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May 6 - 12, 2015 Vol. 11, No. 27
Incubator Graduates Moving to Innovation Center
WHAT'S
INSIDE
Newbury
Meet the
Candidates
Night
Page 4
Movement of
Imperfection at
Triton
Page 5
Amesbury
Celebrates
Older American
Month
Page 6
Volunteers
Needed
Page 7
Godspell
Performing in
Ipswich
Page 11
The Chestnut Innovation Center
AMESBURY – From an office at
the Cambridge Innovation Center,
Andrew Amigo built the early
prototypes of a new battery for longhaul trucks that is charged from
waste drawn off the truck’s diesel
engine.
Those prototypes, which would
allow a truck to have electrical power
without using energy from the
engine, won grants to build a more
advanced prototype of the greenenergy battery.
But to do that, his company,
Blackburn Energy, needed more
space. He also needed to be near
other businesses, entrepreneurs like
himself. He also had to have a place,
he said, where he could grind some
metal.
“There are a lot of buildings that
have space for rent,” Amigo said. But
he felt he needed to be part of an
“eco system,” with support networks
of other businesses.
He found what he was looking
for here at the Chestnut Innovation
Center, an old mill building, once
owned by ARC Technologies, that is
now home to 17 small manufacturing
By Stewart Lytle, Reporter
–––––––––––––––––
structure and is looking forward, like
Amigo, to collaborating with other
companies in the building and in the
surrounding community.
“What we hoped would happen is
happening,” said Bob O’Brien, CEO
of the Chestnut Innovation Center.
When O’Brien and his team,
which includes chairman Roger
Foster and executive vice president
Mark Friery, moved to Amesbury
last summer, they hoped the center
would attract what O’Brien calls
“incubator graduates.” These are
companies that started in business
incubators, designed to provide space
Photo by Stewart Lytle and support for new companies.
They are mostly located near MIT
businesses in a neighborhood of and other Boston-area colleges and
other businesses, including machine are largely full.
shops and wiring manufacturers.
The incubators play a critical role.
“This is a place I want to be. This is They house very young companies
a place I need to be successful,” said that are often at their riskiest stage.
Amigo, who moved his company to When the companies outgrow
Amesbury last week.
the incubators, they have a vetted
At the innovation center, people business plan, have raised some
are really friendly and open, Amigo money, have been mentored through
said. They ask ‘How can I help you?’ early stages and have begun to prove
“When you are an entrepreneur, their concept, O’Brien said.
you are often alone. Having that
When they move into space at
support system around is very Chestnut, they are likely to begin
important,” he said.
adding more jobs.
Another new tenant, who came
“It is a logical progression,” O’Brien
to the Chestnut Innovation Center said. “We are not in competition
seeking more space is Doug Lamb, with the incubators.”
whose Building Envelope Materials,
So far, the center in Amesbury has
was started in the Greentown Labs in companies renting space that employ
Somerville. The new, green insulation 60 people. And it is expanding from
company is also using grant money its current building of 60,000 square
to create a new insulation that can feet, two-third of which are leased, to
make existing homes more energy a total of 150,000 square feet, taking
efficient.
over more space once occupied by
Lamb praises Greentown Labs ARC.
and is keeping an office there, but
Because the incubators need to be
described the decision to move to near the major universities, they are
Amesbury as “a no brainer. I like located in neighborhoods with high
it here.” He particularly likes the priced real estate.
price and flexibility of the rent
“After leaving an incubator, the
FREE
first challenge young companies
often face is to find affordable space
that allows them to manufacture and
grow,” wrote Kassandra Oakland in a
white paper. “These expensive, nonflexible leases are a large contributor
to failure rates.”
That is one reason the Amesbury
center in Amesbury is attractive to
young companies needing space.
Affordable rent space and flexibility
leases allow companies to burn less
of their grant and investor monies
while they develop their products.
Amigo, who will bring consulting
professors and students to Amesbury
to work on the new batteries, said
even the parking at the center is free,
instead of $22 near Boston.
Like the Boston-area incubators,
the Amesbury center provides shared
services like conference rooms,
administrative services and tons of
advice from legal issues to overcoming
manufacturing challenges. Not all of
the advice comes from the center’s
leadership. Many of tenants areas are
willing to stop what they are doing
and chat about a problem.
They offer seminars and
networking opportunities. This
week, freshman congressman Seth
Moulton will come to the center
to meet the manufacturers and
learn about the prospects of small
manufacturing.
“This (innovation center) is part
of a revival of manufacturing in this
country,” Amigo said.
Amigo said he also likes being in
Amesbury, which played a major
role in developing early American
industry.
“In one of these mills the first
electric car was built,” Amigo said.
“People thought those entrepreneurs
were crazy. Now they think I am
crazy.”
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