Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 21, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 5 B R I E FS Chef Rick Araujo Continued on Page 6 Intelligent BUSINESS Solutions Start at IC! Info: Call 978.353.1331 or email businessbanking@iccreditunion.com Federally Insured by NCUA Like, Friend or Follow Us From small to large, and anything in between… We've got you covered. OPERATIONS for equipment or other purchases FLEXIBILITY for a line of credit for cash flow EXPANSION for commercial real estate T H E T I C K E R $40,000 Total town grants and state tax credits received by two new downtown Webster businesses – Mike's Crunchies & Munchies and Wine Studio 51 – as the town seeks to revitalize its Main Street corridor. Source: Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council November 2022 Source: State House News Service Date proposed millionaire's tax will appear as a Massachusetts ballot initiative, which would place a surtax of 4% on annual household income over $1 million Electric generation capacity of a proposed $6-million, 2.6-acre carport solar array for the parking lot of the Worcester Business Center 2 megawatts Source: Worcester Business Center Location of the new Hudson branch of the $1.9-billion Avidia bank, which opened on June 7 221 Washington St. Source: Avidia Bank New music venue, restaurant slated to open next to the Palladium A downtown restaurant facility owned by Cliff Rucker, owner of the Worcester Railers HC hockey team, announced plans to open a new music venue and restaurant at a property he owns at 90 Commercial St. in Worcester, adjacent to e Worcester Palladium. e restaurant and venue dubbed Off the Rails will feature live music seven days a week on a two-person stage, as well as two additional venue spaces set to accommodate up to 500 and 10,000 guests, respectively. In contrast to e Palladium, which is a mainstay for rock, alternative rock and rap, Off the Rails will broadly focus on country music, according to Monday's announcement. Rucker purchased a 25% stake in the Palladium in 2017, part of several properties he purchased in downtown Worcester around the DCU Center, including the restaurant space at 90 Commercial St. Off the Rails will boast a 500-person music hall, as well as an outdoor concert space to hold up to 10,000. is is the third iteration of restaurants in the space since Rucker purchased the facility in 2016; first, it was the hockey-themed Railers Sports Tavern, and then the new location of the cocktail bar Still & Stir. At the same time, Off the Rails restaurant will be a southern-influenced locale led by executive chef Rick Araujo, recently of Civic Food and Drink in Westborough. Restaurant renovations are already underway, with a planned opening for July 17. Construction on the music ven- ue portion of the business is set for later this month, with a projected completion of December. Medical device maker building $41M expansion in Devens Medical device contract manufacturer SMC Ltd., headquartered in Wisconsin, plans to double the size of its presence in Devens, with a 207,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse facility expansion. e company is investing $41.2 mil- lion in the expansion and creating 100 new jobs, according to the Massachu- setts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council, which approved a five-year. $790,738 tax break on the project. e project and the tax break, which will come in the form of reduced property tax bills from Devens, will help SMC retain an additional 400 jobs, according to the company. During the coronavirus pandemic switched its operations to manufacture diagnostic test kits, respirator compo- nents, vaccine delivery components and face shields. e $41-million expansion marks the largest real estate investment in the company's history, according to SMC. SMC already operates a Devens facility at 18 Independence Drive. e project was one of eight approved for participating in the Economic De- velopment Incentive Program, per the announcement. e Medway consulting firm Business Development Strategies helped Cata- nia-Spagna apply for the TIF agreement, as well as go through the approval process. QCC building $25M advanced manufacturing center Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester has received $150,000 and a $25-million state bond investment to renovate and create a new advanced manufacturing and robotics center, the school announced. e funding will pay for upgrading and expanding QCC's athletic center to showcase advanced manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and hos- pitality programming, per the school. Dubbed the I3Q Center, it will pro- vide training for a number of disciplines, including robotics/advanced manu- facturing, artificial intelligence, drone training, mobile app development, e-gaming testing, website development,

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