BOSTON—In a morning address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said that LEGO Education North America plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from the State of Kansas to Boston next year.
The mayor states that the move from Pittsburg, KA will result in the addition of 75 jobs to the city. He did not provide further details on the corporate relocation except to tell chamber attendees that the move will take place by March 2016.
Officials with LEGO Education refused to divulge project specifics to Globest.com. In a statement, Trisha McDonell, global public relations manager for the company, stated, “We selected Boston based on its strong potential to support LEGO Education's long term strategy, including a unique-education industry ecosystem, unmatched education partner network, digital innovation environment, and quicker and easier access to our office in Billund, Denmark.”
A report in the Morning Sun of Pittsburg, KA states that not all LEGO Education North America will relocate to Boston. The amount of workers that will remain employed by the company in Pittsburg, as well as how many will be terminated had not been determined, according to McDonell.
Since 1980, LEGO Education has delivered hands-on, curriculum-based resources for teachers and students worldwide. On Jan. 1, 2015 the LEGO Group became the sole owner of LEGO Education North America, which maintains its sales and marketing staff and distribution facilities in Pittsburg, KA.
The mayor also covered a host of other topics at the Chamber session on Thursday, including his administration's plans to modernize the city's permitting process. He said that the city will begin rolling out a new permitting platform next month that will be based on a modern tech platform and will focus on supporting businesses and homeowners through the permitting process.
"We're finding out that Boston, as a city, can aim higher than we ever thought before," Mayor Walsh told the Chamber gathering. "I want us to seize this moment together. It's a time for drawing more deeply on our talent pool; for thinking bigger ideas; for making bolder plans. It's a time to start writing the next chapter in Boston's great history."
Of the changes in the works regarding permitting, Mayor Walsh said, “It will make permitting quicker and easier; and even provide tools for entrepreneurs to help unlock new business ideas. At long last, Boston has a modern, online permitting experience. It's one that supports new ideas rather than pushing them away. And it will only get better over time.”
He also discussed initiatives geared to strengthening the city's workforce, transportation and school system.
The mayor announced he is building on the success of the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics by creating the BPS Experience Lab at BPS headquarters in Roxbury to bring the spirit of creativity to solving the challenges of urban education. The MONUM has spearheaded innovative projects to improve city services including smart parking meters and the 311 phone application, as well as the Discover BPS website.
The mayor also addressed his ambitious goal of creating 53,000 new units of housing in the city by 2030, noting that last year the city broke the record for annual housing starts.
“This year with $2 billion of new housing construction underway, we're on a pace to set new records for both starts and completions. We're adding more middle-class, low-income, and college housing than Boston has seen in this decade. And we've created a Housing Innovation Lab to keep pushing the envelope.”
He also addressed planned reforms at the Boston Redevelopment Authority noting that his administration has placed transparency and fairness as top goals for the authority. “For the past 20 months, we have been driving deep change at the Boston Redevelopment Authority." he said. "We used a series of audits to get at the root of the challenges. We've placed the people and communities of Boston at the heart of the BRA's mission.”
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