O
ver the course of the next year, I plan to lose 15-20 pounds and run a marathon in
three hours and 38 minutes. I don't know if I would necessarily call this a New
Year's resolution -- being generally opposed to the concept -- as it feels more like a
goal, but goals made around this time of year are really just
resolutions anyway.
Businesses make goals all the time, just look at the earnings projections for
any public company. Whether the goals are well-defined or very loose, these
resolutions keep us on track for who we want to be as people and as
organizations.
Looking ahead to 2016, our Economic Forecast issue sees a lot of trends
coming for the next year: wariness over economic stability; more bank
mergers, stable hospital perfomance, increased occupancy in commercial
real estate; endless energy debates; and debates that take endless energy.
While trends are good for understanding the market and having the proper intelligence to move
ahead in the Central Massachusetts business landscape, I'd like to unleash my own resolutions for
the region's key industries.
• Real Estate – Fill empty storefronts with retail and other attention-getting businesses to
create 24-hour destinations in places like Worcester and Framingham, leading to higher
commercial occupancy rates.
• Energy – Get fully operational energy infrastructure moving in New England like natural
gas pipelines and transmission lines from regions with excess electricity, leading to energy
reliability, affordability and diversity.
• Health Care – Lower costs. The price of health care for their workforces is a growing
concern among Central Massachusetts businesses, and – at some point – we need to realize
the promises of the Affordable Care Act.
• Education – Further develop strong technology transfer programs, so those ideas that have
been gestating in labs and in researchers' minds will become full-fledged companies.
• Banking & Finance – Strengthen community banks and credit unions, so they keep their
strong local ties, while letting the big banks do what they do best, like financing large
business initiatives.
• Manufacturing & Technology – Entice those Boston-area startups a little further west
to the land of lower rents, bigger commercial spaces and a trained workforce.
Despite the hesitation about the upcoming year that is told through the results of our
economic survey (Page 5), the Central Massachusetts business climate has been steadily improving
since the end of the Great Recession, and 2015 was another huge stride forward in that regard.
This coming year has that same opportunity to move the region forward economically. If we
continue to make the moves necessary to hit the goals of our important industries, this
opportunity will be realized.
- Brad Kane, editor
4 2016 Economic Forecast www.wbjournal.com Worcester Business Journal
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Economic outlook survey ............................ 5
10 predictions for 2016 ................................ 9
A look back
at our 2015 predictions ..............................10
Top companies/organizations
from 2015 WBJ lists ..................................11
Manufacturing
& Technology ..............................................13
Energy ........................................................17
Real Estate ................................................ 21
Health Care ................................................ 25
Education ................................................... 29
Banking
& Finance .................................................. 33
The Rainmaker ........................................... 36
Central Mass. stock
performance .............................................. 38
Central Massachusetts
business resolutions for 2016
2016
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wjournal.com
Digital Editor, Sam Bonacci,
sbonacci@wbjournal.com
(Real estate, construction, retail)
Staff Writers
Emily Micucci, emicucci@wbjournal.com
(Health care, government)
Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing, energy, technology,
higher education, finance, nonprofits)
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@wbjournal.com
Livia Gershon
Research Director, Stephanie Meagher
smeagher@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
Senior Accounts Manager, Matt Majikas,
mmajikas@wbjournal.com
Custom Publishing Project Manager,
Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com
Account Manager, Daniel Pelletier,
dpelletier@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 Manager, Donna Currie
dcurrie@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 2015. 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 $49.95.
For more information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com
or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008.
Fax: 845.267.3478
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Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860.
Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicit-
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to the sender.
Worcester Business Journal
172 Shrewsbury Street
Worcester, MA 01604
508-755-8004 tel.
508-755-8860 fax
www.wbjournal.com
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Predicting
the future
By looking back at
what happened in
2015, we forecast
2016's news.
2016
C O V E R I L L U S T R A T I O N :
M I T C H E L L H A Y E S
