Cybersecurity Is Manufacturing Infrastructure

Sinicon Plastics has been part of the Berkshire Innovation Center since the beginning. The company was one of our founding members, and its President, David Allen, was part of the group of regional business leaders who helped turn the original idea for the BIC into a reality. Over the years, we have worked with Sinicon in a number of different ways and watched the company grow into one of Berkshire County's most impressive manufacturers.

Sinicon manufactures millions of highly engineered components each year for customers in the medical, military, aerospace, and industrial sectors. As the company has grown and taken on increasingly sophisticated work, it has also navigated increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity requirements, particularly those associated with the defense industrial base. Working alongside Sinicon and our partners at Synagex, we had an opportunity to see firsthand what it takes for a manufacturer to evaluate those requirements, build upon its existing systems and practices, make meaningful investments, and strengthen its cybersecurity posture.

The process was important for Sinicon, but it was also an incredibly valuable learning experience for us at the BIC. We spend a great deal of time thinking about barriers that prevent good companies from growing—access to sophisticated equipment, workforce, capital, technical expertise, or simply finding the right partner at the right moment. Our work with Sinicon helped us understand that cybersecurity increasingly belongs on that list—not only for companies doing defense work, but for manufacturers across sectors where customers, supply chains, and technologies are demanding ever greater levels of security.

That experience helped lead us toward development of the BIC Cybersecurity Learning and Testing Facility, a new regional initiative supported through federal funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The project will create a shared environment where manufacturers can better understand cybersecurity requirements, engage with tools and subject-matter experts, participate in workshops and demonstrations, and take practical steps toward strengthening their cybersecurity readiness.

This project would not be moving forward without Congressman Richard Neal, who recognized the opportunity and secured the federal support necessary to make it happen. Congressman Neal has been a tremendous partner to the BIC and to economic-development efforts throughout Western Massachusetts, and this investment is another example of his ability to bring federal resources home and put them to work building long-

term economic capacity. We have also benefited from the support and guidance of State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who serves as House Chair of the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity and has been particularly helpful as we think through how this project can best serve the region. Congressman Neal's support for cybersecurity initiatives in Springfield also presents an opportunity to connect complementary capabilities across Western Massachusetts and approach this challenge regionally.

The timing is important. Earlier this summer, the Commonwealth's SHIELD Working Group released a report outlining a strategy for strengthening Massachusetts' defense and national-security ecosystem. SHIELD—Strategic Hub for Innovation, Exchange and Leadership in Defense—describes an ecosystem stretching “from Boston to the Berkshires” that generates nearly $50 billion in annual economic output and supports more than 130,000 jobs.

Here in the Berkshires, we don't need to look far to understand the importance of that sector. General Dynamics Mission Systems in Pittsfield is one of the Commonwealth's major anchors, supported by a network of manufacturers, technology companies, engineers, and suppliers throughout our region and well beyond it. The SHIELD report specifically highlights the advanced guidance and control systems assembled by General Dynamics in Pittsfield as part of Massachusetts' contribution to national security.

SHIELD also identifies a challenge that closely mirrors what we have seen through our work with manufacturers. Small and mid-sized companies face significant costs and complexity as they respond to increasingly demanding cybersecurity requirements, including the federal Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC. The report estimates that investments associated with modernization and compliance can range from $100,000 to $500,000 and specifically recommends additional CMMC support as part of a broader effort to make more Massachusetts companies “defense-ready.”

For a state that wants its manufacturers to compete in increasingly sophisticated supply chains, this is an economic-development issue. Massachusetts can have world-class research institutions, major companies, innovative startups, and talented manufacturers, but those assets only reach their full potential if companies throughout the supply chain are able to participate. Our experience with Sinicon taught us that manufacturers need access to expertise, tools, infrastructure, and trusted partners who can help them understand what these requirements mean for their business and how to respond.

Synagex is an important part of that story. A longtime BIC member, Synagex has established itself as a leader in cybersecurity and information technology, serving many of

our members as well as companies across the Commonwealth and beyond. They bring expertise manufacturers need and are also an important regional technology company and employer. Our goal is not to replicate that expertise inside the BIC or become a cybersecurity consulting company, but rather to connect companies with subject-matter experts and create an environment where manufacturers can learn, test, plan, and move toward implementation.

Exactly what that environment looks like is still taking shape. While the NIST project gives us a strong framework and resources to build from, we are continuing to listen to manufacturers, cybersecurity experts, educational institutions, workforce partners, and others as we refine the model. There are already significant cybersecurity resources and expertise across Massachusetts, and our objective is not to duplicate or compete with them. We want to understand where the gaps are, determine what makes sense to build here, and create a Western Massachusetts resource that complements and connects with the larger statewide ecosystem.

That approach is at the heart of the BIC model. We provide shared infrastructure and technology, develop workforce programs around common industry needs, and connect companies with subject-matter experts, educational institutions, technology providers, and public-sector partners. The SHIELD report itself identifies the BIC's Advanced Optics Tech Hub as part of the Commonwealth's emerging defense and national-security infrastructure and notes General Dynamics' use of the BIC facility and network for defense-related programming and potential supply-chain expansion.

Sinicon is a good example of how these pieces come together. The company is now undertaking a major expansion in Dalton, investing millions of dollars in its facility and new equipment, consolidating operations, preserving existing jobs, and planning to add more. Cybersecurity is one part of a much larger and continuing investment in the people, equipment, technology, and capabilities necessary to serve increasingly sophisticated customers.

We tend to think of manufacturing infrastructure as buildings, machines, utilities, and equipment, but modern manufacturing infrastructure is broader than that. It includes a skilled workforce, advanced technology, strong supply chains, access to specialized expertise, sophisticated digital systems, and the ability to protect the information and intellectual property moving through those systems.

With Congressman Neal's leadership, Representative Farley-Bouvier's support, companies like Sinicon, subject-matter experts like Synagex, and a statewide focus on cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and supply-chain competitiveness, we have an opportunity to

build that capacity here in Western Massachusetts. As we have done from the beginning, we'll do that by listening, learning, bringing the right people together, and building something that fills a real need.