Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 18, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 3 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 2019. 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 T he day aer I finished preparing our story in this edition about Assumption College in Worces- ter seeking to broaden its appeal to applicants, the news of the national col- lege side-door admissions scandal broke. While small colleges like Assumption try to figure out how to get more appli- cants to the front door, the FBI uncovered a $25-million scheme where dozens of wealthy parents allegedly tried to bribe their children's way into prestigious schools like Georgetown University and the Uni- versity of South California by manipulating their test scores and having them misclas- sified as recruited athletes. Law enforce- ment officials decried this scam as stealing opportunities from hard-working students who go through the proper channels to get into these schools, where admission can be the first step toward a more prestigious life. More concerning, though, are back- door admissions: Wealthy parents donate millions to a school, and their child wins admission. Senior White House official Jared Kushner was admitted to Harvard University aer his father donated $2.5 million to the Cambridge university, which disappointed an official at Kushner's high school as other students there had stronger applications, according to Daniel Golden's 2006 book, "e Price of Admis- sion." Kushner went on to marry Ivanka Trump, becoming President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and now Kushner is in charge of the Middle East peace process. is back door needs to be closed, al- though it won't be as easy. Unlike the side- door admissions scandal where parents allegedly were openly lying, the back-door scam is more of a wink-wink agreement. Since admissions is subjective, it is much harder to prove someone was unworthy. Colleges have very little motivation to close this back-door. In exchange for mil- lions of dollars to build better facilities or offer more scholarships – further raising the university's profile – all the school has to do is admit one student in a class of sev- eral hundred. Even if that student is a drag on the class, his or her impact is going to be minimal. In the business machine that is higher education, this is a win-win. But the collegiate industry shouldn't be about who can fundraise the most money or build the nicest facilities. Colleges should be about taking the best and brightest and making them the educated I N T H I S I S S U E and moral leaders of our society. Yes, you need money and facilities to train the best and the brightest, but you shouldn't compromise your core principals to do it. Otherwise you are giving undeserving people lifelong rewards, and that doesn't make society better. - Brad Kane, editor W CONFERENCE DINING Complete Package Pricing includes continuous and abundant refreshments and a delightful buffet luncheon. LOCATION Conveniently located in Waltham just off Route 128 and minutes from the MA Turnpike. BUSINESS MEETINGS 17,000 square feet of multi- sized meeting rooms with in-room technology and unsurpassed service. To discover the difference at Waltham Woods, call our sales office at 781.434.7499 and schedule a personal site tour or email conferencecenter@mms.org. www.ConferenceCenteratWalthamWoods.com Boston's Conference Center Located in the technology corridor surrounding Boston, the Conference Center at Waltham Woods is a full-service meeting venue. CONFERENCE Complete includes abundant delightful BUSINESS MEETINGS 17,000 square feet of multi- sized meeting rooms with in-room technology and unsurpassed service. To discover the difference at Waltham Woods, call our sales office at 781.434.7499 and schedule a personal site tour or email conferencecenter@mms.org. www.ConferenceCenteratWalthamWoods.com Boston's Conference Center Located in the technology corridor surrounding Boston, the Conference Center at Waltham Woods Boston's Conference Center Located in the technology corridor surrounding Boston, the Confer- ence Center at Waltham Woods is a full-service meeting venue. NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Central Mass. In Brief 5 Flash Poll 12 Meetings Guide & Golf Directory 14 The List: Largest meeting facilties 22 The List: Toughest golf courses 25 Know How 26 Movers & Shakers 28 Photo Finish 29 Opinion 30 Shop Talk: Karen Busenburg, customs trailblazer 12 Hotels on the rise Greater Worcester has added hotel rooms and increased occupancy rates faster than the national average, while prices continue to climb. 18 The arena arms race The DCU Center is prepping $37 million in upgrades to stand out among increasingly competitive arenas. Back-door college admissions need to be stopped Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com News Editor, Grant Welker, gwelker@wbjournal.com (Real estate, higher education, health care) Staff Writer Zachary Comeau, zcomeau@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing) Contributors Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon, Sarah Connell 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 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

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