Tag: Mitch Weiss

Being neighborly: Mayor Menino and Boston Technologies host a Welcome Event for New Businesses in the Innovation District

April 7th, 2011 · samhammar · work No comments - Tags: , ,

The lobby of Boston Technologies was packed on Wednesday afternoon for the Mayor’s Welcome Event for new businesses in the Innovation District.

The Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Mitch Weiss, stood in for the Mayor, who unfortunately wasn’t able to make it at the last minute. After Weiss thanked everyone for coming, he added that “you’re in the right place and you’re in good company.” With over 30 new companies bringing 1,900 jobs into the District, Weiss noted to the audience that “you are those companies, you have created those jobs.” Brenda McKenzie, the Economic Development Director for the Boston Redevelopment Authority added that the “growth of Boston is because of businesses like yours.”

George Popescu of Boston Technologies told his story of starting his company and how it’s grown to over 60 employees in just one year. ” He added that the City of Boston is the perfect location due to its proximity to other major cities in the US as well as Europe, the strong university presence, the vibrant entrepreneur community, and the diverse talent that “allowed us to hire employees who speak many different languages.”

Danielle Pillion of the Friends of Fort Point Channel concluded by talking about all of the upcoming summer events in the area (more on that soon) and added “welcome all of you to the neighborhood.”

 

Find more photos from the event here

Washington Tours the Innovation District

March 30th, 2011 · samhammar · work No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

This Tuesday, Karen G. Mills, administrator of the Small Business Administration, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, and their staff toured the Innovation District with the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Mitch Weiss, and the City’s Chief Planner, Kairos Shen.

Their first stop was at Immunetics where CEO Andrew Levin welcomed the group and the Mayor. Immunetics moved into the Boston Marine Industrial Park seven years ago and have grown from 12 to 30 employees and counting. Also in the room were Cytonome‘s John Sharpe, Reshma Shetty of Ginkgo BioWorks, Geoff Chapin of Next Step Living, and Oasys Water‘s  Aaron Mandell, and it was clear that the SBA and FDA officials were impressed with the work these companies are doing.

The Mayor added that the types of companies moving to the Innovation District want “to collaborate more. These entrepreneurs are different thinkers. We see new things happening here everyday.” Mills replied to the Mayor saying that she “commend(s) (him) for creating a cluster of brainpower like she’s never seen… It’s extraordinary.”

The next stop was to Skyhook Wireless, where Mills asked CEO Ted Morgan what he believes is the benefit of innovative companies being together. “The human interaction makes a huge difference and it builds companies faster,” Morgan replied. Also on this stop with Marissa Lowman of Aisle Buyer who moved to the District in 2010. They are also growing rapidly and looking to expand their space within the year.

“You’ve made some luck here. Some (initiatives) work better than others and this one is working,” concluded Mills.

Read more about the tour from the Boston Globe.

 

To provide input for the Obama Administration’s Start Up America initiative on reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, head to reducingbarriers.ideascale.com

Design matters at DIGMA

October 8th, 2010 · samhammar · live, play, work No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday, Mitch Weiss, Mayor Menino’s Chief of Staff, presented the vision the Innovation District to over 200 local designers and business leaders at the Design Industry Group of Massachusetts (DIGMA) “Design Means Business” conference. The conference theme was about going “back to the drawing board, not the board room… to rethink, restructure, and relaunch,” which made for a perfect place to have a discussion about the Innovation District.

Weiss opened with the vision for the next generation of the South Boston waterfront, adding that “we need to get back to good design” for the district to be a success. He proposed that “we all have a unique opportunity to actually do innovation in a place where designers are next to manufacturers… because proximity matters and design matters.” He also called for designers to move their businesses to the Innovation District to be an integral part of the nexus of the growing sectors already down there and to contribute to the district’s core principle of being an urban lab. He mentioned that when companies tell him they want to be in the Innovation District, they say “it’s more than being on the water and it’s more than the beauty of the place. It’s the idea.”

During Q & A, Barbara Lynch, owner of eight local restaurants who was also on the panel, added that she opened several of her restaurants in the Innovation District because “I wanted to be a part of that history. I like where it’s going.”

Pictured above are Harvard Business Review’s Jeff Kehoe, Behnisch Architekten’s Martin Werminghausen, C & J Katz Studio’s Cheryl Katz, Barbara Lynch, Mayor Menino’s Chief of Staff Mitch Weiss, & Secretary of Housing and Economic Development for the State of Massachusetts Greg Bialekcki

In response to an audience question on whether the Innovation District was modeled after other similar initiatives, Weiss said that this is not an emulation of anywhere else, then added that Silicon Valley is not just one location, but rather a series of regional nodes of innovation, which we already have in Massachusetts and New England.

Other questions were raised about the area’s family-friendliness, desire for a public school to be there, and the need for more public space. On the last issue, Weiss mentioned that the two recently approved development projects, Waterside Place and Seaport Square, will have public innovation centers as well as outside public space.

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Thanks to DIGMA for the invitation (especially Tracy and Stephane), the Design Museum team, and Collective Next who took the notes you see above.