By Jim Trudeau, Chief Design Officer, Cummings Properties With unemployment at very low levels on the North Shore and throughout Greater Boston, companies are looking for ways to enhance their facilities or even relocate in an effort to recruit and maintain talent.  In this environment, corporate tenants are reviewing workplace alternatives, which include technology upgrades, open offices, live-work-play locations, multiple amenities, sustainability, and remote workforces. It’s important to be knowledgeable about cutting-edge workplace strategies, but it’s also critical that organizations be discerning about what’s just trendy and what’s really in their best interests. Why?  Because, however exciting the latest “bells and whistles” may initially seem, they may or may not be good for the bottom line, and they may result in needless risks, including lost time and compromised performance. So,…

Life sciences and technology innovators in Woburn and Beverly recently had the opportunity to highlight their expertise and initiatives to a delegation of visiting professionals from China. The group consisted of six owners and managers of regional startup hubs and business incubators from the country’s Hebei Province. Massachusetts Association of Business Incubators and BostonWise, a firm that promotes educational and commercial exchanges between China and the United States, coordinated the visit. Its purpose was to learn and share ideas on the best practices of business incubators and entrepreneurship, as well as explore opportunities for international cooperation, according to Freddie Qi, director of professional development at BostonWise. PHOTO: A delegation from The Association of Technical Business Incubators of Heibei Province in China visited Cummings Center in Beverly. Left to right:  Justin D'Aveta…

Nonprofits received welcome news in their email inboxes this month: invitations to apply for one of 100 grants of $100,000 each to be awarded by Cummings Foundation. They are among 223 invitees selected after a thorough review of a record-breaking 597 Letters of Inquiry submitted earlier this year for the Foundation’s $100K for 100 program. Each grant proposal was carefully reviewed by two members of a six-person committee made up of outside volunteer professionals, according to Joyce Vyriotes, deputy director of Cummings Foundation. The scores were then combined and averaged. The nonprofits with the highest average scores are now advancing to the next and final stage of the application process. “We are most grateful for the significant time and thought that the committee members dedicated to the evaluation process,” said…

According to a popular carol, December is “the most wonderful time of the year.” And at Cummings Properties, most would agree. The Woburn-based commercial real estate company just donated $357,000 to hundreds of local nonprofit organizations via its Employee Directed Giving program. Through this annual philanthropic initiative, employees are invited to select a local nonprofit to receive a $1,000 donation in their honor. In 2017, Employee Directed Giving benefitted 242 nonprofits in 77 local cities and towns. Now in its fifth year, the program is designed to give back in the areas where Cummings Properties employees live and work. Jo-Anne Varoutsos, a client services associate in Cummings’ Woburn office, directed her $1,000 donation to the Best Buddies program at Joyce Middle School in Woburn, which pairs students with disabilities with…

enEvolv, a biotechnology firm, will open a new and larger laboratory and research office in Medford later this month. The 10,000-square-foot space is located at 200 Boston Avenue, a commercial building operated by Cummings Properties. It will replace enEvolv’s former facility on Boston’s Morrissey Boulevard. enEvolv works with pharmaceutical, nutrition, energy, and specialty chemical companies to engineer microbes and produce bio-based chemicals. The company’s strain engineering platform combines biotechnology with automation to identify the changes in genomes that produce specific results, such as preventing genetically modified organisms from escaping and thriving in the wild. Its co-founder, renowned geneticist George Church, has appeared in media outlets from The Washington Post to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”   “Boston Avenue is a great location for biotech firms because it’s close to…

If you think you need to be in the heart of Boston or Cambridge to lease office space with the chic and modern vibe of an urban center, think again. The new Innovative Suite at Cummings Center in Beverly harkens back to the industrial boom of the early 20th century while incorporating contemporary office design elements similar to those that draw pioneering firms to Kendall Square and the Seaport District. Once the largest concrete structure in the world and home to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Cummings Center is now a hub of commercial real estate opportunities. It’s home to hundreds of businesses and a suite of restaurants and other amenities, yet it hasn’t strayed from its origins as a place of innovation. Today, this award-winning North Shore business campus provides…

The world moves fast. In the world of digital communication, social media, and the Internet, business ideas can move from conception to life very quickly. Leasing a traditional office space, however, can take some time, especially if there are necessary improvements before the new client can begin business in their new office space. How then, do you find an office rental to accommodate your needs if time is of the essence? A turnkey commercial space may be your solution. “Turnkey” is a term often heard when renting a commercial space, but what does it really mean? A turnkey listing, regarding commercial real estate, is a commercial space that is mostly or wholly prepared for occupancy. This means that many or all features of the space are in place and in…

WOBURN, Mass. (November 3, 2017) – Shellback Industries – a construction and project management company – has leased an office in Woburn’s West Cummings Park with Cummings Properties. The company specializes in demolition, land grading, excavation, and site clearing, and offers energy upgrade services through LED replacement and ultra-clean options for heat and power. Shellback Industries is certified as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). In these businesses, the management and daily operations are controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans. The government program requires that at least 3 percent of all federal contracts and subcontracts be awarded to SDVOSB-certified businesses. John Morley, president of Shellback, is a decorated combat veteran. He served more than 11 years as a diver and explosive ordnance disposal expert with the U.S. Navy. Morley founded Shellback…