Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 21, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Scan the QR code to learn more. Discover why ZEscrow is the future of escrow management! Member FDIC | Member DIF 800-939-9103 cornerstonebank.com The Future of Escrow Management and Subaccounting for Landlords Easily handle security deposits and other escrow accounts smoothly and securely with ZEscrow. is modern, convenient, third-party web platform for digital commercial escrow and subaccounting keeps you effortlessly organized. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 4 Central Mass. In Brief 12 Focus on Health Care & Life Sciences 14 List: Largest health insurers 16 List: Top NIH grant winners 18 Column: The Hustle Is Real 19 Know How 20 Movers & Shakers 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Hanscom Federal Credit Union 15 Fewer babies MetroWest Medical Center plans to close an intensive care unit for newborns in June, as the number of patients declines. 17 Licensed to care Mass. lawmakers are considering legislation to require licenses for non-medical home care providers. 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 2025. 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 T he WBJ newsroom enjoys a healthy discourse with practically every major Central Massa. institution. Sure, a business or nonprofit may send us a terse statement or ignore our phone calls for a story it perceives as negative about that institution. But, for the most part, organizations willingly make their executives and other experts available for interviews. at has not been the case since Jan. 20. Since taking office for his second term, President Donal Trump has used a variety of fear tactics to impose his will on America. And, oh boy, that strategy is working. Particularly because Trump has no reservations about withholding billions in federal funding to institutions, nearly every organization in Central Mass. receiving significant federal money has been trying to keep a low profile, particularly about topics like immigration and diversity, equity & inclusion. In this edition's cover story "Interna- tional loss"on page 10, Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo examines at length the importance of international students to colleges' business models and the overall economy. No Worcester university made anyone available for an interview for the story. Not that anyone could blame them; most are trying to avoid being the main target of Trump's ire and forced into a financial position that would necessitate some very difficult decisions about the future of their institutions. Luckily, Mica still got the Worcester college perspective, thanks to two letters from Clark University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute made public aer 16 students had visas revoked. It's not just colleges who are scared. Trump's plans to upend the global econ- omy through tariffs has led to economic uncertainty. In an April 14 online poll, 67% of WBJ readers said their outlook on the economy had turned pessimistic. ankfully, Harvard University (as of the press deadline for this column) stood up against Trump's efforts to remake the institution, despite his threats to withhold $2 billion and revoke its tax-exempt status. My guess is the 388-year-old institution did the math and concluded its long-term reputation would be more harmed by submitting to government control than by People are scared I N T H I S I S S U E whatever Trump will rain upon Harvard for however long he is president. We all may not have the money and reputation of Harvard to battle Trump on this level, but we would be good to adopt its thinking: No matter what terribleness will happen in the coming months and years, it is only temporary. – Brad Kane, editor W

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