Richard Staiti, Commissioner, Norfolk County
Richard Staiti, commissioner of Norfolk County, sat down with Invest: to discuss Norfolk County’s value proposition to new businesses and individuals looking to relocate for better opportunities and quality of life. “Norfolk County is showing a great balance of business sectors and activity, which allows us to keep taxes reasonable and affordable,” he said.
What milestones did Norfolk County experience in the past year?
Canton just passed the MBTA Overlay Bill, a legislative priority from the governor. It says every town must pass a new type of zoning that enables developers to build multifamily housing near any commuter system that runs through your town. For example, Canton has three. The idea of the state telling us how to rezone our property was upsetting to some. While some towns passed it, others have not passed. It remains to be seen the long-term effect this has on the area. Not having certain types of housing could affect business development. Although, Canton is business-friendly, and despite the state mandating rezoning, Canton found a decent compromise by increasing housing but also maintaining lot size.
What significant economic developments have arisen in Norfolk County, and how have these impacted the local business community?
First and foremost, the housing initiative coming down from the governor’s administration is requiring towns to provide housing options if you have an MBTA line that runs through or just past your town. This is an attempt to address the current housing shortage. Virtually, every town has to come up with a plan of action. Due to this housing shortage we have seen a slight downtick in real estate sales. With a low inventory, overall sales have declined. The revenue that the county and state relied upon is starting to dry up. We are watching this with a careful eye toward FY2025 and 2026.
At the same time, towns have continued to be creative to generate tax incentives to get businesses to come to them. Different opportunities have taken place to get businesses to come on board. For example, a new 300,000-square-foot building is going up in Norwood for FM Global.
What differentiates Norfolk County from others as a destination to live, work and play?
Norfolk County is different given its geographic location. We are not far from Boston. On average, you are accessible to Boston via highway or train. It’s not a challenge, although traffic is a separate issue. We are also close to Cape Cod and New Hampshire. There is a big advantage to living and working in Norfolk County. If you need to rely on transportation of your goods or raw materials, they will get there by truck and rail. Our county has a great system to achieve this. It’s all about geography.
The other factor that makes Norfolk County enticing is that different communities within the county have created their own tax incentives that give businesses tax breaks, provided they stay in the town for a certain period of time. The town gets a guaranteed stream of revenue, and the company gets a break on taxes when they are starting out. Both parties benefit.
The quality of education in our county is second to none, as well. We have excellent options from elementary schools, to trade schools to universities. We have great schools that prepare students for any facet of the workforce. Hence, an educated and trained workforce is available.
What initiatives are in place to enhance job opportunities and workforce development?
We certainly protect our unions. Our projects require project labor agreements. These require open bidding with a prevailing wage paid. In terms of workforce development, we are seeing a bit of a dip because our population is dropping. Families used to have three to four kids, and now they have one to two, if that. The number of people going into the workforce isn’t as large as it used to be. The Norfolk County Agricultural Vocational High School’s primary purpose years ago was to promote agriculture and farming. That has transitioned. We still have those options, but there are more vocational options now. For our graduating class of 131, about 60% go into secondary education with two to four years of college. The remaining members of the class are entering the military or are going straight into the workforce. That’s great, but that means we are dividing that 20% into our next generation of plumbers, carpenters, electricians and other skilled laboring roles. They’re being spread out and there are not enough. There’s no reason for a panic button, but the workforce has gone down.
What are your top priorities for the next two to three years?
I would hope that we will see continued growth. My goal as a commissioner is to keep working hard with my fellow commissioners and, most importantly, with the elected officials at the local and state levels. We have developed great partnerships the past several years. I am a positive person. Because of what we have put in place and the after-effects, modest and sustained growth will depend on the housing shortage and healthcare shortage. We can’t deal with this directly. We will be relying on and working with the state to resolve this.
Canton’s new TopGolf location alone created 60 new jobs. Additionally, biotech seems to be a new niche for the area. Gov. Maura Healey recently initiated a $1 billion grant to promote biotech in Massachusetts. This will make a great difference in attracting new companies to choose Massachusetts over other states. Norfolk County is showing a great balance of business sectors and activity, which allows us to keep taxes reasonable and affordable. Business carries the burden of community growth and improvement.
