Budget invests in programs to support workers, small businesses, entrepreneurs

BOSTON—This year, the Massachusetts Legislature delivered a state budget for fiscal year 2027 (FY27) without raising taxes on Massachusetts residents and makes targeted investments to boost the state’s economy, foster workforce development and support small businesses while adding to $51 million to the state’s “Rainy Day” Stabilization Fund—which now stands at $63.4 billion.

The FY27 budget invests in $8 million in the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund to strengthen worker skills and business productivity, allocates $5 million in resources for small business technical assistance grants to support training and access to capital, and $2 million for the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership to support local manufacturers and support manufacturing’s role in the state economy.

During this year’s budget debate, State Representative David Biele secured $1 million for an entrepreneurial fellowship program through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (“MassCEC”) that provides business development supports for Massachusetts start-ups, accelerators, and incubators in the energy, housing, transportation, coastal resilience, and advanced manufacturing—also known as climatetech.

Since 2010, the MassCEC has invested over $39 million in local companies while helping to create good-paying jobs.  Specific to the state funding secured by Rep. Biele, the entrepreneurial program provides technical assistance to help local start-ups refine their product, troubleshoot ideas, and identify markets—collectively accelerating business growth and development, and allowing home-grown start-ups to bring ideas to market.

“I was proud to secure funding in this year’s budget that invests in local entrepreneurs and business, providing them with support systems that will allow them to build a business here in Massachusetts,” said Rep. Biele.

To date, Massachusetts has a total of 162,940 climatetech workers and 10,569 businesses across Massachusetts—almost half of which are small businesses. The climatetech industry directly contributes $17.3 billion to the Massachusetts economy, as well as $3.7 billion in state and local taxes.

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