Supporting Businesses in Boston in 2011

Jan 19, 2012

• The Economic Development team created and retained over 4,600 jobs in nearly 100 companies in the industries of life science, green technology, industrial manufacturing, creative economy, and retail.

• In June in the Innovation District, the largest privately funded construction site in the nation broke ground.  The site will serve as Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ new headquarters.  The $800 million project will create 1,200 construction jobs.  Nearly 1,800 employees are expected to work in the headquarters, and 500 more jobs will be added.

• NaviNet, a healthcare IT company with nearly 300 employees, relocated from Cambridge to Boston’s Leather District.  The BRA supported NaviNet with site assistance and promoted its groundbreaking in March.

• The Mayor and the BRA announced the opening of Pfizer’s Center for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area that will serve as Pfizer’s CTI world headquarters.  CTI is a network of partnerships between Pfizer and Academic Medical Centers (AMC) across the country that aims to accelerate and transform drug discovery and development.  The Center opened in December with 50 employees.

• Ten life science and clean tech start-ups set up shop in the Innovation District and across the city creating over 50 jobs and new innovations.

• Greentown Labs and Space with a Soul, both in the Innovation District, joined a growing number of shared work spaces in support of the startup business community across Boston.  Greentown Labs opened in May marking the city’s first clean tech incubator; nearly a dozen startups are incubating.  Space with a Soul also opened in May as a shared work space for non profits; in less than a year it has reached capacity.  In 2012, the 50,000 SF Fraunhofer Building Technology Showcase will open in Channel Center, and with it, 20,000 SF of cleantech incubator space.

• The BRA and the Mayor’s office worked together to place Headquarters Boston, a new co-working space for creative industry companies in the Innovation District.  The co-working space will be anchored by Geekhouse Bikes.

• The Economic Development team has worked to keep many MassChallenge companies in the Innovation District.  Three years ago, the Boston Local Development Corporation (BLDC) helped give Artaic its start with a $50,000  loan and made the Bronstein Center its home.  Artaic graduated from the 2011 MassChallenge competition as a Gold Prize Winner and continues to create custom tile mosaics using robots and computers in the Innovation District.

• The BLDC, a non-profit affiliated with the BRA that supports businesses in or relocating to Boston, closed on $320,000 of financial assistance for Blue Nile restaurant in Jamaica Plain, ReebokCrossfit in Back Bay, and Seafood Specialties in South Boston creating and retaining nearly 30 jobs.

• Boston’s burgeoning video game development industry joins this year’s growing number of mobile app companies.  This year, Disruptive Apps and its latest application, iJukebox, moved into the Innovation District’s Space with a Soul, and SeeWhy.com set up shop on Milk Street.  At least five other mobile app companies have moved into the Innovation District this year. The mobile app startup community is supported by events like Mobile Monday and Mass Tech Collaborative.

• A growing cluster of industrial business is redesigning its manufacturing process in an innovative way, namely, Custom Metal Craft, Maguire Engineering, Intralinks, Peninsula of Boston, and DePiro Construction, all companies which have moved to or expanded their operations in the past year.

• The popular handcrafted beverage industry continues to develop in Boston.  Grand Ten Distilling has begun operating in South Boston’s Andrew Square and will open to the public in early 2012.  Accommodating the popularity of handcrafted beer, Harpoon Brewery plans to double the space of its visitor center, following approval by the BRA Board.  Harpoon Brewery expects 60,000 visitors in 2012.  The City and the Commonwealth worked together to encourage distilleries to brew with local grains from Massachusetts.

• Boston's newest restaurant hotspot, Liberty Wharf, opened to incredible success on Boston’s waterfront.  Del Frisco’s Steak House, Jerry Remy’s, the flagship Legal Harborside, and Temazcal Tequila Cantina make Liberty Wharf home.  GQ named Legal Harborside one of the best new restaurants in the U.S.; it also happens to be Boston’s largest restaurant.

• Leading the mix of new retail in Boston’s famous shopping district, Back Bay, Restoration Hardware signed a lease at the former Louis Boston site at 234 Berkeley Street and will open with a new showroom concept in 2012.