This month's Mass Innovation Nights event, MIN #123, drew a wide variety of advanced textile manufacturing and other apparel products and innovators to
IndusPAD in Lawrence on Wednesday, June 12. Our hosts and sponsors for the night were IndusPAD and
Lawrence Partnership. The products showcased ranged from practical and fashionable key wallets to a line of underwear designed to enable patients to manage leg bags and tubing comfortably and discreetly. There was a decent crowd despite sharing the night with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. (This is the Merrimack Valley -- we take both hockey and entrepreneurship very seriously.)
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| IndusPAD aka Former Polartec Plant |
I didn't manage to visit every product table, but made it to most of them. My blog post attempts to capture what I experienced.
Our four presenters for the night, chosen ahead of time by audience voting on the Mass Innovation Nights website, were:
Hope Sews combines both Ghanian and western clothing styles into a chic, modern style that they call cross-cultural fashion. The clothing is made from authentic Ghanaian fabrics and
prints by seamstresses in rural areas of Ghana. A percentage of each purchase goes toward providing seamstresses with micro-finance loans to buy electric sewing machines to scale their businesses. Hope Sews sees its mission as empowering women through fashion.
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Hope Sews
Presenting |
I remebered Magnomer from an
EforAll pitch contest in 2018 (didn't get to blog about them then because my computer was in the shop for weeks -- don't ask). Anyway, I am impressed with their magnetic coatings technology for plastic
packaging. The coatings are used on packaging where the labels get in the way of recycling. For example, shrink sleeves for bottles. By automating and simplifying the separation of the labels from the plastic in the recycling process they not only make recycling way easier but also increase the recycling yield. Their
Design2Recycle™ concept for thinking about production makes it easier for consumer brands to increase bottle recycling without having to change the bottle manufacturing process. The difference is in the magnetizable inks for the labels.
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| Magnomer Showcasing Labels on Plastic Bottles |
The Keysie Key Wallet caught my eye right away. Who hasn't had the "where are my keys?" experience? Rather than relying on one of those beeper things to locate your keys, Keysie keeps you from misplacing your keys in the first place. It's compact and well-designed to hold keys, frequently used credit cards, and your ID. And you don't have to unhook it to put the key in the lock either. It's really cool-looking too.
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| Keysie Clips Right onto your Bag |
Lawrence-based CathWear got my vote for audience choice winner immediately. It's such an elegant solution for managing catheter bags and tubes safely and discreetly. I enjoyed talking with the inventor, Brian Mohika, a nurse who came up with the idea after watching patients struggling with managing leg bags. CathWear is underwear that looks like boxer briefs with pockets to hold
the catheter bags. There's also a channel to hold the tubes in order to prevent inadvertent pulling. Everything stays in place, the bags and tubes don't irritate the patient's skin, there are no more irritating and unsanitary velcro straps, and best of all nobody will notice it under your clothes. It restores privacy and dignity. That's a game changer for people who have to wear leg bags to work or school every day.
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| Demonstrating CathWear |
Terracea's jackets -- insulated and non-insulated -- were getting a lot of audience attention. The idea that you can wear the same clothing for outdoor adventures and urban streets and stay warm and dry as well as looking good is pretty cool. The Fall/Winter 2019 outerwear collection gets you through your weekday commute and your snowboarding weekend through all the weather that New England has to offer. Waterproof, comfortable, windproof, durable urban-to-outdoor clothing can handle it all. With a helmet-compatible hood, plenty of pockets (there's even an interior phone pocket with a media port) and nice snug wrist gaiters, you'll be ready for adventure on the slopes as soon as you get off work.
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| Terracea |
IG MODA leggings, tops, and accessories feature unique designs based on Irina Gorbman's original art. The color combinations are designed to evoke a meditative vibe that makes people smile and energizes the body from within. I can imagine such vibrant patterns kicking up my workout a notch.
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| IG Moda |
Southwick is an established brand with a factory based in Haverhill. Southwick's understated elegance and fine workmanship has been synonymous with authentic American style since 1929. They are the flagship factory for Brooks Brothers Made-in-America clothing.
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| Southwick Jacket with Classic American Soft Shoulder Design |
They had some of their Fashion Tailored Clothing Jackets on display at
their table. I have to say I liked the silver one, which was a custom
design for one of their clients.
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| Southwick Silver Jacket |
The
gunaPAJAMA is a soft and cozy baby pajama with an innovative zipper for easy diaper change. No snaps! The bamboo viscose material feels soft to the touch and wicks moisture too. I liked the way the simple practicality of the zipper and the comfortableness of the fabric combine for the easiest diaper change ever.
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| gunaPAJAMA |
The Acadia Chukka Boot from T.B. Phelps feels soft to the touch and looks great. They get the luxurious feel with natural organic finishes
hand-applied on vegetable-tanned American Deerskin. Pair that look with a matching
Torrence Deerskin belt made in Haverhill and you'll look great.
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| T.B. Phelps Boots and Accessories |
Congratulations to the audience choice winners for the night -- all well-deserved:
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| The Audience Choice Winners Posing with the Night's Sponsors |
The Experts Corner featured an outstanding lineup of experts: Larry Andrews from
Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, Francisco J. Martinez, CTO of
Mission Ready Solutions, and Lianna Kushi, Executive Director of
EforAll Lowell-Lawrence. Each of them shared extremely useful insights both in their talks and at their tables in the Experts Corner.
One of the high points for me was Francisco Martinez's inspiring story of arriving in Lawrence as a 19 year old immigrant from Colombia, starting out at Polartec cleaning factory floors and working his way up to division manager, then on to launching a successful business of his own producing military clothing (Protect The Force LLC now merged with Mission Ready Solutions). Yes, as a Polartec employee he worked at this very spot that is now IndusPAD. So many elements of the resilience of the Merrimack Valley flowed through Francisco's story that I found it amazingly inspiring.
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| Francisco Sharing His Expertise in the Experts Corner |
The after party was right in the next room and featured a giant paella. People were already lining up for paella before 8:30!
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| The After Party About to Get Started |
The Experts Corner is a popular part of MIN events and my traditional Experts Looking Expert photos have become popular as well. This month's Experts Looking Expert shot features two amazing expert women of the Merrimack Valley: Lianna Kushi, Executive Director of
EforAll Lowell-Lawrence and Marianne Paley Nadel, owner of
Everett Mills Real Estate. This is what experts look like!
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| Experts Looking Expert |
