wbjournal.com | September 4, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
News Editor, Grant Welker,
gwelker@wbjournal.com (Real estate,
higher education)
Staff Writers
Zachary Comeau,
zcomeau@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing)
Emily Micucci,
emicucci@wbjournal.com (Health care)
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
Sales & Events Intern
Eric Goudreau,
egoudreau@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
S
o – apparently – it has come to
this. The presidents of 15
Massachusetts community colleg-
es, including Mount Wachusett
and Quinsigamond, last month
felt compelled to draft a joint letter
denouncing Nazis, the Klu Klux Klan and
the overall white supremacist movement.
I fondly remember a time – it was real-
ly like nine months ago – when America
was filled with certain truths: the sky is
blue, hot dogs are awesome, water is wet,
and Nazis and white supremicists are bad.
More than 400,000 Americans died fight-
ing in World War II, probably the only
U.S. military conflict where we can
unquestionably claim the moral high
ground. So, it just makes sense we would
still oppose the ideological views of our
primary enemies from that war.
Community college presidents don't have
to issue joint statements denouncing
genocide, or nearly any other concept
near universally held as truth.
But the fundamentals of America have
changed since President Donald Trump's
inauguration. The person the rest of the
world sees as representing our entire
country does not hold the same certain
truths American society has forged over
its 241-year history. So, when a white
supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
leads to the death of an anti-racism pro-
tester and afterward our president
decides not to strongly denounce their
actions or beliefs – which the white
supremacist movement takes as some
kind of measure of support – it is now
on the rest of the country to respond, let-
ting the world know Trump does not
speak for all of us.
At WBJ, we are far removed from the
politics of Washington, D.C. After the
events of Charlotteville, I was aghast and
horrified, but didn't feel Trump's actions
would trickle down to my professional
life. I felt that way until MWCC, QCC
and the other state community colleges
sent out their letter. My first reaction was,
"Did they really have to do this? Isn't
denouncement of Nazis just assumed as
part of American life?" Immediately, I
realized my first reaction was now wrong,
as we all have been forced to say Trump's
beliefs don't reflect the whole of America.
This messaging is even more important
Yes, we really do need to denounce Nazis now
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
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A division of:
NEWS & ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENTS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5 Flash Poll
12 Focus on Small Business
16 The List: Top SBA lenders
18 Know How
19 On the Move
20 Photo Finish
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Allen Fletcher, developer of
Harding Green
8 Making it in Massachusetts
Local manufacturers prefer to have their
production lines nearby, rather than losing
control by offshoring to low-labor-cost
countries.
17 MWCC's 100-day construction
project
To minimize disruption, the community
college built its new $3.5-million student
center between semesters.
I N T H I S I S S U E
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
EXPERIENCE THE
Difference
We believe we're a little different from other
independent schools. We are a student-centered
community where you can be you. Through rigorous
academics, strong leadership opportunities,
competitive athletics, and inspiring arts programs,
we are focused on helping students become the
best versions of themselves. Join us for one of our
fall Middle and Upper School Open Houses.
RSVP at worcesteracademy.org/openhouse
or 508-459-5841.
October 22 and
November 5
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Fall Open House
for organizations like community colleges
whose clients (students) come dispropor-
tionately from underserved populations,
which is why a very small portion of their
letter made its way into the Verbatim fea-
ture on page 4.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
