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August 25, 2014

Businesses say key elements are in place for Framingham to draw more tech companies

PHOTO/EMILY MICUCCI The Framingham Technology Park is the site of recent expansions and new arrivals in the technology sector. Officials from various Framingham companies say a clustering effect is underway, making Framingham a prime place to locate and grow.

Move over, Cambridge. If recent expansions and arrivals are any indication, Framingham might be a new mecca for technology companies.

Susan Herzberg, CEO of Boston Heart Diagnostics, said town policies on permitting have changed during her four years with the company, a span in which the company has negotiated a few different leases. Coupled with Framingham’s natural attributes, she thinks the more business-friendly approach makes the town a true destination for tech firms.

Herzberg described herself as “very bullish on the area.”

“I think we’re a great alternative to the traffic and cost of downtown Boston or Cambridge. There are wonderful, livable communities in MetroWest and good schools, so it’s great for young families,” Herzberg said.

Boston Heart, which develops testing products to diagnose cardiovascular disease, first chose Framingham because of the work it did with the Framingham Heart Study when it was still a clinical-stage company. In the world of cardiovascular medicine, the name “Framingham” has meaning beyond the town, Herzberg said.

Located on Crossing Boulevard off Route 9, Boston Heart continues to expand its workforce with the help of incentives from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and will reach 400 employees by the end of the year.

It’s clear that the town is a good place to be from a practical standpoint, too. Many of the companies that supply equipment for Boston Heart’s laboratory work are located in close proximity, which is critical for a lab that runs seven days a week and deals with perishable human samples.

“We really can’t have down time,” Herzberg said.

Defining a cluster

Boston Heart’s reliance on other companies for supplies is one element found in successful industry clusters, which are like economy ecosystems that offer local businesses the products and services they need to operate, said Pat Larkin, director of the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). Other important elements are access to venture capital, talent and support systems, adequate infrastructure, and strong regional economic leadership.

“That’s when you start to see real clustering impacts,” Larkin said.

Determining whether the area contains a true tech cluster, or is just home to a strong tech sector, is a bit subjective, but Larkin believes Framingham and the MetroWest and the broader Interstate 495 regions enjoy most of the key elements.

Applause CFO takes notes from big-name neighbors

Diversity is also important, according to Chris Malone, chief financial offer at Applause, a Framingham mobile software testing company formerly known as uTest.

A young tech company, Applause made Framingham its home last fall when it moved its headquarters from Southborough to two stories at the Framingham Technology Park on Pennsylvania Avenue. The usual factors, like access to talent and the right space, made Framingham a prime locale, but Malone also appreciates being part of a mix of established companies and startups.

“When you look at our neighbors and see Genzyme, Bose, even EMC down the road (in Hopkinton), those are legitimate brands that have been in the market for a long time,” Malone said. “Psychologically, that’s very important.”

Applause recently expanded overseas when it acquired a German company, establishing a European headquarters there. With a trove of successful companies nearby, Malone said Framingham is a perfect place to anchor Applause as it continues to expand its global reach.

Local amenities like hotels and restaurants are necessary for doing business, but perhaps most important is the quality of the workforce in MetroWest, Malone said.

“It certainly feels like a technology cluster,” Malone said.

Big business look to grow, too

With commercial real estate rates far lower than those found in Greater Boston, cost is certainly a factor for new companies that settle in Framingham and other MetroWest towns. But established businesses are still growing their footprints here, too.

Genzyme, for example, opened a six-story biologics manufacturing facility on New York Avenue in October 2012, adjacent to the Cambridge company’s new manufacturing site, a $330-million project under construction. And nearby Bose Corp. is rumored to be considering expansion of its Mountain Road campus on nearby parcels on Pennsylvania Avenue. Joanne Berthiaume, a spokeswoman for Bose, declined to comment on expansion plans.

Framingham Town Manager Robert Halpin said the owner of the parcels, The Congress Group of Boston, has been working with the Planning Board to redevelop the parcels, though Halpin has only heard speculation as to which companies might be interested.


 

A shared workforce

Whatever growth potential the Framingham Technology Park has, it’s already part of a major economic engine, said Arthur Robert, the town’s director of community and economic development. Paired with the 9/90 Corporate Center, which is home to Staples Inc. among other companies just across Route 9, Robert said the office parks generate 9,000 jobs, about 20 percent of the town’s 45,000 jobs.

“I don’t think there are many other places that concentrate so many jobs in such a small place,” said Robert, who worked in various state economic development positions before taking his current job.

Still, Robert prefers to think about cluster development on a regional level, saying it’s not limited to one area of town, or one community. Companies that are part of a cluster are generally interested in a “broader set of resources available in the region.”

And, like others, Robert thinks the qualifications of the workforce are a major asset to companies. Robert said as employees of area companies develop their careers and change jobs, they gather specialized training, which is valuable to other local employers.

“We have TJX to the east, BJ’s in Westborough … all of which help provide that combination of industry knowledge and technical skills embedded in a very strong labor pool that they’re ultimately sharing,” Robert said.

Marlborough's new coup

Not to be forgotten is Marlborough, which has made huge strides recently in attracting life sciences. Earlier this month, General Electric announced it would locate its life sciences division in the city’s Marlborough Hills office park (formerly Forest Park). That news follows a series of positive business news for the city: GE joins Quest Diagnostics, the medical testing company, at the former Hewlett-Packard campus. And medical device giant Boston Scientific recently moved west from Natick to Marlborough, opening its new global headquarters near the intersection of interstates 290 and 495.

Attracting a new generation

Despite the recent wins, there’s room for improvement. In MetroWest, planners are targeting the commute. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council has issued a set of transportation improvement recommendations to simplify the commute for people working in Framingham’s office parks along Route 9, and the town is considering how it might pursue them.

Robert said many stakeholders would like to see easier access from the parks to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Encouraging the development of restaurants and other consumer services closer to the office parks is also an important goal, as is the development of nearby housing, which Robert said is attractive to young workers who would rather not own cars.

“Our challenge is to attract and retain a new generation,” Robert said.

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