On June 7 Congressman James McGovern (D-MA), Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, members of the Shrewsbury and Grafton legislative delegation, local officials from the Town of Shrewsbury, and representatives of the Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC) gathered to officially break ground on the proposed CenTech Park East infrastructure project in the town of Shrewsbury.
The CenTech Park East project is a proposed technology park that is located on 84 acres of surplus Grafton State Hospital land. Purchased by the WBDC, the development of CenTech Park East will yield complementary uses to CenTech Park, the adjacent 121-acre technology park.
The success for this development project is due to the continued collaborative spirit between the Town of Shrewsbury and the Town of Grafton. During the construction of the original CenTech Park, the towns developed an Intermunicipal Agreement for the water and sewer services as a creative way to solve budget and capacity issues for needed infrastructure. In 2005, the communities once again collaboratively constructed CenTech Blvd., paving the way for the CenTech Park East project. Today, the Intermunicipal Agreement between the two communities has been extended to service the CenTech Park East project with the Town of Grafton supplying the water and sewer capacity to the development project.
With the infrastructure scheduled for completion in the fall, the CenTech Park East development will be able to support 650,000 s/f of light industrial and manufacturing businesses and create approximately 600 jobs for Shrewsbury and the surrounding communities.
"CenTech Park East is a true success story for the Town of Shrewsbury and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," said David Forsberg, president of the WBDC. "This project is a prime example of the effective use of federal and state resources, taking vacant, underutilized state property and transforming it into an active technology park."
"This is exactly the kind of collaboration we need to help create the jobs of the future," Congressman McGovern said. "I'm very pleased that the Department of Commerce recognized the value of this project. I look forward to seeing CenTech Park East when it's completed."
"By joining forces and sharing local services, Grafton and Shrewsbury have come together to not only create more efficiency in the delivery of local services, but also support regional economic development," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. "This partnership has triggered the investment of critical infrastructure that will lead to job creation, increased local tax revenue, and long-term growth for the towns, region, and Commonwealth."
In 2008, the WBDC and the Town of Shrewsbury was awarded a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) and recently, the Town of Shrewsbury received a $1 million Public Works Economic Development (PWED) grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to fund the construction of infrastructure, including a 1,800 linear ft. access road, to service the CenTech Park East project. The Town of Shrewsbury awarded the construction contract to C.J. Mabardy of Cambridge, which has begun work on the proposed infrastructure.
Maine Drilling & Blasting was chosen to perform work at CenTech Park East. MDB considered CenTech Park East to be an excellent opportunity to team up with one of its long-time customers, C. J. Mabardy, and provide them, along with the project owners, its expert drilling and blasting services. Industrial property, such as CenTech Park, plays a part in Shrewsbury's tax revenue and the overall economic recovery of the area. Maine Drilling & Blasting is proud to assist in building such an important venture and to help make a contribution to the community at-large.