The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has implemented several focused development initiatives to facilitate economic growth in various important sectors of the economy. Several initiatives have been identified as having the potential to impact aviation demand in Massachusetts, which are discussed below.
Growth District Initiative
The Growth District Initiative is a plan sponsored by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) as a focused means of expediting commercial and residential development within the Commonwealth. The initiative involves planning ahead to identify one or more areas within a community as appropriate locations for significant new growth, whether commercial, residential or mixed-use. Within those identified growth districts, EOHED will work with the community and property owners to make the district development ready by streamlining the state permitting, local permitting, site preparation, infrastructure improvements, and marketing processes. Growth Districts have been identified in the following cities:
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• Attleboro
• New Bedford
• Foxborough
• Somerville
The Growth Districts Initiative enables each of these cities to become highly attractive centers for new development, as experienced at Devens, located in the towns of Ayer and Shirley.
Specifically, Devens is an unincorporated village under the direction of MassDevelopment, a quasi-public, economic development and real estate agency tasked with stimulating economic investment across Massachusetts. Its charge is to redevelop the former U.S. Army base by creating a sustainable and diverse residential and business community that offers unique opportunities for recreation to area residents, as well as stimulating economic activity and job creation in the area. MassDevelopment currently provides municipal services, education, environmental protection and the infrastructure improvements to convert the former military installation into a planned community. Efforts have recently resulted in Devens winning a competition to locate a Bristol-Myers Squibb pharmaceutical factory in the area.
With respect to aviation, Devens is an excellent example of how these types of development initiatives have a great potential to impact aviation in Massachusetts in that increased development and industrial activities typically results in increasing corporate aircraft usage and passenger transportation demand levels.
Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative is a 10-year, $1 billion investment package to enhance and strengthen the Commonwealth’s internationally recognized leadership in the life sciences fields. Initiated in 2008, the effort will bring together industry, research hospitals, and colleges/universities to spur new research, strengthen investments, produce new therapies, and create new jobs. Massachusetts already has a significant cluster of life science activity, with many biopharmaceutical and medical science companies, over 60 academic institutions offering advanced degrees in life sciences, and five of the top eight National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded hospitals in the country.
From June 2008 to June 2010, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) has invested
$188 million, with $704 million in matching investments attracted. An additional $25 million in tax incentives per year will be offered, the first round of which was awarded to 26 companies in December 2009. These companies have committed to creating more than 800 new jobs during calendar year 2009. As listed on the MLSC website, some recent infrastructure investments include the following:
• Town of Framingham - $12.9 million grant to allow Genzyme to build new facility creating 300 permanent manufacturing jobs and 165 construction jobs.
• Marine Biological Laboratory - $10 million grant for renovation of Loeb Lab, creating 200 construction jobs and up to 50 permanent jobs. Additional $15 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
• Tufts University – Cummings School - $9.5 million grant to support construction and equipping of the New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory in Grafton, which is projected to create 56 construction jobs and 29 full time positions.
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• University of Massachusetts – Albert Sherman Center - $90 million multi-year grant for new 500,000-square foot research facility, projected to create 1,600 permanent jobs and 6,000 construction jobs.
• Gateway Park - $6.6 million grant to support the construction of the WPI Bio-manufacturing Education and Training Center, projected to create 120 construction jobs and 140 permanent jobs.
• Mount Wachusett Community College - awarded three year $1.3 million grant from US Department of Labor for biotechnology/bio-manufacturing degree and worker-training programs.
Since the enactment of the Life Sciences Initiative, five life sciences companies have relocated to Massachusetts including Raindance Technologies, Biocell Center, Systagenix, CYTOO Cell Architects, and NeoStem Inc. It is important to recognize significant changes in an industry such as life sciences and the potential impacts to aviation demand as these projects come to fruition and are developed to their long-term ability.
Destination Resort Casinos
In 2008, Governor Deval Patrick proposed authorizing up to three destination resort casinos to spur economic growth as well as create jobs and tax revenue for the Commonwealth.
According to Spectrum Gaming Group, an independent gaming industry consultancy, as Massachusetts residents spend approximately $1.1 billion annually on gaming in Connecticut and Rhode Island, Massachusetts casinos could potentially recapture approximately $500 to
$700 million annually. Complementing this recapture, Massachusetts would see the importation of new gaming revenues from neighboring states. In addition, casinos can complement existing attractions, add perceived value to tourists and business travelers who are considering Massachusetts as a destination, and help attract incremental capital investment for the tourism industry.
