ReGen Valley about more than an industry, southern New Hampshire community told by NH Business Review for Maureen Milliken -Manchester Ink Link

The message at the May 23 community update event made it clear: ReGen Valley Tech Hub’s evolution is about more than the biofabrication industry, but about the community pulling together on many levels.

Housing, workforce development, education and child care were all topics during the Regen Valley Tech Hub Community Update, held at 150 Dow St., home of Advanced Regenerative Techology Institute. The update, which drew an audience of more than 300, was the cap-off to the weeklong Meeting in the Millyard 2025, which highlights advances in the industry.

The effort to make southern New Hampshire a global biofabrication hub is expected to generate 7,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect in the next decade, but that workforce increase comes with a demand on the things that support people living, working and moving to the area.

It’s a big order, the gathering was told, but one that New Hampshire is equipped for.

“While technology is centered, we are committed to taking a community-guided approach to the growth of this human industry,” Flo Nicolas, chief engagement officer of ReGen Valley Tech Hub, said. “We are intentionally identifying and addressing challenges that can limit access to opportunities like availability of child care, transportation, housing, in support of providing the talent needed to support the industry and making sure local residents have pathways to benefit from its growth.”

Those efforts are made more difficult in an era when some of the network for providing those necessary elements of economic growth is shrinking amid federal and state cuts, something some of Friday’s speakers touched on. But the overall message delivered by a diverse group that ranged from Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte to Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan is that New Hampshire is just the place to make it work, despite challenges.

The effort to become a major biofabrication hub is funded by a $44 million Build Back Better Challenge Grant awarded in 2022 and another $44 million Tech Hub grant awarded last July, both economic development programs from the Biden administration U.S. Department of Commerce aimed at incentivizing and growing new and innovative manufacturing industries across the nation.

The first grant was to fund the initial underpinnings of a Manchester biofabrication cluster that includes business acceleration, community partnerships, a logistics network, workforce development and more, with the aim of establishing the region as a global epicenter for the production and distribution of regenerative tissues and organs.

The second grant, also from the commerce department, extended the effort to the Nashua area, and aims to close the gap between scientific research and development of regenerative technology and getting it to patients.

Regenerative tissues and organs can revolutionize the healthcare industry, as well as the economy. Developing and distributing the products would make long-term expensive care and transplants for chronic diseases, like kidney dialysis, a thing of the past.

In the three years since the first grant, ReGen Valley has grown from 12 coalition members, to 40 initial consortium members to more than 70 organization members that are part of the consortium “and we’re counting,” Nicholas said.

“We’re growing, and the growth tells a powerful story of momentum, collaboration, and a shared vision,” she said.

The May 23  event’s call for action was for collaboration among businesses, the community, political leaders, educational institutions and those involved directly in the biofab hub effort.

“I think we can all agree that chronic disease knows no party,” Ayotte said. “Regenerative medicine, living longer lives, living healthier lives, there’s no more important mission, right?”

Referring to ARMI founder Dean Kamen, host of the event, as “a transformative leader,” Ayotte added, “He makes things happen. He looks in a visionary way. People say, ‘That’s not possible,’ He looks out in the future and says, ‘I know it’s possible, and I’m going to make that happen.’”

She said the combination of Kamen’s leadership and New Hampshire’s ability to find common ground and work together will make it happen.

“We have the opportunity to collaborate, and we do collaborate in ways…that others just don’t.” Ayotte said that it’s possible to bring together federal, state, local governments, as well as the state’s university, community college and other education systems to “give people the training they need to save lives and to transform an industry that I believe will make the biggest difference in the world. And it’s happening here in New Hampshire.”

She said that the local leaders in the room representing housing, education, science, and workforce, “we all know this is going to save a life or impact some of us personally.”

Hassan, one of the state’s four-member congressional delegation, advised those present to be vigilant, though, in the face of federal cuts to research funding and other science-related programs. Also speaking were U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-1stDistrict, and Rep. Maggie Goodhue, D-2nd District. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen was scheduled to speak, but was delayed in Washington, D.C.

“ARMI is strengthening our economy, is making great strides in medicine and science, and it is really sparking and dazzling the imagination of people all around the world,” Hassan said. She said that often when she speaks to colleagues about biofabrication, they don’t know what she’s talking about, and she tells them, “Suppose we didn’t spend billions of dollars from Medicare every year on dialysis and kidney transplants? Suppose we could just build people new kidneys.”

Hassan added, “It is really, really an important time to keep focused on that vision.”

She said that it’s also important to be vigilant about protecting that vision. “This is a moment that research, science, and the very freedom that allows us to do this incredible research in science is under attack.

“And I don’t mean to be too blunt about it, and I certainly don’t intend to be partisan about it, but our democracy, our freedom, is what allows each one of us to pursue our dreams and to follow the vision that we have that can create an ARMI.”

