Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 16, 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 12 Focus on Midyear Economic Forecast 18 List: Largest public companies 19 Know How 20 Movers & Shakers 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: The Umpire Channel 10 Surviving the Valley of Death Worcester's oldest incubator has brought on an in-house investment firm for the first time in 30 years. 16 Keeping construction working Long plagued by labor shortages, local construction officials are trying to stem the pain caused by a population drop and Trump's anti-immigrant campaign. W hat a difference a year makes. WBJ first launched its Midyear Economic Forecast edition in 2021 as an addendum to our annual end-of-year Economic Forecast edition, which is a look-ahead at the upcoming year. With the midyear survey, we want to see how the events of the year so far changed people's feelings. In the 2024 Midyear Economic Forecast, these were the headlines and subheadings for the main stories: • Modest optimism: In WBJ's annual midyear survey, business leaders are largely feeling good about where the economy has gone and is going in 2024, with some reservations • Not feeling the vibecession: Con- sumers may not be over the moon about the economy, but Central Mass. leaders see a somewhat stable economy headed in the right direction • Developing equity: New $50M pub- lic-private fund seeks to address both the housing crisis and the lack of diversity in the development space • Keeping nurses in the field: As burnout becomes a greater problem in health care, UMass Memorial's first-year nurse program works to keep high retention rates • Providing a safe space: As an- ti-LGBTQ+ sentiment rises, local bar own- ers see their businesses as places of comfort and safety Compare those to this 2025 edition: • A turn for the worse: In the annual midyear survey, WBJ readers say their out- look for the 2025 economy has soured since the start of the year - See page 12 • Keeping construction working: Long plagued by labor shortages, local construc- tion officials are trying to stem the pain caused by a population drop and Trump's anti-immigrant campaign - See page 16 • A $250M gap in the safety net: e Mass. Health Safety Net is experiencing its greatest-ever deficit, leaving Central Mass. community centers and hospitals to fight for themselves - See page 6 • An assembly line of homes: Worcester firm sees factory-built apartment units as a potential gamechanger for the region's housing crunch - See page 8 • Surviving the Valley of Death: Worces- What changed in 2025? I N T H I S I S S U E ter's oldest incubator has brought on an in-house investment firm for the first time in 30 years - See page 10 • Clark University to lay off up to 30% of faculty, significantly restructure degree tracks amid financial strain - See page 4 What a difference a year makes. – Brad Kane, editor W

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