Businesses put ‘skin in the game’ to help MBTA
The MBTA could soon start accepting donations, or loaned employees, from the private sector in a bid to attract new talent to the cash-strapped agency, a move one business leader hopes will generate half-a-million dollars out of the gate.
T officials unveiled details yesterday for a proposed “Recruitment and Retention Fund,” where individuals and private businesses could funnel cash directly to the T. The agency would have wide latitude to use it, but officials said it will likely go toward one-time costs, such as offering relocation packages for new hires or training for employees.
The idea, proposed last fall by leaders at the powerful Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, has picked up steam with the business community, as well as with the T and Gov. Charlie Baker’s top transportation aides.
“This is sort of the entire business community putting skin in the game,” said John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction and a partnership board member who’s been part of discussions on the fund’s details. “I don’t think at the end of the day that we can, as a business community, look to government to solve all of our problems. Now it’s time for businesses to step up.”
Fish said he envisions generating at least $500,000 in the first “phase” of the fund, which he said reflects businesses’ recognition that an improved T helps them and the local economy.
MBTA and MassDOT officials appear eager to tap private-sector resources as early as the next fiscal year, which starts next month. But they acknowledge that the uncommon operation needs safeguards to protect against a range of potential conflicts. Under its proposed rules, all donations and expenditures would be disclosed publicly and no T or MassDOT employees could directly solicit donations.
“We’ve heard from the private sector that they want to help and we want to create a structure that allows them to help but also prevents any actual or apparent conflicts,” said Stephanie Pollack, the state’s secretary of transportation. “It is a very legitimate concern.”
The T is also working on details for a program in which private businesses could temporarily loan employees to the agency to fill specialized needs, in a practice dubbed “secondment.” Any regulations still need a final vote from the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board.
“There are companies that indicated they’d like to support us not with funding but with staffing,” said Rob Garrity, MassDOT’s chief of staff. The employees would be paid by their original employer, but they would not be allowed to work on projects of “direct interest” to their companies.