I manage a small (35 people) power supply manufacturing company in Norwood Mass. I was interested in reading your article on manufacturing in New England.
We have tried to do the engineering design, manufacturing, and marketing ourselves. We now find that in order to be competitive in a technology-driven industry we have to find partners that are willing to share with us their expertise in these different areas. I have found at least in the design area that universities such as MIT can offer a great deal of assistance. We also are a partner in a power design group at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. They are partly financed by the NSF (National Science Foundation) so this becomes a true collaboration between industry, university, and government.
