Central Mass. organizations split $50K to grow entrepreneurial ecosystem, with potential for $400K more

Photo | Timothy Doyle Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce headquarters

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By Timothy Doyle

The Innovation Institute at Westborough-based MassTech Collaborative has granted $25,000 each to the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. to develop a strategic plan for a program to help local entrepreneurs.

The awards came from MassTech Collaborative’s Strong Entrepreneur Ecosystems program and may lead to up to $200,000 in implementation funds to each of the Central Massachusetts organizations, according to a Thursday press release from the MassTech Collaborative.

The Worcester chamber has teamed up with Venture Forum, a Worcester nonprofit community of entrepreneurs, for a project called South Worcester County Startup Coalition.

The vision for the project is to develop, attract, and retain high-tech startups through new investments in programming and capital equipment to support founders from underserved populations and within the region’s growing innovation sectors of advanced manufacturing, biotech and biomanufacturing, software design, cybersecurity, robotics, and Internet of Things.

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp.’s Strengthening the North Central MA Entrepreneurial Ecosystem project aims to develop a network of support for entrepreneurs, particularly for startup manufacturers and Latinx communities. The initiative will cover 27 communities in North Central Massachusetts.

The Downtown Northampton Association and Lever, Inc. in North Adams also received $25,000 awards each from the organization.

Formed in 2003, the MassTech Collaborative is a quasi-public economic development agency that strengthens the competitiveness of the tech and innovation economy by driving strategic investments, partnerships, and insights that harness the talent of Massachusetts.