For more than two decades, the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) has billed itself as a "community of entrepreneurs," beginning in 1999 in Kendall Square and eventually branching out to locations across the U.S. and internationally. It has a rich history of fostering innovation through programming and making connections, along with its sister organization, Venture Café.
But CIC is also, fundamentally, a coworking space. And it's been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I think it became inevitably clear that CIC's business was going to be affected dramatically," said Dougan Sherwood, who has worked at CIC in various capacities since 2007. "A lot of our friends were also becoming impacted by this. Kendall Square was at risk, because everybody was working from home. As a startup, we were like, 'What do we do to save this company?'"
That was in the spring. At the time, Sherwood was not employed by CIC. He had stepped away in 2018 to head up the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce instead. He had, however, remained close with his CIC colleagues, including founder Tim Rowe. Sherwood said it only took one conversation with Rowe to convince him to jump back in.
Spurred by a brain trust of health experts, including prominent physician Atul Gawande and health care consultant Nikhil Bhojwani, CIC made a pivot. The 21-year-old innovation center spun out a new business it dubbed "CIC Health," which formally launched in August with a singular goal: setting up Covid-19 testing sites. Sherwood heads up the initiative.
The team started by setting up testing centers at existing CIC locations. Then, it began to expand. By early December, CIC Health was running about 180 collection sites, mostly in New England, at hospitals, schools, businesses and more, including sites throughout Vermont on behalf of the state’s Health Department.
Two Massachusetts sites are open to the general public: one at CIC Cambridge in Kendall Square, and a new, drive-through Covid-19 testing site at Newton’s Riverside MBTA station. Each test costs $80.
"With the innovative DNA of the organization and its immense network in Kendall Square, we were able to move from idea and concept into an actual, tactical business operation in a matter of weeks. That's where the CIC realized that not only were they going to be creating something that could help people get back to work, but they could build something broader in scope and mission," Sherwood said. "Because we are small and agile the way a startup operates, we could scale and become an immediate solution to different entities and solutions well beyond the walls of CIC."
Although its immediate mission is to address the pandemic, Sherwood sees a future for CIC Health after Covid-19. The organization is currently hiring for nearly two dozen roles.
The business will likely pivot again in the next year. Sherwood hopes CIC Health can play a part in vaccine distribution, given the team's expertise in logistics. He is wary to offer details of that plan, but he expects the organization he's worked with for the better part of 13 years can do what it does best — innovate.
"I think, like a lot of people, I am painfully aware of the moment that we're all struggling through, and I feel like CIC created an opportunity for me to do something that's useful and to serve people in the moment," Sherwood said. "There are many of us who feel a tremendous sense of service to CIC and to make sure we help it be successful and get through this."
