22nd Annual MetroWest Economic Research Center Conference Wednesday

Framingham State University's MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC) will hold its 22nd Annual Conference on Wednesday, April 30 at the Framingham Sheraton Hotel.

This year's theme - The Massachusetts Innovation Economy: Maintaining MetroWest’s Competitiveness.

Students and faculty from MERC will present the latest town and regional data and analyses on: unemployment, jobs, wages, payroll, housing permits, sales and prices, cost of living, municipal revenue and taxes, and K12 public school enrollment, including Massachusetts and U.S. comparisons.

Bentley University Trustee Professor of Economics and Management Patricia M. Flynn will be the keynote speaker. Her research and teaching focus on technology-based economic development, corporate governance and women in business.

A special panel discussion will be moderated by Framingham State Executive Vice President  Dale Hamel, and will include Susan Butler, an associate director at Natick Labs in Natick; Bonnie Biocchi, the president and CEO of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce; Susan Hertzberg, CEO of Boston Heart Diagnostics; and Tom Sommer, president of MassMEDIC. 

Registration is still being accepted www.metrowest.org.

The cost is $20 and includes a copy of the 2014 Greater MetroWest Economic Profile and the Massachusetts Innovation Economy Annual Index – January 2014 Edition.

Networking at 7 a.m. on April 30. Conference is from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Sponsors of the Conference breakfast are Middlesex Savings Bank, the MetroWest Daily News, NSTAR, Coan Heating & Air Conditioning, the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce and the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce.