Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 15, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 25 Remembering Larry Lucchino BY TIMOTHY MURRAY Special to WBJ A s Worcester mayor during the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series Championship season and as lieutenant governor during the Red Sox 2007 championship, I met Larry Lucchino on a few occasions. Cordial and intense, you quickly got the sense Larry was driven and results-oriented. is was logical as he was recognized as the organizing force that assem- bled the team on and off the field, allowing the Red Sox to win their first World Series in 86 years and exorcize the Curse of the Bambino. Aer Boston's devastating 2003 loss to the Yankees, fans were at a low point. As written in Gotham Chopra's book "Religion of Sports", Larry and his team put together a video of highlights for the next season, ending with the quote, "Still, We Believe." is appeal to Red Sox Nation was part of the 2004 marketing cam- paign and rooted in religious overtones. Larry said, "We took the wording straight out of the Catholic canon." Larry was familiar with this, growing up in Pittsburgh and attending St. Rosalia's Church, where he would recite the Apostles' and/or Nicene Creed at weekly mass. In addition, Larry revolutionized how baseball parks are built. As president of the Baltimore Orioles in 1992, he oversaw the opening of the new Camden Yards ball- park in a blighted area. He reversed the trend of building car-centric stadiums on green space in the suburbs, to one going back to when ballparks interacted with the neighborhoods around them. As Boston Globe reporter Dan Shaughnessy wrote, Larry grew up near Pittsburgh's Forbes Field and "never lost his love of asymmetrical green ballparks, replete with nooks and crannies, tucked into city neighborhoods. is is why Camden Yards was built and became the most important Major League Baseball change since Jackie Robinson integrated the sport." Larry then built Petco Park in San Diego, restored Fenway Park in Boston, and built JetBlue Park in Florida, before finally bringing Polar Park to Worcester. e chamber was involved at the earliest stages in re- cruiting Larry and his Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester. is was an important opportunity to redevelop 21 acres of property contaminated for 40+ years. If done properly, it could be a true mixed-use district centered around the ballpark and could knit back together neighborhoods di- vided by this vacant space and I-290, while creating jobs and expanding the tax base. While known as a tough opponent, Larry more oen saw the benefit of creating win-win situations when at the negotiating table. At the exhibition game before the start of the 2021 season, I was at Polar Park with my mother and aunt, who grew up on Vernon Hill. Looking around the ballpark, they repeatedly said, "I can't believe I am in Worcester." Moments later, Larry walked over and introduced himself to my mom and aunt, where they repeated this sentiment. Larry, without missing a beat, leaned over, gave them a little hug, pointed out at the field, and simply said, "Believe." Timothy Murray is president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Life sciences need another $1B Timothy Murray T he Central Mass. life sciences industry had a solid run over the last 16 years. With the groundwork laid by the likes of UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester and the pharmaceutical company AbbVie's operations in the city, the industry has expanded throughout the region with the help of the Life Sciences Initiative, a 10-year, $1-billion effort launched in 2008 by then-Gov. Deval Patrick to help accelerate the sector and spread the industry's growth out from its global hub in Boston and Cambridge. Since 2008, Devens has become a mini biotech hub of its own with companies like pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, and Marlborough has attracted firms like Boston Scientific and women's health technology company Hologic. Greater Worcester has been ranked in the top 15 U.S. metros for life sciences research talent by the global real estate brokerage CBRE. e Life Sciences Initiative firmly established Mass. as the global leader in the biotechnology industry, and the proposed extension of the program will support the momentum of regions like Central Mass., as Jon Weaver, president and CEO of Worcester incubator Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, points out in the article "Life sciences boost" on page 16. Gov. Maura Healey wants to reauthorize the Life Sciences Initiative with another $1 billion in her Mass Leads Act economic development proposal. e new money would come with some added benefits, as Mass Leads would provide $75 million to establish life sciences tech hubs in Worcester and Springfield, with the potential to use technologies like artificial intelligence to help accelerate the drug development process. Funding for new technologies like bioreactors could help entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground, as a major barrier to success in the industry is the need for big chunks of capital to sustain companies through the expensive process of bringing products to market. Lowering that barrier would have an outsized impact in Central Mass., where startups don't have the ready access to the Greater Boston venture capital system. As Gov. Patrick proved back in 2008, these types of government investments pay real dividends for industry in Central Massachusetts. Before the state legislative session ends this year, lawmakers need to turn Healey's proposal into reality. at level of funding, especially targeting life sciences and with bonuses for regions like Central Massachusetts, can take the industry to new heights. As life sciences has become all the more important in Central Massachusetts, WBJ is holding its second annual Life Sciences Forum on May 15 in Marlborough to discuss barriers and opportunities to further growth in the region. is year's event will be highlighted by state Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao, who no doubt will use the opportunity to explain the key points of Healey's plan. To be in the know about this important sector, we invite you to attend. The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. W W

• Cover