1620 Workwear and SharkNinja Make Moves in Massachusetts
1620 Workwear, led by CEO and largest shareholder De Innocentis, aims to bring all of its clothing production – including items like $200 work pants, $150 hoodies, and $300 cold-weather jackets – to its East Boston plant within the next 12 to 18 months. This move comes after two of the company’s factories filed for bankruptcy,highlighting the benefits of in-house manufacturing.Cofounder Josh walker left the company about a year ago but remains a shareholder.
“It’s critically important to secure our own destiny,” De Innocentis stated.
While 1620 Workwear continues to experience revenue growth of around 20 percent annually, it’s a slower pace than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has streamlined its product offerings to improve efficiency while maintaining its commitment to quality, offering a lifetime guarantee with free repairs. Bringing manufacturing stateside also allows for faster design turnaround. 1620 differentiates itself by focusing on durability and quality over low prices.
“Making better, longer-lasting product, it takes time for that reputation to come to fruition,” De Innocentis said. “The consumer that seeks out an american-made product is more committed now than ever. Have we reached the riches that we thought we would? Definately not. But has the product exceeded expectations? 100 percent.”
In other Massachusetts business news,SharkNinja is launching an entrepreneurship contest,dubbed its own “Shark Tank,” in partnership with startup accelerator MassChallenge. Finalists will pitch business ideas in person to the Needham-based consumer products company. Details about the SharkNinja Innovation Challenge can be found at https://masschallenge.org/sharkninja-innovation-challenge/.
Health Care Fuels Lobbying Spending in Massachusetts
All the uncertainty around the future of health care is great for business – if you’re in the lobbying business.
In Massachusetts, the top four spenders on lobbying in the first six months of 2025 where health care trade groups, according to new data from Secretary of State Bill Galvin‘s office. The Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association ($578,000) nudged out last year’s number one spender, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which was close behind at No. 2 ($550,000). Rounding out the top four: the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the Association for Behavioral Healthcare.
The biggest corporate spender was Keolis, the commuter rail operator ($225,000), followed by simulcasting operator Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, and hospital chains Beth Israel Lahey Health and Mass General Brigham.
For Smith,Costello & Crawford,which is on track to be the busiest lobbying firm yet again,founder Jim Smith said health care was the p
There aren’t many people in Boston who can draw three former mayors along with more than a dozen current and former city councilors to their retirement party.
But there aren’t many people in Boston quite like John Nucci,the former city councilor who helped reposition Suffolk University’s downtown campus as its senior vice president of external affairs.
Nucci, 73, drew a crowd of political and business leaders to his sendoff at Suffolk’s law school last week – including former mayors Ray Flynn, Marty Walsh, and Kim Janey.State Representative Adrian Madaro, who hails from Nucci’s neighborhood of East Boston, read a proclamation from Mayor Michelle Wu declaring sept. 30 to be “John Nucci Day.”
Suffolk president Marisa Kelly talked about the lasting impact Nucci has had on the university, in part by shifting its focus away from the Beacon Hill neighborhood with its construction in the Downtown Crossing area over the years.
Walsh worked with Nucci on a deal to refurbish an East Boston park so it could be shared with athletes from Suffolk and local high school and youth teams. Walsh also praised Nucci for helping to open up Suffolk dorms in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for homeless residents, saving “hundreds of lives with that gesture of kindness.”
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