Worcester showcases off its offerings

WORCESTER — Delegates from more than a dozen countries were in Central Massachusetts Thursday to see how attractive the state’s second largest city is for international business development.

“It's not just a business thing. Worcester is a great place to live. It's central location is really a critical location and it's affordable," Mark F. Sullivan, executive director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment, told the consuls general from about 16 countries who gathered for a luncheon at the DCU Center Thursday. "Worcester has the academia. It has culture. It has industries ... all the ingredients of supporting an innovative ecosystem. ... A big part of it too is the workforce... There's no reason why Worcester shouldn't be at the top of the list.”

The diplomats were from Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. A couple of the delegates, including the one from Turkey, were unable to travel to Worcester because they live in areas of the state that lost power because of the storm.

The group began the day at AIS Inc. in Leominster, the largest manufacturer of commercial office furniture and seating in New England. Lt. Gov. Karyn E. Polito was on hand to greet the delegates.

They also visited Worcester Polytechnic Institute before heading to the DCU Center. After lunch, they visited UMass Medical School and representatives of the Railers Hockey and Worcester Red Sox teams at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. They ended their visit to the region at a reception at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The Central Massachusetts tour was jointly hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with MOITI and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development. When asked, City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. touted several things he considers outstanding and attractive about the city. He pointed out the mix of housing, the vast number of restaurants, the higher education institutions and different international companies and other high-end developments. WuXi Biologics, he noted, a Chinese biomanufacturing firm, selected Worcester to build its first U.S. facility. The Hong-Kong based WuXi Biologics plans to invest $60 million in a 70,000 to 100,000-square-foot facility, and it will bring about 150 jobs to the city. Augustus also mentioned the large number of National Institutes of Health grants awarded to UMass Medical School, as well as one of its researchers, Dr. Craig C. Mello, who won the Nobel Prize in 2006. 

Sullivan, MOITI’s executive director, said once a year, usually in October, some of the 60 diplomatic corps in the state are taken on a tour to learn about different areas of Massachusetts. He told the delegates that now is a good time to get involved in businesses and other sectors of Worcester. He said he is old enough to remember when Boston’s Sea Port District was just fish piers. But, now, it’s one of the most sought-after and expensive commercial developments in New England.

“This could be one of those moments, when you say, ‘Gee, I had the opportunity to get into Worcester years ago,'” but didn’t. And, now you’re going to be trying to catch up, he said.