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Governors at Mass. Maritime highlight offshore wind’s job and supply-chain potential
Summary
At a Massachusetts Maritime Academy session hosting New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers, Governor Healy and union leaders touted recent offshore-wind project selections as job creators, emphasized project labor agreements, and previewed workforce and research investments.
Governor Healy opened a session of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers conference at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, framing offshore wind as both a climate and economic opportunity for the region.
"It's going to be great because that is the potential to power 1,600,000 homes and importantly create 10,000 new great jobs," Governor Healy said, describing recent project selections made in coordination with Rhode Island that she said total "close to 29 100 megawatts." She emphasized collaboration across state and provincial lines and thanked federal and state partners for supporting the industry.
Labor leaders joined the governor onstage to stress that growth in the sector should translate into high-quality, union jobs. "We wanna make sure that our region leads the country in responsible offshore wind development," Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said, urging intentional policy and training so that green jobs "are union jobs that actually raise standards for all working people." Frank Callahan, president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions, described past and current investments in manufacturing and port infrastructure tied to offshore wind and noted the use of Project Labor Agreements in recent procurements and local projects such as the New Bedford Marine Terminal.
Healy cited national and state targets and federal support for offshore wind and credited coordinated public support with helping win federal research funding for regional academic centers. The governor said the state is working to ensure that the jobs created "are all high quality jobs, high paying that strengthen our middle class and bring opportunity to environmental justice communities."
The session closed with plans to tour the academy's training facilities and partner sites, and with an emphasis on aligning procurement, workforce development, and community engagement as the region scales up offshore wind deployment.
The conference moves next into a series of on-site demonstrations and a UMass-led research briefing planned for the day.
