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22 Worcester Business Journal • May 11, 2015 www.wbjournal.com WORCESTER ART MUSEUM THANK YOU BUSINESS PARTNERS D O N O R S $2,500+ J.J. Bafaro, Inc. Herbert E. Berg Florist, Inc. CCR Wealth Management, LLC Christie's Commerce Bank Country Bank Foley Incorporated Highland-March Office Business Centers Revelation Productions, Inc. Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. Waters Corporation Webster Five Worcester Magazine M E M B E R S $1,000+ AAFCPAs Avidia Bank Bartholomew & Company, Inc. Bay State Savings Bank BenefitsLab - Health Insurance Solutions Central One Federal Credit Union Columbia Tech Data Source, Inc. Davis Publications, Inc. Fiduciary Investment Advisors Floral Elegance Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. Mercier Electric Company, Inc. Miles Press, Inc. Russell Morin Fine Catering J.S. Mortimer, Inc. New England Disposal Technologies, Inc. Penta Communications, Inc. Pepper's Fine Catering Perfect Focus Eyecare Carol Seager Associates, Inc. Seder and Chandler, LLP Spencer Bank Thomas J. Woods Insurance Agency, Inc. Worcester County Memorial Park F R I E N D S $500+ The Berry Group of Wells Fargo Advisors Burr Insurance Butler-Dearden Charlton Manor Rest Home Checkerboard Ltd. Coghlin Electrical Contractors Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. Cutler Capital Management George's Coney Island Leadership Transitions F.W. Madigan Company, Inc. Marr Oil Heat Co., Inc. Merrill Lynch / The O'Brien Group Mirick O'Connell Northwood Insurance Agency, Inc. The Protector Group, a Marsh & McLennan Agency Company Quaker Special Risk Joffrey Smith Financial Group Sotheby's Struck Catering Sullivan Benefits Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly Insurance Agency, Inc. Sunshine Sign Company, Inc. Wings Over Worcester As of April 27, 2015 Together we make a difference for Worcester. Join us! Contact Karmen Bogdesic: 508.793.4326 / karmenbogdesic@worcesterart.org / worcesterart.org/business-partners WORCESTER ART MUSEUM / 55 Salisbury Street / Worcester, MA 01609 / 508.799.4406 $20,000+ Unum $10,000+ Fallon Health People's United Bank Saint-Gobain The TJX Foundation, Inc. United Bank Foundation Massachusetts S P O N S O R S $15,000+ Skinner Auctioneers $5,000+ Bowditch and Dewey, LLP Fletcher Tilton P.C. FLEXcon Company, Inc. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Imperial Distributors, Inc. Interstate Specialty Products, Inc. National Grid Reliant Medical Group Tufts Health Plan Medicare Preferred UniBank Worcester Business Journal tax incentives to bring new businesses into the city. He also said he sees gen- eral quality-of-life issues as a key to economic development. Better polic- ing and better roads could encourage both businesses and customers to con- sider Fitchburg. He said he's particu- larly troubled by shoppers driving through the city to commercial desti- nations in Leominster. "If we can stop them in Fitchburg, they won't be driving to Leominster," he said. Whoever ends up succeeding Wong — the other candidates who have taken out papers are Andrew Couture and Stephen Sandrelli — will have some advantages carved out for them, as well as some challenges. Nascimento noted that Fitchburg State has been expand- ing and working to help develop the downtown and other parts of the city as attractive destinations for young people. Meanwhile, Fitchburg has a relatively diversified economy, with jobs in fields including industrial sec- tors that have shrunk in many other places. "It still has a very strong manufac- turing base, and tourism is a growing sector of the economy that has quite a bit of potential for Fitchburg and for the rest of the region," Nascimento said. n Wong's successor in Fitchburg will inherit economic pressures >> Continued from Page 9 Fitchburg 7.1% 7% Massachusetts 5.4% 5% Some key numbers in the seven years since Mayor Lisa Wong took office in Fitchburg. The Wong years March 2007 BBB- Sept. 2013 A+ Source: Standard & Poor's MEDIAN ESTIMATED VALUE OF A SINGLE-FAMILY HOME Fitchburg $189,000 $153,000 Massachusetts $323,000 $330,000 Source: Zillow.com Jan. 2008 March 2015 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Source: Mass. Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Jan. 2008 March 2015 CITY'S BOND RATING: T's fleet. Fourteen of those trains are active, with three to four being added each month across all 12 commuter lines, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. An additional 75 new double-decker coaches have also been added to the mix, boosting the number of passengers per trip. However, the T hasn't determined whether express trains would be a part of the Worcester and Fitchburg mix. The T is reviewing the best options to improve "reliability and customer satisfaction," according to Pesaturo. "Any proposed schedule changes (as a result of this review) will be com- municated with local officials and the public to solicit their feedback," he added. And it will be up to those local officials and the area's representatives in the legislature to keep the issue of express trains front and center in the discussion of MBTA improvements, Murray said. But Murray admitted to being "concerned" about talk coming out of Boston about fixing the system, "because often that is language for taking care of Boston needs," said Murray. Working to both lines' advantage is that improvements that lay the foun- dation for faster, more reliable service have been underway in recent years. Pesaturo said the improvements to the Fitchburg and Worcester lines that have begun are continuing "full steam ahead." The work on the Fitchburg line will involve replacing rails, straightening curves and replacing bridges, all designed to allow trains to hit 79 miles per hour where they are now limited to 30 mph; that will cut travel time by up to 10 minutes on express routes, Pesaturo said. Meanwhile, the T has been treating rails on the Worcester line to allow them to better withstand the hottest days of summer, when tracks can widen and increase the chances of a derailment. A shakeup of the MBTA's management could mean good things for the commuter lines, Framingham's Robert said. "What we're seeing is an activist governor looking to make some chang- es and improvements based on what was a difficult travel season," Robert said. "We expect (that) that kind of involvement and interest should improve service, which should be a benefit to not just Framingham but other communities on the line as well." n Central Mass. and potential MBTA shakeup >> Continued from Page 7