www.wbjournal.com March 30, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 3
Many years ago, I started a new job in an unconventional fashion: eating lobster and enjoying a glass of
wine. Bummer, right? The truth is that my first day on the job was also the start of a two-day corporate meet-
ing at a posh hotel on Cape Cod. (Oh, the anguish!) Two days. No work, except to listen to department lead-
ers address strategy and tactics.
That might seem boring to some, but since I really hadn't been exposed to something like that before, it was
refreshing: Getting everyone to pull in the same direction.
It also gave me an appreciation for those who plan such get-togethers: They search for adequate, comfort-
able space, and juggle a lot of details. And that doesn't include the agenda.
As we focus this edition on business meetings and those sometimes-business meetings on the golf course, read our story on Page
12 that looks at how businesses and the people who run meeting facilities in Central Massachusetts pull everything together for
enjoyable, productive sessions — with or without lobster and wine.
And, while you wait for the real arrival of spring and look for the golf clubs, peruse our annual list of the region's golf courses on
Pages 22 and 23.
~ Rick Saia (rsaia@wbjournal.com)
This Week In The WBJ
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
(Health Care)
Staff Writer/Copy Editor
Carol McDonald, cmcdonald@wbjournal.com
(Education)
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@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
Director, Major Accounts
Bonnie Leroux, bleroux@wbjournal.com
Senior Accounts Manager
Matt Majikas, mmajikas@wbjournal.com
Accounts Manager
Rena Barbieri, rbarbieri@wbjournal.com
Custom Publishing Project Manager
Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com
Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Controller, Mary Rogers
mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Assistant, Valerie Clark
vclark@nebusinessmedia.com
Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel
rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
Human Resources, Kim Vautour
kvautour@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
A division of:
WBJ on the Web
From news to information about events and awards, we have it all at WBJournal.com.
Call for nominations:
Family Business Awards
Time is running out to submit
nominations for this year's Central Mass.
Family Business Awards. Each year, we
profile several family-owned businesses and honor them at a special
reception. If you know of a business that deserves to be honored,
please go to www.wbjournal.com/familybusinessnomination
and fill out a nomination form. Deadline is Friday, April 10.
ON PAGE ONE
Gardner's past furnishes its future
Long a hub for making furniture, Gardner has capitalized on that manufacturing
skill to help move its manufacturing base into other industries.
What can Whole Foods do for you?
With the specialty grocer coming to Shrewsbury, will it help local real estate
values and reflect a change in Central Massachusetts' demographics?
NEWS & ANALYSIS
9 Hotel plans move ahead in Worcester
With three developments planned in and around downtown, the
number of rooms in the city would rise by about 50 percent within two
years.
11 College endowments surged in 2014
Most schools in Central Massachusetts saw double-digit percentage gains
in the last academic year, according to recent data.
All about HEALTH
We recently launched a new
quarterly publication, Central
Massachusetts HEALTH, which
focuses on the health care
consumer as well as the
industry. To read the digital
edition of Central Massachusetts HEALTH, please go to
www.wbjournal.com/health.
Business meetings can make impressions
DEPARTMENTS
33 Accolades & Honors
4 Briefing
37 Editorial
36 Flash Poll
27 Fresh Beginnings
33, 35 Incorporations
29 Knowhow
32-33 Movers & Shakers
35 Networking/Events
38 Photo Finish
31 The Rainmaker
5 Real Deals
8 Ticker
37 Viewpoint
12
12 Tech tools aside, meetings still matter
We may live in an increasingly wired
world, but in-person business meetings
still matter enough to many companies
that they sweat plenty of details when
they plan them.
13 Meeting facilities
A list of gathering places in Central
Massachusetts for business meetings and
other functions.
15 Golf courses in Central Massachusetts
Itching to play a round or two? Read our
annual list of golf courses in the region,
along with a listing of a few tournaments.
Meetings Guide
& Golf Directory
FOCUS
FAMILY
BUSINESS
A W A R D S
C E N T R A L M A S S .
SHOP TALK
8 Q&A with Anne Hardy, director, Saint-Gobain's research and
development center, Northborough
THE LISTS
18-19 Top tourist attractions in Central Massachusetts
20 Top hotels in Central Massachusetts
