Prioritizing Environmental Justice (EJ)
In Massachusetts, low-income populations, people of color, and people who face language access barriers are disproportionately impacted by environmental burdens. People who have been most overburdened by the unequal distribution of environmental harms and benefits are EJ populations. Right from the Start helps to keep EJ populations safe and healthy by eliminating environmental and health threats before they become an issue. Approximately 85% of the businesses OTA has assisted are located within a mile of an EJ population. By working with businesses owned by or that serve EJ populations, Right from the Start helps make Massachusetts a safe and healthy place for everyone to live and work.
Benefits of Right from the Start
OTA's Right from the Start program helps manufacturers build safer, cleaner, and more efficient operations from day one.
Through OTA’s Right from the Start program, new businesses have access to all OTA’s free services. OTA offers a range of assistance options with support from organizations across the state.
Technical Assistance
OTA technical staff help new businesses plan for a greener and cleaner future. Specifically, they aim to prevent pollution, encourage the use of greener chemistry, and increase environmental regulatory compliance.
Pollution Prevention and Green Chemistry Planning
- Identify safer alternatives to toxic chemicals
- Improve operating efficiencies
- Reduce materials waste and wastewater generation and discharge
- Review plant operations and maintenance for potential safety issues
Environmental Regulatory Compliance Assistance
- Identify required permits
- Strategize air emission and chemical usage reduction
- Develop hazardous waste and wastewater management plans
- Streamline plant operations and maintenance
- Create record keeping and materials tracking
OTA connects businesses with statewide resources, mentoring, and technical assistance through the Small Business Resources Map.
Business Mentoring
Besides providing regulatory compliance assistance and pollution prevention opportunities, OTA facilitates training and business mentoring through other organizations. For example, the Business Front Door program offers resources to businesses looking to scale or grow in Massachusetts. In addition, Massachusetts’ Small Business Initiative connects businesses with peer mentors. Through this program, new and expanding businesses can learn from their peers about reducing their pollution and increasing worker safety. Hundreds of peer mentors have offered their services and new and expanding businesses can find their services using the Small Business Resource Map. OTA can also connect your business with state resources for new or expanding minority- and women-owned businesses in the green energy and climate tech sectors, such as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
Funding Opportunities
Various state funding opportunities are available to businesses looking to implement greener practices. Our sister agency, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), offers annual grants to businesses looking to reduce their toxic chemical use. MassDEP also offers an Air & Climate Grants & Assistance program, with grants available for air sensors and climate-friendly refrigerators, among other energy-efficient machinery. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) offers several grant opportunities, including grants that assist underrepresented business owners in their creation and expansion of businesses that meet critical climate goals through its Climate-Critical Underrepresented Business Support Grants, as well as equity workforce planning and capacity grants to expand opportunities for minority and women-owned business enterprises and individuals from EJ populations.
Published: 2026