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New Somerville Manufacturing Program Supports Startup Commercialization

Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s best and brightest inventors, researchers, doers, and change-makers. Nowhere is this more true than in Northeast Massachusetts which is home to a dense advanced manufacturing cluster and Somerville, a thriving hub of hardware startups, makerspaces, and legacy manufacturing expertise. With this strong community and offerings combined, the City of Somerville and its partners have launched the Form to Factory Program which aims to make a startup’s path to commercialization easier.

In collaboration with Greentown Labs, the Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium and the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP), the City of Somerville invites business owners involved in the creation of a physical products to take part in the “Engineers-in-Residence” (EIR) program, an element of the larger Form to Factory Initiative.  

This program is application-based and is focused on companies in Middlesex County, Essex County, and Boston. The EIR program will help early-stage companies solve diverse business, engineering, and manufacturing challenges in an effort to turn the vision for a business into reality. The Program will hone in on the company’s business structure and strategy, support product design, reduce production costs, and define process improvements through one-on-one consulting and engineering technical assistance.

No matter what you’re building, if you have plans to commercialize, the EIR Program and the Form to Factory partners can help. With deep in-house expertise provided by MassMEP and an on-call list of engineers, the collaborators will work with you to solve your biggest prototyping and business planning needs.

As part of the program, Form to Factory partners can provide up to $10,000 in subsidy per project.

Applications are open and accepted on a rolling basis; and there are no industry sector restrictions. Interested companies can learn more about the program and apply here.

Questions? Interested in applying or supporting the participants? Please contact Ben Sommer, Economic Development Specialist for the City of Somerville, bsommer@somervillema.gov.