Locally-grown efforts help lift innovation across Massachusetts
Pamela Goldberg
Every year, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative releases its Annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, benchmarking Massachusetts against other leading technology states and measuring 20-plus key economic indicators. In the 2014 edition, we reported that the innovation economy added 100,000 jobs over the past decade, which helped Massachusetts weather the Great Recession.
To stay ahead of increasing competition and extend our innovation economy's reach to the whole state, industry, along with academia and government, must keep communicating and collaborating. Here are some ways business leaders in Central Massachusetts can work with the commonwealth to increase economic opportunity over the coming years:
• Grow entrepreneurship culture. Business owners or technical experts can help foster regional innovation by sharing expertise with startup entrepreneurs. One option: Link up with one of many accelerators or incubators in Massachusetts, such as The Venture Forum in Worcester or TechSandBox in Hopkinton. These organizations offer many opportunities through direct mentoring, pitch contests and education seminars. MassTech provides investment and partnership support to several of these organizations around the commonwealth, and we have seen that local industry's involvement as mentors and partners provides the foundation for success.
• Engage in local workforce development. Local employers, educators and regional organizations can work together to find and train workers for roles that are in demand. Activities like this are only successful if industry provides feedback to their partners at vocational schools, community colleges and universities on the critical skills they need to teach. Engaging in these important conversations can help improve the talent pipeline and drive job growth.
• Hire an intern for a “win win win.” Through the MassTech Intern Partnership, the commonwealth supports local technology firms by matching them with talented local students and recent graduates. Companies select prospective hires from our applicant database and if they find a match, we'll pay half of the intern's salary – up to $4,800. To date, we've supported more than 200 interns at over 100 small and medium-sized Massachusetts companies, such as Rejoiner, in Holliston, and Disruptor Beam, in Framingham. And in several cases, interns have gone on to full employment with the company. We call this program a “win win win” because it provides companies with needed support, gives local students a meaningful professional experience, and helps Massachusetts retain a critical asset: our talented pool of students and grads. Plus there's no shortage of potential talent in Central Massachusetts, as 36,000 students attend school in Worcester alone.
By fostering innovation locally, businesses can help drive job growth and create a foundation for sustainable long-term economic competitiveness for the commonwealth.
Pamela Goldberg is CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, based in Westborough.
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