wbjournal.com | October 16, 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
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, Jill Coran,
jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com
Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com
Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
mmurray@wbjournal.com
President, Joseph Zwiebel
jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
L
ook, I am well aware we are
participating in Amazon's overt
marketing campaign with our
cover story for this issue. I
understand the odds of
Worcester actually landing Amazon's
HQ2 are about the same as me winning a
Powerball jackpot. This entire HQ2 bid-
ding process is just a way for the tech
company and hundreds of governments
to engage in a distracting fantasy.
All that doesn't mean it's not a good
story.
Like a magnified version of GE's call for
proposals in 2015 for friendly govern-
ments to send them tax-incentive-laden
proposals for a headquarters relocation
(after which the Connecticut company
moved to Boston), Amazon's nationwide
call for states, counties and cities to send
the Seattle online retailer proposals for it
to locate its 50,000-employee second
headquarters forces a government race to
the bottom, all for the sake of economic
development.
Suddenly, Amazon isn't the online
giant playing a major role in the closing
down of Main Street shops and in-store
retail chains -- while trying to avoid pay-
ing sales tax -- but the innovative tech
company that will completely reshape
our city's economy for the better. And by
saying they are going to put in applica-
tions, government officials get to show
off their economic development prowess
to their constituents, who are wooed by
the fantasy of 50,000 jobs paying an
average salary of $100,000 each.
Nevermind only one community will
actually win in this competition, out of
hundreds of applications submitted.
Yet, WBJ Staff Writer Zachary
Comeau has written up a very compel-
ling article, less about Amazon and more
about Worcester. By focusing on what
landing HQ2 would do to the city, his
story shows how far the city has come
with its economic development, how far
it has yet to go, and where some areas for
improvement are for it to compete con-
sistently for Fortune 500 companies.
As far as I can remember, while we
have had pictures with brand logos in
them, we have never taken a company
Riding Amazon's public relations wave
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 2017. All
rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address
changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330,
Congers, NY 10920-9894.
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Worcester Business Journal
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A division of:
NEWS & ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENTS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5 Flash Poll
16 Focus on MetroWest
20 The List: Top MetroWest employers
21 Embezzlement is everywhere
22 Know How
23 On the Move
24 Photo Finish
25 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: deadhorse hill
14 Healthy savings
Small businesses are scaling back their
insurance premiums by offering wellness
incentives to employees.
18 The bright spot in retail
TJX has launched another in-store
shopping experience, leveraging customer
loyalty and a treasure-hunt mentality in a
$664B market.
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
logo and placed it on WBJ's cover, as we
are doing with Amazon for this issue. It is
worth it, though, because it tells another
story of Worcester's economy.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
