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wbjournal.com | December 25, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 3 nities. Trying to predict the future based on recent and historic trends is far from a perfect enterprise. (WBJ and its readers were optimistic about the overall econom- ic prospects heading into 2020, too.) Still, this feels like it will be the year where we finally shed the collective funk and em- brace the new possibilities of tomorrow. – Brad Kane, editor Now, heading into 2024, things seem better. Maybe I just got tired of the doom and gloom and switched my perspective. Maybe I've simply adjusted to the new normal. Or, maybe, with inflation stabi- lizing, unemployment still low, and in- terest rates possibly coming down, things really are better. Judging by the results of WBJ's annual Economic Forecast survey, the majority of readers agree with me. For the first time since 2019, the majority of readers said the Central Massachusetts economy is in a better place than it was a year ago and the economy will improve in the next year. See the full survey results on page 4. Of course, challenges still surround us. As detailed in the industry forecasts from Staff Writers Eric Casey and Isabel Tehan starting on page 14, a number of the cornerstones of the local economy are in for a rough ride in 2024. Health care is facing a financial crisis. Higher education is in the midst of a multi-year enrollment drop of its traditional students. Diver- sity & inclusion efforts are getting less attention than they used to. Cannabis is heading into a period of contraction. Real estate is still dealing with high interest rates and borrowing costs, while businesses rethink their office footprints. Life science companies are right-sizing their operations. is Economic Forecast special edition is WBJ's annual look ahead at the coming year, with all its challenges and opportu- 2024 will be better I N T H I S I S S U E 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 2023. 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: Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Staff Writers Eric Casey, ecasey@wbjournal.com (real estate, manufacturing) Isabel Tehan, itehan@wbjournal.com (Health care, diversity & inclusion) Contributors Giselle Rivera-Flores, Laura Finaldi, Monica Benevides, Alan Earls, Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon Photgraphers Matt Wright, Edd Cote, Christine Peterson 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 Accounts Manager Timothy Doyle tdoyle@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com Human Resources Manager, Tracy Rodwill, trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Director of Finance, Sara Ward, sward@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Account Receivable Specialist, Patty Harris, pharris@nebusinessmedia.com Director of Audience Development and Operations, Leah Allen, allen@nebusinessmedia.com Business Office Assistant, Nicole Dunn, ndunn@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com President, Tom Curtin tcurtin@hartfordbusinessjournal.com W TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Major trends for key industries in 2024 Real estate ..................................................... 14 Health care ..................................................... 16 Higher education ............................................ 20 Diversity, equity & inclusion ............................ 22 Manufacturing ................................................ 24 Cannabis ........................................................ 26 Life sciences .................................................. 28 Economic Forecast survey: WBJ readers look ahead to 2024 .....................4-7 List toppers from 2023 .................................... 9 10 bold predictions for 2024, as forecasted by WBJ Editorial Staff ......................................... 11 Looking back at WBJ's 2023 predictions, we only got two of them right. ....................................... 12 L et's face it: We've all been shaking off a collective funk since 2020. e year of the coronavirus pandemic upended all the traditional norms and rocked the economy to its core, and the aershocks have been reverberating for the last four years: workforce shortages, supply chain disruptions, inflation. Some thrived in this environment; others struggled; most simply navigated the ups and downs the best they could. How will the economy fare next year, as compared to this year? 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 Improve significantly Improve slightly Remain the same Decline slightly Decline significantly