wbjournal.com | September 5, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 5
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Staff Writer
Timothy Doyle
tdoyle@wbjournal.com (Real estate,
higher education)
Contributors
Giselle Rivera-Flores, Laura Finaldi,
Monica Benevides, Alan Earls, Susan
Shalhoub, Livia Gershon
Photgraphers
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
Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weekly,
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and December by New England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury
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Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
T
wo years ago, the police
murder of George Floyd in
Minneapolis brought into
stark light the realities of
racial injustices to so many in
the Central Massachusetts business com-
munity. If you are white, you likely could
have remained blissfully ignorant of the
ways institutional racism has played out
in our society, until Floyd was choked to
death on a video for all to see. During the
initial stages of the racial reckoning fol-
lowing the release of that video, business-
es and nonprofits across our region put
out statements decrying the injustice and
pledging to do better to be more inclusive
of historically marginalized populations.
Now, in 2022, the priorities that
seemed so urgent then are no less urgent
now, although they are competing with
various other priorities that have popped
up, including labor shortages, supply
chain issues, and a possible recession.
Still, as WBJ Publisher Peter Stanton and
I said in a similar column two years ago,
the Central Mass. economy cannot truly
thrive until the most talented people, who
are distributed evenly across the popula-
tion, are given equal opportunities. WBJ's
coverage has been shaped by this value
since then, and we revisit the business
community's progress annually in this
Diversity & Inclusion issue.
In our cover story on page 27, Staff
Writer Timothy Doyle writes how the
Main South Business Association has
found solutions to unique problems faced
by businesses largely owned by people of
color and immigrants.
On page 10, correspondent Katherine
Hamilton revisits the City of Worcester's
issues in keeping a chief diversity officer
in that role. Now, Acting City Manager
Eric Batista is ready to publicize racial eq-
uity audits to hopefully identify the prob-
lem and lead to solutions. On page 14,
correspondent Gisele Rivera-Flores writes
how the Mass. CROWN Act seeks to wid-
en the standards for what is considered
professional workplace attire to include
more culturally diverse appearances.
On page 30, correspondent Livia
Gershon looks at two of the smaller
organizations who have developed ways
to get loans to businesses owned by en-
trepreneurs who've had difficulty getting
traditional bank financing. And on page
32, correspondent Laura Finaldi profiles
the expansion of Worcester nonprofit Af-
rican Community Education, as it strives
to improve the lives of immigrants from
Africa.
– Brad Kane, editor
e struggle for diversity continues
N E W S & A N A LY S I S
6 Central Mass. In Brief
8 Worcester 300 trivia
10 Focus on Diversity & Inclusion
19 Special Sponsored Section:
Corporate support for diversity &
inclusion
34 The List: Top minority-owned
businesses
35 Column: The Hustle is Real
36 Movers & Shakers
37 Opinion
38 Shop Talk: Akra Eatery, in Worcester
10 Rooting out racism
As Worcester prepares to publicize its racial
equity audits on Sept. 20, top leadership
hopes to improve structural support for
when a new chief diversity officer is hired.
37 What does a leader look like?
Viewpoint opinion columnist Julie
Bowditch, executive director of nonprofit
The CASA Project Worcester County, breaks
down the stereotypes that lead people to
believe organizations are default led by older
white men.
D E P A R T M E N T S
A division of:
A great city deserves
a great team.
To learn more or contact the team,
visit Rockland Trust.com/Worcester
Member FDIC
Whether it's working capital, fraud protection, or financial
planning – we've got your business covered.
I N T H I S I S S U E
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