Gregory Bialecki, the state’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development.
Jon Chesto
Managing Editor, Print- Boston Business Journal
Greg Bialecki will soon say goodbye to his magnificent views from his 21st floor office, in a tower atop Beacon Hill.
But Bialecki would be the first to tell his replacement as the state’s new economic development secretary that he shouldn’t get too comfortable in the chair. Bialecki tells me his goal was to spend as little time as possible there. Instead, it was more important to spend his time traveling the state, talking to people to find out what ideas for economic growth are working and what’s falling flat.
Bialecki has been Gov. Deval Patrick’s chief economic aide since 2009. And before that, he was an undersecretary for Dan O’Connell, Patrick’s previous economic chief. So he’s been with the agency for almost the entire length of Patrick’s eight-year tenure. I checked in with Bialecki this week to hear what he considered to be the administration’s biggest accomplishments in the arena of economic development, and to hear about the unfinished business he’ll leave for Jay Ash, governor-elect Charlie Baker’s choice for the job, to pick up. (Bialecki told me he hasn’t decided what he’ll do next, but the State House News Service reports that he’s interested in the CEO’s spot at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce being vacated by Paul Guzzi,)
Bialecki’s proud of the administration’s work to boost three key sectors: life sciences, clean energy and high-tech. The administration played a key role in shepherding the $1 billion life sciences package into legislation in 2008, and also setting regulations that encouraged the proliferation of renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines. As far as tech goes, he points to the big-data and digital gaming clusters that have grown up here, as well as the boom in the robotics business here. And the Patrick administration has been a key supporter of MassChallenge. the now-famous startup incubator in South Boston. Bialecki says the administration took strides toward engaging business leaders to accomplish big goals, such as attracting the list of overseas airlines that are now landing at Logan Airport. Bialecki also points to efforts to build parts of the economy outside of Greater Boston, particularly manufacturing, still a major sector in many of the state’s Gateway Cities.
Bialecki also concedes that trying to spread Greater Boston’s economic prosperity to far corners of the state remains a work in progress. While the statewide unemployment rate hovers around 6 percent, there are still pockets of the state where the jobless rate remains stubbornly stuck above 10 percent. With Ash’s background as a city manager in one of these Gateway Cities, albeit one close to Boston, Bialecki sees someone who understands the plight of the state’s older industrial cities and can envision ways to turn them around. Bialecki is also disappointed that more couldn’t be done to get multifamily housing built across the state to help create more affordable options for the middle class. The administration’s efforts toward that end were short-circuited during the housing bust and never fully recovered momentum. With a 20-year career as a real estate lawyer prior to joining the Patrick administration, Bialecki knows full well the challenges of getting big residential projects built in this state.
Ash will take over Bialecki’s spot at a time when the state’s in growth mode: Employers added roughly 50,000 jobs in the past year alone. But Bialecki knows there’s still much work to be done in terms of housing affordability and addressing the inequality of the state’s two separate economies, the one within 495 and the one that exists outside of it. Bialecki would say that the seeds have been planted, at least. But now it will be up to a newcomer to bring a different view to the 21st floor-office on Beacon Hill.
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