Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | January 23, 2017 | wbjournal.com F O C U S R E A L E S T A T E Population shift As a further sign in the growing demand for Central Mass. real estate, more MetroWest and Boston companies are reaching out to local cultural institutions to provide employees with area benefits B oosters of Worcester have long highlighted the quality of the city's cultural attrac- tions, but it seems there is now palpable excitement from a new wave of young families call- ing Worcester County home. So says Joe Cox, president and CEO of the EcoTarium, a Worcester science and nature museum with indoor and outdoor attractions that Cox said had seen a 16-percent increase in atten- dance over the previous year. A mild winter and a warm summer helped, as did a strong set of exhibits and programs, but Cox thinks the uptick has deeper roots. Increased interest from Metrowest-area compa- nies wanting to offer corporate mem- bership benefits to their employees is an important signal that the population is migrating westward, and that creates new opportunity for the museum and other Worcester attractions. Historically, large corporate employ- ers have offered company memberships to places like the New England Aquarium or of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In the last year, major employers like Mathworks in Natick and TJX Cos. in Framingham have begun offering Ecotarium corporate membership benefits as well. Meanwhile, overall growth in corpo- rate memberships has been remarkable. In 2014, about 3,500 employees had access to the EcoTarium through their companies. In December, corporate members represented 10,850 employ- ees, which Cox called huge growth. "Maybe employees start out working in Boston, and then as they're settling, having a family, moving further west, settling in the Worcester area, [they] are looking for local things to do," said Cox. Population projections Projected changes in the Worcester County population add weight to Cox's comments. According to Sujatha Mohanakrishnan, transportation proj- ect manager for the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, professionals with young families are attracted by the value offered by Central Massachusetts com- munities, with housing prices as the main driver. Towns like Northborough, Shrewsbury and Grafton, which are still more affordable than MetroWest com- munities closer to Boston, are now becoming saturated and people are looking even further west. "Why not live in Charlton or Dudley? Why do you have to pay $200,000 more for a house in Westborough, Northborough or Shrewsbury?" Mohanakrishnan said. Growth is expected to be particularly strong in the towns southwest and southeast of Worcester, which have access to major highways like Route 146 and the Mass Pike, and are commutable to MetroWest, Worcester, Providence and Boston. Farther-flung areas north- west of Worcester will probably grow more slowly, Mohanakrishnan said. Just as employees are being lured westward to live, MetroWest companies may recruit more people from the Central Massachusetts area to work for them, which also has the potential for boosting Worcester-area attractions. An expansion of talent "Typically, those relationships [with cultural attractions] start because we have a number of staff who are vested or have a relationship with institutions," said Kevin Lorenc, head of corporate communications of Mathworks, which has implemented steady expansion of its Route 9 headquarters in Natick. "Our talent pool has just expanded," said Lorenc, noting people who live in Worcester are reverse commuting, along with those in suburban towns like Shrewsbury and Grafton. Increasingly, Mathworks is recruiting graduates of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as well as students from Boston schools. A WPI recruit has been one of the company's biggest advocates for a rela- tionship with the EcoTarium, Lorence said. In addition to signing on as a cor- porate member this year, Mathworks employees have worked on developing exhibits for the museum, including one called City Science that opened this month. The company has participated in grant funding in the last four years. Worcester renaissance More attention for Worcester attrac- tions isn't just a function of the shifting population, said Adam Rozan, director of audience engagement at the Worcester Art Museum. Rozen said museum attendance data show more MetroWest area residents are visiting, and that's a function of what he said is Worcester's renaissance, which includes ongoing downtown resi- dential and hotel projects and an expanding Theatre District. "When I look at the data … as you move towards Boston, it's getting stron- ger," Rozan said. "There is that sense that you can come to Worcester and have a great day." Cox – who, like Rozan, relocated to Worcester in the last five years – said the interest in the area's cultural attrac- tions is more than just a function of people living here. "There's all of this excitement in Worcester, which I think is just bub- bling up and we're feeling it in the cul- tural organizations, in the great restau- rants, in the great events," Cox said. Central Mass. population projections The Southeast and Northeast regions of Central Massachusetts are predicted to have the largest population growths over the next 18 years. 2017 2035 Projected change Source: Central Mass Regional Planning Commission North 50,420 56,200 11.5% Northeast 78,220 87,840 12.3% Southeast 114,140 130,010 13.9% Southwest 99,910 109,960 10.1% West 47,040 51,980 10.5% Central (Worcester) 186,220 204,010 9.6% Central Mass. total 576,000 640,000 11.1% BY EMILY MICUCCI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer Joe Cox, president and CEO of the EcoTarium, has seen an increase in Boston-area companies looking for corporate memberships, as more of their employees are located in Central Mass. W P H O T O / B R A D K A N E

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