Economic Development

Sustainable Chinatown

Sustainability and Business Competitiveness in Boston’s Largest Asian Neighborhood

Sustainable Chinatown is a public private partnership between the BRA’s GreenTech initiative, the Chinatown based Asian American Civic Association (AACA) and interested business owners in Chinatown.  Many Chinatown business owners lack the resources or expertise to pursue sustainable business strategies that could help them trim expenses while reducing environmental impacts.  The project will address business competitiveness issues – rising energy, water, and solid waste management costs – with practical and affordable solutions that help business owners reduce costs and environmental impacts, build long term sustainable business expertise capacity in a predominantly non-English speaking community, while helping the City of Boston meet its aggressive greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals.

Cleantech Incubator

Identifying New Space Options for Promising Cleantech Start-ups

Many promising cleantech start-ups face a real estate “valley of death.”  They can often afford a modest lease, but lack funds to finance an office or lab build out.  GreenTech is pursuing a range of incubator and shared office/lab space options with an array of non-profit, public and private entities.  An incubator would complement the affordable space now available in Boston’s Innovation District where a growing cleantech cluster has taken root.  Incubator models vary, but core components include shared resources (e.g. kitchens, conference rooms), shared equipment and wi-fi, networking capacity, and the less tangible but often cited opportunity for intellectual cross pollination.