As Boston’s first chief of economic development, John Barros ’96 plans to use his experience working in urban neighborhoods to promote small business growth, job training programs and build a city that is accommodating to residents of all backgrounds. Martin Walsh, the mayor of Boston who took office this January, created the position to equalize growth across the city.
The son of Cape Verdean immigrants, Barros grew up in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood. There, he first became involved in local politics at age 17 as a member of the board of directors of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a community-organizing nonprofit focused on neighborhood revitalization.
At Dartmouth, he majored in economics and African and African-American studies. He was president of the Afro-American Society and was involved with Palaeopitus senior society, Casque and Gauntlet senior society, the Black Underground Theatre Association and Colors, an organization which aimed to unite students of color.
Barros said his time at Dartmouth positively affected his career trajectory.
“The Dartmouth community is a community of active students, students who really care about their surroundings and the rest of the world, and there were always conversations and activities that helped us to learn to give back,” he said.
Shakari Byerly ’96, a friend of Barros’s who now works at a public policy consulting firm in northern California, said Barros’s selection did not surprise her. She added that she found him easy to work with during their time in the Afro-American Society.
“He cared about the quality of life for his fellow classmates and Dartmouth overall,” she said. “John will add a lot of value from his experiences at Dartmouth building bridges.”
After graduation, Barros started at the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, where he worked with tech companies. He never lost interest in working with urban neighborhoods, however, and he later returned to Boston to work with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. In 2000, he was named as its executive director. He worked there until he entered the Boston mayoral race in April 2013.
Though he lost the campaign, Barros said he considered his run successful because he could share his message with Boston voters.
As the first chief of economic development — a role housed within the City of Boston’s mayoral office — Barros will oversee agencies like the Boston Redevelopment Authority, consumer affairs and licensing, the small and local business enterprise office, the Boston Employment Commission, jobs and community services and arts, tourism and special events.
Barros said the city must support minorities, women and small businesses in addition to entrepreneurs, large contractors and other employment sectors in Boston.
“My first priority is to make sure Boston is working for all of its residents,” Barros said.
Drawing on his experience at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Barros said he wants to fight the “brain drain” that often hits poor urban centers. He wants to encourage people to stay in their neighborhoods and support them rather than move elsewhere, he said.
Issues that currently galvanize Boston, like affordable housing and income inequality, Barros said, can be addressed by improving infrastructure and creating pathways to employment.
Considering Boston’s shifting demographics, the city will need to cater to a younger workforce by making efforts to create a more vibrant nightlife, increase business hours and improve public transit, he said.
Economics professor Charles Wheelan said that economic development is a fluid term.
“Economic development is one of the squishiest terms out there,” he said. “Just about anything can be construed as economic development.”
Wheelan said that urban economic development initiatives can unfold in one of two ways. The first occurs as a zero-sum game, meaning the initiative may be good for the city but does not add national value. This happens when development, in the form of businesses or employees, that could have gone elsewhere is brought instead to the city of interest, he said.
The second approach, which Wheelan said is more effective and creates net national development, occurs through programs that increase the productivity of a city’s assets. Examples include skills training, education and improvements to infrastructure such as improved broadband or initiatives to ease traffic congestion.
“Probably the worst thing you can do is throw money at businesses,” Wheelan said.
