Dear Friends,

As we round out 2007, there is good news to report in New Bedford. The master plan for redevelopment of the Hicks-Logan area nears completion, and in the emerging sector of marine science and technology, New Bedford’s Quest Center incubator company, Brooke Ocean Technology USA, wins a Department of Defense early-stage R&D contract for unmanned underwater and surface vehicles.

While our fishing industry continues to flourish – generating over $1 billion for the local economy – the Boston Globe features a New Bedford scalloper captain’s last trip to Georges Banks for the season.

The addition of 415 city jobs in the five years ending in 2006 defies the statewide trend of overall job loss, and planning analysis of the commuter rail extension to New Bedford continues.

Finally, we include an example of our city’s rich creative and cultural offerings – a recent concert performed by local musicians of all ages at the Buttonwood Park Zoo.

Wishing you and your families a happy, healthy holiday season,

Matthew A. Morrissey
Executive Director

  Master plan for Hicks-Logan redevelopment nearing completion

NEW BEDFORD — A master plan for the redevelopment of the Hicks-Logan neighborhood is a step closer to being adopted after it was presented at a public meeting Tuesday night.

It was the last of three public meetings held both to inform the community on the progress of the plan and to solicit input.

The plan, which has been in the works since April, now needs to go to the Planning Board for approval. It will then move on to the City Council before winding... [read more]
 

  Brooke Ocean Technology USA receives STTR contract

Brooke Ocean Technology USA Inc. is teaming up with Professor Louis Goodman at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology and VCT Inc. on a project entitled, “Automated Launch and Recovery of Small, Untethered Unmanned Underwater Vehicles from Unmanned Surface Vehicles.”

The partners received a Phase I Small Business Tech Transfer Program (STTR) contract totaling $70,000 for the work which is expected to take six months... [read more]
 

  New Bedford scalloper and fishing industry featured in Boston Globe

When Captain Ewa Liput and her six-man crew cast off from Fairhaven for Georges Bank, the fishing grounds east of Cape Cod and south of the Gulf of Maine, she steers the 98-foot scallop boat Quincy II through the harbor's hurricane barrier and into Buzzards Bay. The boat rounds Gay Head and steams past Nomans Land before setting a course that will take them 175 miles east in about 18 hours.
 
Under federal regulations, in the 2007 season, the Quincy II was allowed just 52 fishing days, and Liput used those up in eight trips, including the one to Georges Bank. (The season opens March 1 and lasts 12 months.)... [read more]
 

  City officials tour commuter rail options

Local officials hoping for a quicker commuter rail connection from New Bedford to Boston got a first-hand look at some of the difficulties of linking to the Middleboro line.

About 40 regional planners and elected officials took a bus tour along the proposed Middleboro rail corridor Friday and learned that a bottleneck from Braintree to Boston's South Station, along with potential delays in Lakeville, pose expensive challenges... [read more]
 

  New Bedford adds 415 new jobs over five year period – defies statewide pattern

New Bedford and Brockton may have missed much of the wave of high-tech jobs in the past decade or two, but a new study finds the two cities also avoided a decade-long drain in high-tech jobs that afflicted every other metro area in Massachusetts.

The report, "Mass Jobs: Meeting the Challenges of a Shifting Economy," surveys the landscape and finds Massachusetts ranks 49th in job creation among the 50 states (Connecticut is 50th), and that it struggles... [read more]
 

  Buttonwood Park Zoo holiday concert brings out local musicians of all ages

The Buttonwood Park Zoo hosted the first New Bedford performance of Merry TubaChristmas as local tuba and euphonium players of all ages performed Christmas tunes under the direction of special guest conductor Dr. David MacKenzie, music director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Standing by were the zoo’s resident elephants, but there was no need for extra trumpeting. William Kingsland, director of music for Dartmouth’s school system (pictured here) was among the many local musicians performing... [read more]