Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com February 2, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 29 The imminent move of the Sharks could mean the end of the AHL in Worcester, but not necessarily the end of minor league hockey here. The solution could lie 40 miles to the east, inside the offices of the TD Garden. The Boston Bruins, whose top-level AHL affiliate plays in Providence, have a second-level minor league team, the South Carolina Stingrays, who play in the 28-team ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). The Bruins share the team with the Washington Capitals. (The Stingrays are one of seven ECHL teams with shared affiliations.) This holds a potential "win win" for both the Bruins and Worcester. Here's how: • The Bruins have a strong enough fan base to generate increased interest in their developing players, which could translate into more ticket sales at the DCU Center. Through their first 23 games, the Sharks rank 27th in the 30-team AHL in average home attendance. The Providence Bruins, helped in part by their proximity to the parent club, rank fourth. • Worcester suffers from the fact the Sharks don't have an affiliation with a nearby NHL team, while the city doesn't have as long a history with professional hockey as some nearby New England cities, notably Providence, Springfield and Hartford. If Worcester were to land an ECHL team, it would become the league's only New England-based franchise. In baseball, The Boston Red Sox enjoy similar fan loyalty by having their top minor-league affiliates in Pawtucket, R.I., and Portland, Maine, along with Single-A Lowell, located nearby. In Pawtucket, the PawSox ranked ninth in International League attendance in 2014, but none of the top eight teams have Major League clubs located as close to their home cities as the PawSox have. In Portland, the Sea Dogs, a step down at Double-A, ranked third in the 12-team Eastern League last year in average attendance. So clearly, there is a benefit to having a minor league affiliate close to home. As for Worcester, a city looking to push forward into a new era with a more vibrant, more upscale downtown, maintaining minor league hockey will generate more ticket sales at the DCU Center and economic spillover for surrounding businesses. The Sharks are owned by their parent club, San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises, which means a new owner for a Worcester ECHL franchise would have to come forward. The market size and hockey interest should bode well for the right arrangement, and reaching for an affiliation with the Bruins could pay dividends. If the hockey option goes nowhere, an alternative could be to pursue a minor league basketball team by approaching the Boston Celtics about moving their development league affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, who draw about 2,500 per home game in Portland. Either way, Worcester has proven that minor- league sports can work here. Here's hoping there's more of it to come. n Worcester would be ideal spot for Bruins' minor-league team E D I T O R I A L The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Rick Saia, editor, at rsaia@wbjournal.com. Letters can also be faxed to 508-755-8860. Tough draw at the gate * - Through Jan. 27 Source: American Hockey League (AHL) Providence 22 7,925 4 Boston Manchester 20 5,571 13 Los Angeles Hartford 25 3,586 24 New York (Rangers) Worcester 23 3,355 27 San Jose Springfield 19 3,075 29 Columbus Portland 21 2,799 30 Arizona Home games Average League City played * attendance rank NHL affiliation T here has been no official word, but published reports have all but called for the moving vans to ship the Worcester Sharks, our American Hockey League affiliate of the San Jose NHL franchise, out of the DCU Center for a cross-country relocation to the Bay Area. If it happens, it would mark the second time in 10 years that an AHL team based in Central Massachusetts will have packed up and moved. When the Ice Cats left in 2005, the region was without an AHL team for a year until the Sharks arrived in 2006. Providence and Manchester are the only New England teams to rank in the top half of the AHL in average home-game attendance during the current season. T he potential impact of "locally grown" food and farm products on the Central Massachusetts economy is incredibly promising. Worcester County has the most farms of all Massachusetts counties (1,560), and according to the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, Worcester County ranks sixth among U.S. counties for direct sales of farm products to consumers. In addition, trends show that locally grown food is among consumers' top menu choices. For these and many other reasons, Central Massachusetts' agricultural economy is positioned to flourish. Support and enthusiasm for Central Massachusetts' farms is evidenced by support for "Central Mass Grown (CMG): Locally Grown in the Heart of the Commonwealth," a newly established "buy local" initiative. This fills a huge void in the state for "buy local" campaigns. Although the commonwealth is home to seven other, similar coalitions, from the Cape and islands to the Berkshires and North Shore, CMG is bringing farms to the table in Central Massachusetts. Launched in October 2014, Central Mass Grown has 132 committed members, including: • 74 farms, growing centers and nurseries; • 16 restaurants, retailers and caterers; • Six producers, distributors and wholesalers; and • 27 community supporters. Spread out across Worcester, Franklin, Hampshire, Middlesex and Norfolk counties, Central Mass Grown is gaining widespread acceptance and credibility as the brand by which Central Massachusetts agriculture gets recognized and supported for the quality and abundance that's available. CMG will launch its first directory and host its first formal networking event at the end of March. The directory will be available online shortly after its release. Also, expect a mobile app in the near future. CMG's mission is to promote the purchase of local agricultural products and foster education about its benefits to health, communities, the economy and the environment. These benefits include enjoying fresher food that tastes better, supporting local families and employing more people in the agricultural economy, keeping taxes down, and reducing carbon footprints. The organization's goal is to promote collaborative marketing and provide a Central Mass Grown brand. The latest efforts to support the local agricultural economy stem from results of a survey that the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) administered last year. Farmers throughout the region showed clear interest in expanding into additional regional and local markets, as well as a willingness to engage with a regional food hub. This hub, or a series of "sub-hubs" in and around Worcester would help farmers reduce travel times and fuel costs while creating the potential for a co-operative, food- processing kitchen. Farmers could then safely make, bake and create more value-added products to sell. These efforts, along with the region's long-standing support for local goods, are sure to help propel the Central Massachusetts economy throughout the coming decades. n Janet Pierce is a board member of Central Mass Grown. You can learn more about CMG at www.centralmassgrown.com, as well as on Facebook (facebook.com/centralmassgrown) and Twitter (@CentralMaGrown). 'Locally grown' food holds potential for a greater bounty BY JANET PIERCE Special to the Worcester Business Journal V I E W P O I N T Janet Pierce

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