Gov. Maura Healey signs executive order to coordinate defense innovation, pledges $47 million for sector growth

Governor Maura Healey announced an executive order Thursday creating a new working group, SHIELD (Strategic Hub for Innovation, Exchange, and Leadership in Defense), and committed $47,000,000 in state funds to accelerate defense-related research, manufacturing and workforce programs across Massachusetts.

The executive order, Healey said, directs state agencies to "review all of their systems and figure out ways to improve and better support and drive economic growth and partnership for this sector." She also said the SHIELD working group will "engage leaders to drive collaboration across the broader technology and innovation ecosystem." The announcement accompanied multiple funding commitments that the administration and its partners said will leverage federal and private investments.

Why it matters: Massachusetts officials described the move as a coordinated, state-led push to translate the commonwealth's research strengths into jobs and supply-chain capacity for national defense. Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll framed the plan as building on the state's existing defense footprint, noting Massachusetts "is continuously in the top 10 of defense spending nationally" and hosts six military installations and a large network of defense-related companies, federal labs and universities.

Key funding commitments

• Draper Laboratories / Lowell: The administration committed $25,000,000 to support construction of Draper’s Impact Center in the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor (LINC), a public-private development led by UMass Lowell and the city. Dr. Jerry Wolitz, president…