Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | Fact Book 2018 | wbjournal.com R E G I O N S Solid foundations With an economy based on recession-proof businesses like health care and higher education, Greater Worcester can weather any storm BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal W hen Dan Shure started doing business in Greater Worcester six years ago, his impression of the area wasn't particularly positive. Shure, the owner of Evolving SEO, a two-person marketing firm now located on Grove Street in Worcester, has blogged about his trepidation about living and working in an old industrial area. But today, he described his office location, not too far from his home in Holden, as the best of all worlds. "It's a suburban commute from Holden," he said. "I'm not fighting traffic. But I have all the great ame- nities of being in a city. Once I hit Grove, I can walk over to Main Street. I can walk to the [Worcester Polytechnic Institute] area." Shure said the quality of life in the city – access to parks, cultural attractions and shopping areas – is part of the draw. But it's also a good location for him to do business. Not long after arriving in the area, he said, he worked with the Holden chapter of Business Networking International to find local clients. Today he has a number of clients in Boston, so the direct access to that city by train is key to his operations. And when meets with clients in Worcester, he's happy there are now many places where it's con- venient to meet up. "Five or six years ago, if I was going to do a coffee meeting, there'd be one or two places I could think of that would be really good," he said. "Now you have Birch Street Bread, you have Acoustic Java Roastery, you have deadhorse hill, you have Brew on the Grid. That's a huge plus now." Eds & meds Timothy McGourthy, executive director of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, said the data backs up Shure's positive impression of the local economy. He points to high-profile real estate invest- ments, from CitySquare to the downtown develop- ment helping lure the Pawtucket Red Sox from Rhode Island. "We see a kind of higher profile for Worcester as a business market, as a place of investment, which is kind of a great transition for the city as it continues its rise," McGourthy said. Worcester isn't a boomtown with a torrent of investment and hiring, McGourthy said. Its growth has more or less kept pace with the national economy, but that's meant nearly a decade of positive news. And the measured pace of growth suggests a stability keeping the city's economy on relatively solid ground when the national econ- omy inevitably slips into reces- sion down the line. "Worcester has shown that it is slow but steady," McGourthy said. "It's not the type of com- munity that far outpaces the nation and sees incredible growth spurts. It is more of a slow steady rise, more plateaus rather than declines when the economy drops." That reflects the specific industry mix in the city, which is founded on particularly recession-proof institutions. Dan Shure, owner, Evolving SEO Timothy McGourthy, executive director, WRRB Continued on Page 6 Workers at UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester train on the system's new electronic health records system, Epic. P H O T O / E D D C O T E G r e a t e r W o r c e s t e r

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