Tech start-ups welcome in Haverhill

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Tech start-ups welcome in
Haverhill
By Brenda J. Buot e | G L O BE C O R R ES P O N DEN T
MA Y 0 2 , 2 0 1 3
PHOTOS BY JIM DA V IS/ GLOBE STA FF
More t han 50 businesses at t ended t he cit y ’s first conference on open innovat ion in March,
where new product s were demonst rat ed.
About 60 years ago, the world’s first commercial product that included a transistor was
built by Western Electric in downtown Haverhill. Today, Bounce Imaging, which Popular
Science cited as having one of the best inventions of 2013, is relying on a company in the
city’s Ward Hill neighborhood to create a high-tech orb that signals danger before first
responders make their move.
Lightspeed Manufacturing, a printed circuit developer with an international customer
base, is working with Bounce Imaging to produce a working prototype of the device.
The partnership began last fall, when Bounce entered a hardware start-up competition
sponsored by Lightspeed. Bounce was recently named the grand prize winner of the
Haverhill Hardware Horizons Challenge, a competition modeled after MassChallenge, an
annual $1 million global competition that matches start-ups with mentors to help
develop their products.
The runner-up in Haverhill’s competition was Energy Harvesters, which is producing a
device called the Walking Charger, which allows users to charge the batteries in their
mobile electronics devices just by walking. The company has locations in Boston and
Rochester, N.Y.
Third place went to Loci Controls of Somerville, which is developing a system to
optimize the extraction of methane gas from landfills.
Each of the three finalists received access to Lightspeed’s design services and production
facility, workspace at the Burgess Business Center Incubator in downtown Haverhill,
and access to mentors and materials. Bounce Imaging also received a $10,000 cash
prize.
“Our goal is to lower the barrier for hardware
start-ups by providing contestants with a wide
range of services and incentives to enhance their
chance for success,” said John Michitson, who
helped organize the Haverhill challenge.
Michitson, a Haverhill city councilor and electrical
engineer with Bedford-based Mitre Corp., said
that while software start-up competitions are
fairly common, hardware competitions are rare.
“The next best thing in Silicon Valley may be
hardware,” he said. “A lot of people believe
hardware is the new frontier.”
The Haverhill Police Department is expected to
begin field tests of the baseball-sized Bounce
JIM DA V IS/GLOBE STA FF
The "Walking Charger."
Imaging Explorer in June, said Francisco Aguilar,
29, who cofounded the company with David
Young, a classmate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Police, firefighters, and military personnel are hoping it will provide surveillance in
situations such as a terrorism threat, hostage crisis, combat zone, or natural disaster.
The founders of Boston-based Bounce Imaging are determined to refine their product in
Haverhill.
“A good number of folks want to test it, but we want to stay close to home,” said Aguilar.
“That way, we can control the testing without having to ship our testing equipment. It
lowers the cost and keeps us closer to our engineering teams, making it possible for us to
implement needed changes easily.”
The Haverhill competition has ignited interest in open innovation, a business concept
developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It brings together research and
development talent with entrepreneurial partners to share expertise and intellectual
property with the goal of rapid co-development of products and services.
Northern Essex Community College, together with the Greater Haverhill Chamber of
Commerce and the Haverhill Horizons Hardware Challenge, hosted the city’s first
conference on open innovation March 20. More than 50 local business and educational
leaders, community activists, and residents gathered at the college to learn how they
could help to unite Merrimack Valley partners, such as start-ups and students,
universities, investors, elected officials, and well-established companies.
“We want to brand Haverhill as a place for
innovation,” said Mayor James Fiorentini, who
thinks the city can position itself as a viable
alternative to Boston and the Route 128 corridor.
“We want businesses to know that if they come
here, we will provide mentoring, help them build
their workforce, and connect them with
manufacturers who can supply the components
they need.”
JIM DA V IS/GLOBE STA FF
The mayor is championing changes to the city’s
Francisco Aguilar, CEO of Bounce
zoning bylaws in an effort to bolster innovation in
Imaging, addressed t he cit y ’s
Haverhill.
innovat ion conference in March.
Bounce designed a device t hat would
assess securit y risk t o first responders.
“We want to enhance our local and regional competitiveness so that we can increase
business and economic development in Haverhill and the Merrimack Valley,” Fiorentini
said.
Sven A. Amirian, president of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, said: “To
succeed, a region needs a critical mass of entrepreneurs and talented workers, a strong
education network, and collaborative business practices and tools, as well as access to
capital resources and local and global markets.”
Amirian said the business group hopes to play a key role in matchmaking for
partnerships.
“I want the chamber to be the go-to resource for companies looking to locate here as
well as those working to find resources here,” said Amirian. “There is so much funding
and support out there to help start-ups. Sometimes, though, I think they have difficulty
reaching some of these start-ups. Ideally, I’d like to see the chamber become a
clearinghouse of information and resources.”
Aguilar, the cofounder of Bounce Imaging, said the culture of support will enable
entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive.
“While it’s always good to have prize money because engineering is expensive, what
we’ve found most valuable is the help we’ve been extended, from Haverhill and the
region in general and Lightspeed Manufacturing in particular,” said Aguilar. “They are
getting our [printed circuit] boards for free, assembling the units for free, and giving us a
lot of design advice. They’ll say, ‘Use this component rather than that one because we
know this one is more reliable.’ ”
“We’ve gotten our prototypes much better and much faster than if we had gone out and
paid for them,” Aguilar said. “It’s the kind of help a little start-up like ours would never
get access to.”
Brenda J. Buote may be reached at [email protected].
© 2013 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY