News

The Devens evolution: A three-decade transformation of the shuttered Army base is bearing fruit. What’s next for the budding innovation hub?

The U.S. military base known as Fort Devens closed in 1996, jettisoning more than 7,000 local military and civilian jobs and gutting a huge driving force of the North Central Massachusetts economy. But in less than 30 years, the former base has established itself as a master-planned business community, an innovation center with companies in the cybersecurity, biotechnology, and healthcare fields.

After the military left, management of the former base was transferred to MassDevelopment, the commonwealth’s quasi-public economic development agency. Over three decades, the agency attracted businesses to the area, especially manufacturing companies requiring a large footprint to produce their goods. Devens has 4,400 acres of space, touching the nearby towns of Harvard, Shirley and Ayer, and its companies employ more than 6,000 people – nearly as many as worked there during its military heyday.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Halloween Parade, Looking for Artists for Reflections of Rogers Field, Devens Fire Training, and more.

$300,000 state infusion aims to chart new course for former Devens army base

The 4,400-acre property is at an inflection point, as the Legislature is poised to eliminate a strict cap on new housing there

Charting a course for the future of the former Fort Devens Army base could become much easier now that the Healey administration has agreed to pay for a consultant to assist the three base towns with the task.

Under MassDevelopment’s stewardship, Devens has become a big success as an industrial park about an hour’s drive northwest of Boston, essentially replacing the thousands of military jobs that were once there with private-sector ones at employers such as Bristol Myers Squibb and Commonwealth Fusion.

But as a potential solution to the region’s housing woes, the 4,400-acre property has significantly fallen short: The state law that created the Devens enterprise zone in the 1990s has a strict housing cap in place, limiting Devens to 282 units. Efforts to lift the cap have received some pushback, including from local officials who want financial help in planning for the next phase of growth after the original legislation expires in 2033.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Water Restrictions, Applewild School Open House, Walk for the Wild 5K Challenge, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Photos from "wash & push-in" of the new Devens Fire Department vehicle & Devens Harvest Fest, MassDevelopment Board of Directors Meeting & Community Meeting, Loaves & Fishes hiring, and more.

Devens Weekly News

A ribbon cutting celebration for the new Devens mural will take place on October 8 at 4 p.m. at the location of the mural on Willard Field, Little Bee Bookshop is coming back to Devens for a grown-up book fair on Wednesday, October 9 from 4 – 7 p.m. at Sterling Street Brewery, 65 Jackson Road, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Harvest Fest & Devens Fire Department's wash and 'push in' the new tanker truck on October 10, opening celebration of the Devens mural, entitled Intersections of Communities and Culture, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Fire Department Training, Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions, Devens Harvest Fest, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Remembering 9/11, MassDevelopment hosted a meeting with Senator Cronin, Representative Kushmerek of Fitchburg, and President Hodge of Fitchburg State University (FSU), and more.

Devens Weekly News

Mirror Lake is now closed, Reflections of Rogers Field event, The Great Exchange highlights, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Reflections of Rogers Art Unveiling, Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Reflection of Rogers Art Unveiling, Mirror Lake Temporarily Closed, Boston Business Journal Highlights Devens, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Tour and a Talk on SPARC at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Women's Gold Clinic at Red Tail, and more.

Tech companies drive ongoing transformation of Fort Devens

Three decades after a plan first pictured a post-military future for the soon-to-close Fort Devens, the expanse northwest of Boston can now call itself home to a growing roster of notable commercial and industrial uses.

The past few years have been a leap forward for Devens, a 30-mile drive from Cambridge down Route 2 and a center of the 18-town region that makes up the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce’s service area. Logistics, tech and life sciences companies have been a major driver of that growth.

Devens Weekly News

WCVB Chronicle Features Devens, Department of Public Health (DPH) meetings, Clear Path NE Devens Dog Festival, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Clear Path for Veterans New England's annual Devens Dog Festival, Shriver Job Corps Center, and Community Paint Party.

Devens Weekly News

The Wall That Heals July 25 thru July 28; Back Bay Cycling Club is back in Devens; Calendar 

Devens Weekly News

The Wall That Heals July 25 - 28, Board Shorts and Birdies Open at Red Tail Golf Club, TaraVista Career Fair, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Bandoleros highlighted on NECN, Devens Farmers Market, and Calendar of Events

Devens Weekly News

Have a Safe & Happy Fourth of July and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

MassDevelopment, with our partners, the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Devens Enterprise Commission, held a Devens Business Breakfast for Devens businesses to hear what is happening in the community that might impact both their company and employees. 

