Joseph Abboud Senior VP on Governor's Advisory Board

Last week, Governor Charlie Baker named a 17-member advisory board to help him re-open the economy in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor says that the board is made up of healthcare experts, politicians and business leaders from all corners of the state.

One of the people named to that board is the Senior Vice President of Joseph Abboud, Joe Bahena.

"I'm really honored to be sitting on the re-opening advisory board, and I'm excited to be a part of such an important initiative," said Bahena. "There are other leaders in the business community, and municipal government, as well as public and community health officials, so I'm very honored to be a part of that."

With Bahena serving as the lone voice from the SouthCoast, we asked him what the most important item he thinks he'll bring to the table as a representative voice for the region.

"You know, we're early in the process and the board is really charged with advising the administration on strategies to re-open the economy in phases based on health and safety metrics," Bahena said. "We're still early listening, and we're kind of in the listening phase, so I'm really just trying to come to the meetings with an open mind."

Bahena is enormously proud of the way the staff at Joseph Abboud seamlessly pivoted their operations away from making men's suits (temporarily) towards making protective masks for those who need them the most.

"They have put the community above themselves," he said. "To me, these people are everyday heroes."