Hi, I’m Jim Beretta and I’ve worked in Cambridge and the advanced manufacturing industry for over 15 years.

Cambridge has both a glorious past and an innovative future. Historically, the awesome force of the Grand river attracted textile, grist and silk mills — and many thriving local companies can trace their roots back to Canada’s early industrial era.

Turning History into World-Class Competency

Today, Cambridge has turned that industrial heritage into a tremendous technological competency: Advanced Manufacturing.

We make everything here: food, cars, satellites, robotics, software, and specialized machinery and equipment for the medical/pharmaceutical and nuclear industries. We also host packaging, forestry, mining, and companies in the clean-tech, green-tech industry (including bio, wind and solar).

These advanced manufacturers feed a host of service providers and contractors, who provide transportation, research & development, engineering, programming, project management, and the city’s core industrial competency: machining, tool & die and fabrication.

Cambridge, Communitech and the power of networks

Part of my job is to sit down with technology companies in Cambridge and the surrounding area. We talk about technology, branding, digital/social media, funding, competition, growth and the resources they need to succeed.

But the conversation always comes around to the two most valuable and neglected company resources: talent and networks. I’ll be exploring these topics and profiling Cambridge organizations in my future posts.

Feel free to share your feedback, questions and topic ideas.