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Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council
By Keith Regan
Making predictions is a tricky business, and when it comes to making predictions in the often volatile world of business, politics and technology, it becomes even more difficult.
Yet some experts were willing to take the risk last year, which offers a chance to look back and evaluate those predictions. Each issue was considered important — if not vital — to the region’s economy.
Saving the bases: Mission accomplished?
Last December, Massachusetts High Technology Council president Christopher Anderson said the decisions looming in 2005 about the future of some key Massachusetts defense installations — including Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford and the Natick Soldier Systems Center, or Natick Labs — stood to have what he called a “profound impact on our region’s defense technology cluster and the thousands of jobs dependent on it.”
Anderson said at the time that the stakes for the commonwealth were “enormously high,” with an estimated $3.2 billion economic impact and some 33,000 technology-related jobs potentially on the chopping block.
A year later, with the bases spared closing, Anderson can safely say “mission accomplished.” Not only were Hanscom and Natick not included on the list of possible base closings, but Hanscom is slated to see up to 1,100 new jobs as part of the realignment.
“I consider it one of the most significant wins in the state’s recent history — or, for that matter, the foreseeable future,” Anderson said.
Those who lobbied to save Hanscom and Natick had two negative perceptions to overcome — that it was too costly for the military to continue to operate in this region and that today’s communication technology meant that private-sector links could be maintained even from afar. That made for some tense moments during 2005 as the base closure committee did its work.
“We were always aware that we had two major obstacles and perceptions to overcome, but because we got started early and had an extremely comprehensive approach — and because we got Sen. Kennedy and Gov. Romney to work together — we were able to pull it off,” Anderson added.
Anderson said 2006 and beyond will bring new challenges to ensure that the link between the bases and the local tech economy remains strong. One of his goals is to make permanent the Massachusetts Defensive Technology Initiative, a public-private partnership created to fight the closing of Hanscom and Natick. “We want to make the link among the universities and the military and the private sector even stronger,” he said.
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