Th Dearborn Stem School in Boston. According to the author, Nubian Square Ascends and the new Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology campus being built adjacent to it are joining forces to establish the Nubian Ascends Life Science Job Training Center. This job training hub could also anchor an ecosystem for advanced manufacturing, which will run out of BFIT and a co-location facility at the Dearborn STEM high school. (Staff Photo By Patrick Whittemore/Boston Herald
I was excited to learn of Mayor Michelle Wu’s $4.7 million in funding to help Boston’s life science workforce and Governor Maura Healey’s $1 billion Mass Leads Act request to support the life science and climate tech industries. I was especially interested in larger funding rounds for biomanufacturing, early-stage drug and device makers, and increased workforce training and internships to bring more blue-collar workers and students without college degrees into the life science workforce.
Trinh Nguyen, Wu’s Chief of Worker Empowerment, is leading the effort to ensure these are effective public, private partnership that create jobs for those living in the Roxbury and Dorchester area. These are often six-figure jobs that could bring real economic development and wealth creation to the area.
I have been a strong supporter of advanced manufacturing in urban areas for years, even though experts told me it is impossible because Massachusetts is a high-cost manufacturing state and thus not competitive with low-cost manufacturing states. They didn’t understand advanced manufacturing and the price elasticity of biomanufacturing or building robotics and clean-tech products.
I was equally excited when Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy and Wu announced a MassWorks award for Nubian Square Ascends, a $111 million project to build a 200,000 sq. ft. development in Roxbury. Nubian Square Ascends is expected to create or sustain approximately 900 jobs and will include contracting opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses during all phases of construction. My City at Peace and HYM Investment Group proposes to build 700,000 square feet of life science space on Parcel 3 in Roxbury.
This is all good news considering urban manufacturing’s demonstrated impact in other cities across the country. Richard Taylor, the developer of Nubian Ascends once said that you can’t create wealth when everyone is running around with an EBT card. That hit me. Grove Hall is one of the poorest sections of Boston based on census track data. The business mix includes non-profits, storefront churches, bodegas, convenience stores, barber shops, beauty salons, and quick service restaurants. These businesses have not provided a clear path to the middle class for many owners or employees.
Nubian Square Ascends, and the new Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (BFCIT) campus being built adjacent to it are joining forces to establish the Nubian Ascends Life Science Job Training Center, which will house the college’s Biotech Manufacturing Training labs. The Training Center will provide new pathways for economic development in the heart of Boston. This job training hub could also anchor an ecosystem for advanced manufacturing, with a special emphasis on the biotech and clean tech sectors — two of the state’s high-growth areas. The advanced manufacturing program will run out of BFCIT and a co-location facility at the Dearborn STEM high school and could service students attending other high schools in the area or Roxbury Community College. Currently, Boston is the only region in the state that does not have a well-funded, state-supported advanced manufacturing program.
This will change because manufacturing jobs do not require an expensive or extensive post-secondary education. These jobs exist in Boston’s core and provide a clear path to the middle class for those unemployed,…
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