Manufacturing & Technology Economic Forecast
PHOTO/sam bonacci
Kamal Rashid, the director of WPI's Biomanufacturing Education & Training Center, stands in front of a group receiving training on troubleshooting and root-cause analysis. Investments by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center have helped grow the field in Central Mass.
Manufacturing and technology are strongholds in the Central Massachusetts economy, and business leaders continue to underscore the importance of supporting the sectors, which have significant crossover. State-led efforts to boost workforce preparation and local biomanufacturing, along with ample growth potential in Asia, could continue to drive opportunity for both sectors in the year ahead.
Continued investment in training
Manufacturers have lamented a lack of qualified workers to assume the jobs held by those that are set to retire, and the state has stepped up to support workforce training programs to fill the void. The Baker Administration is funding applications for advanced manufacturing training programs, focusing specifically on the unemployed to prepare them for jobs in the state’s advanced manufacturing cluster.
A push for biomanufacturing
While the life sciences industry in Central Massachusetts may never rival that of Boston and Cambridge, there is opportunity for the sector to grow in the region, particularly in the area of biomanufacturing. Local stakeholders have made the case for the region as a hub for biomanufacturing, and Travis McCready, CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, has said infrastructure and real estate assets in Central Massachusetts make the region ideal for it.
More Asian ventures
China’s economy may be lagging, but local companies, like Mevion Medical Systems of Acton and RXI Pharmaceuticals of Marlborough, continued to announce partnerships and investment deals as well as important milestones in China and other Asian countries this year, and that will likely continue as Asian economies mature and consumerism grows.
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Read more of our Economic Forecast predictions
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