Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | November 13, 2017 | wbjournal.com A century after it opened as a military base, Devens has become a hub of innovation and technology Devens' new life F OC U S I N N O V A T I V E W O R K P L A S C E S BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor T he future was not promising for Fort Devens just over two decades ago when the military base was ordered closed along with others across the country. The property was filled with buildings suddenly of no use, standing on contaminated land. But exactly a century after the mili- tary base opened, Fort Devens has blos- somed into a regional economic hub with more than 6 million square feet of space and more than 5,000 workers. It has drawn distribution and technology companies to a site close to population centers while offering acres of open land. "Devens checked all the boxes," said Paul Sellew, the owner of Little Leaf Farms, a hydroponic grower of leafy greens that moved in last year and is already working to nearly double its space. Fort Devens opened during World War I and served local military opera- tions and training until closing in 1996. The three towns that made up the base – Ayer, Harvard and Shirley – voted to give the site to MassDevelopment, the state's economic development arm, to redevelop it as a business hub once the fort closed and 7,000 jobs were elimi- nated. MassDevelopment controls the Devens site and collects taxes from property owners. "It is the iconic development for MassDevelopment," said Lauren Liss, the agency's president and CEO. An innovation hub From the start, planners had high ambitions for New England's largest for- mer military base. A 1994 plan called for innovation and technology compa- nies to help create 35,000 jobs within four decades. But Devens's success was never a sure thing. Nearly $200 million in state funds have been spent transforming the site, including removing hazardous soil and taking down hundreds of barracks. Devens has overcome the loss of a 400-employee Gillette factory in 2010 and the high-profile closure of the state- backed Evergreen Solar in 2012. One major factor in Devens' success has been a fast permitting process – just 75 days, according to MassDevelopment. Potential businesses don't need to go through a series of municipal boards, said Thatcher Kezer, the senior vice president of Devens operations for MassDevelopment. "There's one single commission that represents all those functions," Kezer said. Multi-million-dollar private investments Devens has built a roster of tenants to make almost any municipality in the area envious. Bristol-Myers Squibb opened in Devens in 2009 as the company's first major facility in Massachusetts after receiving construction permits in just 49 days. The $750-million project was the company's largest capital investment Continued on Page 14 P H O T O S / G R A N T W E L K E R

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