Big changes on Wells Ave and Kendrick Street
Big changes on Wells Ave and Kendrick Street
Good morning friends,
In less than two weeks (Oct. 29), employers in Massachusetts must begin complying with the state’s new pay transparency law.
Among the requirements:
- Employers with 25 or more workers must disclose the pay range in all job postings.
- The law also gives employees or prospective employees a legal right to know the pay range for a position when applying for a promotion, transfer or starting a new position.
- And it requires large employers to report data and demographic information by submitting their EEO Reports to the state.
Learn more at our webinar, “Navigating the Massachusetts Pay Transparency Act,” on Tuesday (Oct. 21) at 9:30 a.m.
The session will cover who must comply, what information needs to be disclosed, and how to prepare with updated job descriptions, salary ranges and internal practices.
Big changes on Wells Ave and Kendrick Street
Cyber security firm CyberArk has outgrown its U.S. headquarters on Wells Ave in Newton and is moving to Needham.
The company, with about 4,000 employees worldwide, is taking about 90,000 SF at 140 Kendrick Street in Needham.
The site — which abuts Cutler Park and Kendrick Pond — has become a hub for some of our region’s top companies, including IDC, Wellington Management, Focus Health Care and Clark’s Shoes.
Meanwhile, according to R.W. Holmes’ 2025 Q3 Market report, BPX, 140 Kendrick’s long-time owner, has put its property on the market.
The move also creates a high-profile opportunity at CyberArk’s soon-to-be former location at 60 Wells.
Maybe we’ll finally get the light we’ve needed on Kendrick, too
If you’ve ever tried to enter Kendrick Street from 4th Ave. in Needham, you know that the intersection can be, um, suspenseful.
On Monday (Oct 20), Needham Special Town Meeting will be asked to approve a traffic count study to determine whether the intersection meets state requirements for a traffic signal (although, honestly, they could have just asked me or anyone else who regularly drives that way, just maybe not one of these.
The study would be funded through mitigation funds from Boston Children’s Hospital’s special permit approval and is unanimously supported by the select board.
Newton and MassDOT are also working on needed crosswalks and other improvements along Nahanton Street from Wells Avenue to Dedham Street.
Upgrading this corridor is long overdue.
Weston is no longer an MBTA Communities holdout
Weston has just joined the growing number of municipalities to approve an MBTA Communities Act compliance plan, reports Steve Adams at Banker & Tradesman.
The town had been one of the holdouts, rejecting an initial plan in 2024. It later joined a lawsuit with seven other communities, challenging the law’s validity as an unfunded mandate. That case was dismissed this summer.
The upzoning will allow BPX to move forward with plans to build 480 places to live off Route 128 and open up three other multifamily housing districts.
SharkNinja is looking for next-gen leaders
Needham’s SharkNinja has launched a nationwide competition to give STEM students and other emerging innovators a platform to develop solutions to everyday consumer problems.
Participants in the inaugural SharkNinja Innovation Challenge, launched in partnership with MassChallenge, can qualify for cash prizes, mentorship, resources to test and build and patent assistance to move their ideas forward.
Student-led startups and innovators, ages 18-24, have until Oct. 24 to apply
Friday grab bag
- ICYMI, be sure and read Andrew Brikner’s Globe story about Winn Companies’ conversion of the 112-unit Newton Gardens apartment complex on North Street in Newtonville into affordable housing with help from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust.
- The U.S. Chamber is suing the administration for imposing a $100,00 annual fee for new H-1B visa applications, claiming the fee is unlawful and would significantly harm U.S. businesses. (Our chamber is not affiliated with the U.S Chamber, but we share concerns about the new H-1B fees.)
- The Needham Community Council holds its annual coat sale through Saturday (Oct. 18) from 10 am- 2 pm.
- Newton’s Harvest Fair celebrates its 50th year Sunday (Oct. 19) in Newton Centre with Green Newton’s GreenEXPO, a kiddie carnival, local vendors, live entertainment, international food trucks, sustainability exhibits and loads of politicians.
- Sunday is also Paddy’s Road Race. The Shillelagh Shuffle attracts over 2,500 participants to benefit Newton Athletes Unlimited.
- After more than two decades in senior leadership roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (OB/GYN), Maisie Pollard is the new executive director at Family ACCESS of Newton. Jim Rapoport had been the interim exec director.
- The Boston Federal Reserve Bank estimates that small importers will soon pass along an average of half of the tariff hikes and other cost increases to consumers. That’s up from earlier this year, when the average passed along to consumers was about one-third. (BBJ)
- And S&P Global projects tariff costs to companies will hit $1.2 trillion this year, with consumers taking most of the hit. (CNBC)
- The Globe’s Kevin Cullen went to Newton to play the Worst Golf Course in the U.S. He came away finding the experience endearing.
Wellesley Night honored three of the town’s finest
From left: Peter Mongeau, Quentin Prediux of Sustainable Wellesley and Roy Marden of Captain Marden’s.
Wellesley Night – our 4th and final community night celebration of 2025 – brought more than 100 business and civic leaders together on Wednesday at Babson College’s Knight Auditorium.
The gracious and gregarious Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. welcomed us before the evening turned to a celebration of this year’s Wellesley Business Award honorees.
Fourth-generation family business Captain Marden’s Seafoods received our Business Excellence Award and was recognized its recent renovation and for providing year-round jobs for generations of local residents and supporting New England’s coastal fisheries and small distributors through its local sourcing.
The volunteer-run Sustainable Wellesley earned the Nonprofit Impact Award for becoming a driving force for local climate action — promoting waste reduction, clean energy, and sustainable transportation by engaging residents, businesses, and town leaders.
Peter J. Mongeau, president of the Wellesley Historical Society, was presented with our Community Impact Award for his leadership in creating the new Wellesley History & Exhibit Center, the town’s first permanent, nonprofit facility dedicated to preserving and sharing Wellesley’s history, helping raise more than $2.4 million for the project.
Our thanks to our hosts at Babson and presenting sponsor Needham Bank, along with Edith Paley Reator, Insource Services, Briarwood, Brookline Bank, Linden Square, Middlesex Savings, North Hill and the Swellesley Report.
Envision Needham timeline likely to extend past December
Plans to determine a future configuration of Great Plain Avenue in Needham may miss a key deadline.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Envision Needham Working Group Chair Tim Bulger and DPW Director Carys Lustig told the select board that expecting a presentation on the three proposed downtown design concepts by December is no longer realistic.
While December “seemed like a reasonable time to try to make the first of many decisions on the project,” Lustig said, it is “not one that we think we're going to be able to make at this time.”
The committee is now preparing a town-wide survey—to be mailed to every resident and business—that will invite the community to weigh in on each option.
We’ll be sure to share the survey link, too.
Before you go, a request…
Finally, as we start planning for 2026, we want to know what’s working, where we can improve and how we can continue to deliver the programs, advocacy and connections that matter most to your business and you.
This brief survey will help us learn how your chamber can better support your organization and our members overall.
Complete the survey before Oct. 24 and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card to a chamber member restaurant of your choice.
And that’s what you need to know for today, unless you need to know that your face no longer belongs to you.
Enjoy the weekend.
President & CEO
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.
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