North Shore Tech Cluster Gains Visibility

This is part of a Patch series highlighting why technology and media companies are choosing the North Shore over Boston. If you have a local, innovative business on the North Shore, and actively chose this area over Boston, let us know: email taylor.rapalyea@patch.com.

BEVERLY, MA – One thing the North Shore Technology Council has found over its 15 years is that the tech industry on the North Shore has always existed in some form. New England Biolabs – the first biotech company in the state – started in a garage on Rantoul Street, and are now headquartered in Ipswich.

The NSTC was founded roughly 15 years ago to represent the tech companies on the North Shore. Today, the NSTC holds networking events, breakfast briefings, and has special interest groups in specific tech fields.

Members pay an annual fee, and Ed Alexander, who does marketing for the NSTC, said membership has been steady.

"We want to raise awareness around the North Shore so when people are looking for expansion or more space they see the North Shore as a potential place to put their business," said Linda Saris, president of the NSTC.

Martha Farmer, PhD, is president and CEO of North Shore Innoventures, a group connected to but separate from the NSTC focusing on life sciences. She said the cluster of tech on the North Shore is more visible than it used to be, and the emphasis on education in the tech field means parents look to move to an area with high-quality schools.

"People love living out here," said Farmer. "There’s a lot of attention to education. The people employed in these companies are going to be looking for good places to educate their kids."

North Shore public schools consistently rank well in U.S. News & World Report, and Essex County has 80 private elementary schools, according to Private School Review.

And while education serves as a draw to the North Shore, there are still challenges surrounding hiring, Farmer said. North Shore Innoventures launched an incubator program after they realized that it's easier to get companies to start in the area rather than convince them to relocate. Roughly 50 companies have gone through the program, and 17 graduates are out on their own.

Of those 17 companies, only about a third stay on the North Shore when they've left the incubator. Farmer said if the founders had an MIT connection they usually chose to go back to Cambridge, and many startups felt that they had to be closer to that concentration of people.

"There’s various concerns that they’re not going to be able to hire people," Farmer said. "The availability of the talent here... I don’t think there’s a shortage, but there’s a shortage of a way for people to find that talent."

Saris said there's a perception that there are going to be issues with hiring. Farmer said the InnoNorth job board is making headway into that issue, especially as more people learn about it.

To learn more about the North Shore Technology Council, visit their website.

Images via North Shore Technology Council