Commonwealth Conversations: Mass Innovations

The Massachusetts Creative Economy

On September 22, 2011, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki announced the appointment of Helena Fruscio to the position of Creative Economy Industry Director for the Commonwealth. This is great news for the many people who urged the Patrick-Murray Administration to continue its strong support for the creative economy in Massachusetts. Helena has been widely praised for her leadership as Director of Berkshire Creative in western Massachusetts since 2009. She has also has provided excellent leadership and input into the work of the Creative Economy Council and, more recently, as a gubernatorial appointee to the Economic Development Planning Council.  That work also gives her a running head start into the issues that face creative businesses across the state. Helena's priorities include working with the Massachusetts Creative Economy Council to aggregate governmental, non-governmental, regional, and private resources that are available to the creative industry statewide. Helena also hopes to enhance the connectivity of the industry through the use of social networking, this blog, and other internet tools. We look forward to working with her when she starts to work on October 24, 2011. 

With Helena’s appointment, this is also a good time to take a look at what we’ve accomplished in the Creative Economy over the past few years.  Most people following this blog know the incredible difference that the former Creative Economy Industry Director, Jason Schupbach, made during his time with the Patrick-Murray Administration.  He established the agenda, network and enthusiasm that catalyzed our work. 

In the past year and half, we’ve continued to make progress.  Here are a few of the most notable accomplishments: 

1. The Design Industry Group of Massachusetts (DIGMA) has held two major conferences, Design Means Business at Reebok and MassMade at Gillette.  The conferences brought together leading figures in the design industry with business leaders, manufacturers and policy makers to envision how to strengthen the state’s economic competitiveness by leveraging the world-class presence of our nearly 48,000 design professionals in Massachusetts.
2. Becker College, with the support and assistance of Lieutenant Governor Murray, and through him Housing and Economic Development and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, has launched the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDigi) to accelerate the growth of the state’s competitive and growing interactive games industry.  MassDigi recently received a $500,000 competitive award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which is tremendous validation of their progress to-date.
3. The Patrick-Murray Administration has sustained a high-level of support for the creative organizations through the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund.  The fund received $7 million in FY 2011 and has received $14 million overall since a reauthorization of the fund in 2008. 
4. Finally, the Massachusetts Legislature provided terrific leadership in passing legislation authorizing the creation of state-designated Cultural Districts in municipalities in the state.  The program is administered by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and has long been sought by artists and municipalities as a means of focusing attention and resources to growing neighborhoods with established cultural assets and organizations.

A message from Governor Deval Patrick to Massachusetts College Students

Students of Massachusetts,

My path to Massachusetts may be similar to your own. I'm originally from elsewhere, the South Side of Chicago. I came here as a teenager when a program called “A Better Chance” offered me just that – a chance to attend school. I am the first person in my family to attend college, and have had a varied and exciting career since.

Massachusetts is my home now, and has been for most of the last 40 years. I didn't pursue my current job because elected office is my career, and I certainly knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I wanted to serve because of my gratitude to the Commonwealth for all the hope and life-changing opportunity I have been given here.

As students here, you already know that Massachusetts offers the very best educational experience in the world. But you may not know that school is just the beginning of all we have to offer. This state is a great place to live and work. We’re adding jobs faster than 47 other states (nearly 65,000 new jobs since December 2009), and climbing out of recession faster and stronger than the rest of the country. We lead the Nation in student achievement and health care. And we have an unparalleled quality of life, with diverse and beautiful people and regions and great cultural attractions.

The Commonwealth is also a great place to start a business. In its 2010 edition of America's Top States for Business, CNBC ranked Massachusetts in the top five nationally for business competitiveness. And we have an unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit -- which is why for the second year in a row, Suffolk University’s Beacon Hill Institute ranked Massachusetts at the top in its annual Competitiveness Report.

So here’s my point: we want you to stay here.  Business, academic and government leaders from across the state have come together to organize a  “Stay Here” campaign, a concerted and collaborative effort to show you the opportunities that Massachusetts has to offer and to persuade you to stay here when school is done. You can learn more about it at www.massitsallhere.com/stayhere.

You are the Commonwealth’s most valuable resource. Your future is bright. Let’s together make ours brighter. Stay here!

Sincerely,

 

Governor Deval Patrick

 

Innovation Month Proclamation from Governor Deval Patrick

The following is the full text of a proclamation by Governor Deval L. Patrick

 

Whereas Innovative ideas start here. For almost four hundred years, Massachusetts’ social, cultural, technological, scientific, manufacturing, and design innovators have advanced the Commonwealth’s economic prosperity and quality of life.

