www.wbjournal.com May 11, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 3
When things are going well – very well – many people have a tendency to kick back and enjoy it and shift into
cruise control. It's only natural when life turns out sunny every day.
But that only makes it harder to recover from a setback, even a minor one.
at popped into my mind last week after I read several stories that cited a jump in optimism among small-
business owners and an eight-year high in consumer confidence.
Well, that's all nice and I hope many of you are feeling some of that optimism. After all, the Great Recession and
its long recovery have been tough on employers and employees, producers and consumers. ey've caused enough
upheaval that many of us now go through life with one eye always open, to proceed as if there's always someone or something preparing
to make you feel uneasy.
I remember a "60 Minutes" story about 15 years ago focusing on a company that was doing well. But its hard-charging CEO always
preached to his people to never rest easy.
e CEO was Jeff Bezos. e company was Amazon.com. You probably know the rest of the story.
A LITTLE CHANGE IS ALWAYS GOOD. We altered the format for our regular Real Deals corner on Page 5, and hope you like it. As
always, if you have any news on a commercial real estate transaction, we want to know about it. Don't hesitate to send it our way.
~ 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
Production Director, Kira Beaudoin
kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com
Associate Art Director, 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.
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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.
Looking to buy
or sell a business?
Turn to the WBJ Business BUY/SELL
Exchange, a new section on our
website where readers can find
helpful articles. You'll also find
listings of businesses for sale, as well as other resources.
Check it out at www.wbjournal.com/exchange.
ON PAGE ONE
Locked and loaded for sale
Fully leased properties with marquee tenants, such as at White City
Shopping Plaza in Shrewsbury, are drawing interest from commercial real
estate investors.
Can big data make business bigger?
Central Massachusetts businesses are rising to meet a growing need for
information that can help them grow their top and bottom lines. And local
schools such as Becker College are catching on to this phenomenon through
their educational offerings.
Central
Massachusetts HEALTH
We launched a new quarterly
publication, Central Massachusetts
HEALTH, in March. If you missed it,
read the digital version at
www.wbjournal.com/health.
Y O U R R E G I O N A L R E S O U R C E F O R B U Y I N G O R S E L L I N G A B U S I N E S S
Your resource for buying
or selling a business
The danger of resting too easy
DEPARTMENTS
28 Accolades & Honors
4 Briefing
33 Editorial
32 Flash Poll
30 Fresh Beginnings
30 Incorporations
27 Knowhow
31 Movers & Shakers
29 Networking/Events
34 Photo Finish
5 Real Deals
8 Ticker
33 Viewpoint
12 What's behind the 2015 rankings?
Here's what changed: Two health care firms added nearly
500 employees between them, one through a merger.
And a key manufacturer grew its workforce by more than
10 percent. What's the same? Health care and education
remain big economic drivers.
13 - 20 The list, from 1 to 100
This year's list of top employers begins and ends
in Worcester.
CORRECTION: A photo caption on Page 13 of the April 27 issue, with the story headlined "Central Mass. employers" as part of our two-story "Sizing up the MBA" feature, misidentified the name of the chief human resources officer
at UMass Memorial Health Care. He is Bart Metzger.
CENTRAL MASS. 100
FOCUS
SHOP TALK
8 Q&A with Brent Maugel, founder and president of Maugel
Architects, Harvard.
COLUMN
26 In The Rainmaker, Ken Cook walks you down the entrepreneur's path
from idea to investment.
NEWS & ANALYSIS
7 The T's woes and Central Mass.
As the state pushes toward a restructuring of the MBTA, officials in Central
Massachusetts wonder if any improvements by the public transit agency
will extend out here.
9 The business agenda for Fitchburg's next mayor
With Mayor Lisa Wong not running for another term, what are the major
issues in business growth and economic development that her would-be
successors need to address?
100
CENTRAL
M A S S
100
CENTRAL
M A S S