State House News Service
BOSTON - One of the state's most promising industries got a boost Thursday as officials approved $20.2 million in funds for life sciences initiatives and announced plans to hire a health care industry policy veteran.
Movement on the state's fledgling life sciences initiative signals a kick-start for Gov. Deval Patrick's 5-month-old proposal to pump $1 billion of state funds into the Bay State's life sciences industry over the next 10 years.
Massachusetts is in a race with other states - including Connecticut and California - that have already doled out state funds to life sciences initiatives and that threaten to pull Bay State talent away.
"I am very cognizant of that threat," said Daniel O'Connell, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, during a meeting of the state's five-member Massachusetts Life Sciences Center board. "We don't have to match [California] dollar for dollar but we have to show we are committed."
The board of the state's emerging quasi-public life sciences agency approved $12 million in research grants and $8.2 million to further two
University of Massachusetts stem-cell initiatives.
The Life Sciences Center plans to launch three, three-year grant programs by Dec. 2, said Patrick Larkin, deputy director at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The grants, worth up to $250,000 annually, are
available to individual researchers, universities and industry, he said.
"The objective of these programs is to receive as many competitive applications as we can," said Larkin.
In addition, the board voted to approve $7.7 million for one year toward the establishment of a stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.
University officials hope that researchers from across the globe will agree to store stem-cell lines at the planned UMass central repository.
Harvard University and Children's Hospital of Boston have already pledged to store stem-cell lines at the bank, according to state officials.
UMass will also receive $570,000 to establish a stem-cell registry designed to establish a Web-based, searchable library listing of available stem cell lines for researchers.
The board also approved plans to staff up the center while it conducts a national search for a new executive director.
Board members voted to authorize O'Connell, who is also the chairman of the Life Sciences Center board, to hire Melissa Walsh, an associate at Partners HealthCare, as the center's new chief of staff. O'Connell is in the midst of negotiations on Walsh's salary and start date, said Kofi Jones, spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
The executive director's post remains open since Aaron D'Elia, a Mitt Romney appointee, resigned earlier this year. Representatives from recruiting consultants Russell Reynolds Associates, which was hired by
the board earlier this year, said they plan to meet with potential executive director candidates next month.
O'Connell said it will be "several months" before an executive director is hired.
Life-sciences industry supporters, including members of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council who attended today's meeting, hope the state funding will attract federal research funding while sprouting biotechnology companies and creating jobs.
Kevin Casey, senior director of federal and state relations at Harvard University, said the combination of the grants, the stem-cell bank and
the stem-cell registry will make Massachusetts a "scientific tourist spot."
But there are a few roadblocks. Lawmakers in Connecticut and California have the same idea and began handing out state-sponsored life sciences grants earlier this year.
"This is [Massachusetts'] the life-science moment. The amount of money being distributed by other states is extensive," said Michael Collins, chancellor of UMass Medical School.
Hearing Set
Bay State lawmakers have yet to move on a $1 billion life sciences bill introduced by the governor in July. The bill is sitting in the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, which is co-chaired by Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, and Sen. Jack Hart, D-Boston. A public hearing on the bill is planned next week.
House lawmakers are looking to move on the bill "as quickly as possible," said David Guarino, spokesman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston. "We're looking at making a significant investment in the life sciences industry but we're also looking beyond that," he told the News Service.
The center was established as part of a 2006 economic stimulus law. The center is overseen by a board of directors that includes UMass President Jack Wilson and Jay Gonzales, undersecretary for administration and finance.
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Lanesborough Town Meeting to Vote Budget, Bylaws & Vehicle Purchases
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tuesday's annual town meeting includes a $14 million operating budget, new short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units and sign bylaws, and free cash article appropriations.
Voters will gather at Lanesborough Elementary School on June 9 at 6 p.m. to decide on 20 warrant articles.
The fiscal 2027 budget is up a little over 10 percent. Some of the main increases are the Mount Greylock Regional School District and McCann Technical School: the McCann assessment is up more than 30 percent based on factors including enrollment and the school renovation project, and Mount Greylock's is up 11 percent.
Article 11 is for the town to vote to approve from free cash the sum of $16,298.48 for the McCann Technical School roof and window replacement project so as not to impact the budget. Article 3 is appropriate $7,586,284 for Mount Greylock Regional School assessment.
Another notable increase was in life and health insurance, showing an increase of about 26 percent.
Ambulance Director Jen Weber is planning 24-hour coverage, which means more staff and a hike in her budget. One of the articles asks the town to appropriate $234,100 to operate the Ambulance Enterprise Fund for salaries and expenses.
Many town departments are looking for new vehicles. The Fire Department is looking to replace its outdated 1996 fire engine. There are two articles related to the truck at a total of $813,366. Article 12 would transfer $225,000 from free cash into the Fire Truck Stabilization Fund; Article 13 would transfer $605,000 from the fund and authorize the borrowing of $208,366.08.
The total includes a $100,000 contingency cost to cover any additional costs if a 2026 model-year chassis cannot be secured before new emissions standards go into effect in 2027.
The board at its last meeting moved the $225,000 transfer to come before the borrowing article, changing the stabilization number. If the $225,000 is not voted on, then they will amend the next article's number on the floor, subtracting the $225,000. This shows the borrowing number significantly lower.
Article 17 asks for the transfer of $80,000 from free cash to replace a police cruiser.
Police Chief Rob Derksen's aim is to replace one vehicle every other year, meaning the oldest vehicle gets replaced about every 10 years.
He stressed that if delayed this year, the town may have to double up in a future year to get back on schedule, and that paying later usually costs more. The article will ask for $80,000 from free cash, the vehicles used to be funded by the BHRD.
Lastly, the Highway Department is looking to replace a 2014 International dump truck that will be a total of $330,000 and will take two to three years to receive.
Money will be used from last year's approval of $250,000 from free cash for the replacement of a 2012 highway front-end loader that was underspent $49,261. Town meeting is being asked to approve a transfer of $53,274.85 from free cash and the use of $227,464 from funds from the Sale of Town Real Estate to fund the balance.
Other free cash proposals include $1,200 to purchase software to support tracking and ongoing maintenance schedules of town-owned vehicles; $42,000 for the replacement of the Highway Department's storage shed roof, $200,000 to reduce the tax levy.
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