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CITY HALL PLAZA, BOSTON, JULY 24, 2024....As the state contemplates tax breaks and public funding for the climate technology field, industry leaders say they want to stay in Massachusetts, where "all the brainiacs are," despite the high costs of running businesses here.

State officials this legislative session have made moves toward positioning Massachusetts on the forefront of the so-called "climate tech" industry, viewing it as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capture a profitable new sector for Massachusetts.

To do so, they're planning a massive investment into the sector, with tax breaks for businesses, similar to the model Gov. Deval Patrick used over a decade ago to cement the life sciences industry's place in the Greater Boston area and help it to grow.

"We are the prime place to open and grow and stay, because we have the workforce. We have all the universities, that includes the lab space and incubator space needed for these companies to start," said Alia Forrest, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's director of business strategy.

Forrest helped organize a "Climate Tech on the Plaza" event Tuesday afternoon that drew more than 30 companies to City Hall Plaza.

Up Beacon Hill at the State House, negotiators have less than eight days to hammer out the details of a bill that could deploy $350 million in tax credits mostly to the climate tech sector, $200 million in state bond authorizations to support the development of the industry, and another $200 million for offshore wind technology.

"I feel like it's about time for that kind of investment," said Nicole Voudren, president of Boston-based startup Better Together Brain Trust (BT2), which works in electrification and energy efficiency. "Everyone is closer to being a climate refugee than a billionaire. We're already feeling the effects of climate change. We need to act, and act fast."

BT2 contracted with the City of Boston last year to install electric vehicle charging stations around the city. So far, they have not installed any of the chargers, as they're awaiting Eversource to finish infrastructure upgrades first, Voudren said.

"As soon as the infrastructure vendors are done, we're going to hop in and bolt down some of these units, get them up and running, and call it a day," she said.

In addition to the economic development bill that contains the climate tech support, House and Senate lawmakers are also negotiating a clean energy bill that includes provisions to boost access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Proponents of electric vehicles say they won't be able to fully replace gas-powered cars until EV chargers are widely available on every major road and fast enough to compete with the ease of pumping gas.

Both House and Senate versions of the bill call for first steps towards creating a statewide network of fast-charging hubs along highways and major roadways in Massachusetts, though negotiators will have to broker differences in EV language between the clean energy bills.

Asked about the $200 million authorization lawmakers are seeking to support climate tech businesses, Voudren said "What I do hope is that they have some supplier diversity goals built in, because otherwise we'll see money flow to folks who are essentially already in the space, and might not benefit from the funds as much as smaller, women-owned, veteran-owned, Latinx or Black-owned businesses."

She added, "I see a lot of white male-led organizations that are more extractive, or exploitative, who target environmental justice communities and gateway cities to locate, but don't necessarily give back to the community beyond installing technology or setting up their business there."

Julia Somerdin, CEO and co-founder of MIT-affiliated tech company Labby, said she'd like to see more incentives for businesses in Massachusetts.

Labby builds technology that analyzes cow's milk on the farm in real time, with food composition and nutritional data. Currently, most dairy farmers have to manually collect samples of the milk to be sent back to labs for testing, which both costs small farmers money and time, and is worse for the environment. Testing the milk in real time allows farmers to act if something is wrong with the cows or the milk they're producing, before waiting days or weeks for test results to return, Somerdin said.

The startup recently opened offices in New York, because the state is the fifth largest dairy producer in the United States.

"In New York, Empire State Development, ESD, provides a huge amount of support for the green tech, dairy tech agriculture industry. So I was happy that Boston is doing this today, and we keep looking to Massachusetts for support," Somerdin said.

She added that dairy tech is a "huge industry" with "a lot of opportunities."

"There are about 40,000 dairy farms in the U.S., and I don't think dairy is going to go anywhere anytime soon. We just have to find ways to make it more efficient, more profitable, and greener," she said. "Everyone may not drink milk, but everyone loves their butter, cheese and ice cream. Can you imagine a world without ice cream?"

Officials say they're worried about startups leaving for states with lower costs, like North Carolina and Texas, where nascent life science and climate tech industries are beginning to compete with Massachusetts.

"A lot of folks stay in Boston because they keep finding new connections with funding, co-founders, there's such a massive amount of accelerators and incubators," Forrest said. "I can't say that is the same for other cities in Texas ... I think Boston is the place to be for climate tech."

Voudren said the cost of doing business in Massachusetts is high, but having some of the country's best universities in the area is a huge boon to the tech sector.

"The utility costs are pretty outrageous, the rent as well, but I couldn't imagine doing it anywhere else," she said. "This is where all the brainiacs are."

Climate tech companies showcase their work at a "Demo Day" held outside Boston City Hall on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

A child interacts with a vertical farming system display, which allows people to grow food in their own home, at a climate technology showcase on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.