Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1288964
wbjournal.com | Book of Lists 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 101 G E N E R A L I N T E R E S T F O C U S Top LGBTQ+ owned businesses Ranked by number of employees Company name Local staff total staff locations in Central Mass. total locations Brief description of business, services offered Owner year founded 1 RE/MAX Vision * 1 West Boylston St. Suite 305 Worcester 01545 508-595-9900 • remaxvisionhomes.com 40 40 2 2 Real estate services for both selling and buying Jeff Burk 2010 2 Accu-Clean Inc. 210 Park Ave. #337 Worcester 01609 508-755-8166 • accu-cleaninc.com 25 25 1 1 Commercial cleaning, daily and weekly maintenance accounts, light floor work and light carpet shampooing Michele Blanchette Robin M. Booth 1987 3 Level Up Automation (Level Up Your Home) 367 West Main St. Northborough 01532 800-979-2791 • levelupyourhome.com 6 12 2 5 Level Up Your Home (dba also as Level Up Automation) is a full service commercial and residential smart technology and automation firm. Level Up serves as the access point for companies seeking technology solutions including security, audio, video, wifi networks, automated shades and more. Jennifer Mallett 2016 4 Queer the Scene 35 Intervale Road Worcester 01602 774-641-7167 • queerthescene.com 5 5 1 1 Creative agency (marketing, branding, events, organizing) Lamar Brown-Noguera David Conner Alford Green Marvin Nuñez 2019 5 The Drake Co. 1131 Highland St. Holliston 01746 508-395-0000 • draketurf.com 4 4 1 1 Landscape and turf construction and maintenance Timothy J. Drake 2013 6 MJ Productions Inc. 11 Gibbs St. Unit B19 Worcester 01607 774-232-3874 • mjproductions63.wixsite.com 2 2 1 1 Creative agency (marketing, branding, events, organizing) Jerry Roman Manny Lancara 2019 7 Action! by Design 134 Gold St. Worcester 01608 774.402.0339 • actionbydesign.co 1 1 1 1 Action! by Design is a design studio that is helping build systems that work for everyone. Our clients are individuals, communities, and organizations that our team support by using a community-centered design method to solve problems. We place a focus on designing inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and prosperity-enabled solutions to address challenges. Joshua Croke 2018 7 HR Focus Point Inc. PO Box 2514 Acton 01720 618-701-6150 • hrfocuspoint.com 1 2 3 4 HR expert consulting, diversity & inclusion, leadership development, employee training, speaking engagements Doug Miller 2015 Source: Each company by survey, Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, state data. Notes: Thanks to Carly Davis and David Conner. Nonprofit organizations LGBT Asylum Task Force and CALUE- Casa Ancestral Luz de Esperanza (Ancient House Light of Hope)also submitted data. * an additional location in Shrewsbury - Compiled by: Timothy Doyle, tdoyle@nebusinessmedia.com Five companies from around Central Massachusetts were among the nearly 700 nationwide that have adopted policies to meet the needs of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workers, according to the 2020 Corporate Equality Index. The data, gathered by the Washington, D.C. advocacy non - profit Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the LGBTQ civil rights organiza- tion, recognized the following Central Mass. firms among the 40 in Massachusetts for their LGBTQ-inclusive workplace prac- tices: • Marlborough medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific • Westborough discount ware- house retailer B.J's Wholesale Club • Worcester property and casual- ty insurance firm Hanover Insurance Group • Framingham retail parent com- pany TJX Cos. • Framingham office supplier Staples Inc. In what HRC Foundation called the most rigorous assessment of LGBTQ-inclusive workplace prac- tices to date, a record of more than 680 companies have been designated a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the founda- tion for their efforts in satisfying all of the nonprofit's criteria, earn- ing them a 100% rating. In total, 1,059 companies and law firms were rated in the new survey, up from 1028 in last year's survey. The report ranked 122 Fortune 500 companies, which have yet to respond to an invitation to participate in the sur - vey assessing their LGBTQ poli- cies and practices. Five Central Mass. firms recognized for LGBTQ+ inclusiveness Hanover Insurance Group's Worcester headquarters