Page 33 - BusinessWest July 25, 2022
P. 33

 Manufacturing
Meetings of the Minds
FORGE Continues to Connect Innovators and Manufacturers
KBy Joseph Bednar
evin Moforte has traveled an intriguing road to his new role as Western Mass. director of FORGE.
Before serving as executive director for EforAll Lynn, a nonprofit that mentors
entrepreneurs on Massachusetts’ North Shore, he taught classes about entrepreneurship, innovation, and sus- tainable development at colleges in Chile. He spent his early career working in community development and emergency housing in slums across Latin America, par- ticularly in Colombia and the Caribbean. And in 2015, he founded Esperanza Soaps, a company based out of Las Malvinas in the Dominican Republic, bringing good jobs to the women of a impoverished community.
So he’s well-versed in entrepreneurship, education, community development, and the links between them. And since October, he’s brought his connection-making skills to FORGE, which, since 2015, has connected inno- vators and startups with manufacturers in an effort to grow both ecosystems in Massachusetts.
“I love entrepreneurship. I think it plays a key role not just in building wealth, but in building healthy, prosper- ous, stable communities. So being engaged with entre- preneurs at different stages has always been a passion of mine,” Moforte told BusinessWest. “I started a business myself, and I understand the ins and outs of how diffi- cult it is to build a business, how dependent you are on a community, and how much fun it is to have connec- tions with people who will help you get to the next step, people who really cheer you on.”
And those connections are critical, he went on. “With startups, it’s a real pitfall when you transition to manufacturing. That’s why the work we do is really important.”
FORGE, the nonprofit arm of Greentown Labs in Somerville, was formed because, according to its mis- sion statement, startups making physical products are solving some of the world’s
toughest problems, but
face roadblocks to scale.
By connecting them with
right-fit manufacturers,
FORGE addresses crucial
gaps and accelerates the
path to market for these
startups’ products.
“There are over 7,000 manufacturers right here in Massachusetts. A lot
of people don’t recognize that,” said Laura Tei- cher, executive director of FORGE, adding that the
  Kevin Moforte says entrepreneurship helps build prosperous communities, and FORGE’s work is a big part of that.
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