Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | July 6, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 3 W hen officials from the City of Worcester and the Pawtucket Red Sox gleefully announced in August 2018 the minor league baseball team would move to the Canal District, the planned inaugural season of 2021 seemed like a long way off. Now, it is just around the corner. Yet, as those same officials move full steam ahead to get the $132-million Polar Park baseball stadium ready for April, they should really think about giving themselves another year. e coronavirus pandemic has not been good for the team. Minor League Baseball has canceled the 2020 season, and the 2021 season is far from certain. e construction of the stadium, already on a tight timeline, was stopped for a month due to the pandemic; and while team and city officials expressed confidence in late June the project still can be finished on time, playing catch-up at the end will mean more construction crews working longer shis. Another $19 million in costs and Polar Park becomes the most expensive minor league baseball stadium ever, even adjusted for inflation. Even worse, the pandemic has de- layed by at least a year the opening of the planned surrounding hotel, retail, restau- rant and office development, which is the main source of tax revenue to pay off the city's bonds on the project. e hospitality and retail industries have been hit particu- larly hard, so getting high-quality tenants to sign up will be a nightmare. e team and city officials get one shot at an Opening Day. at first game is a guaranteed sellout, and they have about a season and a half before the new Worces- ter Red Sox shine wears off. Why concen- trate all that buzz into a half-completed uber development at a time when the world will still be shaking off the hangover of a pandemic? Instead, wait a year, make sure the surrounding development is full of businesses ready to start generating tax revenue, and hit the full throttle on one of the city's most ambitious modern projects. Obviously, the clock is ticking for the city to start paying back its bonds. City Manager Edward Augustus already has talked about refinancing because interest rates have dropped, so a new first payment deadline can be folded into those negotiations. e Polar Park project is just as much I N T H I S I S S U E about building community pride as it is about dollars and sense, so maximizing the momentum should be a top priority. is is not the time to rush things; now is the time to figure out the best way to move forward, intelligently. - Brad Kane, editor e WooSox's first season should be 2022 NEWS & ANALYSIS 4 Central Mass. In Brief 12 Financial planning 18 The List: Mergers and acquisitions 17 Column: The hustle is real 18 Know How 19 Movers & Shakers 20 Photo Finish 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Bill Shaner 8 Survive & adopt Establishments waiting weeks or months to reopen are adapting to change through the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. 12 Funding equality The national surge in donations to Black advocacy groups followin the police killing of George Floyd is slowly tricklin to Central Mass. organizations. 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 DEPARTMENTS Worcester Business Journal WBJ 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. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $54.95. For more information, please email wbjournal@ cambeywest.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478 Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860. Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. 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 A division of:

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