Hopkins has been on a listening tour of sorts, to hear what’s on members’ minds. No surprise: regional competitiveness remains the top concern.
Working with the NEVCA board, she says she’s trying to ensure New England remains not just competitive but also compelling by strengthening the connective tissue between investors, founders, policy makers, and educational institutions, and by advocating for policies and conditions that will make it easier for innovative firms to grow here.
Along those lines, NEVCA will host a policy briefing for its members on Thursday at the UMass Club, with a presentation by public policy firm Benchmark Strategies. Among the items to be discussed: takeaways from Governor Maura Healey’s newly filed state budget and a separate bill of hers addressing recent federal tax changes, including what it could mean for VC firms and their portfolio companies. Hopkins will also discuss her vision for 2026 with members there.
Another example: NEVCA hosts its annual “Unpitch Summit” in April to provide a low-pressure matchmaking opportunity for investors and startup founders.
Hopkins realizes Texas’s VC sector is gaining ground on Massachusetts, still the number three state for startup funding by VCs behind California and New York. But she believes in New England’s fundamental strengths, such as the region’s focus on science-driven entrepreneurship.
“Having a unified voice for this industry is more important than ever,” Hopkins said. “We are in the process of going through a shift that will ultimately be very positive, and help us emerge stronger than ever.”
McKim pledges $2.5m to South Shore nonprofit
Clean Harbors founder Alan McKim never forgot how NVNA and Hospice comforted his mother and his family as she spent her final days in the organization’s Pat Roche Hospice House in Hingham.
So it was only natural that McKim would open up his checkbook, after meeting with executives at the health care nonprofit, recently rebranded as Croí Health, including chief executive Renee McInnes and senior vice president Michael Rogers.
McKim has pledged $2.5 million to Croí Health’s latest fund-raising campaign, marking the largest such gift in the century-old organization’s history. With McKim’s gift, the Norwell-based nonprofit has raised $16.3 million toward its $20 million goal.
Since his mom Barbara died there in 2019, McKim stayed in touch: He donated $500,000 in his mother’s name in 2021, and met several times with McInnes.
McKim is now executive chairman of Clean Harbors, an environmental services company valued at nearly $14 billion. Stepping away from the chief executive job in 2023 allowed him to devote more time to his family and to philanthropy, something he thinks is crucial for health care nonprofits amid shrinking federal funding.
“I really hope that others will see the wonderful things that Croí Health is doing and support it, and maybe follow my lead,” McKim said. “Philanthropy is more important than ever.”
Jordan’s teams up with UConn
Eliot Tatelman is hanging with the Huskies.
For the first time, Jordan’s Furniture has launched a furniture giveaway linked to UConn basketball, not the Red Sox.
While he’s technically retired from the president’s job at Jordan’s, he is still the face of the brand. So he trekked to Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., for the ad shoot in December, for the contest that launched last week. He met up with players such as Sarah Strong and Silas Demary Jr., plus Jonathan the Husky, a team mascot. (One of the spots shows Jonathan shaking “hands” with Tatelman, as if to seal a deal.)
Speaking of deals, here’s how the promotion works: Any furniture purchase made at Jordan’s through Feb. 16 will be free if the UConn Women’s Basketball Team advances to the NCAA championship game on April 5, and the UConn Men’s Basketball Team advances to their counterpart game on April 6. They don’t need to win, just finish among the final two. (Jordan’s takes out insurance to cover the potential cost, though Tatelman declined to name the participating insurers.)
Jordan’s is based in Taunton, in the heart of Red Sox Nation, and it’s a Sox sponsor. But the eight-store chain, part of Berkshire Hathaway, has two Connecticut stores. And Connecticut is divided when it comes to sports loyalties.
“They have people who are . . . Yankees fans, they’re Mets fans, [they ask:] What are you doing talking about the Red Sox in Connecticut?” said Tatelman, who turned over the reins to his sons Josh Tatelman and Michael Tatelman last year. “And they have a lot of Red Sox fans who love what we’re doing.”
UConn basketball? That’s essentially a religion in Connecticut.
What about the Sox? Jordan’s famously refunded customers some $35 million after the Sox swept the World Series in 2007. The company has had other giveaway contests linked to Sox over the years, but skipped 2025.
The team’s performance wasn’t strong enough, Tatelman said, for it to likely translate into significant furniture sales. The chain might bring back a Sox-related giveaway in 2026, Tatelman said, “if they’re looking strong and people think they’re going to win.”
2Life CEO plans to retire
What’s next after you’ve accomplished everything you set out to do?
If you’re Amy Schectman, chief executive of 2Life Communities, you start planning your retirement.
On Thursday, Schectman informed 2Life’s 250 employees across seven campuses that she will retire in October after 16 years leading the Brighton-based group of senior housing communities. President Lizbeth Heyer will take over as chief executive.
When Schectman became chief executive in 2010, joining what was then Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly from Deval Patrick’s administration, her first big task was stabilizing the finances.
But she had more ambitious goals: establishing a real estate development office and a spiritual ministry arm, and building apartments for middle-income seniors. And what was then known as JCHE adopted the name 2Life in 2018.
The organization essentially doubled its housing portfolio during Schectman’s tenure. It now oversees more than 1,800 apartments for more than 2,000 seniors.
Notably, 2Life recently completed its first middle-income apartment complex, Opus Newton. The 351,000-square-foot complex, featuring 172 apartments, opened without public subsidies. It helped that 2Life didn’t have profit-seeking investors and it can borrow with a lower interest rate as a nonprofit. The wait list to get in already exceeds 200. Schectman hopes 2Life can acquire more land to build a similar project in another community.
“I’ve done what I needed to do,” said Schectman, who is 69. “I’m ready to move on. Now, it’s time for the next generation.”
Biz leaders get competitive
How do we make Massachusetts more competitive? “Affordability” seems to be the watchword among the state’s business groups, and last week’s annual meeting of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association was no exception.
Speaking on a panel about competitiveness, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation president Doug Howgate suggested more municipal zoning reform is needed, to spur more housing construction, and the state’s generous unemployment insurance system should be made more sustainable.
Brooke Thomson, chief executive of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, emphasized the need for a new educational standard in the wake of voters’ rejection of passing MCAS tests as a graduation requirement.
Jim Rooney, chief executive of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, gave one example of how state officials could be more business friendly, by peeling back the red tape and regulation imposed on housing construction.
The simplest advice for state leaders, though, may have come from JD Chesloff, president of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable: “We hear a lot from our members [asking], ‘Just don’t make it any worse.’”
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
