Northeast Massachusetts Climatetech Consortium
Launched in 2025, this public-private consortium leverages regional strengths to increase equitable, sustainable, and innovative economic competitiveness. GMS co-leads this effort with the North Shore Alliance for Economic Development, MassHire North Shore Workforce Board, InnoventureLabs, Essex County Community Foundation, City of Salem, UMass Lowell Rist Institute, and Middlesex 3 Coalition.
Read the July 2025 conference report and factsheet with regional SWOT analysis and our Climatetech supply chain asset map findings.
Assessing Ecological & Economic Vulnerability in Essex County, MA
Working with the NOAA Office for Coastal Management economics team and the MA Office of Coastal Zone Management, we’re exploring how coastal flood projections intersect with projected future coastal economic, workforce, and housing vulnerabilities in northeast Massachusetts.
North Shore Blue Economy
The blue, or marine, economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation (World Bank). This means looking at how we can use ocean resources sustainably to work toward regional resilience—socioeconomically and ecologically.
Traditional sectors of the blue economy include:
- Living Resources (fishing, aquaculture, seafood processing, seafood markets)
- Coastal Tourism and Recreation (boat dealers, restaurants, hospitality, marinas, scenic water tours)
- Ship and Boat Building & Repair (ships, recreational boats)
- Marine Transportation (deep sea freight, passenger ferries, port and harbor operations, warehousing)
- Marine Construction (dredging, facilities development)
- Offshore Minerals (oil and gas exploration, sand and gravel mining)
In 2021, GMS published a baseline economic assessment with focus group input from over 300 people across regional blue economy sectors. Focus groups also explored how coastal resilience, marine science and technology, and offshore wind intersect with emerging blue economy growth opportunities.
The North Shore Blue Economy report was co-authored with UMass Dartmouth Public Policy Center and Springline Research Group with a North Shore advisory team from the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, InnoVenture Labs, City of Gloucester and Gloucester EDIC, Essex County Community Foundation, and the North Shore Technology Council.
