Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • May 11, 2015 www.wbjournal.com A personal finance website recently ranked Worcester as the best of the largest cities in New England in which to start a small business. But to put that in perspective: Worcester ranked 96th out of 150 U.S. cities. The website, WalletHub, released a report in late April on the potential for startup success in those cities. Worcester topped Boston (115th) and Providence (135th), and it was second in the Northeast to Buffalo, N.Y., which ranked 65th. Does this give the city any bragging rights? A little. It's a big world out there for small businesses, and it turns out that Worcester occupies a relatively small corner of it, according to the survey results. Cities in the South, the Midwest — pretty much anywhere in the U.S. but the Northeast — did better on welcoming entrepreneurship. Worcester even came out ahead of New York City which, for all its bustle, ranked 105th. The top five finishers on the WalletHub list: Shreveport, La., followed by Tulsa, Okla., Springfield, Mo., Chattanooga, Tenn. and Jackson, Miss. How were the ratings compiled? WalletHub evaluated each of the 150 most populous U.S. cities in two categories: access to resources (financ- ing, affordable office space, number of educated employees, and labor costs); and overall business envi- ronment (taxes, cost of living, small-business friendli- ness and five-year business survival rate). Worcester ranked 67th on access to business, but near the bottom — 140th — on overall business envi- ronment. Can the local small-business environment improve? Worcester and state officials are working on several fronts to ease the way for entrepreneurs. Gov. Charlie Baker's administration appears committed to studying and detangling the slate of business-related regulations. One of the early acts of his administration in January was a three-month freeze on new regulations. In Worcester, a conversation over the last several years among business leaders, residents and the city has led to a narrowing of the gap between commercial and residential tax rates. And Mayor Joseph Petty recently announced the formation of a 17-member panel to review tax policy and develop long-term recommenda- tions. Meanwhile, the downtown is undergoing a devel- opment renaissance. And public schools, as well as the state's colleges and universities, are taking strong and thoughtful steps to connect curriculum and student opportunities to the state's workplace needs. n WESTBOROUGH — Conservation Services Group (CSG), the nonprofit provider of energy efficiency services, has been sold to a Texas company after 31 years of operation, the firms announced. CSG operates in 14 states and oversees 70 residential energy effi- ciency programs, including MassSave, which is run by major Bay State utilities National Grid and Eversource. Pending regulatory approval, CSG will become part of CLEAResult, based in Austin, Texas, according to CSG. CSG has 800 employees, about half of whom work out of the Westborough headquarters. WORCESTER — Hanover Insurance Group's profits soared more than 21 percent in the first quarter, helped by a 4.4-percent rise in revenue over the first quarter of 2014, the insurer report- ed. Revenue grew to $1.299 billion in the first quarter of 2015, from $1.244 billion. Operating income was $57.1 million, or $1.27 per share, the compa- ny said — a 21.5-percent leap from the $47 million, or $1.05 per share, report- ed in the first quarter of 2014. HOLLISTON — Harvard Bioscience reported a $1.4-million loss amid lower first-quarter revenue of $25.8 million, a slight drop of about 0.5 per- cent from $25.9 million over the same period of 2014, the life sciences manu- facturer said. Revenue for the three months ending March 31 includes sales from recent acquisitions Multi Channel Systems MCS GmbH, Triangle BioSystems, Inc. and HEKA Electronik, the company noted in its report. However, Harvard Bio said, those revenues were offset by the neg- ative impact abroad from a stronger dollar. Harvard Bio does about 35 percent of its business in Europe. OXFORD — IPG Photonics started off the year with strong revenue growth and increases in net income thanks to strong demand for its high- power fiber lasers, the company reported. In the first quarter, which ended March 31, IPG experienced 17-percent revenue growth over 2014, driven by an 18-percent jump in mate- rials processing sales, the company said. IPG said demand grew in cut- ting, welding and additive manufac- turing applications across a number of industries and markets. Meanwhile, sales of high-power fiber laser sales increased 14 percent and sales of the company's other laser systems also rose. BOXBOROUGH — Lightower Fiber Networks is buying a Rochester, N.Y.- based competitor. Lightower, a tech- nology network services provider, and Fibertech Networks announced the all-cash agreement valued at $1.9 bil- lion. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, pending regulatory approvals. It will expand Lightower's reach throughout the Northeast, grow- ing its service locations to almost 13,000, including commercial build- ings, data centers, financial exchanges, content hubs and other communica- tions facilities. The combined compa- ny will be led by Lightower CEO Rob Shanahan, the firms announced. WORCESTER — Quinsigamond Community College and the University of Massachusetts Medical School each received $5-mil- lion grants from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC). The awards were among close to $11 mil- lion the MLSC awarded to Central Massachusetts educational institu- tions. More than $925,000 was award- ed to fund equipment and supplies for high schools and middle schools in Worcester and surrounding commu- nities. That includes $265,000 to buy laboratory equipment for the city's six middle schools. The money will also be used to make the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum uniform across those schools. ACTON — Employment drug testing company Psychemedics Corp. reported a profit of 5 cents per share on net income of $278,000 in the first quarter, which ended March 31. The company also reported promising business prospects because of recently passed regulations in Brazil. The com- pany's profit was down from the fourth quarter of 2014, when it was 14 cents a share. Psychemedics said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share. Revenue for the first quarter was $6.77 million, down 4 percent from $7 million in the first quarter of 2014. MARLBOROUGH — Boston Scientific Corp. reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 21 cents per share, a penny higher than for the first quarter of 2014, and at the high end of the company's projection of 19 to 21 cents. However, litigation-related costs and other charges contributed to a net loss of $1 million in the quarter, with no per-share change. A year earlier, Boston Scientific turne a profit of $133 million. The first quarter ended March 31. Boston Scientific also said opera- tional revenue grew 6 percent for the quarter, compared with the first quar- ter of 2014, though it was flat on a reported basis. Sales were $1.768 bil- lion, in line with the company's expec- tation, which was in the range of $1.74 to $1.8 billion. Revenue, though, missed the consensus estimate from REGIONAL BRIEFS >> Continued on next page Verbatim "I do not believe there is reason to delay the implementation date that the voters overwhelmingly approved last fall." Attorney General Maura Healey on the voter- approved law guaranteeing sick time, which is scheduled to take effect July 1. Source: BostonGlobe.com, May 5 "I worry a little bit about public privacy issues there, and I think the public, if they understood how it works, might worry a little bit about it, too." Gov. Charlie Baker on equipping police with body cameras for the sake of transparency, a practice that some have urged in the wake of deaths of several African-American men in other states over the last several months. Source: MetroWest Daily News, May 4 >> "The loss of the 5,000 state employees at once certainly poses some managerial challenges for the Baker administration." Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny, on Baker's plan to reduce the state workforce by up to 5,000 employees through early retirements. Source: Boston Globe, May 5 >> BRIEFING: SMALL BUSINESS IN WORCESTER CENTRALMASS In Review >>

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