April 10, 2017 — Gloucester’s fishing and waterfront communities received some good news on several fronts this past week.
First came the news that Massachusetts’ maritime economy grew faster than the state’s economy as a whole from 2005 to 2015.
The analysis, done by by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Public Policy Center, said the segments of the maritime economy that performed best over the prescribed decade include tourism and recreation — the largest employer, though a smaller contributor to wages and GSP — and marine transportation and technology — which accounts for only 13 percent of employment but 35 percent of the maritime economy’s total wages.
Those are segments Gloucester is and should continue working to build upon.
The city’s new harbormaster and assistant harbormaster are working to find more transitional mooring for tourists arriving by boat and setting up best protocols and seasonal boating pricing.
It is also considering setting up visitors center downtown. The center, which would be on the second-floor of the American Legion Hall on Washington Street,would serve visitors who may not get to the city’s main visitors center in Stage Fort Park.
Gloucester was also recently awarded nearly $3 million in Massachusetts Life Sciences Center state grants to the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, Gloucester High School and O’Maley Innovation Middle School.