Devens Weekly News

The Wall That Heals is coming to Devens, Devens Water Restriction in place, Road Construction begins week of 6/24, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Mirror Lake Family Fund Day this weekend, Public Art Project info session, Reflections of Rogers Field Art Installation, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Reflections of Rogers Field Art Installation, Devens Food Truck Festival Success, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Sterling Street Brewery Opens, Devens Food Truck & Craft Festival this weekend, Public Health Advisory, and more.

Mass. Secretary of Economic Development Hao Cuts Ribbon at New Amenity Space in Devens

From left to right: Steve Lynch, Founder, King Street Properties; Ashley Stolba, Undersecretary, MA Executive Office of Economic Development; Susan Templeton, District Director, Office of MA State Senator John Cronin; Tom Ragno, Founder and Principal, King Street Properties; Yvonne Hao, Secretary of MA Executive Office of Economic Development; Julie Farrer, Senior Associate, King Street Properties; Tyson Reynoso, Managing Director and Partner, King Street Properties

King Street Continues Transformation in Devens – New Amenity Center & Brewery Opens at Pathway Devens, a hub for advanced manufacturing

King Street Properties welcomed Massachusetts Secretary Yvonne Hao today to the grand opening of its new amenity space for a celebration of the momentum at Pathway Devens, a 700,000 square foot state of the art advanced manufacturing campus.

The stand-alone amenity building on Jackson Road in Devens, now open for both employees at Pathway Devens and the larger community, was designed to offer a new and unique gathering spot in Devens. Devens has quickly become a world-class destination for companies in life sciences, technology and clean energy and employs approximately 10,000 people daily.  Named ‘The Canteen,’ the vibrant building features a new Sterling Street Brewery taproom, a café, and ample gathering spaces inside and out which are open to the public.  In addition to the public spaces, the 7,175 square foot space includes tenant areas such as conference rooms, gaming room, wellness room, locker rooms and showers, and a ‘winter garden’ where employees at Pathway Devens can work, socialize, play games, and unwind.

Devens Weekly News

Pathway Devens Amenity Center ribbon cutting, Devens Food Truck & Craft Festival, The Great Exchange, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Grand Opening of Azzur Group, 2024 Dog License Information, Mirror Lake Family Fun Day, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens DPW Animal Control, Devens Fire Department New Tanker Truck, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Roman Ferguson Retires, Boston Globe Editorial, Community-Wide Yard Sale, and more.

Unlocking the housing potential of Fort Devens

The 4,400-acre former Army base could be a huge asset for the state as it seeks to build its way out of a housing shortage.

Look to the old Fort Devens Army base for another example of just how laborious and thorny it is to overcome local barriers to new housing in Massachusetts.

The 4,400-acre base, which closed in 1996, would be an ideal site for some of the new housing that Massachusetts so desperately needs. It’s near Route 2 and only minutes from the commuter rail station in Ayer. Some of the military buildings could even be reused.

And as the Globe’s Jon Chesto reported last month, virtually no one is officially opposed to building housing on the site, which straddles the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley in Central Massachusetts.The property is owned by MassDevelopment, the quasi-public state agency that controls Devens and has successfully developed parts of it into a commercial hub where approximately 7,000 people work.

Devens Weekly News

Electric Hydrogen's ribbon cutting, Dick’s Market Garden is back this summer, Shirley & Devens Yard Sale, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Earth Day Celebrations, DevensConnect, Mirror Lake Passes, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Watson-Marlow hosted a "Massachusetts Economic Outlook", DevensConnect event, and Mirror Lake Beach Passes.

Devens Weekly News

Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project Pilot, The Great Exchange, Earth Day Celebrations, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens 2024 Events Calendar, Studio Space for Lease, Loaves & Fishes 5K, and more.

Devens Weekly News

New Date for the Easter Egg Hunt, Devens Census Due, New Devens Amenity Canteen, and Bandoleros highlighted in the Boston Globe.

At Bandoleros in Concord, an American dream worth waiting for

Where to: Bandoleros in Concord.

Why: For Mexican food in a suburban shopping plaza, with lines out the door in the middle of the week, coupled with a uniquely American success story. The backstory: “Every day is a fiesta in Concord,” says Bandoleros owner Elmer Melendez. In 1999, he fled violence in El Salvador to come to the United States with his wife, Delmy Madana, and two young children. He found a cooking job at Savory Lane in Acton. Later, he became a cook at Serafina’s in Concord. In 2007, he began opening his own restaurants with his wife: Dario’s in Fitchburg; Bandoleros in Devens.

His latest triumph is opening a second Bandoleros in the very space where he got a job all those years ago: This is the former Serafina’s, where he was once a young cook.

“It’s an achievement for me, 20 years later. I started out working 100 hours a week. Now, I own my own business. Life has come full circle,” he says.

