Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • April 25, 2016 www.wbjournal.com N iche Hospitality will open its new location for the Fix Burger Bar in the former Northworks Bar & Grille space this June, more than doubling the seating for the restaurant and adding space for private functions. Construction is currently underway at the location at 108 Grove St. in Worcester. Once completed, the Fix Burger Bar will move from its Shrewsbury Street location with roughly 70 seats to one with around 200. The Fix is part of the restaurant group's five Central Massachusetts locations. "We were looking to expand The Fix, and Northworks came along, and it was a perfect fit for us," said Michael Covino, president and CEO of Niche. "We feel it's a great street with a lot of traffic and plenty of parking in the lot across the street." The new location will also have two private function rooms for around 40 people and more than 20 lines of beer on tap. Covino said said the location doesn't have a long history of being a restaurant but it is located in an upcoming part of the city with access to the west. Covino is playing his cards close on the plans for the former Fix location on Shrewsbury Street. Not because he doesn't want to reveal the plans for the loca- tion Niche owns, but because the plans have not been entirely firmed up. In talking to Covino, it appears that there are two major options being floated for the space. The first would be an incubation model similar to what occurred with The Fix and Mezcal Tequila Cantina before it. Niche would create another new restaurant concept at the same price point and then let it develop until it is time to move to a bigger venue. The other option would be to create a more upscale dining experience with plates in the $22 to $28 range that would allow the organization's chefs to really play around. "We have really solid culinary talent right now, and we want them to be able to express it, but in a way that fits into our core values of a quality product and a quality value," Covino said. Both of these options are being dis- cussed with the Niche team, staff and customers, he said. n $5M Hanover Theatre expansion set for summer opening The $5 million expansion of the Hanover Theatre opening this summer will bring with it a new conservatory offering classes for budding area thes- pians to be named in honor of outgoing Hanover Insurance president Frederick Eppinger and his wife. "The theater wouldn't be here with- out him," Hanover Theatre President and CEO Troy Siebels said of the name for the 22,500 square-foot expansion. "He's responsible for giving us the insight to make it work and he and his wife Patty have been very involved every step of the way." The space at 551 Main St. directly adjacent to the theater will house the 7,500-square-foot conservatory on the ground floor of the three story build- ing. This conservatory will hold classes for aspiring actors from ages as young as six up through high school in an expansion of classes that are currently only held during the summer and for a much narrower age range, Siebels said. While not every student will go on to perform in the theater, the skills they learn are translatable to other areas of life such as public speaking. The new building will be revealed at a June 2 ribbon cutting to be followed by a block party celebrating the Theatre District. Marlborough co. to add 100 jobs in expansion CeQur has broken ground on an expansion of its Marlborough facility that will double its size and allow it to increase the workforce by 100 over the next two years. The maker of simple insulin infusion for people with diabetes is undertaking the expansion in preparation for the launch of the company's three-day insulin infusion device, PAQ. When work is completed later this year, it will bring the facility's size to 25,000 square feet, according to a release from CeQur. The expansion includes a new clean room, labs and a manufacturing line. The new space will also allow the com- pany to grow its Marlborough employ- ee base from 50 to 150, according to an announcement. Assumption, Holy Cross make best Catholic schools list Assumption College and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester have been named among the top Catholic colleges and universities in the nation in a listing created by College Choice. The college selection organization ranked Holy Cross as the seventh best Catholic school in the country, behind No. 1. University of Notre Dame. Boston College ranked fourth on the list and highest for a Massachusetts school. This high ranking for Holy Cross came from its wide breadth of offer- ings, with College Choice noting it is the only Catholic college ranked among the top 50 liberal arts schools by U.S. News and World Report. Assumption College rounded out the list at 53rd in the nation, with College Choice noting its emphasis on students serving the community as well as trav- eling abroad to learn about different cultures. College Choice created the ranking using college reputation, net cost, aver- age financial aid packages and average starting graduate salary. WPI MBA program ranked among best in nation Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Master of Business Administration has been ranked among the top 50 in the county in a listing created by College Choice. The college selection organization ranked WPI's flex track MBA program 42nd in the nation in a list of online MBA programs. The MBA combines online and on-campus study. The pro- gram is set up with various core cours- es, specialized electives, and a required capstone project gives students the "freedom of educational exploration, as well as the discipline of putting that education into practice," according to the organization. The rankings were based on factors such as cost of attendance, each pro- gram's reputation in its field, and return on investment. James Madison University, University of Nebraska Lincoln, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, University of Tennessee Martin, and University of Mississippi occupy the top five spots on the list. UMass Amherst was the only other Massachusetts school to make the list, hitting tenth place for its MBA from the Isenberg School of Management. Wage gap costs Mass. women $11B a year A new study has found that the gen- der wage gap is costing Massachusetts women over $11 billion a year, with Central Massachusetts women faring slightly worse than their more eastern counterparts. According to the study conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families, Massachusetts women employed full time, year round are paid on average 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. That comes to a yearly wage gap of $11.2 billion. REGIONAL BRIEFS Verbatim "Compelling any pri- vate-sector company to disclose highly sensitive proprietary information is some- thing policymakers should approach with great trepida- tion." Mark Gallagher, Massachusetts High Technology Council executive vice president, regarding drug pricing disclosures >> "As we face a substance addiction crisis of epic proportions, I oppose measures that make it easier to introduce young people to drug use." State House Speaker Robert DeLeo on why he has chosen to band together with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker in opposing the legalization of recreational marijuana >> "This Chapter 90 appropriation will allow our towns to address important road and bridge improvements that are crucial for providing stability and economic growth." State Rep. Harold Naughton, Jr. (D-Clinton) on state road repair funds for Central Massachusetts communities >> In Review CENTRALMASS >> Continued on next page Niche expands Fix; looks at new venture on Shrewsbury Street BY SAM BONACCI Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor The new location of the Fix Burger Bar on Grove Street in Worcester will feature meeting spaces and seating for more than 200 patrons, a 190-percent increase over the capacity in its current location.

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