wbjournal.com | February 24, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 3
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
4 Central Mass. In Brief
11 Focus on Business Leaders
of the Year
20 Focus on WBJ Hall of Fame
24 List: Advertising, marketing
& communications firms
26 Know How
27 Movers & Shakers
29 Opinion
30 Shop Talk: Mami's Kitchen
8 What happened to Redemption
Rock?
The cofounders of Worcester's trendy craft
brewery detail what went wrong in the six
years after its founding.
26 101: Streamlining management
responsibilities through AI
101 columnist Sloane M. Perron offers
three ways small businesses can use
artificial intelligence to make oversight more
efficient.
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:
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PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894.
Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $84.00. For
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contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008.
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at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860.
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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
S
ix years ago, Redemption Rock
Brewing burst onto Worcester's
business and cultural scene at a
time when the opening of a new
cra brewery was still unique
enough to be a cause for celebration.
e brewery was never the largest, but
it became a staple of the small business
scene, particularly for those who felt le
outside of Worcester's more established
business community. Redemption Rock
hosted community events, held drag
queen story hours, and made monthly
donations to a rotating list of nonprofits.
It was the first brewery in Massachusetts
to become a certified B Corp., meaning
its mission focused on community good,
rather than strictly dollars and cents. Its
trio of cofounders, particularly CEO Dani
Babineau, were outspoken advocates for
what they believed in.
And, yet, Redemption Rock closed its
doors for good at the end of December. In
a post-mortem Q&A for WBJ Manag-
ing Editor Eric Casey's feature "What
happened to Redemption Rock?" on page
8, the ownership group said a bad lease
and a subpar location were the main
causes for the closure, along with general
economic trends of consumers having
less disposable income and a slowdown in
national cra beer sales.
Redemption Rock's closure came the
same year as the closure of the one-of-
a-kind grocery store Maker to Main in
Worcester's Canal District, aer farm-
to-table entrepreneur Lynn Cheney just
couldn't make the concept work over four
years in two locations. Both businesses
highlight the struggle in creating a sustain-
able company, even if the business is gener-
ally beloved and has a cult following. at
struggle to make it work takes an enor-
mous financial, emotional, and physical
toll on its founders, as e Queen's Cups
Founder Renee Diaz highlighted in her
column in the Feb. 10 WBJ, which was the
most-read story of that edition.
In this edition, WBJ highlights its Busi-
ness Leaders of the Year (page 11) and new
members of the WBJ Hall of Fame (page
20), who all have a history of sustained
success. Yet, a business doesn't have to be
sustainable to be successful. Maker to Main
and Redemption Rock were beautiful for
what they were: bold, earnestly entrepre-
A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts
I N T H I S I S S U E
neurial, and perhaps ahead of their time.
eir legacies will long outlast them. ey
were quite the success.
– Brad Kane, editor
W
