BALL SQUARE
The Book Shop (694 Broadway, 617-764-1624) opened June 1 on the corner of Broadway and Josephine Ave. It is a used bookstore but it offers a small selection of new books, mostly bestsellers. Hours are 9am–7pm Mon–Fri and 9am–5pm Sat and Sun. Owner Gil Barbosa, 47, a Somerville High School graduate and lifelong resident, learned the business from his aunt, who owned Annie’s Book Stop in Belmont. The Book Shop buys used books for store credit. Barbosa is interested in hosting readings and other events and urges local authors to contact him.

DAVIS SQUARE
Boston Burger (37 Davis Sq, 617- 440-7361, bostonburgerco.com) is adding 400 square feet of new space. “It will give us two bathrooms upstairs, some draft beer options and about 18 more seats,” owner Paul Malvone told Scout in an e-mail. “We are waiting for our occupancy permit and our walk-in to be installed.” Malvone hopes the expansion will be complete by the end of July.

Dave’s Fresh Pasta (81 Holland St, 617-623-0867, davesfreshpasta.com) is in the early stages of planning a 45-seat wine and antipasto bar, to be located where Black & Blues (89 Holland St) used to be. The new restaurant, which is as yet untitled, is a joint venture between Dave’s owner Dave Jick and Dave’s wine buyer, Felisha Foster. Jick and Foster have a five-year lease on the new space, but Jick says the lease is contingent on his getting a serving license (to serve alcoholic beverages) from the city.

Flatbread (45 Day St, 617-776- 0552, flatbreadcompany.com) has a new website and will soon offer delivery via bike during lunch hours (11:30am–4pm). Managing Partner Evan Fetras did not know exactly when the delivery services would begin but emphasized they would be “coming soon.”

EAST SOMERVILLE
Since April, the scaffolding has been down at Mudflat Studio’s new space (81 Broadway, 617-628-0589, mudflat.org). Occupancy of the 16,000-sq-ft new building, which used to be the Broadway Theatre, began in May. The new space has room for both Mudflat’s work area and a gallery which was formerly in Porter Square.

On June 18, Mystic Market (530 Mystic Ave, 617-595-7565, mysticmarket1@gmail.com) opened for business. A farmer’s market selling fresh produce from Enterprise Farm, it will run on Sats through Oct, 11am–3pm. The Mystic Market is a collaborative effort among Shape Up Somerville, the Welcome Project, Enterprise Farm and the Somerville Housing Authority.

On May 5, Phase II of the construction of Saint Polycarp Village (corner of Temple and Mystic) began. Led by Somerville Community Corporation (337 Somerville Ave, 617-776-5931, somervillecdc.org), the project aims to redevelop the former Saint Polycarp Parish into a 3.5 acre site with new affordable housing, commercial space, a church, a playground and a community room.

Potato Freak (102 Washington St, 781-823-1773) opened in early May. Owner Leonico DaSilva’s restaurant-cafe offers an incredible array of potato dishes, not to mention a selection of salads, sandwiches, soups and desserts. French fries, for example, are available with five types of dipping sauces, categorized by nation: USA (ketchup), Netherlands (seasoned mayo), Italy (tomato sauce with garlic and basil), Mexico (seasoned tomato sauce) and Great Britain (an English version of barbecue sauce). Hours are 7:30am–10pm, Mon–Sat and 8:30am–10pm Sun.

MAGOUN SQUARE
Lil Vinny’s Ristorante (525 Medford St, 617-628-8466) reopened June 22 with a new executive chef and a new seasonal menu. The chef is Billy Gaskill, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. The menu features lighter fare for the summer as well as expanded vegetarian options.

POWDERHOUSE SQUARE
Mass Metta Massage (862 Broadway, 617-955-3036, massmettamassage.com) is now offering yoga classes — 75-minute Vinyasa flow — on Monday evenings at 5:45pm. The cost is $11 ($8 for students) and you’re encouraged to call to reserve a space — only nine students per class!

On June 1, a new Subway sandwich shop (860 Broadway, 617-764-2432) opened in the former location of Spün, the frozen yogurt place. Christopher Cho, owner of the new Subway, also has Subways in Sturbridge and Hudson. Manager Judi Dwyer, a Somerville resident who lives on Atherton St, says business is picking up, slowly but surely. “Summer’s a hard time to open a business,” she says. Though this particular Subway opens at 9am weekdays and 10am weekends, it does not serve breakfast. It is, however, open until midnight Fri and Sat nights and 10pm other nights.

