wbjournal.com | January 10, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Senior Staff Writer,
Monica Benevides,
mbenevides@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing, diversity & inclusion)
Staff Writers
Katherine Hamilton
khamilton@wbjournal.com
(Real estate, higher education)
Sloane M. Perron
perron@wbjournal.com
(Banking & finance, health care)
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon
Photgraphers
Matt Wright, Edd Cote
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.
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Worcester Business Journal
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Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
B
efore I was hired to be WBJ's edi-
tor back in 2015, my family and I
were renting in Springfield, from
which I was commuting to work
at Hartford Business Journal. At the time,
my wife Sarah and I were already looking
in the communities outside Springfield to
buy a house, hoping to settle our family
down for the long term.
When WBJ offered me the editor
position, I was a little bit surprised, and
we didn't quite know how to adjust our life
plans. While Sarah and I flirted with the
idea of relocating to Worcester, we decided
to simply move further east but stay
near Springfield, to still be near our kids'
friends, therapists, and support system. We
ended up buying into Wilbraham, which is
well outside Central Massachusetts.
is turned out to be a huge mistake be-
cause 1) once we moved our children out
of their school district, we might as well
have moved them 20 towns away, and 2)
while we could have afforded an appropri-
ate Worcester home in 2015, the market is
out of reach for us in 2022.
WBJ pays me a good salary, but it is
basically the only source of income for our
family, which includes five children and
three dogs, all of whom need their own
space. Whenever Sarah and I discuss mov-
ing, we search for homes with at least five
bedrooms. Mass. has very few affordable
homes fitting that bill, and seemingly none
of them are in Greater Worcester. Notably,
in pre-COVID 2020, we made a full-faith
effort to move into the region, but it turns
out the only options were an historic home
at the busiest intersection in Hubbardston
or a rundown house with a lot of garbage
in the yard in Southbridge. Worcester
was out of the question, and even the few
options in Leominster weren't doable.
It's such a shame, too, because I've fallen
in love with Worcester. e businesses, the
culture, the people make me feel like this
is right where I need to be. Sarah and I
would love to build our lives here.
On page 8 of this edition, you'll find
Katherine Hamilton's story "Luxury" on
how developers in Worcester are catering
to the higher-income Boston crowd, which
is pushing lower-income residents into
unaffordable positions, oen forcing them
to move places like Southbridge, Webster,
and Spencer. I've never been priced out
of my home, but I can certainly empathize.
ere's much to like about all the outside
investment pouring into Worcester over the
last several years, but at some point that will
have to reckon with what we are losing, too.
– Brad Kane, editor
I wish we could live in Worcester
N E W S & A N A LY S I S
4 Central Mass.
In Brief
12
Focus on Best of
Business awards
32 The List: Largest labor unions
33 Know How
34 Movers & Shakers
36 Photo Finish
37 Opinion
38 Shop Talk: Saint Vincent Hospital
8 Luxury
Worcester's rental market is catering to a
high-income tenant, which could be bad
news for local workers.
33 The next frontier of employee
benefits
Advice columnist Peter Rice from
Workers Credit Union says employers
should consider offering financial wellness
coaching, to ease workers' stress.
D E P A R T M E N T S
A division of:
W
I N T H I S I S S U E
