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wbjournal.com | February 22, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com News Editor, Grant Welker, gwelker@wbjournal.com (Higher education, health care, real estate) Staff Writer, Monica Busch, mbusch@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, equality & inclusion) Editorial Intern Aliya Larkin, alarkin@wbjournal.com 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 COO, Mary Rogers, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Account Receivable Specialist, Patty Harris, pharris@nebusinessmedia.com Human Resources, Jill Coran, jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com Director of Audience Development, Valerie Clark, vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Operations Assistant, Leah Allen, lallen@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com President, Tom Curtin tcurtin@hartfordbusinessjournal.com 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 2021. 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 $60.00. 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 Worcester Business Journal WBJ T he official Focus section of this edition is banking & finance, which is why you'll read starting on page 14 about how the personal savings rate and Worcester County housing prices have soared during the coronavirus pan- demic, and what that means for the future. e unofficial theme of this edition, though, could easily be entrepreneurs. As we are starting to see, the crises from the last year have created holes in the economy, as well as talented professionals motivated to help solve those problems. Entrepreneurialism is always part of a robust economy and has been part of the Central Mass. business community for centuries, but the rough transition since the coronavirus pandemic began in March created a different need for new ventures. e entrepreneur featured on the cover of this edition is Dominique Price, who took the increased awareness of racial injustice created in the wake of George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police to start a new business centered around Black history and culture. Price is being helped by a newcomer to the Central Mass. innovation ecosystem, the nonprofit Entrepreneurship for All from Lowell, which helps professionals from underrep- resented populations. In that same story on page 11, WBJ Staff Writer Monica Busch details the entrepreneurial efforts of Clark University senior Gari De Ramos to educate people on racial injustice. In her monthly column on page 22, Re- nee Diaz, owner of e Queen's Cups bak- ery, writes about how she was inspired to launch her second business, aer hearing a podcast by two high-profile entrepre- neurs discussing the current crisis. is business, Diazsta, specifically caters to the coronavirus-created need for gatherings and celebrations to be small and intimate. Finally, in my regular Shop Talk inter- view with a local business leader on page 26, I talk with Ethan Lutz, another Clark University senior, about how he was inspired during his time as an emergen- cy medical technician in Queens, N.Y., to launch a business to give healthcare workers a clean place to store personal protective equipment. Lutz plans to use the funds from this business to lobby for grocery store workers who are impacted I N T H I S I S S U E by the transition to automated equipment. Entrepreneurs are an inspiring bunch. ey are important to injecting fresh ideas into our economy and finding creative solutions to solving problems. – Brad Kane, editor e one with the entrepreneurs N E W S & A N A LY S I S 4 Central Mass. In Brief 14 Focus on Banking & finance 21 The List: Top banks 22 Column: The Hustle is Real 23 Know How 24 Movers & Shakers 25 Opinion 26 Shop Talk: Penny Wise PPE Protection 17 Only going higher The 2020 spike in Central Massachusetts home prices was unprecedented, with the demand in 2021 likely to keep the trend going. 23 101: Maintaining culture The spike in working from home has made it more difficult for companies to maintain their office culture. Advice columnist Susan Shalhoub offers three solutions for businesses to stay on track, remotely. D E P A R T M E N T S A division of: W *Insurance products available through Workers Insurance Agency, a non-credit union subsidiary of Workers Credit union are: not NCUA or otherwise federally insured; are not obligations of the credit union; are not guaranteed by the credit union; involve investment risk; and may lose value. Contact Gicelle Brito 978-855-5074 or gbrito@wcu.com wcu.com/business-banking SBA Participating Lender offering 7A, 504 and Express loans Our experienced business team will guide you to the checking, savings, loan and insurance* options that will help your business thrive. MAKE THE SWITCH TODAY! PARTNER WITH SUCCESS. CORRECTION: The story "Work & family" from the Feb. 8, 2021 edition of WBJ contained an incorrect chart saying the total compensation for Tracy Barlok, vice president of advancement at the College of the Holy Cross, is $866,053. The correct amount is $421,483.