GREENFIELD — The state’s secretary of Housing and Economic Development told Franklin County Chamber of Commerce members last week that housing, economic development and transportation are at the top of Massachusetts’ list of priorities.
“Housing is the major economic development challenge,” Secretary Michael Kennealy said at the event held at Greenfield Community College.
Kennealy said that while unemployment is at 2.9 percent and 3.7 million people are working throughout the state, there’s still the issue of finding ways to make sure prosperity is shared across Massachusetts.
“We have to invest in all of our communities, empower their workforces and support companies,” he said.
He said many programs, like the MassWorks infrastructure program, Brownfields program and the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative, are doing great things and providing funding for cities and states to get projects done, but, there needs to be more.
“We need to have active dialogue with our businesses across the state, if we want to keep creating new jobs,” he said. “We need to support advanced manufacturing, health care, technology and more, and commit to not finding jobs for people, but finding people for jobs.”
He said that will take “deep regional planning” and skills training.
Kennealy said once the state has identified the needs of each region and what assets they possess, it will be able to help even more than it does now. He said the state wants to see a reasonable and strong economy across the board.
“There needs to be regional engagement, and that’s why we’re getting around the state and talking to people to find out what’s on their minds,” he said. “We need to rethink everything.”
Kennealy said housing is going to play a major role in all of it because without affordable housing, people won’t move to Massachusetts and that won’t help the economy.
“There’s a deep connectivity between housing and economic development,” he said. “Housing is all about supply and demand, and prices are way up here in Massachusetts.”
Kennealy said in 1980, Massachusetts met the national average for home prices. Today, it ranks third in the country for its high home prices and first in the country for its high rental prices.
“That puts real pressure on our communities,” he said. “We need to solve that.”
He said housing is especially an issue for low-income residents and the state’s seniors, and for young people or families just starting out.
“These are issues we have to work on, but there are so many reasons to be optimistic,” Kennealy said.
The chamber welcomed Kennealy after a luncheon in the Greenfield Community College dining hall on Wednesday — a continuation of its year-long monthly 100th birthday celebration.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.