Whereas Massachusetts is a global leader in the innovation economy, from life sciences to robotics, from advanced manufacturing to clean energy, from education to digital technology, and everything in between.

Whereas Massachusetts is the home of hundreds of firsts and bests, from boasting the highest venture capital investment and NIH funding per capita of any place in the world, to the invention of radar, Rock Band, and Roomba.

Whereas Throughout this month, through a series of programs and events, the Commonwealth’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators will showcase our innovation and collaboration, and encourage new intellectual capital to the Commonwealth.  

Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby June 2010, to be   Innovation Month in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts   And urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.  

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this first day of June, in the year two thousand and ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and thirty-third.

                                           By His Excellency                                                                                          DevaL L.patrick

                      Governor of the Commonwealth          

William Francis Galvin               

Secretary of the Commonwealth  

    

                     

God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Massachusetts a magnet for federal funding

Posted by:

Secretary Gregory Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

The Patrick-Murray Administration partnered with The Boston Foundation on Thursday, May 29th to kick off the Foundation's FY2011 John LaWare Leadership Forum series, which will focus on job growth and long term economic prosperity.

This first in the series, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, explored the most collaborative and innovative opportunities for Massachusetts to compete for and leverage federal funds. Speakers included Doug Borchard of New Profit, Undersecretary of Housing and Community Develoment Tina Brooks, and Sarah Slaughter of MIT.

You can read more about the forum from Rob Gavin of the Boston Globe here.

Governor Declares April 13, 2010 Robotics Innovation Day

The following is the full text of a proclamation by Governor Deval L. Patrick

Whereas Robotics is a leading innovation industry and the Massachusetts robotics cluster is one of the largest in the world with more than eighty companies having a combined billion dollars in revenue and ten universities teaching and developing robotics; and

 

Whereas Enormous growth and job potential exists for the Commonwealth’s robotics industry, where the average annual growth rate of the local company is forty-seven percent and ninety percent of the firms plan to hire in the next two years; and

Whereas Massachusetts is a leader across the robotics field, including in semiconductor manufacturing, defense, therapeutic use, home use, distribution/logistics and inventory management, underwater use, educational use, and behavior-based robots; and

 

Whereas On this day, through a series of meetings and events, the Commonwealth’s robotics cluster and Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council showcase our entrepreneurial strengths, spark our collaborative gene, and catalyze new intellectual capital to the Commonwealth,

 

Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim April 13^th, 2010, to be,

 

Robotics Innovation Day

 

And urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.

 

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this fifth day of April, in the year two thousand and ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and thirty-third.

                                           By His Excellency                                                                                          DevaL L.patrick

                      Governor of the Commonwealth          

William Francis Galvin               

Secretary of the Commonwealth  

    

                     

God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Health Information Technology: Creating Jobs, Reducing Costs, and Improving Quality

Posted by:

Secretary Gregory Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

I wanted to make you aware of a national conference, hosted by Governor Deval L. Patrick , “Health Information Technology: Creating Jobs, Reducing Costs, and Improving Quality.”  As you know, Massachusetts is a leader in both health care and in information technology and Massachusetts companies stand to benefit from the explosion of health IT use spurred by federal funding for health IT in ARRA.  Gov. Patrick’s conference will bring together state and federal policy leaders along with business and health care leaders to discuss how Massachusetts can maintain its leading position in health IT and grow the economy.

US Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius, Dr. Don Berwick and Dr. David Blumenthal are confirmed speakers at the conference.  Over 350 people are already registered for the conference and over 25 states are sending their top health officials to attend.    The conference will be held April 29-30 in Boston, Massachusetts.  

For more information, click here.

Governor Declares February 23rd, 2010 Entrepreneurship Day in Massachusetts

At the Mass "It's All Here" Start Here event, attended by hundreds of entrepreneurs and business leaders, Governor Patrick declared February 23 "Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Day," and officially broke ground on the new Cambridge Innovation Center space which, thanks to new growth and high demand, will be nearly doubling its size by summer 2010. The Start Here statewide collaborative campaign includes new opportunities, events, and access for small businesses, innovators and investors of Massachusetts that will take place throughout the next three months.

