Waltham firm organizes protest taking aim at highway service plaza bid process
Photo | Courtesy of Chris Lisinski, State House News Service
Employees and supporters of Global Services, a Waltham company who lost out on a bid to renovate and operate Massachusetts Turnpike service plazas, rally outside the State House on Tuesday to criticize the Department of Transportation's decision to award the contract to Applegreen.
The Waltham company that lost out on a lucrative contract to renovate and operate Massachusetts highway service plazas escalated its criticism Tuesday, bringing hundreds of its employees and other supporters to Beacon Hill to call for an investigation into the state bidding process.
Against a backdrop of matching navy blue "Support Local" T-shirts, leadership of Global Partners called on the Legislature to flex its oversight authority and urged Gov. Maura Healey to reverse course on the Department of Transportation's decision.
The company and its partner, CommonWealth Kitchen, have been aggressive in the six weeks since MassDOT's board picked Ireland-based Applegreen for a 35-year lease of 18 highway plazas. Global Partners says its bid for the project was worth more money to the state, and last week alleged that a MassDOT official who played a key role in the selection discussed potential employment with the winning bidder's parent company.
Both the state and Applegreen have pushed back against Global's campaign, arguing that finances were only one factor in the contract award and that the winner offered a faster timeline and a focus on electric vehicles.
Applegreen founder Bob Etchingham slammed what he described as "baseless public relations stunts" by the losing bidder.
The several hundred people who braved scorching late morning temperatures to gather on the sun-splashed State House steps -- most of whom were Global employees -- held up printed signs questioning the integrity of MassDOT's decision or insinuating "corruption" was involved.
"Right now, transparency is exactly what's missing. Maura Healey, our governor, she was our attorney general. I've known her for a long time. Maura, now is your moment," said Global CEO Eric Slifka. "Be a champion. Be a hero. Do what's right for the people of the commonwealth and demand a rebid. Maura, we need your help. Please step up and represent the people of the commonwealth. They'll remember you during election time."
"This isn't about one company. It's about how a billion-dollar decision gets made behind closed doors with no accountability," he added.
A MassDOT subcommittee on June 11 picked Applegreen as the winner for the 35-year lease, and the agency's full board soon followed suit. Five other companies made initial bids, including Global, according to the Boston Globe.
Applegreen plans to pay $500 million in base rent in today's dollars with revenue-sharing involved, and intends to make $750 million in capital investments to rebuild and renovate the plazas.
Slifka said Tuesday that "we offered a billion dollars more in revenue to the state." State officials disputed that description, saying that after accounting for the larger capital investment Applegreen proposed, the Global bid was worth $125 million more.
Revenue was one piece of the selection criteria representing about one-quarter of the total score, according to MassDOT. Other factors weighed include technical quality, schedule and long-term performance.
"[Applegreen's] proposal contained significant capital investment, a faster timeline, a commitment to fully rebuild nine service plazas, a proven track record in other states and representation from highly experienced Massachusetts companies on their team," said MassDOT spokesperson Amelia Aubourg.
Slifka called on legislative leaders to convene an oversight hearing to review the bidding process and decisions.
One legislative panel has already launched its own probe. Sen. Mark Montigny, who chairs the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, on Monday wrote to Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt requesting documents, including a copy of the request for proposals and the criteria the board used to evaluate bid responses.
Montigny also asked whether any board members or MassDOT employees were contacted by bidders' representatives or registered lobbyists, what the monetary difference was between the winning and runner-up bid, and more. He gave the secretary a deadline of 5 p.m. on Aug. 8 to answer.
"The purpose of this investigation is to gather documentation and testimony pertaining to the procurement process cited above following concerns raised by members of this committee earlier this month," Montigny wrote.
Global has ramped up its criticism of one specific state employee, Scott Bosworth, over the past week. Bosworth is a former MassDOT undersecretary and chief strategy officer who is now chief of transit oriented development at the MBTA, and he played a key role in the early stages of the service plaza project.
On Thursday, Global representatives filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission alleging that Bosworth discussed potential employment with Applegreen's majority owner, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, while Applegreen worked on its bid.
Applegreen and Blackstone slammed the complaint as false. In a statement, Etchingham called it "simply another misleading and disingenuous claim by Global."
"Applegreen strongly rejects the unfounded allegations being made by the disgruntled loser of the public procurement process for the Massachusetts Highway Service Plaza revitalisation," Etchingham said. "We have acted with the utmost integrity at every step of the process. Our proposal was stronger, more creative, more sustainable and more aligned with the Commonwealth's vision for the future. Any claims to the contrary are simply untrue."
Blackstone spokesperson Paula Chirhart added that "there were no discussions about potential employment with Blackstone, any of its funds or its portfolio companies with any MassDOT official at any point during, or in connection with, this process."
"MassDOT takes any allegations of a conflict of interest seriously, and will review them in accordance with state ethics guidelines and our internal policies," Aubourg said. "We are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability in all our operations."
Slifka on Tuesday also questioned Bosworth's involvement given his current job title for the MBTA.
"Why would he be the one that is taken from the railway, the MBTA, and why is he now handling a highway transportation bid that literally is billions of dollars?" he said.
A MassDOT official said Bosworth began working on the service plaza issue while he still held the title of MassDOT undersecretary and continued his role on the project after transitioning to the T. The MBTA and MassDOT allow employees to work on projects for both organizations, the official said.
Bosworth will now return to primarily focusing on his responsibilities at the T, and an implementation team will take over the service plaza project, the MassDOT official said.
While Applegreen is headquartered in Ireland, it operates more than 100 service plazas in the United States.
Construction work on the Massachusetts plazas is set to begin in early 2026 and run for about three years, Applegreen announced Monday. Suffolk Construction will lead that portion of the project, which will involve more than 750 local union jobs.
In a statement provided by Applegreen, Massachusetts Building Trades Union President Frank Callahan said the work would "create hundreds of good jobs paying union wages and benefits under the terms of a Project Labor Agreement."
Applegreen plans to offer employment to "all current employees working in the service plazas -- regardless of their current subvendor," even as it plans to change the restaurants and other offerings.
Rachael's, a grab-and-go food distributor based in Chicopee, will provide sandwiches for convenience stores at the service plazas, Applegreen said. A spokesperson for the company said additional food and beverage decisions will be announced in the coming months.
Applegreen committed to increasing parking by nearly one-quarter across the dozen and a half service plazas, including by installing dozens of additional electric vehicle charging stations.
The public controversy appears to have drawn some regional business leaders in different directions.
Applegreen rolled out its construction timeline Monday with statements of support from Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish, Callahan, and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President James Rooney.
"Modern rest stops support regional mobility and a healthy tourism economy while advancing job creation, quality of life, and our competitiveness," Rooney said. "Investing in our local rest stops and their infrastructure is an important opportunity to create a more positive first impression for visitors and uplift the people and economy of Massachusetts."
Another chamber leader, Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce President Michelle Mercier, joined Global at its rally Tuesday.
"This is a defining moment for MassDOT and the commonwealth. It's a chance to choose a partner whose vision goes beyond the highway, to invest in a company that believes and delivers for our communities," Mercier said. "We respectfully urge MassDOT to reconsider and award this bid to Global Partners. The future of our infrastructure and the values we build it on depend upon it."
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