield and Westfield

    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, run by MassINC, on Thursday released a proposal for a $1.7 billion public investment in the 24 cities deemed by the legislature as “Gateway Cities.”

  • $1.7B eyed for Gateway Cities over next decade

    Lowell Sun – $1.7B eyed for Gateway Cities over next decade
    Cities like Lowell that were once the cornerstones of the state economy are now getting renewed attention as lawmakers look to revive these once-vibrant communities.

    Boston-based MassINC, the organization responsible for research that explores the future of Massachusetts’ 24 so-called Gateway Cities, is pushing for a collaborative effort to reverse the trend of job growth and development centered around Boston.

  • Gateway Cities proposes to invest in Westfield

    Gateway Cities proposes to invest in Westfield
    City officials are assessing a Gateway Cities program which would aid older industrial cities with redevelopment and new economic investment.
    The program, Transformation Redevelopment, a strategic state policy for Gateway City growth and renewal, is being developed through the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute as a vehicle to stimulate public-private investment and overcome the lack of investment enthusiasm in the current financial climate.

  • State investment called key to supporting Gateway Cities development

    Lowell Sun – State investment called key to supporting Gateway Cities development

    State officials say the success of Gateway Cities is key to strengthening Massachusetts’ economy, but doing business in these underperforming areas often makes little financial sense.

  • OUR VIEW: A costly mistake in Somerset

    Wicked Local Fall River – OUR VIEW: A costly mistake in Somerset
    THUMBS UP to MassINC Gateway Cities Institute, which released a new report Thursday, calling for a $1.7 billion strategic state investment over 10 years to economic development in the commonwealth’s 24 Gateway Cities, including Fall River.

  • Proponents of Gateway Cities say development could improve economy

    Sentinel and Enterprise – Proponents of Gateway Cities say development could improve economy
    State officials say the success of Gateway Cities is key to strengthening Massachusetts’ economy, but doing business in these underperforming areas often makes little financial sense.

    In some cases, developers are unable to recover the cost of developing properties due to low rents and sale prices, according to a new report from MassINC, which has dedicated itself to strengthening Gateway Cities.

  • PARTY LINES: MassINC calls for investment in Gateway Cities

    Taunton Daily Gazette – PARTY LINES: MassINC calls for investment in Gateway Cities

    A MassINC report released this past week calls for $1.7 billion in public investments in Gateway Cities, such as Taunton, over the next decade.

  • Lowell site factors in Gateway Cities focus

    Lowell site factors in Gateway Cities focus

    The city of Lowell played a major role Thursday morning as lawmakers and economic-development policy experts met to discuss a new report issued by MassINC that calls for injecting $1.7 billion into the state’s 24 Gateway Cities.

    Ben Foreman, executive director of MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, told breakfast attendees that “projects like Worcester’s CitySquare and Lowell’s Hamilton Canal District should serve as a rallying cry that we can do better and we can do more.”

  • MassINC urges public funds to spur private investment in Gateway Cities

    MassINC urges public funds to spur private investment in Gateway Cities

    MassINC is calling for a 10-year infusion of $1.7 million in public money to jump-start private investment in the state’s 24 Gateway Cities in a process it calls “transformative redevelopment.”

    MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute estimates that public investment on that order would stimulate nearly $7 billion in private investment and create about 80,000 jobs.

  • Gateway Cities report proposes $1.7 billion public investment in underperforming cities – including Springfield and Holyoke

    Gateway Cities report proposes $1.7 billion public investment in underperforming cities – including Springfield and Holyoke

    An institute dedicated to strengthening Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities is proposing a $1.7 billion public investment in those cities, which include Springfield, Holyoke, Pittsfield and Westfield.

    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, run by MassINC, unveiled the proposal Thursday at a legislative breakfast.

  • MassINC calls for investment in redevelopment of Gateway Cities

    MassINC calls for investment in redevelopment of Gateway Cities

    A $1.7 billion strategic investment by the state over 10 years would dramatically boost the economic climates of two-dozen small and midsize Gateway Cities such as Taunton and Fall River, according to a report MassINC released Thursday.

    “This is a big idea, a bold idea,” said MassINC Gateway Cities Institute director Benjamin Forman, who presented the research Thursday at the Hampshire House to members of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus.

  • MassINC Calls for $1.7 Billion for Redevelopment of Gateway Cities

    MassINC Calls for $1.7 Billion for Redevelopment of Gateway Cities

    A new report is calling for major investment into redeveloping the real estate market in Massachusetts’ so-called “Gateway Cities.”

    Boston-based policy institute MassINC released a report Thursday calling for $1.7 billion to strategically revitalize former manufacturing centers like New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester.

  • Brockton could benefit from investment program for gateway cities

    Brockton could benefit from investment program for gateway cities

    Over the years, the city has tried different strategies to revitalize its downtown area: a new courthouse, thriving health center, vacant buildings renovated as condos.

    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute – whose mission is to serve a committed group of gateway city leaders, a program of MassINC – released a study on how a development strategy called “transformative investment” could jump-start building in regional economic centers, drawing private investment with enough impact to transform communities.

  • Report calls for $1.7 billion investment in Mass. cities

    Report calls for $1.7 billion investment in Mass. cities

    A state investment of $1.7 billion over the next decade would lift the economies and redevelopment of struggling urban centers outside of Boston, creating jobs and stimulating private investment, according to a new report from MassINC.