SPRING HILL
O’Brian’s Liquors (158 Highland Ave, 617-623-6966) is under new ownership and management.

Somerville Scout (235E Highland Ave, 617-996-2283, somervillescout.com) is now bimonthly!

UNION SQUARE
Casa B (253 Washington St, casabrestaurant.com), a new Spanish tasca restaurant, pegs September 14 as an opening date on its web site. Landlord Henry Patterson does not believe that date is realistic. “They haven’t even started demolition yet,” he says. The husband-wife team of Alberto Cabré, from San Juan, Puerto Rico and Angelina Jockovich from Barranquilla, Colombia are Casa B’s owners and operators. In 2005 they started a personal chef catering business specializing in Latin American fusion. In 2008 they began testing and refining the recipes that would ultimately launch Casa B.

Corpbasics Fitness & Training (73 Bow St, 617-628-8400, corpbasics.com) opened in February. Owner Andrew Haynes, who has a 6th-degree black belt in Kenpo, is an inductee in the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Personal training is available by appointment, and anyone is welcome to attend classes. Check the web site for the class schedule.

Ebi Sushi (290 Somerville Ave, 617-764-5556, ebisushi.com) opened in late May in the former location of Wu Chon House. Jose Garcia Vidal, 27, the majority owner – - the minority owner is his younger brother, Carlos — worked as a chef at Blue Fin in the Porter Exchange mall for seven years. He first realized he wanted to run his own sushi place three years ago. “I was waiting for the right location,” he says. He lives in Revere, and often drove down Somerville Ave en route to Blue Fin. One day he saw the vacant spot for rent; the rest is history. His biggest surprise is how many familiar faces he’s seen; he estimates 40 percent of his customers know him from his Blue Fin days. “I didn’t know they lived in this area,” he says.

Journeyman (9 Sanborn Ct, 617-718-2333, journeymanrestaurant.com) is temporarily closed after a vehicle “rammed right into the side of the building, where the herb garden is,” says Henry Patterson, the restaurant’s landlord. “It compromised the pillar that supported the roof.” The incident occurred June 18, at 11pm. The extent of the damage was still being assessed at press time, and Patterson was not sure when Journeyman would reopen. “I’d hope for the end of summer,” he says. On a brighter note, the restaurant is planning to expand when it reopens, doubling in size.

Open Space Community Acupuncture (66–70 Union Sq #102, 617-627-9700, openspaceacupuncture.com) opened in early May. Open Space offers community-style acupuncture, where multiple treatments take place in one shared space. Patients appreciate the option of scheduling treatments together with their spouse, family and friends. Owner Daphne Jochnick offers treatments for a sliding scale of $15–$40.

Somerville Grooves (26 Union Sq, 617-666-1749), a record store, will open “around August 1” in the former location of Moda Brasil, according to owner David Plunkett. “I definitely want to hear from people with music collections to sell,” he told Scout. The store will specialize in vinyl records but will also buy and sell cassettes and CDs.

Two Little Monkeys (77 Bow St, 617-222-0043), a children’s consignment and specialty boutique carrying new and gently used clothing for children up to age seven, opened in Union Square on April 16. Owner Sarah Bettencourt, 32, is the mother of two herself, a one-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. With a background in corporate retail — stints at Best Buy, Circuit City and a national bank she didn’t name — Bettencourt is thrilled to be putting her own creative spin on the skills she honed at large companies. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, 12noon–7pm Sat and 12noon–5 Sun. Two Little Monkeys is closed Mon and Tues.

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Scout

Attendees enjoyed good food, music and lots of fun!

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Lyndell’s Bakery (720 Broadway) is now open Mondays after an increase in customer demand for extended hours.

Davis Square

Foundry on Elm (225 Elm St), a new restaurant, lounge and theater, will open this August. Foundry is expected to include a raw bar, more than 30 beers on tap and 100 bottles of wine.

Powderhouse Productions (212 Elm St, 617-629-2200, powderhouse.net) announced the promotion of three staff members to senior positions: Bill Borson is SVP, General Manager, Rob Kirwin, SVP Production and Post Production, and Seanbaker Carter, SVP, Sales and Development.

Your Move Games (389 Highland Ave) permanently closed its doors June 26. Owners will focus their energy
and resources on improving its sister store, Pandemonium, in Cambridge.

East Somerville

Mudflat Studios (149 Broadway, 617-628-0589, mudflat.org) has announced plans to renovate the old Broadway Theatre (81 Broadway) into a clay school and studio.

