Worcester Business Journal

March 20, 2017

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wbjournal.com | March 20, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Digital Editor, Grant Welker, gwelker@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 W hen I was a teenager, my mother bought me a set of golf clubs from a local big box store. I had enjoyed playing with my dad and brothers occa- sionally, but until that point had to rely on using a partial set of my dad's old clubs. My new ones came out of a boxed set, were ill-fitting and had bad grips, but they fit my skillset (I was and still am terrible at golf ) and my level of interest in playing, which was about five week- ends a year with family and friends. I still own those clubs, but they might be the most unused item in my entire house. When we moved into our new place in 2015, I hung them from a hook in the garage, until my wife tired of bumping into them as she climbed into her car. Today, they take up a very small portion of my basement and have not been used in about seven years. Every year, when WBJ does its Meetings Guide & Golf Directory, it always makes me laugh at the impor- tance golf still plays in the business world. I know golfing and clubs still play a significant role in the recreational lives and business dealings for a large number of Central Massachusetts business lead- ers (WBJ's own publisher, associate pub- lisher and sales account manager are very active players), but it blows my mind people have the time for such a lei- surely activity. As amazing as it sounds to be out on a manicured grass field on a sunny day (especially now, as I stare out my window at a foot of snowfall) I can't imagine finding four or five hours in a workday to golf, much less leaving my wife and children for that amount of time on a weekend. Luckily for the golfing industry, busi- ness people make the game a priority in their professional and personal lives. They are, of course, the people who WBJ's Golf Directory is catered to. Even as people like me haven't had the time for the sport, the Central Massachusetts golf industry has done a lot to diversify its offerings since the Great Recession, which you can read more about starting on page 12. And one of these days, I may dust off Finding time for golf 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 Meetings Guide & Golf Directory 13 The List: Top meeting facilities 19 The List: Top tourist attractions 22 The List: Top hotels 25 The List: Top golf courses 30 The Rainmaker 31 Know How 32 On the Move 35 Photo Finish 36 Business Leads 37 Opinion 38 Shop Talk: Jason Eastty, Escape Games Worcester 8 Acquisition targets Years of losses have made local Massachusetts insurers prime targets for larger health companies looking to consolidate. 21 Fitchburg's Disney Three years after getting $17 million in tax breaks, Great Wolf Lodge is turning North Worcester County into a tourist destination. I N T H I S I S S U E Worcester Business Journal WBJ my old clubs and hit the links again. If you see me, I'll be the one in the high rough or the woods, looking for yet another lost ball. - Brad Kane, editor W

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