Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal | October 28, 2024 | wbjournal.com 35th Anniversary WBJ 1989-2024: A top-story timeline 1989 • Data General's clarion call – While IBM's dominance in the personal computer space decimated Data General's foundational mini- computer business, the Westbor- ough-based firm put a sharper focus on its server and processor business and spawned the AViiON series of scalable Unix systems. AViiON would lead to CLARiiON, a more successful, network-based system that kept the company afloat into the 1990s. 1990 • Norton Co. takeover, part 1 – More than 5 million shares of Norton stock were traded on the New York Stock Exchange on March 16 as British conglomerate BTR attempted a $1.64 billion hostile takeover of the Worcester-based industrial power- house. • Federal Square – At the April groundbreaking for developer James Soffan's long-planned 24-story apartment complex (SkyMark Tower), U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Early (D-Worcester) announced plans for a $25 million to 30 million renovation of the nearby Federal Building. • Norton Co. takeover, part 2 – Norton announced a merger on April 25 – with French manufacturer Saint How do you whittle 35 years of headlining business news down to a couple thousand words and a few pages? You don't. But here, we take our best shot to highlight the companies, individuals and moments that le a lasting impression. Gobain. At $90 per share, the deal was valued at about $1.8 billion. A week earlier, Gov. Michael Dukakis had signed a law rushed through the Legislature meant to thwart the BTR takeover. 1991 • Biotech buildup – Germany-based BASF AG began construction on its 250,000-square-foot, $100-million research and manufacturing facility at Worcester's Biotech Park. BASF announced it would initially employ 250 scientists and staff. Abbott Laboratories would acquire BASF's pharmaceutical business, including its Worcester headquarters, in 2001 for $6.9 billion. • WBJ Milestone: The Fact Book debuts 1992 • Developer's World – Homart De- velopment Corp. of Chicago bought the Natick Mall and Framingham's Shoppers World with plans for major redevelopments at both shopping centers. Natick Mall reopened in 1994 after a $250 million update and Shoppers World followed in '95. Three years later, Homart's parent company, Sears, sold both locations to General Growth Properties. • March Madness – Still known as the Centrum, Worcester's downtown arena hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA men's basket- ball East regional, including a 77-71 University of Massachusetts upset of Syracuse, a seminal victory for the John Calipari-era Minutemen. The city won big, too: Officials estimated the six games made an economic impact of $3 million. 1993 • Wyman-Gordon's headlining act – It was a busy year for the Graf- ton-based aerospace manufacturer. Three straight quarters of losses. Layoffs. Pollution accusations. A $600,000 safety-standard fine. And the big news? Wyman-Gordon acquired its largest competitor, Cameron Forged Products. • Duddie's big deal – In the wake of $3 million in losses over the last three years, Worcester rich guy Barry Krock decided to sell Commerce Bank & Trust Co. Fellow Worcester rich guy, auto dealer David "Duddie" Massad, bought nearly all shares of the company in November, with plans to expand the bank's asset base to $1 billion. 1994 • Back on track – For the first time in nearly two decades, commuter rail service between Worcester and Bos- ton was restored in September. The Worcester Redevelopment Authority had announced plans to purchase the dilapidated Union Station from the city for $50,000 and begin $33 million in renovations. 1995 • The Price is right – Price Chop- per, a New York-based supermarket chain, shifts its New England expan- sion into high gear by purchasing the Wonder Market Companies' 12 Big D stores in the Worcester area. Price Chopper now operates 129 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachu- setts, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. 1996 • Devens discharged – Amid fed- eral cutbacks the U.S. Army closed Fort Devens in April after 79 years of service, beginning its transition to an economic development zone then known as the Devens Commerce Center. MassDevelopment bought most of the land for $17 million. The Army would retain a presence there with the Federal Medical Center and Army Reserve training center. • Crowley dies – The patriarch of the family that owns Polar Bev- erages and Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, Ralph D. Crowley Sr., 71, died in December. Crowley, whose children elevated the Polar business to incredible heights, was chairman when he died and had marshaled the development of the Princeton mountain into the popular attraction it is today. • WBJ Milestone: The Book of Lists debuts 1997 • Power move – Championed by Westborough-based New England Electric Systems, deregulation of the electric utility industry became state law in November. The legislation required a 10 percent decrease in rates in 1998 for customers remain- ing with their current provider; and another 5 percent decrease by 1999 after utilities met certain financial conditions. • Healthcare hustle – The state Legislature passed a bill in Novem- ber allowing for the incorporation of UMass Memorial Healthcare, which paved the way for the 1998 merger of Memorial Hospital and University of Massachusetts Medical Center, creating a healthcare system with 700 beds, 7,500 employees, and about $700 million in annual reve- nue. By year's end UMass would buy HealthAlliance hospitals in Leominster and Fitchburg. 1998 • Digital downer – Digital Equip- ment Corp., long a global power- house in networks, software and computer services, was sold to Compaq Computer for $9.6 billion. Based in Maynard until 1993, Digital generated annual revenues of more than $14 billion and employed some 130,000 at its peak. Compaq struggled despite the merger and was eventually acquired by Hewl- ett-Packard in 2002. • Exit strategy – The first phase of an ambitious traffic redesign that would impact several Central Mass. communities was completed when the $33 million interchange at Route 146 and the Mass. Pike, then-Exit 10A, opened in Millbury. The project began in 1995, involved 10 phases including extending Route 146 to Interstate 290, and was estimated to cost nearly $300 million. 1999 • Times, they are a-buyin' – The New York Times Co. added to its New England portfolio in October with a $295 million purchase of Worcester's Telegram & Gazette. Six years after buying The Boston Globe, the Times bested seven other suitors for the daily newspaper, which had been under the umbrella of San Francisco's Chronicle Pub- lishing Co. since 1986. • Bank business – Fleet Financial Group merged with BankBoston in a $15 billion deal that created the eighth-largest bank in the United States with $180 billion in assets. To allay concerns of a banking monop- oly, some 275 Fleet and BankBoston locations across New England would be placed in the hands of local banks. 2000 • You can always go downtown – After years of legal and political wrangling and the threat of a nurses' strike, Saint Vincent Hospital, once a 12-bed facility overlooking the city from Vernon Hill, moved into the $215 million, 771,000-square-foot Worcester Medical Center. • WBJ Milestone: 40 Under Forty debuts 2001 • The aftermath of Sept. 11 – While the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania left an indelible mark on American businesses of all kinds, the reverberations were felt acutely in the airways. Worcester Regional Airport incurred about $450,000 in operating losses; was forced to cut jobs and expenses; and lost a key Delta connection to Atlanta. • The real impact of Sept. 11 – Several area companies lost employees on hijacked planes that day, including Lisa Raines of Genzyme, a senior vice president on American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon. TJX Cos. lost seven employees on American Airlines Flight 11, the first to crash when it flew into the World Trade Center's North Tower: Neilie Casey; Tara Creamer; Robin Kaplan; Christine Barbuto; Linda George; and Lisa Fenn Gordenstein; the seventh name was not released.

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