Fall River, Massachusetts, is south of Boston.
Fall River, Massachusetts, is nestled about 45 miles south of Boston and next to Rhode Island. With a history of being a textile center, Fall River is also known for Portuguese cuisine. But Fall River is taking steps to court biotech and medical device manufacturing companies to get them into a new biotechnology park with large-scale renewable energy projects that is expected to create 8,000 jobs, writes Beth Purdue of The New England Business Bulletin.
Several road projects in the area show that the city is serious about making it easier to get to Fall River. For example, earlier this month, the Route 24 interchange on the Freetown and Fall River line was opened. “The $35 million infrastructure project creates access to a planned 300-acre biotechnology park designed for biotech manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, life science and IT industries,” Purdue writes. “It also paves the way for the UMass Dartmouth biotechnology facility which is expected to break ground there this spring.”
The University of Massachusetts is planning to construct a 22,000-square-foot facility, Purdue explains, “that would support product testing and workforce development needs for life science companies and also function as an educational training center for students.” The state and the university are providing the $25 million for the buildings.
Purdue spoke with Lynn Creamer, who is Fall River economic development coordinator. Beyond the highway and building projects, “Fall River is thinking big” in terms of solar power, including establishing an 8MW solar farm, according to Creamer. It will join a 2MW wind turbine in a nearby industrial park called Commerce Park.
Source: “Fall River focuses on biotech,” The New England Business Bulletin via SouthCoastToday.com, 1/20/12
Source: “Fall River, Massachusetts,” Wikipedia
Image by dbking, used under its Creative Commons license.
Rachel Petkewich is a freelance science writer and editor. She has worked as a research scientist in the chemical industry and spent eight years as a staff writer and editor at various science journals and magazines, including Chemical & Engineering News.
