Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 5, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 7 Worcester pub & restaurant to close after 52 years Family-owned Suney's Pub and Family Restaurant is closing aer 52 years in business, the owners announced in a Facebook post on Aug. 18. e Chandler Street establishment in Worcester was well-known for its fish and chips, a staple among religious communities who don't eat meat on Fridays during lent or year-round. Suney Kachadoorian, who died in 2001, opened the pub in 1970. He was a deacon at e Armenian Church of Our Saviour in Worcester. e pub has been managed most recently by Suney's son, Dan Kachadoorian. "Aer 52 years in business, our family has decided to close Suney's Pub. If you worked for us over the years, thank you. Your dedication to our family and customers is unmatched. If you have been a customer over those years, we cannot express our gratitude for you," the Kachadoorians wrote in the Facebook post. e property was sold for $1.25 million by Chandler Mason Realty Trust, with Dan Kachadoorian as trustee to Daniel Yarnie in a deal that closed on Aug. 18, according to the Worcester District Registry of Deeds. As of Aug. 19, Google listed Suney's as permanently closed. Rockland Trust tabs Eastern Bank executive as new chief risk officer Rockland Trust Co. has chosen Dawn Mugford as its chief risk officer, replacing Edward Seksay who will remain as general counsel of Rockland Trust and parent company Independent Bank Corp. and as president and board chair of Rockland Trust's affiliated charitable foundations. Mugford most recently served as senior vice president Our business doesn't increase when college students return Central Massachusetts is home to 15 colleges and universities, who are constantly making high-profile moves. Just in the last two weeks of August, UMass Chan Medical School held a topping off ceremony for a $325-million research building and announced a separate plan to open a Burlington campus; Worcester Polytechnic Institute received $350,000 from the U.S. Navy for underwater drone research and separately rebranded its Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education to reflect its new approach to diversity; and Framingham State University launched a new robotic food delivery program for students. When polled online, the majority of WBJ readers said their businesses don't see an uptick in business when colleges' students return to school. F L AS H P O L L Do you notice an increase in your company's business when students return to Central Massachusetts colleges in the fall? B R I E FS Gannett layoffs hit smaller Central Mass. newsrooms, MetroWest Daily Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain and owner of Worcester's Telegram & Gazette, Framingham's MetroWest Daily News as well as several other local papers, has laid off personnel across its publishing empire, including at multiple Central Massachusetts publications. Gannett announced it would perform the layoffs aer a $54-million loss in second quarter financials. e layoffs began to hit newsrooms across the country on Aug. 12. e Gannett corporate office told WBJ in a Aug. 17 email that e Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the MetroWest Daily News, the Milford Daily News, and the Leominster Champion newsrooms were not impacted by the layoffs. However, WBJ found on Aug. 18 that MetroWest Daily News in Framingham lost a four-year sports reporter to layoffs. "A sports reporter was indeed impacted, and we regret that we shared inaccurate information," wrote Gannett. Gannett's smaller publications in Central Massachusetts were hit with personnel losses as well. Kristen Payson, editor of e Landmark in Holden, told WBJ via email on Aug. 17 she was laid off and her last day would be Sept. 14 with the last issue of the paper to be published Sept. 15. Payson does not know whether e Landmark will continue digital operations, but speculated not. e Landmark covers Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland and Sterling. Jan Gottesman, editor of e Item in Clinton, indicated in an Aug. 12 Facebook post that her position had been eliminated. e publication itself, though, still appears to be in operation, as a post to the publication's Facebook page indicates the editorial content will be handled by the Telegram & Gazette newsroom . e Item covers Berlin, Boylston, Clinton, Lancaster, and Sterling. Baystate Parent Magazine in Millbury will shut down, according to a Aug. 15 column posted to the magazine's website by its editor, Amanda Collins Bernier. e post indicates Collins Bernier has been laid off. Maureen Sullivan, the editor of both e Graon News and Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, has been laid off, according to a Aug. 12 post on Millbury-Sutton Chronicle's Facebook page. Gannett has more than 250 publications across the country. e Poynter Institute in Florida reported at least 50 layoffs in at least 42 newsrooms. Suney's Pub T H E T I C K E R 85,000 Square feet in the new Costa Rica facility purchased by Franklin life sciences firm Tegra Medical, which is planning an expansion Source: Tegra Medical $3.3M Source: Worcester District Registry of Deeds Sale price of The Quabbin Retreat medical facility in Petersham, which was sold by Heywood Healthcare of Gardner to property manager Waterstone Properties Group, Inc. of Needham Unemployment rates in July for Greater Worcester and the Leominster-Gardner area, down more than 2 percentage points each from July 2021 3.7% & 4.1% Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics New stores Marlborough discount retailer BJ's Wholesale Club plans to open worldwide by the end of fiscal 2022 11 Source: BJ's Wholesale Club Yes 41% No 59% Dawn Mugford Continued on page 8

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