Powderhouse Circle

Spün (860 Broadway, 617-863-0860,spunyogurt.com) re-opened with new management and new hours (12-11, 7 days a week).

Spring Hill

Center for Arts at the Armory (191 Highland Ave, 617-718-2191, artsatthearmory.org) was approved by the License Commission for a transfer of a beer and wine license donated by Dali.

Ivy Campus Threads (237 Highland Ave), a vintage clothing store, is now open.

The Chocolate Tarte (199C Highland Ave, 617-875-6413, thechocolatetarte.com), is officially open and dishing out cakes, truffles and tartes, with coffee and tea every day.

Teele Square

Istanbul’lu (237 Holland St, 617-440-7387) is now open and offering homemade Turkish breakfast, lunch and tapas.

Teele Square Cafe (1153 Broadway) closed June 4. Vegan Restaurant True Bistro will be opening in its place and has been approved for a liquor license.

Union Square

Dance Zone (169 Washington St, 617-718-6765, freewebs.com/dzdance), a dance studio, moved from its previous location (561 Windsor St). Dance Zone offers classes for both children and adults in tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, street and more.

DreamStar Studio (62B Summer St, 617-284-6212) recently opened and offers private and professional services, including recording, editing, mix/master, voice-over and production.

Poor Little Rich Girl, after closing its Davis Square store, will re-open at 374 Somerville Ave, sharing retail space with Grand (617-623-2429, grandthestore.com).

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By Ilan Mochari

Photos by G. Telci

Victor Ortiz of Choices Restaurant and Lounge & Carla DeLellis of Johnny D's Uptown

Shirley Ortiz founded Choices Restaurant & Lounge (381 Somerville Ave) in 1983. Today, her son Victor Ortiz is in charge.

Tina DeLellis opened Johnny D’s (17 Holland Street) in 1969. Today, her daughter Carla DeLellis runs the show.

Pose Ortiz and DeLellis alongside one another – as Somerville Scout did during a recent interview at Bloc 11 (11 Bow St) – and they hardly look like vocational twins. Ortiz stands 5-10, weighs 240 and has linebacker’s shoulders. He used to be a bouncer in Boston and a police officer in Cambridge. He remains an active firefighter in Chelsea. And he looks like it. By contrast, DeLellis has the lithe build of a ballerina. If she told you she taught dance for a living, you’d believe her. In fact, she is a former programmer at IBM.

She and Ortiz do share one relevant physical trait: muscular arms. Both trace their guns to their teenage days of manual dishwashing in their mothers’ joints. “That was back before there were [industrial] dishwashers,” says Ortiz with pride. DeLellis nods. It was far from the last time they would concur during a wide-ranging conversation about second-generation entrepreneurship.

Scout: How old were you when you started working at your businesses?

Ortiz: I started DJing when I was 15, 16 years old. I had learned to DJ from other DJs there. That was in ’89. That was old school. It was more of a dance music type of time – it wasn’t rap, it wasn’t pop, it wasn’t rock, it wasn’t disco. Things like Stevie B, Cover Girls, Exposé, Taylor Dayne.

DeLellis: Full time, I didn’t start until ’85. But before then, when I was growing up, I remember for New Year’s Eve parties my mother and I would just have to load tray after tray with cold cuts. And every Sunday as a kid, we’d clean. We’d clean the toilets, the glasses, everything. You’d have your rinse-sinks, you’d have your brushes – no dishwashers. Remember that?

Ortiz: Of course. No dishwashers. Not the 190-degree-temperature dishwashers. It was gloves and those little sponge-things. If you were lucky you had a motorized one (a motorized sponge-thing).

Scout: When did the businesses become yours instead of your mothers’? What was the transition like?

Ortiz: It was a gradual transition, but it was forced upon us a little quickly when she passed away in ‘01. But in some ways the transition began back in ’91-’92. Around then, I was working for the Cambridge Police Department. I was also going to Northeastern – I was a criminal justice major – and I was head of security at a club in Boston. It was called Cotton Club, it’s no longer there. And then she asked me to come aboard to learn the business because none of the other kids wanted to help out. I have five siblings, I’m the youngest.

So I basically came and learned the business from her. Obviously I also wanted to do my own thing. I continued with school, I became a corrections officer. Then I graduated and left [the Cambridge Police Department] and became a firefighter – I’m still a Chelsea firefighter – all the while still helping her out. Even after she got really sick, she still helped out when she could. Her biggest thing – she loved to dance. She had one lung and she was dancing. You couldn’t take it away from her. She was doing it until she passed away (from lung cancer). She didn’t stop.

