As the presidential candidates debated Monday night how best to add high-paying jobs to the U.S. economy, the businesses and organizations in neighboring Devens have been doing just that. According to a new study, employment at Devens jumped 24 percent during the past two years, bringing the total number of workers at the former U.S. Army base to nearly 5,000. Moreover, between 2012 and 2014, the most recent years for which such data is available, total wages paid to those employees rose by nearly 40 percent to $415.8 million.
These results are reported in a study prepared by the UMass Donahue Institute and released last week at an informal press event at Devens. The study was commissioned by MassDevelopment, the state agency that manages the 4,400-acre community. The report is the fourth prepared by Donahue researchers since 2012.
What was impressive, said research analyst Chris Jurek at the Sept. 22 press event, was the growth overall in employment. Many of those new jobs were higher paying jobs in biologics, medical device, and other manufacturing, he said. As a result, the study found, the average wage of a Devens worker is $83,545, 30 percent higher than the $60,094 average for Massachusetts,
Job growth a major goal
“The main purpose to Devens was to grow jobs here and to grow the economy in this part of the commonwealth, which took such a big hit from the closure of Fort Devens 20 years ago,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. The number of workers at Devens has now reached two-thirds of the state’s goal to create at least 7,000 jobs to replace those lost in the 1996 base closing. At the time of the closing, according to a 1995 Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the U.S. Army, employment totaled 8,400.
Of the 4,977 people employed at Devens, most (80 percent) are employed by 75 private-sector companies at the base. The largest private employers are Quiet Logistics, a high-tech order fulfillment service; Bristol-Myers Squibb, a biologics manufacturer; Johnson Matthey Pharma Services, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients; and SMC, a medical device manufacturer. The largest of these is Johnson Matthey, which employs 850 people. The report claims that the 96 businesses and nonprofits at Devens had combined sales of $1.4 billion and were expected to pay $7.4 million in state corporate profits tax this year, while their employees will pay $22.2 million in Massachusetts personal income taxes.
All of this growth is producing demand for workers with so-called advanced manufacturing skills, said Jones. Many of the 20 manufacturers at Devens, she said, are looking for high school graduates with some technical training, including robotics programming skills, such as people who have gone through the Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) advanced manufacturing program. According to the Donahue report, the 1,903 manufacturing jobs at Devens pay the second highest average wage ($104,808), outdone only by wages earned by the 338 professional, scientific, and technical services workers there ($125,878).
Many of the manufacturing workers come from Leominster and Fitchburg, while many of the professional workers come to Devens from surrounding towns and some, who prefer a more urban environment, from Boston. Bristol-Myers Squibb has relocated professionals from New Jersey and Syracuse, New York, to staff its recently opened Phase II manufacturing plant.
Transportation a challenge
Devens Senior Vice President Thatcher Kezer said that getting workers to Devens is a challenge. He told the Press that he is working with the Montachusett Area Regional Transit Authority (MART) to create a “U-loop” van service that would carry workers from commuter rail stations in Ayer and Shirley to Devens facilities. He said the new “reverse commute” schedules would make it easier for commuter rail riders to reach Devens. As for workers who reside in Leominster and Fitchburg, Kezer said he is collaborating with MART to create a new “Devens Express” bus route to carry employees from those cities to Devens plants. “MWCC is very interested in this as well, so they can get people into their program,” Kezer added.
The Devens Regional Enterprise Zone is the creation of the state of Massachusetts and the surrounding towns of Lancaster, Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard. Land sales are handled by MassDevelopment, and the permitting of new plants and businesses is done by the 12-member Devens Enterprise Commission. The area’s goals are spelled out in a 1994 Reuse Plan negotiated by the state and abutting towns.
But the impact of Devens development reaches beyond its 4,440 acres. Donahue researchers concluded that indirect spending by Devens employees and organizations at local businesses contributed an additional $1 billion to the Massachusetts economy and supported an additional 5,800 jobs in the state.
“As Devens succeeds, the region benefits as a whole,” said Kezer. While north central Massachusetts towns have to succeed individually, he said, “We succeed individually when we’re working collaboratively.”
