Success tips when doing business in Massachusetts in 2024

Business meetings

1. While Americans are not as punctual as other nations, being on time for a business meeting will be highly appreciated;
2. Boston business men prefer direct line of communication, open and transparent approach between parties;
3. Being direct and to the point, foreign business men may consider Boston business men as aggressive and demanding;
4. Small compliments are well received, as people of Massachusetts consider such to go a long way;
5. Dress code is generally business conservative for both genders;
6. Discussing personal income and salary is considered as taboo.

Other useful tips

1. Boston business men, as most Americans, prefer eye contact to be maintained during a personal meeting;
2. In comparison to other States, people from Massachusetts are well trained in technical skills, reducing the training times required for new staff;
3. Handshakes during a business meeting need to be firm and continuous.

Interesting facts about Massachusetts?

Business and economics

1. Boston built the first subway system in the United States in 1897;
2. Manufacturing amounts for 10.1% of the GDP output of the state;
3. Massachusetts has been ranked first in access to capital by CNBC in 2014;
4. In 2016, the State GDP climbed to US$507 billion;
5. Unemployment in the State is moderately low at 4.5% in 2017.

Geography

1. The State is considered as small, being the fourth-largest of the six New England states and ranks 45^th in size among the total of 50 USA states;
2. Despite being a small State, there are more than 6,808 km of rivers running through Massachusetts;
3. The climate varies from city to city with mostly cold winters and moderately warm summers, but the Berkshires region in the west has both one of the coldest winters yet fortunately, coolest summers;
4. The American industrial revolution began in the city of Lowell. As such, Lowell was America’s first industrial city.

Society and culture

1. In 2015, the population of Massachusetts was just above 6.7 million, making the State the third mostly densely populated in the US;
2. 40% of the foreign immigrants in the past decade arrived from Central and South America;
3. As late as 1795, the population of Massachusetts was nearly 95% of English ancestry, but in 1840, there was massive inflow of Irish immigrants, shaping the current second most popular ancestry group;
4. MIT is the most popular and renowned engineering university in the World;
5. The Transcendentalist movement found its earliest place of development in Boston;
6. Important holiday celebrated in Boston is the Irish St. Patrick’s day, promoting the residents to wear green clothing.