wbjournal.com | April 27, 2020 | 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
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PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894.
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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
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
News Editor, Grant Welker,
gwelker@wbjournal.com
(Higher education, health care)
Editorial Intern
Micah Wingell
Contributors
Monica Busch, Sarah Connell,
Livia Gershon, Susan Shalhoub
Lead Researcher, Timothy Doyle,
tdoyle@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, Sabrina Mondor,
smondor@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers,
rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel,
rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
Human Resources, Jill Coran,
jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com
Director of Audience Development,
Valerie Clark,
vclark@nebusinessmedia.com
Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com
Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
mmurray@wbjournal.com
President, Joseph Zwiebel
jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
M
y children's swing set in
our backyard makes this
calming, repetitive noise
whenever they use it.
e constant back and
forth as they laugh and play creates this
serene environment where nothing can
seem wrong with the world.
About a week ago, my 8-year-old
daughter, Brooke, asked me to take a
break from working at home to play with
her. I spent the bulk of my lunch hour
with her and my 7-year-old and 1-year-
old sons, switching between pushing the
three of them on their swings on a warm
and breezy spring New England day.
Typically, my lunch hours at the WBJ
offices consist of me eating at my desk as
I swap between working on minor tasks
and perusing websites like ESPN, the New
York Times and social media. Being with
my children was a drastic improvement.
To be clear, the coronavirus pandemic
has been a terrible blight on this world,
and the emotional toll of nearly 200,000
worldwide deaths is overwhelming. e
economic impact of the social distancing
measures, which have le more than 26
million Americans unemployed including
more than 600,000 Massachusetts resi-
dents, has us all anxious to put the econo-
my back to where it was in February.
But while we try to fix all that has gone
wrong in the world, we should take a
moment to examine the opportunities
the pandemic has forced upon us, and
then decide how to incorporate any
improvements into our post-pandemic
lives. Highway traffic is down nearly 70%
in Massachusetts, according to the state
Department of Transportation. Images
of a smog-free Los Angeles skyline and
clearer canals in Venice, Italy, make me
happy. More people are working from
home and embracing new technologies to
remain connected. Aer healthcare pro-
fessionals, the most important workers in
our economy right now might be grocery
store employees and waste collectors, two
previously overlooked professions.
For me, before the pandemic, I was in
my car 15-20 hours per week, between my
commute and taking Brooke to school.
Now, my commute is simply the walk
down to my home office in our basement.
My WBJ colleagues are still my WBJ
I N T H I S I S S U E
colleagues, but now my officemates are my
wife, children and dogs, whose main re-
quest is simply for me to spend more time
with them when I can.
at is something I'd like to keep as a
permanent part of my life.
- Brad Kane, editor
Let's not put the world back exactly like it was
NEWS & ANALYSIS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
14 Focus on Small business
20 The List: Top SBA lenders
21 Column: The Struggle is Real
22 Know How
23 Movers & Shakers
24 Photo Finish
25 Opinion
26 Shop Talk: Melissa Cote, Sun Kissed+Cryo
8 Polar Park shutdown
If the forced work stoppage at the future
home of the Worcester Red Sox baseball
team remains in place until June, the team
likely will miss its 2021 opening day.
10 Caring for the vulnerable
Community health centers are considering
furloughs as they feel the weight of the
pandemic.
W
Knowledge +
Experience +
Trusted Advice.
It all adds up.
Large enough to serve the
needs of most businesses
and individuals; small
enough to offer the
personal attention you
expect and deserve.
Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, PC
Certified Public Accountants
306 Main Street, Suite 400 • Worcester, MA 01608
508.791.0901 • www.grkb.com
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