Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

Dec. 25, 2023
Thumbnail
Economic Forecast 2024

EcoForecast reader survey: Finally, some optimism

Brad Kane

Looking into 2024, it appears more Central Massachusetts business leaders are feeling positive about the economy than they have in the recent past.

WBJ Web Partners

Today's Poll

Will the life sciences industry play a bigger role in the Central Mass. economy over the next few years?
Poll Description

Life sciences has been the hot industry in Central Massachusetts over the last few years, as the region looks to leverage its proximity to the global Cambridge-Boston innovation hub and cement biomanufacturing and biotech as cornerstone industries of the area economy. Major prospective development projects are underway in Worcester, Devens, and Marlborough, as many Central Massachusetts communities hope to capture an industry expansion. Yet, after significant growth in the early 2020s, the life sciences industry has been in a down cycle over the last couple of years, with Greater Boston companies laying off workers and an overbuilt lab market further slowing any new developments. Data released by the Cambridge-based Massachusetts Biotechnology Council in late August shows Worcester County was the sole Massachusetts region to gain biomanufacturing jobs between 2022 and 2023. Worcester County added 279 new jobs, accounting for a 11.8% jump in growth. In contrast, Norfolk, Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties saw a combined loss of 556 jobs. These industry jobs numbers come as leaders await the outcome of the Massachusetts House-passed $1-billion life sciences reauthorization initiative as it stalls in the Senate.

More Information