Monday, July 24, 2006

Boston pulls out stops to bring in life sciences firms

By Alexander George

When Cytonome, a cell biology research company, was looking to relocate from its Watertown office, company officials initially concentrated the search near the Route 128/Mass Pike interchange. Executives say they were inclined to keep the company's Watertown location, where employees had become accustomed, and hadn't considered Boston until being contacted by Mass. Development.

"We were enticed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Mass Development," said Jack Lapidas, Cytonome's vice president of business development. "They did what good state and city developers do -- helped with good space, financing and permitting."

A chief component of LifeTech Boston -- Mayor Thomas Menino's initiative to attract life sciences firms to the city announced in November 2003 -- the BRA aids companies with facilitated permitting, marketing advice and financing programs intended to ease the transition to Boston.

Joining a cluster of biotech companies at Boston Marine Industrial Park in South Boston, Cytonome acquired full construction, electrical and biological lab permits within six weeks using the city of Boston Inspectional Services Department's "Fast Track Program," which allows the approval of construction permits in as little as 10 days.

"We submitted plans for construction in January 2005 and six months later the facility was complete," Lapidas said. "It was hard to believe that the 18,000-square-foot office was done so quickly."

Aside from expediting the permitting process, the BRA has spawned a variety of loan programs designed to help companies during relocation and into a level of production. The Boston Local Development Corporation Loan Program provides companies in Boston, or relocating to the city, anywhere from $15,000 to $150,000 for labor needs and resources. In addition, the Back Streets Backup Loan Program provides financing up to $250,000 to Boston's small and midsize industrial and commercial businesses.

"The different loan programs help companies emerge from institutions like BU into the private sector," said Glen Comiso, the BRA deputy director for economic initiatives.

In addition to loans, the BRA offers grants that provide companies with up to $30,000 to help startups evolve into profitable businesses. "Venture capitalists prefer companies that are more mature," Comiso said. "The grant program is intended to help companies reach this goal."

Immunetics Inc., a developer and manufacturer of diagnostic test kits for infectious diseases, moved from Cambridge to the Boston Marine Industrial Park after being offered a financial package that included a $150,000 loan from the BRA. According to Immunetics founder and CEO Andrew Levin, the loan allowed for economical build out of a larger research and development lab.

"The city and state put together a large financial package that aided our company with the move to Boston," Levin said.

Between the expansion of Boston Marine Industrial Park, and the 14-acre BioSquare campus in the South End, Menino has announced a plan to have 10,000 biotech related jobs in place by the year 2010. Boston University's CityLab Academy, a nine-month biotechnology skills course designed for economically and academically disadvantaged students, has helped initiate the mayor's goal, producing 76 graduates since 2000.

"Every projection about the labor market shows an aging work force," said Connie Doty, BRA director of jobs and community services. "In the next few decades we need to develop a farm team sophisticated in science and technology."

According to Doty, 44 percent of all vacancies in the biotech industry require an associate's degree, with little or no availability for those untrained in biosafety. "There is a good supply of research M.D.s and Ph.D.s in the city," Doty said. "Now we need an army behind them to do the concentrated work."