Mass Software Council and New England Business and Technology Association Combine To Form Mass Technology Leadership Council

Region's Most Powerful Technology Business Association Brings Together Tech Developers, Users From More Than 550 Member Companies

 

BOSTON, MA -- September 12, 2005 – The Mass Software Council and New England Business and Technology Association, Inc., today announced that the two organizations have combined to form the Mass Technology Leadership Council, the largest and most powerful association for providers and users of technology in the region.

The Mass Technology Leadership Council brings together innovative technology leaders from more than 550 provider and user organizations -- more corporate members than any other regional technology association in New England. The Mass Technology Leadership Council’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship and promote the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across industry sectors.

The organization will focus on a number of business and technology issues, including:

  • starting, managing and growing companies;

  • competing in global markets;

  • investment in human capital;

  • anticipating emerging technology trends;

  • the application of technology to solve business challenges;

  • access to capital for start-up, growth, and technology implementation.

Joyce L. Plotkin of the Mass Software Council will serve as Mass Technology Leadership Council’s president and Tom Hopcroft of New England Business and Technology Association will serve as a vice president. Activities will be managed by the combined staffs of Mass Software Council and New England Business and Technology Association.

Mass Technology Leadership Council will celebrate the launch of the new organization at an October 6th membership meeting and awards ceremony. For more details on the event, please visit www.masstechleaders.org.

Seven New England Business and Technology Association executives will join with the current Mass Software Council Board of Trustees to form the board of the new organization. George Bell, special venture partner at General Catalyst, will serve as chair. The New England Business and Technology Association executives are: Stephen Cohn, founder and COO of bWary, Steve Elterich, CIO of Fidelity Investments, Mary Finlay, Deputy CIO of Partners HealthCare, Burt Kaliski, Chief Scientist of RSA Security, Tom Litle of Litle & Co., Anna Sabasteanski, president of the Asset Management Network, and Ra’ad Siraj, CIO & VP of Eaton Vance Management.

“The board of Mass Technology Leadership Council reflects the unique characteristics of our region’s technology community, including industry leaders and entrepreneurs, developers and users of technology, visionaries and proven business executives, and others who contribute to the growth of this industry,” said Bell.
“We listened to the voices of our members and took steps to create a powerful, unified entity that drives economic growth; leads business, workforce, and policy development; and takes executive networking to the next level,” said Plotkin.

“We saw the need for a new kind of organization,” said Hopcroft. “In combining two major technology associations with a focus on industry leadership, we address issues that relate both to the development of innovative technologies and to their application in business, government and academia.”
“Mass Technology Leadership Council enables cutting-edge users of technology to interact directly with the architects of innovation to help shape the products of the future. That is a very compelling proposition.” said Finlay.

“This is a landmark development for our community, merging two of the premier associations to create the region’s most powerful technology organization,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. “It simplifies my job -- we can belong to one organization but get the benefits of both.”
In the months ahead, the Mass Technology Leadership Council will host a range of educational programs, industry events, and networking initiatives that reflect the new organization's mission. Mass Technology Leadership Council also plans to conduct research on the industry, serve as an advocate on behalf of its members, and focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) pipeline issues.

More than 5,000 members of the region’s technology community have participated in the past year and are expected to continue their participation in the Mass Technology Leadership Council’s various workshops, conferences and seminars in the coming year. Programs will continue to focus on specific areas of technology development (ie, software, robotics, open source, RFID) and deployment (ie, financial services, health care, life sciences). The combined resources of the Mass Technology Leadership Council will enable the organization to support a full range of programs and initiatives representing both provider and user perspectives from the entrepreneur to the enterprise executive.

About the Mass Technology Leadership Council
The Mass Technology Leadership Council is the premier association for providers and users of innovative technologies in the region. Formed by the combination of Mass Software Council and New England Business and Technology Association, Inc., the organization is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across industry sectors. The Mass Technology Leadership Council conducts educational programs, hosts industry events, facilitates networking, sponsors research, advocates on behalf of its members, and is involved in a variety of activities that will help to produce the next generation of STEM professionals.

For information contact:
Amy Krigman
Topaz Partners
akrigman@topazpartners.com
781-388-7900, ext. 203