For New Beginnings, North Central Area Looks To Its Past
North Central Massachusetts is an area that keeps its manufacturing past in full view. Many towns retain nicknames that bring to mind old, dirty factories turning out the kinds of things that are now mostly imported from China. For instance, Winchendon is “Toy Town,” Gardner “Chair City,” and Athol “Tool Town.”
The area has never given up on manufacturing, though the most prominent local players now focus on high-tech products such as plastic parts for medical devices. In recent months, that focus has gotten several boosts.
In September, Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner announced it would take the lead in administering a multistate, $15.9-million federal grant to train workers in advanced manufacturing. In October, the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP), RTI, and MassDevelopment announced a new study of the manufacturing industry in the Montachusett region of North Central. Meanwhile, as it rolled out its proposal for a slots parlor in Leominster, the Cordish Cos. detailed a promise to help fund the development of high-tech plastics startups in the area.
The Mount Wachusett initiative began as a pilot program in Devens to train workers for jobs in advanced manufacturing. With the new grant from the Department of Labor, the college is now collaborating with colleges in Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana in a consortium that will expand the current program.
Jacqueline Belrose, vice president of lifelong learning and workforce development at Mount Wachusett, said the next step for the consortium is hiring a national and a regional director, by mid-December, it hopes. After that, it will consider next steps, including a possible effort to build an incubator that would provide space and resources for new manufacturing businesses.
“At this point, the exact direction isn't clear enough,” Belrose said. “A lot of balls are in the air right now.”
Slots Parlor Link
One of those balls was thrown by Cordish, the casino developer that has staked out Leominster for possible construction of a slots parlor. As part of its pitch to the local area, the company has promised to put at least $1 million a year into financing for early-stage plastics manufacturers in the medical device field. The proposal is called M3D3, emphasizing its promise to build on the existing Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.
M3D3 would bring the UMass Lowell and Worcester campuses together and encourage the establishment of new manufacturers between the two cities.
David McKeehan, president of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, said new resources for manufacturers, from incubator space to technical assistance from university researchers to workforce training, would be welcome in the area.
“We keep looking for opportunities,” he said. “There's still a need.”
McKeehan said the notion of providing more resources for the manufacturing industry isn't new. A few years ago, Fitchburg State University looked into the possibility of transforming a Main Street building in Fitchburg, already owned by local manufacturer Micron, into an advanced polymers manufacturing center. But a feasibility study found it would cost over a million dollars to refurbish the building into high-tech labs and incubator space.
“The problem with incubators is that they really aren't self-sustaining,” McKeehan said. “They need subsidy.”
If funding was in place, from a grant, a benefactor like Cordish or some other source, he said there are surely entrepreneurs who would take advantage of an incubator.
That's been the case at UMass Dartmouth, where the state-funded Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center has operated since 2001. The 60,000-square-foot center provides office space for new companies and shared lab space for prototype development.
Room To Grow
Providing space to start-up companies can be a boon to property owners as well. Eric Anderson, vice president of leasing at Cummings Properties LLC in Woburn, has organized a fledgling group called the Massachusetts Association of Business Incubators to strengthen the work he was already doing reaching out to new companies.
“We do a lot to incubate companies and work with small start-up companies and help them in the formative years with the hope that they're going to reward us in the coming years with their continuing business,” he said.
Anderson said the small companies he works with are very price-sensitive, which could push them toward the more affordable real estate in the North Central area, particularly since the single-story flex space that's often useful for new manufacturers is in short supply closer to Boston.
“There's a tremendous amount of demand for that type of space right now,” he said. “We have a hard time finding enough of it around here.”
With its relatively affordable real estate and proximity to Lowell, as well as Worcester Polytechnic Institute, McKeehan said it's easy to imagine more startups taking root around Leominster.
“There could be a viable operation,” he said. “We need a stronger presence for that here in North Central.”
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