wbjournal.com | December 23, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 3
I
used to joke that Jim Umphrey
was the most informed
professional in the Central
Massachusetts business
community. In fact, WBJ caused
a minor stir with Umphrey
among the region's movers and shakers
when we entitled a podcast episode
"Worcester's most well-informed
businessman" because it featured an
interview with him.
Of course, every joke has some
degree of truth. As the president of one
of the two most prominent real estate
brokerages in Central Massachusetts,
Umphrey has the inside tract of what
businesses are moving into the region,
which ones are leaving, those who are
expanding, shrinking, and redoing
their mortgages and leases in the face of
economic headwinds. He knows what
types of businesses – ranging from life
sciences firms to well-known restaurants
– commercial landlords want in their
buildings, and how governments are
incentivizing (and disincentivizing) the
businesses they want to move into their
communities. e same most-informed
joke applies to Umphrey's business
partner Will Kelleher IV at Kelleher &
Sadowsky, too, as well as Michael Jacobs
over at NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs.
And this is why the real estate
industry, particularly commercial
real estate, is at the heart of all
business journal coverage, including
at Worcester Business Journal. More
than just a collection of simple listings
of property transactions and proposed
developments, the real estate beat is key
to understanding the inner workings of
the Central Massachusetts economy.
Manufacturing is the region's largest
industry by economic output, health
care is the largest by employment,
and higher education might have the
most outsized prominence; but all
of three of them are tied to the real
estate industry, along with basically
every other industry: nonprofits, retail,
banking & finance, transportation,
tech, the Worcester Red Sox. If UMass
Memorial Health buys a parking lot, or
a manufacturer decides to sublease half
its space, or the WooSox sign a very
favorable lease on a baseball stadium,
you gain an enhanced understanding of
their operations and plans for the future.
Since WBJ jumped into real estate
coverage with both feet about five years
ago, we noticed the stories from that
beat are almost always the most-read
stories on WBJournal.com. More than
any of the more prominent industries,
our readers want to know what's going on
with real estate.
at brings us to this special edition,
WBJ's inaugural Real Estate Report,
which we've tied to our usual end-of-year
Economic Forecast issue. With stories
from the very capable mind of Eric Casey,
WBJ's managing editor and Real Estate
Insider beat reporter, this annual edition
is designed to be a summary of all the
happenings of the industry from the past
year and a look forward to the industry
trends in the coming year and beyond.
Real estate is the core industry beat
of Worcester Business Journal, and this
special edition is meant to make you,
too, one of the most well-informed
professionals in Central Massachusetts.
– Brad Kane, editor
If you know real estate,
you know the economy
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 2024. 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
Managing Editor, Eric Casey,
ecasey@wbjournal.com (real estate,
manufacturing)
Staff Writer
Mica Kanner-Mascolo,
mkannermascolo@wbjournal.com
(health care, diversity & inclusion)
Contributors
Sloane M. Perron, Giselle Rivera-
Flores, Emily Micucci, Livia Gershon
Photographers
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 Clerk, Rae Rogers,
rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Event Coordinator,
Patty Harris,
pattyh@wbjournal.com
Director of Audience Development
and Operations, Leah Allen,
lallen@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
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