Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1190168
wbjournal.com | December 9, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Living Earth market closing after 49 years e Living Earth Natural Market & Cafe is closing its doors at the end of the year aer nearly a half-century. Long before such a thing was common- place, Living Earth sold organic, locally sourced and farm-to-table food, first out of a storefront at 327 Pleasant St. and later at 232 Chandler St. Owners Albert and Magdalena Maykel said in a statement announcing the clo- sure they took pride in being pioneers in selling such offerings. ey moved back to Worcester aer attending college in Boston and found they couldn't find the quality of food they wanted. So in 1971, they opened their doors. Mass. opioid deaths down 6% from last year ree-quarters of the way through the year, opioid-related deaths are down in Massachusetts by 6% compared to 2018. e Massachusetts Department of Public Health said the state had 1,460 opioid-related deaths either confirmed or estimated. at's a drop of 99 from the same period last year, when an eventual 2,033 were killed by opioids — the state's third-highest year on record. rough the first nine months of the year, fentanyl was found in 93% of opioid-related overdose deaths in which a toxicology screen was done, the state said. at's up from 89% last year. Simonds Saw sells Fitchburg office for $5.6M Fitchburg tool manufacturer Simonds Saw, which said in October it would lay off employees and cut back operations, has closed on a $5.6-million sale of its site. Simonds has been located at 135 Inter- vale Road since the 1930s but has shrunk its operations there to eventually occupy less than one-third of the 347,000-square- foot building. In a sale closed Oct. 30, Simonds sold the site to a group of buyers all registered to the address of GFI Part- ners, a Boston real estate advisory firm. Quest Diagnostics buys laboratory services Quest Diagnostics, a provider of diag- nostic information services, has acquired the lab services of Boston Clinical Labora- tories of Waltham. BCL's patients and providers now have access to Quest and its broader range of diagnostic services. BCL services will transition to the Quest Diagnostics labo- ratory in Marlborough. Worcester biomedical campus seeks new tenants Nine development-ready sites at the planned Worcester biomedical office park called e Reactory have begun, as the property's owner has secured new financ- ing for ongoing preparation efforts. Country Bank of Ware has provided $2.7 million in financing to property owner Worcester Business Development Corp. for ongoing engineering and site preparation efforts, along with refinancing the original acquisition costs. Sites in e Reactory are becoming available as demolition nears completion at the former Worcester State Hospital's tow- ering brick Bryan Building, a $15-million state-funded project. e planned anchor tenant — WuXi Biologics — is not mentioned in marketing materials. WuXi first said in June 2018 it planned to open a $60-million, 150-work- er Worcester facility to be the Chinese biomanufacturing firm's first in the U.S. Country Bank said in its announcement negotiations are continuing with WuXi. Work begins on $30M Bellingham warehouse Construction has begun on a $30-mil- lion, 345,000-square-foot distribution facility in Bellingham without any tenants lined up. e on-spec project began with a groundbreaking ceremony in Novem- ber, adding the site at 160 Mechanic St. to a growing list of warehouses and other industrial space in Franklin. Others include a Garelick Farms distri- bution facility just over a mile to the east down Route 140, as well as the paper dis- tributor Lindenmeyr Munroe, the building material supplier BlueLinx, and the retailer Mattress Firm. A new facility just over a mile away on Maple Street is shared by the convenience store chain 7-Eleven and the snack maker Snyder's-Lance. e new facility at 160 Mechanic St., called Lincoln Logistics 36, is expected to be completed by the fall. It is being built by site owner Barings, a financial services firm with offices in Connecticut, and Lincoln Property Co., a Boston property manager. 81 Hope Ave., Worcester, MA 01603 • 508.755.2340 • sevenhills.org/careers Building an Integrated Foundation of Cultural Diversity "I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, 'You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won't become a German or a Turk.' Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American." —President Ronald Reagan Seven Hills honors its employees who come to us from over 58 countries by defining a culture of putting others first. Our affiliate, Seven Hills Global Outreach, was established to help people with life challenges in their home countries. We welcome staff of all abilities and backgrounds, promoting cultural competency in harmony with our Core Values of Respect & Kindness – Integrity – Teamwork – Innovation – Service to Others. To learn more, call 508.755.2340, today! The Reactory takes up 46 acres in eastern Worcester. W SUPPORTING SPONSORS Connectivity Point (formerly BCS) Homefield Credit Union Lampin Corporation Paramount Realty Group CHAMBER SUPPORTERS SPONSORS B2BCFO Boston Document Systems, Precision Engineering Hinkley Allen Whitin Community Center The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce Thanks It's Sponsors of the 41 st Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony! WAKE UP COFFEE SPONSORS Allcare Medical Supply bankHometown Kelleher & Sadowsky Bowditch & Dewey Omni Control Technology, Inc. Fidelity Bank InThink Agency Package Steel Industries Quinsigamond Community College PATRON SPONSORS Table Talk Pies Paul Robinson Photography Worcester Business Journal Blackstonevalley.org 508-234-9090 administrator@blackstonevalley.org The BVCC thanks it's 2019 Sponsors for their generous contributions. Our Annual Meeting was a great success because of the local companies that support the BVCC.