Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 64 APRIL 2019 local businesswoman Sheree Zizik, a founding board member of the institute. ough its ambitions were always focused on the water, GMGI began operations in the best space available at the time, about a mile inland at an industrial park off Route 128. In that facility, GMGI started the Gloucester Biotechnology Academy, a program that trains high school graduates in the skills they need to work as laboratory technicians, prepar- ing them for jobs in a sector that is thriving in Massachusetts. us far the academy has graduated two classes, and 86 percent of graduates have gone on to college or to full- time jobs in the field. Research began as well, but the institute's scientists had to share lab space with the academy, restricting the time they could spend doing hands-on research. e official open- ing of the new waterfront facility in October changed all that. "It's amazing," Bodnar says. "Now there's essentially no limit. It's a real turning point for the research institute." e new 20,000-square-foot facility, built by Beverly's Windover Construction, is owned by a partnership between Zizik and New Balance chairman Jim Davis, a part-time resident of Gloucester who has collaborated with Zizik on other businesses in the city. e project has been in the works since GMGI's inception, but the regulatory complexities of building on the water and in a designated port area drew out the process. GMGI occupies about one-third of the new building. Inside, floor-to-ceiling windows line office space, the conference room, and the main lab, giving employees a direct sense of connection with the adjacent working water- front. A DNA sequencing room holds some of the most advanced genomic equipment available. Perhaps the centerpiece of the space is the specially designed tank room, in which rows of tanks can hold specimens in seawater pumped directly from the harbor. e institute will conduct a range of research activities. One project, known as "ge- nome mining," will sequence the DNA of marine organisms and look for interesting and useful sections in their genetic code. e oceans are home to many of the world's longest-lived Above, A DNA sequencing room holds some of the most advanced genomic equipment available. Peter Gourdeau is the director of project development services at Windover. I N - D E P T H