Commonwealth Conversations: Engage!: NLGA

Experiencing Germany's Innovation Economy

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Berlin is a diverse city with tremendous history. After visiting Germany's Federal Parliament, the Reichstag, I had a series of meetings that not only helped to capture this diversity but also opened up doors for future collaboration and sharing of best practices.

Massachusetts is the fourth largest importer and exporter in Germany so there was a lot to discuss when I joined representatives from Germany Trade and Investment. This organization partners with the country's chamber of commerces to support growth and development for German-based companies. For example, just last week, I joined a few of these representatives for a forum with MassBIO in Cambridge. As we continue to partner with the country, there are great synergies within our manufacturing industries and innovative economy including the life sciences, clean energy, and digital game industries.

Lieutenant Governor Murray joins Karl Storz's Marketing Director at their Berlin facility. Karl Storz is a medical device company with a production facility in Charlton, Massachusetts. (Photo: Lauren Jones/ Lieutenant Governor's Office)

Today, I also visited a Massachusetts based company, Karl Storz. Headquartered in Germany, this company produces endoscopic technology in Charlton, MA as well as Tuttlingen, a small town in Germany. This medical device is used in countless hospitals for laser, non-evasive surgeries. With this technology, the company needs skilled labor. Germany's dual-education system focuses on apprenticeship training that prepares students in critical skills - from mechanical engineering to surgical technology. I look forward to coming back to Massachusetts to highlight this model and to look at it relative to our vocational and technical school programs.

I also visited Betahaus, a co-working innovation space located in Berlin (as well as a handful of other European cities). In meeting with one of Betahaus' co-founders, it was a great opportunity to understand Berlin and Germany's creative economy. While relatively new, it is growing. Take for example, doonited.com, a startup recently launched thanks to brainstorming and developing an idea in a co-working facility. Providing young entrepreneurs with creative working space to share and build ideas will only help accelerate that growth in the country, and is a great model I know we use in Massachusetts and one that should be replicated more.

Learning about Germany's Health Care System

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

View Lt. Governor's Bio

While our Administration launched a new tool to help address health care cost containment in Massachusetts, I had the opportunity to meet representatives from the German Federal Ministry of Health to discuss Germany's universal health care system. We discussed the challenges and opportunities of the country's social and private mandatory insurance system.

Lieutenant Governor Murray joins Vice Chancellor Rosler (center) and fellow lieutenant governors at the Bundesministerium fur Wirtschaft und Technologie in Berlin. (Photo: Lauren Jones/Office of the Lieutenant Governor)

Massachusetts understands firsthand the experience of extending health care to all. Governor Patrick and our Administration are committed to not only increasing access to high quality health care but also improving the affordability of health care for Massachusetts residents and businesses. Today, in Massachusetts, we took another step forward by providing consumers and stakeholders with critical information on our new health care cost containment law recently passed to help lower costs for residents and businesses.

Touring & Visiting Infrastructure Projects in Leipzig

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

View Lt. Governor's Bio

Today, the delegation and I received a comprehensive overview of infrastructure projects in Leipzig, the largest city in the state of Saxony. Similar to Dresden, Leipzig has focused on economic renewal and redevelopment over the last 20 years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Sven Morlok, Saxony's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State at the State Ministry of Economics, Labor and Transportation, led the delegation on a tour of Leipzig's City Tunnel Project. I first met Deput Prime Minister Morlok when he visited Massachusetts in 2010 for a renewable energy trade mission. Now, two years after I hosted him in the Commonwealth, Morlok hosted me and the delegation of lieutenant governors in his state. The City Tunnel, almost $1 billion (euro), is a critical infrastructure project connecting two of the city's rail stations, providing a missing link for in Leipzig's rail network.

Lieutenant Governor Murray and Lieutenant Governor Roberts of Rhode Island discuss airport services in their states while overlooking the Airport Leipzig/Halle.(Photo: Lauren Jones/Lieutenant Governor's Office)

Governor Patrick and I have invested $500 million in the Commonwealth's rail system, much of which has helped to improve downtown district for cities and towns. Just last week, I released a progress report on investments in our rail system, that included the historic CSX agreement that will lead to increased and improved service between New England's two largest cities, Boston and Worcester.

Like in Massachusetts, investing in transportation helps residents and businesses in Leipzig get from point A to point B. These investments yield new jobs, economic development, and a clean environment. As a result of Leipzig's investment in the City Tunnel Project, at least 100 construction jobs have been created and the soon to be complete improvements are attracting new businesses to the downtown, including a shopping center expected to open next week. With more and more people depending on this improved transportation service, less cars will be on the road in Leipzig and surrounding communities.

Lieutenant Governor Murray looks over the plan design for Leipzig's land reclamation project, "Leipziger Neuseenland." (Photo: Lauren Jones/Lieutenant Governor's Office)

After visiting the City Tunnel project, we also toured Leipzig's airport, the largest (in terms of acres) airport in all of Germany. By partnering with Lufthansa airline, DHL and other carriers, the airport serves not only passengers but international cargo. The airport also welcomes American soldiers who often stop through the airport en route to training camps in Europe by providing sleeping quarters and a prayer room before flights. As Leipzig considers growth, there is a tremendous amount of land on-site for future expansion opportunities for the airport.