(Governor Deval Patrick delivering official proclamation to CIC founder Tim Rowe)

The following is the full text of the proclamation by Governor Deval L. Patrick

Whereas: Innovation is vital to the success of Massachusetts businesses, and entrepreneurs harness this innovation for economic progress in the Commonwealth; and

 

Whereas: Revolutionary ideas start here. For almost four hundred years, Massachusetts’ social, cultural, technological, scientific, manufacturing, and design entrepreneurs have advanced our economic prosperity and quality of life;

 

Whereas: Entrepreneurial ingenuity is the lifeblood of the Commonwealth’s innovation economy. Innovation is Massachusetts’ edge, our fundamental competitive advantage.  Our entrepreneurs are changing the state, nation and world for the better;

 

Whereas: The Congress of the United States has resolved February 20^th-27^th to be National Entrepreneurship Week;

 

Whereas: On this day, the Mass Its All Here: Entrepreneurship Here marketing campaign showcases our entrepreneurial strengths, sparks our collaborative gene through a host of partnerships, and catalyses new intellectual capital to the state; 

 

Now, Therefore I, Deval Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim  February 23, 2010 to be Entrepreneurship Day in Massachusetts.

Delivering on the themes of the Economic Summit

Posted by:
Secretary Gregory Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

Last October, when Governor Patrick brought together nearly 150 corporate, academic, and non-profit leaders for an Economic Summit, we worked together to find solutions together on how we could best define and accelerate recovery in Massachusetts.   Through that process, we identified true opportunities for long term success – opportunities like education reform that would translate to federal education funding; small business needs such as access to capital, unemployment insurance and health care costs; business expansion issues like permitting, and providing a trained workforce.  

On February 10th, Governor Patrick filed legislation to help small businesses hire new workers and reduce the cost of doing business, delivering on those opportunities. Taken as a whole, these business growth and job creation measures are predicted to create or retain 20,000 jobs, and save small businesses upwards of $400 million.

We are thankful for the partnerships that were formed at the Economic summit and led to those opportunities, and we will continue the collaborations that are necessary to ensure long term recovery in Massachusetts.

The Governor's plan includes:

Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit

Lowering Health Care Costs for Small Businesses

Unemployment Insurance Reform and Rate Freeze

Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation

Additional Provisions

This is just the latest example of Governor Patrick's efforts to create good jobs at good wages in every corner of the Commonwealth, and a clear example of how, through collaboration, we can work towards a stronger Massachusetts.

Thank you,

Greg Bialecki

A Further Outline of the Patrick Administration’s Innovation Agenda

Posted by:
Secretary Gregory Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

A few months ago I described the basic principles of the Patrick Administration’s “innovation agenda”.  We have done a lot of work since then, and I thought it would be helpful to describe in greater detail the various initiatives that we are pursuing, in collaboration with industry and academia.

We are:

1.  Highlighting the Central Role of Innovation in Our Economy.  The first and most important part of our agenda is simply to make the case, all across the state, that an innovation agenda must be at the core of our state’s economic development strategy.  It may seem obvious to some that innovation has been and will continue to be our key competitive advantage in a very competitive world (or, as the Governor likes to say, “innovation is our edge”). But I can assure you that many Massachusetts residents do not immediately see the connection between innovation and their own economic prospects. We are working very hard to make those connections more visible to people all around the state, by demonstrating that our successes in many industry sectors beyond the “tech” sectors (including manufacturing, financial services and health care, for example) are based on continuing innovation and by demonstrating the number of people employed by businesses that serve as vendors and suppliers to innovation companies.

2.  Promoting Cluster-Based Collaboration.  We are encouraging industry and academia to form cluster-based collaboratives that can inform us about the shared priorities of the cluster and work with us to address those priorities. Great progress has already been made (by us and by others) in establishing active and engaged collaboratives in “core” innovation sectors like life sciences, clean energy, digital technology and design, as well in emerging “edge” innovation sectors like digital marketing, robotics and electronic medical records.  (We are a rich environment for these “edge” innovation sectors because of the diversity of innovation thinking here.)  These growing cluster-based collaboratives will naturally extend across state lines, as the clusters themselves do, and there are signs that this is already happening.

3.  Improving Public Education.  We already have a strong foundation here, with one of the best public education systems in the country, if not the world.  But we are focused on the further reforms still needed to reduce persistent achievement gaps and we are organizing and enhancing STEM education efforts through a newly-formed STEM Education Coordinating Council.

4.  Attracting and Retaining Young Talent.  We have begun, in collaboration with many others, a serious statewide effort to recruit and retain young talent here in Massachusetts. One of the core audiences of our new “Massachusetts: It’s All Here” marketing campaign is our local student population. Other recent initiatives include “Stay in MA” (organized by Flybridge Capital), “innovation open houses” (organized by Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe) and “young people’s forums” (organized by Governor Patrick).

