Sustaining Massachusetts’ innovative edge
Through capital investments, Governor Healey has supported emerging industries and critical sectors of the Massachusetts economy by funding projects in cities and towns across the state. Since taking office, the administration has increased capital funding for economic development by over $37 million, and focusing investments in high-growth technology sectors such as AI, climatetech, robotics, and life sciences.
Photo credit: Reframe Systems
Impact Spotlight: UMass Lowell – Accelerating climate-resilient, affordable housing
Funding for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) has promoted job creation and workforce development through deployment of climate technologies. UMass Lowell is deploying $4.1 million from the Mass Clean Energy Center's Testing and Demonstration Assets (TDA) program to launch the Build Smart Massachusetts Housing Hub, a comprehensive innovation zone for climate-resilient housing. Combining pilot construction sites, retrofit demonstrations, and a dedicated incubator, the hub is expected to support more than 40 startups, deliver 15+ pilot projects, and create over 150 jobs that advances scalable solutions for efficient, affordable housing across the Commonwealth.
Driving job creation
Retaining and attracting the world’s best talent is critical to maintaining Massachusetts’s competitive edge. Through Community One Stop for Growth, a single application portal for municipalities and organizations to apply for over a dozen state grant programs, the administration has fostered the creation of new full-time, part-time, and construction jobs across the state. One Stop provides communities and local partners with the funding needed to return priority sites to productive use. To date, One Stop awards made under the Healey-Driscoll administration are projected to support up to 43,000 new full-time jobs, 11,000 new part-time jobs, and 86,000 construction jobs.
Helping Massachusetts businesses thrive
The Healey-Driscoll Administration has prioritized making Massachusetts the best place in the country to start and grow a business. Through its capital plan, the Administration has made strategic investments to support small businesses, high-growth sectors, and emerging opportunities. For example:
- The new Massachusetts AI Hub strengthens the state's AI ecosystem and keeps the Commonwealth competitive by supporting innovation, research, and the commercialization of AI technologies. In its first year, the Hub has extended AI training opportunities to every Massachusetts resident, launched an Open Accelerator to spur new innovation and help founders commercialize emerging technologies, and partnered with academic institutions to create more equitable access to the compute resources that AI development requires.
- The Business Builds Program supports businesses in making sustainable investments that reduce their carbon footprint while fostering job creation. This initiative, which has received $3.4 million in funding since Fiscal Year 2026, also aims to create a competitive package to attract or retain businesses considering relocation or expansion in other states, encouraging them to grow in Massachusetts.
- The BioBoost program, administered by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), provides grants to companies creating or expanding biomanufacturing and MedTech advanced manufacturing operations in Massachusetts. The program supports capital investments—including facility buildouts, renovations, and equipment purchases—that enable companies to grow their manufacturing footprint in the Commonwealth. By helping businesses make critical capital investments, BioBoost strengthens Massachusetts' life sciences ecosystem, supports high-quality manufacturing jobs, and reinforces the Commonwealth's position as a global leader in life sciences innovation. This complements the larger set of capital programming made possible by the Mass Leads Act.
Investing in local economies
Investments in local infrastructure form the building blocks of a robust and forward-facing economy. The administration’s capital investments have prioritized community initiatives that drive job creation, support business, and extend economic opportunity to all.
On the Map: Community One Stop for Growth Grants
The Community One Stop for Growth is the main vehicle for public economic development investment in the Commonwealth. Through a single application portal, communities can access more than a dozen economic growth and housing development programs. Grant programs under the One Stop umbrella support projects from the planning stage through the zoning process and on to construction. Through its innovative state-local partnership model, One Stop empowers communities to grow on their own terms. Among the opportunities offered through One Stop is the Rural Development Fund, a competitive grant program providing financial support for economic and community development in rural communities and small towns, which the Healey-Driscoll administration has scaled up and funded at $10 million per Fiscal Year.
MassWorks, one of the grants available through One Stop, provides flexible infrastructure funding for municipalities and other public entities to support economic development and job creation initiatives. Two examples of projects funded by MassWorks:
- In FY26, The Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded two grants, totaling $5.5 million in funding, through the Community One Stop for Growth to help transform the former Monson Developmental Center, a long-closed state hospital campus, into a new mixed-use residential village. The Town of Monson received $5 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to replace a deteriorated bridge, improve roads, and add the water and sewer infrastructure needed to make the site development-ready, and Monson Development LLC received $500,000 from the Site Readiness Program to support a comprehensive redevelopment plan for 108 acres of the former campus. These Commonwealth investments catalyzed a projected $250 million in private development, 430 housing units, 120,000 square feet of commercial space, and 750 permanent jobs in a rural community in the Pioneer Valley.
- In FY25, through One Stop, the Town of Dartmouth was awarded $2,100,000 to upgrade a pump station to support an approved 288-unit multi-family development. The approved project proposes 32 buildings, half of which will be multi-family. Upgrading the pump station will enable completion of the development, in which 25 percent of the units developed will be designated for affordable housing. Dartmouth had completed the design and permitting for the project, and funds are being used to carry out construction.
Impact Spotlight: Yarmouth Wastewater Collection System Phase 1
In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), Yarmouth was awarded a $3.5 million MassWorks grant to improve local infrastructure. The Yarmouth Wastewater Collection System Phase 1 project will construct sewer infrastructure along the Route 28 and South Shore Drive commercial corridor, including approximately 32,600 linear feet of gravity sewer, 12,900 linear feet of force main, and two sewer pump stations. The project will serve 441 parcels, address a long-standing wastewater infrastructure barrier, improve environmental resiliency, and unlock reinvestment in a corridor with restaurants, hospitality properties, housing, and small businesses. It is expected to support major mixed-use redevelopment, including approximately 200 rental housing units, 157,300 square feet of commercial space, 150 hospitality units, more than $64 million in private construction value, and up to 357 new permanent jobs.
Sparking redevelopment
The administration’s capital investments have helped recent real estate development attract new businesses, private sector investment, and jobs to Massachusetts. Programs including the MassWorks Infrastructure Program and MassDevelopment’s Site Readiness increase the state’s inventory of well-located, project-ready sites. Additional funding through programs such as MassDevelopment’s Underutilized Properties Program and the TDI Equity Investment Trust Fund helps convert vacant and underutilized buildings into active spaces that reenergize communities and encourage investment in the area.
| Last updated: | June 26, 2026 |
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