GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Deval Patrick is unveiling a $100 million economic development proposal he says will better train Massachusetts’ workers while promoting development in struggling cities and offering incentives to create new jobs.
Patrick says he wants to revamp the state’s research and development tax credit program, encourage more high tech companies to hire interns, and expand the state’s international marketing efforts to increase tax revenue related to foreign travel and business for tourism-related industries.
The plan would also invest in the state’s older, financially strapped cities known as Gateway Cities, he said.
Patrick wants to boost training to help students and workers get jobs in advanced manufacturing and IT, promote market-rate housing in Gateway Cities, and contribute to the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund which cleans up old manufacturing properties to make them suitable for new development.
The plan also gives cities and towns greater control over the number liquor licenses in their communities by ending existing statutory limits.
Patrick planned to detail his legislation at an Economic Development Summit today in Newton.
The plan also calls for a “Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program,” which Patrick said would retain and attract entrepreneurs dedicated to creating jobs in Massachusetts.
The program would allow qualified, high skilled, international students currently in Massachusetts to stay here after graduation if they are starting or growing a business, the governor said.
The program, to be administered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, would place selected students who are eligible for H-1B visas but unable to get one due to a federal cap as “entrepreneurs in residence” at public and private institutions.
Patrick said the plan would be paid for through a combination of capital budget and general fund expenditures.
The governor says he also wants to eliminate non-competition agreements and adopt the Uniform Trade Secrets Act “to promote innovation, job creation and the growth of companies to scale.”
