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Trump could reshape the economy. These Massachusetts business owners are betting on it. – The Boston Globe

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Trump could reshape the economy. These Massachusetts business owners are betting on it. – The Boston Globe


And now, even with the stock market rattled by Trump’s tariff policies and recession fears rising, Johnson remains bullish.

“There might be a rocky road a little bit as the economy resets,” said Johnson. “It’s kind of like when a company files for a reorganization after bankruptcy. … It’s tough times going through that reorganization, but they come out of it a lot stronger.”

Trump’s sledgehammer approach to the economy may be unnerving to stock investors and economists, and in Massachusetts, his push to slash federal funding to universities and hospitals could jeopardize jobs, research, and health care access. But even amid the uncertainty, not everyone is bracing for bad times. Some local CEOs and business owners believe the president’s efforts to restructure the economy and rein in government spending will pay off in the long run.

“I would say pretty universally the sentiment is that businesses are going to be better under the Trump administration,” said Robert Hale, CEO of Granite Telecommunications in Quincy, a self-described fiscally moderate Democrat who was a big supporter of former governor Charlie Baker.

Robert Hale, CEO of Granite Telecommunications in Quincy, believes that “pretty universally the sentiment is that businesses are going to be better under the Trump administration.”Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe

Hale doesn’t agree with all of what Trump is doing, and while the Biden administration did not hurt his business, it didn’t help either. “The Trump administration’s sentiment is pro business, which, as a business person, the wind at your back instead of in your face, is a lot different,” he said.

Other business owners have felt left behind by some of Biden’s signature initiatives, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which injected hundreds of billions of dollars into emerging industries like clean energy.

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“Universities, institutions, environmental groups were getting large amounts of funding, and that’s really not how an economy grows,” said Bruce J. Mittman, CEO of Needham advertising agency Mittcom who also owns 34 radio stations across the country. “Government is there to support us and help us grow and keep the marketplaces safe and fair, and borrowing accessible to all, but it’s not there to determine winners and losers, and I think the last administration did that, to their detriment.”

During Trump’s first term, many business leaders and groups clearly distanced themselves on issues ranging from his travel ban of Muslim immigrants to his failure to condemn the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. But in his second term, even as Trump has ratcheted up deportation efforts and anti-diversity rhetoric, executives from Silicon Valley to Wall Street have fallen in line, attending his inauguration and rolling back corporate diversity programs.

Still, Trump remains a polarizing figure, especially in Massachusetts where even supportive business owners often stay quiet because they fear blowback, said Paul Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. He thinks some business owners who backed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 switched to Trump in 2024.

“The Biden that was on the campaign stage against Trump four years ago — his first time where he wanted to kind of unify the country — was not the Biden people saw in the White House,” observed Craney. “I know a lot of business owners who just felt they were just basically making it the last four years. It was tough. … They didn’t feel like people in power cared about what they were trying to do.”

But one thing that has been tough to swallow is Trump’s escalating tariff war against Canada, Mexico, China, and other countries. While business owners laud Trump’s goal to bring more manufacturing back to the US, it’s difficult to plan when his strategy keeps evolving.

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Bill Johnson (center) runs a group of auto repair and towing businesses with sons Dave (left) and Robert (right). Betting that business would improve under Trump, as it had during his first term, Bill Johnson ordered two new tow trucks, for $170,000 apiece.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

“If there are tariffs, we will learn to live with them — again, short-term pain through that restructuring, while businesses adapt and people adapt,” said Rod Egger, who lives in Wellesley and serves as CEO of Bariatrix Nutrition, a high-protein food manufacturer with factories in Vermont, Canada, and France. “The worst thing would be to start down a path and then reverse course in six months or 12 months.”

For now, Egger is making minor adjustments but holding off on big moves. He’s bringing about 30 jobs back to the US, shifting from his Montreal factory to Vermont. That’s because much of Bariatrix’s source material is made in the US, and manufacturing in Canada has become more expensive amid the tariff fight.

“If his tariff strategy is well communicated, and well thought out, it could be very effective for reshoring manufacturing to the US,” added Egger.

Then there are business owners like Quincy construction firm owner Jay Cashman, who think it’s way too early to say if Trump’s policies will strengthen the economy.

Cashman, who voted for Trump, said so far he likes the idea of bringing in billionaire businessman Elon Musk to disrupt government and make it more efficient. “I think the world of Elon Musk,” said Cashman. “It’s a different perspective.”

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But on other matters, Cashman said he’s taking a “wait and see” approach, though he’s not too worried.

“I’m pragmatic,” he added. “America is resilient. It can take almost anything. … I think this could be OK.”


Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.





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Massachusetts

Who will take care of our older and disabled people? – The Boston Globe

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Who will take care of our older and disabled people? – The Boston Globe


Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.


I’ve been writing for years about immigrants filling jobs that Americans don’t want. Haitians in particular have stepped into the void where the work is hard and the pay is low – cleaning, groundskeeping, preparing food, caring for elderly and developmentally disabled people.

