Central MA Lagging in Hot Job Creation Area: Clean Energy

Thursday, October 02, 2014
Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Clean energy jobs are one of the hottest growing sectors in Massachusetts but according to a new report, Central Massachusetts may be lagging behind the rest of the state.

The Clean Energy Industry Report – issued by Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center – reported that while other regions of Massachusetts grew by anywhere between eight and 22-percent in regards to clean energy jobs, Central Massachusetts stalled, reporting a no increase.

“Central Massachusetts was the only region that did not experience employment growth, while neighboring Southeastern Massachusetts grew by 22%,” concluded the report. “There are no obvious reasons for this discrepancy from the employer data collected for this report, so additional conversations with Central Massachusetts clean energy employers would be helpful in determining whether there are any specific obstacles to growth in the region.”

Statewide, clean energy jobs grew by double digits for the third straight year. Employers throughout the state expect to add another 11,700 jobs within the next year – a 13.3-percent expected growth rate – and the Massachusetts clean energy industry as a whole is expected to exceed 6,000 employers and 100,000 workers by early 2015.

Central MA at a Glance

Central Massachusetts currently has 15,432 employed clean energy workers and 923 clean energy firms, ranking the region second to last in Massachusetts. The majority of the clean energy jobs are manufacturing (29.8-percent) and installation (43.6-percent).

According to Jeremy McDiarmid, Senior Director for Innovation and Industry Support at Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the region is an area that the center is currently paying a lot of attention to, in an attempt to get to the bottom of the lack of increase in jobs.

McDiarmid is disappointed, but says that overall he is not concerned. While the numbers of the latest report isn’t great news for Central Massachusetts, there certainly are a lot of good indicators in regards to Central Massachusetts’ clean energy industry.

“I think that we have to keep in mind that this is just one year,” said McDiarmid. “It is certainly disappointing that we haven’t seen an increase, but there is still a good foundation in the area. There is still a vibrant clean energy sector in Central Massachusetts; this is something that we will continue to pay attention to.”

Looking to the Future

While this year’s numbers for Central Massachusetts are less than ideal, there is a sense of optimism that the region will rebound for the next year.

According to McDiarmid, the employers that he has spoken to are bullish in saying that there will be an increase of jobs next year. Additionally, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center recently announced a $125,000 grant to the Institute for Environmental Sustainability in Worcester, an incubation center for clean energy jobs.

“IES is one of the organizations that is going to continue to pay dividends for Worcester and the region as they continue to push sustainability and grow our local talent,” said Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty. “Incubator space, like the one this grant will fund, will allow young companies to get a foothold here in Worcester, and allow them the space and time to accomplish their goals.”

  • BuzzLanes

    Buzz Lanes started out as a small idea for a Business Model Competition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Success there led to the semifinalist round at Harvard, and a new business that aims to accelerate the careers of talented musicians that don’t have big marketing campaign resources.

    “As graduates of WPI’s School of Business, and with several years of experience in the entertainment world, we decided to push forward and make Buzz Lanes a reality,” said Gonazlo Cruz Blanco, the man behind Buzz Lanes.

    A native of Spain, Blanco's passion for music and business led to the creation of this monthly subscription music platform. One of the bands he’s promoting right now is Heffay, a Worcester Hip Hop band.

    “It’s a win-win situation: musicians grow their fan base and connect with new fans, and the fans will always have the opportunity to find new music they haven’t heard before.”

    The company's online Beta version launches April 4, 2014

     

  • Salespod (Repsly)

    Salespod makes mobile/cloud software for organizations to manage field teams and the data that they collect.

    “We currently have 2200 users in 31 countries, and are growing 10 to 15 percent per month. We are getting ready to launch a major marketing initiative and expect to grow to over 10,000 users this year,” said Mat Brogie, Salespod, Inc. COO.

    “The software runs on Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, and there is a web based management console that managers use to see where and when field reps perform their activities, and to analyze the data these field reps generate.”

    Salespod has a research and development office in Zagreb, Croatia, and has established the Worcester office to launch its US presence. The company started in Worcester last year with only 800 users.

    “There is a growing culture entrepreneurism in the city, and the physical changes in town add to the energy that is building … not to mention the economics are extremely friendly for a start-up trying to maximize the use of cash.”

    Salespod announced in March that they would be making a name/logo change to Repsly.

     

  • Incite Advisors, Inc

    Incite Advisors, Inc. provides Web application development services for applications in the healthcare and life sciences.

    “We are focused on data driven applications and visualizing big data. Our largest client has hired us to develop a web/mobile application that allows doctors to capture patient diagnostic information in the natural course of their work,” said Incite founder and President Ronald Ranauro.

    “The application will allow for rapid updates as medical knowledge advances. The idea is that by using the computer care teams can more easily coordinate services. We are also developing a web application for visualizing and searching big picture trends in clinical trials. In support of our work, we have developed an open source software toolkit called BoxspringJS.”

    Ranauro grew up in Central Massachusetts and graduated from WPI. He said his company is reaching out to the student population to offer training and real world experience on paid customer projects.

     

  • Technocopia

    Technocopia is a non-profit (tax-exempt status pending) geared towards creating open-source technologies that will benefit the whole world. As part of this mission they are opening a “hackerspace” in Worcester, which will serve as a home-base for their research and development of these technologies, as well as a common collaborative space for anyone in Central Massachusetts to make their own projects into reality.

    Their hackerspaces feature a lounge, kitchen, conference space and computer stations. Technocopia intends to support the development of open-source technology that will allow any individual, family, or community to sustainably and independently satisfy their own humanitarian needs. These needs are defined loosely as things such as nutritious food, clean water, shelter, electricity, medicine, and free access to knowledge (the internet).

     

  • Mass Biomedical

    Self-described as “World class incubators for world class science,” Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) is dedicated to job creation and innovative healthcare throughout Massachusetts by promoting the growth of start-up biomedical companies. MBI is committed to collaborating with the academic, business and government communities to promote Massachusetts as the world leader in the health sciences industry.

    Kevin O’Sullivan is the President & CEO of MBI, located on Prescott Street. O’Sullivan describes the company as a private, independent economic development organization that serves as a catalyst for life science and healthcare innovation.

    “We help start biomedical companies and create jobs within the Biotechnology, Medical Device, Informatics, and Biomanufacturing industry by providing secure, clean bench and sink surface, staff trained and fully licensed laboratory space for usage by ‘seed stage’ companies. Building and maintaining collaborative affiliations and partnerships are essential to our success.”

     

  • MassDiGI

    What would a tech company list be without a little fun? While neighboring Rhode Island smarts over Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios disaster, MassDiGI is pushing academic cooperation, entrepreneurship and economic development across the Massachusetts digital and video games ecosystem.

    MassDiGI is a US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center. Since starting up, MassDiGI has launched several initiatives that support entrepreneurship and strengthen the talent pipeline between higher education and the game industry.

    Timothy Loew, Executive Director of MassDiGI, formerly held senior positions in business, development and academic planning at Becker College.

     

  • Compex Software

    Jonathan Vo, Principal and Founder of Compex Software, is another Worcester Polytechnic Institute grad succeeding in the WPI neighborhood.

    Vo’s software company has successfully deployed many of its software applications at hundreds of specialized operations throughout the US. Like others on this list, Compex Software came about as result of a student project. Vo did so well that he was recommended to an independent company and he’s never looked back.

    Compex Software designs, develops and implements integrated business management software solutions to help small- and medium- sized businesses manage their operations. This includes manufacturing, inventory tracking, job costing, quality control, and accounting.

     

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