The potential economic impact of three new casinos, as outlined in a comprehensive gaming analysis prepared by Spectrum, is estimated between $1.23 billion and $1.78 billion in annual revenue for the first stabilized year. Employment impacts are estimated at over 4,300 direct jobs, and 20,000 total jobs throughout the Massachusetts. Conventions and meetings at casinos would generate $7.2 million in annual spending at other area businesses, and would create annual demand for more than 26,000 room-nights at other lodging facilities.
Depending on the location of each casino, this initiative has great potential to increase the use of airports within a relatively short distance of the casinos. It is generally assumed that there will be one casino in the western half of the Commonwealth, one located in Boston, and another in the southeastern region. However, without knowing exact locations of the three casinos, it is difficult to project specific impacts to airports. It is also important to note that legislation enabling this sort of gaming initiative within the Commonwealth is still actively being debated and has yet to be enacted.
Gateway Cities
Massachusetts Gateway Cities are a group of former industrial cities that have been identified by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth to be included in a statewide
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revitalization effort. As part of the initiative, tax incentives are available for any project in a
“Gateway City” that creates more than 100 jobs. Identified cities include the following:
• Brockton
Recent investments in Gateway Cities include the following projects (as described on the respective city’s website):
• Fall River BioPark - A 300-acre site zoned for bio-tech/life science industries abutting the Route 24 interchange project. Within the BioPark, $17 million was awarded to the city for a bio-processing center to be built for UMass-Dartmouth.
Mashpee Wamponoag Tribe is also interested in building a casino on the site.
• Springfield - Seahorse Bioscience facility expansion (14,000 to 25,000 square feet).
• Holyoke - Cisco Smart+Connected community neighborhood pilot program intended to demonstrate the benefits of advanced electronic connectivity between city services and utilities (i.e. between security, education, health care, transportation, government, and real estate). A $100 million high performance computing center will also be built.
• New Bedford - Potential staging port/construction base for the Cape Wind project, expected to create 600 to 1,000 temporary and 150 permanent jobs.
• Pittsfield - William Stanley Business Park is under evaluation to be the site of a $10 million solar array (the largest of its kind in New England).
• Worcester - CitySquare commercial real estate project, which will be the largest development project in the Commonwealth outside Boston, creating more than 2.2 million square feet of mixed commercial/residential space. A large insurance company, Unum, has already committed to relocate offices (700 employees) to CitySquare. Additionally, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences opened a new academic center in downtown Worcester, doubling the size of the Pharmacy School in Worcester (750 Doctor of Pharmacy Students).
As a result of these projects, the airports located in or near these communities could reasonably be utilized to serve the subsequent increase in demand, whether through corporate jet activity or commercial passenger service.
Hollywood East
In 2005, Massachusetts legislation was signed to create a film production tax incentive. It was expanded upon in 2007 to include a 25 percent tax credit for payroll and production costs of at least $50,000 (no limit) for motion pictures filmed within Massachusetts. Since 2006 at least 38 major motion pictures have been filmed in Massachusetts, including “The Departed,”
“The Proposal,” “Bride Wars,” “Shutter Island,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” “The Invention of Lying,” “Surrogates,” and “The Women” to name a few. Production spending increased from
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$71 million in 2006 to $400 million in 2009, with an estimated $1 billion in economic activity generated in Massachusetts by the film industry in 2008. Employment within the industry has risen 33 percent from 4,530 jobs in 2005 to 6,048 jobs in 2009.
As a result of the film production tax credit and the subsequent influx of movie projects to Massachusetts, two separate production studios have been planned to function as permanent infrastructure supporting film production. Plymouth Rock Studios in Plymouth is a proposed
$500 million project expected to create 2,000 jobs. SouthField Studio is a similar project proposed for the site of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station. It is part of a larger planned community with housing, offices, shopping, and a golf course in addition to the film studio. Part of the project proposes an east-west connector parkway, connecting SouthField to Route 3 and Route 18. However, it should also be noted that both of these proposed initiatives are currently on hold due to recent economic conditions and the resulting restricted credit markets.
There is little doubt that the recent growth in Massachusetts’ film production activity, dubbed
“Hollywood East,” generates a significant amount of economic activity throughout the Commonwealth. What is also important to consider is the potential impact the film industry has on aviation. Film related activities such as high-profile personnel transport, aerial filming, and equipment/set transport can all have a significant impact on aviation services and requirements.