Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1049951
wbjournal.com | November 12, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com News Editor, Grant Welker, gwelker@wbjournal.com (Real estate, higher education, health care) Staff Writers Zachary Comeau, zcomeau@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing) Contributors Susan Shalhoub Livia Gershon Research Director, Stephanie Meagher, smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com Production Director, Kira Beaudoin, kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Art Director, Mitchell Hayes, mhayes@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Matt Majikas, mmajikas@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com Senior Special Accounts Manager Mary Lynn Bosiak, mlbosiak@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com Events & Marketing Intern Megan Irish, events@wbjournal.com Distribution and Database Coordinator A Guide to STUFF, a publication of New England Business Media Patty Harris, pharris@nebusinessmedia.com COO, Mary Rogers, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Manager, Valerie Clark, vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel, rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com Human Resources, Jill Coran, jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com President, Joseph Zwiebel jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weekly, 24x per year, including 4 special issues in May, September, October, and December by New England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $54.95. For more information, please email wbjournal@ cambeywest.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478 Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860. Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. Worcester Business Journal 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 508-755-8004 tel. • 508-755-8860 fax www.wbjournal.com A division of: Worcester Business Journal WBJ I n 2015, WBJ published a recurring feature call Incorporations, which is a listing of all the entrepreneurs who file papers with the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth to create a new business in our region (Incor- porations is still available via subscription). During my first few weeks as editor back then, Publisher Peter Stanton pointed out it seemed two out of every three entrepre- neurs in Incorporations appeared to have first and last names indicating there was a good chance they were born in a foreign country. We theorized the majority of new businesses were being founded immigrants or first-generation Americans. Fast forward a year to WBJ's 2016 40 Under Forty awards. ree of the first four winners we featured were born outside the United States: Albania, Laos and Ireland. We actually had two winners native to Albania that year, and the following two years had honorees from places like Ghana, Brazil, Hungary, England, Kenya and Nicaragua. Clearly, foreign-born entrepreneurs and young professionals are making their mark on the Central Massachusetts economy. But we wanted to know how big that impact was. Worcester human services nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation pro- duced a study in 2015 showing for- eign-born residents in Worcester founded businesses more frequently and had higher incomes than native residents. To expand on those findings, WBJ this year partnered with our friends over at the Worcester Regional Research Bureau to learn more about the historic and modern impacts immigrants had in our city. anks to WRRB's Tim McGourthy, Tom Quinn and their army of interns, we got data to answer those questions. WBJ News Editor Grant Welker then took that research to out in the community to gather immigrants' stories. Turns out, people who leave their native countries for a foreign land are intelligent risk-takers, who want to get the most out of the American dream. One aspect of the immigration conver- sation Welker does not touch on is legal vs. illegal immigration. e Seven Hills report found about 14 percent of immigrants in Worcester came to the country illegally. Obviously, given today's political climate, this is a hot button issue. An online poll I N T H I S I S S U E WBJ put up last week received multiple comments decrying illegal immigration, even though the poll wasn't about illegal immigra- tion. But for Welker's stories, this debate is beside the point. We want to show the impact of the immigrant community in Worcester, regardless of how they got here. - Brad Kane, editor W THE REGION'S PREMIER BUSINESS BROKERAGE FIRM 65 James St. Worcester, MA georgeandco.com 508-753-1400 Business Brokerage Business Appraisals Financing Mergers & Acquisitions Since 1981 Is it time to sell your business? Need to know what your business is worth? Thinking about buying a business? At George & Company we have the knowledge and experience to help businesses of all sizes find what they are looking for, be it a buyer, seller, acquisition, or their own value. NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Central Mass. In Brief 5 Flash Poll 14 Focus on Innovative Workspaces 16 The List: Registered medical marijuana dispensaries 18 Know How 19 Movers & Shakers 20 Photo Finish 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Ken Bates, Open Sky Community Services 14 Innovative Workspaces Worcester is trying to turn Union Station into a mixed-use office space, tying in three nearby neighborhoods. 10 Guacamole, pink cookies and why I provide extra paid maternity leave The Struggle is Real columnist Renee Diaz says providing extra benefits has created a hard-working and fun atmosphere at her bakery. The importance of immigrants Correction: In the Oct. 15 "Photo Finish" section, the photo about the fundraiser for the New England Center For Children incorrectly said Comprehensive Benefit Administrators has offices in Southborough. The company's headquarters is in Norwell.