Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal • August 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Bull Mansion restaurant to open in September The new owners of Worcester's Bull Mansion have announced they will open their 130-seat restaurant near downtown this September. The restaurant at 55 Pearl St. will officially open on Sept. 9 but will begin a soft opening on Aug. 25. The location will feature a day-to-night spectrum of service with a bistro as well as a full restaurant, bar and entertainment, according to a release from the owners Victoria Mariano and Adi Tibrewal. The location features private function rooms for more than 200 guests. The historic mansion was purchased earlier this year for $480,00. The facility, which was built in 1876, last served as a restaurant before it closed in 2010 and was sold in a foreclosure auction. WPI grads have No. 2 starting salary in Mass. Worcester Polytechnic Institute has beat a slew of Boston area schools in a new study examining starting salary for recent graduates in which it came in second in Massachusetts. The study released by New York City data firm SmartAsset, ranked the schools in Massachusetts based on a starting salary index that takes into consideration average starting salary, tuition, average scholarships and grants, living costs and student retention rate. WPI beat out every school in the state other than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, with WPI achieving a 68.24 on the index. The study found that graduates of WPI achieve an average starting salary of $63,700, which was $2,000 more than third-place Harvard University in Cambridge, although significantly less than the $74,900 achieved on-average by recent MIT graduates. Clark completes $24M student center Clark University has completed con- struction on its $23.8M Alumni and Student Engagement Center. The center not only expands the school's footprint but will serve as the center for the Liberal Education and Effective Practice program. The project provides more space for informal meet- ings and centralizes many student ser- vices under one roof. Construction of the building began last February. The structure is four sto- ries, 35,000 square feet and has solar roof panels. Worcester firm adds 71 employees in E. Hartford acquisition Greenwood Industries has acquired an East Hartford, Conn. roofing com- pany in a move that grows the Worcester firm's workforce by 71 employees while expanding its Connecticut presence. The acquisition of Allied Restoration Corporation adds support to the grow- ing sheet metal manufacturing, roof system construction and replacement and the burgeoning roof maintenance businesses of Greenwood. "Allied has talent, relationships and the geographic location that fills a gap between our [Worcester and Freetown] Massachusetts and New Haven, Conn. locations," David Klein, Greenwood's president and former Worcester Business Journal 40 under Forty hon- oree, said in a statement. All 71 employees at the East Hartford location will be retained, according to Greenwood CEO Matthew Brown. The goal is to continue to grow the business, he said. Of those employees, approxi- mately 50 are roofing professionals and 10 are sheetmetal professionals, he said. The acquisition brings total employees of Greenwood close to 500. Holliston hockey/lacrosse firm buys 23 stores A Holliston retailer of hockey and lacrosse equipment nearly doubled its retail presence as it expands with the acquisition of a St. Louis retailer. With the acquisition, MetroWest- based TSG Enterprises -- which oper- ates under the Pure Hockey, Hockey Giant, Pure Goalie and Commonwealth Lacrosse brands -- will have 54 retail locations as well as seven ecommerce websites. The acquisition of the Missouri retailer Total Hockey gives TSG access to new markets in Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, Utah and Colorado, said TSG President David Nectow in a release announcing the acquisition. Financial terms were not disclosed. Leominster tax-avoidance firm president retires The president of Leominster's Exchange Authority announced on Aug. 10 he will retire with the company replacing the leader from within. Tim Halligan has led the company since it was purchased in 2008 by Fidelity Cooperative Bank. In 2015, Robert Charland was brought on as the company's CEO and he will now take over the role of president. Halligan will stay on as a consultant with the company while spending more time with his family in retirement, according to a release from the Exchange Authority. The company specializes in assisting investors navigating Section 1031 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, which allows people to avoid capital gains taxes while exchanging certain types of property which can range from artwork to race horses. I n a push to spur redevelopment of the Worcester Auditorium, the city and Preservation Worcester have opened the moth-balled building's doors this August to tours. For the first three Sundays in August, the nonprofit organization will host tours of the venue that has hosted such big names as Jay Z and Stevie Wonder. The first Sunday had more than 500 people visit the historic structure built in the 1930s as a World War I memorial, said City Manager Edward Augustus, and is just the beginning of a push by the city to open up the property to the public and get the word out about its marvelous interior. "A lot of people hadn't seen it since they were in high school," Augustus said. "It really is a spectacular space when you get in there." This is a grassroots effort to find the right developer who will fall in love with the building, Augustus said, whether through visiting or just seeing a photo of the majestic interior on social media, and bring it back to use. Another concert venue? A performance venue is nearly the only thing off the table, according to both Augustus and Deborah Packard, the director of Preservation Worcester. While the venue has served as a perfor- mance space for numerous acts and has a 7,000-pipe organ, it does not have the modern amenities nor acoustics that bring acts to Worcester's Hanover Theatre or Mechanics Hall. That massive auditorium and historic nature of the structure certainly could be constraining factors for potential developers, who would be required by the city to maintain the historic nature of the building. Although there are con- straints, Augustus said for the right developer there are plenty of positives. "The structure itself is sound. It is beautiful and unique and is surrounded by an ever-more vibrant area," he said. "There's a lot of good energy there, it's just a matter of finding the right fit and the right developer to put their own resources as well as leverage whatever public dollars might be available to help." So what could be done with it? According to Augustus, the city is in an exploration phase and is looking to developers to bring just that answer. The city has been pitched a number of con- cepts such as housing, art and office spaces and a co-operative space. The city has even been soliciting ideas from those touring the building. In the end, it needs a special devel- oper with a vision, Augustus said. n REGIONAL BRIEFS Verbatim "Patent trolls use patents as legal weapons instead of actually creating any new products or coming up with new ideas. Instead, trolls are in the business of litigation or threatening litigation." State Sen. Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow), on legislation reigning in so-called patent trolls >> "[This] robs employees of their rights to proper wages, safe work- places, social secu- rity payments." Michael Felsen, the U.S. Department of Labor's regional solicitor, on a $2.4-million fine levied against companies in Framingham and Lunenberg for avoiding overtime payments >> "The assault weap- ons ban has been implemented effec- tively by the Attorney General's Office as well as law enforcement… I am also fearful this will have an immediate eco- nomic impact on small retailers." Rep. Harold Naughton Jr. (D-Clinton) on Attorney General Maura Healey's attempt to stop sales of copycat assault rifles >> In Review CENTRALMASS Worcester Auditorium hosts 500+ in redevelopment push BY SAM BONACCI Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor >> Continued on next page Worcester envisions the auditorium to be turned into housing, culture or office space while still maintaining its historic relevance.

• Cover