Statement of Steve Grossman
President, MassEnvelopePlus

I am pleased to join you today to lend my unequivocal support for the passage of Senate bill No. 31 and House Bill No. 1813. The time has not only come, it is overdue for a collegial, collaborative effort like this. The special commission mandated by the legislation would bring together the executive branch, the legislature, those who represent business and those who represent working families to forge a common agenda on the critical issue of how to create high-quality jobs in Massachusetts.

I think we all agree that this issue of job creation is of the utmost importance-along with ensuring the public’s safety, of which we’re reminded on this tragic anniversary. More than 150,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their jobs since the beginning of 2001, many have exhausted their unemployment benefits, and the state’s unemployment insurance fund is in danger of running out of money. We can’t afford to “wait it our” until the anticipated recovery kicks in and unemployment rolls start to fall again. The State House must be a crossroads, not a battleground, for those committed to putting the Commonwealth’s citizens back to work.

I am here today as chief executive of a 93-year-old, fourth-generation family business, MassEnvelopePlus, which I’ve been privileged to lead for more than 30 years. We have succeeded in good times and made it through bad times by adhering to three simple principles. We value our workforce above all other assets. We invest our resources wisely. And we have changed with changing times.

I believe the commission created by this legislation must take a similar long-term view and not concern itself only with the short-term issues associated with the current economic slump. The governor has said that the Commonwealth’s fundamentals are sound and expressed confidence that we will continue to attract good jobs on that basis. As somebody who has spent his life in a highly competitive business, however, I know how hard it is to keep your edge. Make no mistake about it- our future is not assured. Other states have figured out the secret to our success and are trying to "eat our lunch".

We must focus together on our long-term goals and continue to invest in the things that will make Massachusetts an attractive place to live and do business. Our challenges before the downturn will continue to be our challenges afterwards: a quality workforce and quality of life. That means that our leaders in the public and private sectors must work together to make progress on difficult issues such as ensuring the highest quality public education; providing relevant workforce training; addressing the crisis of high housing costs in the Commonwealth; and ensuring economic opportunity for all individuals and families throughout Massachusetts, in every region of the state.

I believe this special commission can be the first step toward creating a meaningful collaboration in the service of those goals, if there is a serious commitment to it by all the relevant parties. I support its creation wholeheartedly and will do whatever I can do to ensure its success.