STAT+: Almost No venture capital funding goes to women. Can a pitchfest bring parity to biotech?
By Kate Sheridan 11/29/18
In many ways, the pitch night in Kendall Square on Wednesday was business as usual. Founders presented their young biopharma and medical device companies to investors, promising they could someday take away people’s pain, capture markets — even save lives. Read more…
October 24, 2018
MassLive: HCC’s readies 21st century workforce with $4.55M Center for Life Sciences
HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College officially opened the $4.55 million Center for Life Science Tuesday. The center features a cleanroom training facility, a first for a Massachusetts Community College. A $3.8 million Massachusetts Life Sciences Center grant and $750,000 from HCC Foundation’s Building Healthy Communities Campaign funded the center located in the Marieb Building. Read more
October 22, 2018
Boston Globe OpEd: We need to train more women and minority students for careers in STEM
By Karyn Polito, Joseph P. Kennedy III and Jeffrey Leiden
Despite an abundance of jobs in science, technology, engineering and math, just 1 in 6 high school seniors nationwide is interested in studying STEM in college. For Massachusetts — which has the most technology jobs per capita in the country — this creates both economic and societal challenges. Read more…
September 26, 2018
Ground Broken For Berkshire Innovation Center
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Shawna Axenroth and her daughter go hiking in the scenic Berkshire Hills and talk about the environment. They run science experiments in their kitchen. And they are both looking to pursue scientific careers.
Axenroth is at Berkshire Community College and her daughter is just starting the first year of high school. They both want to live and work fruitful careers in the science field in their hometown.
But the way it has been going in the region, there hasn’t been much reason to be optimistic about that prospect. The population has been declining, particularly with the younger generation, and educational attainment and incomes have been trailing. The general feeling for years has been that one has to leave the area to find a successful career.
But Axenroth now has a little bit of hope. On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker headlined the groundbreaking of the Berkshire Innovation Center — a $13.7 million project eyed to be the key connection between science education and science jobs in the area. It’s considered an important piece of growing the area’s life sciences and advanced manufacturing fields.
Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for Berkshires Life Sciences Innovation Hub
PITTSFIELD, MA – Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito joined state and local officials to break ground on the $13.7 million Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC), which will catalyze and accelerate innovation and growth of new and existing companies that will spur economic growth and job creation in Western Massachusetts.
MA Governor Charlie Baker Attends Berkshire Innovation Center Groundbreaking
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker stopped by Pittsfield Tuesday for the groundbreaking of a long-awaited project.
After a decade of planning, fundraising, and networking, the Berkshire Innovation Center broke ground at the William Stanley Business Park on the former campus of General Electric in the heart of Pittsfield. The Republican described the center as a think tank, accelerator, incubator, place where smart people go to trade big ideas with people who have been there and done that and find investors and other sponsors to do really great things.” Making a rare visit to the Berkshires, Baker was joined by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and a host of local community leaders. Plans are for the almost $14 million to open in late 2019.
State, county dig in, break ground for Berkshire Innovation Center
PITTSFIELD — Another chapter in the Berkshire Innovation Center’s long history was completed Tuesday when local and state officials gathered at the William Stanley Business Park to officially break ground for the $13.8 million workforce development center’s construction. Continue reading “State, county dig in, break ground for Berkshire Innovation Center” »
August 21, 2018
Collecting data while collecting a paycheck
LOWELL — On a stifling August day, 18-year-old Sophia Manukian finds refuge from the heat in a UMass Lowell chemistry lab.
She’s there to finish up some problems on her laptop: statistical analysis of the speed at which a protein refolds, she says. But this isn’t a chemistry class; Manukian is conducting research on a muscle protein called Titin under the direction of associate chemistry Professor Matthew Gage, and she’s getting paid for it. Continue reading “Collecting data while collecting a paycheck” »
August 9, 2018
Lever Secures New State & Private Sector Funding
Challenge Programs Will Award $150,000 to Manufacturing and Health Startups
North Adams, Mass. — During an event today at Greylock WORKS, Berkshire County startup incubator Lever, Inc. announced that it secured $450,000 in new funding and launched two new challenge programs which aim to boost entrepreneurs and innovative startups in the region. The new programs will award a total of $150,000 in seed grants for manufacturing and health startups in the Berkshire region over the next three years, awarding six $25,000 grants to startups that participate in Lever’s new Challenge programs. The aim of these programs will be to foster regional entrepreneurship, attract entrepreneurs from outside the region to start companies in Berkshire County, and expand Lever’s impact as it builds an entrepreneurial ecosystem to foster economic and job growth throughout the Berkshires.
Business and community leaders from across the Berkshires were joined at the announcement by Travis McCready, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), Pat Larkin, Director of the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), North Adams Mayor Tom Bernard, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer, State Senator Adam Hinds, and State Representative John Barrett.
