VulcanForms Lands $21M in State Tax Credits to Build a Million-Square-Foot Metal 3D Printing Plant

Massachusetts approved $21.26 million in state tax credits for VulcanForms to build a new metal 3D printing facility in Devens, Massachusetts — the largest single award in this incentive round.
The planned plant could span up to 1 million square feet and is projected to create 1,063 new jobs across aerospace, defense, medical, industrial, and consumer manufacturing.
It will be VulcanForms’ third Massachusetts site, arriving months after the MIT spinout closed a $220 million private funding round.
VulcanForms also just named former Relativity Space executive Michael Kenworthy as Chief Technology Officer ahead of its next growth phase.
The award is part of a broader $52 million Massachusetts incentive round spanning 11 companies, including a $25 million award to Boston Dynamics.

Massachusetts Places a Big Bet on Metal 3D Printing

Massachusetts is putting real money behind industrial 3D printing. The state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council (EACC) has approved $21.26 million in tax credits for VulcanForms, a metal additive manufacturing company, to build a new facility of up to one million square feet at its existing campus in Devens. It was the single largest award in a June funding round that distributed $52 million in tax credits across 11 companies — a signal that state officials see metal 3D printing as more than a niche prototyping tool.

The credits come through the Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP), a performance-based program run by the Massachusetts Office of Business Development. Companies don’t receive cash upfront; instead, they earn tax credits by hitting job-creation and investment targets they commit to in advance.

Inside the Devens Expansion

VulcanForms already runs manufacturing operations in Devens and Newburyport, Massachusetts. The new project would be its third site in the state, adding vertically integrated additive manufacturing — industrial metal 3D printers, precision machining, automation, and inspection systems combined in a single production workflow. The company expects the expansion to create 1,063 new positions spanning medical, aerospace and defense, industrial, and consumer goods manufacturing, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development.

Founded in 2015 as a spinout from MIT, VulcanForms has built its business around producing finished metal parts at production scale rather than one-off prototypes, competing for contracts that would traditionally go to conventional machining and casting suppliers.

Why the State Is Paying to Keep VulcanForms

Across the 11 projects certified at the June EACC meeting, Massachusetts tied $52 million in tax credits to commitments for 2,793 net new jobs, 1,503 retained jobs, and more than $1.4 billion in private investment statewide. VulcanForms’ award was the largest of the round; robotics firm Boston Dynamics received the second-largest, at $25 million, for a manufacturing and R&D center in Waltham.

“From robotics and artificial intelligence to advanced manufacturing and life sciences, these companies are making long-term commitments to grow here,” said Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley. “That’s a strong vote of confidence in Massachusetts as a place where innovation can scale and businesses can succeed.” Governor Maura Healey framed the round as part of a broader push to expand advanced manufacturing employment across the state.

A Company Already Moving Fast

The Devens announcement follows a run of momentum for VulcanForms. In January, the company closed an oversubscribed $220 million financing round led by Eclipse and 1789 Capital, with additional backing from Washington Harbour, Fontinalis, and IEQ Capital. At the time, VulcanForms said customer demand had outpaced its production capacity, with clients placing long-term orders larger than it could fulfill.

The company has also been building out its leadership team, recently naming Michael Kenworthy — a former Relativity Space executive with prior roles at GE Aviation, Divergent, and Seurat Technologies — as Chief Technology Officer. Scaling a workforce large enough to staff a million-square-foot plant is its own challenge: coordinating additive manufacturing, machining, automation, and inspection at volume requires trained personnel, qualified materials suppliers, and certification processes that can slow growth even when capital and demand are there.

Why It Matters

Metal additive manufacturing has spent the past decade proving itself on rapid prototypes and low-volume, high-value parts. A near-billion-dollar-scale investment aimed at high-volume production for aerospace, defense, and medical customers is a different kind of statement — it treats 3D printing as a primary manufacturing method, not a supplement to conventional casting and machining. Paired with the state’s broader reshoring push, VulcanForms’ Devens plant is shaping up to be one of the largest facilities in the US built specifically around metal AM production.

What is VulcanForms?

VulcanForms is a metal additive manufacturing company spun out of MIT in 2015. It combines industrial metal 3D printers with machining, automation, and inspection systems to produce finished metal parts at production scale for the aerospace, defense, medical, industrial, and consumer sectors.

How much money is Massachusetts giving VulcanForms, and is it a cash grant?

Massachusetts approved $21.26 million in tax credits, not a cash grant. The credits are performance-based through the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program, meaning VulcanForms earns them by meeting job-creation and investment commitments tied to the Devens project.

How many jobs will the new facility create?

VulcanForms expects the expansion to create 1,063 new positions across medical, aerospace and defense, industrial, and consumer goods manufacturing roles.

Where will the new plant be located, and how big is it?

The facility will be built at VulcanForms’ existing campus in Devens, Massachusetts, and is planned at up to one million square feet — the company’s third site in the state, alongside its existing Devens and Newburyport operations.

Sources: 3D Printing Industry, 3DPrint.com, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development.