Worcester-based Chacharone Properties broke ground this month on a new 120,000-square-foot bakery, warehouse and office space for Table Talk Pies at the former Crompton & Knowles complex in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood. Image courtesy of Chacharone Properties
In 2014, the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce released the Worcester Regional Competitiveness Outlook Report, which provided an in-depth analysis of the economy with recommendations on sectors that would provide the greatest opportunities for continued growth.
This report has helped guide Worcester’s Economic Development Coordinating Council (EDCC) which includes the Chamber, city of Worcester, Worcester Business Development Corp. (WBDC) and Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), as well as other regional partners, in our efforts to create jobs. A sustained focus on these growth areas is yielding results that are powering the city and region through the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Some of the recent announcements presented below demonstrate this.
Using federal data, the report identified three general sectors of focus recognizing that sub-sector growth, within or related to these sectors or melding of sectors, would also likely occur. The report also analyzed regional strengths, assets and location. The three sectors of focus were manufacturing, education and health and the professional, scientific and technical sector.
The report recognized that manufacturing, which carried the region for a century, has become smaller and is changing. However, the sector still plays a significant role in our local economy. In 2010, the average area annual manufacturing wage was $55,860. Accordingly, leaders focused on creating pad-ready sites through development of new industrial parks and remediation of brownfield sites to assist with the retention and recruitment of manufacturers. This includes both traditional as well as new types of manufacturing fueled by innovations and research coming out of the local concentration of universities and health care institutions.
Table Talk Pies recently broke ground on a new 135,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in South Worcester next to their new 80,000-square-foot facility that opened several years ago, retaining as well as creating new jobs. This also creates a development opportunity at the site Table Talk is vacating next to Polar Park, the future home of the Worcester Red Sox. Similarly, new pad–ready sites in the region have allowed manufacturers in need of modern facilities, such as Primetals, to stay in Central Massachusetts and preserv local jobs.
Biotech Expands at The Reactory
To accommodate the new types of manufacturing, the EDCC, working with the state and led by the WBDC, broke ground on a new biomanufacturing park known as The Reactory.
The construction of the new Worcester Recovery Center created 46 acres of surplus state property. Located next to AbbVie, UMass Medicine Science Park and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, The Reactory offers new, pad–ready sites.
WuXi Biologics, a Chinese global biomanufacturer broke ground in June on a $60 million facility that will have 150 employees. Just this month, Galaxy Life Sciences announced that they will build a new $50 million facility, also employing 150 people at The Reactory. The area life sciences cluster includes 51 companies such as Mustang Bio, Lake Pharma, Biomere and MBI’s several life science startup locations.
The growth of the professional, scientific, and technical sector is also borne out of the concentration of higher education and health care institutions and has seen significant job growth. WPI’s Gateway Park, which combines academic research with private ventures, along with the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute at Becker College, are tangible examples of this synergy.
Other Sectors Draw Investment
Recruitment efforts have led to major investors in both the housing and commercial office space entering the Worcester market with recent multimillion-dollar acquisitions.
Tim Murray
Benedict Canyon Equities’ $28.8 million acquisition of the 24-story, 206-residential-unit Skymark Tower and Trinity Finacial’s $51 million adaptive reuse of the Worcester County Courthouse to 114 units of mixed income are just two examples on the housing side.
Synergy Investments’ $16.5 million purchase and planned upgrade of the 24-story glass office tower at 446 Main St. and the $125 million mixed-use development by Madison Properties next to Polar Park illustrate growth of office and retail space.
Lastly, the region’s highway and robust rail network and growing airport have increasingly made the area attractive to warehouse, distribution, and logistics companies. By sticking to the game plan, we are seeing results for central Massachusetts.
Timothy P. Murray is president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
