By Bonnie Adams, Government Editor
Westborough – Westborough's pro-business stance – in particular, its formation of an Economic Development Committee (EDC) – was lauded by Marc Verreault, a local real estate executive, at the EDC's Oct. 4 meeting as being a primary reason the town is well positioned to attract new businesses.
But Verreault, a senior vice president with Carruth Capital LLC who also is the treasurer of the 495/MetroWest Partnership, warned the EDC members that there are still significant problems regarding the commonwealth's relationship with the business sector. Those problems have and will continue to impact the number of companies that choose to stay in Massachusetts, he said.
Verreault noted that EMC had made millions of dollars in upgrades to a data manager site located at 4400 Computer Dr., yet the building has stayed empty for several years. Now, he said, the company has determined that it is cheaper to move the work that would be done at that site to North Carolina.
“Many times businesses leave the state because of the high cost of energy [in Massachusetts],” he said. “A lot of companies leave to go to states where they burn coal.”
Verreault noted that a recent change in Westborough's zoning bylaws was a positive one. In certain cases, buildings can now be six stories instead of the previous maximum of four and the site's open space can be 40 percent instead of 60.
But problems could arise, he added, because that zoning must still be approved on an individual basis by special permit.
“That does hurt us,” he said. “Tenants don's like uncertainty when they are making that kind of investment. We need to be able to tell them that we can do it.”
Westborough's willingness to give businesses Tax Increment Financing, such as the one approved earlier this year for eClinicalWorks was a positive move, especially when the town is in competition with other “high-tax towns like Framingham and Marlborough,” he said.
Currently, TJX Companies Inc. is looking to possibly move its headquarters out of Framingham, Verreault said.
“TJX is a big whale out there,” he added. “In fact, they are the only whale out there right now.”