wbjournal.com | Novermber 27, 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
Events & Marketing Intern
Megan Irish, events@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
T
here it was, sitting in the com-
ment section of WBJournal.
com's content management sys-
tem on the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving and about 90 minutes
before we had to send this issue to the
printer, awaiting my approval before
being published online and in print.
"We are hesitant in hiring women
what with the current spate of legal chal-
lenges of sexual harassment, valid or
invalid. There is less risk in hiring men.
Reality is a tough master."
This anonymous commenter was
responding to our weekly Flash Poll
email, where we had asked what – if any-
thing – needed to be done to help create
more woman-owned businesses in
Massachusetts, since the state's growth
rate was about half the national average.
I am against using anonymous sources
for any of our stories, except in extreme
circumstances, but I'm OK with using
the online comments submitted anony-
mously. I view these submissions as the
letters to the editor of the digital age:
They add reader insight to the region's
business news; are approved by the WBJ
editorial team for appropriateness and
grammar before being published; and are
about 95-percent anonymous.
The above anonymous comment
checked all these boxes. It adds insight to
a very thorny issue. In an age where peo-
ple hide their true feelings behind politi-
cally correct language, I respect the
straight-to-the-point honesty.
That doesn't me I have to like it, and I
don't. The commenter is essentially say-
ing to avoid being accused of doing
something inappropriate, he/she is doing
something illegal (gender discrimination
in hiring). It's as if I said, "I don't want to
get in trouble for not paying my taxes, so
I am going to rob a bank."
This infuriates me. It infuriates me,
not just because someone had the gall to
say it, but because this commenter repre-
sents a larger portion of WBJ readership
than I care to admit – meaning this dis-
crimination is going on in Central Mass.
and probably will be for awhile.
The commenter is right in one thing:
Reality is a tough master. But we shape
I don't like you, anonymous commenter
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.
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 Health care
17 The List: Largest physician groups
18 Know How
19 Guest Columnist: Bob Ainsworth
20 On the Move
23 Photo Finish
24 Business Leads
25 Opinion
26 Shop Talk: Emily Holdstein, JCC
16 A new life in marijuana
Recreational and medical marijuana is
expected to be a $1.1-billion industry in
Massachusetts by 2020, and Athol wants a
grow facility at its old tool-making plant.
21 Fix beer distribution laws
Viewpoint columnist and brewer Rick
Walton says Massachusetts franchise laws,
as well as license classification, are
impeding breweries' ability to maximize
their market potential.
I N T H I S I S S U E
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
FALL INTO FITNESS
RETAIL LOCATIONS: Framingham,
Hanover, Newton, Attleboro, MA;
Nashua, North Hampton, NH
www.pfe-inc.com
World Class Service Since 1988
Save on Vision, Bodyguard,
Inspire and more!
NOW OPEN IN
AUBURN!
771 Southbridge St.
774-321-6600
our own responses to that reality. If the
reality is you won't hire women because
you feel you will end up on the wrong side
of a sexual harassment allegation, then my
reaction is not to like you. And to call you
out in this column.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
