Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | January 11, 2021 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F Worcester County small businesses revenue dropped 46% in 2020 V E R BAT I M Pandemic expansion "It's an interesting time to be doubling down and betting on your business, but it's just such a natural extension for us to do it." David Fields, Wormtown Brewery managing partner, on the company's 8,000-square-foot expansion of its Worcester taproom and production area Trusted partner "We want to be their service provider and their trusted adviser." Kimberley Ingalls, Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership center director in Worcester, discussing how the organization works with area manufacturers Healthcare reform "In the midst of all the other difficult and tragic and terrible news around health care in 2020, this is actually a really positive story for patients and practitioners." Gov. Charlie Baker, commenting on a healthcare bill, which requires insurance companies to cover telehealth visits the same as in-person care S mall businesses in Worcester County were pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic like their counterparts virtually everywhere. New data shows their business is likely to end the year down almost half from where they started. Small-business revenue has plummeted by 46% from January through Dec. 9, according to Opportunity Insights, an economic activity tracker run by a consortium that includes Harvard University in Cambridge and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. at's an improvement from the lowest point, on April 1 when business was down 58%, but business has been roughly flat since the initial spike in cases dropped in May. Worcester County businesses aren't alone in their struggles. Counterparts in Middlesex and Essex counties, which make up the Boston area's western and northern suburbs, revenue is down nearly the same level. It's even higher in Suffolk County, which includes Boston proper and where revenue is down 61% for the year. Opportunity Insights' other vital signs are similarly bleak. Almost 37% of Worcester County small businesses remain closed compared to the start of the year. e data doesn't distinguish between those that have closed permanently or temporarily. At the lowest point, in mid-April, half of Worcester County small businesses were closed. BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Larger firms have generally fared better during the pandemic, and they likely help account for how employment data is more encouraging. Opportunity Insights counts employment as down 2% from the start of the year in Worcester County. at's a slightly different accounting than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose data shows employment in Greater Worcester, which includes Worcester County and Connecticut's Windham County, as down 6.7% from January to October. Large corporations thrive Eight of the 10 largest public companies in Central Massachusetts by market size are on track to end the year at a better stock price position than when the year began. e biggest public companies in Central Massachusetts largely warned of potential trouble during the pandemic early on, but most ended up with better years than might have been expected at the time. Ameresco, a Framingham firm that makes energy and efficiency systems, was the best performing of the area's largest companies, with its stock more than tripling from a low point in March and more than doubling for the year. e company continued signing new energy systems worldwide during the year, and in November, the company said its quarterly revenue rose by a third compared to a year prior to surpass $282 million. BJ's Wholesale Club's stock peaked in August, roughly doubling from late February. e retail wholesaler was a beneficiary of the pandemic when it came to customers needing to stock up on groceries and other goods at home. In November, BJ's reported a nearly 16% year-to-year revenue increase, hitting more than $3.7 billion. Two of the area's largest companies didn't see their stock increase during the year: the Marlborough medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific and Worcester's Hanover Insurance Group. W A Rollstone Bank & Trust and Ninety-Nine restaurant in Worcester closed within weeks of each other this fall. The adjacent Starbucks' drive-through line often snakes around the building.

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