Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 18, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 3 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 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 of all this money into the Canal District is beneficial to its businesses and residents. WBJ will explore that issue in part two of Canal District Transformation in the edition of April 1. For that story, just like all our others, we will follow the research. – Brad Kane, editor W I n the wake of the Aug. 17, 2018, announcement by the Pawtucket Red Sox of their plans to move to a new stadium in Worcester's Canal District, WBJ published a story where we surveyed 10 econ- omists on the City of Worcester's claim of the public ballpark project paying for itself through increased tax collections. Nine of those 10 economists said the Worcester stadium wouldn't end up paying for itself. When WBJ published this story just as the city was catching Red Sox fever, it immediately led to claims of WBJ being anti-WooSox or anti-Worces- ter. ese claims were revived again any time WBJ would report on Polar Park, including how the rushed nature and dif- ficult landscape of the project led to cost overruns, which caused the $160-million stadium to be the most expensive minor league stadium ever built; or how a delay in the signing of the stadium lease agree- ment gave the WooSox significant negoti- ating leverage over the city government. We weren't being anti-Worcester. We were just following the research. If we are researching local employ- ment figures and find jobs increased 20% in March, we would write a story saying "Jobs rose 20% in March." Similarly, if that research showed jobs decreased 20% in March, we would write a story saying "Jobs dropped 20% in March." We don't choose to write one story and not the other. Doing anything differently wouldn't be journal- ism. It would be dishonest, and ultimately WBJ's main product is integrity. In this edition, Staff Writer Eric Casey in his "e rising value of the Canal District" story on page 8 has new research about the stadium: Since it opened in 2021, the values of the surrounding properties in the Canal District rose 83%, compared to 41% citywide. Furthermore, property sales in the Canal District rose 72% since the WooSox's 2018 announcement. Clearly, the stadium project has attracted a lot of mon- ey into the neighborhood, which was one of the economic goals of the project, even if it doesn't end up paying for itself. Casey's story makes up the first part of WBJ's Canal District Transformation two-story package publishing over this edition and the next. is story certainly doesn't tell the entire tale of Polar Park's impact on Worcester – no single story ever could – and there's certainly a debate over whether the influx Polar Park: Following the numbers Award-winning service, right in Worcester County. For more information, contact: Peter Staiti SVP, Commercial Lending Center Manager 100 Front Street | Worcester, MA 01608 508.769.5725 Peter.Staiti@RocklandTrust.com RocklandTrust.com/Worcester CREDIT | BANKING SER VICES | ADVICE Recognized by the Massachusetts District Office as the #1 504 Third Party Lender in 2023 Rated #1 in Massachusetts & #5 in the Nation according to the 2023 list of The World's Best Banks Recognized in 2023 as #5 on the list of Top 50 Public Banks # 5 Member FDIC T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 4 Central Mass. In Brief 10 Focus: Golf, Meetings, and Tourism Guide 12 List: Top tourist attractions 17 List: Toughest golf courses 18 List: Largest meeting venues 22 Column: Outside the Box 23 Know How 24 Movers & Shakers 25 Opinion 26 Shop Talk: Latin American Business Organization 10 Out of the box The Worcester Bravehearts new owner and president opens up about the WooSox partnership, all-inclusive tickets, and baseball's community benefits in a Q&A with WBJ Correspondent Sloane M. Perron. CORRECTION: A feature story in the March 4 edition entitled "Fletcher directs millions in giving to benefit the community" incor- rectly said the George I. Alden Trust in Worcester was founded by Warner Fletcher's family. The trust was founded by educator and industrialist George Alden in 1912, and chairs of the trust's board have included Fletcher and his father, Paris Fletcher. CORRECTION: The From the Editor column in the March 4 edition entitled "Compassion, bravery, and weed" incorrectly said the inaugural Worcester Homecoming event was held in 2021. The event was first held in 2022. CORRECTIONS: A feature story in the March 4 edition entitled "Despite sustained growth, McCall has kept small-firm mentality, values at AAFCPAs" incorrectly said AAFCPAs donates 10% of its proceeds to nonprofits. The correct information is the company donates 10% of its net income to nonprofits. Additionally, the story implied Carla McCall is a current board member and treasurer of Boston-based SheGives, when she is a prior board member and treasurer.

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