Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com January 4, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 3 You know the narrative: one city is the largest in New England; the other is the second largest. One is the center of cul- ture, tourism, business, innovation, entre- preneurship and excitement; the other is a dying former industrial hub struggling to avoid slipping into the abyss. One is where great careers go to thrive; the other is a stopping post for those on the rise. This story about Boston and Worcester contains perhaps only a small shred of truth (myths or stereotypes might be a better way to describe these statements), but the fact that it exists at all speaks to the collective attitude Worcester has toward itself. Among all the talk in Central Mass. about attracting and retaining top business talent in the area, common complaints are the city and the region aren't as exciting as eastern Massachusetts and young people, in particular, would much rather be in Boston. To that end, let me introduce Worcester Business Journal's newest hire, Laura Finaldi. A 2014 graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and former Boston Globe intern, Finaldi is exactly the type of talent that Central Massachusetts businesses can and do attract from eastern Massachusetts and around the country, proving the stereotypical Boston-Worcester narrative is indeed far from the truth. Finaldi originally resided in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton when she was hired at WBJ, but she has since moved out to Worcester. Apparently the thought of not paying $800 per month for one floor of a three-story house that she shared with two other people was a significant factor, as was avoiding the morning commute and learning more about the underrated Worcester arts and cultural scene. In her new role, Finaldi will cover the manufacturing, higher education, energy, finance, technology and nonprofit beats for WBJ, primarily writing for the print edition. You can see her first stories for the publication on the front page and page 7 of this issue, covering topics related to big data in higher education and businesses dealing with negative online reviews. Every city is going to have its strengths and weaknesses. Worcester may have a lot of real or perceived challenges to over- come in order for it to grow as an economic hub, but there is nothing wrong with Worcester that can't be fixed by what is right with Worcester. - Brad Kane, editor 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 2015. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are avail- able for $54.95. For more information, please emai l wbjour nal @ cambe y west. 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 responsi- bility 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: Mark down another point for Worcester NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 17 Accolades & Honors 4 Briefing 21 Editorial 20 Flash Poll 16 Incorporations 19 Knowhow 17 Movers & Shakers 16 Networking/Events 22 Photo Finish 5 Real Deals 8 Ticker 21 Viewpoint ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS Worcester continues to grow and diversify its commercial real estate. In this issue's Focus section, the Massachusetts president of Citizens Bank discusses why his institution made a $42-million investment in housing for the CitySquare development while WBJ Digital Editor Sam Bonacci looks at how more property owners are seeing the value of building sports complexes. 12 From WBJournal.com to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, the Worcester Business Journal offers breaking news and thoughtful analysis throughout the Internet. Tweet of the week "Congratulations to Jill Lebow, appointed SVP and CHRO at Fallon Health @FallonTips via @WBJournal" - Leigh Tucker, @NonprofitCFOs, Dec. 16 Top Facebook post "Worcester and Framingham have gotten national recognition as great places to live partially because of our great brewers. Congratulations!" Top Facebook comment On the Sunday pay law story: "I'd never work a Sunday if I wasn't paid more. Sunday is one of the busier retail days especially during the holidays." - Elizabeth Scarborough Most read stories on WBJournal.com 1. Central Massachusetts Power Players 2. Massachusetts examining Sunday pay law 3. Christina Andreoli (Central Massachusetts Power Players) 4. Worcester CitySquare scores $42M loan 5. Former Worcester business owner pleads guilty to $3.6M in fraud 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 WBJournal .com Worcester Business Journal Online 7 Businesses keeping an eye on online reviews As search engine results typically return what customers are saying about businesses, more firms in Central Massachusetts are watchful of negative reviews about their services and what can be done to make customers happy. 8 An update on Webster First's acquisition in Boston Eight months after Webster First Federal Credit Union completed its merger of Boston-based Industrial Credit Union, Q&A checks in with President & CEO Michael Lussier on the progress his firm has made. Top social story Worcester CitySquare scores $42M loan WBJ Facebook post: "It doesn't just take vision to make things happen, but money. In this case roughly $42 million." • The story reached 8,289 people and was shared or liked 166 times on Facebook.

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