Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 13, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 5 115 Starbucks stores in 26 states have won union elections, and 282 stores in 38 states have filed to unionize, according to More Perfect Union, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. Wall Street firm gives highest-possible rating to Town of Hopkinton e Town of Hopkinton said it has maintained its AAA bond rating from S&P Global Ratings. e credit rating agency affirmed the MetroWest town's AAA bond rating, the highest level of creditworthiness a municipality can achieve, according to a press release from the town sent out May 27. While the rating mostly relates to borrowing, it means Wall Street generally approves of how Hopkinton operates its town government and manages its finances. With the rating, Hopkinton will be able to borrow money at the lowest commercial interest rates possible. e rating has been retained for an issue of $4.9 million in long-term bonds, and $5.3 million in short-term bond anticipation notes planned for June 2022. ose borrowings will support nine capital projects, including work on public schools, the Main Street corridor, and the purchase of a new combination ladder and pumper truck for the town's fire department. e projects were approved by voters at Hopkinton town meetings, according to the press release. TJX divestment of Russia- retail chain cost $218M Framingham-based TJX Cos. announced in its first quarterly report for the fiscal year the full cost of its divestment from Familia, a Luxembourg- based retailer with considerable operations in Russia. e company had acquired a minority ownership stake of the company in the 2020 fiscal year, according to TJX's filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. e company said the divestment was in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. According to TJX's quarterly report, the divestment cost the company $218 million, or around $0.19 a share. "Given the lack of an active market or observable inputs, the Company derived an exit price which indicated that this investment had no market value," the report reads. "e Company recorded a $218 million charge in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 which represents the entirety of its investment." In addition to its retail operations in the United States, TJX also has operations in Europe, where stores operate under the TK Maxx brand. e sale also resulted in a higher income tax rate for TJX, which was W BJ has partnered with the Worcester Historical Museum to run a year-long trivia contest in celebration of the 300th anniversary of Worcester's founding on June 14, 1722. Readers should email their answer to the question below by June 23 to bkane@wbjournal.com or visit the trivia page on WBJoural.com to compete for a special year-end prize package. Sponsored by Worcester 300 trivia contest | part 11 And the answer to last edition's question: The device invented and patented in 1913 by the Hamblin & Russell Manufacturing Co. was used to slice bread. Typewriter Worcester innovator Charles urber received a U.S. patent for his typewriter in 1843. Meant to offer ease for both people with some disabilities as well as those struggling to read public documents, urber's typewriter is one of the major innovations leading to the modern-day typewriter, and later the computer keyboard. Although urber received a patent for the machine, it was never manufactured in quantity. T H E T I C K E R 111 Apartments at the proposed complex The Kiln, slated to open in the fall in Worcester's Greendale neighborhood, from Worcester developer GoVenture Capital Group, LLC Source: GoVenture Capital Group, LLC $855,474 Source: Massachusetts Attorney General's Office Drop in the value of the stock price of Oxford laser manufacturer IPG Photonics, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. IPG was downgraded from the S&P 500. 23% $200,000 Source: The Nativity School Amount stolen from the Town of Uxbridge by its former accountant Justin Cole, who used the money to pay for business expenses for his Bay State Municipal Accounting Group Amount donated for a scholarship to the private Nativity School in Worcester by the California foundation run by the family of Worcester native and businessman J.D. Power III n Trivia question: e only known full-scale example of urber's typewriter (pictured here) survives in the collections of Worcester Historical Museum, but a patented model is housed at what national museum institution? Source: S&P Global Ratings The only known full-scale example of Thurber's typewriter PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM Worcester trivia leaderboard 1. Mary Camosse - 3 2. Allison Chisolm - 1 3. Marlene Perno - 1 3. Virginia Bankert - 1 3. 24 others tied - 1 31.1% for the quarter, a 5% from last year's Q1. It was previously announced that TJX executives Doug Mizzi and Scott Goldenberg had resigned from the board of Familia. With the divestment, TJX joins a litany of other companies that have divested or shuttered operations in Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. A notable exception is fellow Massachusetts-company IPG Photonics, which continues to have considerable operations in Russia. MIT spinoff to expand in Milford at former Stop & Shop property Ambri, an MIT-spinoff manufacturing company headquartered in Marlborough, is planning to expand into Milford with the construction of a 140,000-square- foot facility. Ambri leased a 140,000-square-foot space at 196 East Main St. in Milford, which it will redevelop into flex and manufacturing space, according to a June 1 press release from Lincoln Property Co., a Texas-based firm with Boston offices. LPC brokered the lease. Ambri specializes in renewable Continued on page 6

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