麻州州長派區克（Deval Patrick）昨（十二）日出席“創新狀況論壇（State
of Innovation Forum）”，稱麻州已成為全球創新樞紐。
派區克在數位媒體公司波士頓創新（BostInno）所辦，約1500名業界領袖，創業者，學生，專業人士參加的“創新狀況論壇（State
of Innovation Forum）“中表示，無論是經濟，政府，甚至社會，麻州已成為創新的環球樞紐。那是麻州長處所在，也是為什麼麻州未來光明。
今年四月時，派區克簽署“推廣成長及機會法（An
Act to Promote Growth and Opportunity），宣佈一套經濟發展計劃，提供新工具及訓練，以期麻州人力符合僱主需要；投資進門戶城市，為創造就業機會極刺激經濟提供優惠，以推廣整個麻州發展。
他說，麻州正推動著前所未有的公家機關和私人企業合作關係，促進了創新經濟的成長與競爭力。譬如麻州生命科學中心已成為世界上卓越生命科學群發展的催化劑。過去六年來，該中心在整個麻州投資或承諾了五億兩千萬元，促成十五億元的相關私人企業投資。
”麻州挑戰（MassChallenge）“已成為世界上最大的初創公司加速器，還正在做國際拓展。489名麻州挑戰“校友”所創辦的公司，籌募了四億七千兩百萬元，創造了3900個工作機會。
麻州州政府和企業界支持，設在霍利奧克（Holyoke）的高性能計算中心現在已成為共用設備，容許麻州五所最大的研究大學做前衛研究。
麻州住宅及經濟發展長畢樂奇（Greg
Bialecki）表示，政府選擇了能夠為每個居民擴展經濟機會，持續加速發展創新經濟的政策。
麻州科技界共有廿萬份工作職位，一萬三千五百家公司，經濟產出達到1560億元左右。勞工統計局的一份2012年報告在評估全美的高科技就業機會成長時，把麻州排為第二名。
也是在2012年，麻州州長派區克任命了麻州的第一個政府創新長（Government
Innovation Office），以協助州內居民，企業及地方政府使用科技來改善工作表現及生活。
麻州州長派區克昨日還出席了創意企業高峰會（Creative
Industries Summit），談論麻州在教育，創新，基礎設施上的投資，支持了約有十萬名工作人員，十億元經濟影響力的這創意經濟及創新行業。
麻州在2007年時，成為全美第一個設立創意經濟工業主任（Economy
Industry Director）職位的州。2008年，派區克簽署法案，成立創意經濟會（Creative Economy Council），推動“下一步創意資源會議項目（CreativeNEXT
Resource Meeting program）”等一系列方案。
GOVERNOR PATRICK DISCUSSES STRENGTH OF INNOVATION ECONOMY; TOUTS COMPREHENSIVE LEGISLATION TO STIMULATE CONTINUED GROWTH
Boston – Thursday, June 12, 2014 – Governor Deval Patrick today joined over 1,500 business leaders, entrepreneurs, students and professionals to discuss the strength of Massachusetts’ nation-leading innovation economy and the continued need to invest in these sectors to benefit our collective future at BostInno and Streetwise Media’s State of Innovation Forum.
“Massachusetts has become a global hub of innovation -- in our economy, in government, throughout our society,” said Governor Patrick. “That's where our competitive edge lies and why our future is bright.”
Thursday’s event united leaders in the innovation sector and explored the state of innovation across the Commonwealth’s strongest industries – including marketing, big data, mobile, transportation, retail, e-commerce and education. The event was sponsored by BostInno, a digital media and events company, which is part of the Streetwise Media network.
In April, Governor Deval Patrick announced an economic development package that provides new tools and training so the Commonwealth’s workforce is prepared to meet the needs of employers, invests in its Gateway Cities to promote development across the entire state and provides incentives to create jobs and stimulate the economy. The Governor’s bill, An Act to Promote Growth and Opportunity, builds on the Administration’s proven growth strategy of investing in education, innovation and infrastructure that has led to record job creation in Massachusetts and made the Commonwealth a global leader in key innovation economy sectors. For more information on the bill, please visit www.mass.gov/compete.
Massachusetts is making unprecedented public private-collaborations, which are fueling growth and competition in the innovation economy. For example, the Massachusetts Life Science Center has been a catalyst for the development of the world’s preeminent life sciences cluster. Over the past six years, the Massachusetts Life Science Center has invested or committed $520 million across the state, which has leveraged more than $1.5 billion private investment for these companies and facilities.
