Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 21, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Marlborough chamber announces new CEO e former vice president at the job-search firm Transition Solutions Inc. is the new president and CEO of the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce. Robert Schlacter of Hudson will replace Susanne Morreale Leeber, who retired last September aer 27 years of leading the chamber. Schlacter was chosen from more than 100 applicants, the chamber said. Harrington Hospital closing pediatric unit Harrington Hospital will close its inpatient pediatric unit at the end of March due to a low patient volume. e Southbridge hospital will elimi- nate the 11-bed unit and instead trans- fer children who need to be admitted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. Harrington reached a similar agreement with UMass when it closed its birthing center in 2017. Wayland's Candela Corp. to move to Marlborough Wayland-based Candela Corp. is one step closer to moing its headquarters to Marlborough, as the city's Finance Committee signed off on a seven-year tax agreement. e package still needs to be ap- proved by the City Council. e company wants to relocate to a 50,000-square-foot building at 251 Locke Drive, former Verizon offices. Candela Corp., an aesthetic medical device company, plans to invest $5 million in capital expenditures and will move about $1.5 million in research and development related equipment e tax agreement calls for real es- tate and personal property exemptions of 100 percent in year one, 80 percent in year two, 75 percent in year three, 60 percent in year four, 55 percent in year five, 40 percent in year six and 20 percent in year seven. Don't tax Airbnbs e Worcester City Council is considering a proposal to tax short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb at a 6-percent rate. e fees would be in addition to a 5.7-percent state tax, which mirrors Massachusetts' hotel tax. Revenue generated would be used to reduce current property taxes. e proposal comes aer the state Legislature passed a bill to regulate the industry, including tax and insurance requirements. When polled online, the majority of WBJ readers felt short-term rentals shouldn't be taxed like hotels. F L AS H P O L L Should Airbnb hosts pay a local tax like hotels do? WooSox stadium now has two architects An architecture and design firm on the city's shortlist for the $100-million ballpark project for the future home of the Pawtucket Red Sox will get some work on the facility aer all. e Worcester Redevelopment Authority amended a design services agreement with its chosen architect, D'Agostino, Isso & Quirk Architects of Somverville, to allow the firm Sasaki to come on board. Sasaki, along with DAIQ, was one of three architecture firms shortlisted for the project in No- vember. e firm, with a Boston-area office, will bring its expertise in urban and landscape design. Poverty up in Worcester neighborhoods Even with a long period of economic growth and redevelopment through significant stretches of downtown, Worcester has not been spared from some broader troublesome trends, according to a new report from the Boston think tank MassINC. Worcester home values have fallen by 15 percent when adjusted for infla- tion since just before the Great Reces- sion, placing it tied for last among the state's 26 Gateway Cities. Concentrated poverty – neighbor- hoods where the poverty rate exceeds 40 percent – has tripled in Worcester since 2000, MassINC found. During that time, the number of Worcester residents living in Census tracts with those high poverty rates rose from 7,119 to 22,770. Vacant homes are on the rise in the city. In 2000, 5 percent of Worcester homes were vacant, but that rate rose to 9 percent by 2017. ose trends are the result of a range of factors, according to MassINC, including fewer funds being spent on neighborhood improvements from state or federal agencies and less discretionary state aid for cities and towns. "When you already having broader economic inequality, and you lose the tools to counter that trend, it's kind of a perfect storm, and it feeds on itself," said Ben Forman, MassINC's research director. More specifically to Worcester, the data shows housing has not risen along with the economy or perhaps been carried by Greater Boston's surging housing market. Worcester's decrease in housing value since 2006 places it – along with Fitchburg and Fall River – last among Massachusetts Gateway Cities. Continued on next page Robert Schlacter worked in business development and executive consulting at Transition Solutions. Crompton owner to open second Worcester store Amy Lynn Chase, owner of Cromp- ton Collective in Worcester, is opening another retail store in Crompton Place. e store, to be called Haberdash, will sell many of the same kind of items as Chase's Hudson store of the same name, but will be about double the size and allow for more clothing, shoes and accessories, Chase said. Chase will hire up to two new em- ployees to help run the small store in the Canal District building. Boston Globe's Millbury building sold for $6M e Boston Globe has sold its former Millbury printing plant for $5.6 million. e plant, at 9 Latti Farm Road off Route 20, was sold last month to real estate investor Anthony Russell of 75 Southwest Cutoff in Worcester. e Globe closed the 20-year-old plant in 2016 when it opened a larger facility in Taunton. e Millbury plant dates to when e Globe owned the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which it sold in 2014. Framingham State launching online MBA Framingham State University is launching a fully-online MBA pro- gram aimed at working professionals who can't make it to campus. Courses will begin in the fall and be offered on an accelerated eight-week timeline. e university already had a traditional in-person MBA program that included some online courses. No. Airbnb has proven to be a reliable second income and hosts are already paying state tax and for insurance. 55% Yes. The playing field should be the same for all in the hospitality industry. 45% "It's a loophole to not tax that income same as hotels." "Hosts are directly competing with the hospitality industry. Standards need to be met and maintained. Anyone who is going to be in business needs to understand there are costs involved. Many times, upfront costs." "Tax tax tax – the only word the government (local, state, federal) knows." Amy Lynn Chase, owner of Crompton Collective, The White Room and Haberdash

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