BUILDING THE DREAM

NEW BEDFORD — In late January, city officials and the owner of the Fairhaven Mills waterfront industrial site met in Boston with top architects and planners who have worked on state-of-the-art, energy efficient development projects around the country. Their goal was to turn the 13.9-acre Fairhaven Mills site into a showcase for so-called “sustainable design” while maximizing its potential to revive the near North End.

Developer Mark Dickinson of Quincy-based Dickinson Development Corp., Mayor Scott W. Lang, and Matthew A. Morrissey and Derek Santos, both of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, spent two days at the first Sustainable Cities Design Academy conducted by the American Architectural Foundation and United Technologies Corp.  [read more]
 

High-end manufacturer Symmetry Medical Inc. thrives in low-end economy

Low-skill manufacturing may be on life support in New Bedford, but high-skill manufacturing seems to be pumping more iron every day.

One of the big success stories in 2008 was at the New Bedford Business Park. As usual.

The business park is where Symmetry Medical Inc., a manufacturer of metal parts used in the creation of orthopedic devices, added 59 jobs. It grew from 220 workers to 279.

Symmetry's 85,000-square-foot plant  [read more]
 

City wins major cultural grants

NEW BEDFORD — The Massachusetts Cultural Council on Friday announced two grants totaling $95,000 for New Bedford to continue building its "creative economy," with one for $60,000 to the New Bedford Economic Development Council and another for $35,000 to AHA!, the monthly celebration of arts and culture.

At a press conference at UMass Dartmouth's University Art Gallery in downtown New Bedford, officials praised the results of building the city's creative economy.

The council grants came through the [read more]
 

New Bedford energy company looks to harness canal's current

A New Bedford-based company is seeking a license to harness the fast-moving currents of the Cape Cod Canal to generate electrical currents.

In November 2007, Natural Currents New England was issued a preliminary permit by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to install a test tidal turbine at the canal. The company announced this week that it intends to install a turbine once other permits are secured.

The Natural Currents project likely requires [read more]
 

City solar company secures $5 million loan for manufacturing and job creation

Lowell, Mass. – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Konarka Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company has received $5 million in financing in connection with its recently opened production facility in the city of New Bedford. The long-term loan comes from a funding collaboration between the Emerging Technology Fund of Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust’s Business Expansion Initiative.

Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick stated [read more]
 

WinnCompanies completes solar installations at historic New Bedford mill

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — WinnCompanies has completed solar power installation at New Bedford's Whaler's Place, an affordable senior apartment community located at 90 Riverside Ave.

The 168 kW solar photovoltaic system produces approximately 202,000 kW hours of electricity a year. This electricity would otherwise have to be purchased directly from the utility companies.

Whaler's Place was once a part of the  [read more]
 

Ahab would love New Bedford’s Whaling Museum

If you’ve ever wondered what life aboard a whaling ship was really like, you might read Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick, or Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, which described the sinking that inspired Melville’s classic.

Or you might just drive to New Bedford, the onetime whaling capital, and its Whaling Museum. There you’ll find what may be the world’s largest model ship, the half-size replica of the bark Lagoda, which sailed from New Bedford from 1826 to 1886.

It is from here that Herman Melville  [read more]
 

Darn It! featured in Boston media again

A New Bedford company located in the city’s north end upper harbor business district is featured again by the Boston media. Darn It! recently found a spot on Channel 5’s popular program Chronicle.
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Last year, the company was featured on Channel 2’s Greater Boston. Congratulations to Jeff Glassman and his father Norman at Darn It! for recreating an old business and attracting major media attention. For more about Darn It! see previous issues of the newsletter:

WGBH Greater Boston features New Bedford company
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Date posted: 12/19/2008 [read more]