PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Innovation Center broke ground on its roughly 12,000-square-foot expansion on Thursday, surrounded by state and local officials, business leaders, and industry partners who helped bring the project to fruition.

 

The approximately $8 million expansion will bring advanced manufacturing capabilities, new jobs, and additional opportunities for technology companies to the William Stanley Business Park, speakers at Thursday's ceremony said. 

 

The importance of collaboration among state and local officials and the private sector in fostering innovation, creating jobs and driving economic growth was a central theme throughout the event.

 

It was no coincidence that the groundbreaking brought together representatives from government and the private sector, including Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, state Sen. Paul Mark, state Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Leigh Davis and John Barrett III, alongside business leaders and industry partners from the Berkshire Innovation Center, Electro Magnetic Applications and Myrias Optics.

 

"Massachusetts is now the mecca of research in the world. Nothing comes close to what we do," Neal said, highlighting several of the state's research and innovation centers, including Berkshire Medical Center, Kendall Square and UMass Medical.

 

"These are the breakthrough moments that are happening, and we have a chance to witness them," he said. 

 

The BIC and the tech hub that has been created around advanced optics is going to build on creating new opportunities in an organic way by using the region's success and leveraging it for more, Driscoll said.