Our last stop was a visit and tour of the "Leipziger Neuseenland," (LMBV) the largest brownfields redevelopment in East Germany. Formerly a mining community of approximately 650 square miles throughout the greater Leipzig region, the land is currently being reclaimed by LMBV. Of this land, over 150 small and large holes leftover from the mining industry are being filled by neighboring waterways to create lakes after significant clean up on the contaminated land. The $9 billion (euro) project is expected to be complete in 2014. As East Germany continues to revitalize its cities and towns, life is certainly returning to the great landscapes in the Central region thanks to this project. Beyond the aesthetics, the brownfields clean up and transformation is helping to support agriculture by re-cultivating the land with rich soil and the replanting of hundreds of trees.

From transportation to brownfields to water, investing in infrastructure supports significant economic and community development.

Local Government in Saxony, Germany

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

View Lt. Governor's Bio

Today, the delegation of lieutenant governors and I met the Burgomeister (town mayor) of the Village of Lommatzsch. Like municipalities back in the United States, towns in Saxony also face challenges within the community - from proposing wind mills and initiating regionalized services to investing in local infrastructure for schools and roads.

As a former mayor, it was interesting to learn of some opportunities and challenges a Burgomeister in Germany may face. Recently re-elected for another seven year term, Dr. Anita Maab oversees a small community that includes 1 town and 38 villages. While rural, the community is considered a lot more dense than some Massachusetts rural communities in Franklin and Berkshire Counties.

Lieutenant Governor Murray signs the "gold book" in the local town hall. (Photo: Lauren Jones/Lieutenant Governor's Office)

However, one common ground this Burgomeister shares with the municipal managers back in Massachusetts is the need to strategically invest in downtown redevelopment. The downtown district makes up a fair part of the 80 kilometers in the community, including several store fronts and small businesses like the new pharmacy and health center we visited. The Burgomeister also depends on local revenue to support the town's budget, and bringing in new industries and small businesses can help drive critical funding.

Despite the thousands of miles that separate our communities, the core needs for municipal government remain the same. Overlooking a dilapidated building in need of repair or passing historic buildings that need to be preserved, the Burgomeister shared some frustrations in building a better community for the village while working with the state and federal levels of government.

This visit reinforced the importance of Governor Patrick and I working closely with municipal partners as we invest in all regions of the state.

Dresden: Meeting BU Students, Touring the Technical University & NOVATIC

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

View Lt. Governor's Bio

Dresden is a beautiful city, located between the banks of the Elbe River. After the fire storms that swept through miles of Dresden during World War II and the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this East German city - once in complete rubble - has rebuilt historic landmarks to maintain the city's cultural and architectural integrity.

Today was a full, but exciting day. All the way across the globe, I had the chance to meet Boston University students studying abroad at the Technical University of Dresden! While visiting the university, a group of faculty from the university's Centre of Energy Technology introduced us to a number of renewable energy initiatives being developed by the university including wind, solar, and photovaltaic energy. While a debate on renewable energy continues on the German federal level, the Centre for Energy Technology at the University is taking on a major role in building public-private partnerships to support diverse energy solutions.

Lieutenant Governor joins Boston University students studying science related fields abroad at the Technical University of Dresden.
(Photo Credit: Lauren Jones / Lieutenant Governors Office)

Lieutenant Governor Murray, Lieutenant Governor Roberts (RI), Lieutenant Governor Sanchez (NM), Lieutenant Governor Francis (USVI), and Lieutenant Governor Reynolds (IA) visit with Boston University students studying in Germany.
(Photo: Boston University)

We also toured the Saxon State Parliament and received an overview of Saxony's politics presented by Torsten Herbst, Chief Whip of the Free Democratic Party followed by a discussion with Dr. Johannes Beerman, Chief of Staff of the Saxon State Chancellery.

Later in the day, I visited NOVATIC, a painting and varnishing manufacturer in Dresden. I met with the CEO as well as school administrators to learn about Germany’s apprenticeship system, including the workforce training and apprenticeship program at NOVATIC. In Saxony, the apprenticeship program attracts 800 students, and 600 of these students study the natural sciences. After studying in the classroom for two weeks, the students then gain hands-on experience at companies like NOVATIC. There are a lot of parallels between this program and Massachusetts' vocational and technical education program.

In Massachusetts, approximately 45,000 students are enrolled in sixty technical and vocational schools across the state. I have always emphasized how these programs provide students with practical experiences in and outside the classroom that prepares them for the 21st century workforce. Upon graduation, many of these students pursue higher education or find professional opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Some of these professional opportunities include apprenticeship programs that further train students for skills needed a range of industries, including advanced manufacturing, engineering, robotics, or construction. We need to continue to invest in these programs so Massachusetts can be competitive in our global economy.

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Guten Tag from Dresden, Germany

Tim Murray

Lt. Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

View Lt. Governor's Bio

Guten Tag from Dresden, Germany!

As Chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), it is a tremendous opportunity to visit another country and promote the great synergies between Massachusetts and Germany. Like Massachusetts, Germany values a world-class education and its innovation economy is thriving.

This week, I will be visiting Dresden (the capital of Saxony, Germany), Leipzig (the largest city in Saxony), and Berlin (the capital of Germany and one of the largest cities in Europe). I will be leading a delegation of lieutenant governors with the NLGA. During the week, I plan to share some highlights along the way as I travel throughout Germany.

Stay tuned for more!