Over the last few years, we’ve had the privilege of working closely with the team at the Merrimack Valley Sandbox in Lowell.   The Merrimack Valley Sandbox (MVS) launched in 2010 with the mission of boosting the economic and social well-being of greater Lowell and Lawrence by advancing entrepreneurship and innovation.  From pitch contests and events to mentoring and an accelerator, the Sandbox has been a force to be reckoned with in Lowell and Lawrence.  Check them out, they have some great events coming up too!

The Sandbox is conveniently located in Lowell, near UMass Lowell, and even shares the building with many who work for the University and M2D2, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center. Lowell is growing into a major center for people who “make stuff” with more exciting opportunities to come.

For our first August Innovation Breakfast, we traveled to the Lowell mill that houses the Sandbox to meet with a new group.  (We’ve met previously with the current accelerator class, the summer 2014 group.)

This Friday morning we had a large and diverse group, coming from Lowell but also southern New Hampshire and the surrounding town.  The group even included that rare and oh-so-elusive tech founder looking for non-tech co-founders.  We also met a contract manufacturer who provides local electronics manufacturing. Local, as in, on-shore.  Mostly new faces, there were so many connections being made, we skipped the very idea of a mini-seminar and after the group introductions (15 seconds of fame, not 15 minutes minutes) went right back to networking.

Thanks to the Merrimack Valley Sandbox team for hosting us!

For our next Innovation Breakfast event, we’ll be traveling back toward Boston with an event at Alpha Landmark in Somerville. Already have a number of people signed up – RSVP here!