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J.E.D.I
HP’s new J.E.D.I. section is designed to highlight the people, companies and organizations that are implementing principles to further justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in their workplaces and communities.
A Holistic Approach to Affordable Housing in Boston
By Paul Ognibene
Over the course of my career in real estate development, I have had the opportunity to speak with thought leaders regarding our industry and its potential to have a positive impact on communities. One of the most prevailing conversations has been the issue of affordable housing. In the Boston area and key locations throughout our nation, many citizens have struggled to fnd affordable, accessible housing options despite working hard in pursuit of the American dream, and this was a key to my decision to start Boston Partnership for Community Reinvestment (BPCR).
The BPCR was founded in collaboration with a business partner of mine, Ralph Parent, and his Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) development frm, Parent Diamond, to address the issue of affordable housing in our area. We realized that the City of Boston was offering for sale numerous housing sites scattered throughout the city, including vacant lots in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. Utilizing these sites, our goal was to construct affordable properties thoughtfully and quickly, which would require assistance from a wide variety of local, minority vendors and builders to facilitate. One of the issues with the original Requests for Proposals that were issued by Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) was that they could not be processed quickly enough to address the growing need for affordable housing in the area. As a result, land would remain undeveloped rather than be revitalized to contribute to the inventory of affordable housing.
This is where BPCR’s plan to streamline the process came in. Through the assistance from experts within the MBE and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) communities, we developed a framework for controlled, specialized mass production of affordable properties. Maxime Charles, CEO of Massachusetts Construction & Management, has been instrumental to the team, as he has helped facilitate the production of affordable properties at the scale necessary for BPCR’s plans. Currently, we have already begun production of our frst set of singlefamily homes within Dorchester and we have plans to begin a second group of home sites in short order as well. No project is too small or large in our eyes – with our committed team of experts, many great things are possible.
The BPCR is committed to doing voluntarily in the private sector what is now mandatory for developing public sector housing. In both, the BPCR is implementing sustainable Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) programs that link large well-established contractors with smaller less-experienced minority builders for substantial portions of the work. The BPCR’s model projects a minimum of 30% of total construction budgets to be allocated for MBE, WBE, and other often-overlooked minority and women contractors. Strategies for encouraging micro-equity investment participation in our developments is also one of our tools for wealth creation throughout the community.
Through our approach, we intend to not only create affordable housing, but to create an economic development engine. As such, we aim to keep as much of the money spent on development circulating within the neighborhood. The idea is that properly uplifting our local communities cannot simply be done through affordable housing alone. When citizens see economic opportunities within their own neighborhoods, it contributes to their pride in their hometowns, economic stability, and mental wellness.
In many ways, our goal for this partnership goes beyond the issue of affordable housing and into what a stable place to live means for so many of us. BPCR does not just want to connect individuals with properties they can afford, but also use these revitalization efforts as steppingstones to address the intersect between access to affordable housing and a path toward economic success. aul gnibene is founder and of rban paces
Boston – NEI General Contracting announced it was honored with a Racial Equity and Inclusion Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) for its impact on the Olmsted Green 100-unit rental project. NEI and the developer, Lena New Boston, LLC, were recognized at their annual meeting at the Omni Parker House in Boston in une.
Offering apartments for rent, homeownership opportunities, and a mix of fats and townhomes, Olmsted Green is a 42-acre landscaped community located six miles from Downtown Boston in Mattapan.
“Olmsted Green is an exceptional example of what is possible when development teams prioritize racial equity and inclusion and follow industryproven best practices to achieve results,” said Travis Watson, director of racial equity and community engagement at MHIC. “The Olmsted Green team believed that the most successful projects refect the community’s vision and that developing long-term, capacity-building relationships with Black and brown contractors and workers will help to chip away at the racial wealth gap. NEI awarded $11.7 million, or nearly half of the construction contracts, to Black
l r Tra is Watson ndre arbour I ric an usen ena ew oston oe latle for er I and Guilliae ust ertsen chair an I board of directors and brown-owned businesses and they directed 68% of the construction hours to Black and brown workers.”