DeLellis: How old was she?

Ortiz: 59. She lost one lung nine years earlier. She stopped smoking and she lived another nine years. She got a lot more time than they thought she was gonna get. She survived an aneurism. She was a tough cookie. Anybody that knows – I’m sure your parents knew my mother.

DeLellis:You had to be tough. If you were gonna survive. Somerville was a very different place.

Scout: Carla, I know your mom passed away last year. What was your transition like?

DeLellis: Well, my dad died in ’84. That was a heart attack. Unexpected. So my brother and I moved back. I was in New York, my brother was in California, it was only the two of us. I was working for IBM then, I was a computer science/math major. I transferred to the Waltham office. And I would always go down [to Johnny D’s] and help part-time. And I was just about to take another position at IBM and I was like – No. You know what? I wanna go to Johnny D’s full-time. So, really from the beginning of ’85 to just last year I worked with my mother. So I worked with her for 20-plus years. And my brother as well, David, worked in the business. He passed away 11 years ago when he was 37.

Scout: How was the business different back then?

DeLellis: Again, you had to be tough. You had to be able to look at people you knew could point a gun or slash your tires. You had to be able to stand up to them. When my dad was around, there was the Howie Winter gang.

Ortiz: This was inner city stuff out of the city. Boston stuff out of Boston.

DeLellis: Yes. But just as tough and just as bad. So when my dad was around, my mother had a certain protection. He was a cop. My uncle was a cop. They grew up in Somerville. They knew those guys. Back then you either crossed into being a cop or you crossed into being a gangster.

Scout: How often – while you were running the business together with your mothers – did you disagree over key decisions?

DeLellis: All the time.

Ortiz: Every day.

DeLellis: One of mine was over the direction of the business. In my first few years working full-time, we were a mixture of local lip-sync bands and alternating country bands. And I wanted a fuller-scale of clientele on the weekdays. At that point my mother was in her 60s. I kept pushing and pushing (to change the musical lineup) and she said, Okay – one day a week, you can have your bands. And I said that it had to be more (than one day a week). I thought the whole perception of the place had to change. I actually said that I was going to quit. That was in ’87. And that’s when I took over the bookings.

Scout: Why did you feel there was such an urgency to change the perception of the place?

DeLellis: Country, believe it or not, was alive and well, back in the mid-70s. But I could see that our crowd was getting thinner – and older. The lip-sync crowd was nice people but it was a tough crowd. I remember going in, you could feel when there was gonna be a fight. You could just feel it. A lot of tension and a lot of sleaze. I just knew that the makeup of the area was changing and if we didn’t change with it, we weren’t gonna have a business. So it took a couple of years.

Ortiz: The biggest disagreement [my mother and I] had – like I told you, I’m a big security type of person. I don’t believe you can hire just anybody off the street and they’re gonna run the door or the floor. So I brought in all my friends. I got friends 6-2, 6-3, 6-5. And they knew how to handle people. Not that they would just grab you, break you up and take you outside. (They knew how to handle people verbally too.) Obviously the cost is a little different – when you’re paying for real employees instead of some bouncer coming off the street. You’ve got to give them a little bit more money.

So we disagreed about [the cost of paying for more professional security]. Parents are always looking at things like, “Listen, we’re doing well right now, we don’t need to change.” And you want to tell them, “Well, you gotta understand, we’re not always going to be doing well with what we’re doing right now.” Like Carla said, at first she was trying to roll with the punches. I was also trying to roll with the punches. [Our parents] wanted to be knocked out first – to ride it until it’s done.

Scout: What aspects of the business were your mothers ultimately correct about – aspects of the business that you initially believed they were wrong about?

Ortiz: My mother did something very smart. She concentrated on older clientele. We’re talking anywhere from age 40 to 60. And I was 22 when I was coming in there – I didn’t want to see a 40-50 year-old lady – I wanted to see a 22-year-old lady! But this was something [my mother] was very smart about. She could [see the virtues of] older clientele. Do they drink as much as the young kids? No. But do they cause problems like the young kids? No. And to this day, [we] do try to bring a younger crowd in. But [my mother] knew what works. Because Choices is very well known in the Latin community as an old people’s club. So if I’d concentrated on just keeping those older clientele and actually grabbing (just a portion of) the 22-to-32-year-olds, I’d be doing all right. As it is right now, my Saturday is the longest Latin night anywhere around Boston. It goes back to ‘89-‘90 and it’s still going strong. But (for a while) I was Latin on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (in an attempt to skew younger). Now I’m down to one Latin night. I didn’t concentrate on older clientele. I tried to rejuvenate it. And it didn’t work.

