Uncut Lab

10/19/2026

When the state gives a company a tax credit to grow in your town, it comes with a promise of new jobs. Last month 10 projects shared $11.5M, from Orange to New Bedford. Is your town on the list? Here is a good question for your next town meeting. How many of those jobs will go to people who live here? If you work for your town or a local nonprofit, tell us how you keep track. https://forms.gle/CdS46BgDsDHNEvWM7

10/16/2026

Back in July, our team attended the ESRI User Conference.

It is the largest GIS conference in the world. More than 18,000 people from over 100 countries came together. This year's theme was Creating a More Intelligent World.

Here is what we heard, in plain terms.

AI is coming to maps. New tools can spot patterns and answer questions about a place faster than ever.
Simpler tools. Users told Esri that mapping software needs to be easier to use.
Built for every size. Small towns and small teams were part of the conversation. Not just big cities.

So why does this matter for your community?

Maps are getting smarter. But smart tools still need good local data. They need people who know the place. A town in Central Massachusetts is not the same as a city in California.

That is where Uncut Lab comes in. We take powerful data tools and make them work for local decisions. Housing. Jobs. Where to invest next.

The technology is moving fast. We want Massachusetts communities to move with it.

10/13/2026

Economic development teams make big calls with scattered data. Most places collect data once a year for one grant, or an an at need basis for a prospective employer or their board. Then what happens to that data? Does it go stale? Do you repurpose it for studies? We want to learn how you work today. Which data do you trust? Where do you get stuck? What do you wish you could see before the money is spent? The survey is short. Please share it with your team. https://forms.gle/CdS46BgDsDHNEvWM7

10/13/2026

Massachusetts takes its name from the Massachusett people.

Many town and river names across the state come from Indigenous languages. Nipmuc. Wampanoag. Pocumtuck. These names are part of the map we use every day.

This Indigenous Peoples' Day, we are reflecting on the history beneath the places we serve.

10/09/2026

MASSBUYS EXPO. October 1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. We exhibited as a Statewide Contract vendor. The Operational Services Division hosted. This year's theme was Rooted in Partnership. Public buyers from state agencies, cities, towns, schools and universities came to meet vendors.

We have been on the road.

Three events. One week. A lot of good conversations.

MARPA and DLS Statewide Municipal Partnerships Conference. October 5 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. We joined municipal and regional leaders from across the Commonwealth. They talked through pressing local issues and shared what works.

Mass Black Expo. October 6 at the Omni Boston Hotel in the Seaport. We attended this gathering hosted by the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. The theme was Building Black Wealth. Small Business, Big Impact. The day focused on contracts, capital and partnerships that help businesses grow.

Three different rooms. One common thread.

Every conversation came back to place. Who is growing. Where the dollars go. What a community needs next.

That is why we show up. Local data only matters when it is part of the conversation. It should reflect the people in the room. It should help them make the next decision.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at MASSBUYS and everyone who talked with us in Worcester and Boston. Let's keep the conversation going.

10/02/2026

What a day at MassBuys Expo 2026! 🎉

We met so many people working to serve Massachusetts residents. One big takeaway: public websites need to work for everyone, including people with disabilities. New federal rules make that a must by 2027.

That's what we do at Uncut Lab. We help agencies, towns, and nonprofits make their websites and forms easy for every resident to use.

Want to see how your site measures up? Your first one page audit is free.

09/28/2026

At Uncut Lab, we talk a lot about data and community. Here is one we can't stop thinking about.

Dallas put AI cameras on garbage trucks. As the trucks drive by, the cameras scan yards and give each home a "blight score." In four months, about 21,000 homes were scored.

Most of the citations landed in three South Dallas neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods are mostly Black and Latino.

We don't think this is really a story about AI. It is a story about order. The city bought the tool before it decided the rules. Who gets a friendly warning? Who gets a fine? Who gets help fixing the problem?

Technology in our cities only works when fairness is part of the plan from day one.

So we want to hear from you. Would you want a camera like this in your neighborhood? What would the city need to promise first?

📷️ Dallas garbage trucks are using AI to scan homes.

AI-powered cameras on Dallas garbage trucks have flagged more than 20,000 homes for potential code violations since April.

09/21/2026

August blew past every forecast. 162,000 jobs added.

Tech lost 23,000 of them.

Hiring managers keep saying skilled workers are impossible to find. Laid off developers keep saying there is nothing out there. Both are telling the truth.

This is not a shortage. It is a matching problem.

Massachusetts just committed $24 million to training and apprenticeships for immigrants and people returning to the workforce. That money should go first to the one job state dollars are actually built for: closing the gap between people and open seats.

A laid off developer does not need another certificate. They need a system that puts them in front of the open seat right now, before the hiring manager and the worker both give up looking.

That system is what Uncut Lab builds. Check out our new website to learn more. www.uncutlab.com

09/16/2026

Today, we’re stepping away from the desk and into the Boston startup ecosystem.

We’re taking the day to connect, exchange ideas, and build relationships with the founders, innovators, investors, and ecosystem builders shaping what’s next for Boston and the region.

Because sometimes the best work happens when you step away from the screen and get in the room.


Who should we be connecting with? Tag them below or drop a name in the comments.

09/14/2026

Quick question for anyone who touches program data for a city or town, CDC, regional chamber, workforce board, or a council of governments.

How many systems does your data actually live in right now? Site reports. Labor numbers. Surveys. Grant files. One spreadsheet holding it together, if you're lucky.

I'm writing about why that's the norm, not the exception, and what it actually costs. Piece goes up later this week.