The Future of the Life Sciences Industry in Burlington

Last month, the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel with Massachusetts government leaders and Burlington Life Science experts to discuss the status and future of our suburban Life Sciences industry.

The panel included:

Melisa Tintocalis, Economic Development Director, was invited by the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss life sciences. We spoke with Melisa after the panel about why she was drawn to economic development, and how Life Sciences plays a role in the growth of Burlington long term. 

What drew you to economic development work?

Urban planners can be generalists. I leaned towards the economic development side because the commercial spaces tend to be where people gather and socialize – be it going out to eat at the restaurants, out to shop, or going to work to earn a living.  Being a social person and also seeing an opportunity to guide this type of development drew me to the economic development side of planning.  My interests evolved to work programs and policies to encourage these spaces to thrive, look better, promote smart growth, support work force training, provide public amenities and be the engine for a community to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants.

Burlington has been focused on growing over the years across industries such as technology, healthcare, and especially in Life Sciences. Is there a reason (or reasons) Burlington has become such a hot spot for the Life Sciences industry?

Yes, our community has been proactive in many ways – as an administration we set a goal to augment and support research and development companies and have taken strategic actions to make that happen through various actions concerning infrastructure investments to human resources and land use policies. More specifically: 

1. 1. 1.  We have invested over $23M in improving our water infrastructure to prepare for growth. Burlington will connect to the MWRA for reliable and consistent water to support a wide range of growth and commercial activity. 
      2. We have leveraged one of the most powerful tools in local government, which is land-use policy. We have worked to make amendments to our zoning by law that allows for life sciences and R&D uses, expands opportunity for experience-based retail, and allows for outdoor dining.
      3. We have invested in our human resources by building capacity through training staff and hiring knowledgeable staff who understand the science behind the life science companies and the type of buildings they need to ensure public safety while still supporting their growth.  Given this, we have earned a Platinum Ready designation by MassBIO
      4. To better tie these initiatives together and provide interdepartmental cohesion we created an economic development office. Additionally, the Economic Development office focuses on connecting with the business community and works to  promote  awareness of our key industries. The office has secured grants for long-range economic development initiatives and built a new website with a social media presence @BringMeToBurlington that is designed for a commercial and private sector audience.

What benefits can Burlington residents and those of the surrounding communities find from this suburb becoming a more mixed use location for both housing and companies alike?

As Burlington works to incorporate more mixed-use development with more density and proximity of uses the community will benefit from enhancing spaces that offer more pedestrian walkability and active transportation. Residents and employees will be able to access essential services in life – be it work, food, socializing, or day care services. Market preferences have shifted towards these types of spaces, hence by creating these types of developments Burlington’s commercial areas are able to evolve and remain relevant and thus attractive. This helps maintain and attract private investment so that the long term fiscal health of the community is also sustained. 

Do you foresee any challenges that may come up? Such as land use and development?

The challenges that may come up are people’s perceptions of traffic and congestion. There is a thinking that density equates to a high rise look and feel such as Boston, however, through our policy choices and urban design efforts we can encourage a livable mid-scale density that supports various aspects of life.

Were there any important takeaways from the panel? Anything surprising?

My sense from the panel is that we are in an interesting era with the intersection of life sciences and technology. The industries seem to be increasingly overlapping over as we talk about digital health and within this space there is a wide variety of employment opportunities. These industries not only need doctorate level employees, but they need entry level data analysts, logistic managers, computer science technicians, project managers, as well as the higher level science.  

As a leader in Burlington, what were some of the key takeaways you had during the panel?

We have a lot employment opportunity locally with places like Butterfly, the Broad Institute, and Microsoft located in town – as a community we should encourage our young people to explore these places and ensure that we offer training and pathways so that we may create a local talent pool that supports a virtuous cycle that helps residents benefit from the opportunity and in turn helps to retain and grow the industries that are here.

Watch the Burlington Cable Access Television recent video of the panel: