Grant issued for Worcester downtown incubator
The Worcester-based Institute for Environmental Sustainability (IES) has been awarded a $125,000 grant to help establish an incubator in downtown Worcester, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announced Wednesday.
Launched in 2009 by a number of Worcester-area government and private organizations, IES has run a virtual incubator network to support early-stage clean technology and renewable energy companies in Central Massachusetts. Establishing a physical incubator space will provide work space for those companies.
“Incubator space, like the one this grant will fund, will allow young companies to get a foothold here in Worcester, and allow them the space and time to accomplish their goals,” Mayor Joseph Petty said in a statement.
The planned Worcester incubator was one of four to receive money in this latest round of grant funding from MassCEC. Other awards were issued to similar organizations in Somerville, Beverly and Fall River, though the IES award was the largest.
Vincent DeVito, executive director at IES, said the organization has been using incubator space at the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) incubator at Gateway Park for the last few months, and he expects that to continue, even after IES' own incubator is launches.
DeVito said the organization wants to leverage other downtown assets, rather than build something entirely new. In addition to the partnership with MBI, IES is also talking with the Worcester Business Development Corp. about potentially sharing some of its space at a planned incubator on Front Street. Ultimately, the IES incubator could include spaces at a few different downtown locations, according to DeVito.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments