Understanding and addressing business needs and sustainability challenges: lessons from Devens eco-industrial park

Attracting and retaining companies is critical for successful development of eco-industrial parks. By examining and addressing the main business needs and sustainability challenges, policy makers, developers and other champions, can promote both business value and social value creation. This paper provides valuable lessons from Devens, Massachusetts, an eco-industrial park established in 1993. Based on 29 interviews with local organizations (30% participation rate) the study reports on key business needs and sustainability challenges of local organizations and how Devens Enterprise Commission has worked to address these as part of its vision for Sustainable Devens. The study found that access to infrastructure – such as rail, green buildings and roads – was the most important factor for companies to locate to Devens, followed by the lower cost of real estate (59%) and tax benefits (52%). Top two sustainability challenges for Devens companies included improving energy efficiency and improving materials efficiency. Eighty six percent of Devens organizations reported partnering with others locally, and 79% said their organizations could benefit from such partnerships in the future. Companies were most interested in partnering around joint sourcing, infrastructure and knowledge sharing. The study confirmed that local government efforts to develop Devens infrastructure and establish supportive sustainability policies and programs were in line with business needs and a key factor for Devensʹ success. It confirmed earlier research on the role of industrial ecology as a cluster development policy and the importance of diversity of firms, trust, sustainability policies, and supporting network development as key to creating both business and social value.