The redevelopment of Olmsted Green, the former Boston State Hospital site, creates over 500 mixed-income units as the frst workforce housing homeownership project funded by MassHousing’s Opportunity Fund, the City of Boston’s Offce of Neighborhood Development, and the Neighborhood Housing Trust. The project is designed to be a 21st century transit-oriented and energy effcient community. “This award reinforces NEI’s solid foundation in community engagement and workforce development while monitoring and overseeing diverse worker and business participation throughout Boston,” said Josef Rettman, president at NEI. “We make every effort to enhance diverse business and workforce utilization which allows us to participate more fully in the community and economic development interests of our clients and the communities where they do business.”
Trends and Hot Topics Employers: The Time is Ripe for Employment-related Management Trainings
By Michelle De Oliveira
Employment law is constantly changing as courts issue groundbreaking decisions, and new statutes are enacted at both the state and federal level. For this reason, the importance of regularly conducting employment-related risk management trainings for a company’s management team has become critically important. Below are some examples.
The Massachusetts Wage Act and the Costly Consequences for Violations
The recent Massachusetts Wage Act decision in Reuter v. City of Methuen will have the following signifcant implication for employers moving forward: An employer that terminates an employee and does not pay the employee in full for all wages earned through the employee’s termination date on the actual termination date may be liable for three times the employee’s unpaid wages, plus attorney’s fees and costs. Better yet, the employer will be exposed to treble damages, attorney’s fees and costs if the discharged employee enforces their rights under the Wage Act by, for example, retaining counsel or fling a lawsuit.
Accordingly, potential costs associated with Wage Act claims and defending such claims could be signifcant. Not only can the company be sued, but the Wage Act may also trigger personal liability as it states, among other things, that “the president and treasurer of a corporation and any offcers or agents having the management of such corporation” may be held liable for violations of the Wage Act. In other words, owners and offcers, among others, can be individually sued or held liable for potential Wage Act violations.
To that end, employers should strongly consider conducting management trainings to emphasize the importance of properly handling employee terminations and the timely payment of wages. The time is ripe for such trainings.
Preventing and Addressing Workplace Harassment
I dedicate a portion of my practice to conducting workplace trainings on how to prevent and address workplace discrimination and harassment. At almost every training, we fnd that there is always a manager (or two) who does not understand their company’s policies relating to harassment and discrimination. This is a potential costly mistake for employers.
Discrimination and harassment trainings are a terrifc tool and resource to ensure that managers are well-versed on company policy, and that they will know, among other things, how to enforce company policy and respond to any issues that may arise in the workplace. Ensuring that management teams have this understanding and knowledge is critical for employers.
In 2020, there were 2,223 complaints fled at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination relating to allegations of employment discrimination or harassment, and in 2021, there were 1958 complaints fled. As to flings on the federal level, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission there were 67,448 claims fled in 2020 and 61,331 claims fled in 2021.
Although trainings are not guaranteed to eliminate the possibility of a lawsuit, they offer a cost-effective and proactive approach toward preventing or minimizing such claims, and employers should consider implementing such trainings regularly.
Adhering to the Personnel Records Statutes and Understanding an Employee’s Right to Rebut Information Placed in their Personnel Records
The decision in Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc. highlights an employee’s statutorily protected right to fle a rebuttal in response to information being placed in the employee’s personnel records. Often, a manager makes personnel recommendations, including with respect to terminations, demotions, etc. Conducting management trainings on the implications stemming from Meehan can go a long way for employers seeking to educate their management and guard against potential claims.
It goes without saying that being proactive and taking concrete steps to train managers on employment-related risks may be an invaluable tool to avoid stepping into a litigation landmine. ichelle e li eira s is a partner at enne a s
