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LAWRENCE – Tuesday,
March 8, 2022 – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced $2.8
million in new infrastructure grants through the Massachusetts Manufacturing
Innovation Initiative or M2I2 to three growing
manufacturers. The three grants were announced by Lt. Governor Karyn
Polito and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy during
an event at 99Degrees Custom in Lawrence, a 375-employee manufacturer of
tech-integrated apparel, which received nearly $1.1 million in new state
support. Grants were also awarded to Soliyarn, a maker of smart textiles
based in Belmont, and to Human Systems Integration (H.S.I.), a wearable
technology company headquartered in Walpole.
The three awards highlight the Commonwealth’s strength in innovative
textiles, an advanced manufacturing sector targeted by the M2I2 program and
a sector that the Commonwealth has played a leadership role in over the
last two centuries.
“These three grantees are developing technical apparel used in medical and
military applications, ‘smart’ products that provide enhanced protection
from the elements but also provide enhanced functionality,” said
Governor Charlie Baker. “Through this support, they have the
opportunity to enhance their ability to compete in markets across the U.S.
and the globe.”
“Since its launch in 2016, M2I2 has impacted over 150 companies across the
state and created hundreds of jobs at manufacturers like these,” said
Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “For these three grantees, the addition
of new tools will help them grow their businesses, add jobs, and bring new
products to market, further boosting our economy and growing our
manufacturing sector.”
The M2I2 program, co-managed by the Center for Advanced
Manufacturing (CAM) at the MassTech Collaborative and
the Executive Office of Housing and
Economic Development, aims to foster and grow sectors such as
this to spur innovation and job growth within the state through
cross-collaboration among companies, universities, national labs,
government, incubators, accelerators, and other academic and training
institutions. To date, the program has invested over $80 million in
direct grants to growing companies, universities, and research labs across
the state.
“Through the M2I2 program, we identify manufacturers that can leverage
state funding to drive future growth, allowing them to become more
efficient, more competitive, and more responsive to customer needs,” said
Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy. “For
99Degrees, Soliyarn, and H.S.I., these grants will help fuel the
development of new products and drive corporate expansion, while
simultaneously creating more high-skilled jobs and more innovative ‘Made in
Mass’ products in the marketplace.”
The three awarded projects, totaling $2,838,375, include:
· 99Degrees Custom,
Lawrence, Mass., $1,088,375 for the project, “Integrated Apparel Innovation
Center:” 99Degrees incubates, designs for manufacture, and
produces technical performance activewear and wearable
technology-integrated apparel for medical device, technology, and apparel
retail companies. The Integrated Apparel Innovation Center at their
facility will include a rapid prototyping center for apparel and
technology-integrated apparel products, as well as an equipment R&D lab
to design, develop and build the tooling and machinery needed to incubate
and scale the production of advanced concept apparel and wearable
technologies. This industry-led innovation center will ensure that the ideas
coming out of the Commonwealth’s labs, academic institutions, research
centers, and technologies companies are able to be designed for
manufacture, piloted, and produced at-scale in Massachusetts.
· Soliyarn,
Belmont, Mass., $1,500,000 for an expansion project to build a
manufacturing facility with scalable CVD Roll-to-Roll System for Conductive
& PFC free DWR textiles. This project will complete a
manufacturing facility with a scalable chemical vapor deposition (CVD)
roll-to-roll system for conductive and durable water repellent (DWR)
textiles that are free of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs). The objective is
to expand the manufacturing capabilities and commercialize the technology
by designing and building a roll-to-roll system of CVD chambers that will
allow Soliyarn to produce bolts of conductive and DWR fabric. This higher
throughput roll-to-roll machine, and other ancillary supporting elements,
are required to meet identified military needs and the exploding market
demand for these types of fabrics.
· Human Systems Integration (H.S.I.),
Walpole, Mass., $250,000 for the project Critical Manufacturing, Assembly,
and Integration of Garment-Embedded, Textile Electronics Elements. The
objective of this project is to develop a new garment-embedded, wearable
electronics platform that will be configurable during manufacturing to any
desired product application. This program represents an opportunity for
HSI, plus their current and emerging industry partners in Massachusetts, to
establish a garment-embedded electronics supply chain for multiple
products, applications, and markets. This initial Heated Apparel product
offers a stepping stone to the development and deployment of an exciting
garment-embedded electronics product category. This is the second M2I2
grant to H.S.I., following a nearly $1.5 million award announced in October 2019.
The
Baker-Polito Administration has committed more than $100 million in funding
to the M2I2 effort, which allows the Commonwealth to co-invest in
projects supported by the national Manufacturing USA initiative,
helping promote innovation and job growth across the state. The three
grantees have also received support from the Advanced Functional Fabrics of
America (AFFOA) national manufacturing institute based in
Cambridge.
"Our strong manufacturing sector and involvement with companies
through programs like M2I2 was a key reason why Massachusetts was quickly
able to address the negative supply issues caused by the COVID-19
pandemic,” said Ben Linville-Engler, Chief Investment Strategist at
the MassTech Collaborative. “The Commonwealth’s engagement with
manufacturers and partnership with key R&D facilities, made it much
easier to help textile manufacturers and others pivot to produce millions
of masks, gowns, and face shields that were in high-demand at that time
because that trust and collaboration already existed. These investment
programs have created a strong foundation that have led to these
manufacturing success stories that we intend to continue to build on.”
In addition to the $80 million directly invested in Massachusetts
organizations, M2I2 has leveraged over $250 million in funding from outside
sources, helping to enable the development of over 100 new products. In
addition to infrastructure investments, the program has also created
workforce training opportunities for thousands of students and workers
statewide.
"I want to congratulate 99Degrees for being awarded a Massachusetts
Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) Grant to help launch their
Integrated Apparel Innovation Center,” said Senator Barry Finegold.
“Investments in programs like M2I2 are critical to support economic and
career growth in Lawrence and other Gateway Cities. I’m proud to see that
Massachusetts continues to be a hub for innovative and emerging
technologies.”
"Human Systems Integration is a national leader in wearable
technologies and manufacturing innovation right here in the
Commonwealth,” said Senator Paul Feeney. “The funding
received by HSI in East Walpole will continue to support the company’s
cutting-edge products while supporting the skilled workforce that makes
this innovation possible. I am thrilled that HSI will continue to benefit
from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) Program,
and I thank the Baker Administration and the leadership at HSI for their
ongoing commitment to manufacturing here in the Commonwealth.”
"For more than three centuries, manufacturing along the Neponset River
in East Walpole has been on the cutting edge of innovation,” said
Representative John Rogers. “Human Systems Integration, Inc. (HSI)
has continued this legacy. I am pleased that this state funding will
continue to incentivize technological and economic growth in our region and
excited to see the new state of the art products this business will
create.”
Manufacturers with
facilities in Massachusetts can learn more about funding opportunities
through the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and the M2I2 program at https://cam.masstech.org/.
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About the Mass.
Center for Advanced Manufacturing at MassTech
The mission of the Massachusetts Center for Advanced
Manufacturing (CAM) is to foster the most complete,
collaborative, and agile manufacturing ecosystem, to enable business growth
from innovation through production. The CAM is a division of the
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), a public economic
development agency tasked with supporting business formation and growth in
the Commonwealth’s tech and innovation sectors. CAM provides a path for
manufacturing growth through a connected, accessible ecosystem that
supports innovation, workforce development and a business friendly
environment. CAM managed programs include the Massachusetts Manufacturing
Innovation Initiative (M2I2), the MassBridge manufacturing training
program, and the mamanufacturing.com portal. Learn
more at https://cam.masstech.org/
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