Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | August 5, 2019 | wbjournal.com BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Continued on Page 10 T he Greater Worcester econ- omy appears to finally be outperforming its national and New England peers in key areas, although struggles in the city itself put it near the back of the pack compared to other Massachu- setts Gateway Cities. Last summer, a WBJ anal- ysis found during the longest sustained period of economic growth in U.S. history where developments are trending toward urbanization, the econ- omy of the Greater Worcester metropolitan region lagged significantly behind U.S. metro areas of similar size and New England's other major cities, showing the much bally- hooed Worcester renaissance was largely buzzy talk with little substance. In an update of that WBJ study this year, the results show Greater Worcester is starting to make up the ground it lost from being behind the pack since the end of the Great Recession, by outpacing its national and regional peers in each of the last two years. Like last year, WBJ is using the U.S. Census Bureau definition of the Greater Worcester metro area, which includes Worcester County and Windham County, Conn. Among the biggest steps forward is the region's gross domestic product – GDP, a measure of the size of the area's economy – has averaged 4.7% growth annually in the past three years, doubling the growth rate of the previous three years. Population growth – which still lags national and state rates since 2010 – has picked up, beating national and regional peer areas in each of the last two years, rising 3.4% this decade. In all, WBJ analyzed Greater Worces- ter in 25 economic indicator categories against the 10 U.S. metro areas with the most similar populations: Albany, N.Y.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Greenville, S.C.; Tuc- son, Ariz.; Tulsa, Okla.; Omaha, Neb.; Albuquerque, N.M; Bakersfield, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; and Honolulu, Hawaii. In a separate comparison, WBJ measured Greater Worcester against the other major New England metro areas: Bos- ton, Providence, Springfield, Hartford, Manchester, N.H. and Portland, Maine. Although the whole of the 25 metrics in this Greater Worcester Economic Report Card show a complex region- al economy excelling in certain areas (quality of life, home prices) and trailing in others (housing starts, job growth) compared to its national peers, key met- rics like population, GDP and income growth say the Greater Worcester econ- omy is finally starting to catch up. "Worcester has been said to be on the rise for years without a dramatic change to prove it," Boston think tank MassINC said in an August 2018 report. New to study this year is an effort to further understand the econom- ic growth within the region, so WBJ compared data exclusively inside the city of Worcester against the 25 other Massachusetts Gateway Cities. at analysis looking strictly at what is going on economically within city limits shows Worcester city below average in 13 of the 17 categories, ranking last or near last for metrics like household income, poverty rate, labor force participation and chang- es in the per square foot price of homes. While the city of Worcester has had a handful of high-profile successes such as the opening of the 145 Front at City Square apartments and convincing the Pawtucket Red Sox to move to a $101-million municipal stadium in the Canal District in two years, their impact hasn't yet trickled down to key economic indicators and may even mask more complex problems in the city. "e publicity of large openings, whatever they might be, might not be indicative of the underlying conditions of the city," said Robert Baumann, an economics professor at the College of the Aer falling behind for years, Greater Worcester is beating its national and local peers in important economic metrics like GDP and income growth Robert Baumann, economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, says Worcester still has underlying economic concerns. GREATER WORCESTER Economic Report Card Downtown Worcester has been the focus of much of the city's economic improvement efforts, including the renovation of Union Station and the opening of the 145 Front at City Square apartments. PHOTO/TMS AERIAL SOLUTIONS Worcester's ECONOMY is catching up

• Cover