The new funding for Lever will come from a mix of state, private, and non-profit sources from both inside and outside Berkshire County. McCready and Larkin announced that the MLSC and MassTech have awarded Lever two grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that will total up to $300,000 over three years, including up to $225,000 from the MLSC ($75,000/year) and $75,000 from MassTech ($25,000/year).
MassTech’s funding is matched by both Berkshire Bank and Williams College, following MassTech’s model for corporate and academic co-funding. The Commonwealth’s support for Lever will help build on the MLSC’s $12 million investment in the Berkshire Innovation Center in Pittsfield, as the Lever Challenges will help spur the pipeline of startups to the Center.
“Our innovation economy leads the nation, and programs that spur entrepreneurial ventures are essential to our continued economic growth,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. “The Baker-Polito Administration has made substantial investments in the Berkshires, and across the Commonwealth, to ensure Massachusetts continues to be the top place to start and grow a business.”
“We’re pleased to support these new initiatives to embolden entrepreneurship and innovation in the areas of manufacturing and health,” said MLSC President & CEO Travis McCready. “This opportunity exemplifies two pillars of our strong ecosystem: supporting the growth and development of the life sciences throughout Massachusetts and leveraging strong public/private partnerships to grow the Massachusetts economy.”
“MassTech is excited to partner with these great local organizations to invest in Lever and to create new opportunities for innovative businesses to grow in this region,” stated MassTech’s Pat Larkin. “As a life-long resident of the Berkshires, I have seen the challenges faced by startups. By building more connections through events and startup challenges, Lever can help create a true community of entrepreneurs that will help these businesses to expand their offerings, hire more workers, and drive increased investment throughout the region.”
“This multi-institutional commitment signals broad support for Lever and its mission to lift the regional economy by fostering growth companies here in Berkshire County,” stated Jeffrey Thomas, Lever’s Executive Director.
Lever will begin work immediately to deploy this new funding. On January 24, 2019, Lever will award $25,000 in seed funding to the winner of the Berkshire Manufacturing Innovation Challenge (BMIC). A panel of expert judges will decide which startup among four finalists presents the most scalable and investable manufacturing business model with applications in the life sciences. Lever is accepting applications for its first annual BMIC through October 7.
“We have a long experience with this challenge format, both on regional college campuses and with programs such as the North Adams Arts Enterprise Challenge,” said Brent Filson, Lever’s Director of Programs and Operations and lead organizer of the BMIC. “We’re confident that the BMIC will attract some of the brightest entrepreneurs to launch their innovative companies here.”
Organizations interested in sponsoring Lever’s efforts or participating in the Challenge can contact Brent Filson at Lever (bfilson@lever.org) or you can find more information about the BMIC online at: http://leverinc.org/bmic/
August 8, 2018
Travis McCready – “Possible”
In collaboration with MassBio, MLSC president & CEO Travis McCready gave a speech on the value of nourishing talent in students of all ages and backgrounds.
July 5, 2018
Boston Globe EDITORIAL: Life Sciences 2.0 stokes Mass. competitiveness
Life Sciences 2.0 stokes Mass. competitiveness
JULY 05, 2018
How do you nurture the Commonwealth’s thriving life sciences sector? It takes more than a village — it takes an ecosystem. At least, that’s how Travis McCready, the head of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, characterizes the heady mix of brilliant minds, transformative ideas, thriving academic centers, and risk-taking startups that are building the region’s biotech future.There’s another key ingredient, however: the government partnerships needed to help fuel that growth. That’s why it’s noteworthy that Governor Baker overcame his initial skepticism and signed a bill, known as the Life Sciences Initiative 2.0, that commits up to $623 million in bond authorizations and tax credits over the next five years.
Baker-Polito Administration Signs Life Sciences Initiative
PRESS RELEASE
Invests $473 million in capital authorization, extends and expands job-creating state tax credit to $150 million over five years
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
6/15/2018
BOSTON — Today, Governor Charlie Baker signed An Act providing continued investment in the life sciences industry in the Commonwealth to invest up to $623 million in bond authorization and tax credits over five years in education, research and development, and workforce training. This legislation will serve to reinforce the Baker-Polito Administration’s commitment to leadership in the life sciences sector. The funding will continue to be managed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), which is co-chaired by Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash.
BOSTON, June 7, 2018 – Today, Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), a global biopharmaceutical group, announced it will establish its North American headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The announcement was made at the 2018 BIO International Convention in Boston with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), an economic development investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts. Continue reading “Global Biopharmaceutical Company, Ipsen Announces New Headquarters for North America will be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts” »
LOWELL — On a stifling August day, 18-year-old Sophia Manukian finds refuge from the heat in a UMass Lowell chemistry lab.
