wbjournal.com | September 18, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 3
kicks off this edition's Focus on Architec-
ture & Construction in her "Changing with
the climate" story, about how designers are
strengthening building's sustainability and
resiliency.
- Brad Kane, editor
A
s I'm sure we all vividly re-
member from March 2020,
the economic and social
impact of the initial reaction
to the COVID pandemic
was swi and unforgiving. One day we
were monitoring the spread of a disease
in far-off Asia, and the next day local
businesses were shuttering and everyone
was hoarding supplies.
So when I heard in late August that
UMass Memorial Health in Worcester
was reinstating its mask mandate in
response to rising COVID cases, I imme-
diately got those March 2020 vibes again.
Of course, that feeling quickly passed,
as this is not 2020. Back then, we were
all responding to a big scary unknown,
without clear guidance or leadership on
how to react. Today, we have vaccines,
measured response plans, and three years
of experience living with the pandemic.
e great economic fallout won't happen.
As Staff Writer Isabel Tehan points
out in her "Watching COVID closely"
story on page 8, the rise in coronavirus
cases is more of a swell, than a surge. Yes,
cases are nearly quadrupled from June
2021, but they are still a small fraction
of the peaks set in January 2022 and
January 2023. Plus, hospitalizations and
COVID-related deaths are far below
emergency levels. We do still need to
keep an eye on all things COVID, but we
all know how to react and live with the
coronavirus now.
Elsewhere in this issue, Staff Writer
Timothy Doyle offers the next installment
in his unofficial and unlabeled series
on Fitchburg. A Worcester native and
resident through and through, Doyle
has made it a point to visit many of the
communities surrounding Worcester and
found lots to write about in Fitchburg, in-
cluding stories on arts and culture, game
design, and in his "Making connections"
article on page 14, a story about a startup
seeking to disrupt the internet industry.
Over on page 6, Tehan sits down with
Jessica Sassi, the new leader of the New
England Center for Children. In the
"Taking the reins" story, Sassi talks about
taking over as CEO of a large autism-fo-
cused nonprofit that has only had one
other leader in the past 48 years. On page
10, WBJ Correspondent Emily Micucci
is is not 2020
I N T H I S I S S U E
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A division of:
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Staff Writers
Timothy Doyle
tdoyle@wbjournal.com (Real estate,
higher education)
Isabel Tehan, itehan@wbjournal.com
(Health care, diversity & inclusion)
Contributors
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Shalhoub, Livia Gershon
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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
10 Changing with the climate
As the building design industry evolves,
Central Mass. architects are incorporating
sustainability and extreme weather resiliency
into their projects.
18 10 Things I know about ...
Post-2020 employee
recruitment & retention
Advice columnist Julia Becker Collins
discusses the measures she has taken in
order for her 10-employee business to
have a 100% retention rate.
4 Central Mass. In Brief
10 Focus on Architecture
& Construction
16 The List: Top commercial contractors
17 The List: Top architectural firms
18 Know How
19 Movers & Shakers
20 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Maugel DeStefano
Architects
Media Sponsor
Leadership Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Thank you to our Sponsors
and all those who made the
YWCA Central Massachusetts'
2023 Tribute to Women
Katharine F. Erskine Awards a success!
W
