Holyoke Innovation District 2015 Annual Report

2015
ANNUAL REPORT
In 2011, the Massachusetts Green High Performance

Computing Center (MGHPCC) and the Urban Renewal
planning process for the city drove the formation of the
Holyoke Innovation District. For the past five years, the
MGHPCC has become a nucleus of a burgeoning
innovation economy in Holyoke. The doors of the
MGHPCC have been open to the community since its
construction and opportunities for learning at the facility
have continued to this day.
Following the completion of the strategic plan for the

District in 2011, a steering committee referred to as the
Kitchen Cabinet was formed and has been meeting
monthly to guide the implementation of the strategies. A
project manager, supported by funding from the
Innovation Institute at MassTech Collaborative, has
provided essential leadership and staff support.
Since its inception, the Holyoke Innovation District has
pursued its mission of encouraging and facilitating new
and innovative economic development in Holyoke and the
region. Led by leaders from local, regional and state
agencies, the Holyoke Innovation District is serving as a
platform for innovation - and the excitement is evident.
MGHPCC A VITAL HUB
the highlights
in the year 2015
A BIG YEAR FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
During the past year, several housing projects have
taken shape and secured financing including
renovations to Lyman Terrace, new condominiums at
Canal Galleries, and new apartments at 216 Appleton
Street. Over 450 new market rate and affordable
housing units are anticipated to be ready in the next
three years. Governor Charlie Baker, local officials,
developers, and public housing authority officials held a
press conference at Lyman Terrace in September 2015
to announce state funding for renovation of the 167
public housing units.
In 2015, MGHPCC welcomed 10,450 visitors and has led

over a dozen facility tours. By far, the majority of the
meetings held at the Center are community related, thus
fulfilling the intent to have MGHPCC become a vital hub
for community and economic development. The MGHPCC
also awarded scholarships totaling $10,000 and provided
five paid internships to Holyoke Community College and
Springfield Technical Community College students.
Further, the MGHPCC spends over $2 million annually on
city services and local contractors.
INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION
Holyokes revitalization efforts continue to draw attention
from stakeholders, developers, and policy makers in the
Commonwealth and across the country, The citys
innovation-based economic development strategies have
expanded its audience, drawing the attention of the
Chinese cable television station CNTV13's program
World Express," which featured the Holyoke Innovation
District in August 2015.
CONNECTING CITIES THROUGH RAIL

Construction of Holyokes $4.2 million rail platform was
completed. A well-attended event was held on August 27,
2015 to celebrate and cheer as the train approached the
new stop at Depot Square for the first time in 50 years.
The CUBIT building. Future home of Holyoke Community Colleges new Culinary and
Hospitality Center of Excellence and 18 apartment units (rendering on the right).
milestones & accomplishments

