Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 24, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 9 Construction Loans Business Lines of Credit Real Estate Loans . You go all out for You go all out for your business... your business... Does your bank do the same for you? See what Go Beyond Banking™ truly means for your business. . 978-365-3401 | clintonsavings.com We haven't pursued diversity-related culture changes In the past year, has your company made efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace culture? In the wake of George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer almost a year ago, and the ensuing protests across the nation calling for racial justice, several high profile Central Massachusetts employers – UMass Memorial Health, Hanover Insurance Group, Bank of America, Quinsigamond Community College, UMass Medical School, to name a few – vowed to create more diverse and inclusive cultures in their workplaces. When polled online, the majority of WBJ readers said their organizations haven't pursue any diversity & inclusion culture changes in the last year. COMMENTS Yes, they have already resulted in meaningful changes. 23% F L AS H P O L L 9% Yes, but I can't say it has produced any change to date. "We hire contributors and can- do attitudes, it has nothing to do with selection by race, gender or ethnic trends." Yes, although results are still preliminary. 16% No, we did not start any diversity initiatives at our organization 52% rate remained at just over 7%. e shoehorning of white wealth away into isolated pockets while the city's residents of color are le, oen to rent, in neighborhoods which are oen disproportionately low-income, has made the self-proclaimed Heart of the Commonwealth a place where inequality and relative lack of access to basic resources are as embedded into the city's culture as the neighborhoods themselves. Dubious success Ramon Borges-Mendez, an associate professor of community development and planning at Clark University in Worcester, said when considering the disparate homeownership rates and ethnic segregation in the city, it's important to keep in mind that Worcester is a city of immigrants and refugees. ese population groups move to the city at varying points in time and are integrating and setting down roots at different rates. "Not all of them come at the same time, so they all face distinct circumstances when they hit the ground running," Borges-Mendez said. "at's what we call differential insertion, or differential integration or assimilation." To put that piece of the puzzle into perspective, the April housing impediment report from the city indicated Worcester is the largest resettlement city in the state, home to 30% of all refugees in Massachusetts. Accordingly, Worcester Public Schools reports more than 90 languages are spoken by children in the school system. Still, Borges-Mendez said, what can't be le out are the myriad of challenges the immigrant and non- white communities face when it comes to housing, and with it, the goal of eventual homeownership. Among those challenges are limited access to affordable housing, an option which would allow families to save up for a down payment on a mortgage. "e City of Worcester, City Hall, doesn't have particularly a very aggressive policy regarding the development of affordable housing," Borges-Mendez said. He pointed to developments in the city's downtown, whose success he believes is dubious, and to the $160-million Polar Park public baseball stadium, which he said is increasing gentrification. Borges-Mendez, who lives downtown, gave himself as evidence, noting his monthly rent increased $400 this spring. He wondered who can shoulder such sudden inflations. "A lot of people are going to stay behind, especially in the poor neighborhoods of the city… Over time, these populations are going to have a Continued on Page 10

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