Members of the Somernova team, Linda Kelley, Russell Preston, Collin Yip, Jhenny Saint-Suri, Kristin Phelan, Carlos Sainz Caccia, Priscilla Burnsed and Majic Alphonse, stand with Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne after receiving the Business Neighbor of the Year award. — Photo courtesy of Somernova

By Bridget Frawley

Somernova became the first developer to receive the Business Neighbor of the Year award at the annual Somerville Chamber of Commerce Powderhouse Business and Excellence Awards on November 30.

Somernova is a 7.4-acre campus dedicated to building a community of companies and people. Rafi Properties purchased the Ames Business Center in 2018 and created office spaces to house Somernova’s 18 permanent tenants and additional temporary partners.

“The Powderhouse award was truly a reflection of the team, our affiliates, and community

members who make Somernova what it is,” said Rafi Properties Managing Director Collin Yip in a statement. “The buildings on campus are just space. It’s the people behind us, driving our mission forward, that is making it into so much more.”

The Somerville Chamber of Commerce started the Powerhouse Business and Excellence Awards in 1996 to recognize economic community excellence across 11 categories.

“It’s healthy for the community to see that business and business leaders are engaged in the community (and) do have the community in the forefront of their minds,” said President and CEO of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce Stephen Mackey. “All of them, to one degree or another, are essential to the urban quality of life.”

Recipients of the awards are determined by a panel of representatives from the chamber, including Mackey. When determining the recipient of the Business Neighbor of the Year award, the selection committee evaluated how much a business engages with the Somerville community.

“Somernova stood out for two reasons,” said Mackey. “One is what they mean to the community in terms of that complex being a welcoming place for innovation and participation. And then you’ll have the owner’s developers engaging the community in terms of a dialogue on developing that site and that whole complex. They stood out because they’re doing that in a sensitive fashion.”

Among Somernova’s tenants is Somerville Media Company. In 2019, Somerville Media Company was forced to evacuate the property they were based in for almost 40 years. Somernova offered them office space in their development. While COVID-19 paused their plans to move, in 2023 Somerville Media Center received temporary placement from Somernova.

“I am extremely grateful for developers who, for lack of a better term, put their money where their mouth is,” said Somerville Media Company Board of Directors member and former board President Joe Lynch. “Somernova was the only developer that came to us and said, ‘Look, we know what straits you’re in. Let us help you.’”

Placement on the Somernova campus allowed Somerville Media Center to expand its operations. The nonprofit has an afterschool program for youth to learn media production skills through attending educational classes.

“The vast majority of our members and the public are excited about the partnership we’re creating with Somernova,” said Lynch. “We have a built-in knowledge pool with a lot of the folks that are tenants of Somernova. The partnership has been ongoing, but we’re looking forward to a bright future being part of the Somernova campus.”

Mystic Learning Center is another one of Somernova’s partners. The center organizes programming for schools, school vacations and summer camps. In 2022, Somernova offered Mystic Learning Center space in their youth-driven pilot program, the Dojo, to operate a robotics program.

“I have never, in all my years in the city, seen a developer come in and actually want to give back to the community,” said mental health counselor for Mystic Learning Center Linda Kelley.

Yip describes Somernova as “Somerville’s innovation hub” and hopes to expand into working with climate change and social injustice issues.

“The entire team at Somernova has and will remain focused on listening to the needs of others,” said Yip. “We’ve had thousands of conversations with community members and civic organizations who are essential components of the fabric of Somerville to better understand their needs.”