wbjournal.com | November 28, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 3
N
othing ever stays the same,
and that's usually a good
thing. Change fuels people's
drive to succeed, to right
the wrongs of the past, and
be better than they were yesterday. As
much as businesses and industry crave
consistency, change is an important part of
the economy. It fuels innovation, compe-
tition, and adaptation. Companies able to
stay one step ahead of the market tend to
be the most successful.
Change fuels the stories in this edition
of WBJ. e most obvious change is the
soon-to-be new leader at one of the two
most prestigious colleges in Central Mass.
"Grace" Jinliu Wang took a break from her
busy schedule at e Ohio State University
– literally pausing in the middle of a board
meeting – to talk with Staff Writer Tim-
othy Doyle about her appointment as the
next president at Worcester Polytechnic
Institute. Her drive appears to make her
particularly well-suited for WPI's unique
style of learning, as Doyle points out in his
"e next president" story on page 10.
On page 8, the purchase by the music
mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs of three Cen-
tral Mass. cannabis businesses exemplifies
how the legal marijuana industry is trend-
ing even more toward wealthy investors
and large corporations, as small-scale en-
trepreneurs struggle to navigate the heavily
regulated sector, as WBJ correspondent
Laura Finaldi explores in her "Skipping
costly cannabis regulations" story.
e biggest change in Worcester in the
last decade has been the development
of the $160-million Polar Park stadium,
which city officials used to woo the minor
league Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester.
Staff Writer Kevin Koczwara updates the
progress to have the stadium pay for itself
through increased tax collections from
surrounding developments in his "Paying
Polar Park's debt" story on page 12.
Inside of the broader national effort
by small businesses and large retailers to
change how much credit card companies
can charge in fees to businesses, Koczwara
looks at a statewide initiative by the Mas-
sachusetts Restaurant Association to allow
companies to pass on the cost of those
credit card fees directly onto consumers,
in the form of a surcharge. He details those
complexities in his "Passing costs onto
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Staff Writers
Timothy Doyle
tdoyle@wbjournal.com (Real estate,
higher education)
Kevin Koczwara
kkoczwara@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing, energy & environment))
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
Senior Account Executive
Yasmin Nasrullah,
Ynasrullah@wbjournal.com
Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Human Resources Manager, Tracy
Rodwill,
trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Manager, Sara Ward,
sward@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers,
rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Account Receivable Specialist,
Patty Harris, pharris@
nebusinessmedia.com
Audience Development Manager,
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.
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changes to: Worcester Business Journal,
PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894.
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WBJ
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e only constant is change
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Small
business
owners
I N T H I S I S S U E
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5
Worcester 300 trivia
12 Focus on Law & accounting
16 The List: Top law firms
17 The List: Top accounting firms
19 Know How
20 Movers & Shakers
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Sena's Barbershop
14 Passing costs onto customers
The Mass. Restaurant Association wants the
state to allow businesses to charge
customers an extra fee for using credit
cards.
18 Our silence is deafening
Outside the Box advice columnist Bonnie J.
Walker writes about the importance of
standing up to acts of racism, both large
and small, in order to prevent its societal
spread.
customers" story on page 14.
Change never stops. It's not always for
the better, but the ability to understand
and navigate change will make you more
successful than most.
- Brad Kane, editor
CORRECTION: A chart entitled "Central Massachusetts
communities with the most population loss" had incorrect
population figures for Hudson. Hudson's population was
20,053 in 2020 and 19,790 in 2021.
W
