Worcester Business Journal

10 2 018 Economic Forecast • Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 2017 Predictions A look back at ... Our prediction... 4 8 ...and what actually happened ECONOMIC FORECAST 2018 } The Heart-to-Hub express train from Worcester to Boston will stop. Even with its off-hour schedule, the MBTA nonstop train from Worcester's Union Station to stations in Boston is going strong, as efforts to add stops along the route were defeated. is prediction is more in the eye of the beholder, as the number of home sales slowing to a growth rate of only about 1.5 percent but prices spiking 6 percent. The Central Massachusetts housing market will slow down. } The predicted biomedical boom will be realized. While more strides were made in the positive direction – UMass Medicine Science Park being fully leased, Insulet breaking ground on a $100-million Acton facility – the industry is still more in the early stages of becoming a major part of the Central Massachusetts economy. } Recreational marijuana won't be widely implemented in 2017. No real shocker here, with the Massachusetts legislature slowing down the implementation of the approved ballot initiative. With applications for recreational pot shops opening in April, 2018 should be the boom year. } Steward Health Care will make a major acquisition of a Central Massachusetts hospital. Armed with $1.25 billion for a mission to acquire competitors, Boston-based Steward looked outside New England to fulfill its vow, buying 18 hospitals in six states. } Central Massachusetts exports will decrease. We figured President Donald Trump's trade barrier policies would curtail the state's exports, but those policies have yet to be widely implemented, so Massachusetts is set to have its second year in a row of export increases. } The number and total dollar amount of loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration will decrease. While the total number of 7(a) SBA loans did go down in 2017, the amount of those loans increased. For the SBA's 504 program, the opposite was true: a higher number of loans yielded a lower total dollar amount compared to 2016. } e push for more eateries in Downtown Worcester has seen increased plans for places like the Grid District and Mercantile Center, but Shrewsbury Street remains the undisputed center of the city's restaurant scene. Main Street will usurp Shrewsbury Street as Worcester dining hub. } College articulation agreements will become more complex and cross state lines. While Central Massachusetts colleges did a lot to entice students as the applicant pool shrinks – offering unique majors, increasing financial aid, creating more in-state agreements – no local college created an articulation agreement with an out-of-state organization. } 4 4 8 8 8 8 8 8 Locally owned companies will open more out-of-state offices is prediction was admittedly a layup, given it vagueness, but it turned out to be true with companies like Southbridge-based Harrington HealthCare opening a behavioral health facility in Connecticut. }

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