DeLellis: Before my mom died she and I spent a lot of time talking about moving our bar over – and having our bar as a separate entity, with tables. Because you could find yourself so rushed (and overcrowded), depending on the band. But if the band didn’t bring a crowd, you were screwed – because people aren’t just going to wander in (off the streets). So I wanted to get away from having all of our eggs in that one (band-dependent) basket. [My mother] really didn’t want to do it. But she went along with me eventually about pushing the bar over from the tables. But after she died – and we were about to actually change things – I thought about some of her opposition. It was basically, ‘People know you for music.’ And quite honestly, the bands were (finally) bringing in a lot of people. Live music has its own ebbs and flows (as a draw for customers). And I thought – ‘You know, we’re okay.’ Not that I didn’t update. We put tables on the bar, we expanded our kitchen hours. Our goal remains to [attract] non-band people more often.

Scout: What else have you learned about long-term versus short-term decisions?

DeLellis: My mother – people would come to us and say we want to rent out the place. She didn’t care how much money they gave her. She never would close to the public. Because she knew – if you close one day, never mind a month, you have no idea of the repercussions and the impact of that loss. She’d say, “Carla, I used to go to Bobo’s (a Chinese restaurant that was in Ball Square) every Friday night. One night they were closed because they had a private party. And I told them, ‘But I’m a regular customer. What about all your regular customers?’” And [my parents] found another Chinese place. You really have no idea what that (being closed for just) one day could cost you.

Ortiz: I agree 100 percent. Someone would come up to me and say, “You know what? We want Saturday night. We’re gonna rent it out. We’ll give you whatever we need to rent it out.” I’d say, “What kind of music are you playing?” That’s my first thing. “Well, we want to do a Top 40.” “No. I can’t do it.” “Why?” I said, “I do a Latin night. A very strong Latin night and I’m not losing clientele because you’re doing a Top 40 night.” And I actually did it once (rented out my place on a Latin night), about three years ago. But not on a Saturday night, on a Friday night. And I don’t have a Latin crowd on Friday nights anymore.

Now, I tried it because it was a direction I wanted to go in. I didn’t want to be Latin every night. I wanted to go into a new direction. And you know, it might work once. It might work twice. But whereas the Latin crowd was there faithfully every Friday and Saturday, the other crowd wasn’t. So, you know – did I learn from that? Of course I did. I had to lose (money) to learn what my mother had taught me from the beginning.

You can learn more about Choices Restaurant and Lounge at choicesrestaurantandlounge.com and Johnny D’s Uptown at johnnyds.com.

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Ball Square Fine Wines (716 Broadway, ballsquarefinewines.com, 617-623-9500) has doubled its space and expanded its food offerings, including a selection of artisan cheeses from around the world. There’s also a new tasting bar for weekly events.

Pescatore (158 Boston Ave, pescatoreseafood.com, 617-623-0003) has completed its dining room renovation.

Eat at Jumbo’s (688 Broadway, eatatjumbos.com, 617-666-5862) has new menu items including calzones and vegan-friendly tofu tenders. Eat at Jumbo’s is also sporting a new storefront sign.

DAVIS SQUARE

The Boston Shaker (69 Holland St, thebostonshaker.com, 617-718-2999) moved from Grand in Union Square to its own location in Davis Square. Look for a reopening this winter. The Boston Shaker is an online and neighborhood cocktail supply shop which also periodically offers classes in the history and making of cocktails.

Bowl and Board (formerly 255 Elm St, Davis Square) closed in November.

Vej Naturals (195 Elm St, vejnaturals.com) of Malden is moving to Davis Square into what was Joey’s Thai Cafe. Vej Naturals is dedicated to providing delicious, wholesome, organic, natural, vegan food at reasonable prices. Precise time frames for the move were unavailable at press time.

Comicazi (407 Highland Ave, comicazi.com, 617-666-2664) finished construction on a bigger and better store in mid-October. Comicazi sells not only comics but also sells vintage toys and other collectibles.

EAST SOMERVILLE

Mr. B’s Italian Restaurant (142 Cross St, 617-625-6727) reopened in late October. Mr. B’s features an extensive menu offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dine-in, take-out and delivery are available.

