wbjournal.com | June 8, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
A
er nearly three really
long months, the Central
Massachusetts economy is
opening up once again, and
everyone is still figuring
out the best way to get back to the pre-
pandemic operations while keeping a
wary eye on the safety of customers and
employees, in order to avoid another
surge of coronavirus cases and deaths.
In this issue, you'll find the stories of
Central Massachusetts businesses and
industries attempting to find their first
few steps back into the fray.
is is the latter part of the
coronavirus pandemic management
strategy public health experts and the
media have entitled e Hammer and
e Dance.
e hammer was the economic
shutdown, an effort to stem the surge
in COVID-19 by having everyone stay
home and limit their interactions with
other people.
e dance is the slow relaxing of those
restrictions to see what is feasible to keep
COVID-19 incidents at a manageable
level: open up some businesses, and if
cases spike again, go back to the harsher
restrictions. Two steps forward, one step
back.
Under Gov. Charlie Baker,
Massachusetts has been one of the most
cautious states during the pandemic, and
business leaders and residents largely
seem to have followed his lead. As
Massachusetts has been one of the states
hardest hit by the pandemic (ranking
fourth in deaths), we should be smart
about how we proceed to reopen the
economy.
Businesses will open at reduced
capacity, employees will still work from
home, sick leave will become more
important, and face masks will become a
regular fixture in people's outfits.
While getting the economy back
to full steam and lowering Greater
Worcester's 14.4% unemployment rate
are important, the overarching goal for
the next few months should be avoiding
a second surge in the coronavirus.
In May alone, more than 500 people
in Worcester County died of COVID-19.
Let's make sure that remains the record
high month.
I N T H I S I S S U E
Since a COVID-19 vaccine and herd
immunity for the population are unlikely
to be achieved until at least 2021, this
means we'll have to be careful about how
we proceed for some time.
- Brad Kane, editor
e hammer & the dance
NEWS & ANALYSIS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
7 Flash Poll
14 Focus on Architecture & construction
18 The List: Top architecture firms
18 The List: Top commercial contractors
20 Column: The Hustle Is Real
21 Know How
22 Movers & Shakers
23 Opinion
24 Shop Talk: Grace Elton,
Tower Hill Botanic Garden
8 Healthcare bailout
Central Mass. healthcare providers have
received $139 million in federal grants
through the CARES Act.
14 Construction builds on
After a slowdown due to the coronavirus,
the industry has restarted with new rules
and deadlines to meet.
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Worcester Business Journal
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CORRECTION: In the Power 50 profile about Barbara G. Fields and
Carolyn J. Stempler in the May 25 edition, the article incorrectly
identified Fields as a child of immigrants. Her parents were refugees
fleeing a war.
DEPARTMENTS
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
send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal,
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
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
News Editor, Grant Welker,
gwelker@wbjournal.com
(Higher education, health care)
Staff Writer, Monica Busch,
mbusch@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing)
Editorial Interns
Devina Bhalla, Riley Garand
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon,
Sarah Connell
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
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
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