Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 7, 2016 | Worcester Business Journal 25 W Patience, persistence led to South Worcester Industrial Park success The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. V oters in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley approved rezoning of nearly 33 acres of land at Devens during three simultaneous town meetings last month that will allow commercial and industrial projects on a 40-acre site. The site had been zoned for resi- dential development but will become the largest parcel of land available for commercial use in the area; and it is highly likely to attract businesses from the life science and technology sectors. Devens, a regional enterprise zone located in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley, was created by the Massachusetts legis- lature in 1993 to spur economic develop- ment in the state's North Central region. According to a 2016 report by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, the 4,400-acre site is home to a thriving economy that includes businesses in advanced manufacturing, pro- fessional scientific and technical services, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing. The site's private busi- nesses, government entities, and nonprofit organizations employ nearly 5,000 people, 80 percent of which are private sector jobs, and contributed roughly $2.5 billion in direct and indirect impact to the Massachusetts economy in 2016. Devens' economic success makes it a model example of how to develop a closed military base. It is also a good example of how smart government regulations and incen- tives can spur job creation and government growth. First, the regional enterprise zone would not have been a resounding success had the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) not been created to manage the development, or if the state had not authorized a one-time $200-million bond bill for environmental cleanup. Second, Devens is overseen by MassDevelopment, the state's quasi-governmental finance and development agen- cy. MassDevelopment collaborates with elected officials and local communities to identify community needs. Last month's rezoning vote in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley is a symbol of the importance of this public-private collabora- tion: After a fairly similar rezoning proposal failed to pass all three towns in 2015, MassDevelopment worked with local town officials to agree that only innovation and tech- nology business uses would be allowed on the rezoned site. This stipulation ensures the prospect of attracting another major biopharmaceutical company to the Nashoba Valley, an industry that has had a positive impact on local communities. Devens already hosts Bristol-Myers Squibb – the drug manufacturer built a biologics and manufacturing facility on 89 acres in 2009 and has devel- oped a partnership with Mount Wachusett Community College to create a campus at Devens so workers are equipped with skills matching the needs of employers. The commonwealth's economy is robust with one of the lowest unemployment rates and highest wages in the nation. The state's talented and highly-skilled young work- force is attracting companies from all over the world. Unfortunately, the state's economic growth is primarily benefitting high earners as under-employment along with high rents, childcare and healthcare costs are leading to rising inequality and an affordable housing crisis. To address these challenges in a way that does not leave any community behind, it is important that state agencies work with elected officials as well as representatives from the public and local businesses to identify workforce needs for local and regional employers as well as make necessary investments in our Gateway and Edge cities. James B. Eldridge is the Democratic state senator out of Marlborough, representing Worcester and Middlesex counties. Devens a model for smart planning O n Oct. 20, Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus made an announcement 22 years in the making. At the groundbreaking for Table Top Pies' newest facility in Worcester, Augustus said the final parcel in the South Worcester Industrial Park (SWIP) had been sold: Worcester developer Chacharone Properties bought the remaining parcel on South Gate Street on spec for $65,000, fully confident it could find a commer- cial tenant for its planned 7,500-square-foot facility. Augustus' announcement capped off decades of work by city officials – including a rotating list of city councillors who took up the mantle of the 11-acre former brownfield site year after year. For much of that time, it felt like the effort was tilting at windmills. Turning the previous metal casting and auto salvage property into a humming indus- trial space rarely had any momentum. The sale of all the city-owned property in the industrial park appeared to happen quickly – the first parcel was sold back in January – and can be largely attributed to the increasing demand for industrial space. But these headlines about new leases on the site belie the decades of patient work that goes into revitalization and the recognition needed to move on the opportunity when it arises. Much like Gardner's development of its Mill Street Corridor, the conversion of Fort Devens into a booming site, and the work the Worcester Business Development Corp. does throughout the city, a lot of planning, preparation and investment is needed before pad-ready sites appear. Resolving ownership disputes, securing funding to put the properties in the right hands for cleanup, a strategy and the plans for potential end use, the actual remediation work, and navigating layers of local, state and federal regulations can be a big lift. The final product produces a press conference and buyer ready to invest to bring the commercial vision to life, but it's the years of setup where most of the thankless work gets done. The downstream payoff from these projects can be enormous. Devens – which was a military base straddling Ayer, Shirley, Lancaster and Harvard until 1996 – was turned into an enterprise zone and has resulted in an attractive list of companies who today host more than 5,000 jobs with an average annual pay of $83,545, according to a UMass report. That job number marks a 55-percent increase from four years ago, and an additional 33 acres was allocated in October for new develop- ment. As Sen. James Eldridge (D-Marlborough) notes in the Viewpoint column this issue, getting one municipal government and the state to work together on anything is typically a heavy lift, so having three towns (Ayer, Shirley and Harvard) come together so cohesively is a wonder to behold. While Worcester has a shovel in the dirt on Table Top Pies new manufacturing plant, and the Devens zone continues to ramp up, Gardner officials are at a much earlier stage of cleaning up the 10-acre Garbose metal recycling site along its Mill Street Corridor. The goal is to team up that parcel with an abutting 10-acre industrial-zoned property to take advantage of their strategic location on Route 68. It has been six years since Gardner acquired the property and about a year since Gardner received $3.2 million in grants from MassWorks, and the grunt work at this site remains ongoing. The road to economic development is littered with detours and pitfalls, and individual projects often outlast the officials who originally started them. It can be difficult to see the forest through the trees of so many issues associated with the revi- talization of blighted properties, and waiting for tenants can feel a lot like waiting for Godot. Yet endeavors like Devens, and SWIP at the early stage of its buildout, show patience and persistence still leads to success. V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L WO R D F R O M T H E W E B BY JAMES B. ELDRIDGE Special to the Worcester Business Journal James B. Eldridge W Comments of the issue "Most healthcare costs are out of line with reality. The health- care process itself is broken, which is another cost driver." - Anonymous comment on the Oct. 19 WBJournal.com story "Prescription drug prices singled out as healthcare cost driver" "Please beware of the 'cheapest' price for energy as these sites can be inaccurate. As almost a decade-long veteran of this indus- try, I urge consumers to check with an energy broker or consultant." - Nate Kessman, on a Nov. 1 WBJournal.com story on a state website for small businesses to shop for competitive electricity suppliers Tweets of the week "Let's figure the best way to ensure safe and legal access while responsibly regulating commerce." -Justin Escher Alpert (@justinalpertesq), Oct. 31, on WBJ's editorial calling for voters to vote against recreational marijuana Facebook feedback "Congratulations Katie on helping to pave the way for female architects and professionals in STEM- related fields." -Victoria Waterman, Oct. 27, on Katie Crockett becoming a WBJ 2016 Outstanding Women in Business award winner W WBJ

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