Waltham-based firms form 128 Winter St. Council

A group of local area employers have formed the 128 Winter Street Council. The goal of the Council is to improve the workplace environment for companies located along Rte. 128 and neighboring communities in the state. The companies forming the council-Adobe Systems, Fresenuius Medical Care, ImmunoGen, Inc, Massachusetts Medical Society, National Grid, PerkinElmer, and QinetiQ North America-employ approximately 4,000 people in the immediate neighborhood. "The companies located along 128 between Route 2 and Route 20" said, John J. Gioioso, CFM, MCR, Director of FMCNA Corporate Building Operations & Real Estate at Fresenius Medical Care, "have a unique set of infrastructure and planning issues that impact our employee and facility needs." The council will be led by Jack Troast, managing director of real estate firm T3 Advisors. Prior to T3, Troast was deputy director for the Department of Business and Technology with the Commonwealth during the Romney Administration. "During my tenure in state government we had good success with regional councils providing input on local economic development needs, and employers form the baseline for defining these needs," Troast said. The council has identified a preliminary outline of issues and challenges that they would like to see addressed in the region. These issues include traffic, growth of transportation alternatives, reliability of essential services, emergency management, and environmental sustainability. "I have seen a number of successful regional initiatives evolve from successful stakeholder process and this is the first step in local stakeholder engagement committed to the workplace," said Troast. "The Council will be adding additional members, and interested parties should contact Troast who is building the organization with the core founding members. "While there are a number of local resources such as the Waltham West Suburban Chamber and the 128 Transportation Council we believe an impacted employer group should take a leading role in promoting the development dialogue. We will work with these local organizations and the development community to help shape the agenda", said Suzette Moreau, Director, HR Policy Development at National Grid.