reached through collective effort
Entrepreneurship/
Local Economy
SPARK Launch Program graduated 26 entrepreneurs in 2015 and secured $56,000 in additional grant funding from the Massachusetts
Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) to offer more classes, provide one-on-one mentoring for entrepreneurs, and to support a microenterprise loan program.
Valley Venture Mentors, based in Springfield, graduated their first accelerator class.
SPARK and the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce hosted meetings with other support agencies with the goal of creating a systems map
of how the entrepreneurial ecosystem is connected in Holyoke.
SPARK hosted a "Live" event series with speakers including Jorge Silva-Puras, former U.S. Small Business Administration Region II
Administrator.
Creative Economy
The City of Holyoke successfully launched a Creative Placemaking Toolkit and Pop-up Guide with essential tools for local entrepreneurs to
sell and market their products at local venues and events.
Over 20,000 visitors attended events and meetings at Gateway City Arts.
Celebrate Holyoke and Next Stop Holyoke attracted over 18,000 visitors and over 90 vendors including local artisans and food vendors.
A Creative Cooperative Incubator is established at 207 Elm Street, in collaboration with Old Holyoke Development to create spaces for
social enterprise programs. It currently houses Tejo Holyoke and a shared makerspace with the Holyoke Creative Arts Center.
The Mosher Bridge Public Art Project Arrivals was unveiled in August 2015. This is a prime example of injecting art into infrastructure to
solve public safety concerns due to poor lighting and blight.
Transportation
Holyokes $4.2 M train platform was completed and opened in August 2015 to accommodate Amtrak rail patrons.
PVPC released an updated version of the Pioneer Valley Regional Transportation Plan, along with a new, updated transportation project
evaluation criteria/ scoring system, both of which are aligned and consistent with the regions needs.
The Mayors of Holyoke, Springfield, Greenfield, and Northampton created a joint effort to advocate for the expansion of passenger rail
service in the Knowledge Corridor.
PVPC assembled and submitted a Top Ten list of regionally significant transportation improvements recommended for inclusion in the
Massachusetts Department of Transportations five year Capital Investment Plan.
Holyoke, Springfield, Amherst, Northampton, and UMass Amherst collaborated in a effort to do a feasibility study for a regional bike share
program.
Manufacturing
Seventy-eight incumbent employees from 18 advanced manufacturing companies completed skills enhancement evening courses at
William J. Dean Technical High School.
Advanced manufacturing companies conducted tours of their facilities for over 90 middle school and high school students from Holyoke
and the Pioneer Valley. Tours were organized by the Hampden Regional Employment Board in collaboration with Universal Plastics based
out of Holyoke, Mass.
Member companies of the Western Mass Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association led by Holyoke-based Meridian
Industrial Group and Universal Plastics provided technical and curriculum guidance to Machine Tool Technology program at William J.
Dean Technical High School.
Clean Energy
UMass Amherst, in collaboration with the City of Holyoke, drafted guidelines for a Renewable Energy Development grant program
focused on driving rooftop solar panel installations throughout the city.
HG&E completed feasibility study for a new 2.5 MW hydroelectric generator on the first level of the Holyoke Canal System.
Continued development of a distributed residential energy storage demonstration project, and expanded project to include batteries
installed at an experimental data center pod developed by UMass Amherst, MIT, and the MGHPCC. These test projects are
conducted in partnership with Sparkplug Power under a $275K grant provided by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the
American Public Power Association's Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Developments (DEED program).
The first commercial rooftop solar project in the City of Holyoke began operations in Holyoke at the Expressive Design Group facilities
located at 49 Garfield Street. With 3,762 panels occupying more than 4 acres of roof space, the installation has almost 1 Megawatt
(MW) of generation capacity.
The MGHPCC creates a partnership on a small project to test battery technology. The energy to be stored will be captured with solar
panels installed across the way on property owned by the MGHPCC.
Infrastructure/ Policy
Completed construction of the second phase of the canal walk along Race Street.
Holyoke is the first community in Western Mass to adopt a Complete Streets ordinance for improved safety, health, economic, and
environmental outcomes.
The Cities of Holyoke, Springfield, and Chicopee received a $1.25 million commitment from the Commonwealth, awarded to PVPC,
to continue water pollution abatement projects benefiting Holyoke and the Connecticut River.
Digital/ Tech Economy

A successful Mass Big Data Tech Trek, organized by MassTech, was held in Amherst on September 28, 2015.
Tech Foundry, an Information Technology job training program, graduated its first class.
HID and SPARK co-hosted a Build Your Business presentation on October 19th at the MGHPCC. Guest speaker and facilitator was
Joshua Drew of Microsoft.
MGHPCC is going on its third year of running the Computational Cloud for Data-Driven Biology (C3DDB) with a $4.5M award from
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This resource is available to startup and small scale life sciences businesses in
Massachusetts.
UMass Amherst was awarded a $1M grant from the National Science Foundation in order to expand on the existing big data analyses
partnership with HG&E.
Education/ Talent Development

