Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal • 2 023 Economic Forecast 3 help your business succeed. Next year will bring plenty of ups and downs, and we'll be here to report on them for you. It'll be an adventure. – Brad Kane, editor A t the end of 2019, no one could have predicted what the following year would bring: a worldwide pandemic, an eco- nomic shutdown, the highest unemploy- ment since the Great Depression, massive government intervention, empty offices, and the start of a recovery. Instead, nearly all prognosticators at the end of 2019 would have done what we all do: mix in a lot of your own historic experience, a little bit of what the most recent trends are, and a dash of your own optimism or pessimism, all to arrive at your own personal outlook for the com- ing year. Even though 2020 was an outlier, this formula tends to have limited success at best, which was what 2021 and 2022 brought us. So, here we are at the end of 2022, with WBJ's annual Economic Forecast issue. Every year, we tap our readers' knowledge and feelings about the coming year and combine them with our own market expertise from having reported on the Central Massachusetts economy to provide you with what we believe will be the major industry trends and news in the coming year. e WBJ Editorial staff doesn't foresee another worldwide pandemic hitting in 2023 or a similar large-scale economic disruption. Instead, next year will be a continuation of much of the last two years: the still-in-demand real estate market will begin to slow, manufacturers will find new ways to make money, diversity & inclu- sion efforts will continue their slow but steady progress, clean energy efforts will benefit from government backing, and the strained healthcare system will show further signs of wear. Each year brings its own unexpected surprises, even if they don't rise to the level of COVID-19. Regardless of their size, surprises are nearly impossible to predict, but they can be prepared for. Knowing the economy may slow down, a new busi- ness opportunity may present itself, your key staff members may turn over, or the marketplace will suddenly become more competitive will help you position your organization for success in the future. at, of course, is the overarching goal of WBJ's editorial content: to provide you with the market intelligence necessary to Our annual look forward W I N T H I S I S S U E TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 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. 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 $84.00. For more information, please email circulation@wbjournal.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. 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: Major trends for key industries in 2022 • Real estate .................................................................. 18 • Manufacturing ............................................................. 20 • Higher education ......................................................... 24 • Diversity, equity & inclusion ....................................... 26 • Health care .................................................................. 28 • Energy & environment ................................................ 30 • Housing ....................................................................... 32 Economic Forecast survey: WBJ readers look ahead to 2023 ........................................ 5-7 List toppers from 2022 ........................................................ 8 A year of Worcester trivia ............................................. 10-13 WBJ and the Worcester Historical Museum partnered to run a year-long trivia contest in honor of Worcester's tercentennial. Try to answer all 20 questions from throughout the year, and meet the winners of the contest. WBJ Editorial Staff's predictions for 2023 ....................... 15 Looking back at WBJ's 2022 predictions, we didn't even get half of them right. .................................................................16

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