MetroWest495 Biz

14 MetroWest495 Biz | May 2014 10 To wATCH W hile an undergraduate student at Suffolk University, Tim Cummings realized his passion for government and public policy — most notably at the local level. "You can directly see the benefits and impacts of what you do," said Cummings, executive director of the Marlborough Economic Development Corporation. The state-chartered entity, founded in 2006, has been working to revive the city's economy and, most re- cently, establish it as a life science hub. In Sept. 2011, it released a comprehensive master plan, and, earlier this year, proposed substantial zoning changes to spur growth and enliven the downtown area. Cummings noted recent successes: The office space vacancy rate has dropped from roughly 35 to 22 percent over the last year. In 2012, The TJX Cos. Inc., and Quest Diagnostics relocated to campuses that previously sat vacant after the loss of Hewlett-Packard and Fidelity Investments, and the city also serves as the home of Quest Diagnostics and Boston Scientific, among numerous other companies, big and small. Reinforcing its commitment to life sciences, the city was recently named a Platinum BioReady Community by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Not only is Marlborough home to roughly 30 life science companies, it meets a battery of criteria, such as having pre- permitted and identified building and land sites for biotechnology or manufacturing use, according to the council's website. Other highlights: SanDisk is working on a deal on a research and development facility in Marlborough; a Hilton Garden Inn has been proposed; and Boston Biomedical Associates plans to lease space on Crowley Drive, according to recent reports. Equally encouraging is the community support and engagement, Cummings said; many residents have turned out to listen and voice their opinions at a series of forums. Still, there is much to do, Cummings said, also noting the "regional challenge" of transportation. But the community is collectively moving forward to foster growth. "The city council, from the president down to the body and the mayor, are working tirelessly and cooperatively to bring about a city that has been reaping the benefits of their collaboration," he said. n Tim Cummings Executive Director, Marlborough Economic Development Corp. By Taryn PluMB E ntrepreneur Dorian A. Des Lauriers, ProVerde Laboratories' CEO, teamed up with Christopher Hudalla, the company's chief scientific officer, about two years ago to create a green and environmentally friendlier technology to test medicinal marijuana. Des Lauriers — who had started several companies already — was responsible for building the business, as well as finance, marketing and sales. It was incorporated at the end of 2012. Both men spent most of last year developing their technology and took delivery of equip- ment in the fall. The company is building a 16,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art lab facility in Milford, at space formerly occupied by Thermo Fisher Scientific. "We are in the brand-new, bustling medical marijuana industry and we are in the unique position of having some of the coolest science in the world in this space," said Des Lauriers. "We are in the position to be doing testing, which has been mandated by law in Mas- sachusetts, and most states are now even requiring testing for both efficacy and safety." Des Lauriers saw opportunity. And Hudalla, who has a Ph.D. in analyti- cal chemistry, got the new technology up and running for ProVerde. "We are the first laboratory in the world to be applying this [method] to this applications base," said Hudalla. The technology, ultra performance convergence chromatography, was originally developed by Waters Corp. in Milford, explained Des Lauriers. "We use super critical carbon dioxide in our process," said Des Lauriers, "(which uses) 100 to 500 times less toxic solvents com- pared to the prior generations of analytical testing equipment." Although there are some challenges that come with being first out of the gate with technology like this, rewards are rich. "This is changing people's lives dramatically: their family, their friends, their school, their whole life is forever changed by a few drops of this stuff," Des Lauriers said. "It's really exciting to … prove to people scientifically what the compounds are in this product and the benefit that people get from using it properly." n doriAn A. des lAuriers CEo and co-founder, ProVerde laboratories By Meghan guarnieri

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