wbjournal.com | June 27, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 3
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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 2022. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address
changes to: Worcester Business Journal,
PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894.
Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $72.00. For more
information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com or contact our
circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478
Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at
508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860.
Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited
manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to
the sender.
Worcester Business Journal
172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604
508-755-8004 tel.
• 508-755-8860 fax
www.wbjournal.com
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
A division of:
I N T H I S I S S U E
A
t the heart of any local
economy is the real estate
industry. For business
journals across the country,
the commercial real estate
beat is one of the main beats, if not the
core one. is is 100% true for WBJ.
More than just the sales, leases, and
rising and falling property values – which
are all important – understanding the
real estate market is vital to know what
businesses are coming and going in the
region, who is expanding, who is selling,
and what industries are driving developers'
interests. If you know what is going on in
real estate, you have your finger on the
pulse of the economy.
An extension of the real estate beat is
development, which includes architecture
and construction. ese two topics make
up the focus section of this edition of WBJ.
And, oh boy, was there plenty to write
about on those topics.
In its effort to completely corner the
online retail market by building large
distribution centers seemingly everywhere,
Amazon has apparently used up all
the steel in the world. Okay, this is an
exaggeration, but not a huge one. e
cost of construction materials remains
high and volatile, forcing construction
contractors to get creative in their choice
of materials. WBJ correspondent Susan
Shalhoub explores this issue in her "Rising
cost of construction" story on page 10.
Over on page 12, Staff Writer Alexander
MacDougall dives into the question
plaguing most Central Massachusetts
communities: What do you do about
the older buildings nearing the end of
their useful life, but still provide cultural
character to the community? MacDougall's
"Preserving the past while building for the
future" story focuses largely on the early
efforts to save and maintain Worcester's
Mechanics Hall.
Speaking of cultural legacies, Central
Massachusetts architects are important
keepers of the designs built up over time
in the region's communities, but they add
their own input to that cultural collage
every time they design a new development.
WBJ correspondent Laura Finaldi sat
down with three prominent firms to
discuss that awesome responsibility for her
"Central Massachusetts' new architectural
legacy" story on page 14.
Rounding up the focus on architecture
and construction is correspondent Alan
R. Earls' examination of the benefits and
drawbacks of inclusionary zoning as a way
to increase affordable housing. His "Wanted:
more homes and greater affordability" story
is on page 16.
- Brad Kane, editor
e foundation of business journals
W
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Senior Staff Writer,
Monica Benevides,
mbenevides@wbjournal.com
(Health care, diversity & inclusion)
Staff Writers
Timothy Doyle
tdoyle@wbjournal.com
(Real estate, higher education)
Alexander MacDougall
amacdougall@wbjournal.com
(Health care, diversity & inclusion)
Editorial Interns
Sadie Leite
sleite@wbjournal.com
Ellie Lester
elester@wbjournal.com
Contributors
Giselle Rivera-Flores, Ramon L.
Sandoval, Susan Shalhoub
Photographers
Matt Wright, Edd Cote
Research Director,
Stephanie Meagher,
smeagher@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
Accountant, Sarah Ward,
sward@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
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
8 Dean's dual leadership
In replacing its long-time president, Dean
College chose a man with a history in higher
education and Worcester's former city
manager.
23 10 Things I know about …
Emerging stronger from a
recession
Advice columnist Ryan Kittredge details
ways business owners and executives can
set their businesses up for success in an
economic slowdown.
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5
Worcester 300 trivia
7 Column: Worcester Homecoming
10 Focus on Architecture & construction
19 The List: Top architectural firms
21 The List: Top commercial contractors
22 Column: The Hustle is Real
23 Know How
24 Movers & Shakers
25 Opinion
26 Shop Talk: Earth & Aerial Yoga
