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38 2015 Central Mass By The Numbers • Worcester Business Journal www.wbjournal.com Technology & Energy W e all know that, when Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard, he headed to the other side of the country to grow his empire. Today – while Facebook does have an office in Cambridge – the hot, fun world of social media and mobile apps still clearly has its center of gravity far from the Bay State. The state, including Central Massachusetts, has its own kind of software industry, and it drives a huge part of the area's economy. The local economy gets a boost from big and grow- ing technology companies like Westborough-based medical information firm eClinicalWorks and mathe- matical computing software company MathWorks in Natick, said Tim Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, the local business community is also work- ing hard to support tech startups, like digital game developer Petricore Inc., which is now located at the Innovation Center at the old Telegram & Gazette build- ing on Franklin Street. Worcester has a strong labor force for the tech indus- try thanks to its educational institutions, Murray said, including Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, which is based at Becker College. "That has consistently generated a workforce that feeds into a lot of [companies]," he said. "A lot of the key ingredients are right here." There are nearly 54,000 software developers in Massachusetts, according to state data, and they make more than $100,000 on average. The sector's economic heft goes beyond the workers it employs directly, said Tom Hopcroft, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, which promotes the high tech industry. Technology firms pay for services like marketing and legal help, and their workers spend much of their rela- tively high salaries in the local area. There are also a lot of high tech workers at firms in other economic sectors, Hopcroft said. With every industry from financial services to biotechnology striv- ing to use data and computing power, only about half of high tech workers work in firms focused specifically on information technology. "Technology is sort of this quiet giant that is growing here," Hopcroft said. "It's driving a lot of the economy, powering growth in other sectors." While biotechnology remains the top field for Massachusetts venture investments, the big growth story of the last few years has come from software. Investment in that sector jumped from $393 million in 2010 to more than $1 billion last year. In the first half of 2015 alone, software pulled in $748.7 million in venture capital funds. In Central Massachusetts, two of 2014's largest ven- ture investments went to IT firms. Framingham soft- ware testing firm Applause brought in $43 million in an investment round led by Goldman Sachs. Credorax, a Southborough firm developing technology for payment processing, received $40 million from Columbus Nova Technology Partners and Blumberg Capital. The Technology Leadership Council set a goal in 2010 of adding 100,000 new tech jobs to the economy by 2020. In a recent report, it said 17,650 had been added by 2013. Halfway through the group's timeline, the state hasn't gained half the jobs it hoped for, Hopcroft said, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't on pace to reach the goal, since it takes time to develop the resources to help grow jobs. In fact, the council's report points out that a number of startup accelerators and innovation districts have launched over the past five years. Beyond growing startups and attracting existing companies to the state, Hopcroft said it's crucial to make sure more students are prepared to join the industry. The goal isn't simply serving the needs of the industry. It's also about helping more young people become part of an increasingly crucial aspect of the world. "We will have, in the future, consumers of technolo- gy and creators of technology," he said. "The consumers will be bound by the world the creators make." n By Livia Gershon Special to the Worcester Business Journal High tech: A quiet giant in the Mass. economy QUICK HITS Sources: Mass. Department of Revenue, U.S. Census Bureau, RealtyTrac.com Average annual sal- ary of Massachusetts computer & information systems managers, the best paying tech job in the state: Number of systems software developers in Massachusetts, the most popular tech job: Amount of venture capital investments in biotechnology and software development in 2014: Percent of Massachusetts power plant energy that uses renewable fuels: Renewable energy projects, including biomass, planned in Central Mass.: $143,670 26,920 $2.9B 18% 8,101 Central Mass. 286,818 8,059 Statewide 940,220 34,873 % of Mass. capacity 31% Capacity (kW) No. of projects n Solar photovoltaic Central Mass. 9,130 12 Statewide 107,175 131 % of Mass. capacity 9% Capacity (kW) No. of projects n Wind Renewable energy projects in Central Mass. Central Massachusetts makes up a significant portion of planned solar and landfill gas projects in the state but lags behind with technologies like wind and biomass. Central Mass. 7,400 3 Statewide 42,924 15 % of Mass. capacity 17% Capacity (kW) No. of projects n Landfill gas Central Mass. 8,415 8 Statewide 95,040 44 % of Mass. capacity 9% Capacity (kW) No. of projects n Hydroelectric Central Mass. 26,113 17 Statewide 328,374 49 % of Mass. capacity 8% Capacity (kW) No. of projects n Combined heat & power (CHP) Source: Mass. Department of Energy Resources, Oct. 2015