Marty has always believed that a good paying job is the foundation of the American Dream. Whatever your starting-point, whatever your neighborhood, opportunity is for everyone in Boston. That’s what he’s spent his career fighting for. And that’s what his comprehensive economic strategy is achieving. Under Mayor Walsh’s leadership, Boston has become a headquarters city of the global economy. More important, Marty’s policies are sharing that success with the people of Boston and entrepreneurs our economy depends on for its ongoing vitality.

Marty’s record

  • Job growth. Boston added more than 60,000 jobs from 2014-2016. More people are working in our city than at any time on record. The city’s unemployment rate dropped from an average of 6.1% in 2013 to 3.4% in 2016.
  • Employer recruitment. Marty and his team brought General Electric, Lego Education, Reebok, and many others to Boston. That not only brings good jobs to our city, it creates economic ripple effects and elevates our city’s role on the world stage.
  • Sharing economic opportunity more fairly and widely.
    • Strengthened the Boston Resident Jobs Policy, requiring residents of Boston to make up the majority of the workers on major construction projects. Set new records toward meeting these goals.
    • Signed an Executive Order cracking down on wage theft.
    • Convened a Minimum Wage Task Force to advance the movement for a statewide $15/hour minimum wage.
    • Created Boston’s first Office of Workforce Development and Office of Financial Empowerment–using development wealth to bring job training and career opportunities to low-income Bostonians.
    • Launched a five-year partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to offer free salary negotiation workshops to every woman in the city of Boston, called “AAUW Work Smart in Boston.” To date, over 4,000 women have gone through the training.
  • Expanding support for small business. Expanded the Main Streets program, launched Boston’s first citywide Small Business Plan, and opened the City’s first Small Business Center in Mattapan.
  • Growing and sharing the innovation economy. Marty launched StartHub, the City of Boston’s first initiative for convening, connecting, and celebrating startups. He also created the Roxbury Innovation Center, a shared working and meeting space that brings the innovation economy to the neighborhoods.
  • Trade and tourism.
    • Established a global affairs team within the Office of Economic Development, to guide our relationships in the global economy.
    • Mayor Walsh reactivated Boston’s international economic presence, holding trade missions or exchanges with with China, Israel, the Netherlands, Ireland, the U.K., and more.
    • Mayor Walsh helped bring the Tall Ships back to Boston this June, for the first Grand Parade of Sail since the year 2000.
  • The power of regional cooperation. Mayor Walsh shifted Boston’s relationship to its neighboring cities and towns from competition to teamwork. He initiated and signing a Regional Economic Development Compact as well as a Life Sciences Corridor program that allow Greater Boston to market itself as a single, powerful Hub in the global economy.

Marty’s plan

  • Expand his Economic Mobility Agenda with new supports and targeted outreach.
  • Build on and share success. Take strategy to the next level, from global employer recruitment to small business support to job training and education for a strong workforce.
  • Inclusive growth. Imagine Boston 2030, the Mayor’s comprehensive citywide plan, calls for good jobs and affordable housing along the Fairmount Line from Dorchester all the way to Hyde Park, greatly expanding the landscape of working-class opportunity in our city.
  • Neighborhood innovation. Build on the success of the Roxbury Innovation Center to implement Neighborhood Innovation Districts that advance a citywide vision for 21st-century economic growth.
  • School-to-career connection. Through new school buildings and upgrades, through STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) curriculum, through free community college, and through partnerships with employers and colleges, Mayor Walsh will continue forging pathways to success for Boston’s next generation.