Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 13, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 7 Legalize sports betting A proposed project by businessman and thoroughbred breeder Armand Janjigian wants to bring horse racing to Central Massachusetts, if the state legalizes sports betting. The project, dubbed the Sturbridge Agricultural and Equestrian Center, would cost roughly $25 million and sit on 223 acres of land off Route 84 in Sturbridge. If built, it would be the second location in the state to watch horse racing, including Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, which hosts harness racing. When polled online, more than three out of four WBJ readers said sports betting should be legalized. F L AS H P O L L Should Massachusetts legalize sports betting? W B R I E FS Worcester philanthropist, manufacturer dies at 93 Jean McDonough, revered local philanthropist and one half of the duo that grew the Spencer adhesive coating manufacturer FLEXcon into a global name, died in her home Aug. 22 at the age of 93, according to her obituary. McDonough's husband, Myles, founded what would become FLEXcon in a Spencer garage in 1956. McDonough served on the board and as treasurer of FLEXcon beginning in 1960, and managed company investments from 1976 to 2005. Outside of her work with the company, McDonough was a very active member of the greater Worcester community, financially supporting the Worcester Art Museum, the Hanover eater, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Worcester Historical Museum. Primetals' Worcester facility sold for $12M A 248,768-square-foot industrial warehouse on Crescent Street in Worcester was sold for $12 million to New York real estate firm Criterion Group LLC, according to the Worcester County Registry of Deeds. With its sale closing Aug. 13, the property was sold by an LLC registered to East Coast Realty in Boston. Built in 1898, the warehouse previously housed Primetals Technologies before the UK-based company moved to Sutton as part of a $30-million project finished in 2020. UMass COVID expert, Dr. Robert Finberg, dies at 71 Dr. Robert Finberg, distinguished professor of medicine and chair emeritus of the Department of Medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester, died unexpectedly on Aug. 30 at the age of 71, the school announced. Finberg's storied career in medicine included most recently serving as a leader to the medical community and state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He served as the principal investigator on more than a half- dozen COVID-19 clinical trials, including those related to the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and remdesivir, the school said in its announcement. His response to the pandemic included serving on Gov. Charlie Baker's COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. Finberg first began working with UMass Medical School in 1999. WPI picks former Ghana ambassador as first statesman in residence Worcester Polytechnic Institute named Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, a former ambassador of Ghana to the United States, as the university's first distinguished statesman in residence during an Aug. 24 announcement. Previously, Adjei-Barwuah served as Ghana's ambassador to Japan from 2002 to 2008, before being appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo as ambassador to the United States in 2017. During his role as distinguished statesman in residence at WPI, Adjei- Barwuah will engage with students in the social sciences, interact with the Institute of Science and Technology for Development, and partner with the Division of University Advancement to enhance the provost's Global Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Former Bridge center slated to be 63 homes A Boston developer submitted plans to the Worcester Planning Board to remodel 111,000 square feet of former industrial buildings on Lagrange Street into 63 apartment units. e proposal includes seven parcels on Lagrange Street and Oread Street in Main South, and was considered at the Planning Board's Sept. 8 meeting. All 63 units will be affordable, according to the application submitted by Jon Rudzinski, the president of Rees- Larkin Development, LLC. UMass acquires $24M former Beaumont home Mass Memorial Health on Aug. 23 announced the acquisition of the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center at 378 Plantation St. in Worcester, which cost $23.5 million. e Worcester health group's expansion is part of a larger plan that existed before the coronavirus pandemic to add 200 medical-surgical beds on UMass Memorial Center's University campus. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah T H E T I C K E R 1968 Year the Corner Lunch Diner moved to Worcester. The diner property was sold Aug. 30 to the owner of the former Joshua's Deli in Boston and will reopen as Marvin's Corner Lunch Diner. Source: Worcester County Registry of Deeds, Marvin's Corner 3 Source: Cresco Labs Central Mass. cannabis dispensaries Chicago- based Cresco Labs acquired when it bought out Cultivate on Sept. 3 The Greater Worcester unemployment rate for July, 0.3 percentage points higher than June. 6% Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics The sale price for the property housing senior assisted living facility Cornerstone at Milford, which sold on Aug. 10. $18.9M Source: Worcester County Registry of Deeds "If it's legal, the state gets revenue. If it's not, some other state will. This is pretty simple." Yes 77% No 23% COMMENTS:

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