    The report, published by MassINC and the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, calls for the state to commit $125 million a year for the next 10 years to a redevelopment fund that would provide the seed money and leverage private investment for downtown renewal projects in urban centers around the state.

  • Gateway Cities like Lowell eyed for $1.7B economic boost

    Gateway Cities like Lowell eyed for $1.7B economic boost

    A new report being released by MassINC today recommends pumping $1.7 billion into Gateway Cities, such as Lowell, to help spur economic development.
     
    The report was scheduled to be released at a breakfast hosted by the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus in Boston, and calls for the investment to be made over the next decade to help the former industrial cities attract new employers, jobs and economic power.

  • Connecting Point 11/26/12

    WGBY – Connecting Point 11/26/12

    MassINC’s Research Director and Executive Director of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, Benamin Forman, on WGBY’s Connecting Point.

  • Gateway Cities propelled Warren over Brown in Senate race

    South Coast Today – Gateway Cities propelled Warren over Brown in Senate race

    Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s voter-turnout machine got much of the credit for propelling Elizabeth Warren past Sen. Scott Brown last week, but the focus on Boston obscures a much more significant shift in support in the state’s Gateway Cities.

    Brown swept his way into the Senate in January 2010 by making strong inroads into cities outside Boston that Democrats had traditionally carried by wide margins.

  • Champion for Gateway Cities

    Worcester Telegram & Gazette – Champion for Gateway Cities

    Recently, MassINC announced plans to redouble its effort to bring focus and attention to Gateway Cities like Worcester with the launch of a new Gateway Cities Innovation Institute. Working together with many partners, MassINC has taken “Gateway Cities” from a simple term in a 2007 research study to a collaborative movement with the potential to bring about deep and meaningful change.

  • Commentary: Gateway Cities Innovation Institute hopes to tap synergy of collaboration to bring about deep and meaningful change

    Masslive.com – Commentary: Gateway Cities Innovation Institute hopes to tap synergy of collaboration to bring about deep and meaningful change
    Last week, MassINC announced plans to redouble its effort to bring focus and attention to Gateway Cities like Holyoke and Springfield with the launch of a new Gateway Cities Innovation Institute.

  • Gateway Cities Innovation Institute: Western Massachusetts residents tapped to contribute to statewide conversation

    Masslive.com – Gateway Cities Innovation Institute: Western Massachusetts residents tapped to contribute to statewide conversation
    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute might sound like just another project at just another think tank, but to the community leaders named as fellows to the Institute this week, it represents a chance to have a voice.

  • GUEST OPINION: New institute devoted to Gateway City growth and renewal

    Fall River Herald News – GUEST OPINION: New institute devoted to Gateway City growth and renewal

    Last week, MassINC announced plans to redouble its effort to bring focus and attention to Gateway Cities like Fall River with the launch of a new Gateway Cities Innovation Institute. Working together with many partners, MassINC has taken “Gateway Cities” from a simple term in a 2007 research study to a collaborative movement with the potential to bring about deep and meaningful change.

  • Business briefs

    Worcester Telegram & Gazette – Business briefs
    Gateway innovation
    Independent think tank MassINC announced the creation Wednesday of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, a Boston-based institute dedicated to revitalizing former manufacturing centers that it terms Gateway Cities.

  • New institute to help revitalize Fall River, fellow gateway cities

    Fall River Herald News – New institute to help revitalize Fall River, fellow gateway cities
    MassINC, a Boston-based independent think tank, announced Wednesday the creation of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, an entity dedicated to revitalizing former manufacturing “gateway” communities like Fall River and New Bedford.

  • Boston-based think tank creates new institute to revitalize struggling mid-size cities like Springfield, Holyoke and Lowell

    Masslive.com – Boston-based think tank creates new institute to revitalize struggling mid-size cities like Springfield, Holyoke and Lowell

    Boston-based think tank MassINC on Wednesday launched a new center dedicated to revitalizing former manufacturing centers such as Springfield and Lowell, cities struggling to woo new business as they grapple with chronic issues of crime, poverty and unemployment.

    The so-called Gateway Cities Innovation Institute is designed to help Springfield and other mid-size cities that shoulder a “disproportionate share of the state’s social and economic challenges” tap into their “enormous potential,” MassINC officials said in a news release.

  • Gateway Cities partnership seen boosting Lowell

    Lowell Sun – Gateway Cities partnership seen boosting Lowell

    Onetime booming manufacturing cities, such as Lowell and Fitchburg, have an official new friend following Wednesday’s launch of a new independent think-tank aimed at bolstering their educational and economic development.

    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, created by the nonprofit, MassINC, was introduced to municipal officials, state politicians and the public at a rollout held at the Statehouse.

  • Gateway Cities initiative holds promise for Fitchburg

    Sentinel & Enterprise – Gateway Cities initiative holds promise for Fitchburg
    Onetime booming manufacturing cities, such as Lowell and Fitchburg, have an official new friend following Wednesday’s launch of a new independent think tank aimed at bolstering their educational and economic development.

    The Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, created by the nonprofit MassINC, was introduced to municipal officials, state politicians and the public at a rollout held at the Statehouse.

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