She said that President Trump has suggested repealing the CHIPS in Science act, “which among other things, helped create ReGen Valley’s Tech Hub.”

She urged those present not to let worry distract them. “I want all of us to understand that by doing the work you do, you are demonstrating the value of freedom and innovation and science, because I can think of few things as foolish and self-destructive as defunding life-saving scientific research.”

She said Congress is “pushing back really hard” with examples of what the halt in funding to things like the National Institutes of Health clinical trials mean. “I think we’ll continue to have some progress in changing people’s minds.”

But she said it’s up to all “who care about this and understanding the implications, to speak up and speak out, because we can’t forget that it’s freedom – the freedom to discover, to try, to fail, and try again. It t allows America’s research researchers and scientists to be envy of the world.”

Panels at the event included a focus on the businesses and aspects of the industry involved in the biofab hub; the educational element; and the focus on transportation, housing and child care.

Biofab Industries

Panelists representing companies that are part of the emerging biofab industry in the Millyard said that being part of a bigger community is important. One aspect of the industry is once the technology is developed, how is it manufactured on a large scale and delivered to patients in a cost-effective way?

“What I saw at ARMI and now the broader  ReGen Valley is that there are capabilities here, not just technological capabilities, but people and expertise that we can work with to take what is an incredible science. demonstrated in the lab dozens of times, and scale it to the point where we can make hundreds or thousands and actually get back to patients,” said Adam Jakus, COO of Pro Therapeutics.

He said, even beyond the manufacturing, and having it in one place, is that “what we’re doing is very difficult.”

“When you’re a small company who’s trying to do the impossible, not only do you need all the resources around you, and to scale manufacturing, but you also need a community around you, cheering you on, saying ‘you can do it,’” Jakus said. “You need all the support from the city of Manchester, from the state, and that’s all here…This is why Pro Therapeutics is here in the ReGen Valley. It has all the technical capabilities and expertise, but it has the community to support the impossible things we’re doing.”

Jay Hoying, a partner and founder in Advanced Solutions, said that his company helps take the complicated fabrication of something like building tissue, and scale it up.

“This is a manufacturing problem…not an academic living system problem,” he said.  “We’re dealing with biology. We’re trying to capture Mother Nature in a way that will do something that we want to do and build those workflows on an automated level.”

Advanced Solutions was one of the first to sign on to the biofab cluster and open an application lab in the Millyard. Hoying said locating in the Millyard allowed the company to benefit from being around tissue builders “We have a technology helps people build tissue, and then we can also contribute to the agenda and the vision,” he said.

Doug McConnell, CEO of Safi Biotherapeutics said that his company and what’s going on in ReGen Valley have a shared vision. “It was very clear this is where we needed to do this. We wanted to be part of that story…I wanted to be involved in what’s going on with Manchester.”

Safi develops blood cell products that will make transfusions less dependent on whole blood donations.

He said what’s going on in ReGen Valley “…is real, and a lot of people don’t quite understand it’s happening. It’s not a thing that’s going to happen. It’s happening, and we’re doing it, and we’re resilient, persistent in this mission.”

Education and workforce

Part of the ReGen Valley Tech Hub is the Common Campus, a consortium that includes the University of New Hampshire, Manchester Community College, Nashua Community College, Southern New Hampshire University, Rivier College, St. Anselm College and UMass-Lowell. The collaboration is finding ways to help develop a biofabrication industry workforce in the state.

This includes a new two-year certificate program at MCC. Dan LaRochelle, MCC department chair for advanced manufacturing and robotics said that the college got feedback from manufacturers around the state asking what they needed, what could be taught about automation, what jobs are out there. They also held roundtables and gathered other data that’s formed the basis for the certificate program, which will launch in the fall. MCC is also opening a lab for fabrication and automated manufacturing in the Millyard.

As part of the Work and Learn aspect of the BBB grant, SNHU, UNH, MCC and ARMI have put together a variety of workforce training and other programing related to the biofab industry, Steve Thiel, assistant vice president for community impact at SNHU, said.

SNHU has also created an intro to bio fabrication course and is developing concentrations attached to the biology, program, Thiel said.

“We are hard at work on a lab renovation on campus to meet the needs of this growing academic field,” he added. “So, it’s an area of growing relatives es for us.

Franklin Pierce University is partnering with the Foundation for Healthy Communities to survey medical practitioners “to assess their comfort and their training needs in terms of application of regenerative medicine,” said Catherine Paden, provost and vice president for academic affairs said.

She said what’s learned will help build out their curriculum and offer training in those fields.

Also in the works is a community grant program for nonprofits and small businesses that is going to be launched this summer that will help create workforce opportunities, Thiel said.

