Worcester Business Journal

36 Worcester Business Journal | December 23, 2024 | wbjournal.com Industrial Continued from page 35 based real estate services firm Gallagher & Mohan. In addition to medical-related innovations, life science companies like LoopCO2 have been putting more focus on other bio-derived materials, which addresses global issues, including cleaner fuels and agricultural-focused products. While the industry's recovery won't be uniform across the country's various hubs, Central Mas- sachusetts is in a good position to take advantage of domestic biomanufacturing opportunities, said Meyers of Colliers. "If you're looking at some of the biomanu- facturing opportunities that's going to be the exclusive domain of areas where you have the land, where you have those pad-ready sites, and the ability to actually accommodate that de- mand," Meyers said. "The structural location of those places still in reasonable proximity to the research that may be taking place in Boston is still very much a benefit." e biomanufacturing angle here in Central Massachusetts is already playing out. e Massa- chusetts Biotechnology Council's 2024 Industry Snapshot showed Worcester County as the only county in the state where biomanufacturing em- ployment grew between 2022 and 2023. While beating Boston in that regard is good news, Weaver said the region must realize it's competing against a much wider playing field for future biomanufacturing jobs. "is is really Worcester against the world," he said. "We are competing on a global stage against other countries and states that are trying to get into this biomanufacturing market. So we as a region and community need to come together and put as competitive of a package together as we can, so that when a company is looking at North Carolina or Pennsylvania or any of our competing geographies, they look at Worcester and they say, 'Wow, that's the place you want to be.'" Despite the global slowdown, Weaver said the region's affordability and access to talent still makes it a top place for firms to locate when activ- ity picks back up. "We're focused on preparing the cities in the region, so that when this next cycle does pick up, we are as ready as we can be to really launch and take off," he said. The life science slowdown has impacted development around Worcester's Polar Park stadium, as the parcel containing the planned biotech-focused Left Field Building remains idle. W PHOTO | ERIC CASEY

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