Blog Archives - EDIC- Gloucester , MA

By Carl Gustin

Two issues important to many companies and their employees are health and hospitality. Recent events in Gloucester are having a positive impact in both areas.

On the health front, the Gloucester Daily Times reported on March 1, 2019 that “A new era for health care on Cape Ann and across other Massachusetts communities quietly took hold Friday. The merger linking Lahey Health, and its Addison Gilbert and Beverly hospitals, with the Beth Israel Deaconess system … officially took effect on the first day of March under the new banner Beth Israel Lahey Health, drawing together 13 hospitals, more than 800 primary care physicians, over 3,500 specialists and a total of 35,000 employees.”
The Beth Israel Lahey website notes that specialties at the 58-bed medical/surgical acute care facility “include: radiology, cancer care, primary adult and pediatric care, day surgery, midwifery, gynecology and maternity care, inpatient geriatric services, and emergency medicine.” For more information on Addison Gilbert, and Beverly Hospital services, visit https://www.beverlyhospital.org/locations–services/locations/addison-gilbert-hospital.

The hospitality industry saw a significant addition when the Beauport Hotel — https://www.beauporthotel.com — opened on Gloucester Harbor in 2016. In addition to 94 guest rooms, the hotel offers 10,000 square feet of event space with views of the Gloucester Harbor and the waterfront.

The hotel hosts travelers visiting many of Gloucester’s businesses, including many that reflect the networks of employees, customers and suppliers from across the country and around the world.

In a January story in London’s Telegraph newspaper, the newspaper’s travel expert rated the hotel overall as an 8 on a 10-point scale. It rated its location in Gloucester as a 9, pointing to history, its beaches, access to transportation and cultural activities, many of the same factors that attract the diverse mix of businesses that make up the Gloucester economy. Its overall assessment: “The hotel’s coastal location on Cape Ann pairs captivating ocean views with this historic seafaring city’s dining and entertainment.”

By Carl Gustin

Gloucester businesses are already significant participants in the Blue Economy, which is depicted below in the infographic from the World Bank. Blue Economy businesses in Gloucester include Gorton’s, Intershell and diverse companies on the Jodrey State Fish Pier, as well initiatives and organizations addressing climate change, deploying renewable energy and building tourism around Gloucester’s maritime history.

It’s also seen in a new initiative, supported in part by the Gloucester EDIC, to create a North Shore Blue Economy Coalition. The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce is working with UMass Amherst’s Gloucester Marine Station, headed by Dr. Katherine Kahl, and with Dr. Michael Goodman, co-author of a 2017 report by UMass Dartmouth’s Public Policy Center assessing the state’s maritime economy. Both UMass campuses have strong marine research and public policy programs.

The first step was to secure funding to assess the scope of existing Blue Economy economic activities leading to the development of a regional Blue Economy Economic Development Strategy.

That strategy will draw heavily on Gloucester’s proximity to the ocean and its experience and expertise in marine and maritime industries. It will traditional maritime industries as well as 21st century technologies, new discoveries, such as those being pursued by the newly opened Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute on Rogers Street, and a growing workforce built around skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).