Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/469117
4 Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 25 YEARS: FROM THE PUBLISHER Editor, Rick Saia, rsaia@wbjournal.com Web Editor/Columnist Christina H. Davis, cdavis@wbjournal.com Staff Writers Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com (Banking & Finance, Real Estate, Manufacturing, Technology) Emily Micucci, emicucci@wbjournal.com (Education, Health Care, Retail, Law, Hospitality) Contributors Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@wbjournal.com John Agoglia, jagoglia@wbjournal.com Livia Gershon Research Director, Roger Magnus rmagnus@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin hmartin@wbjournal.com Art Director, Kira Beaudoin kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Graphic Designer, Mitchell Hayes mhayes@wbjournal.com Manager of Video/Multimedia Services, Matthew Volpini mvolpini@nebusinessmedia.com Project Manager Bonnie Leroux, bleroux@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Matt Majikas, mmajikas@wbjournal.com Custom Publishing Project Manager Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com Sales Admin & Account Coordinator Susan Munyon, smunyon@wbjournal.com Controller, Mary Rogers mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Valerie Clark vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com Human Resources, Debbie Amorelli damorelli@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com Group Publisher, Joseph Zwiebel jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weeky, 24x per year, including 5 special issues in April, July, September, November and December, by New Engand Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA. Copyright 2014. 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 $49.95. For more information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478 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 While I don't consider myself an old- timer, I've been in this business for some 34 years. After graduating from Holy Cross in 1979, I became one of those youngsters from "away" (Newton) who stayed in the Worcester area, starting my career in sales for Worcester Magazine in 1980. When Business Worcester was launched in 1982, I became its sales manager, associate publisher and — eventually — its publisher. Fast forward to the end of the 1980s. When the savings and loan crisis struck and the economy fell into a swoon, the investors behind Business Worcester's owners at the time — it had been sold to a Connecticut-based company in 1986 — struck a major speed bump and went out of business. So did a lot of other highly leveraged businesses in the throes of a very tough recession. But it was not the end for us; rather, it marked a new beginning. As everyone who owns a business knows quite well — and longtime Associate Publisher Mark Murray is always reminding me — it's all about the people. Thankfully, we were able to keep the core of the team together from the old company, and we hooked up with a for- mer newspaper owner in search of an entrepreneurial venture: Allen Fletcher. Within weeks, in temporary office space, a new business publication was launched out of the ashes of the old one, and the Worcester Business Journal was born. A quarter-century goes by quickly. The early years were full of growth and expansion; we started a second regional business publication in Greater Hartford in 1992, and later that year purchased Worcester Magazine. In 1999, the com- pany expanded its B2B wings and pur- chased the monthly Mainebiz, a state- wide business publication headquartered in Portland. The founding publisher in Hartford, Joe Zwiebel, cut his teeth in the Worcester market. Since 2007, when we purchased the three regional B2B publi- cations from Allen Fletcher, Joe has also been my business partner. The longtime publisher of Mainebiz is also a Worcester transplant, as former WBJ associate pub- lisher Donna (Rickoff ) Brassard took the plunge and moved in 1999 to run the Portland operation. Mark, Joe, Donna and I have all worked together for 30- plus years; those kinds of long-term relationships are irreplaceable. But clearly, we are the old guard now, and the vitality of the organization has relied heavily on smart, new journalists, designers and account executives who can deliver strategic value to our many advertisers, as well as a high-performing operations staff. Twenty-five years ago, we barely knew how to throw a small party. Today, we've got a superb events department that puts on close to a dozen first-class forums. Twenty-five years ago, we never dreamed of the online world, but today, we're a "breaking news" organization putting out regional business news each day through the popular WBJ Daily Report, our website and social media. We have evolved, we have innovated, and we'll continue to do so in the years to come. We would not be here without a won- derful, dedicated and talented staff, a vital and involved business community, and a large group of advertisers who have supported our efforts over the years, and continue to do so as we grow and expand our brand. We're grateful for the opportunity to serve this region and appreciative of all the friends we have made and the bridges we have built over these many years. I've always been proud of the fact that we're good at what we do — but not per- fect, and I hope that most of the time when we've made them that we've been willing to admit our mistakes. I never got the memo when I was in my 20s that you should switch jobs every two or three years and have half a dozen careers. For me, it has been a steady run for nearly 35 years in the publishing business in Central Massachusetts. Even if I had the chance at a "redo," I wouldn't have it any other way. No matter how long you've been read- ing the Worcester Business Journal, thank you for being part of our history and our future. n ~ Peter Stanton, Publisher; CEO, New England Business Media A quarter-century as an eyewitness to business I t used to happen a lot. But I don't think anyone has said it to me in a few years: "So how is everything at Business Worcester? I love reading your publication." If you were around in the 1980s, you might remember that the predecessor publication of the Worcester Business Journal was called Business Worcester. Dan Kaplan, then the publisher of Worcester Magazine, always had his eye out for new trends and expansion oppor- tunities. Several regional business publications had started up around the country, including in Boston. So why not a busi- ness publication for Central Massachusetts? So, starting with its debut issue in 1982, Business Worcester was born. Publisher Peter Stanton, left, with Mike Warshaw, the first editor of the Worcester Business Journal, in the late 1980s.