Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1535898
wbjournal.com | June 2, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 3 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 ` Commercial Banking Done Differently. Bob Paulsen Commercial Banking Center Manager 100 Front Street | Worcester, MA 01608 Cell: 508.254.8582 Robert.Paulsen@RocklandTrust.com For more information, contact: Awarded as the Best Bank in the Northeast in two categories by Coalition Greenwich for U.S. Middle Market Banking, including: • Likelihood to Recommend • Overall Satisfaction Member FDIC T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 4 Central Mass. In Brief 10 Focus on Energy & Sustainability 17 List: Largest clean energy companies 18 Guest columnist: Krishna Abburi 19 Know How 20 Movers & Shakers 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Red Dog's Roofing 14 Powering the past and future Westborough-based hydropower firm to update its century-old facilities. 19 101: Staying strong through workforce reductions Advice columnist Sloane M. Perron offers three steps managers can take to boost morale and counter employee burnout whenever workers are laid off. F or Staff Writer Mica Kan- ner-Mascolo's story "Every 36 minutes" on page 8, WBJ tied an online poll to the effort by healthcare providers to have Massachusetts classify assault against a healthcare worker as a felony. e poll received more votes than any other WBJ poll this year, and 95% of respon- dents said yes to the question, "Do you support the effort to raise the charges to the felony level for anyone found guilty of assaulting a healthcare worker?" e reader comments on the poll provided a bit more nuance, but one anonymous commenter said, "I am curious who would vote 'no' on this." Well, I voted no. I'm well aware of the increasing levels of danger facing hospital workers in Central Massachusetts, which has a serious shortage of professionals wanting to stay and enter into the profession, so I sympathize with the effort to upgrade the penalty against those who assault them. However, I sympathize with the patients as well. As a father to five special needs children, I'm all too aware of how quickly a behavioral or mental health crisis can escalate into a physical situation. While I'm guessing the 95% of people who voted yes to WBJ's poll are thinking of emergency room patients who act like jerks aer being told they must wait longer, my concern is for the 12-year-old boy who doesn't understand why he is being restrained, the brain-damaged car acci- dent victim who doesn't fully comprehend where she is, or the countless others in extremely stressful situations experiencing some of the worst days of their lives. None of these patients are thinking about the level of criminal offense assigned to their actions. While the effort to upgrade health- care worker assault to a felony level is trying to incorporate some nuance to account for these situations, all you need is one overly aggressive prosecutor or a police officer behind on quotas to follow the letter of the law and turn these patients into criminals set to serve five-year prison sentences. Everyone has a right to feel safe at their places of employment, and businesses and regulators need to take steps to ensure that safety. However, we must weigh the effec- tiveness of those steps against the potential Don't demonize healthcare patients I N T H I S I S S U E harm. If someone goes to a hospital looking for help and comes out with a five-year pris- on sentence, that's not good for society. – Brad Kane, editor W CORRECTION: A Power 100 story about Dana Neshe that appeared in the May 19 edition incorrectly said Neshe is president of the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation. She helped found the organization but no longer serves as its president. CORRECTION: A story that appeared in The Insiders section of the May 19 edition incorrectly said John Erwin lives in Worcester. He lives in Dorchester. CORRECTION: A Power 100 story about Jeff Navin that appeared in the May 19 edition incorrectly said Consigli Construction is a fourth-generation family firm. The com- pany is in its fifth generation.