Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1539145
wbjournal.com | September 8, 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) Editorial Intern Jill McSorley, jmcsorley@wbjournal.com 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 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. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 4 Central Mass. In Brief 12 Focus on Law & Accounting 16 List: Largest law firms 17 List: Largest accounting firms 18 Column: Jennifer Hernandez 19 Advice 20 Movers & Shakers 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Seniors Helping Seniors 14 Becoming a CEO How the growing popularity of search funds led one former Central Massachusetts banker to buy a business and expand it to Shrewsbury. 19 Optimizing estate plans under Trump's megabill Advice columnist Matthew Erskine, managing partner of law firm Erskine & Erskine, explains how family businesses need to reorient their estate plans.. P rofessional journalism devel- opment is a hallmark of WBJ. Nearly every reporter who has come through our newsroom in the past 10 years has been near the start of their careers. ey stay with us for two to three years, on average, before moving onto the next stage of their careers. Former WBJ reporters now grace the halls of Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Boston Business Journal. To encourage young people to enter the industry, WBJ has run an Editorial In- ternship Program over the last nine years, offering a place where college students can hone their skills and learn about the importance of journalism. Our philoso- phy is to throw the interns right into the deep end of the swimming pool and offer assistance if they struggle to swim. e goal is for them to write a lot, and that experience is showcased in this edition. Lucy Coran, WBJ editorial intern for this summer, wrote her first fea- ture-length story "A helping hand" on page 8, focused on the first cohort of startups at Cliff Rucker's Auxilium entrepreneurial hub, which offers both financial and professional assistance. Coran is now headed back to Smith College in Northampton to study biology and sociology, with maybe a little bit of journalism thrown in. Over on page 14, Sara Bedigian, who was editorial intern in summer 2024 and is now a semi-regular freelance writer for WBJ, writes about the relatively unknown phenomenon of search funds in her "Becoming a CEO" story. Bedigian served as editor-in-chief of the UConn student newspaper for the last year and is now juggling a part-time job and two intern- ships as she completes her studies. He isn't a WBJ intern, but Jake Reardon wrote his first professional story for WBJ with "CPA shortage" on page 12. A gradu- ate of Boston University and the Univer- sity of Rhode Island, Reardon is curious about pursuing a career in journalism and is giving it a go with his insights into a national accountant shortage. As we head into the fall semester, two new interns are joining WBJ: Jill Mc- Sorley from Assumption University and Charlotte Powers from the College of the Holy Cross. e internship program is run by Managing Editor Eric Casey, who anchors this entire edition with his latest e Sept. 8 edition, brought to you by the interns I N T H I S I S S U E opus on the cannabis industry, "Revolu- tionary collapse" on page 10, about the rise and fall of one of the biggest marijuana companies in the state. – Brad Kane, editor W CORRECTION: WBJ's attendance calculation in the article "The second inning" for the Aug. 25 edition did not account for doubleheaders, which are single-admission events where only one attendance figure is given for both games. Corrected attendance figures show the WooSox drew an average of 6,476 fans through Aug. 14, about 87% of the average of 7,395 the team drew through 50 ticketed events in 202