Friday, February 15, 2008

Mass. tech council: Education, stability key to Bay State's success in 2008

Bay State technology leaders called upon government officials to stabilize the cost of doing business and invest in public education in a survey released this morning by the Massachusetts High Technology Council.

The annual survey also showed that a majority of tech CEOs in Massachusetts remain confident in the state's business climate and in their own job growth -- numbers that coincide with a quarterly survey of technology executives across New England conducted by Mass High Tech.

The council's findings were presented this morning at its annual meeting, where Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. president and CEO, Josh Boger, was named MHTC's chairman. He was joined by a slate of new directors and officers, including James Regan, chairman, president and CEO of Dynamics Research Corp., and Paul Gauron, a senior partner at Boston law firm Goodwin Procter LLP.

Tech employers in Massachusetts ranked the need to improve K-12 education as the No. 1 priority of the statewide council, with tax policy, economic development strategy and unemployment insurance following as top priorities by respondents of the survey, which helps set its agenda for the coming year.

Council president Christopher R. Anderson, a regulator contributor to MHT, said that while the nation may be on the brink of a recession, the council's members feel that the state will "hold steady" over the next year -- but that state legislators must continue to work with tech leaders to grow the state's economy and create new jobs.

"The long-term vitality of our technology industry requires a fair, predictable tax climate coupled with a constant infusion of innovation and new talent," Anderson said in a public statement. "It is incumbent on us to create world-class public schools that compete globally."