The three panelists agreed that the unique collaboration between academic institutions as well as ARMI and other businesses, is making a success of things like the UNH Manchester Biotechnology Innovation Center, which is open to all Common Campus institutions, the STEMMobile, which travels to far-flung communities to help educate students on STEM careers, and other programs.

The panel also stressed that training the workforce isn’t just about younger students, but anyone in the community who is looking for a career change or a way to work in a growing and possibly lucrative field.

Housing, child care and transportation

Critical components of the success of ReGen Valley are housing, child care and transportation. Companies won’t find employees unless issues surrounding them are addressed, which panelists agreed would take buy-in from businesses.

The Granite State YMCA is part of the ReGen Valley Tech Hub grant, and is launching its first apprentice program in June, said Michele Sheppard, president and CEO.

Sheppard said that the state needs 9,100 daycare slots just to meet current need, creating about $36 million in missing economic drag revenue. On top of that, they have to find a solution for a new industry that will allow businesses to evolve.

The YMCA has innovated so many programs across the country and around the world that it makes sense the organization would have a seat at the table, Sheppard said. “We have the depth and breadth that can actually make those things happen.”

She said aside from the apprenticeship program, the Y will be creating opportunities to work with employers on childcare and early education.

Childcare solutions are being explored, she said, that will help businesses draw and retain employees.

Housing is part of that same challenge, said George Reagan, NH Housing director of community engagement.

“Housing is a real challenge here, because trying to recruit and retain good talent is a challenge,” Reagan said. He said NH Housing’s role is to continue raising awareness about the link between housing and economic development, including health care.

“The importance of affordable places to live, so you can afford child care and go to that job,” he said.

While 75% of New Hampshire residents in a recent study said they agree the state  needs more housing, “when it comes close, that pushback is real,” Reagan said. “We need support, ant that means money and other resources.” He said employer voices are a strong element of that.

A transportation study for Manchester was part of the BBB grant. Thiel said that while there are other efforts to improve transportation in the city, such as the one funding by the federal RAISE grant, the traffic study funded by the BBB grant looked at the progress of those as well as identify opportunities presented by the biofab cluster.

The study comprised Volpe National Transportation Systems Center looking at national best practices as well as talking to the community about their challenges and economic opportunity related to transportation.

“They found different, but I think adjacent, fails,” he said.

The Volpe study identified different ways to make progress in infrastructure through transportation management associations and identified gaps in understanding and data at the local level. That included finding out that the last audit of parking spaces and parking infrastructure ownership downtown was done in 2015.

A second part, by the Deo Mwano Consultancy, talked to community members, many of which had no association or familiarity with the Millyard.

“They had no reason to come,” he said. “So, bringing to these communities a pitch about economic opportunity and the opportunities inherent within them is going to feel a bit foreign to a place that they have no reason to come and that brings no benefit today.”

He said the upshot is that a transportation planning group has been formed that includes city staff, industry partners, education and transportation management companies,

“We want to do whatever solutions come out of this study in partnership with the work that [the city’s Economic Development Office] is doing,” Thiel said.

He said on one level, “it’s a solvable enough problem” to find a way to get a person without transportation to work every day.

“What is far more empowering, and therefore much more difficult, is building the transportation system that connects them to all parts of their life, not just their job, that allows them to go from their home to pick up groceries for their family, to drop off and pick up their child or visit an elderly member of their family at a nursing home or a hospice, and then also bring them to their job,” he said. “And it’s only going to be sustainable and meaningful if we connect all parts of their life with the transportation infrastructure.”

As with other speakers, the three members of the panel said it’s vital for employers, businesses and the community to get involved and speak out about solutions and issues.

“Go out there and speak in your communities,” Reagan said. “Support housing measures, provide cover to your planning board, your select board, your city council…and also with that representative government of the state level. Tell them that you support housing-friendly legislation. Just be there and speak up, and I think that’s going to go a long way.”

Sheppard said employers should be curious. “Find out what the pain points are for your staff, and maybe even in your industry, of where and how people can’t show up to work because of child care.

“When you start to understand that and have a conversation with someone, you’re going to probably make them feel a little bit better about telling you about their challenges, and then you might have an understanding,” she said. “And then the next thing would be for you to think about, well, how do I learn more about the child care offerings and how can wen become aware of those offerings?

“And think about partnerships,” she added. “None of this work [at ARMI and the biofab cluster] and what we’re talking about with our industries and workforce development has not come without partnerships. And so when we think about partnerships and how those can evolve, sometimes it requires investment, and it can be investment into your employees,” including helping them find child care resources.

“Become an advocate, think about what it means to hear and watch and learn through new futures and other things at the state level, and then hopefully with the federal level, to learn more about how you can support that the funding doesn’t go away, make sure the state assistance funds are there,” Sheppard said.

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.