Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com August 1, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 3 In 2004, Comedy Central's The Daily Show put out a book called "America (The Book)" filled with all sorts of stories and charts about everything that makes our country great/terrible. One of the more memorable features was this fictional chart on types of government workers, such as the idealistic man who got into government to house poor people but then took a promotion running the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As someone who had regular contact with all levels of government, I found the book utterly hilarious and kept it by my bedside for years to laugh/cry myself to sleep. My favorite entry from that feature, though, was the lifelong government worker whose job it was to operate a 50-year-old computer, which was scheduled to be decommissioned as soon as he retired. The only reason for the computer to exist was to provide him with a job, and the only reason his job existed was to service the computer. The inspiration quote from this employ- ee? "Three years until retirement." For every WBJ print publication, I reach out to the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth for a listing of all the businesses recently incorporated in the state, which turns into our Incorporations feature (which readers either love or hate, depending on their feelings toward raw market intelli- gence). When I first started with WBJ in September, you had to order a CD from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's bookstore that contained the corporations listing, as had been the requirement for years. I ordered the CD online, paid with a credit card – as has been common since the emergence of online shopping nearly 20 years ago now – and the state mailed me the CD. The CD was a pain, though. None of the computers at WBJ were really old enough to have CD drives and the software nec- essary to extract the corporations listing, which was written into an Excel file. So, I thought, "In this brave new world of email and the internet, could the state just email me the corporations list- ing Excel file directly, easily eliminating three steps of this labori- ous process?" The staff at the secretary of the commonwealth agreed … but stipulated – that since there is no order form in the online bookstore for just an Excel file without a CD – that I have to mail either a check or a money order, which we all know is the super-modern way of buying goods and services that was first invented by mail-order catalogues in the 1860s. By the way – and this is completely irrelevant to this column/ rant – the state adopted a new $39-billion budget last month. - 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 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: Massachusetts, dialing tech back to the 1800s NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Briefing 5 Real Deal 8 Ticker 16 List: Top SBA lenders 17 Know How 18 Movers & Shakers 18 Accolades 19 Incorporations ISSUE HIGHLIGHT: Small Business & Entrepreneurs Worcester video production company Skyscope was a small startup three Clark University students thought up to satisfy an entrepreneurial itch. After four years of Ramen noodles and sleepless nights, they sold the business. See page 12. Tweet of the week "WE DID IT!" - Ralph's Rock Diner (@RalphsDiner), July 27, on the bar selling the most Genesee beer of any bar in Massachusetts over the last six months Top social media comment "is is great! Medical research impacts us all" - Ian Burkhart (@iburkhart), July 26, on UMass' ALS research using Ice Bucket Challenge Funds Top comment of the issue "ere should be transparency with salary history, to reduce the incidence of salary bias, where women and minorities make less than white males who do the same job." – Anonymous poll commenter, July 20, on employers asking for salary history Most read stories on WBJournal.com Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wjournal.com Digital Editor, Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com (Real estate, construction, retail) Staff Writers Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com (Health care, energy, higher education, finance, nonprofits) John McIntyre, jmcintyre@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, technology) Contributors Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@wbjournal.com Livia Gershon Research Director, Stephanie Meagher, smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com Production Director, Kira Beaudoin, kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Associate Art Director, Mitchell Hayes, mhayes@wbjournal.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 CFO, 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 From WBJournal.com to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, the Worcester Business Journal offers breaking news and thoughtful analysis throughout the Internet. WBJournal .com Worcester Business Journal Online 6 Telemedicine While not an entirely new concept, new efforts by healthcare providers and state regulators are making electronic care more popular. 21 Lost sales tax opportunity Viewpoint columnist W. Stuart Loosemore said Central Massachusetts missed out when legislators decided to forgo the Sales Tax Holiday this year and warned the state to not repeat the mistake next year. Top social story UMass finds ALS gene using Ice Bucket challenge funds WBJ Facebook post: The Ice Bucket Challenge has paid off with a UMass Medical School doctor leading the way. • The story reached 17,488 people and had 7,287 reactions, comments and shares on Facebook. 19 Fresh Beginnings 20 Flash Poll 21 Editorial 21 Viewpoint 22 Photo Finish WBJ 1. UMass finds ALS gene using Ice Bucket challenge funds 2. Proposed $1.2B rail program calls for Worcester, Springfield improvements 3. Expanded Fix Burger Bar opening next week 4. TV pilot filming at Heywood Hospital 5. Big Y acquiring Hannafords in Milford, eastern Mass.

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