Why Lynn? / Target Industries
Built in Lynn.
For nearly 400 years, Lynn has made things the world uses, from shoes to jet engines. Today our manufacturers, health care leaders and innovators are writing the next chapter.
Our manufacturing legacy
From shoe capital to the jet age
Lynn's leather trade dates to 1629, when one of America's first tanneries opened here. By the late 1800s, Lynn was the shoe capital of the world. Local inventor Jan Matzeliger's lasting machine raised output from about 50 pairs a day by hand to 700.
In 1892, Lynn's Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with Edison General Electric to form GE. Fifty years later, GE engineers in Lynn built America's first jet engine, and GE Aerospace still employs 2,500 people here.
Where Lynn competes
Our target industries
Existing strengths
- Advanced manufacturingAerospace, metal fabrication and precision production
- Food manufacturingAbout 30% of Lynn's manufacturing jobs
- Health careLynn's largest employment sector, with 7,000+ jobs
- RestaurantsA downtown dining scene with flavors from around the world
- Creative economyArtists, makers and about 80 murals downtown
Emerging opportunities
- Biomanufacturing and medical devicesBioReady Platinum zoning and high-bay space
- ClimatetechRoom to build and test on the waterfront
- HospitalityA growing waterfront and downtown destination
- Marinetech and marine industrialDeep-water access in the South Harbor district
Why it works here
Ready for industry
PlatinumBioReady rating for life sciences
~30 daystypical approvals for development projects
4%EDIC/Lynn commercial loans
$15.34average lease rate per sq ft
Bring your business to Lynn
Talk to Danya Smith at EDIC/Lynn: dsmith@ediclynn.org · 781.581.9399