$50 million in state funding for life sciences training in Nubian Square hangs in the balance of legislative negotiations on an economic development bill.
The partial funding for a $200 million development on the Blair parking lot was in the Massachusetts House version of the bill approved last month. The amendment was sponsored by Representatives John Moran of the South End and Chynah Tyler of Roxbury, who each represent sections of the square.
But the Senate did not include the $50 million for the planned project in its version, which was approved July 11.
Negotiators from the House and Senate are scheduled to start meeting in private to try to work out differences between the two versions. Senator Liz Miranda of Roxbury, who unsuccessfully proposed the same amendment in that chamber, aims to restore the funding in the final, compromise bill in time for House and Senate passage before the formal legislative session ends July 31.
Richard Taylor, a leader of the planned development’s team, envisions Nubian Square becoming a node for training and producing workers for the life sciences, a major industry in Boston.
“This will be the largest training center in Boston, in the life sciences,” Taylor said.
The six-story building, already approved by the Boston Planning and Development Agency, would provide training to 1,000 people on two floors, each with 20,000 square feet. Instruction would be provided by Roxbury Community College, Mass BioEd, Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology and Northeastern University.
Trainees, who could be college students or older adults making a career change, would receive certificates, associate degrees and, ultimately, four-year degrees. Franklin Cummings Tech, which is building a new campus nearby, last year received state approval to offer associate degrees in biotechnology.
Taylor said planned and existing spaces on college campuses near the square are “not big enough” to accommodate the number of trainees expected to come mostly from Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan.
“The workforce of the future will come from Black and brown communities, because of demographics,” Taylor said. “That’s where the numbers are in the city. You’re going to have to train Black and brown young people and adults.”
Moran spent four years working for biotech companies before being elected to the legislature last year.
“One of the reasons I ran for office was to bridge the wealth gap I see, as a South Ender, in the parts of my district in Roxbury,” he said.
A training center, Moran said, would help expand the pipeline of applicants of color looking for jobs in the life sciences.
“It seems like a good opportunity to bring Black and brown people into the industry,” he added. “We need to bring lots of things to Nubian Square. This would sort of be a good anchor.”
The mixed-use building would also include a 300-seat performance space, housing for artists and a 300-car garage, more than replacing the surface parking spaces on the lot now, Taylor said. The developers are intending to use a mix of public and private funding.
The $50 million for the project was included in the House version of a $2.86 billion economic development, with much of the total devoted to advancing life sciences and climate technology, both growing industries in the state. Moran said the amendment was adopted, without floor debate about it, in a large package of amendments — a standard procedure in the 160-member House.
The Senate did not incorporate any House amendments into its version of legislation originally filed by Gov. Maura Healey, Taylor said.
Negotiators from the House and Senate on what is known as a conference committee will attempt to reconcile differences between the two versions, typically doing horse trading, with each chamber securing what it wants in exchange for giving the other what it wants.
Members of the committee will include the chairs of each chamber’s powerful Ways and Means Committee, Representative Aaron Michlewitz of the North End and Senator Michael Rodrigues of Westport, and chairs of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Representative Jerald Parisella of Beverly and Senator Barry Finegold of Andover.
Moran said he would work with members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus to push for the inclusion of the $50 million for the training center in the final bill. Representatives Christopher Worrell of Dorchester, Russell Holmes of Mattapan and Bud Williams of Springfield co-sponsored the amendment. Holmes is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
In the Senate, Miranda and Lydia Edwards of East Boston sponsored the amendment. Miranda serves as a vice chair of the economic development committee.
The amendment has drawn support from the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and Franklin Cummings Tech, which have sent letters to legislative leaders.
Nicole Obi, president and CEO of BECMA, said the nonprofit organization “is strongly advocating for a hub for life sciences in Nubian Square, bringing a key sector directly to this historic Black neighborhood.”
Aisha Francis, president and CEO of Franklin Cummings Tech, called the project “an economic development and economic mobility priority that will have an immediate impact on Franklin Cummings Tech as the site of our biotech program delivery.”
