Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com September 12, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 3 For those of you that read this column frequently, you know I see a main role of Worcester Business Journal is to help companies in Central Massachusetts raise revenue, cut expenses, navigate the regulatory landscape and learn from the actions of others – both good and bad. Essentially, we want businesses to become better businesses. One of my favorite ways to show busi- nesses how they can be better is to hold up examples of firms in the region breaking new ground with innovation and initia- tive – bringing cool, new things to the marketplace. For this issue's main cover story, Staff Writer Laura Finaldi did some legwork to track down how banks in the region were taking an old concept and using it to both increase their lever- age in the marketplace and help Central Massachusetts grow economically. In a cover feature that also doubles as the start of the Banking & Finance focus section, Finaldi's story is about how banks have tapped so much into the SBA lending for small business that loans have surpassed their pre-recession levels. For our other cover story, Digital Editor Sam Bonacci explored the novel pact between the developer of Worcester's Grid District, MG2, and a restaurant company, New England Craft Restaurant Concepts, where all of the eateries, bars and coffee shops at the downtown development will be owned and operated by the restaurant group. This is a significant depar- ture from usual plans where developers will partner with sev- eral restaurants in order to create complementary offerings. Lastly, for our third feature story of this edition, WBJ Correspondent Livia Gershon sat down with the smart people at Acacia Communications in Maynard, who were able to leverage their position providing internet infrastructure in an industry booming with demand into a $104-million initial public offering. Since that IPO in May, the company's stock has done nothing but go up, thanks to continued revenue increases. While these examples might not all apply to every business in the region, they go show that by breaking new ground, companies can find new levels of success. - 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: Cool, new things NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Briefing 6 Real Deal 8 Ticker 16 List: Top credit unions 17 Know How 18 Movers & Shakers 19 Incorporations ISSUE HIGHLIGHT: Banking & Finance In addition to this issue's cover story on the rise in U.S. Small Business Administration lending from area banks, the Banking & Finance focus for this issue looks at how a Maynard company leveraged internet infrastructure demand into Wall Street success. See page 12. Tweet of the week "Go MetroWest! MetroWest makes up 38% of WBJ 40 under 40" - Katelin (@BankSmartKATE) Sept. 1, on the announcement of the WBJ 40 under Forty winners from MetroWest Top social media comment "ey make great beer so it was only a matter of time!?" - Elizabeth L'Etoile, Sept. 7, on Wormtown Brewery expanding to 50,000 barrels a year in capacity Top comment of the issue ""I, for one, have never felt any prestige from being on salary vs. my hourly paid compatriots. I have always felt that salary is simply a way for your employer to get more work from you for less money." – Anonymous commenter, Sept. 1, on the print story "Businesses jumping through new OT hoops" Most read stories on WBJournal.com Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wjournal.com Digital Editor, Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com (Real estate, construction, retail) Staff Writer Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com (Health care, energy, higher education, finance, nonprofits) 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 Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com COO, 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 8 WSU $200M completion Worcester State University President Barry Maloney discusses the final completion of WSU's 16-year, $200-million facility upgrade project. 21 Community revitalization Viewpoint Columnist Julie Holstrom advocates for the existing downtown Worcester community to work together toward the city's revitalization goals. Top social story WBJ 40 Under Forty WBJ Facebook post: Congratulations to all the winners of the 2016 Worcester Business Journal 40 under 40. • The story reached 11,106 people and had 450 reactions, comments and shares on Facebook. 20 Flash Poll 21 Editorial 21 Viewpoint 22 Photo Finish WBJ 1. WBJ names 40 Under Forty winners of 2016 2. Wormtown to expand, double brewing capacity 3. New England Center for Children opens $11M autism institute 4. Dell picks new name ahead of EMC purchase 5. Worcester schools top Princeton Review lists

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