Town Manager Weekly Update - September 4, 2025
Elaine Lazarus
September is National Senior Center Month
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
On Sept. 5, DPW employees will be wearing t-shirts with yellow ribbon designs. We encourage everyone to join us and wear yellow on that day and throughout September to support the families who fight against childhood cancer.
Public Library September Newsletter: Library September Newsletter
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month. During the month of September, new cardholders (or those who have electronic cards but come in to get a physical card) will be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Paperwhite cover. See more information in the Library’s September Newsletter.
The Library’s Sunday hours start on September 7, with the Library open from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Real Estate Tax Information: FY 2025 past due real estate tax reminders were mailed out last week. First quarter tax bills were due August 1.
Upcoming Events:
- September 5 - Veterans Breakfast, for Hopkinton Veterans of any age, at the Senior Center, 28 Mayhew St. Free; no sign-up required, 9:00 am.
- September 6 - PolyArts, on the Town Common, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
- September 13 - Hopkinton Family Day, 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm, High School athletic fields. Rain date Sept. 20.
- September 13 - Ash Hop Porchfest, Hopkinton and Ashland 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. There will be musicians in front of the Library and Town Hall, plus other locations in the area. Here’s the timeline for the day:
- 1–5 PM: Porch performances throughout Ashland and Hopkinton
- 5–6 PM: Community Hour at The Corner Spot in Ashland
- 5-8 PM: Want more music and community building while supporting a local brewery? Clover Road will have music from 5-8 pm. See the website for map & up-to-date schedule: ashhopporchfest.org.
- September 16 - Artful Connections, a Panel Discussion of The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan featuring Eman Khadra Ansari M.D., and Noam Shoresh, Ph.D, 6:30 pm at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, 98 Hayden Rowe. See flyer below.
- September 21 - 2nd Act Performance: “I’ll Never Do That”, 7:00 pm, Hopkinton Center for the Arts, 98 Hayden Rowe, Free. See flyer below.
- September 22 thru 26 - Spirit Week at the Senior Center!
- September 24 - CarFit, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm at the Senior Center, 28 Mayhew St. A free, interactive and educational program designed to improve older driver safety. Appointment required, please call 508-497-9730 to sign up.
- September 27 - Repair Fair, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Senior Center. See flyer below for more information.
Current Water System Status - Yellow
Please see information on the current status of the Town’s water supply system, on the Dept. of Public Works page at this link: Water and Sewer
Board and Committee Meetings Next Week
Monday, Sept. 8: Sustainable Green Committee 6:00 pm; Board of Health 6:00 pm; Planning Board 7:00 pm
Tuesday, Sept. 9: Commissioners of Trust Funds 5:00 pm; Select Board 6:00 pm; Conservation Commission 7:00 pm; Historical Commission 7:00 pm
Wednesday, Sept. 10: Board of Appeals 7:00 pm
Thursday, Sept. 11: Open Space Preservation Commission 7:00 pm
More meetings may be posted as we get closer, just check the online calendar on the Town website: Town of Hopkinton Scroll down to the Events Calendar.
The calendar listing for the meeting will also have the agenda (posted at least 48 hours in advance), and will indicate whether the meeting is in person, virtual, or hybrid. If there is a virtual component to a meeting, the link will be on the calendar and/or on the agenda itself. No one needs a reason to attend a meeting, curiosity is enough! Feel free to check one out.
If you can’t attend a live meeting, some are also available to stream anytime on YouTube, thanks to HCAM: HCAM.tv
2025 Employer Survey - 495/MetroWest Partnership
The 495/MetroWest Partnership has released an analysis of results from its 2025 495/MetroWest Employer Survey. The survey represents a collaborative effort between the 495/MetroWest Partnership and Framingham State University's MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC). Conducted for the 12th year running in 2025, this survey has proven an important tool in gauging business confidence in the 495/MetroWest region.
The survey focuses on employers with physical plants located in the 495/MetroWest region, defined as the 36 cities and towns served by the 495/MetroWest Partnership. Owners, leaders, or individuals with regional hiring authority for private, public, or nongovernmental organizations that have a presence in the 495/MetroWest region were invited to take part.
A link to the results and analysis is here: 2025 Employer Survey
The Partnership outlined the following key takeaways from the survey:
- In the face of intense national economic turbulence, our employers remain resilient and comparatively optimistic. 49% still expect their revenues to grow in the coming year, with 29% expecting revenue performance to be about the same as last year. Only 3% expect to reduce their staff in the coming year, while 38% expect to grow their staff.
- In both 2025 and 2024, 60% of respondents indicated that business conditions in 495/MetroWest are about the same as they had been one year prior.
- Greater concern registered in employers’ outlook about economic conditions going forward. The percentage expecting economic conditions to improve in the coming year fell from 44% last year to 26% this year, with 46% expecting a decline.
- Larger employers were much more likely to expect increased revenues as compared with last year, with 63% anticipating increased revenues while only 43% of small business leaders felt the same; this may reflect the greater exposure certain smaller businesses have to inflation and potential tariffs.
- 47% of total respondents are concerned that tariffs at the federal level will negatively impact the profitability of their business, with 39% unsure. Small businesses were more likely to express concern about tariffs.
- Economic uncertainty may slow hiring in the region; however, only a negligible portion of respondents expect to reduce their staffing.
- When asked to identify top challenges they faced in the region, labor and hiring issues topped the rankings for both large and small employers. Housing costs also ranked highly; housing is not unrelated to broader labor constraints.
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