Last week at Greentown Labs we celebrated the Grand Opening for our new Global Center for Cleantech Innovation, which officially places Greentown Labs as the number one largest hardware-focused cleantech incubator in the United States! This event welcomed upwards of 600 attendees, from as close as our own Somerville community to those who flew in internationally. We were also honored to have some incredible keynote speakers at this event including Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, as well as a number of cleantech leaders from a range of fields.
This event not only unveiled our new space to the public but also included a demo day exhibition in the prototyping lab where attendees were able to explore the fantastic work of our eighty-plus member companies. The new facility includes a prototyping lab, wet lab, machine shop, and office space for more than 450 entrepreneurs. You can read more about it here.
The day was kicked off by our CEO Emily Reichert as she opened up this packed event.
“Why shouldn’t it be our state of Massachusetts that leads the way? We are ready to do our part at the Global Center for Cleantech Innovation—right here in Somerville!”
-Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs
“On behalf of our community, our city, we could not be prouder that you call Somerville home”
-Joseph Curtatone, Mayor of Somerville
“This is ground zero right now for all the big thinking that’s happening in clean energy and climate solutions. Right here in Somerville. And you all sit here like, ‘oh ya, sure’ but to anyone who has any sense of history, this is really special. Its special because you come back here years from now and the big problem Emily and the Mayor will have is to figure out where this burgeoning industry goes next.”
-Charlie Baker, Governor of Massachusetts
“I’ll never get tired of saying that Somerville and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are the home of the largest cleantech incubator in the country that is a global hub for clean energy solutions.”
-Karyn Polito, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Emily Reichert carried out the ribbon-cutting alongside (front row left to right) Dick Gavegnano, President of East Boston Savings Bank; Judith Judson, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources; Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone; Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs; Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito; Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker; and Somerville Board of Alderman President Katjana Ballantyne.
The Demo Day portion of our event was also a success! It is a great opportunity for our member companies to showcase what they have been developing and allows the community a peek behind the scenes of what the next big innovations in cleantech will be!
Above, Governor Charlie Baker can be seen on his tour through the prototyping lab looking under the hood at an IVYS hydrogen car.
In order: Raptor Maps, Steam IQ, and Exact-Lux 
To finish up the day, all of our guests were invited to head up to the new roof deck area for more networking and drinks!
This event was a day full of excitement, networking and new beginnings! Overall it was a huge success for Greentown Labs as well as those who presented during the Grand Opening and in the lab for Demo Day. This was the perfect kick-off event for our exciting new journey at 444 Somerville Ave.! As Mayor Joseph Curtatone put it:
“Welcome to the cleantech capital of the world, right here in Somerville!”