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Cities move forward

Date: 10/27/2009

Patrick wants groundbreaking in six months for new computer center

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



HOLYOKE -- Gov. Deval Patrick announced a surprise last week at a press conference concerning the status of the Holyoke High Performance Computing Center (HPCC) project: instead of taking a year to make the site selection process culminating in a groundbreaking next fall, Patrick wants to see a groundbreaking in six months.

The new $100 million computing center is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) and Boston University. The private high tech companies EMC, Cisco and Accenture are also involved in the development of the center, as are state officials.

Patrick called the alliance between public and private institutions "the extraordinary collaboration this project represents."

When built, the center will be "a world-class, green, high performance computing center that provides advanced infrastructure for research computing and a collaborative research agenda in advanced computing and applications (including life sciences, clean energy and green computing) that would establish Massachusetts as a global leader in the development and application of a new generation of computing technologies," according to a press release.

Allan Blair, the president and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council who is on the site selection group, explained to Reminder Publications that Holyoke was ideal for this project because it has the relatively inexpensive electricity generated through a green source -- the hydroelectric facility of Holyoke Gas and Electric and the fiber optic network installed several years ago that provides a high tech infrastructure.

Blair confirmed that about 80 sites on the list have been narrowed down to 10, and in the next few months the collaboration will decide which site best meets the needs of the project.

During the announcement event conducted at Holyoke Community College, UMass President Jack Wilson said the goal is to have the new facility occupied in 2011.

Economic Development Secretary Gregory Bialecki said that an "innovation district" would be established in the downtown area. Blair confirmed the concept would be to place the HPCC in the innovation district and additional businesses could locate in the district or near it.

"The facility would be the cornerstone in the heart of Holyoke," Bialecki said.

To tell the story of the computing center and the upcoming innovation district, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission worked with the John Adams Innovation Institute and Brendan Ciecko of the Holyoke-based company Ten Minute Media to produce a new Web site, www.InnovateHolyoke.com.

Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan said this is a unique moment in the city's history at which state government and private enterprises believe in the future of the city.

"We must now believe in ourselves -- grab that brass ring and hold on tight," Sullivan said.