wbjournal.com | February 19, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-
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Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
A division of:
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Staff Writer
Eric Casey, ecasey@wbjournal.com
(real estate, manufacturing)
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
General Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Senior Accounts Manager
Christine Juetten,
cjuetten@wbjournal.com
Accounts Manager
Timothy Doyle
tdoyle@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
some corporate parent, but this is the new
world these small companies are operating
in. Now, they have to adjust, while still
holding onto the charm that made the
industry so intriguing.
– Brad Kane, editor
W
N
ot that long ago, I was
a cra beer fanatic. My
favorite beer was the one I'd
hadn't tried yet. As little as
10 years ago, the cra beer
industry still felt new and exciting, with all
sorts of startups and homegrown players
brewing new twists on long-time favorites
and introducing different concepts to a
market once dominated by the Budweisers
and Miller High Lifes of the world.
ose days feel like they were ages ago.
Now, I rarely drink beer at all, as marijua-
na is my preferred way to relax. When I do
purchase a cra beer, it is almost always
something I've had previously, even if
it is a local cra brew from the likes of
Wormtown Brewery, Redemption Rock
Brewing, or Lost Shoe Brewing and Roast-
ing in Marlborough. e idea of trying
new beers just lost its luster for me.
Every company's origin story is differ-
ent, but the sudden growth of the cra
beer industry over the last two decades
was quite charming. Usually, a couple of
friends or family members would start
brewing beer on their own. Eventually,
they would open their own taproom, and
maybe even begin canning or bottling their
brews to sell in grocery stores and restau-
rants. Suddenly, a startup run by a handful
of friends was a full-fledged business with
dozens of employees. e industry defi-
nitely encountered growing pains, as these
owners had to learn how to be professional
leaders, with their own policies and human
resources departments, where bad behavior
was no longer tolerated.
Now that the Central Massachusetts cra
beer industry has grown up, it has entered
the next phase of its evolution: corporati-
zation. In January, the oldest Central Mas-
sachusetts cra brewery was purchased by
the parent company of two other breweries,
including Smuttynose in Brewing in New
Hampshire. Nationally, even long-time beer
giant Anheuser-Busch InBev purchased a
conglomerate of small cra breweries in
Oregon. e local ownership and flavor
that defined the cra beer industry for
much of its existence is now giving way to a
different kind of operation.
WBJ Staff Writer Eric Casey explores
these issues and more in his cover story
"Craing a future" on page 10. Not every
cra brewery is going to be scooped up by
e next evolution of cra beer
Award-winning service,
right in Worcester County.
For more information, contact:
Peter Staiti
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100 Front Street | Worcester, MA 01608
508.769.5725
Peter.Staiti@RocklandTrust.com
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ADVICE
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Office as the
#1 504
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Recognized in 2023
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
4 Central Mass. In Brief
12 Focus on Banking & Finance
16 The List: Top banks
18 Know How
19 Movers & Shakers
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Geisel Software
14 Watching the Fed
After a jump in rates over the last two years,
Central Massachusetts banks are waiting
for the Federal Reserve to lower them this
year, hopefully spurring more lending.
18 5 Things I know about …
Strategies for navigating a new
environment
Advice columnist Tim Glispin lays out the
steps business leaders can take when
they find themselves in an unusual situation,
like starting at a new company or taking on
more tasks.
