The priorities of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce have not always been well-aligned with those of the innovation community. Most recently, the chamber stood in staunch opposition to banning, or even limiting, noncompete clauses in Massachusetts. That effort is considered by many in the startup sector—entrepreneurs, employees, and venture capitalists alike—to be a top policy priority.
When Paul Guzzi, the chamber’s longtime CEO, announced he was retiring from the position, the search began for a new leader of the organization. The Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung reported last week that as the search develops, the chamber is mindful of putting a greater focus on appealing to startups. More directly, Leung puts it, the chamber is mindful of its relevance—parlance also employed by The Boston Business Journal as a challenge for the chamber when Guzzi announced his plans to step down.
Meanwhile, The Boston Herald reports that the chamber is seeking a partnership with MassChallenge, the five-year-old Boston-based startup accelerator program. There’s little in the way of details about what a partnership would entail, but no doubt the goal from the chamber’s perspective would be to usher younger companies through its doors.
“We’ll be able to attract probably the most important aspect of our economy, the younger generation,” Chamber chairman John Fish told The Herald.
We’ll see if the chamber will rethink some of its policy positions as it tries to appeal to a new sector and a new generation of businesses. That will depend to some degree on whoever runs the show next. And the chamber isn’t always in lockstep with startups for a reason. Going back to the noncompete example, established chamber members EMC and Boston Scientific were among those who fought the prospect of a ban the hardest.
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