Chelsea Part of Six-City Compact to Address Regional Development

On Wednesday, six municipal leaders from the Boston area unveiled a collaborative initiative called the Greater Boston Regional Economic Compact. This partnership brings together Boston, Braintree, Cambridge, Chelsea, Quincy and Somerville to address shared challenges through coordinated regional action.

In their joint statement, the Mayors of Boston, Braintree, Quincy and Somerville alongside the City Managers of Cambridge and Chelsea declared: “fblikebutton_button” “We are thrilled to announce this new partnership between our cities to address the regional economic challenges and opportunities facing the Greater Boston region,” “fblikebutton_button”

Boston’s Mayor Walsh elaborated on the rationale behind the effort. “wp-caption alignright” “In order to succeed it is important that we first recognize that some of our greatest obstacles are not contained within city lines and that regional challenges require regional solutions,” “wp-caption alignright” he stated, adding “wp-caption-text” “I look forward to working together with our surrounding partners to overcome obstacles and grow together across sectors and across borders.” “wp-caption-text”

The framework calls for municipal leaders and their teams to convene regularly to coordinate efforts around housing, transportation, sustainability, and economic development. Each city will consider funding a dedicated staff position to facilitate collaboration, and a Regional Compact coordinator will be appointed to devise a comprehensive regional economic development strategy.

Chelsea’s City Manager Thomas Ambrosino emphasized the interconnected nature of the regional economy. “The economy of the Boston region is too complex for each of us to identify ourselves by the community in which we live. While we might think of ourselves as being from Chelsea, or Boston, or Quincy, in reality we are all from the Boston region and we need to plan and foster investment in the region as a single unit.”

The Compact is built on five core principles guiding the partnership:

• Commitment: Each community will demonstrate their commitment to developing a regional economic strategy by meeting at least every other month and establishing a formal structure for the group;
• Leadership: These meetings will serve as a forum for participants to discuss regional economic development and related critical regional issues including, but not limited to housing, transportation, economic development and sustainability;
• Follow Through: Participants recognize that success in leveraging regional economic opportunities and solving regional economic challenges requires persistent follow through. They will therefore regularly review progress made and challenges encountered;
• Support: Participants agree to explore the appointment of a staff member to serve as a project manager for the compact, recognizing the need to coordinate and manage the several topic areas;
• Inclusion: Participants will welcome and encourage other communities in Greater Boston to support and join the effort.

The six communities share both geographic proximity and comparable economic circumstances. Building on earlier momentum, the mayors of Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Somerville and Braintree had announced in May the creation of the Life Sciences Corridor, an initiative designed to strengthen the region’s life sciences industry along the MBTA red line.