High-Profile Monthly recently interviewed Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, created by the Massachusetts legislature in 2006 to promote the life sciences in Massachusetts.
Here is a transcript of that conversation:
High Pro: What proportion of $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative appropriation might be channeled to the construction or renovation of facilities?
SWB: Half of the 10-year initiative ($500 million) is dedicated to capital projects across the Commonwealth. Investment in infrastructure was a key part of Governor Deval Patrick’s vision in proposing the initiative, and is central to the state’s broader strategy for accelerating growth in the innovation sectors. Through our investments in infrastructure the Center is: Upgrading the facilities at our colleges and universities that are needed to train future life sciences workers; creating unique, shared resources that can be utilized by industry and academia to accelerate the pace of innovation; strengthening the capacity of our academic and research institutions and
building on the capabilities of different regions across our state that are important to the innovation life cycle, for example, advanced manufacturing and high performance computing . The projects that we are funding also are creating thousands of jobs across the Commonwealth for construction workers, engineers, architects and others.
High Pro: What geographic areas are currently being considered for Life Sciences?
SWB: A recent study by two noted economists at Northeastern University looked at the impact of the Center’s investments thus far. The analysis showed that the life sciences sectors are the fastest-job producing sectors in the Massachusetts economy, and since the Initiative was launched, we are adding jobs faster than any other state (link to the report: http://www.tbf.org/~/media/TBFOrg/Files/Reports/LifeSciences_%C6%92.pdf) According to a separate study last year by Richards, Barry Joyce Massachusetts is #1 for biotech construction. Much of that growth has been funded through investments by the Center, including our tax incentives, and is taking place in Boston and Cambridge. But the life sciences sectors are growing very rapidly in other areas of the state as well, including the Metrowest area, Merrimack Valley, Central Massachusetts and the Southcoast region, where a new biopark is coming on line in Fall River. Bristol-Myers Squibb recently announced a $250 million, 350 person facilities expansion at their existing site in Devens, located in central Massachusetts. The northern stretch of the Route 128 belt (which includes the towns and cities of Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, and Woburn is seeing extremely rapid growth, with many companies receiving support for that growth through the Center’s Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program.
At the Center we are focused on making capital investments across the entire Commonwealth, and have committed more than $327 million to capital projects thus far. In May we awarded $95 million toward the fit-out and equipping of three new “innovation centers” at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, part of more than $100 million in capital investments that we have made in the western Massachusetts region over the past year. We have invested another $100 million in capital projects in central Massachusetts, including $90 million to support construction of the UMass Medical School’s new Sherman Center for advanced therapeutics in Worcester.
High Pro: In what way can our local A/E/C industry support the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center?
The building-related sectors –Architecture, Engineering, Contracting and Construction — are an important part of our state’s life sciences ecosystem, and the expertise found in these sectors is one of the key reasons that life sciences companies choose to locate and invest in major construction projects. Individuals working in these sectors can be helpful to the Center through collaboration. The Center relies on public-private partnerships to accomplish our mission, including collaboration with all elements of our Life Sciences community. At the MLSC we value that collaboration. One area that is ripe for collaboration is in the recruitment of new companies to the state. If you are working in the building-related sectors and are aware of a life sciences company that is considering an expansion in Massachusetts, please send them our way, and we can explain to them all of the reasons why Massachusetts is the right place to do business. That will in turn lead to more demand for the services that you provide. Our web site is www.masslifesciences.com.
High Pro: What is the role of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)?
SWB:The MLSC Board of Directors appointed the Scientific Advisory Board to help inform decisions of the board with respect to the organization’s overall strategy, programmatic initiatives, and funding. Dr. Harvey Lodish, a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a professor of Biology and Professor of Bioengineering at MIT, is the chair of our SAB. He and 23 other multi-disciplinary experts volunteer their scientific and business expertise to review applications for funding, and recommend the investments that represent the “relative best use” of funding from the Center. The SAB includes some of our state’s leading scientists from both industry and academia, along with entrepreneurs and investors. The SAB is responsible for recommending awards to the MLSC Board of Directors based on the relative scientific merit and business plan of each applicant. Ultimate authority for awarding of funds rests solely with the MLSC’s Board of Directors.
The role of experts, including our SAB, in guiding the investment decisions of our Board of Directors was cited by the author of the recent evaluation report as the Center’s “secret sauce” in making sound investment decisions.
High Pro: Are MLSC investments for facilities development work with the same kind of guidelines as the states Division Capital Asset Management (DCAM)?
SWB: No. As a quasi-public agency we are not subject to these guidelines, nor are the project sponsors that receive capital funding from the Center unless they are state entities that are otherwise subject to these guidelines for construction projects.
High Pro: Does the MLSC interact directly with those who develop, design and build facilities?
SWB: The MLSC is a funding agency, which means that we provide the grant funding that enables these projects. The institutions that we fund manage the actual projects through to completion, including the selection and management of vendors and service providers. Project sponsors report regularly to the Center on their progress.