Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 23, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Staff Writers Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, higher education) Emily Micucci, emicucci@wbjournal.com (Health care) Editorial Intern, Savannah Donohue, sdonohue@wbjournal.com Contributors Susan Shalhoub 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 Senior Special Accounts Manager Mary Lynn Bosiak, mlbosiak@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com COO, Mary Rogers, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Manager, Valerie Clark, vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@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 T he flames on this issue's cover not only draw your eye to a story we've been kicking around for about a year, but they encompass how I feel about the work of our staff for this edition. They were on fire. Since we put out 27 issues per year, we have very high standards of quality for our stories, photos and layouts. Honestly, though, for this issue I was worried. We run a pretty tight ship in the edito- rial department. In addition to me, we have a full-time reporter, a full-time digi- tal editor and a part-time reporter who puts in about 15 hours per week. The dig- ital editor position has been vacant for five weeks, so the three of us have been pitching in on those responsibilities. The digital editor's role is very produc- tion heavy and requires an intense amount of time and institutional knowl- edge of our online systems, particularly to put out our WBJ Daily Report enewsletter summing up Central Massachusetts' busi- ness news every day at noon. Basically staff writers Laura Finaldi and Emily Micucci and myself have to – on a rotat- ing basis – take our entire morning and dedicate it solely to the digital responsibil- ities. I was worried we would get spread too thin. On top of that, WBJ's offices are under a renovation, so instead of our col- laborative atmosphere, we've been com- municating by email, text and video. Of course, all my concerns were unfounded. Finaldi hit a home run on a story about the changing Worcester res- taurant scene – something we've been kicking around since Boston and New York City investors opened deadhorse hill in May – by seamlessly weaving in a story about how long-time city restaurateurs feel simultaneously left out and embold- ened by the new developments while lay- ering in how all these changes came to be. Micucci, who usually writes about health care, took on the task of Focus on Real Estate, including a story relaying in a sim- ple, straightforward explanation the com- plex reasons behind Worcester's 40-per- cent vacancy rate in industrial buildings. All the flaming photos and top-notch reporting don't work if they aren't designed cohesively on the page, a task typically Bringing the fire from start to finish 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: NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Central Mass. In Brief 5 Flash Poll 12 FOCUS on Real Estate 15 The List: Notable commercial sales 16 The List: Notable commercial leases 18 Know How 19 Business Leads 19 On the Move 20 Photo Finish 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Rick Walton 10 Bringing back restaurant talent Sweet Kitchen & Bar in Worcester has brought a Central Mass. native back from Miami to reinvigorate its drink menu and raise its profile. 17 Growing market share A former Worcester incubator startup is relying on a new Shrewsbury CFO to build its brand recognition. I N T H I S I S S U E Worcester Business Journal WBJ Knowledge + Experience + Trusted Advice. It all adds up. Large enough to serve the needs of most businesses and individuals; small enough to offer the personal attention you expect and deserve. Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, PC Certified Public Accountants 306 Main Street, Suite 400 • Worcester, MA 01608 508.791.0901 • www.grkb.com done with ease by Associate Art Director Mitchell Hayes, who himself was displaced from his work station during renovations. But as usual, Hayes bought the heat, literally putting flames on the cover. - Brad Kane, editor CORRECTION: The headline of an item in the "Photo Finish" section of the Jan. 9 issue misleadingly said Country Bank donated $1 million to keep children warm in the winter. The $1-million donation was, in fact, to increase patient capacity at the Baystate hospital in Palmer. W

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