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16 Worcester Business Journal | September 17, 2018 | wbjournal.com The largest Central Mass. communities are bulking up their rainy day funds Who's ready for a recession? BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor A decade ago this month, the Great Recession was in full swing: the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day of trading in its history, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and the federal government bailed out AIG and took over Freddie Mac and Fannie May. Now, despite a long run of econom- ic growth, economists are predicting when the next market correction or recession may hit. Whenever that slow-down comes, many of Central Massachusetts' largest cities and towns appear more ready for a rainy day now than before the Great Recession — even if there are more complicated factors, such as debt pension costs and other retiree obligations. "at tremendous burden will only get worse during a recession, so we've positioned ourselves to be able to with- stand that," John Richard, Leominster's comptroller, said of such harder-to-see municipal costs. Leominster is among the most aggres- sive of the 10 largest cities and towns in Central Massachusetts. e city's stabi- lization fund, as a municipal rainy day fund is known, has more than doubled in the past decade, and the city has made aggressive moves toward paying down its long-term liabilities for pension costs and retiree costs including health care. Leominster's had much of the same city leadership for a generation, includ- ing Mayor Dean Mazzarella, who's been in office for 24 years. Residents and city councilors appreciate the long-term focus the administration has kept, Richard said. WE WALK FOR THE FIRST SURVIVOR OF ALZHEIMER'S Worcester County Walk to End Alzheimer's Sunday, September 23, 2018 Quinsigamond Community College Worcester, MA act.alz.org/worcester 24/7 Helpline 800.272.3900 F O C U S B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E John Richard, the Leominster comptroller, said the city has used a strong economic period to begin paying down long-term financial obligations. PHOTO/EDD COTE