Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | October 24, 2016 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Digital Editor, Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com (Real estate, construction, retail) Staff Writer Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, energy, technology, higher education, finance, nonprofits) Contributors Susan Shalhoub Livia Gershon Research Director, Stephanie Meagher, smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@wbjournal.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 Events and Sales Assistant Clare Hyland, chyland@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 President, Joseph Zwiebel jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com W hen my youngest daughter, Brooke, says the word "yel- low," it is the cutest thing in the world. Brooke hasn't fully grasped her enunci- ation yet, so whenever we ask her what color her and her mother's hair is, she will happily say, "well-whoa." It always makes me smile and brings a tear to my eye. Because it is also a miracle. Brooke, like her three other siblings, has autism spectrum disorder and speak- ing doesn't come naturally for her. Like her older brother and sister, for the first five years of her life, Brooke only spoke in unintelligible sounds, rotating between screams, babbles, cries and laughs. Only in the past six months did sounds become syllables and then syllables became words. Now, Brooke has about a dozen words. Her speech is the result of countless hours of hard work from Brooke, her teachers, her paraprofessional educators, her doctors, their nurses, her at-school speech and occupational therapists, her at-home speech and occupational thera- pists, advanced behavioral analysis thera- pists, all their supervisors and, of course, my wife and her mother, Sarah. Of all these people who helped Brooke over the years – roughly 50 people – about 95 percent are women. That same percentage applies to the people who helped my older children learn to speak and to the ones helping my youngest son. Whenever discussions begin about pro- fessional equality between the genders, the talk usually starts with broad strokes such as women making 80 cents for every $1 a man makes or the small percentage of women on corporate boards (19 percent) or in CEO positions (5 percent). While these situations need to be fixed, the reme- dies often miss the point. For example, the Massachusetts Pay Equity Law passed this year makes it unlawful for women and men of equal experience holding similar positions to be paid different wages, but I sincerely doubt there are a significant number of situations like this in the regional business community; the law is more symbolic than an agent for change. Instead, the focus needs to be on the value women bring to the community. I have been a journalist for 13 years and like to think I have accomplished a note- worthy thing or two, but nothing I have ever done comes remotely close to helping a speechless young girl learn to talk. Brooke very well could have gone her whole life without ever verbally communicating with anyone, further hindering her in a life filled with challenges. Yet, thanks to the unrelent- ing efforts of dozens of women, Brooke has a voice. You can't put a price on that, but – as a society – we have, and it is far too low. Based on my interactions with them, the women who have helped my children live very modestly. With the exception of the doctors and some teachers, most are very young and are studying for advanced degrees in order to enter higher-paying jobs. As a business editor, I am well aware of the economics of each job's salary – people are paid based on the revenue their services bring in – but these professions dominated by women (social workers, teachers, healthcare) are valued with a lower compensation than those dominated by men (lawyers, engineers, plumbers). That's where the pay equity conversation starts: We should pay less for legal briefs and construction projects and more for health care and education. This, of course, calls for a radical change in the way our society values all of our professions. It's as never as easy as pushing the reset button and realigning everything. Instead, it is about taking small steps toward this greater purpose. Little victories get you to your end goal, just like saying, "well-whoa" leads to a brighter future. - Brad Kane, editor The power of women I N T H I S I S S U E Worcester Business Journal WBJ W Your exceptional event deserves an exceptional venue. TUCKERMAN HALL MASSACHUSETTS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Corner of Salisbury & Tuckerman Streets Worcester, MA | 508.754.1234 tuckermanhall.org Worcester Business Journal 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 508-755-8004 tel. • 508-755-8860 fax www.wbjournal.com A division of: 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. and at additional mailing offices. 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 NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Briefing 6 Ticker 12 Focus on Outstanding Women in Business 20 The List: Top woman- owned businesses 22 The Rainmaker 23 Know How 24 On the Move 8 Who owns students' brainpower? As more students at Central Massachusetts institutions discover technology and found companies, area colleges and universities are looking at their policies over who retains intellectual property. 21 Worcester to Washington, 15 years in the making Next year, Worcester Regional Airport will have multiple passenger airlines offering regular service out of Central Massachusetts for the first time since 2002. 27 Photo Finish 28 Business Leads 29 Opinion 30 Shop Talk: John Chetro- Szivos Correction: In the "Word from the Web" feature from the Oct. 10 issue, the Twitter handle of Nichols College was misspelled. The correct handle is @NicholsNewsroom.

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