Good morning,

Many employers and job seekers will tell you the talent search is broken.

Job boards make it a cinch to apply, while bots make it just as easy to dismiss thousands of applications without a human ever reviewing them.

Jeff Taylor will tell you that’s partly his fault.

Taylor founded Monster.com, the first digital job site and a precursor to LinkedIn, Indeed and others.

Launched in 1994, Monster transformed recruiting and opened new ways for employers and talent to connect.

When Taylor joins us as the featured speaker at our Spring Business Breakfast on May 15, I expect the Needham High grad will share a few stories from those early internet days and why those platforms no longer deliver as they once did.

But employers may want to lean in when he talks about his new venture, Boomband, which he believes can fix everything wrong with today’s hiring ecosystem.

Boomband recently raised $4 million in seed funding to launch a platform designed to help job seekers better showcase their skills, background and interests — and help employers make the right match.

Is he on to something? Join us May 15 at the Needham Sheraton and decide for yourself.

The Charles River Regional Chamber’s Spring Business Breakfast will also feature a panel of Greater Boston nonprofit leaders discussing how the region is navigating the growing strain on the safety net, from federal funding cuts to inflation and other economic headwinds.

And because many people were away last week, we’ve extended the early bird member discount through this Thursday (April 30).

Not a member? Join this week and attend as our guest.

Immigrant workers file complaint over ICE detainment

Seven immigrant workers swept up by federal agents outside the Allston Car Wash last fall have filed a formal complaint, alleging they were unlawfully detained and mistreated in ICE custody, Camilo Fonseca at the Globe reports.

The complaint alleges that on Nov. 4, approximately 20 ICE vehicles arrived at the car wash, blocking the Cambridge Street entrance and preventing workers or customers from entering or leaving.

ICE officers were not looking for any particular individual and did not try to verify the workers’ immigration status, according to the complaint filed on their behalf by the nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Every worker detained in the raid was Latinx and Spanish-speaking. They say they were shackled at the waist, hands and feet and transported to the ICE field office in Burlington.

Employer/immigrant rights resources

Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s ‘Know Your Rights’ guide is designed to help immigrants, employers, families and others understand their rights and the basic legal framework for ICE actions. 

The guide points to additional resources for various stakeholders including service providers, health care providers, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, and more.

MIRA also has links to know your rights information for employers and other groups.

Robotics company stacks its future in Watertown

While Watertown's biotech boom gets most of the attention, the city's recent success in attracting major employers extends well beyond the lab.

Robotics company Tutor Intelligence just opened its new 35,000 SF facility at the Riverworks building on Pleasant St. The company, originally spun out of MIT, got its start in Watertown's East End, and when it came time to grow, it chose to stay.

Tutor builds warehouse robots that can pick up and place 14 heavy boxes per minute and are deployed across the country. 

At last week's ribbon-cutting, Council President Mark Sideris thanked the company for staying and called their continued presence a benefit to the city.

More at Watertown News.

Tuesday grab bag

• Newton Asian Mart, the long-awaited Asian grocery store moving into the former Walgreens in Newton Centre, is awaiting its occupancy permit but otherwise appears nearly complete, with stocked shelves, filled seafood tanks, checkout lanes in place and several large pallets of bagged rice visible through the front window.  (Fig City News)
  
  
• I can’t help but wonder if Mike Kennealy thinks it was worth it to distance himself from all the genuinely good work he did as Charlie Baker’s housing and economic development secretary
  
  
• Learn about Needham Community Farm’s efforts to provide fresh, healthy, sustainably grown produce for over 400 income-eligible families a month in the latest One Big Boat video podcast from Last Minute Productions.
  
  
• The Trump administration has blocked an Illinois law that would limit the swipe fees on the tax-and-tip portion of credit card transactions.  We’ve been advocating for a similar law in Massachusetts. I hope this doesn’t torpedo it.
  
  
• Newton’s oldest bar— The Biltmore — is undergoing renovation and a rebranding by Scott Drago and his team at the Needham restaurant Blue on Highland. The new Biltmore Tavern will reopen next month.  (Newton Beacon)
  
  
• Explore more than 50 pop-up experiences, special offers, and spring surprises as part of Wellesley in Bloom, starting Saturday (May 2).
  
  
• Watch our Brookline Select Board debate before next Tuesday’s election.
  
  
• The City of Watertown has installed four new contemporary sculptures as part of its Community Sculpture Walk. There’s an opening reception May 16 at 11 a.m.
  
  
• Congratulations —  and thanks for your extraordinary work — to Josephine McNeil and Jini Fairley who were honored by the Newton Fair and Affordable Housing Partnership last week. (Fig City News)
  
  
• Needham Bank hosts "Capital Strategies for Minority and Women-Owned Businesses," May 12, 3:30 p.m. at iHeart Studios in Medford. Join industry experts and resource partners for insights and strategies to help your business grow and access capital. RSVP
  
  
• The 552 bus from Newton Corner to Waltham was discontinued in 1982.  Somehow, this street sign lives on.
  
  
• Did you hear about the guy who jumped into our favorite river last week to rescue his goldendoodle?
  
  
• After earning acclaim as an online-only venture specializing in allergen-friendly gourmet treats, Cupcake Therapy has opened its first store in Brookline Village. (Brookline.news)
  
  
• If you appreciate our mission and advocacy but are not directly affiliated with a business or nonprofit, please consider becoming a Charles River Regional Chamber Citizen Member.  Thank you

Wellesley meals program returns with help for families, restaurants

During last week’s school vacation week, we partnered with the Town of Wellesley to deliver 60 hot meals daily to Wellesley families in need.

Nourishing Wellesley is funded by a $35,000 state grant secured by Sen. Cindy Creem, who also secured funding for similar programs in Newton and Brookline.

Together, the three grants represent $150,000 directed this fiscal year to independently owned local restaurants, with every dollar going directly to the restaurants.

Maura Renzella and the Wellesley Youth Commission have been coordinating the program for the town since 2021.  Our Wellesley restaurant partners last week included Captain Marden’s, Express Gourmet, Mark’s Pizza and Subs, and Wellesley North End Pizza.

Orders will continue through June, rotating among 13 independently owned Wellesley restaurants, for an estimated total of 2,000 meals.

Originally launched during the pandemic, the program addresses two community needs at once: neighbors facing food insecurity receive restaurant-prepared meals, while local independent restaurants receive guaranteed business during slower months.

Tariff refund? Good luck with that

Finally, Gov. Maura Healey issued a statement last week urging Massachusetts businesses to apply for the billions of dollars in Liberation Day tariffs that the Supreme Court has ruled were illegal.

Easier said than done, governor.

For starters, only companies that directly paid the tariffs are eligible to apply for refunds through the federal refund portal.

Businesses that paid the import taxes indirectly through suppliers — and customers who forked over an estimated $166 billion in higher prices — aren’t eligible.

It won’t be easy for small importers either. Unlike large corporations, most lack the trade compliance staff or supply chain expertise to calculate what they paid in illegal tariffs and what they may owe consumers, according to Talking Points Memo

“The refund system would make Kafka blush,” writes Robert Kutter at the Daily Prospect.

Still ready to give a try? Here’s a guide from the U.S. Chamber.   Let us know how it goes. 

That’s what you need to know for today — the record album that changed my life turned 50 this month — unless you need to know that there’s such a thing as 1D chess 

Thanks for shopping locally. 

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.