wbjournal.com | March 19, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 3
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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,
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Associate Art Director,
Mitchell Hayes,
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Senior Accounts Manager
Matt Majikas,
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Senior Accounts Manager
Christine Juetten,
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Senior Special Accounts Manager
Mary Lynn Bosiak,
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Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Events & Marketing Intern
Megan Irish, events@wbjournal.com
Distribution and Database Coordinator
A Guide to STUFF, a publication
of New England Business Media
Patty Harris,
pharris@nebusinessmedia.com
COO, Mary Rogers,
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Accounting Manager, Valerie Clark,
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Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers,
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Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel,
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Human Resources, Jill Coran,
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Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
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Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
mmurray@wbjournal.com
President, Joseph Zwiebel
jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
B
efore I had four children, before I
had my wife Sarah, I had Vegas.
In January 2004, Vegas was the
only midsize dog available at the
Franklin County, Ohio animal shelter. She
was a mutt, appearing like a cross
between a black labrador and a chow,
shrunk it down to 25 pounds. I named
her after my favorite Elvis Presley song.
Halfway through our two-hour ride
home, Vegas decided she wanted to ride
on my lap. Since then, she was always by
my side. When I moved to Florida, she
was there, loving the beach and hating hot
weather. After Sarah moved in, we relo-
cated to Massachusetts and grew to a fam-
ily of four children and three dogs, Vegas
remained the patient and loving one.
Five years ago, after she was diagnosed
with diabetes, my entire life schedule
revolved around giving her injections of
insulin every 12 hours.
The morning of March 8, Vegas had a
seizure. I helplessly petted her as her
tongue flopped around and she peed on
herself. At the veterinarian's office, the
doctor – Andrew Hersman – determined
the seizure came not from her diabetes,
but likely a brain tumor. Hersman offered
a variety of diagnostic and treatment
options, but it probably wouldn't matter.
The seizure had left Vegas completely
blind and with significant brain damage.
I spent the next hour in the patient
room trying to wrap my head around
everything, comforting my dog, futily
attempting to get Vegas to walk or see,
calling Sarah, and considering a future
without Vegas. When Hersman came
back in and I started rambling, he looked
me straight in the eye and said, "If she
were my dog, I would put her down."
That clarity gave me the strength to
finally say goodbye to my dog.
In the business world, when we talk
about keeping it professional, it usually
centers around little things: dress appro-
priately, show up on time, don't harass
your employees. Yet, in office professions
like mine, we rarely deal with raw emo-
tions. I can barely imagine Hersman
going throughout his workday: meeting
with new pet owners, eating his lunch,
giving vaccinations, and delivering devas-
Professional heroes
Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is
published bi-weekly, 24x per year, including 4 special
issues in May, September, October, and December by New
England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester,
MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA.
Copyright 2018. 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
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
14 Focus on Meetings Guide & Golf Directory
16 The List: Largest meeting facilities
22 The List: Golf courses
24 The List: Golf tournaments
25 Know How
26 On the Move
27 Photo Finish
29 Opinion
30 Shop Talk: Wallace Andrews, Interglobal
Communication Group, LLC
12 Charging up
Electric vehicle charging stations are
increasingly popping up in Central Mass., as
worldwide adoption of EVs nears 1 million.
22 Voke/tech career development
needs funding
Viewpoint columnists Susan Mailman and
Timothy Murray lay out the need for the
state to support more inclusion in the
vocational-technical education system.
I N T H I S I S S U E
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
tating news authoritatively and compas-
sionately. I have to tell marketing people
their press releases aren't going to publish;
Hersman has to tell people their compan-
ions are going to die. Both of us are profes-
sionals, but only one of us is heroic.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
