A new state council will advise Gov. Maura Healey on taxes, business incentives, workforce development and the state’s economic competitiveness, and she’s turning to a former Baker administration official to co-lead it.
The Governor’s Advisory Council on Competitiveness will include Cabinet secretaries, members of the House and Senate, regional chamber of commerce designees, labor union representatives, and business-backed groups. To co-chair the council, Healey tapped Harpoon Brewery President Dan Kenary and Mark Nunnelly, the former revenue commissioner and Executive Office of Technology Services and Security secretary.
“Massachusetts is home to the best businesses, schools, health care system and talent in the world, but we can’t take anything for granted,” Healey said. “I’m creating this Competitiveness Council to bring everyone to the table – business, labor, state and local leaders – to advise me on action we can take to grow Massachusetts’ economic leadership and make us more competitive.”
The group is tasked, without a specific deadline, to offer recommendations on actions to strengthen the state business climate and support growth in existing and emerging industries. The executive order that Healey signed to create the council says Massachusetts “faces significant headwinds in the post-COVID economy, further exacerbated by federal policies targeting research, education, immigration, and free trade.”
Nunnelly, a former Bain Capital executive, was appointed revenue commissioner in March 2015 and worked in that job for a year before he became executive director of the state technology office. Gov. Charlie Baker made Nunnelly the first secretary of the new Executive Office of Technology Services and Security in 2017. He left that job in June 2018 and Healey’s office said he is now the chairman of Toolbox Holdings and Foundation.
“At every step, Massachusetts has always been ready to adapt, change and invest in its future. Governor Healey is continuing this tradition in a world that is changing faster than ever,” Nunnelly said in a statement.
The other members of the council are: Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley (or designee); Administration and Finance Secretary Matt Gorzkowicz (or designee); Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones (or designee); two members of the House of Representatives designated by the speaker; two members of the Senate designated by the Senate president; a person designated by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce; a person designated by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; a person designated by the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce; a person designated by One SouthCoast Chamber; a person designated by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; a person designated by the Western Mass Economic Development Council; a person designated by 1Berkshire; a person designated by the Massachusetts Competitiveness Partnership; a person designated by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center; a person designated by the Mass Business Roundtable; a person designated by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation; a person designated by Associated Industries of Massachusetts; two people designated by AFL-CIO; a person designated by the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts; a person designated by We Are ALX; and “such additional members as the Governor may appoint from geographic areas across the state who reflect a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.”
