Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com August 29, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 5 REAL DEAL Real Deal highlights recent commercial property transactions in Central Massachusetts. Commercial real estate firms that want to submit information on transactions can send it to editorial@wbjournal.com. Source: SVN Parsons Commercial Group — Compiled by Sam Bonacci, Worcester Business Journal digital editor This chapel that has been converted to office space was sold with a number of tenants currently in place. The new owners plan to make improvements to the property and lease out the remaining space. ADDRESS: 54 Central St., Southborough AREA: 6,053 square feet SALE PRICE: $489,000 SELLER: Steeple Realty Trust BUYER: Davis Holding Group REGIONAL BRIEFS Looking for a host offering Four Diamond hospitality in a central, convenient location? Well... Offering space for 5 to 300 guests, world-class cuisine and Central Massachusett's only AAA Four Diamond approval rating, we host exceptional meetings and dinners of all sizes. Let's meet. 363 PLANTATION ST • WORCESTER • 508.754.5789 • BEECHWOODHOTEL.COM Broad Meadow Brook's 25 th Anniversary Celebration Thank you to our event sponsors, donors, and attendees for helping to celebrate 25 years of Broad Meadow Brook, Your Sanctuary in the City. Alternatives • FletcherTilton • FLEXcon • The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation • National Grid • Seder & Chandler LLP • Seven Hills Foundation • Standard Auto Broad Meadow Brook is open to the public, with free admission for all Worcester residents. Consider us for your next corporate off-site meeting or community service outing. 414 Massasoit Road Worcester, MA 01604 bmbrook@massaudubon.org www.massaudubon.org/broadmeadow Clark completes $24M student center Clark University has completed con- struction on its $23.8-million 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 on the building began last February. The structure is four sto- ries, 35,000 square feet and has solar roof panels. West Boylston startup gets $200K to develop robot West Boylston startup Coventry Associates received a $200,000 grant to develop an industrial robot. The 2016 START small business inno- vation research grant from MassVentures is part of $3 million in funding awarded to 17 companies across Massachusetts with the goal tocompanies forward toward manufacturing and commercial- ization of their products. Coventry Associates received a $100,000 Stage I grant last year. This year's Stage II grant will help fund work to design, build and test an industrial robot, according to President Craig Gardner. This work will help the com- pany move toward commercialization of the products and close orders totaling $6.5 million. Valeritas names new CFO; to work in Shrewsbury New Jersey-based Valeritas, which has manufacturing, research and develop- ment operations in Shrewsbury, has appointed a new CFO who will work out of the company's Shrewsbury offices. Valeritas announced Tuesday that Erick J. Lucera was named as the com- pany's chief financial officer. Lucera has more than 20 years of operational and investment experience at biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. Valeritas is a medical technology com- pany focused on developing technolo- gies for people with Type 2 diabetes. MEDC names former legislative aide as new executive director The Marlborough Economic Development Corp. appointed Meredith Harris its new executive director. The organization responsible for pro- moting economic development in the city made the announcement last week. Harris joined the organization last July as director of business development and has been managing the organization's day-to-day activities as director of oper- ations since the May departure of former executive director, Tim Cummings. Prior to joining MEDC, she spent five years working as a legislative aide at the Massachusetts State House, followed by a three-year stint as part of the real estate group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investment Management. TJX earnings hit $562M on growing consumer traffic As other retailers continue to pull back from brick-and-mortar locations, TJX is reporting continued growth in- store traffic resulting in $562 million in earnings in the second quarter. Those earnings for the Framingham off-price retailer were up 2.3 percent for the first quarter and up 4.5 percent for the first half of the year to $1.07 billion. Sales were up 7 percent for the first quarter to $7.9 billion. The largest store sales growth was seen in Canada, with a 9 percent increase. On the back of the news, the company raised its guidance for full year sales to increase by 4 percent, from previous guidance of 3 percent. Worcester's Curtis hires Canadian country manager A Worcester company specializing in enclosures for small recreational and work vehicles announced a new position of country manager for Canada as the company looks to expand. Curtis Industries announced it hired Russell Hooper to the new position. Hooper, who has experience in dealer development and sales, will handle all marketing, sales and service in Canada. The company, which started in 1968, also manufactures snow & ice control equipment for tractors and utility vehi- cles in addition to its enclosures. Curtis markets its products through vehicle manufacturers and a large network of dealers throughout the world. n

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