Devens Weekly News

Time magazine's list of America’s Top Green-Tech Companies 2024, Join Our Team, Shriver Job Corp Open House, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Easter Egg Hunt, Shirley & Devens Community-wide Yard Sale, and calendar of events.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Business Directory, Devens Easter Egg Hunt, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Local happenings and calendar items for February and March.

Devens Weekly News

Parker Charter School Info Session, Devens Census, and more.

Devens Weekly News

K9 Basic Life Saving, Devens Resident Census, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Drone footage of the muralist Kim Carlino, DEC annual report, join our team, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens DPW hiring Maintenance Specialist, Dragonfly Wellness Center classes, Kindergarten registration, and more.

Devens Weekly News

 Sand/salt mixture is available for Devens residents, Call for Artists, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Firefighter Maggie Gabriel, Recreational Cross-country Skiing and Snowshoeing, and more.

Devens Weekly News

The Great Exchange featured on WCVB, OnSolve signup information, Public Art Installation, and more.

Happy New Year!, Christmas Tree Pickup Schedule, and Election Results.

Devens Weekly News

Happy Holidays, Election Results, Call for Artists, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Toys for Tots collection, Little Leaf Boston Globe Article, Little Bee Bookshop, and Loaves & Fishes Holiday Distribution.

While high-tech agricultural startups wilt, Little Leaf Farms flourishes

DEVENS — Indoor farming startups seeking to revolutionize the nation’s food supply have endured a rocky year. Investors have significantly pulled back funding, forcing several companies once worth billions of dollars into insolvency.Paul Sellew has been watching the situation with a mix of pride and hard-earned realism. Little Leaf Farms in Devens, which he cofounded and serves as chief executive, has been flourishing even as the bubble surrounding such startups appears to have burst.

Editorial: New facility shows Devens prioritizes zone’s public safety

As the main driver of the Central Mass. economy, Devens has demonstrated a knack for attracting a variety of businesses that take advantage of its fast-track permitting process.

And in a few years, Devens will have a public-safety facility commensurate with its responsibility to protect those valuable commercial assets as well as the residents that call this economic development zone home.

Recently MassDevelopment, the state’s developmental finance agency and land bank, hosted federal, state, and military leaders for a walk-through of the future Devens public-safety building, a $20.8 million initiative that will bring all local public-safety operations under one roof.

Devens Weekly News

Holiday Tree Lighting, Voting Information, Little Bee Bookshop, Loaves & Fishes, and more.

Devens Weekly News

2023 Devens Annual Report, Future Devens Public Safety Building, Toys for Tots, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Happy Thanksgiving, Congratulations to the Bromfield School and Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School cross country teams, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Toys for Tots Information, The Great Exchange, and the Devens Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Devens Weekly News

Thank You Veterans, Devens Fire Department Promotions, Devens Tree Lighting, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Patton Water Treatment Plant completed, Quintin Burks and Gary Teague retire from Devens Department of Public Works, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Sterling Street Brewery is coming to Devens, OnSolve information, Devens Halloween Parade, and more.

Clinton brewery to open second location inside Devens biomanufacturing campus

Worcester Business Journal, Eric Casey

Sterling Street Brewery, a microbrewery based in Clinton, is planning on opening a second location in Devens next year, according to a Facebook post made by the company. The new location will occupy a 8,300-square-foot building in Pathway Devens, a biomanufacturing campus operated by King Street Properties.

King Street, a private real estate management firm headquartered in Boston, announced earlier in the year it is seeking a brewery to occupy the building, which it expects to be ready for occupancy in the first quarter.

MassDevelopment breaks ground for new Devens public safety building

The Harvard Press, John Osborn

At their once-a-year meeting in Devens last week, members of the MassDevelopment board of directors approved and broke ground for construction of a new, cutting-edge public safety building to serve the businesses and residences of the agency-managed community.

The project involves transformation of a partially vacant MassDevelopment-owned building at 270 Barnum Road into a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the new home for the Devens Fire Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Nashoba Valley Regional Dispatch District.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Fire Department Training, Clear Path for Veterans Devens Dog and Craft Festival, Devens Halloween Events, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Ground broken on new Devens public safety building, Dragonfly Wellness Fundraiser 10/15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Upcoming hydrant and sewer flushing information, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Harvest Fest photos, Devens Farmer's Market, MWCC First Line Supervisor Training, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Harvest Fest, Devens Intersections of Cultures and Communities Temporary Public Art Project, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Eat & Play in Devens September 27, The Great Exchange, Devens Farmer's Market, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Applewild Preschool Open House, Eat & Play in Devens September 27, Flu Shot Information, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Eat & Play in Devens events, The Great Exchange highlighted on WCBV Boston, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Nashoba Valley Celebration of Service this Saturday, OnSolve CodeRED Alerts, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Register for OnSolve CodeRED Alerts, Nashoba Valley Celebration of Service, and Devens Farmers Market.

