On the Boston City Council, Ayanna heard time and again about archaic laws that grew out of discrimination generations ago and made it nearly impossible for business owners in certain parts of the city to obtain a liquor license. As a result, neighborhoods like Dorchester and Mattapan hadn’t seen new sit-down restaurants in decades, meaning fewer jobs and a lagging local economy. Ayanna worked to change the outdated laws, and now dozens of new restaurants have opened, creating hundreds of jobs and boosting our economy.

In Congress, Ayanna will take a similar approach that builds economic development from the grassroots level, working to promote the strengths of the 7th District and connect residents in our communities with available jobs. As part of this effort, Ayanna supports major investments in workforce training, including apprenticeships and vocational education in advanced manufacturing and technology, to help young people find careers and develop the highly-skilled workforce that will attract employers to every corner of the district.

To help ensure that economic development benefits every community, the Federal government should be a model of real inclusion demonstrated through procurement and purchasing processes and procedures.Ayanna will look to scale up ordinances she co-sponsored on the Boston City Council that set goals for minority and women business enterprise (MWBEs) participation in City projects and updated the Boston Residents Jobs Policy to require developers on city-funded construction projects to make best faith efforts to hire 50% people of color, 25% minorities, and 10% women. We should expect our government contracts to contribute to a fairer economy and create opportunity for wealth building for everyone.