Senator DiZoglio now chairs the joint (Mass house and senate) committee on Community Development and Small Business. We have in the aggregate 65 small businesses located here at CI Works. Diana chose not to give a speech about her committee, but rather to actively listen to challenges that small businesses face in Massachusetts to obtain input on areas that the committee should focus on improving. When you provide an opportunity for small businesses to share their experie

Who are you? SaCaR Enterprises LLC What is your business? We are makers of yusō and Tri Onigiri – fresh, healthy, grab-and-go snacks distributed through healthy grocers, corporate and university food services and convenience stores. Is there a story behind your business? I first tried onigiri on a business trip in Japan and was hooked at first bite. Too many meetings, too little time and no time to eat: We refueled with these Japanese “on the go” sandwiches comprised of a f

Who are you? Mary Swenson, owner of Farm + Sea What is your business? A small batch home fragrance company, specializing in coconut & soy wax-based candles and other fragrance goods for home & body Is there a story behind your business? I’ve always been entrepreneurial-minded, a little creative, and into design and home decor. I worked for many years in the corporate world, but I always felt this nagging pull that there was something else out there for me. In 2015, I randomly

BareWolf Brewing completed their first canning procedure this past week and produced 250 cases of three different brews in one day. Now, let’s go through how they got to that point both from both building demand as well as capital equipment directions. They have been very strategic and very detail focused in their execution which other companies can learn from. BareWolf has methodically built up product demand in multiple channels. They started with delivering kegs / logs

Small businesses remain starved for the capital required to grow their businesses at this time. Banks are not an option for these companies just developing financial results vs. lending to established proven businesses with track records that represent very low risk to banks. Low risk is not a measure of innovation and entrepreneurship, rather safe and status quo. One might ask whether providing capital for growth is actually an intended function of banks, but actual behavi

Have you asked yourself why is this economic recovery so shallow and the economy moving so slowly – particularly on the small business end? Answer: because there is no ready source of capital for scale ups and small businesses to finance their innovation and growth. Banks don’t want to lend to any entity perceived as risky in their own eyes …..they now make money on fees. Govt. sources like the SBA only sit behind banks’ approval processes. They are not actually attempti

Massachusetts is doing well in the Innovation segment of the economy across various industries. Biotech is a particular strength and focused substantially near Boston / Cambridge due to university ties and extensive success of companies. A recent report completed by the MIT Industrial Performance Center highlights a couple of areas for improvement related to scale up that should be focused on as follows: “The principal motivation for the study was the recognition that company