Devens Weekly News

New Commercial Real Estate Signage, Nashoba Valley Celebration of Service, Devens Farmer's Market, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Nashoba Valley Celebration of Service August 19, Director of the Devens Enterprise Commission Peter Lowitt retires, and Calendar of Events

Devens Weekly News

Pathway Devens has taproom opportunity, CFS updates, Devens Farmer's Market, Yoga on Rogers, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Welcome LTC Joshua Bloom, new Commander of the Devens RFTA, Yoga on Rogers, Devens Water Quality Report, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Bristol Myers Squibb news, Devens Farmer's Market, Yoga on Rogers, and more.

FDA signs off on Bristol Myers Squibb’s latest Devens biomanufacturing venture

Bristol Myers Squibb, a global pharmaceutical company with U.S. headquarters in New York, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for commercial cell therapy manufacturing in Devens.

The Devens facility is the company’s newest cell therapy manufacturing site, according to a June 8 release from Bristol Myers Squibb. The new site will allow expanded production and increase supply of the therapies, according to the release.

Devens Weekly News

Dick’s Market Gardens returns to Devens, Mirror Lake Family Fun Day, Yoga on Rogers, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Commonwealth Fusion Systems highlighted in the WBJ, Devens Family Fun Day, Yoga on Rogers, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Food Truck & Craft Fest this weekend, Boston Globe article featuring Vulcan Forms, and more.

Devens fusion company awarded slice of $46M DOE milestone program

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is one of eight companies nationwide to receive funding as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s $46-million Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, as part of an effort to produce a pilot-scale demonstration of fusion energy generation within a decade.

The most interesting startup in America is in Massachusetts. You’ve probably never heard of it.

DEVENS — About 40 miles northwest of Boston, in a shiny silver building on a long, open road, is a factory.

A most unusual factory.

There is no noisy assembly line. No assembly line at all.

Just a row of tall white machines that hum like servers at a data center.

Inside each, a gantry moves swiftly from side to side, training the power of 150 laser beams onto a bed of metallic powder below. The powder melts and solidifies in layers, none thicker than a human hair. And in time, a plate of impossibly intricate parts takes shape.

It’s easy, really.

“We just need to change the instructions,” says John Hart, standing on the factory floor on a recent afternoon. “We just need to change the code.”

Hart is a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and cofounder of the most interesting startup in America.

It’s called VulcanForms. It’s valued at over $1 billion.

And it’s at the leading edge of a push to transform 3-D printing from a niche technology — best known for new-product prototyping and art-class experimentation — into an industrial force.

Devens Weekly News

Memorial Day, Devens Food Truck & Craft Fest June 4, Lifeguards Wanted for Mirror Lake, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Food Truck & Craft Festival, Food Truck Survey, Devens Firefighters Graduate, Annual Registration for Pets, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

"Amazon-backed startup to open major cleantech factory in Devens", Pet Registration, 2023 Mirror Lake Beach Passes, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Congratulations to Devens Firefighter and Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) Mark Boucher, The Great Exchange udpates, Loaves & Fishes 5K, and Shirley & Devens Community-Wide Yard Sale.

Amazon-backed startup to open major cleantech factory in Devens

Natick-based Electric Hydrogen plans to build what it's calling the world’s largest electrolyzer factory in Devens, a big step in its quest to decarbonize the production of hydrogen for industrial tasks like making steel and fertilizer.

Since it launched two years ago, Electric Hydrogen — also known as EH2 — has announced $222 million in fundraising from big names like Amazon.com Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Climate Pledge Fund, the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Honeywell International Inc. and Rio Tinto.

Devens Weekly News

Earth Day Round Up, Mount Wachusett Community College Course, Loaves & Fishes 5K Walk/Run, Mental Health Awareness Month, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Area Earth Day events, Shirley & Devens Community Yard Sale information, and events calendar.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Resident Info, Shirley & Devens Community-Wide Yard Sale, Dick's Farmers Market, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Community Wide Yard Sale, Dick's Market Garden, Dragonfly Wellness Center, and April Calendar.

Devens Weekly News

Hildreth Elementary School is now enrolling Kindergarten, Devens Easter Egg Hunt, and Calendar of Events.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Events Calander for 2023 is now available, Hildreth Elementary School is accepting Kindergarten applications for Fall 2023, Devens Egg Hunt, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Snow Day and Winter Sports, CFS Tours, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and more.

Devens Weekly News

Devens Emergency Assistance Intake Center (EAIC) – Closing, Commonwealth Fusion Systems tours, and Devens Egg Hunt.

Devens Weekly News

Parking Ban information, The Great Exchange update, IridESSENCE Community Health Collaborative offering free classes, and more.