wbjournal.com | February 10, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 3
The Clark MPA
For Senior
Leadership
Perfect for Professionals
Online/Low Residency
Credit for Work Experience
Generous Scholarships
Clarku.edu/MPA
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
4 Central Mass. In Brief
10 Focus on Women in Leadership
17 List: Highest-paid women executives
18 List: Largest woman-led employers
19 Know How
20 Movers & Shakers
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: NAI Glickman Kovago
& Jacobs
8 Testing their patience
Fed up with longstanding issues over
cannabis testing and product safety, a
Framingham lab sues its competitors
22 Marketing commercial real
estate
In the recurring Shop Talk Q&A, WBJ
Correspondent Sloane M. Perron sits
down the Maria Adamo, the new chief
marketing officer for Worcester real estate
firm NAI Glickman Kovago & Jacobs.
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
I
n an ideal world, publications like
WBJ's annual Women in Leader-
ship edition wouldn't be necessary.
In an ideal world, all people ev-
erywhere would be recognized for
their natural talents and learned skills and
given equal opportunities to help create
the best possible version of our economy
and society, regardless of the circum-
stances each person was born into.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where
powerful people suppress disadvantaged
populations in order to grow their power.
Politicians use our differences to divide
us and try to convince us to blame any
negative circumstances on those who are
different. Globally, nationally, and locally,
women still must struggle for equal pay
and equal opportunity, while fighting
institutional, structural, and interpersonal
sexism. As they are still largely the prima-
ry caregivers at home, particularly those
with children, women face the impossible
choice of sacrificing career opportunities
or sacrificing time with their families.
erefore, WBJ dedicates two editions
each year to highlight women and the
struggles they face. Each fall, we have our
Outstanding Women in Business awards,
which for nearly two decades have spot-
lighted women who have broken through
the glass ceiling and achieved great things.
Back in 2019, we launched this Women
in Leadership edition, which has typically
taken a research-heavy look at problems
women face in the workplace.
Because the last few months have
already been filled with plenty of doom
and gloom regarding diversity, equity, and
inclusion efforts like women in leadership,
this year's edition is taking a brighter ap-
proach. In the "Blooming Business" story
on page 10, the co-founders of the unique
retail experience Seed to Stem detail how
they are taking their brand to higher
heights. On page 12, the "Stepping up to
the plate" story follows the meteoric rise of
an intern to become the first female gener-
al manager in Red Sox history. On page 14,
the next wave of local female bank CEOs
disuss the strides the industry has (and
hasn't) made in the 50 years since women
were first allowed to open bank accounts
without their husbands' permission.
Perhaps one day, editions like these will
be entirely unnecessary. Unfortunately,
Why we highlight women's progress
I N T H I S I S S U E
that day is not today. Fortunately, many
people still are striving for something better
and achieving success along the way. WBJ
happily highlights them.
– Brad Kane, editor
W
