Needham wins Google’s Annual eCity Award in Massachusetts

In an attempt to identify the “digital capitals” of America, the award (which went to Westborough last year) is meant to recognize the communities with the strongest online business presence in every state. Google’s honoring of the town may be a show of support for the town of Needham’s recent rebranding as becoming a part of a new “innovation corridor” in Massachusetts, which aims to compete the city of Cambridge’s Kendall Square and Boston’s Innovation District.Together with the independent research firm Ipsos, Google analyzed the strength of the online presence of local small businesses in every state in America. According to a spokesman from Google, each of the winning cities showcase both “strong engagement with and potential growth within the digital economy.”

“Long before the current tech boom, our town leaders had the wisdom to re-zone our old industrial areas and make them attractive to the technology, life science and other innovative businesses that are moving and thriving here” says president of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce Greg Reibman in a statement. “Needham’s success is really about a partnership between the municipality and businesses here.”

Aside from the formation of the N2 Innovation Corrider, in partnership with the neighboring town of Newton, MA, the town will soon also become the new headquarters of the company TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP). Another top name company Verastem, a biopharmaceutical company formerly based in Kendall Square, will also make the move to Needham.