Professor Barry Bluestone will be the keynote speaker at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce Exec-Connect Luncheon Thursday Oct. 18 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center.

Bluestone is the founding Director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional
Policy, and the founding Dean of the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. He currently serves as a member of the advisory council to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development as well as the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. He served on the Governor’s Economic Development Strategy Council and is now an executive board member of the Governor’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.

Bluestone will report on the state of Manufacturing in Massachusetts and
will highlight the findings of the recently published Staying Power II: A Report Card on Manufacturing in Massachusetts. Bluestone heads Northeastern’s Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, which produced the report with support from The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership, the Mass Tech Collaborative, RBS Citizens and The Boston Foundation.

Bluestone will discuss key findings from this landmark study which show that
manufacturing remains the sixth largest industry employer in Massachusetts, ahead of financial services, wholesale trade, construction, state government, and information services.

In addition, the report shows that the average annual pay of a manufacturing worker is about $75,000.

In terms of payroll for employees, manufacturing is the second largest industry in the state, after health care and 65% of the 700 manufacturers surveyed expect to increase production over the next five years.

Bluestone will lead a discussion regarding how to best position the MetroWest region to accommodate the growth in this industry.

If you would like to add your voice to the discussion, please register at www.metrowest.org. The cost for this informative session, including a hot buffet luncheon is $25, pre-registered, $30, walk-ins and not-yet members.

The MetroWest Chamber of Commerce based in Framingham, serves the communities Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland and Westborough and beyond and is funded by membership investments.