The Next Chapter for the BIC - and the Berkshires

Over the past several years, the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) has grown from a promising idea into a practical platform for workforce development, applied technology, and industry collaboration. We have trained incumbent workers through our Manufacturing Academy, supported the development of dynamic startups, and built durable partnerships with employers, educators, and research institutions across Massachusetts.

What we are now working toward represents the next stage of our evolution: a technology hub focused on the advanced manufacturing of advanced optics. The aim is not simply to host advanced optics innovation, but to become a global leader in commercial production — anchoring high-value economic activity in the Berkshires in a way that is realistic, scalable, and rooted in the region.

This is not a departure from the BIC’s mission. It is a logical next step.

A Statewide Strategy, Executed Locally

The Commonwealth has been clear that innovation policy must lead to tangible economic outcomes. Last year the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative launched a new program, the regional Tech Hubs initiative, that reflects that priority – emphasizing the creation of regional hubs that connect research, workforce development, and manufacturing.

Rather than funding isolated facilities, the Tech Hub program supports industry-led, regionally grounded efforts designed to accelerate commercialization and strengthen local economies beyond Greater Boston. Competition was strong, with regions across the state advancing proposals built on years of planning and partnership-building.

For the Berkshires, this process reinforced a key point: successful hubs are built around specific manufacturing advantages, not abstract ambitions. Advanced optics manufacturing emerged as a focus because a genuine opportunity already exists here — and because it aligns with the region’s scale, workforce, and long-term economic needs.

Manufacturing the Next Generation of Optics

At the center of this opportunity is Myrias Optics, not simply as a tenant company, but as the developer of a new manufacturing process for producing flat, or meta-lenses.

Traditional optics manufacturing relies on curved glass lenses that are costly and difficult to scale. Meta-lenses use nanoscale structures on flat surfaces to control light, enabling thinner, lighter, and more compact optical systems. For years, their adoption has been limited not by performance, but by manufacturing cost and complexity.

Myrias, which was born out of a lab at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is distinct in the world of advanced optics because it has developed a repeatable, cost-effective production process that can operate within a relatively small and modestly priced lab environment. This means that advanced optics manufacturing does not require a massive, capital-intensive facility to scale.

Myrias plans to establish a manufacturing and production lab at the BIC, purpose-built around this process. The lab is intended to support real production — not just research — while fitting the scale and economics of Western Massachusetts.

Why the Hub Model Works Here

This manufacturing profile is precisely why the tech hub model makes sense for the Berkshires.

Because this work can be done in a smaller footprint, it can be supported through shared infrastructure, targeted equipment investment, and a trained technical workforce — all areas where the BIC already plays a role. The hub lowers the barrier of entry for companies seeking to participate in the advanced optics space, accelerates scale-up, and creates a platform that can support additional firms over time.

This is not about chasing volume manufacturing at any cost. It is about enabling high-value, precision production that fits the region and builds durable economic strength.

Established Industry and a Growing Value Chain

Supporting this manufacturing activity is Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA), an established and growing Berkshire-based company with deep expertise in electromagnetic and optical testing and validation.  EMA and Myrias began working together several years ago and EMA introduced Myrias to the BIC and the growing ecosystem in the Berkshires. 

As advanced optical components move toward commercial use, rigorous testing is essential. EMA provides the independent validation required for adoption in demanding real-world systems. Together, manufacturing and validation form a tightly connected local value chain — the kind that keeps economic activity rooted in place rather than exported elsewhere.

This combination of new manufacturing processes and established industry capability is exactly how regional ecosystems become resilient.

What This Means for the Berkshires

At its most basic level, this work brings high-quality jobs to the region — directly through companies like Myrias and EMA. These are skilled roles with career pathways, competitive wages, and long-term stability. But the broader opportunity is what comes next.

The goal of the tech hub is to act as a flywheel. When specialized manufacturing infrastructure exists in one place, it has a catalytic effect on regional growth and supply chains. Companies are more likely to put down roots when they know they can access facilities, talent, testing partners, and an ecosystem that understands their industry.

Over time, that concentration creates momentum. Firms do business with one another. Employees move between companies without leaving the region. Entrepreneurs begin to see the Berkshires not as a place you leave to grow a technology company, but as a place where growth is possible.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Economic development is often measured in square footage and job counts. Those metrics matter. But so does something harder to quantify: what young people believe is possible where they live.

Last week, as part of our advanced optics work, the BIC hosted a group of students from Williams Elementary School in Pittsfield. Through hands-on STEM activities, they were introduced to the basic principles behind optical technologies — the same ideas that underpin the manufacturing work happening at the BIC. They were captivated.

The questions came quickly, the engagement was genuine, and the feedback from both students and teachers was overwhelmingly positive. It was a small moment, but an important one. When advanced technology is visible — when it is happening here — it sparks curiosity and helps students imagine futures that connect learning to meaningful work without leaving the region.

A Place to Stay, Return, and Build

For the Berkshires, this effort is ultimately about choice. Choice for companies deciding where to grow.  Choice for entrepreneurs deciding where to build.  Choice for young people deciding whether to stay, leave, or return.

By focusing on the advanced manufacturing of advanced optics, we are expanding those choices. We are showing that innovation and production do not need to be confined to a handful of major metros. They can happen — and thrive — in regions willing to invest thoughtfully in people, partnerships, and infrastructure.

This is the next chapter in the Berkshire Innovation Center’s evolution, and an opportunity to strengthen the region’s future in a way that benefits us all.