SFS to Fete New HQ at Cummings Center

BEVERLY — Mayor William F. Scanlon Jr. is slated to be on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony next Thursday at 100 Cummings Center to celebrate the newest tenant to the building that is owned by Cummings Properties. Heretofore based in neighboring Salem, the Society for Field Studies has leased 8,000 sf at 100 Cummings Center to serve as headquarters of the international academic organization that provides environmental study abroad programs for college graduates. “We found the perfect space,” SFS Interim President Jack Waggett says in a press release issued this week announcing the ribbon cutting. “As an environmentally focused organization, we were attracted to Cummings Properties and are pleased with the sustainable practices that Cummings employs.” Founded in 1980, SFS creates student experiences through field-based learning and research programs in locations as diverse as Australia, Bhutan, Costa Rica and Kenya. According to Waggett, SFS sought a venue for future growth after nine years in Salem, with the added goal of finding a “greener” office venue. Cummings Center, as the North Shore’s largest office parks and one of the most comprehensive industrial plant recycling projects, proved “an ideal location,” he relays. Cummings Center fit the bill thanks to a long history of sustainable practices, notes SFS, as evidenced by having two of the buildings bearing the Energy Star certification. The most recent green initiative was installation of an 880-panel, 235-kilowatt solar array above the park’s East Garage that powers the elevators, HVAC and garage lights. A second major solar installation is slated for completion atop the West Garage this spring. The SFS fete is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 26th, and is open to the group’s alumni, friends and members of the Beverly community. Scanlon is to be joined by Waggett and SFS founder and board chairperson Terry Andreas.