UPDATE: Video of Mike Wankum's visit to Blackburn Energy. Stay tuned to WCVB Channel 5 for a full feature on Chronicle - date TBD > watch video
It was great to see the Channel 5 van pull into the parking lot this morning. Mike Wonkum is doing a feature on Blackburn Energy. Mike had predicted pleasant weather and he got that right today – sunny and pleasant. Not only is it a good opportunity for Blackburn to be featured, but also it provides visibility to CI Works, and also Amesbury, MA. We joked around upon arrival as to whether Amesbury is in fact located in Massachusetts. The Channel 5 team spent a couple of hours here and will produce a segment for a feature in the near future. This is the type of visibility that can be hugely valuable to start up phase companies.
Blackburn got started in the Boston area with Greentown Labs and the Cambridge Innovation Center. When they needed additional space and a functionally capable location, they moved to CI Works and Amesbury. They have proceeded with their prototype product version, have installed and tested them thoroughly and are now in full sales mode with multiple installations in trucks and running smoothly and reliably. The City of Amesbury has been welcoming and made it an easy transition.
Blackburn has executed their plan here in Massachusetts. They have succeeded
through their relationship with the Mass Clean Energy Center in multiple rounds of funding and have produced validations each time by meeting all of the reporting and product validation requirements. They remain in Massachusetts, have created jobs here, and utilize a supply chain made up almost exclusively of other Massachusetts companies. This is exactly the model behavior that the state should be requiring of companies they provide start up funding for.
I look forward to when the segment will appear on Channel 5 and we hope to have Mike and team back again in the future to feature other tenant companies.