It’s been a busy and fulfilling month at the New Bedford Ocean Cluster! On Wednesday, October 12, the first annual meeting of the NBOC took place at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Then, on Friday, Oct. 21 we were pleased to host a special Offshore Wind Lunch and Learn pop-up event with NBOC member, Osbit at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
This month, we wish to highlight an important aspect of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster and the robust marine business network we are trying to build – Membership.
Successful clusters have a knowledgeable group of engaged business leaders, start-ups, public institutions, and universities at the table driving its mission and strategy. Through the shared platform of an ocean cluster organization, members around the world are combining their experience and expertise to address business challenges, explore innovations to improve efficiency and enter new markets, and bring greater value to their industries.
It’s time to fully enjoy those fruitful benefits of collaboration here in New Bedford. It is through the engagement of our membership that we will ensure that the NBOC continues to evolve in a way that is consistent with local interests, leverages existing strengths, and makes certain that the Port of New Bedford and our region are positioned to strengthen and advance marine businesses, blue start-ups, and partnerships.
As a member of the NBOC, you will be a part of a growing network of marine industry stakeholders who share a passion for doing business and creating economic opportunity in this region and who wish to expand their visibility and success. Our goal is to keep you up to date on developments happening across marine industries locally and over the horizon; to offer regular events to share new innovations; and provide an opportunity for business-to-business networking with abundant exposure for your company.
In New Bedford, and with the engagement of our local fisheries and marine industry stakeholders, we can combine our generations of wisdom with new knowledge to optimize our maritime legacy and generate more wealth.
While our membership efforts are just underway, we’ve already welcomed fantastic companies this year that share our vision for the ocean cluster and what it can achieve for New Bedford’s marine economy. A big thanks to the individuals and companies that have joined us so far.
Interested in learning more about membership? Be in touch and I’d be happy to discuss our membership tiers, benefits for participation, and why your engagement and input into the continued growth of the NBOC is so important.
Jennifer Downing, Executive Director
THE FIRST ANNUAL NBOC MEETING
The NBOC held its first Annual Meeting on Oct. 12. About 100 people gathered at the New Bedford Whaling Museum for an update on the organization’s first year of operations, as well as official ocean cluster business. Special remarks were provided by New Bedford Mayor, Jon Mitchell, and Dr. Ramprasad Balasubramanian, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at UMass Dartmouth. The meeting was followed by a lively reception in the Museum’s Jacobs Family Gallery. Click here to see some photos from the event.
LUNCH & LEARN
The NBOC was pleased to hold a Lunch & Learn event with member Osbit on Friday, Oct. 21 (pictured). Osbit is a global company that designs and builds engineered systems to support a range of offshore wind and oil & gas operations. The NBOC would like to thank Dustin Varnell, Chris Jones, and Joe Wills MSc, CQP MCQI, CMIOSH for sharing the Osbit story, experience, and expertise with local businesses. Also, thank you to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for hosting us at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.
From our friends at NOWI
Bristol Community College’s National Offshore Wind Institute (NOWI) is hiring for several positions, including Director and Associate Director. NOWI, currently building a facility along the New Bedford Waterfront, seeks to provide strategies to accelerate and support the next generation of workforce and supply chain for the wind energy sector. See “Work for NOWI” on their website’s homepage at this link.
RECENT NEWS of #NBOC Interest
FISHING INDUSTRY: Insight on the commercial fishing industry from City of New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and CNBC. “The fishing industry of course is hugely important to Greater New Bedford, but sometimes the public discussion of fishing regulations and the economics of the industry can sound so technical that many find it hard to follow. This CNBC piece, which features New Bedford and Foley Fish’s Laura Ramsden, explains in clear terms how American seafood is sustainably fished and why U.S. trade policy needs to account for foreign fishing abuses that depress U.S. prices and harm the environment.” Full story here.
GREETINGS FROM GRIMSBY: The Doers Lab based in the City of New Bedford organizes a student exchange program with students from Grimsby, England. That city was profiled in a 60 Minutes segment that you can watch here.
BLOCK ISLAND BETA: Nearly six years after the Block Island Wind Farm’s turbines began turning, NBC 10 News got an up close look at them, as its owners say more projects like it are soon to follow. Report here.
NEW YORK BIGHT NAVIGATION: Developers of the Leading Light Wind offshore energy project in the New York Bight said Tuesday that they have brought on a new fisheries stakeholder engagement team from Sea Risk Solutions LLC. BOEM’s New York Bight lease offerings were reduced substantially with efforts to reduce potential conflicts with fishing, including the scallop industry after input from New Bedford stakeholders. National Fisherman has the story.
AQUACULTURE: A five-year NOAA Aquaculture Strategic Plan will guide efforts to enhance the growth of sustainable U.S. aquaculture. Read the plan here.
EVENTS OF NOTE:
Thurs. Nov. 10 // THE NEW BEDFORD PORT AUTHORITY monthly meeting will take place at 5:00 p.m. The NBPA office is located at 123 MacArthur. Drive, New Bedford.
Monday, Nov. 14 // Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is one of the hosts of “Can Offshore Wind be an Innovation Anchor for the Blue Economy?,” in Boston, MA. More details and RSVP here.
November 27, 2022 // The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center at 38 Bethel St, NB holds Front & Center Holiday Market today from 11am-4pm. Get your holiday shopping done early and browse local New Bedford businesses (including the Center’s Gift Shop) for the perfect gift for everyone on your list. Maybe you’ll even catch Mrs. Clause out and about, or Salty Santa when you visit the Center. Plus, make fishy ornaments with the kids for your holiday décor! Check the center’s website for more information about participating businesses as the event date gets closer.