When an influx of migrants flooded into the United States a few years ago, a number of savvy Massachusetts employers opened their doors to them. Thrive Support and Advocacy, a developmental disabilities provider in Marlborough, hired 41 newly arrived Haitians, filling all its full-time direct-care jobs for the first time in a decade.

With the Supreme Court last week siding with the Trump administration’s attempts to end Temporary Protected Status for Syrians and Haitians as part of its continued immigration crackdown, Massachusetts stands to lose 10,000 Haitian TPS holders in the workforce. A decision on Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil, is expected today.

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But it isn’t just a numbers game. Employers continually cite Haitian migrants’ loyalty, hard work, and devotion to the people they’re helping — many of them elderly. Not to mention the ripple effects of losing these valued employees as the aging population skyrockets.

“At some point, many people will be rehab patients,” Adam Scott, CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife told me. “At some point, many people will be long-term care patients. And this impacts all of them.”

When the TPS ruling is implemented, 10,000 Massachusetts residents will be out of a job and expected to leave the country. But many of them have nowhere to go. A pharmacy tech I’ve been talking to over the past few months knew this day was coming, and she has a detailed plan in place that will allow her 14-year-old US-born son, who has autism, to stay. But she has no plan for herself. She can’t go back to Haiti, where she was kidnapped by gangs as a teenager. So she’s hoping to keep working until her employer tells her she has to go.

To where, though, she doesn’t know.

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Read: Who will care for the elderly and developmentally disabled?

Also: More than 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States just hours before the deadly earthquakes are missing. Seven children were among the group, which was taken to a hotel that was destroyed in the quake. (AP)


🧩 6 Across: Bookstore category | ☀️ 88° Hotter Wed.


Paraguay players celebrate with goalkeeper Orlando Gill, right, after winning their World Cup match against Germany.Charles Krupa/AP Photo/Charles Krupa

World Cup: Can the US soccer team beat a European national team for the first time in 11 matches and make it into the Group of 16? We’ll know tomorrow night. In a thrilling upset, Paraguay sent four-time champion Germany home at Foxborough.

Five in a row: Don’t get too excited yet, but the Red Sox followed their four-game sweep of the Yankees with a 6-3 victory over the Nationals last night. They were led by Wilton Contreras, who has been struggling with the news of the deadly earthquakes in his native Venezuela.

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Cannabis rollback: If Mass. voters repeal marijuana legalization, would that put you in danger of being arrested? We answer your questions here.

Heat wave: An Extreme Heat Watch has been declared for Wednesday through the Fourth of July. Here’s how hot it will get.

Wellesley killing: The 24-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing his father had suffered serious mental health issues and battled “to contain his demons,” family friends say.

Hiya, neighbor! Cambridge wants to build “social housing.” What is it?

What now? More people are surviving cancer than ever before. Now health providers are helping people navigate the next step.

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Duck Boat accident: Questions about equipment quality and decision-making are being raised about the accident Saturday that injured 11 people when the craft flipped in East Cambridge.

Beaches, shellfish areas closed: A sewer line break in Haverhill dumped millions of gallons of wasterwater into the Merrimack River.

He’s No. 1: Yes, but what made AJ Dybantsa the NBA’s top pick? He’s the exact type of player NBA teams are looking for.


By David Beard

Taylor Ortega and Dan Levy in “Big Mistakes.”Spencer Pazer/Netflix/Spencer Pazer/Netflix © 2025

📺 Best TV so far: A whip-smart Italian import. A New England horror comedy. A gay Lutheran minister and his sister stumble across a criminal. Check out our faves.

🏰 Home of the Week: Hail, Victorian! Brookline’s regal Webber-Bouve Mansion has hit the market for $4.3 million. Take a peek. Plus, see the 1976 home for sale that has a Revolutionary War touch.

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🍕 Riverside eats: Years in the making, the $24 million Esplanade pavilion project with a café nears the finish line.

🎻 Music as a focusing tool: The jury is out on whether music helps you study or work better or takes away focus, However, instrumental music may help more than those jumping lyrical workout tunes. (The Conversation)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Tartan adventure: A Globe reporter went to Scotland to find family history, Highland culture — and a wee dram of whisky.


Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by David Beard and produced by Ryan Orlecki.

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❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

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📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.


Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her @ktkjohnston.





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Massachusetts

Millions of gallons of wastewater discharged into Merrimack River due to broken pipe

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Millions of gallons of wastewater discharged into Merrimack River due to broken pipe


Approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.

HAVERHILL, Mass. (WWLP) – Those traveling for the Fourth of July weekend are being advised of a wastewater pipe break on the Merrimack River.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police stated that over the weekend, a major wastewater pipe in Haverhill broke, releasing millions of gallons of sewage into the river. The broken pipe was carrying wastewater from the main pumping station to the treatment plant.

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Police estimate that approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.

At this time, fishing in the river is not prohibited, and the estuaries and beaches remain open. However, the information is being released to the public to help community members be aware of current conditions and use caution.

To access more information on water quality testing results, you can visit the official DPH website. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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