The storefronts at 127-129 Broadway are getting a new look. The building is being stuccoed and will be receiving a signage face-lift from the City of Somerville’s Storefront Improvement Program. Over the past five years, businesses that have benefited from this program include: Casey’s, Cityline Laundromat, and Bairos Liquor. In the offing: improvements to the awning at Louie’s Ice Cream.

Vinny’s at Night (76 Broadway, vinnysonbroadway.com, 617-628-1921) now has a full liquor license. Owner Vinny Migliore expects to have his new full bar operational sometime in January.

MAGOUN SQUARE

Caprese Pizza (516B Medford St, capresepizza.com, 617-628-5555) opened under new management in October, 2009.

SPRING HILL

The Chocolate Tarte (199C Highland Ave, thechocolatetarte.com, 617-875-6413) is opening its first retail store after five years in business creating custom wedding cakes, catered deserts and truffles. The store will focus on cakes, cupcakes, truffles and chocolate tartes and expects to open its doors February 1.

Everything $5.99–$9.99 (237 Highland Ave) offers new brand-name clothing, accessories and cosmetics at wholesale prices.

Supreme Kitchen (233 Highland Ave, 617-628-4440) is now serving dinner Monday – Saturday until 9pm. Supreme Kitchen also offers breakfast and lunch every day from 7am – 3pm.

TEELE SQUARE

Amelia’s Kitchen (1137 Broadway, ameliaskitchen.com, 617-776-2800) has a new bright orange awning.

UNION SQUARE

be.YOGA (11b Bow St, beinunion.com, 617-623-9642) is a new yoga studio in the space above bloc 11. It opened in late October, offering classes in all levels of Empower Vinyasa Yoga; private sessions; and children’s yoga.

Bow St Yoga (34 Bow St, bowstreetyoga.com, 617-440-5947) also opened in October. It offers vinyasa, restorative, and yin yoga for experienced students and curious beginners.

Bull McCabe’s (366A Somerville Ave, bullmccabesboston.com, 617-440-6045) kitchen opened in October. It is serving appetizers, salads, traditional pub entrees, sandwiches and daily specials.

Serendipity Thrift (231 Somerville Ave, 617-623-5300) opened in November. It’s a thrift store selling men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, toys, furniture, art and other random goodies.

WILSON SQUARE

Café Belô (445 Somerville Ave, cafebelo.com, 617-284-6255) opened in December. This is the second Somerville location for the local restaurant chain, serving Brazilian cuisine.

WINTER HILL

Bread & Company (349 Broadway, breadcompany.net, 617-623-9455) has a new fireside lounge area.

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The City of Somerville was incorporated in 1872, in the midst of a 6-fold population boom. During this time, the processing of textiles and the manufacturing of brass and copper tubing and bricks carried Somerville into the American Industrial Revolution. At the height of Somerville’s brick making industry, over 24 million bricks were produced a year.

The Ford Motor Company moved its Cambridge plant to Somerville in 1926, constructing a model assembly plant on filled land at the Mystic River near the reputed launch location of the “Blessing of the Bay.” This factory was engaged in military contracts between 1942 and 1945. In 1957 it was used for the assembly of the company’s new line of Edsels.

The following year the Somerville plant closed.

Flash forward to 1993: Another promising manufacturer moved from Cambridge to Somerville. Fresh out of MIT, a startup called iRobot relocated from 238 Broadway in Cambridge to Twin City Plaza (14 McGrath Highway). “There was a space above the stores there,” recalls cofounder Rodney Brooks, who still sits on iRobot’s board. “There was a high bay in our studio and it was great for testing out robots.”

Today, iRobot is a $307-million NASDAQ corporation (IRBT) based in Bedford, Mass. Scan its official history at irobot.com, and you’ll find scant evidence it spent a fruitful, formative decade in Somerville. It was at Twin City where iRobot bloomed from a startup of fewer than 10 employees to a fast-growth entity of more than 100. It was at Twin City where iRobot first developed its top-selling Roomba and PackBot lines. As the company grew, it knocked down walls within and occupied more and more square feet. “We had one office, then another, then another, and then pretty much the whole floor,” says cofounder Helen Greiner, who also remains on the board.

Both then and now, it was common for high-tech startups with MIT roots to locate in Kendall or Central Square. But iRobot couldn’t afford those digs. “We were not a venture-funded company at that point. We operated on a shoestring,” says Brooks. In addition to its reasonable rent and adequate space for testing robots, Twin Cities offered proximity to the Lechmere T-stop and plenty of parking. Employees – largely drawn from the MIT community – had an easy commute.

