The Chamber’s Government Affairs Council held its regular monthly meeting on May 10. At their meeting, the Council continued their conversations about worker shortages and housing. The May  meeting also included a Chamber update on the Cape Ann Works job matching, transportation and employer support initiative, community updates from Council members, and a summary report presented by Olivia on recent community meetings that she had attended.

National Grid’s “Beverly Regional Transmission Reliability Project” and its importance to meeting Cape Ann’s energy needs was a focus topic at the Council’s May meeting.  The project to replace an outdated underground transmission cable, one of only two transmission lines bringing power to all of Cape Ann, needs city of Beverly approval to proceed. More details about this project are available at https://www.beverlyregionaltransmissionreliabilityproject.com. In other business the group voted to recommend giving a Chamber letter of support for the Town of Essex’s grant application to assist the community’s zoning process.

The Government Affairs Council leads the Chamber’s focus on economic development and public policy, one of our key platforms. This Council meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 7:30 to 9 AM, and participation is open to any Chamber member with an interest in being engaged with our state and local government and helping foster a vibrant Cape Ann economy. Currently, those who are part of our monthly meetings include representatives from greater Cape Ann’s industrial, tourism, government, real estate, legal, non-profit and services sectors. To learn more or join in these meetings, please contact Ken, Olivia, Peter or me. Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14.

Bill Scott
Chair, Government Affairs Council
Scott Energy Company