MERC NEWS
MERC hosted its 31st Annual Conference this past May 30th at Framingham State University. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, Kim Driscoll, and Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, Ed Augustus, provided remarks as part of the conference. Their interventions were followed by MERC’s annual economic update delivered by MERC Co-Directors, Drs. Rongbing Liu and Luis Rosero, as well as a panel discussion moderated by Jason Palitsch, Executive Director of the 495/MetroWest Partnership. Panelists included Amy Dain (Consultant, Dain Research), Geoff Homoliski (Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Middlesex Savings Bank), Debbie Maruca Hoak (Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity MW/Greater Worcester), and Peter Matchak (Director of Planning, Town of Ashland). As part of this conference, a great set of ideas for dealing with the lack of housing affordability in Greater MetroWest were developed and discussed.