But when iRobot ran out of room at Twin Cities in 2003, it departed for Burlington, where it stayed until last year’s move to Bedford. By that time, iRobot had plenty of venture capital. By all counts, it could have afforded larger space in Somerville – or anywhere in the Boston area. Yet it chose Burlington. The rent was lower, and the workforce – fewer MIT peeps, more grownup engineers – didn’t mind the distance from Boston. “Our average employee got older – buying houses, having kids,” explains Greiner. All told, she says, iRobot’s exodus from Somerville reduced overhead – without affecting recruitment and retention. After 13 years in the city, the company bolted for the burbs.

What does it mean to Somerville when a company like iRobot, which now employs more than 400, goes away? Any way you slice it, it’s a blow to local employment and revenues. More than 85 percent of Somerville’s tax base comes from residential property taxes, as opposed to commercial taxes; so any beefy commercial presence bolsters the city’s coffers and alleviates its fiscal reliance on residents.

In the second quarter of 2009, iRobot turned a $16.4-million profit – 27.6 percent of $61.3 million in sales. In the midst of a recession, what city couldn’t benefit from a piece of that action? When you consider that only 12 percent of Somerville’s 4.1 square miles is devoted to commercial use (see chart below), the need to maximize revenues from that 12 percent becomes all the more pronounced.

Then there’s the jobs angle. Despite a recent uptick, Somerville’s local employment has decreased in the 2000s (see chart below), from 22,948 jobs in 2001 to 21,451 in 2007 (most recent data). Somerville also ranks low among neighboring cities in terms of local employment per capita (see chart). In fact, most of Somerville’s resident labor force – 84.2 percent of it – works outside of Somerville. “We’re a net exporter of labor – our daytime population shrinks,” notes Rob May, the city’s Director of Economic Development. The city estimates that 37,266 residents leave Somerville each day to work elsewhere, while 14,359 people commute to Somerville jobs from other towns – resulting in an overall export of 22,907 jobs a day.

A closer look at Somerville's economic trends - click image to enlarge

All of which explains Somerville’s interest in attracting and retaining growth companies. In recent years, the city has aimed to address its lack of biotech. According to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC), there are more than 400 biotechnology companies in Massachusetts, employing nearly 43,000 people. None of those companies is in Somerville, save for the administrative offices of Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation (260 Elm Street).

In July, MBC gave Somerville a “silver” rating as a bio-ready community. The designation indicates that Somerville’s zoning allows biotech laboratory and manufacturing facilities by right; and that Somerville has identified sites (the Assembly Square district and the Boynton Yards) for biotech uses in its municipal planning.

However, Somerville still lags behind a majority of the 50 other Massachusetts municipalities with MBC designations. Of the 50, 18 earned the highest platinum grade while nine earned the penultimate gold. Eight cities in addition to Somerville merited silver while another 15 garnered fourth-place bronze.

It was more than two years ago that a Boston Globe headline proclaimed “Somerville rolls out biotech welcome mat.” It was more than three years ago that the city announced the formation of the Somerville Life Sciences Collaborative. Its purpose was “to develop strategies to support life-science ventures already based in Somerville as well as attracting new research and business activity in the life science field,” according to a press release. Today, Bedford Stem Cell remains the city’s only biotech presence. “We have not made as much of an impact as we want to,” says May.

If the biotech dream remains unrealized, the city still deserves high marks when it comes to easing the red-tape burden of its entrepreneurs. John McQuillan, founder and CEO of Triumvirate Environmental (61 Innerbelt Road), has nothing but praise for Somerville’s interactions with his company. “The city has a very healthy approach to business,” he says. “It has regulations, but they set it out in a straightforward way. It is clear what the expectations are.”

McQuillan has some basis for comparison. His business was based in Quincy and South Boston before it moved to Somerville in 1994, when a growth spurt took it from 18 to 40 employees. “We’re a service company, and we needed good access to our customers in Boston and Cambridge,” he says.

The owners of 2N + 1 (35 McGrath Highway), a data center launched in November, 2007, also praise the city’s manner. “I’ve done projects in Boston and you get much more personal attention in Somerville. And no attitude,” says cofounder Vincent Bono. “We had a problem with our sprinkler system and the fire chief was really helpful getting it corrected. We’ve also dealt with inspectional services and they are really good.”

Like McQuillan, Bono has a basis for comparison. He has opened businesses in New York City and a few other New England cities he refuses to name. He says Somerville is the easiest municipality he has ever worked with. In fact, 2N + 1 has a 25-year lease at 35 McGrath, an address that was literally off the post office’s map before Bono and cofounder Will Locandro arrived.

