Gov. Baker Congratulates 15 Statewide Winners of MassEcon Impact Awards

BOSTON – Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker congratulated the 15 MassEcon winners of the Fourteenth Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards, telling them, “You have competed in all shapes and sizes and played in all kinds of spaces” in the Commonwealth.

“This is part of the incredible embedded intellectual capital of the Commonwealth from one end to the other,” Baker said, addressing a record MassEcon Impact Awards crowd of more than 350 people at a luncheon at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

It was Baker’s third appearance at the annual event. “I really enjoy hearing about what is going on at companies honored by MassEcon,” Baker said, adding that he had visited about half of the winning companies and Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash had probably toured headquarters of the other half.

Ash joined winners and MassEcon members at a reception before the lunch, which was emceed by WBZ-TV News Anchor Lisa Hughes.

Together this year’s winners have added almost 1,000 jobs to the Commonwealth, invested over $381 million, and expanded their facilities by more than 2 million square feet since January 2016.

Winners in each of five regions of the Commonwealth were selected in Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories, the Gold awards going to ThermoFisher Scientific in Waltham for Greater Boston; Cumberland Farms in Westborough for the Central Region; U.S. Tsubaki in Chicopee for the West Region; Kronos in Lowell for the Northeast Region; and Cold Chain Technologies in Franklin for the Southeast Region.

The winners “represent the backbone of the economy – both local and for export – that Massachusetts has become,” said Brian Cohen, Chair of the MassEcon Board of Directors.

Girard Sargent, President of Citizens Bank Massachusetts, which was a lead sponsor of the event, introduced Baker, commending his regional approach. “We have leadership in New England that is functioning,” Sargent said. “We thank him for investing in the workforce here in the Commonwealth and being a terrific collaborator.”

Christopher Todd, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Services Officer for Kronos, accepted the award for his company, which undertook a half-million-square-foot expansion in Lowell and added 200 new jobs. “Great businesses are powered by great people,” he said, noting it is the company’s 10^th anniversary.

Cold Chain Technologies, which consolidated three locations with a $10 million expansion, was celebrating its 50^th anniversary. Larry Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We’re both proud and humbled to be the Gold Winner.”

Dan Shine, Senior Vice President and President of the Analytics Instruments Group at ThermoFisher Scientific, noted that the company had its origins at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. “We enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer,” he said. The company’s new headquarters in Waltham are certified LEED Silver for sustainability.

Mike Tierney, Vice President of Construction and Planning at Cumberland Farms, which invested $15.5 million and added 300 jobs with a new 100,000-square-foot corporate office in Westborough, thanked the company’s 8,000-plus employees “for your contributions to this great state.” He added, “We provide the bare essentials 24/7/365,” referring to filling the needs of emergency responders at more than 200 locations in Massachusetts alone.

All the winning companies were recognized for making outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy. The winners were noted for job growth, investment, facility expansions, and community involvement.

The winning companies come from across the state, range in size, and were drawn from diverse industries, including life sciences, medical devices, information technology, food, footwear, advanced materials, and the automotive industry.

FOURTEENTH Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Award Winners