Worcester Business Journal

July 20, 2015

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www.wbjournal.com July 20, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 3 When you begin a new year, you know when the holidays fall. Many businesses even spell out their "observed" holidays in an annual memo to their employees. Better to plan ahead, after all. You want to know when those three-day weekends will come up so you can plan your work if you're going to be away from the office an extra day. For the last decade, Massachusetts has made it an annual event to deliberate — and deliberate a bit more — about an unannounced holiday: the annual sales tax holiday, or, to be more accurate, the sales tax "holiday weekend" that has come just before the kids head back to school. Out of the last 11 years, there has been only one in which we have not enjoyed that "freedom" from the now 6.25-percent sales levy, and that was the year in which the Great Recession was ravaging state coffers and lawmakers approved an increase in the sales tax from 5 percent. So, like, what's the big deal? Can we just call a tax holiday and get ready to hit the stores on some weekend in August? (As of press time, the 2015 holiday appeared headed toward approval on Beacon Hill.) Maybe the bigger question is: Can we make it a permanent annual holiday? ~ Rick Saia (rsaia@wbjournal.com) This Week In The WBJ 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 $54.95. 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: Outstanding Women in Business This fall, we'll once again honor a group of women who play critical roles in the Central Massachusetts economy. Nominate a senior-level executive who deserves to be recognized, by Friday Aug. 7. Fill out a nomination form at www.wbjournal.com/womeninbusiness. NEWS & ANALYSIS 9 Fair thee well? For some Central Massachusetts entrepreneurs, fairs and farmers markets have become a proving ground for what they have to offer. Health care forum Our Power Breakfast series will continue Wednesday, Aug. 12 when we host a forum on health care. The keynote speaker, Delia Vetter of EMC Corp., will address how a company should develop its health care strategy. The event will take place at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester. Register today at www.wbjournal.com/healthcareforumattend. Happy holiday! (assuming we have one) DEPARTMENTS 12 12 Killing cancer, a patient at a time Researchers and life sciences firms in Central Massachusetts engage in personalized therapies to help treat cancer patients. 13 Forget the lawsuits: Full speed ahead! Despite a recent court verdict and product liability settlements, Boston Scientific has a strong product line to fuel more growth, say analysts who cover the Marlborough firm. CORRECTIONS: • Our Page One story in the June 22 print edition, Alternative medicine meets the mainstream, incorrectly identified the year in which Simonds-Hurd Complementary Care Center in Fitchburg opened. It opened in 2010. • Our list of Highest-paid nonprofit chief executives, which appeared on Page 79 of our 2015 Book of Lists, incorrectly characterized the total fiscal year 2013 compensation of Robert V. Antonucci (number 17 on the list), recently retired president of Fitchburg State University, relative to the annual revenue of the listed organization. The revenue for that organization, the Fitchburg State University Foundation, was correctly listed at $1,590,046. Antonucci's salary also included his role as president of the university, whose fiscal 2013 revenue was $97.5 million. • On Page 4 of the Book of Lists, we incorrectly stated the digital formats in which the lists are available off our website, WBJournal.com. They are available only in Excel. Life sciences FOCUS 18 Accolades & Honors 4 Briefing 21 Editorial 20 Flash Poll 9 Fresh Beginnings 15 Incorporations 17 Knowhow 19 Movers & Shakers 18 Networking/Events 22 Photo Finish 5 Real Deals 8 Ticker 21 Viewpoint ON PAGE ONE Reaching for the rainbow Last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision to affirm gay marriage has broadened businesses' efforts to reach out to the LGBT community in Central Massachusetts. The next health insurance battle Smaller health insurers and their small-business customers are awaiting state action on the insurers' proposed premiums for 2016. At stake is how much businesses and their subscribers will have to pay. COLUMN 16 Are you looking for the clearest picture of where your business is and where it needs to go? Ken Cook has the answer in The Rainmaker. 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 Alanna Moriarty, amoriarty@wbjournal.com Christina P. O'Neill 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 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In 2009 Business Women In Outstanding SHOP TALK 8 Q&A with Michael Detarando, president and CEO of Incom Inc., in Charlton THE LIST 14 Top biomedical companies in Central Massachusetts

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