Research Bureau names Matthews new executive director
Photo | Courtesy | MassINC
Paul Matthews
The Worcester Regional Research Bureau has named Paul Matthews as its new executive director effective in September.
Matthews, the executive director of the 495/MetroWest Partnership for nearly 15 years, will replace Timothy McGourthy, who left the bureau in February to become Massachusetts deputy secretary for housing and economic development for the Gov. Charlie Baker Administration.
Matthews, whose appointment was announced late Monday, is a lifelong Worcester resident and a former director of government and public affairs for the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. He worked for state Sen. Harriette Chandler when she was a state representative, and served as the 495/MetroWest Partnership — a public-private advocacy and development agency serving 35 communities — as public affairs program manager before being appointed executive director in 2005.
"I have a profound appreciation for the role the bureau plays," Matthews said, citing the group's research work on education, workforce development, and infrastructure, including Worcester Regional Airport and the MBTA commuter rail.
"Worcester's very fortunate to be able to have the bureau to provide this research on a range of issues affecting the community. Most regions our size do not have the benefit of an organization like the bureau."
Matthews, who has a bachelor's degree from Colby College in Maine, serves on a number of statewide boards, including as the governor's appointee to the Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council, the 495/MetroWest Suburban Edge Community Commission and the Economic Development Planning Council. He's on the state Department of Transportation's Rail Vision Advisory Committee and East-West Rail Study Advisory Committee.
The research bureau didn't disclose Matthews' salary, but when McGourthey was in the position, the executive director was paid a total of $162,990, according to the bureau's 990 tax form submitted to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in 2017, the most recent year available on the website Guidestar.org.
Matthews becomes the research bureau's third leader since its inception in the 1980s. It was led for nearly 30 years by Roberta Schaefer, who helped found it, and then by McGourthy starting in 2014.
McGourthy joined the bureau after stints as chief development officer for the city of Worcester and CEO of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. In the Baker Administration, McGourthy replaced Carolyn Kirk, who left to become executive director of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
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