MassChallenge has become the world’s largest startup accelerator and is expanding internationally. The 489 MassChallenge alumni startups have raised over $472 million in outside funding and created over 3,900 jobs. A new green high-performance computing center in Holyoke, supported by government and business, now serves as a shared facility enabling cutting-edge work at the state’s five largest research universities.
“Massachusetts continues to be a global hub of innovation due to our comprehensive economic development strategy and key investments in education,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki. “We are choosing policies that will extend economic opportunity to every resident of the Commonwealth and continue to accelerate our thriving innovation economy.”
Massachusetts’ economic recovery has been largely fueled by its strong, diverse and interdisciplinary technology sector. This sector of the state’s innovation economy has proven to be one of the strongest in the world, and continues to advance technology and research in areas like the life sciences, cleantech, software, digital marketing, e-commerce, big data, eHealth and robotics. The Massachusetts technology sector includes over 200,000 direct jobs, over 13,500 firms and an estimated $156 billion of economic output. A 2012 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks Massachusetts second in the Nation high tech job growth.
Recognizing the direct tie between innovation and the evolution of the Massachusetts economy, Governor Patrick has lead the charge to find innovative ways to change the way government does business by improving efficiency and streamlining the delivery of government services. In 2012, the Patrick Administration named the Commonwealth’s first Government Innovation Office to improve the experience of state government for citizens, businesses and municipalities while also working to boost internal government efficiencies, leverage technology to improve services and save money and improve performance for state employees and residents alike.
The Patrick Administration is committed to providing the tools and resources to support innovation across the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth’s Council for Innovation, established by Governor Patrick in 2012, engages experts and entrepreneurs to help the Commonwealth make targeted investments in new technology and offers advice on the best opportunities to improve government efficiency and use technology to streamline delivery of services to people, businesses and local governments.
“Innovation has been the hallmark of our efforts to make government more efficient and customer friendly,” said Secretary for Administration and Finance Glen Shor.
Later today, Governor Patrick will address the Creative Industries Summit, to discuss how the Administration’s investments in education, innovation and infrastructure have supported innovation and the creative economy in Massachusetts. With over 100,000 workers and a $1 billion statewide economic impact, the creative industries in Massachusetts are an integral part of the Massachusetts economy.
The creative industries include many interlocking sectors, which provide creative services or create and promote intellectual property products. The sector includes businesses, organizations and individuals working in marketing, architecture, visual arts, design, film, media, food, digital games, entertainment, music and publishing.
In 2007, Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to establish the position of creative Economy Industry Director which is housed at the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. In 2008, Governor Patrick signed legislation instituting the Creative Economy Council whose purpose is to develop a statewide strategy for growth of the creative economy in Massachusetts. Since that time, the Patrick Administration has launched a number of initiatives to support the creative economy in Massachusetts including the Creative Economy Network, which tracks progress and promotes efforts to support the creative economy on the local, regional and state-wide level.
The Administration has also launched CreativeNEXT Resource Meeting program, a business development program that helps owners of small and medium-sized creative businesses quickly access resources and advice to help grow their enterprises by meeting with an expert panel. These sessions, and one-on-one office hours with the Creative Economy Director, have provided specialized resources to over 100 creative companies.
數以百計民眾響應“低薪工人行動日”，昨（十二）日下午匯聚在波士頓市科普利廣場前，舉標語牌，喊口號，要求政府把最低時薪提高到十五元。
組織者在會場派發的傳單指出，快餐店及零售業員工此起彼落的罷工，已在美國為爭取經濟正義注入了新能量。麥當勞，沃爾瑪等大企業開股東會時發生的大型示威，也清楚顯示，那些公司再沒藉口只付很低薪資。
華人前進會工人互助中心余翠鳳表示，該會今年五月十發信給提供居家護理服務的醫療資源公司，要求代表工人與公司開會，改善工人工作環境。他們提出了六點要求，包括把最低薪資提高到生活薪資（living
wage）的每小時十三點七六元，花紅按百分比計算，在公眾假期工作應發給雙倍工資，往返時間（travel
time）也應獲得全部工資，發給有薪病假，有薪假期等。
余翠鳳表示，前前後後，約有七十名醫療資源公司員工曾到前進會求助。該公司還未和前進會晤談，但已於六月六日前調整了部分員工薪資，原本時薪九元者，提高至九元五角，十元者，加了幾分錢等。
