New Bedford 2020 - VHB.com

A City Master Plan New Bedford 20205Jobs and BusinessOverviewThe well being of any community is often measured by the strength of its economy. New Bedford’s beautiful coastalsetting has been gradually shaped over 200 years by land use patterns tied to the whaling, fishing, and textileindustries. In the mid-1850s, New Bedford’s whaling fleet launched more whaling voyages than all other Americanports combined and was the wealthiest city per-capita in the United States. At the same time investment in the textileindustry had already begun. When the whale fishery declined, the looms in the mills continued to drive the city’seconomy. However, by the mid-20 th century, New Bedford, like many mid-size American cities struggled to meetdaunting challenges in adapting its largely textile basedeconomy in a post-industrial and post-war era.While the past 40 years have witnessed a steadycontraction in the traditional manufacturing base, NewBedford has proven resilient. Today, we remain thenumber one commercial fishing port in America andare home to 5,000 businesses that support more than40,000 jobs in manufacturing, healthcare, service, andemerging sectors, such as medical devicemanufacturing and renewable energy.The agencies and organizations in New Bedford that havea direct mission for economic development, job creation,and workforce training include:> New Bedford Economic Development Council> Greater New Bedford Industrial Foundation> Harbor Development Commission> New Bedford Redevelopment Authority> Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment BoardIn the midst of the most challenging national economy since the Great Depression, in 2010 New Bedford leads innew growth among the 11 Gateway Cities in Commonwealth—creating nearly 2,000 permanent and constructionjobs, and capturing more than $340 million in private investment over the past five years. We have accomplishedthis by employing a balanced and aggressive strategy—led by the New Bedford Economic Development Council(NBEDC)—to support existing business, attract emerging industries, communicate a positive message, developstrategic sites, prepare a ready workforce, and capture long-term catalytic opportunities for growth.A desire not to lose the momentum of our recent success was an overall theme during the civic engagementprocess. Residents, business leaders, and stakeholders all highlighted that one of our greatest economic assetscontinues to be New Bedford’s citizens, but resources, such as the airport and business park, should not beoverlooked. Also, the potential to build upon the recent success of cultural tourism institutions andorganizations that embody the creative economy should be important factors to future growth. The commentsrelating to economic development can be summarized as follows:> Promote emerging business sectors in: renewable and green industries, medical device manufacturing,biotech and like sciences, and the arts;> Work with schools and higher education entities on targeted workforce development;> Support existing businesses (i.e., some may require relocation for expansion or creation of businessclusters);Jobs and Business5-1