How much control can Somerville – or any city – exert over where any business owner chooses to locate? The arbitrary factors and market forces behind these decisions – rent costs, personal preference – often operate without regard to City Hall. “A lot of times you find that companies locate based on where the founder lives,” observes Barry Horwitz, who teaches strategy and entrepreneurship at Boston University School of Management.

That’s the case for Mark Sullivan, who founded Voter Activation Network (48 Grove Street) in 2001. VAN, a software maker with 40 employees, began in Sullivan’s Porter Square residence. In 2003, when the business outgrew his house, Sullivan moved to Davis Square. While the location suits Sullivan’s young workforce, his choice to keep VAN in Davis Square is born of personal preference. “I wanted office space I could walk to in a great neighborhood that’s right on the T,” he says.

CJ Johnson, cofounder of software startup 3Play Media (27 Ellington Road), runs the business out of a converted apartment. He and his three cofounders – who met at MIT’s Sloan School of Management – opted for Davis Square for the same reason iRobot opted for Somerville, back in the day: “One Kendall Square is an extremely expensive place to operate,” he says. Davis Square was also an easy commute from the founders’ respective homes.

Somerville is a happy home for Sloan startups like 3Play and established small businesses like VAN, but can it become – eventually – a home to larger corporations too? Since 2006, both Google and Microsoft have established footholds in the Boston-metro area. Both opted for Kendall Square. “Someone looking for 20,000-50,000 square feet of prime office space in Somerville can’t find it because it doesn’t exist,” explains May.

Ask Google and Microsoft how Somerville – in the absence of vast 
tracts of office space – can improve as a high-tech destination, and their suggestions have a social flavor. “A lot of our folks live in Somerville, and I don’t hear them talking about going to a techie event in Davis Square,” says Microsoft’s Gus Weber.

Steve Vinter, who heads Google’s Cambridge office, agrees that social events are vital. In fact, Vinter is part of an effort to build the Venture Café, a large, late-hours hangout in Kendall Square where students and entrepreneurs can schmooze about ideas, funding, and projects. “It’s important to get people interacting across disciplines and socializing when you’re trying to stimulate new companies,” he says.

One force behind the Venture Café project is the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), which since 1999 has leased office space to high-tech startups at One Broadway. Geoff Mamlet, CIC managing director, says officials from other cities often ask him, “How do I create in my own setting what you’ve done here?”

While other municipalities lack CIC’s proximity to universities and research hospitals, the CIC still has wisdom to offer when it comes to luring and retaining entrepreneurs. The CIC also knows a thing or two about large companies: When Google first came to Cambridge, it was housed there. But Mamlet says the CIC has had its brain picked by only one other city in Massachusetts. He declined to say which, but he did say that it was not Somerville.

Nor is CIC the only entrepreneurial entity in Cambridge that Somerville has yet to reach out to. Though Somerville has relationships with MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, it has none whatsoever with Sloan, according to May. “We need to build a better relationship with them,” he says. “We need to become more involved.”
If the city has not yet reached out to some key Cambridge resources, doing so is on its to-do list. One of the city’s more immediate goals is a program to match entrepreneurs with loans and credit lines from regional lenders such as Winter Hill Bank and Central Bank. David Guzman, the city’s Business Development Specialist, is leading that effort. Guzman also coordinates regular workshops for the city’s entrepreneurs on topics such as “Tools to Enhance Social Networking” and “Requirements for Licenses and Permits.”

The city is also exploring “leveraging federal dollars for storefront improvement programs,” says Brad Rawson, Economic Development Planner. In addition, the team has literally marked its turf: Each member is responsible for walking a particular portion of the city – and getting to know the businesses therein. Guzman is responsible for Porter Square and Somerville Avenue; Rawson handles West Somerville, including Davis Square and Ball Square.

On August 19, Rawson and Monica Lamboy, Director of Strategic Planning and Community Development, visited Powderhouse Productions (212 Elm Street). Powderhouse’s television programs have appeared on Discovery Channel, History Channel and Animal Planet, among other places. Says Rawson: “It was fascinating to see them at work.”

Founded in 1994 and with $12 million in sales according to the Boston Business Journal, Powderhouse has become a high-profile staple of Somerville commerce. Perhaps not since the appearance of Gentle Giant Moving Company boxes in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) has a Somerville business (29 Harding Street) gone so national. Gentle Giant, for its part, was founded in 1980. It goes to show: Not every business that comes of age in Somerville equates maturity with a flight to the suburbs.

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