Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | May 25, 2020 | wbjournal.com P O W E R 5 0 H O S P I T A L I T Y & C U L T U R E Amy Lynn Chase CROMPTON COLLECTIVE, THE HABERDASH, THE WHITE ROOM, WORCESTER Marieke Cormier OWNER, SECOND GENERATION ROOTS NATURAL FOODS. MARKET. KITCHEN. JUICE BAR, LEOMINSTER Juliet Feibel EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ARTSWORCESTER Residence: Worcester College: Quinsigamond Community College The retail industry is nearly upside down right now, with forced closures due to the coronavirus and the ensuing economic recession likely forcing many retailers to close for good or significantly reduce their size. One thing you can count on after all the dust is settled: the entrepreneurial spirit of Amy Lynn Chase. Chase has been slowly building her small Worcester and Hudson empire for about a decade now and has shown a true knack for community building and offering unique experiences. Even if her five businesses take a significant hit during the coronavirus fallout, Chase can use these talents to forge a way forward in the new economy. Her Crompton Collective was one of a handful of businesses laying the groundwork for the Canal District to become the hot Worcester neighborhood, upon which the Worcester Red Sox stadium will be built. Crompton and her Canal District Farmers Market are ways for more than 100 creative makers and food vendors to sell their wares directly to the community. What makes Central Mass. unique? We are a big city looking out for each other like a small town would. Our community is caring, giving, and generous. Glossophobia: I'm completely terrified of public speaking. Residence: Leominster College: Mount Wachusett Community College & University of Alaska Southeast Roots Natural Foods has been a fixture in Greater Leominster for nearly 20 years, and Cormier's commitment to organic farm-to-table food always has included a healthy dose of local farms and vendors. Cormier inherited the businesses from her mother, Ellen Jonkers, nine years ago, and she has made it her mission to run the independent business sustainably with a focus on employees, community and health. She and her partner Kevin Williams opened Roots kitchen and juice bar six years ago in order to expand the store's offerings to prepared food like smoothies. Thanks to her continued stewardship, Roots built a community around its products and remains an organic food destination in North Worcester County. What makes Central Mass. unique? We have access to so many local food sources, makers, and farms all within a few hours each direction. The area has seen a huge demand for local and independent businesses offering sustainable and healthy options. It's really creating a great quality of life. Is anyone here a marine biologist? I lived in Juneau, Alaska, for six years studying biology, with an emphasis on marine mammals. If I wasn't running Roots, I would be studying the migration of whales from Hawaii to Alaska. Residence: Worcester Colleges: Northwestern University & University of Michigan If a typical Worcester resident doesn't know much about ArtsWorcester, they likely know more about those the group advocates for: the city's artists. Each year, ArtsWorcester exhibits the work of 300 artists – both emerging and established – and produces 20 exhibitions. There's also the gallery tours, professional development workshops and other services keeping Worcester's arts scene moving ahead. At the center of it all for nearly a decade has been Feibel, a St. Louis native who came to Worcester from the Ann Arbor Art Center in Michigan, where she was the director of education, and Imagining America, a California-based national arts and humanities project. In 2018, she brought ArtsWorcester to its new home in the Printers Building from its longtime home in the Aurora Building on Main Street. Feibel has been active elsewhere, too, including holding board positions at Temple Emanuel Sinai and the Jewish Community Center, and helping out with the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker Community. What makes Central Mass. unique? Businesses here operate like Worcester is a much smaller town than it is, with personal connections and community obligations first and foremost. Even the biggest companies seem to operate with a mom-and-pop spirit. From that spirit, a greater city grows. At the same time? I can mirror-write and walk on stilts. Christian McMahan PRESIDENT WACHUSETT BREWING CO., WESTMINSTER Dan Rea III EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT & BUSINESS AFFAIRS THE WORCESTER RED SOX Cliff Rucker OWNER WORCESTER RAILERS HOCKEY CLUB AND THE FIDELITY BANK WORCESTER ICE CENTER Residence: Westminster College: UMass Amherst In the craft brewing world, Wachusett Brewing Co. is like the grandfather in the room, the one who can tell sto- ries about a long-ago time when there wasn't a brewery in practically every city and town and it was far more common to see little other than Bud, Coors or maybe Sam Adams on bar taps. McMahan, the president of the 26-year-old brewery with 140 employees, has helped keep Wachusett more than just relevant at a time when the state's beer scene can be dominated by Tree House Brewing Co. and Trillium Brewing Co. Wachusett is known most for its blueberry ale, but it's not standing still as one of the top 50 largest craft brewers in the country. Wa- chusett is working on a new brewhouse in Cambridge's Harvard Square, it anchors the Worcester Public Market, it has launched a second hard seltzer line this spring to jump on another drinking trend. The brewer is quick to join charitable causes, including special benefit beers for coro- navirus relief, the Ava Roy Fund and the Lt. Jason Menard Children's Fund. What makes Central Mass. unique? It's amazing to be in a place where you can see and feel the momentum of growth. Our newest Brew Yard opened in the Worcester Public Market is a great example. Who would have thought a project like that was possible in Worcester five years ago? Our first month exceeded all expectations. Straight Outta Westminster: I'm better at hip-hop karaoke than most people would think! Residence: Framingham College: Harvard University Rea might not be the first name coming to mind when you think about the new Worcester Red Sox. There's Larry Lucchino, who has spent decades in the game and was one of three main owners of the Boston Red Sox, including when they broke their championship drought in 2004. There's Charles Steinberg, who's worked with Lucchino for much of his career and is a whiz at marketing and building commu- nity relationships. Rea, however, has worked more behind the scenes to build relationships and manage the team's upcoming move north to Worcester since the team decided in August 2018 to leave its longtime Rhode Island home, starting in 2021. Rea, who used to work for the Boston Red Sox, oversees day-to-day business functions for the team both in Pawtucket and Worcester, and is the team's point person on real estate investment and growth opportunities around its new Polar Park stadium. What makes Central Mass. unique? What stikes me about Worcester and Central Massachusetts is the quiet sense of pride. This region is confident in itself, with a subtle self-as- surance grounded in its past and in the path forward, but it doesn't do so with an inflated sense of ego. Its residents go about their work with a realistic hope for what tomorrow can bring, and that's a powerful sentiment to experience as a relative newcomer. Connected to the Babe: As a boy, my late paternal grand- father delivered groceries to a young Babe Ruth and his wife when Babe was beginning his career with the Boston Red Sox. Residences: Danvers & Worcester College: Tufts University Rucker is an unlikely champion of Worcester's sports scene and its real estate market. Rucker, who owns and runs three companies on the North Shore — working in equipment leasing, and asset and property management — had no connection to Worcester before founding the Railers. But he had a love of hockey, especially family-friendly and affordable hockey, and he had a good sense for potential in properties when he sees them. Few, if any, minor league sports owners could be expected to do what Rucker's done since buying the team. He's built the $18-million Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center, the practice facility for the Railers, host to other area college and high school teams, and home to Bay State Brewing Co. and Steam Energy Cafe; opened the since-closed Railers Tavern across from the DCU Center; and bought all or a stake in a trio of buildings along Main Street: the Palladium, a building hosting the restaurant deadhorse hill, and a 110-year-old multi-tenant office building. What makes Central Mass. unique? The Central Massachusetts community works hard together to achieve economic success. Nothing is handed to us. More of a spectator: While I own a professional hockey team, I can't actually skate.

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