Team Massachusetts debuts 'Business Front Door' portal to help child care and small businesses find state resources

State economic development staff demonstrated an online tool called the Business Front Door during a virtual briefing for early education providers, saying the platform will centralize state programs and pair businesses with a single navigator who curates recommendations and helps get answers across agencies.

Naomi Berlin, who identified herself as staff in the Executive Office of Economic Development, said the tool is intended to help businesses "start, stay, and grow here in Massachusetts" by connecting them to programs they might not know exist. "This is a minimum viable product," Berlin said, adding that developers expect to improve the platform over time and welcome user feedback.

The Business Front Door uses a short registration form — business name, industry, employee size and location — to pair a business with a Team Massachusetts navigator. For businesses in the child care sector, Berlin said, the system routes requests to a navigator from the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). The navigator can either return tailored program recommendations on the site or follow up by phone or email to coordinate cross‑agency answers.

Gabby Santana Goldstein, who said she is the employer partnerships manager at EEC and serves as a Business Front Door navigator, described how she reviews incoming requests personally. "It's not it's not a robot. It's me," Goldstein said, adding that she follows up with recommended programs and contacts and provides her direct email for further questions.

Berlin and Goldstein described several existing state programs that the portal highlights. Examples mentioned during the briefing included: - Biz Empower, a program from MassDevelopment's growth capital arm intended for small businesses with 20 employees or fewer to offset capital expenditures (examples given: kitchen upgrades, playground improvements). (program details as described at the briefing) - A workforce training fund that reimburses employers for employee training, described by Berlin as reimbursing up to $15,000 per calendar year. - Mass Save no‑cost energy assessments to identify energy‑saving opportunities for businesses. - An Economic Development Incentive Program described as a tax credit program for job creation, plus financing help through MassDevelopment and a state site‑selection team.

Berlin said businesses that choose the "explore resources" path on the portal answer a few questions about goals and needs; navigators then make targeted recommendations. Businesses can also use an "ask us a question" path for inquiries that require cross‑agency coordination; Berlin said the team strives to respond "within a week, if not sooner." The portal also includes an application center that lists programs and in some cases links directly to program applications.

The presenters said the initial rollout is aimed at for‑profit businesses. Berlin said nonprofits that sign up will be redirected to other resources and will not receive the same navigator contact in this first iteration. She said the tool has translation for the six most common languages in Massachusetts and that navigators have access to broader translation services to support hundreds of languages.

Participants used the session to ask practical questions. Selena, who said she had registered an LLC for a respite care center for children with ADHD and autism, asked whether the navigator could help clarify licensing and certification requirements that may span multiple state agencies. Berlin responded that the Business Front Door's "ask us a question" path and an individual navigator could coordinate across agencies to determine which licenses or certifications a specific business needs and to avoid unnecessary steps.

The presenters also said support organizations and consultants may create profiles on behalf of businesses to help with setup and navigation; several technical assistance and consultant providers have done so, Berlin said. The team also plans to solicit user feedback with a follow‑up survey about a week after navigator interactions to improve the tool.

Berlin and EEC staff asked attendees to share feedback and said they will post the session slides and a recording in English, Spanish and Portuguese and share links on social media and the project website. "We look forward to getting your feedback so we can continue to grow this tool," Berlin said.

For now, the Business Front Door is presented as an initial, centralized route to help Massachusetts businesses — especially child care providers using the EEC navigation channel — find appropriate state programs and contacts without having to contact multiple agencies individually.