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 and CEO of Draper Laboratories, said the facility is intended to expand onshore capabilities in advanced microelectronics and will support Draper’s growth; he said the company has increased headcount by 37% over the last three years. The administration said the project is expected to support about 200 jobs and to enable Draper to pursue "hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts over the next five years."

• Natick BioNexus: The state will invest $3,000,000 in BioNexus at the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center to accelerate biomedical solutions for service members. Healey said the state funding leverages a $7,000,000 Army investment.

• Hanscom small-business acceleration: Healey announced $1,000,000 to help small businesses accelerate partnerships with the U.S. Air Force and Hanscom Air Force Base on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and secure communications projects.

• NEMC / SCALE: MassTech’s Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) hub and the SCALE (Supporting Chip Advancement from Lab to Enterprise) program will deploy an initial portion of the state matching funds and awarded $10,200,000 to 10 projects across the commonwealth. MassTech CEO Carolyn Kirk said the SCALE awards are intended to fund equipment, workforce development, and shared facilities to help move microelectronics concepts from lab to production.

SCALE award highlights and partners

Carolyn Kirk said SCALE’s first round totals $10,200,000 and supports 10 grantees that include academic, federal-lab and industry partners. She named multiple recipients during the event, including MIT Lincoln Laboratory (award for RF and advanced materials work), Harvard’s Center for Nanoscale Systems, MITRE, Tufts University, North Shore Community College, Bridgewater State University, Berkshire Community College, IMAIC USA, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Kirk said the program aligns the NEMC hub’s capabilities with federal technology needs and expands shared facilities and workforce pathways across the region.

Attribution and next steps

Governor Maura Healey said she will sign the executive order formalizing SHIELD and asked state agencies and quasi-public entities to coordinate under the new hub. Secretary of Economic Development Eric Paley described the initiative as a prioritization of defense for the state’s "business front door" service so companies can more easily find contracting, funding and partnership opportunities in Massachusetts.

The administration and event speakers emphasized SHIELD’s role as a coordination and outreach mechanism rather than the creation of a new permit or regulatory authority. Officials said specific program design, award timelines and implementation steps will be led by MassTech, the Executive Office of Economic Development, and the administration’s reconstituted military task force; they did not present a final rule or regulatory change at the convening.

Quotes

"We're already continuously in the top 10 of defense spending nationally," Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said, describing the state's existing base of defense-related jobs and institutions.

"So here's what I'm excited to announce. First, I'll be signing an executive order to advance the defense sector innovation, and economic growth for our state," Governor Maura Healey said when announcing the SHIELD working group and the funding package.

"The $25,000,000 is more than an investment in a building. It's an investment in cultivating talent that leads the creation of new jobs in highly skilled markets," Dr. Jerry Wolitz, president and CEO of Draper Laboratories, said of the Lowell Impact Center.

What the announcement did not specify

Event speakers described program goals and initial awards but left several implementation details unspecified at the convening. Officials did not provide a full timeline for the executive order’s administrative steps, specific procurement or contracting mechanisms for the $25 million Draper/LINC commitment, or the schedule for deploying remaining state matching funds for NEMC. Where dollar amounts were not discussed, the administration described intent to align state and federal funding across programs.

Background

The NEMC hub was funded under the federal CHIPS and Science Act and has grown its membership since inception, MassTech officials said. The Healey administration reconstituted a military task force earlier in the term to improve base alignment and defense-sector coordination; Adam Friedberg was named to lead that effort full time.

Next public steps announced at the convening include distribution of SCALE award agreements and follow-up sessions with industry partners; the governor and lieutenant governor indicated the executive order signing would take place at the completion of the event.