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WESTBOROUGH – Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced a total of $1.9 million in grant funds for the Towns of Alford, Otis, and Warwick, to finance the construction of high-speed internet networks in the three unserved Last Mile towns. The grant funding, approved today by the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI), is part of the administration’s continued commitment to ensuring broadband access to over 40 Last Mile towns in Massachusetts unserved by broadband internet access.

LEVERETT – Citizens, elected officials, and executives from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts gathered today in Leverett, Mass., to celebrate the launch of the LeverettNet municipal fiber-optic broadband network, a new infrastructure project that offers gigabit-level Internet connectivity to every home and business in the town. The launch celebration, held at the Leverett Elementary School, highlighted the impact that broadband access will have on the community of 1,800 located in Western Massachusetts, including easier access to medical information, the increased ability of local students to complete online homework assignments, and the added opportunity for local small business owners and entrepreneurs to reach new customers via the web.

WESTBOROUGH – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute at MassTech (MBI) and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) have reached agreement on a contract to deliver broadband internet service to five unserved towns in Massachusetts, eventually providing high-speed connectivity to more than 3,600 homes and businesses.

BRIDGEWATER — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced two new grants totaling over $5.2 million from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) to support the development of new advanced manufacturing technologies across the state. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced the new funding at an event hosted at the Dana Mohler-Faria Science and Mathematics Center at Bridgewater State University, which, along with partner Stonehill College, will host some of the new M2I2 program-funded infrastructure. The Lt. Governor also announced a grant to Human Systems Integration, Inc., of Walpole, to support its collaboration with UMass Lowell to evolve its garment-embedded physiological monitoring platform.

CHICOPEE — Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a new grant totaling approximately $2,581,109 from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) to support the development of a new advanced manufacturing center at Convergent Photonics in Chicopee, which is partnering with Western New England University (WNE) on the new facility. Called a ‘Lab for Education and Application Prototyping, or LEAP, the lab will focus on product development, training, and research in the field of integrated photonics, and will be the fourth lab of its kind in the state.

SEMI-FlexTech, a consortium working to advance manufacturing of printed flexible electronics, has awarded $920,696 in federal funds from a cooperative agreement with the Army Research Laboratory for development of the glove. The Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), a state effort to advance manufacturing innovations and job growth through industry-academic collaborations, has awarded an additional $844,242 for the purchase of equipment at WPI and UMass Lowell that will be used to produce and test a prototype glove.

LOWELL – Yesterday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a new $2.3 million grant to Lowell-based composites manufacturer Specialty Materials, Inc., an award from the Commonwealth’s Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2). The award will support the expansion of Specialty’s production of its boron-based composite materials, materials widely used in aerospace, sporting goods, and industrial applications to strengthen products. The M2I2 grant will support a project that will nearly triple the size of the Specialty Material’s manufacturing capability, adding an additional 75 employees and $6 million per year of spending in Massachusetts.

WESTBOROUGH, MASS. – The Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) has partnered with Northeastern on a program that will bring artificial intelligence (AI) to boost Massachusetts businesses. The award of $200,000 to Northeastern University will support AI Jumpstart, a pilot program launched in April 2021 that will assist 18 Massachusetts companies with projects that will deploy AI to enhance their businesses.

BOSTON – On Wednesday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a $4,394,848 grant to Boston University for a new research and development center called the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC). The project will drive the development of new innovations with private sector partners in Massachusetts and increase student research opportunities in the robotics space. RASTIC will emphasize real-world prototyping projects to integrate new materials, functionality, and artificial intelligence into robotic devices, delivering tools that will allow students to design and launch their own R&D projects.