Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | October 15, 2018 | wbjournal.com T H E T I C K E R $4.5 million Amount of a federal grant to Mount Wachusett Community College and Fitchburg Public Schools to prepare high school students for life after graduation Source: MWCC Funds from the U.S. Department of Justice to Worcester to help fight opioid addiction $745,000 Source: U.S. Department of Justice 10% Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue Increase of state revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 B R I E FS Marlborough properties purchased for $18M A Westwood real estate firm has purchased two pieces of land in Marlbor- ough for a combined $18 million. Nashoba Cedar, LLC and Nashoba Forest, LLC -- both registered to Nancy True of Gibson Sotheby's International Realty -- purchased a 60,000-square-foot industrial building at 261 Cedar St. for $8 million and a 75,000-square-foot in- dustrial building at 753 Forest St. for $10 million. Both properties, which nearly abut one another, were owned by Hud- son real estate firm Calare Properties. WBDC lands $15M grant for biomanufacturing park e Worcester Business Development Corp. won a $15-million state grant to demolish the largest of the buildings at the future biomanufacturing park. e funds will be used to demolish the 380,000-square-foot Bryan Building and protect the environment during the process. New Garden Park, the nonprofit entity of the WBDC, hopes removing the building will set the stage for the creation of pad-ready sites for companies. Worcester British Beer Co. to become Mexican eatery e owner of several Mexican-style restaurants in Central Massachsuetts has purchased the British Beer Co. restau- rant in Worcester for $500,000. Nachos Dining Inc., an entity regis- tered to David Brambila of Sudbury, is purchasing the assets of the British Beer Co. on Shrewsbury Street for $200,000 in cash and a $300,000 mortgage from Bay State Savings Bank. e restaurant will be called Mexicali Grill and will be the seventh such location, joining locations in Holden, Spencer, Ware, Webster, Natick and South Windsor, Conn. Kelley Square overhaul begins at public hearing e Massachusetts Department of Transportation held a public workshop Oct. 10 on a planned reconstruction of Kelley Square in Worcester. e meeting, held at the White Room at Crompton Collective in the Canal District, is the first of its kind on the state's project to renovate the notorious intersection. e project will coincide with the $240-million Worcester Red Sox ballpark project near Kelley Square. e project will address safety and operational deficiencies. Fidelity Bank sets up $300K microloan program Fidelity Bank has set up microloan funds to help small businesses in Gard- ner and Winchendon, two northern Worcester County communities where Colonial Co-Operative Bank, with which Fidelity has merged, previously had branches. Fidelity has earmarked $300,000 for the fund, called e Co- lonial Bank Loan Fund-a Fidelity Bank Endowment, as part of a commitment it made a year ago when the merger with Colonial was announced. Union Station, downtown finalists for marijuana HQ In addition to Union Station, the Mas- sachusetts Cannabis Control Commis- sion is considering several downtown locations for its Worcester-based head- quarters. e state's marijuana business regulating body is eyeing 10 possible sites. ey include Union Station, the Guaranty Building at 370 Main St., the Commerce Building at 340 Main St., 13 Sudbury St., 10 Chestnut St., and two locations on New Bond St. Alternatives Unlimited, The Bridge rebrand Alternatives Unlimited and e Bridge of Central Massachusetts have rebranded about three months aer the two human service providers decided to affiliate with one another. e two entities are now known as Open Sky Community Services. e agencies announced the rebrand- ing, along with their new blue and green logo, the day they celebrated with a staff event at Wachusett Mountain. e now joined nonprofits worked with staff, board members and Sturbridge's Idea Agency, now part of Pannos Marketing of New Hampshire, on the branding. Open Sky Community Services, which is based in Worcester, has more than 100 programs across Central Mas- sachusetts and a workforce of 1,200. This is the official logo of the rebranded Alternatives and The Bridge. Continued from previous page Number of unhealthy air days in Massachusetts in 2018, up from 25 in 2017 28 Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency AAFCPAs Wealth names new co-directors AAFCPAs Wealth Management, a financial planner in Westborough, has named two new co-directors of the firm. Carmen Grinkis and Andrew Ham- mond are the new co-directors, taking over from founder Joel Aronson. e change in leadership marks the first such change at AAFCPAs Wealth Manage- ment since it was formed in 2001. Grinkins, who joined the firm in 2016, and Hammond, who joined in 2017, are both senior wealth advisors at the firm. Worcester selling advertising to pay for parking improvements Five city-owned parking garages are being adorned with new advertisements in an initiative to soon spread to 14 outdoor lots, bringing a wave of new ads to city neighborhoods. e city hired Worcester's Palley Advertising to a three-year contract to sell ads at five garages — Federal Plaza, Pearl-Elm, Major Taylor Boulevard, Union Station and Worcester Common, which is underground — in order to bring in more revenue for improving parking infrastructure. Blackstone visitor center to open in Worcester e new visitor center for the Black- stone Heritage Corridor will open Oct. 27 in Worcester as a $12-million effort to help bring tourists to the region. e project was three decades in the making, according to the Whitins- ville-based nonprofit Blackstone Heri- tage Corridor. e modern brick building features a 4,000-square-foot exhibit hall and class- room space. e building sits on space just off the Blackstone River and Route 146 that has been open for decades. A second visitor center is located in Pawtucket. Assumption adding nursing bachelor's degree Assumption College has received pre-requisite approval from the Massa- chusetts Board of Registration in Nurs- ing for a bachelor's degree in nursing. e program still requires approval from the New England Commission of Higher Education, which the Worcester college expects by the end of the year. e Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a 15-percent rise in registered nursing employment from 2016 to 2026, for 438,100 new jobs. W

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