wbjournal.com | November 17, 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 $100.00.
For more information, please email circulation@wbjournal.com or
contact our circulation department at (508) 755-8004 x242.
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 Interns
Jill McSorley, jmcsorley@wbjournal.
com; Charlotte Powers, cpowers@
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
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
5 Central Mass. In Brief
12 Focus on Veterans in Business
23 List: Largest veteran-owned businesses
24 Advice
25 Movers & Shakers
26 Opinion
27 Shop Talk: The Farm at SummitWynds
29 Special section: Senior Resource Guide 2025
T
his edition is WBJ's inau-
gural Focus on Veterans in
Business, designed to high-
light the many ways military
service members are con-
tributing to the Central Massachusetts
economy and the unique issues faced by
this cohort and their companies.
Tied to November and the national
Veterans Day holiday, this edition is
highlighted by the first Notable Veteran
Executive awards, honoring 13 Central
Massachusetts professionals who served
their country in the military and are
now high-profile leaders in our business
community. You can read one amazing
story aer another starting on page 14.
To start this Focus on Veterans in
Business section on page 12, Manag-
ing Editor Eric Casey sat down with
a handful of veteran business owners
and their supporters for his "e next
mission" story. Aer their time in the
service, they found starting their own
businesses was the best way to cater
their lives and their careers around their
unique circumstances. As more veterans
are seeking to follow in their footsteps,
they see the need for the military, the
government, and the region's business
community to offer more support.
Outside of the veterans section, Staff
Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo dives into
the immigration crisis by detailing the
burnout and overwhelming pressures
faced by the Central Massachusetts legal
and nonprofit communities, as they help
clients navigate the turbulent and scary
world of being an immigrant in today's
America. Her story "Fighting for immi-
grants" starts on page 10.
On the lighter side, Kanner-Mas-
colo sat down with a Clark Univer-
sity alumnus and winner of the 2025
MacArthur Fellowship in her "Q&A
with a genius" story on page 8. Margaret
Wickens Pearce, who now operates her
cartography business out of Maine, was
shaped in part by her time in Central
Massachusetts, studying how mapping
influenced how towns were formed
originally.
I couldn't be more pleased with how
this edition came together, particularly
Focus on veterans in business
I N T H I S I S S U E
the Focus on Veterans in Business. e
topic is so rich with great stories in need
of telling, we're already planning the 2026
edition.
– Brad Kane, editor
W
STOCK
PHOTO
|
KRISSIKUNTERBUNT
Senior
Resource
Guide
Prepare
for
life's
next
adventures
INSIDE:
•
Lists
of
healthcare,
legal,
and
financial
services
providers
•
The
rising
risks
of
homelessness
•
Senior
life
planning
checklist
2025
Worcester
Business
Journal
WBJ
8 Q&A with a genius
Clark alum Margaret Wickens
Pearce was named a 2025
MacArthur fellow in October.
10 Fighting for immigrants
Central Mass. attorneys are
combating funding cuts, rapidly
shifting policies, and burnout as
demand for legal representation
rises in the second Trump
Administration.
12 Focus: The next mission
Veteran business owners find
some support, but say more
resources are needed for post-
9/11 military vets wanting to run
their own businesses.
