Dear Editor,
Massachusetts has never been a state that simply follows trends—we set them. From the watermills of the early Industrial Revolution to the cutting-edge halls of modern biotechnology, defense, and neuroscience, our Commonwealth’s greatest asset has always been foresight.
Today, however, we face a recurring crisis: local and state leaders seem perpetually stuck on a single strategy for raising revenue—raising taxes.
Year after year, Massachusetts remains one of the most tax-heavy states in the nation, earning its frustrating reputation for squeezing hardworking residents. When budgets run tight, the response from lawmakers is almost always the same: jack up local property taxes, invent new niche fees, or rely on aggressive state traffic enforcement cameras as informal revenue traps. Squeezing everyday commuters with automated camera fines is bad economic strategy. It penalizes working citizens, fails to fix underlying spending issues, and utterly misses the mark on building long-term fiscal stability.
We do not need more piecemeal taxes on everyday residents. What we desperately need is to expand our industrial base through bold, business-friendly incentives and smarter public spending.
First, Massachusetts should offer aggressive tax credits to any company relocating its Research & Development (R&D) operations or building new advanced manufacturing facilities here. We must also capitalize on regional transportation logistics by offering incentives for companies to revitalize underutilized industrial buildings along major highway corridors like I-90 and I-91 into modern distribution centers. Crucially, this economic strategy won’t just benefit Boston and the eastern suburbs—it will revitalize Western Massachusetts and rural towns along our freight routes. To supercharge this workforce, our state should adopt local tax credits for businesses that hire military veterans—complementing federal programs and building a rock-solid pipeline for logistics careers.
Second, we must stop wasting transportation dollars on endless road repairs. Our state should adopt performance-based highway contracts—similar to those in New Hampshire and the Midwest—where contractors are held to strict multi-year warranties and higher material standards. This protects our workforce, stops tax dollars from washing away after every winter, and gives us roads that actually last.
Finally, we must pair infrastructure and workforce growth with two distinct economic engines: Artificial Intelligence and Industrial Hemp.
Artificial Intelligence is an all-encompassing force that can elevate virtually every sector across the Commonwealth—optimizing supply chains, accelerating medical research, and modernizing municipal management.
Meanwhile, Industrial Hemp represents a massive, dedicated opportunity for Western Massachusetts. While we are not a Midwest grain giant, hemp is a high-value, specialized crop used globally for automotive soundproofing and eco-friendly manufacturing under trade agreements. Establishing hemp processing hubs in Western Mass brings a brand-new industrial sector to the region, creating local processing jobs and connecting rural agriculture directly to high-tech manufacturing.
Attracting high-tech manufacturing, reforming road contracts, offering R&D tax credits, and revitalizing Western Massachusetts provides a guaranteed, resilient corporate tax base—one that naturally generates revenue without shifting the burden back onto local drivers and taxpayers.
It is time for state leaders to stop leaning on property hikes and traffic camera cash grabs. Let’s bring real, scalable tech, logistics, and infrastructure reform back to Massachusetts and spark the next industrial revolution.
George Ferdinand
Tewksbury
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