The Holyoke Chamber organized a successful event with the new School Superintendent and the business community to discuss the
private sectors role in the transformation of the Holyoke Public Schools.
Members of the Kitchen Cabinet, David Cruise and Bill Ennen, played a key role in the Local Stakeholders Group tasked with
preparing strategic findings and recommendations to the new Superintendent of the Holyoke Public Schools and Commissioner
Chester of the Massachusetts Department of Secondary Education.
MGHPCC, Holyoke Codes, and Girls Inc. ran a successful Computer Science Week. Over 150 youth, plus a few dozen parents,
teachers and guardians, participated over the course of the week.
HCCs Culinary and Hospitality Center of Excellence was funded by $1.75 M state grant and $1.9 M EDA grant. The Center will be
located in downtown Holyoke.
By the Numbers
$112M+
CURRENT PIPELINE OF PRIVATE PROJECTS IN THE DISTRICT
$30M+
STATE/FEDERAL COMPETITIVE FUNDS SECURED SINCE 2012
$14M
INVESTED IN PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
50K+
VISITORS TO EVENTS/VENUES IN THE DISTRICT IN 2015
2016-2021
Ambitions & Strategic Priorities
INCREASE JOB
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
HOLYOKE AND THE
REGION
TRANSFORM
HOLYOKE PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
ATTRACT MORE
PRIVATE INVESTMENT
STRENGTHEN
CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN HOLYOKE AND
THE REGION
PROMOTE THE HOLYOKE

INNOVATION DISTRICT
The mission of the Holyoke Innovation District is to represent the

economic development interests of the City of Holyoke and the Pioneer
Valley through active dialogue and participation in the ongoing
implementation of the vision, design, and development plan crafted for
the Holyoke Innovation District
Our purpose is to:
Articulate the innovation-based economic development opportunities associated with the
emergence of an innovation district anchored by the MGHPCC located in Holyokes Canal District.
Assist the City of Holyoke in developing and implementing a business strategy that will maximize
the economic growth potential created by the presence of the MGHPCC in Holyoke, create the
conditions for the emergence of a digital technology industry and innovation district, and drive the
innovation economy in the Pioneer Valley.
To engage with key stakeholders and expert organizations in the development of a strategy that will
help attract advanced computing talent, entrepreneurs, investment, and firms to Holyoke and the
Pioneer Valley.
Develop incentives and initiatives that will build relationships, partnerships, and increased
engagements with higher education and research institutions in the broader Pioneer Valley center
around the development of the Innovation District.
Serve as interlocutors and liaisons between the region with state government officials, with an
interest in maximizing the economic development impact of the states major investment in the
MGHPCC in Holyoke.
The Holyoke Innovation District is a project of the

Innovation Institute at MassTech supported by
local, regional, and statewide partners.
HOLYOKE INNOVATION DISTRICT KITCHEN CABINET MEMBERS

Tim Brennan, Co-Chair, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Marcos Marrero, Co-Chair, City of Holyoke
Kathy Anderson, Holyoke Chamber of Commerce
Debra Boronski, Massachusetts Office of Business Development
David Cruise, Hampden Regional Employment Board
Bill Ennen, MassTech Collaborative
John Goodhue, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
Richard Henderson, MassDevelopment
Samalid Hogan, Consulting Project Manager
Pat Larkin, MassTech Collaborative
Jim Lavelle, Holyoke Gas & Electric
Michael Malone, UMass Amherst
Bill Messner, Holyoke Community College
Mayor Alex Morse, City of Holyoke
Katie Stebbins, Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
Stephen Zrike, Holyoke Public Schools
Rick Sullivan, Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts
www.InnovateHolyoke.com

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2015

In 2011, the Massachusetts Green High Performance

Following the completion of the strategic plan for the

MGHPCC A VITAL HUB

In 2015, MGHPCC welcomed 10,450 visitors and has led

CONNECTING CITIES THROUGH RAIL

milestones & accomplishments

Digital/ Tech Economy

Education/ Talent Development

CURRENT PIPELINE OF PRIVATE PROJECTS IN THE DISTRICT

STATE/FEDERAL COMPETITIVE FUNDS SECURED SINCE 2012

INVESTED IN PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE

VISITORS TO EVENTS/VENUES IN THE DISTRICT IN 2015

PROMOTE THE HOLYOKE

The mission of the Holyoke Innovation District is to represent the

The Holyoke Innovation District is a project of the

HOLYOKE INNOVATION DISTRICT KITCHEN CABINET MEMBERS

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