For some of us, this winter’s snowstorms were a cause of stress. But they also brought a few folks closer together.
Witness the Baker administration’s change of heart toward a state-sponsored program that helps foreign-born entrepreneurs stay here.
It’s a shift that can be traced to a traffic jam caused by snow.
Governor Charlie Baker had incensed some in the venture capital community by axing $1 million for this new global entrepreneurship program, zeroing it out in a series of emergency cuts he made in early February. The program had been championed by Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at VC firm Flybridge Capital Partners.
So Bussgang made sure to mention his frustration to Jay Ash, Baker’s economic development secretary, when the two met at the Cambridge Innovation Center the following week.
It turned out that Ash and Bussgang were both headed to the same place in the Back Bay after the CIC meeting. Ash agreed to give Bussgang a ride in his 2006 Volvo — and continue the conversation.
What should have been a 15-minute drive turned into an hour and 15 minutes, thanks to streets narrowed by snow and the resulting snarl of cars. The upside? Bussgang had a captive audience with Baker’s top economic policy aide.
The two chatted about startups and innovation in the state, as well as the entrepreneurship program and immigration. There were non-business topics like the kids and, of course, the weather.
A few weeks later, Baker released his budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year. In it, he carved out $100,000 for the global entrepreneurship program, challenging the private sector to match the rest.
It was enough for Bussgang to declare victory: He said he’s thrilled that Baker and Ash have taken an interest in the program and agreed to reinstate it and that they recognize its value in attracting and retaining some of the world’s best minds.
As Baker’s new economic point guy, Ash will travel the state to meet with top business leaders and hear about their needs. In this case, he just needed to get behind the wheel of his Volvo.
JON CHESTO
Better late than never? Not for de Blasio
Bill de Blasio’s scheduling difficulties have hit Boston. Eight days after Marty Walsh’s office gave him top billing in a press release about an income inequality forum at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the New York City mayor was taken off the attendee list Wednesday. The change stemmed from a “miscommunication” involving the cities and the US Conference of Mayors, which is hosting a two-day leadership meeting in Boston, according to a press release from Walsh’s office.
This is not the first scheduling trouble for de Blasio. Just over a year into his term, the mayor has become well known for his chronic tardiness.
There was the memorial service for plane crash victims (owing to fog and “a very rough night,” he said) and the Rockaways St. Patrick’s Day Parade last week (because an education meeting ran late). On Tuesday, he showed up 15 minutes late for St. Patrick’s Day Mass.
We’d like to think that the Boston misfire was the tipping point: The Daily News reported Tuesday that de Blasio’s top spokeswoman has stepped down to help him, among other things, improve “communications planning.” Not a moment too soon.
JACK NEWSHAM
Free hot coffee served with a conscience
If you happened to pass through Boston City Hall Wednesday morning, you might have wondered why all those people wearing black-and-neon-green T-shirts were handing out free cups of coffee. The give-away was part of a campaign by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay to encourage more men to sign up as “Bigs,” since the organization has a waiting list of boys wanting mentors.
Big Brothers Big Sisters CEO Wendy Foster was there and couldn’t have been more delighted by the arctic temperatures and whipping wind on City Hall Plaza.
“The weather cooperated and it was freezing,” which meant lots of people were eager for a hot drink and got to learn about the campaign, Foster explained. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying, ‘Yay for cold,’ but in fact I’m saying, ‘Yay for cold!’ ”
The initiative was part of Mayor Marty Walsh’s plan to recruit 1,000 new mentors over the next two years for local young people.
Walsh has vowed that at least 10 percent of them will be city employees. Thus, yesterday’s recruiting at City Hall.
Among the pols who stopped by for coffee and conversation were City Councilor Ayanna Pressley and Chief of Health and Human Services Felix Arroyo, who tweeted a picture of himself with Foster and Miss Massachusetts 2014 Lauren Kuhn, who’s interested in becoming a Big Sister. And, yes, in the photo Kuhn is wearing a crown.
The java was donated by Boston Brewin Coffee, and Big Brothers Big Sisters paid for the cups, which were imprinted with the organization’s logo.
Foster said the campaign is proving to be successful: In the last week alone, 55 people have inquired about becoming mentors (70 percent of them men), a number “well above our norm” for a typical week in early March.
SACHA PFEIFFER
World medical forum will draw executives
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the US secretary of Health and Human Services, has a big job.
Right now, for example, that involves being named in a lawsuit over the future of health care reform before the US Supreme Court.
But Burwell can escape the anti-Obamacare vibes for a bit on her upcoming visit to health reform-friendly Massachusetts.
She is among an elite group of health and science leaders who will speak next month at the W orld Medical Innovation Forum, a new event sponsored by Partners HealthCare.
Partners, the system that includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s hospitals, developed a program featuring a list of headliners who are at the forefront of research and innovation. The list of speakers includes high-profile local chief executives: Jeffrey Leiden of Boston’s Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Michael Mahoney of Marlborough-based Boston Scientific, Deborah Dunsire of Watertown-based Forum Pharmaceuticals, and from Cambridge, David Meeker of Genzyme, and George Scangos of Biogen Idec.
Also on the schedule is Ann Romney, who is the wife of the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate, and an ambassador for multiple sclerosis patients.
Brigham last year named its Center for Neurologic Diseases for Romney, who was diagnosed with MS in 1998.
The innovation forum, slated for April 27 to 29 at the Westin Copley Place hotel, will be centered on neuroscience.
Of course, being sponsored by the state’s biggest health system, the event will include plenty of speakers with Partners on their name tags.
PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
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