wbjournal.com | June 24, 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
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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
W
hen Worcester Business
Journal's management
team first floated
the idea of hosting a
business of marijuana
event, we had a lot of trepidation. Even
though medical and recreational marijuana
are legitimate in the state now, the industry
still is illegal federally and a handful of
long-time WBJ's readers have expressed a
distaste over the cannabis industry.
Still, focusing strictly on the business of
marijuana, WBJ decided to proceed with
what became e Business of Cannabis Fo-
rum on June 10 at the DCU Center. Even
though WBJ Events Manager Kris Prosser
put together an all-star list of speakers
and topics for professionals who are in the
industry, are thinking about joining it, or
want to support it in some way, we thought
we would be lucky to get 150 people.
Turns out, the marijuana event got
nearly double that amount of attendees,
as WBJ had to close off registrations as we
neared the capacity of the meeting room at
the DCU Center. While plenty of familiar
faces attended the event, most of the crowd
was people who don't regularly attend WBJ
events – farmers, young entrepreneurs,
marijuana advocates – and everyone was
extremely enthusiastic. e dress was a
healthy mix of suits, T-shirts and plaid.
Granted, this event was a small inno-
vation for WBJ, but – even though we've
been covering the Massachusetts medical
and recreational marijuana industry in the
editorial pages of WBJ for years – this was
a step out of our business office's comfort
zone. And the risk paid off.
For our Entrepreneurs & Innovation
focus for this edition of WBJ, you will find
plenty of people and organizations taking
calculated risks in hopes of payoff. Mas-
sachusetts Biomedical Initiatives was just
a startup incubator 40 years ago and now
is expanding into its third location. Eric
LaVoie in Holliston sees a future where
people will use hydrogen to fuel their cars.
e Worcester Business Development
Corp. is developing a 44-acre site into a
biomanufacturing campus called e Re-
actory, hoping it will enhance the Central
Massachusetts biotech cluster.
Innovation is all about expanding your
way of thinking and pursuing new oppor-
tunities to realize what you have come to
I N T H I S I S S U E
believe. Making sure the risks you take are
researched and calculated is an important
part of success, but going outside your
comfort zone is really the best place for the
magic to happen.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
It's difficult to think big when the little things get in the way. Our business
checking products have the small stuff covered, so you are free to focus
more on what lies ahead. Time to let your business soar.
Member FDIC
Member DIF
MINDING YOUR BUSINESS.
DREAMING UP WHAT'S TO COME.
IF THIS IS YOU, THEN
THIS IS YOUR BANK.
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WEBSTER • DUDLEY • OXFORD • AUBURN • WORCESTER • SHREWSBURY
NMLS #523049
NEWS & ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENTS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5 Flash Poll
10 Focus on Entrepreneurs & Innovation
14 The List: Incubators in Central Mass.
15 Co-working places and makerspaces
16 Outside the Box, with Bonnie Walker
17 Know How
18 Movers & Shakers
19 Photo Finish
20 The Struggle is Real, by Renee Diaz
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Tom Kinisky, Saint-Gobain
6 On the fly
With energy and opportunity, the
state's marijuana businesses and
regulators are adapting to an industry
slowly being built as interest grows.
10 Hydrogen power
A Holliston startup wants Massachusetts
businesses and residents driving fuel
cell vehicles.
Innovation is supposed to be scary
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
Editorial & Events Intern,
Devina Bhalla,
dbhalla@wbjournal.com
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
