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wbjournal.com | May 19, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 15 R E TA I L P OW E R 1 0 0 Need Extra Capital to Take Your Business to the Next Level? 800-939-9103 cornerstonebank.com Member FDIC | Member DIF We're here to support your growth and success. Our tailored financing solutions address your unique needs for construction, equipment, expansion, and working capital, helping your business thrive. Scan the QR code to learn more. Virginia Orlando & Candace Atchue Founders & co-owners Seed to Stem, in Worcester Employees: 6 Residences: Oakham & Sterling Seed to Stem is home decor mecca, which basically makes Orlando and Atchue curating prophets. Since opening their shop's doors in 2011, the duo has been providing those in Central Massachusetts an immersive shopping experience with thousands of products including house plants, candles, crystals, wall hangings, books, and cosmetics. With the shop's Instagram page boasting nearly 90,000 followers, patrons travel from states, if not countries, to purchase one-of-a- kind finds hand-selected by Orlando and Atchue. Seed to Stem has moved a number of times since its inception as it steadily experienced a growth in popularity. Bursting at the seams, Seed to Stem opened its second storefront in November: an approximately 1,800-square-foot shop located just outside of the downtown Westborough rotary. e shop, a smaller version of its predecessor, has already seen steady foot traffic with no decline in visitors at its primary location in Worcester's Canal District. And it's no surprise why. Seed to Stem has been featured in a number of regional and national publications for its product selection and atmosphere including Yankee Magazine, House Beautiful, e Boston Globe, and Vogue. Orlando and Atchue plan to keep growing the Seed to Stem brand with the goal of opening as many storefronts as possible. And if history is any indication, it doesn't seem that will be a problem. - M.K.M. "Power is a quantitative measure. Quality, however modest or obscure, is what really matters." - Bob Patton, Green Meadows Lila Snyder CEO & board member Bose, in Framingham Employees: 6,000 Colleges: MIT, University of Miami Innovation and audio are at the core of Snyder's philosophy at Bose, where she is pushing the 60-year-old manufacturer to be a leader in consumer electronics and automotive audio. In November, Bose acquired the premium audio product provider the McIntosh Group of New York City, a deal that included Sonus Faber, a firm manufacturing high-end speakers by hand in Italy. e deal was a larger part of Snyder's push since she became Bose CEO in August 2020, which sees the company breaking into the luxury audio space and providing products to a more discerning consumer. Bose provides the audio systems for a number of luxury cars, too, partnering with automakers like Porchse and Cadillac. Bose is focused on launching products its employees are proud of, focused on the company's three audio franchises, Snyder told Liz Hilton Segel from the con- sulting firm McKinsey & Co. in a 2023 interview. ose franchises are noise-can- celing audio, of which Bose is a pioneer; immersive audio, which seeks to provide sound in a way an artist intended; and hear-what-you-want audio, which using AI-assisted technology to enable consumers to hear the world around them while still listening to music or other audio. Outside of Bose, Synder is a board member for Atlanta-based home builder PulteGroup, on the alumni board for the University of Miami, and a participant in the MIT School of Engineering dean's advisory council. - B.K. PHOTO | EDD COTE