Massachusetts has awarded Pittsfield and the city’s economic development agency nearly $10 million for a life science innovation center.
The $9.7 million capital grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will fund building design, construction and equipment for the proposed 20,000 square-foot facility at the William Stanley Business Park. Cory Thurston is executive director of the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, or PEDA, the quasi-public agency in charge of redeveloping the 52-acre former GE site.
“Our proposal was for $9.7 million versus the $6.5 million that was originally earmarked in the legislation,” Thurston said from Boston. “The board felt that we had presented a sufficient enough case and awarded the higher amount.”
An additional non-profit will be established to work with the city and PEDA to develop the center. Construction could begin by the summer of 2015.
