MassEcon names six new directors to the board at annual meeting

Boston, MA Six new directors were elected to the MassEcon board at their annual meeting, along with the re-election of four board members and six directors named as officers and executive committee members.

The new directors elected to the board of the 25-year-old pro-business nonprofit organization headquartered in Watertown, are: Tamara Small, CEO-elect of NAIOP; Theresa Conroy, vice president of TD Bank; Tiffany Gallo, vice president of project development of Cutler Associates; Rich Hollworth, director of land development at VHB; Michael Houllahan, market executive at Chase Bank; and Alice Pomponio, founder and managing director of Accendo Bio and advisor at Red Sky Partners.

 Re-elected to the board are: Greg Buscone, senior vice president and group head of Eastern Bank; Stephen Flavin, vice president for academic and corporate engagement at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who is also chairman of MassEcon’s board; Brian Cohen, senior vice president of CBRE; and Taidgh McClory, New England senior sales director for CBRE. 

Flavin was re-elected as chairman of the board. Geoff Howell, a partner at DLA Piper LLP, was voted vice chairman. Mike Scott, a partner at Nutter McClennan & Fish LLP, was voted clerk. Denise McGeough, senior vice president for commercial markets at Citizens Bank, was voted treasurer. Cohen, immediate past chair of MassEcon, was voted to the executive committee, along with McClory.

 The meeting at the UMass Club at One Beacon St. was followed by MassEcon’s Annual Luncheon, where PawSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg described how the decision was made to move the PawSox from Pawtucket, R.I., to a new stadium complex that will be built in Worcester, Mass.

After Steinberg addressed the luncheon crowd, MassEcon members expressed their gratitude to Susan Houston, who has been executive director of the nonprofit pro-business group for the 25 years of its existence. Houston is departing the role, and Peter Abair, a veteran advocate of economic development in Massachusetts, will assume the title.

Board members and other MassEcon members in attendance reviewed highlights of a successful year, in which MassEcon provided assistance to 50 companies associated with 5,500 jobs in the state.

Users of MassEcon’s site finder service sought 5.2 million s/f of space and 400 acres. Among the companies moving to or expanding in Massachusetts are Akcea Therapeutics in Boston, enVerid in Westwood; and Freudenberg Medical in Beverly.

In November, MassEcon recognized 15 expanding companies before a luncheon audience of 350 with a video address by governor Charlie Baker, who was unable to attend the event as planned.

New MassEcon members this year include the city of Leominster, the town of Chelmsford, EMD Serono, IndusPAD, Interprint, and Tighe and Bond.

Among the companies served by MassEcon, 16% were international, 42% were out of state, and 42% were from within Massachusetts.

MassEcon has ongoing partnerships or relationships with the Massachusetts Marketing Partnership Board, New England Economic Partnership, Marlborough EDC Board and Marketing Committee, and 495/MetroWest Partnership’s Combined Committee Meetings.