Thriving Together: Greater Boston’s Economic Roadmap 2025 – 2030

Invest in workforce development and remove barriers to employment: 

• Expand access to higher education for incumbent and underemployed workers through subsidized tuition. 
• Expand certificate and credential programs aligned with workforce needs and priority industries, including integrated English for Speakers of Other Languages instruction to support immigrant and multilingual workers. 
• Expand coordination of workforce development at state and municipal levels, with a focus on BIPOC and other hard to serve populations. 
• Increase funding for childcare providers to sustain operations and ensure pay equity. 

Expand housing affordability near jobs and transit, and strengthen transportation access for workers:

• Increase state and local funding for affordable housing production, community land trusts, lower total development costs, and net zero housing initiatives.
• Expand inclusionary housing policies to grow the overall supply of affordable housing and advance equitable development.
• Incentivize higher density housing and increased housing choice near transit to support affordability and workforce access.
• Support access to housing for family childcare providers through zoning and regulatory reforms.
• Establish and expand low income transit fare programs and improve off hour transit service reliability.

• Expand municipal procurement programs that increase awards to firms owned by underrepresented populations. 
• Facilitate the acquisition of businesses from retiring owners by BIPOC and women owned firms to retain wealth in under resourced communities. 
• Leverage the Commonwealth’s Business Front Door initiative to expand access to real estate and ownership opportunities, and deepen collaboration with regional Workforce Investment Boards to connect small business development and workforce training systems. 
• Establish peer to peer mentorship programs between established firms and small and emerging firms owned by BIPOC, women, and other marginalized groups. 

• Establish a framework to identify high impact infrastructure and climate resilience projects in target locations, creating a pipeline of shovel ready projects for 2027 and beyond. 
• Create a state led incentive program for transit-oriented development planning and infrastructure investment that aligns with policies to reduce auto emissions and greenhouse gases through transit-oriented growth. 
• Prepare BIPOC businesses to compete in construction adjacent industries and unbundle large public works projects into smaller contract opportunities, building a pipeline for clean energy workforce participation. 
• Provide municipalities with a toolkit of policy recommendations and best practices for project conceptualization, selection, planning, and implementation of resilient physical and non-physical infrastructure, with a focus on climate adaptation in economically distressed communities.