I spent a wonderful morning with friends and colleagues to hear Lt. Gov. Tim Murray speak at the North Central Mass Chamber’s ‘Good Morning, North Central’ Breakfast Series.
I was pleased the conversation focused on the positive. Lt. Gov. Murray had positive things to say about ongoing improvement to freight and commuter rail, the streamlining of permitting for business and how the Baystate corner office has made education, including vocational education one of four top priorities in Gov. Deval Patrick’s second term.
I’ll take a break from the usual sturm und drang we use when putting economics and North Central Massachusetts in the same sentence. Here are some interesting items to consider if you fancy yourself a mover and shaker here in our neck ‘o the woods.
- There are currently 114 manufacturing, design or academic organizations in Massachusetts focusing on applications of nanotechnology. With more every day developing out of our schools and from afar. Our state is considered in the top four in the US for this sector.
- The digital gaming industry is considered one of the fastest growing tech segments for Massachusetts. As I write this article the PAX East Festival is taking place in Boston. Our video game cluster employs an estimated 1,200 people at 76 companies with about $2 billion in annual revenue We are considered one of the nation’s top video game locations, along with California, Texas, Washington and New York.
- Why has the governor of Massachusetts spent time recently in the UK and Israel? Because we have what many companies in those countries want. Add nano and gaming to our biological science and pharmaceutical sectors and you have a hot spot created that is attractive to overseas investment.
What does North Central have to draw this opportunity? For starters, lots of available space, relatively inexpensive housing featuring both semi-urban and rural environments, a fair amount of entrepreneurial prospects tired of driving to Boston every day for a worthwhile job and pride in a distinctly unique corner of the world.
Is it so impossible to peer into our future and see a region that has effectively branded itself AS A REGION, implementing a strategic plan to garner prospective business entities and homeowners? A plan that focuses on a select group of emerging industries? A plan that transforms the workforce and allows all those new trains to reverse the cycle: bring workers west in the AM and east in the PM? Can we create a business sector that compliments tech clusters located on three sides of us? Can we use the tech sector, marketing and other local expertise in finding new markets for our manufacturers in plastics, precision parts, and other unique products?
What is the answer to you?