Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Capital Grant Awards and Funding for Equipment and Supplies in Western Mass

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) today joined elected officials and school leaders at Springfield mass life sciences centerTechnical Community College (STCC) to announce more than $2 million in funding for life-sciences-related capital projects and nearly $400,000 in grants to purchase equipment and supplies for high schools and middle schools in Western Massachusetts.

“Massachusetts’ flourishing life sciences community has created opportunities and spurred economic growth in every region of the state,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “These grants from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will further strengthen our workforce in order to meet the needs of this growing industry through enhanced training facilities and programs at our middle schools and high schools.”

Berkshire Community College

Berkshire Community College (BCC) received $500,000 in funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to launch an educational underpinning that will support the development of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC).  Berkshire Community College plans to purchase state-of-the-art reverse engineering equipment and 3-D prototype printers, and develop new courses, which will help to establish a foundation to provide students with advanced learning opportunities. These opportunities will help students obtain the essential skills to undertake research and new product development that will ultimately take place upon the opening of the BIC. Construction of the BIC is being funded in part through a previously awarded capital grant from the MLSC.

“We are thrilled to receive this award from the Massachusetts Life Science Center,” said Ellen Kennedy, President of BCC. “The funding for this state-of-the art equipment will ensure that our students develop the innovative skills needed to help our advanced manufacturing and biotechnology companies thrive.  This award will dramatically increase the technical abilities of our students to support the new Berkshire Innovation Center.”

"At the MLSC we are using our capital dollars to ensure access to state-of-the-art life sciences training facilities across the entire state, so that students, regardless of zip code, will be able to access careers in our state’s fastest-growing industry sectors,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the MLSC. “Springfield Technical Community College plans to use our grant to establish their new Biomedical Engineering Technology associates degree program, and to acquire up-to-date science equipment and lab space for their life sciences programs.  Similarly, our grants to Bay Path University, Holyoke Community College and Berkshire Community College, along with five high schools and middle schools in the region, will help provide students with access to cutting edge equipment and training facilities.”

“These grants will prepare students across the Commonwealth for the promising careers afforded by Massachusetts’s position as a global leader in the life sciences,” said Representative Joseph F. Wagner (D – Chicopee), House chairman of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and Co-Chairman of the Legislature’s Biotech Caucus.

 For a full MLSC press release, click here.