Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 8, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Tegra Medical CEO will retire in August Mark King, CEO of Franklin medical device manufacturer Tegra Medical, will retire on Aug. 1. King has served as CEO of the medical technology manufacturer for nearly 10 years, and heads the Medical Division within SFS Group, Tegra's parent company based in Switzerland. e company did not immediately provide information about who will replace King, nor what that replacement process will look like. Greater Worcester unemployment hits 14.4% e Worcester area labor force shrunk by one-tenth in April as the coronavirus pandemic and related business closures forced the unemployment rate to 14.4%. e April numbers were not unex- pected: the national unemployment rate hit 14.7% for the month, and then Massachusetts hit 15.1%. But they still show how quickly the pandemic has undone years of employment growth, which brought the unemployment rate in the Worcester metropolitan area to a near all-time low of 3.1% in March. Some communities have been hit especially hard. Worcester city's unem- ployment rate jumped to 16.4% from 3.2%, with roughly 11,000 more city res- idents claiming unemployment. Fitch- burg's rate rose to 19.1% from 4.3%, and Southbridge hit 20.3% from 4.1%. Parkview owner buys Grafton units for $4.9M A Graon apartment complex has been sold for $4.9 million to a Franklin businessman in an expansion of his apartment holdings in the region. e apartment buildings at 95 to 101 Upton Street in Graon are located near the center of town. ey were sold on May 1 to Upton St. Apts, LLC, a Franklin-based entity registered to Bechara Fren, according to Worcester property records. Graon Commons, LLC, a Hopedale-based entity registered to Jon Rouleau, was listed as the seller. According to state business records, Fren is the principal of several property management entities in Central Massachusetts. In 2018, he purchased the Parkview Apartments in Worcesterfor nearly $3.2 million. Hopkinton receives $3M grant for Main Street e Town of Hopkinton has received a $3-million MassWorks Infrastructure Program Grant for its Main Street Cor- ridor Project, marking the final step in funding the initiative. e Main Street Corridor project, which will include installing bicycle lanes, sidewalk construction, new traffic signals and overhead utility relocations, is intended to improve safety for drivers, bi- cyclists and pedestrians, as well as reduce downtown congestion. Construction is slated to begin in May. Pandemic accelerates shift toward work-from-home e COVID-19 pandemic injected a bolt of momentum into a work-from- home trend already underway and will likely become permanent or more fre- quent for many workers, a societal change with impacts on everything from traffic and public transportation to commercial real estate, the dynamics inside homes, and the health of small businesses relying on workers who pop in before, during and aer their shis. In a policy brief published May 26, the Pioneer Institute released results of a 10-question survey, finding nearly 63% of respondents preferred to work from home one day per week, and a plurality would like two to three days a week, even aer a COVID-19 vaccine is available. e best part of working from home was avoiding the commute, a change cited by 48% of respondents. while 34% cited improvements in their daily routines, including scheduling flexibility or break activities. e worst part is its isolating nature, with 53% of respondents missing social work interactions. April home sales drop 8% in Worcester County e number of Worcester County single-family home sales in April dropped 8% compared to the same month in 2019, according to a report from Peabody real estate data firm e Warren Group. April logged 566 sales across the coun- ty, compared to 615 in April 2019,. But while April's numbers show a decrease, the year to date number of sales are virtually the same, coming in at 2,039 single family home sales so far. Last year, sales at this time totaled 2,038. Meanwhile, the median sale price for single-family homes was up 6.3% in April. Median sale prices are currently $303,000, compared to $285,000 last year. Mark King, outgoing CEO of Tegra Medical • I N T E G R I T Y • LE AD E R S H I P • E X C E L L E N C E Since 1822 Professional Webinar Series SOPHISTICATED ESTATE PLANNING FOR CPAs, FINANCIAL ADVISORS & CFP PROFESSIONALS® Earn 4.0 CPE Credits | FREE THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Presenters: REGISTRATION Details and registration online at FletcherTilton.com/seminars-events. FletcherTilton.com | 508.459.8000 W O R C E S T E R | F R A M I N G H A M | B O S T O N C A P E C O D | P R O V I D E N C E Dennis Gorman, Esq. Dani Ruran, Esq. Michael Duffy, Esq. Collin Weiss, Esq. Continued on Page 6

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