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Wagner enjoys challenges of new chairmanship

Date: 3/9/2011

March 9, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — State Rep. Joseph Wagner was recently named as the new chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and he is "excited at both the challenge and opportunities" of the new assignment.

He told Reminder Publications that House Speaker Robert DeLeo has made it clear to him that job creation is one of his top priorities for the House over the next two years.

Wagner's 16-member panel will review legislation promoting business expansion and job growth, including plans to bring casino gambling to Massachusetts.

He said to do so the House must be "creative," due to the restriction on resources from budget limitations.

"We've got to be smart; have to make smart investments," he said.

His committee will look at the failed state investment in Evergreen Solar in Devens, the solar panel manufacturing company that received a reported $21 million in state financing help. The company is laying off its employees and moving its operations to China.

Although Wagner did not want to "point fingers" at anyone now, he said his committee will be asking "very serious and direct questions" to make sure in the future "that level of investment yields the jobs it was intended for the long term."

Growing jobs in Massachusetts is one side of his new assignment, as Wagner also needs to lead his committee on ways to retain current jobs in the state. Tax incentives, infrastructure improvements and workforce training are three of the ways the state can help businesses to stay here, he noted.

He said, for example, a $325,000 grant to Callaway Golf in Chicopee was a deciding factor in keeping the company here.

Massachusetts doesn't deserve the anti-business reputation it has in some circles, Wager said.

"I don't think that's accurate," he asserted.

The state needs to promote its strengths, such as the investments it has made in life sciences and biotech, he said.

In speaking to business leaders and members of the Patrick Administration, Wagner said a common theme is the need for greater emphasis on education. He said there is a strong correlation between the rates of high school graduation and unemployment.

He believes that early childhood education programs and increased efforts to improve literacy will "pay a huge dividend to this state as we move forward."

Wagner served 16 of his 20 years in the House on the transportation committee, eight of them as chair. He said his current assignment is closely linked to transportation issues, as transportation is a major part of economic development.

He pointed to the state grant that funded roadway and signal improvements on Memorial Drive that made the Chicopee Crossings development move forward as one example.



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