5.  Expanding Mentoring for Young Entrepreneurs.  We were the founding sponsors, with Desh Deshpande, the Kaufman Foundation and Microsoft, of MassChallenge, a new statewide business plan competition (starting in 2010) that will (among other good things) create a new statewide network of volunteer mentors for competition entrants. Other recent initiatives by others include TechStars Boston and “Open Office Hours”.

6.  Addressing Funding Gaps for Start-Ups.  Through the newly created Life Sciences Center and Clean Energy Center, we are providing public funding for start-ups and growing companies of promise that are facing funding gaps in the private equity markets.

7.  Supporting Basic Research.  Our reputation for innovation excellence begins with the great research being done here.  We cannot take that for granted.  We are working with MIT, UMass and BU, and with industry partners EMC and Cisco, to develop a green high performance computing center in Holyoke that will allow these great research universities to remain on the cutting edge of scientific discovery.  Through the Life Sciences Center, we are making research grants to junior researchers so that our best young talent will stay here at home.

8.  Investing in Infrastructure.  We are using state and federal funding to extend broadband connectivity all across the state.  We are improving roads and rail lines to support growing innovation clusters all around the state, including the life sciences cluster in Worcester and the tech cluster in Littleton and Westford.  We are working with a number of local communities to encourage new housing options that are attractive and affordable to young people and young families.

9.  Telling Our Story.  The Governor and I are using every chance we get to brag about the breadth and depth of our innovation economy. But more importantly, we are enlisting everyone’s help in telling the story also. We have moved the state’s business marketing function out of a state agency and into a public-private collaborative called “Massachusetts: It’s All Here”.  We partner closely with MassEcon’s “ambassadors” program and Boston World Partnership’s “ connectors program, through which these organizations are recruiting and organizing dozens of local business people who are excited to spread the word about the opportunities here.

10.  Welcoming the World.  We know that Massachusetts will only continue to be a global innovation hub if continues to be well-connected to the other great centers of innovation around the world.  We strive to be welcoming to anyone from anywhere who wants to work, study, visit or locate a business here. For example, in looking at a possible expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, we are focusing our attention on the opportunities for hosting international conventions and conferences in the areas where we have strong local innovation clusters.

We are going to accomplish even more in 2010, which is shaping up as an exciting year for the state’s innovation economy.

What have we missed? What else is going on, or should be?

Patrick-Murray Administration's Economic Summit

Posted by:
Secretary Gregory Bialecki, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

On October 27th, Governor Patrick convened nearly 150 business and non-profit leaders, along with state and local officials, for a day-long Economic Summit at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank to discuss how Massachusetts can best accelerate its path towards economic recovery, and collaborate on solutions to the state's challenges.

The summit was organized in collaboration with former Boston Federal Reserve President and Chairwoman of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors Cathy Minehan, Dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University Barry Bluestone and Boston Federal Reserve President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Rosengren, and the staff here at the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The Governor also assembled a planning committee comprised of leaders from a variety of sectors and regions across the state to develop and lead the summit’s comprehensive agenda.

During the summit, we reviewed a series of public-private initiatives launched under the Patrick Administration to advance the state's economic development, including the Holyoke High Performance Computing Center, Mass Challenge start-up competition, the “It’s All Here” marketing campaign, and BuyMass.org.

We then separated into three working groups to identify further opportunities for collaborative initiatives, with a focus on matters that could make a meaningful difference in the path of our recovery over the next eighteen months. By day's end, a strong consensus was reached that significant progress could be made by collaborative efforts to:

• Compete for Federal Funding (Stimulus and Otherwise), with a focus on areas in which local public and private efforts are well-aligned with current Obama Administration and Congressional priorities.
• Improve Access to Capital & Advice for Small Businesses, with an emphasis on small businesses with significant growth potential.
• Clear the Way for Business Expansion, by reducing or eliminating government or other obstacles that might inhibit businesses from expanding their facilities and hiring new workers.

In each case, summit participants agreed to continue to pursue each of these objectives through to concrete outcomes. I will continue to report on that progress through this blog.

In addition, upon the recommendation of Lt. Governor Tim Murray, we will also be working in collaboration with partners all over the state to hold a series of follow-up regional economic summits to ensure that the Administration’s efforts are inclusive and encourage regional development in all parts of the Commonwealth.

I encourage you to continue to stay engaged in the work and results of the Economic Summit here on our innovation blog.

Thank you
Secretary Greg Bialecki