Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 9, 2026 | Worcester Business Journal 21 BY TYLER J. OJALA Special to WBJ W hen people think about the last century of innova- tion, certain names tend to come up: Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, or Steve Jobs, people whose early ideas seemed impractical, until they weren't. One of those innovators was closer to home than most people realize. Robert Goddard developed the foundations of modern rocketry in Auburn. A substantive portion of his early research took place at Clark University, which gave him something essential: a teaching position, lab access, and the intellectual freedom to explore ideas. As Goddard's experiments grew more ambitious, however, so did the cost. While Worcester had significant industrial capital, it lacked capital willing to absorb long timelines, repeated failure, and uncertain commercial outcomes. ere were factories and financiers, but few pathways for translating speculative research into sustained experimentation. Without sustained private investment, Goddard pur- sued funding elsewhere, moving his most advanced work out of the region and taking with it the economic, tech- nical, and reputational impact that could have anchored Worcester as an early center of aerospace research. Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Institution published his research and, in the years following World War I, pro- vided an early $5,000 grant, roughly $125,000 today. Additionally, the Guggenheim family of New York City funded his work in Roswell, New Mexico, for years, investing the equivalent of several million dollars. Today, Worcester has built the kind of infrastructure needed to support the next Goddard: equipped lab space, makerspaces, coworking environments, and a dense support ecosystem. Groups like WorcLab, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, and Auxilium represent just part of a broader network providing technical resources, education, mentorship, and capital across stages, allowing ideas to be tested, refined, and scaled without leaving Central Massachusetts. Talented students and researchers out of e College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Worcester State University, or one of our many other schools, don't need more inspiration. ey need places to test, build, and fail, without having to leave the region to do it. at need extends beyond campus walls, to gradu- ates building hardware prototypes, founders developing new soware, and others in the community working to turn technical ideas into reality. It may just be you. e real question for the next hundred years isn't whether Worcester can produce world-class thinkers. It's whether founders, investors, and institutions commit to building and scaling companies here, so the next genera- tion of Goddards can build right here at home. Tyler J. Ojala is the director of operations at WorcLab, a Worcester-based incubator and coworking space. Worcester is ready for the next Goddard Worcester's Kitty Hawk moment BY PETER STANTON WBJ Publisher Emeritus W hen you quiz your friends about the first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, a healthy percentage will be able to identify Kitty Hawk along a coastal strip of North Carolina as the locale where that iconic event took place. Given their margin for error and desire for secrecy, the Wright Brothers wanted a remote location, along with lots of sand to cushion their inevitable hard landings on their way to the first sustained and controlled flight. Similarly, in March 1926, Robert Goddard wanted a lot of open space to conduct his inaugural flight of a liquid- fueled rocket, a breakthrough bringing about the Space Age. His locale of choice was on a farm owned by his aunt on a hill in Auburn, less than a mile behind Holy Cross College, as the rocket flies. e centennial celebration of Goddard's achievement is just around the corner on March 16. Goddard's vision, along with his brilliant mind and dogged determination led to Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crew landing on the Moon in 1969, just 43 years later. e impact of his innovative foundational work in establishing space flight continues to resonate today. While Kitty Hawk has a massive 60-foot monument, recreated camp buildings, and a robust visitor center run by the National Parks, Goddard's site on the Packachoag Golf Course in Auburn pales in comparison. With deep family roots in Worcester and a graduate of South High, with extensive connections to both Clark University and WPI, Robert Goddard is our international hero. His achievements need to be celebrated – in March, but also well into the future. Our community has the opportunity to leverage Goddard's world altering work. Let's make sure we find new ways to celebrate this extraordinary Worcester citizen. is issue on Innovation and Central Massachusetts Visionaries is our effort to not only highlight the Goddard legacy, but profile many of today's innovators across a variety of industries. Innovation across the region is producing breakthrough research in the burgeoning healthcare research area and delivering transformative change in many sectors throughout the region. e pace of transformation in business everyone running a company is facing will only accelerate with the AI boom, and we all need to be open to fresh thinking and new ways to get the work done and deliver competitive value to our customers. Multi- generational businesses can all point to the moments where major pivots changed their direction and kept the business thriving. Innovation and constant change is the rule of successful companies, and not the exception. Let's keep our history of innovation in this region thriving, as our future depends on it. The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. Tyler J. Ojala Peter Stanton W W

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