There are two misperceptions regarding the many life sciences jobs being created in Massachusetts. The first is that these jobs are all centered in Cambridge and Boston. The second is that these are jobs primarily for scientists in white lab coats.
In fact, life sciences companies are growing throughout Massachusetts, and creating what I like to call “real jobs for real people” — jobs in skilled manufacturing, IT, sales and marketing, customer service and a host of other fields — and creating them by the thousands.
There is no doubt that our life sciences supercluster is centered in the innovation strongholds of Cambridge and Boston. Much of the growth in life sciences, however, is actually taking place in concentric rings around this important innovation hub. This is a pattern of growth we have seen before in Massachusetts, with high-technology and other sectors, and one that ensures that the benefits of innovation-based economic growth are shared by all regions of the state.
The first ring is along the Route 128 corridor, home to some of our state’s leading life sciences companies. As these companies scaled up operations, they outgrew the available land closer in. The Life Sciences Center, which I lead, is located in this corridor, on Winter Street in Waltham. From our windows we can see AstraZeneca, Thermo Fisher, and a host of other companies that have opened up facilities in this region.
We can also see cranes in the air, as Shire Human Genetic Therapies builds out a campus in Lexington that will host more than 750 jobs, and as Cubist expands just down the road from there. We also can rub elbows daily with many of the investment firms that are critical to the growth of life sciences companies here in the commonwealth and also have chosen to locate their offices along Winter Street.
North of here we have a major group of well-established life sciences companies such as Smith and Nephew, Eisai, and Pfizer, as well as dozens of growing smaller companies, such as InfraredX in Burlington.
Further south in Canton we have Organogenesis, one of the world’s leading companies in the field of regenerative medicine, building out a campus that will add 185 jobs.
Route 495 Corridor
The next ring falls along the Route 495 belt, and is centered in Worcester, where city leaders have developed a strong life sciences infrastructure through strategic planning and investment.
This region also encompasses MetroWest, where Genzyme is building a major new bio-manufacturing facility in Framingham that will employ more than 300 people.
Further north, in the Merrimack Valley region, we have a host of successful medical device firms, such as Lightlab Imaging in Westford, which is expanding its in-house manufacturing capacity, and NxStage Medical in Lawrence, which had the second- strongest stock performance of any company in Massachusetts this past year.
Further South we have global companies such as Covidien in Mansfield, and DePuy in Raynham.
The next regions poised for rapid growth in the life sciences are western Massachusetts and the South Coast. This past August, I participated in the grand opening of a new genomics center at Nuclear Biotechnologies in Pittsfield. The next phase of their construction will include a new manufacturing facility.
In late January, Smith College will be hosting a forum focused on the development of a strategic plan for cluster development in western Massachusetts. In early February, Mayor Scott Lang of New Bedford will be hosting a similar forum focused on growth in that region of the state, which is already home to great companies, such as NuOrtho Surgical in Fall River and Morgan Advanced Ceramics in New Bedford.
Much of this growth is occurring with financial support from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. We are the agency charged with implementing Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, and we are supporting this growth through infrastructure development, tax incentives, working capital for early-stage companies, grant support for research and faculty recruitment at our academic institutions and investments in workforce development.
Our state faces stiff competition for these jobs, both domestically from states like North Carolina and California, and internationally from countries like China and India. Through continued investment, including full implementation of the Life Sciences Initiative, we can ensure that our life sciences sectors continue to thrive throughout the Commonwealth.
Susan Windham-Bannister is president and chief executive officer of The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, www.masslifesciences.com.
