Mayor Martin J. Walsh yesterday said Boston must embrace and support the startup community and young professionals to ensure its economic growth — a call applauded by big business and cultural leaders.
“Our young people will build the Boston of tomorrow,” Walsh said in a speech to business leaders at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
He repeatedly touched on preparing and welcoming the next generation of Boston’s business leaders, touting its economic and cultural benefits.
“The mayor’s been talking a lot about the right stuff,” said Greg Selkoe, CEO of Karmaloop and founder of the Future Boston Alliance, a nonprofit that seeks to make Boston a better place for young people.
Selkoe had butted heads with former mayor Thomas M. Menino over what he considered that administration’s economically stifling policies. Walsh last month unveiled a late night task force to look at extending hours bars and eateries can stay open — an issue Selkoe long championed. Selkoe now says he is optimistic about Boston’s future.
“I think we have an opportunity if we market it the right way,” he said. “We have a real opportunity to beat out the places like Silicon Valley.”
A city that encourages culture as well as startups and entrepreneurs could be an economic force, Selkoe said.
“It seems like everyone is on the same page,” he said.
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Paul Guzzi said attracting and retaining recent college graduates is “extraordinarily important.”
“The fundamental objective of young people staying in the city is a quality job,” Guzzi said. “I think the ingredients are there.”
Part of that effort will be a city-run startup incubator in Dudley Square, Walsh said yesterday.
“We all share a vested interest in supporting Boston’s startup community and building Boston’s startup brand,” Walsh said.
Walsh also spoke about raising Boston’s youth to be future leaders, citing the city’s longtime summer jobs program and the addition of 10,000 mobile devices to Boston Public School classrooms.
Still, changing the city’s culture and reputation is not as easy as flipping a switch and making an announcement, Selkoe said.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, it’s not just staying open later,” he said. “The key is now everyone rolling up their sleeves.”