Worcester Business Journal

20 Worcester Business Journal • February 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Business leaders rely on us for local business news. Subscribe today to receive bi-weekly issues in print and digital plus full online access! Smart, Engaging, Insightful. SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: www.wbjournal.com/getmywbj OR CALL: 845-267-3008 marc@marcserraproductions.com 508-341-4710 www.marcserraproductions.com www.youtube.com/MarcSerraProductions • Corporate Video • Corporate Profiles • Product Demo Reels • Local Commercials • Video Resumes • Insurance Videos • Real Estate Videos • General Photography Marc Serra Productions Take your company's message to new heights… Tell your story with a custom video! Manufacturers helping to create statewide incubator Extension Partnership based in Worcester and Somerville startup incu- bator Greentown Labs. The Manufacturing Initiative, as it is called, was formed with the goal of connecting clean tech hardware startups housed at Greentown with manufacturers across the state while supporting both groups. So far, they've worked with 33 startups and 86 Massachusetts manufacturers, resulting in 16 contracts for work. The ultimate goal of the program is to make sure that products invented in Massachusetts get manufactured here, said Peter Russo, program manager for growth and innovation at MassMEP. "We believe that if you create in Massachusetts, you should be able to manufacture in Massachusetts," Russo said. "The big 'what' in this is – what can we do to connect these two groups and what are the issues that connect these two groups." Correcting misunderstandings Micaelah Morrill, the initiative's pro- gram manager, said the partnership came out of the need to connect and then support startups and manufactur- ers. She had a lot of conversations with startups that thought they needed to connect with a manufacturer but didn't know how. Many of them, Morrill said, didn't actually know what they needed. "A startup would come in and say, 'I just need a contact for someone in mold- ing, or I need a contact for sheet metal fabricator,' and I would say, 'Okay, why do you think you need that?'" she said. "There's a really large difference between building one prototype in the lab and then building something for replicability for manufacturing." Morrill decided to issue a survey for manufacturers and one for startups to see what the needs of both groups were and what their perceptions were. What she found was there was a gap in the two industries' understandings of each other. For example, in many cases, manufac- turing a product in Massachusetts hadn't even occurred to some startups. "We have people who are graduating from universities in Boston, but they may not be familiar with the rest of the state," she said. "I want them thinking about Worcester, Springfield and North Adams before they think of China." Greentown partnered with MassMEP, and together they were awarded a $267,500 MassDevelopment grant. They also received a $50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Morrill said they are in the process of applying for more grants from the state, private sponsors and foundations. Startup energy, established resources About 10 Central Massachusetts man- ufacturers were involved with the col- laboration in various capacities – every- thing from participating in the survey to working directly with startups to solve problems, according to the initiative. When he visited Greentown, Joe Antocci – president of Leominster-based Antocci Engineering – was in absolute awe of its structure. "I was just blown away from the ener- gy in the place. It was really fun to go down and see what everybody was doing," Antocci said. Being around new, budding compa- nies is exciting, he said. Craig Bovaird, president of Reliance Engineering in Leominster, agreed. Reliance, a custom molding company, regularly works with startups in the Greater Boston area outside of the initia- tive, but what is great about Greentown is it provides startups with the resources to take their ideas to the next level. Reliance has quoted a few different Greentown startups on potential oppor- tunities, and while they haven't made any official deals, Bovaird said he expects his company will in the future. "The whole idea is to generate the opportunity – to let them know that we're here, and they're there," he said. Since he started holding office hours at Greentown, Russo said out of the 122 connections between startups and resources he recommended, 16 of them have resulted in contracts. He said he expects that number to grow. "The real value here is we started a movement," he said. The program has received a lot of nationwide attention. Morrill said she has been approached by incubators across the country about creating simi- lar partnerships. Here in Massachusetts, she hopes to eventually have more offic- es for the initiative across the state. "The demand for this program is really exciting," she said. n >> Continued from Page 1 Greentown Labs in Somerville incubates startups and helps them connect with established Massachusetts manufacturers.

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