Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • December 7, 2015 www.wbjournal.com L ast month, the City of Worcester was getting ready to solicit bids for a new wave of police towing contracts to begin in January, with the current set issued in 2010 set to expire. But the Purchasing Department quickly did an about-face, opting instead to negotiate with existing contractors for another year before issued a new request-for-proposals. Is NFL player's business at issue? The reason, according to City Manager Edward Augustus, was con- troversy stemming from a newly- formed company, Patriots Service Center and Auto Towing Inc., founded in October by former New England Patriots defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth III. There are concerns that Haynesworth has ties to Pat's Towing, a former city contractor that was the sub- ject of a criminal investigation two years ago. Augustus was careful not to call out Haynesworth or the new company, and declined to speculate directly about the rumors, but he said the city is eager to do business only with responsible contractors; in 2013, the city terminated its contract with Pat's Towing after criminal assault charges were filed against employees of the company. Pat's sought an injunction, but it was denied by a fed- eral judge. "I'm saying this in affirmative way. What I want to do is make sure that any- body we do business with is a responsible contractor," Augustus said. How do the contracts work? There are 10 towing zones in the city, and each is bid separately. Those amounts are negotiable. Annual con- tract values in 2015 range from $5,300 to about $50,000, with towing companies paying a flat fee to the city in exchange for towing rights. Companies are paid $90 per tow. According to Augustus, neither Patriots Service Center and Auto Towing nor any other contractor had submitted a bid when the Purchasing Department can- celed the RFP. He also said he had no knowledge about Haynesworth, or his newly-formed company, until controversy started to brew. Typically, Augustus said he's not involved at all in bidding as the Purchasing Department generally oversees it. What is Haynesworth's legacy? No one with ties to Haynesworth's company was avail- able for comment at the phone number listed for the business address, 9 Casco St. in Worcester, last week. In 2011, Haynesworth played a short stint as a defensive tackle with the New England Patriots after being traded by the Washington Redskins but was terminated after about three months. According to numerous media reports, Haynesworth had a reputation for being diffi- cult to work with, during his time with Patriots as well as other teams. Today, Haynesworth lives in Petersham, according to incorporation documents filed with the Secretary of State's office. n Iconic Worcester toy store to close The Classic Toy Shop that has been providing toys and games to the chil- dren of Worcester and surrounding communities for the past 35 years will shut its doors before the end of the year. The shop, located at 198 Park Ave., will close once the store's inventory has been depleted, said owner Betsy Madson. While the store continues to do well, selling classic games and toys that play into a child's development in a positive way, it is time for her to step out from behind the counter and into retire- ment, she said. Devens robots to send holiday shipments Devens distributor Quiet Logistics has added robots to its warehouse holi- day workforce this year in a partnership with Locus Robotics, the companies announced. In addition to its 550 seasonal hires to handle the shipping load, Quiet will be using multi-fulfillment robots to get out orders for e-commerce companies such as Zara, Bonobos and Bluefly. Annually, Quiet ships over $1 billion in e-commerce orders and plans to tran- sition to a fully automated Devens ware- house by the end of the year. Niche Hospitality co-owner opens gym Mike Covino, President and CEO of Niche Hospitality, will be opening his newest venture Peak Fitness Performance Training in December. The 10,000 square foot training facil- ity at 712 Plantation St. in Worcester offers workout equipment and personal- ized training programs from certified professionals, according to Covino. Beginning in January, Peak Fitness will offer baseball and softball camps for teens. The facility will have four batting cages and a 4,000 square foot speed turf. In addition to sports training, the facility will include small group boot camps, strength training courses and personal training. Pepper's Catering attains green certification Pepper's Fine Catering and Events has become a Certified Green Restaurant thanks to ongoing sustainability efforts, the company announced Tuesday. The Green Restaurant Association awarded Pepper's, of Northborough, a two-star status. The association evalu- ates everything from the sustainability of the food served to water efficiency. The company plans to increase its environmentally friendly stance with the installation of solar panels in the next year. Worcester foundation surpasses $100M in giving The Greater Worcester Community Foundation has exceeded $100 million in overall giving, while it continues to build its foundation to ensure support of area nonprofits for another 40 years and beyond. The GWCF is a nonprofit grant maker that was created by a group of residents wanting to ensure that Worcester's com- munity projects and nonprofits were supported, according to the GWCF. Since its creation in 1975, with no large foundational endowment to start off, its endowment has grown to nearly 600 funds with more than $140 million. 94K square feet leased in Hopkinton The Hopkinton Technology Park added tenants and retained current companies with the recent leasing of 93,800 square feet in ten different trans- actions, according to Greater Boston Commercial Properties. The largest tenants are California Closets at 30,300 square feet and A123 Systems at 20,000 square feet, both of whom signed long-term renewals of their leases. Phosphorex signed a deal to expand its operations by relocating to 12,000 square feet of biotech laboratory space, according to Greater Boston Commercial Properties. In addition to retaining clients, three new tenants were added with Kinetics, BenSales and Two Men And A Truck joining the park. Worcester home appreciation stumbled in Sept. The number of homes that appreciat- ed throughout Worcester in September took a 20-percent drop when compared to the previous year, according to Weiss Analytics of Natick. The report, which looks at actual val- ues of homes instead of the values of sales, found that the number of Worcester homes that appreciated in value was down 20.6 percent, with only 36.1 percent adding to their value in September when compared to 56.7 per- cent in September of the previous year. According to Weiss Analytics CEO Allan Weiss, it is too early to tell if this is part of a larger trend but it could be a cause for concern. Mass. green jobs up 12% in 2015 The clean energy sector now employs nearly 99,000 workers in Massachusetts, after five consecutive years of growth, according to a report out from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. A total of 6,439 clean energy compa- nies across the state employ 98,895 workers, representing a 11.9 percent growth over last year, the 2015 REGIONAL BRIEFS Verbatim "If people go back and they realize that since 1978 our stan- dard of living has been dropping grad- ually ...and that they can actually do something about it, will they?" Sen.President Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) on higher taxes on the rich. Source: Worcester Business Journal >> "I remember being amazed by the fact that I could go on a site, order something, and magically it would fall out of the sky and land on my porch in the next few days." Gov. Charlie Baker on a recent visit to an Amazon warehouse. Source: Worcester Business Journal >> "The beauty of a permanent foundation is that you are invested for the long-term … it's an asset to the community." Ann T. Lisi, president and CEO of the GWCF following the announcement that the founda- tion has given out $100M in 40 years. Source: Worcester Business Journal >> In Review CENTRALMASS >> Continued on next page Worcester pulls towing request after controversy with NFL player

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