OUR VIEW: Accelerator to usher in the SouthCoast’s innovation economy

Officials are expected to gather in Fall River on Wednesday for a momentous occasion: The groundbreaking for a new $28 million University of Massachusetts Dartmouth bio-manufacturing center.

The facility, called the Massachusetts Accelerator for Bio-manufacturing, is believed to be the first facility of its kind in the United States. The center allows startup companies to conduct research, test and scale-up their products or partner with other startups. The unique nature of the facility is expected to be a big draw to the SouthCoast Life Science and Technology Park at Fall River.

The facility may even draw companies from existing life science hubs in Greater Boston. Of course, rent is far more expensive in the Boston area. The 300-acre bio-park offers easy access from “The Hub” via the new Exit 8B off Route 24, at the Freetown-Fall River line.

At the Fall River facility, land and utilities cost far less than they do in the Boston area. So startup companies — which often have innovative ideas, but limited capital — will be able to rent space for a few weeks at a time to be able to conduct testing at far less expense. Once it’s completed in the fall of 2013, the existence of the facility will not only boost the local economy, it will help startup companies be able to afford to develop innovative new technologies, perhaps breakthrough pharmaceuticals that could save many lives. Looking at it that way, the benefits to humanity could spread beyond the SouthCoast, Massachusetts, and even well beyond the United States.

Under the plan, the 38,000-square-foot testing facility is expected to host three or four companies at a time. Often, there may be just one or two, however. About 15 to 18 companies are expected to rent space in the testing facility annually. That may not seem like much, but the availability of the facility is expected to attract new tenants to the surrounding bio-park. “It helps redefine this region as a great location for bio-manufacturing,” said Paul Vigeant, the assistant chancellor for economic development at UMass Dartmouth.

The aim is to attract the companies to eventually move into the new bio-park. The new facility and the bio-park represent a major investment to spur much-needed economic development in Greater Fall River. Vigeant predicts that the center “will have a significant and transformative affect on our region.” The Accelerator is the anchor tenant of the emerging bio-park. And it should be.

After all, UMass Dartmouth, is staying true to outgoing Chancellor Jean MacCormack commitment and the university’s mission to serve as an “anchor institution.” Under MacCormack’s leadership, UMass Dartmouth has spread well beyond its Dartmouth campus, proving to be a valuable economic development resource in the surrounding cities of Fall River and New Bedford.

Overall, MacCormack said, the university has a $356 million annual economic impact on the region — a number that is certain to grow once the Accelerator and bio-park open. “This center will eventually spin off companies located nearby, multiplying internship and employment opportunities for our students,” MacCormack wrote in a guest opinion featured on the front page of The Herald News Monday.

The Accelerator for Bio-manufacturing was made possible through a variety of funding sources. The Massachusetts Life Science Center, a state agency, provided the largest contribution — $14.6 million. Meanwhile, UMass Dartmouth spent $10 million on the center, with the remaining $3.4 million kicked in by industry contributions.

Officials expected at the groundbreaking include many of the people that made it possible: Gov. Deval Patrick, UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean MacCormack, UMass board of trustees chairman James Karam, state Sen. Michael Rodrigues, state Rep. David Sullivan, Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan, and officials from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the UMass Building Authority and the Greater Fall River Development Corporation.

Fall River has a long, proud history of manufacturing, but industry and economic trends in recent years have not been kind to the city. In a modern twist, bio-manufacturing represents one of the state’s brightest and fastest-growing industries. Fall River is now prepared to adapt to the changing times.

When officials gather on the appropriately named Innovation Way Wednesday at 10 a.m. to mark this “groundbreaking” occasion, they will also usher in a new era of Fall River’s story — that has the potential to not only provide good jobs, but to save and enhance lives across the country and around the globe.

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