wbjournal.com | May 14, 2018 | 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
Senior Accounts 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
Distribution and Database Coordinator
A Guide to STUFF, a publication
of New England Business Media
Patty Harris,
pharris@nebusinessmedia.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
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
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A division of:
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
B
eing an industrious journalist
who is still chained to his desk
for far too many hours of the
workweek, last month I decid-
ed to join a Facebook group
called "You're Probably From Worcester
If:" to learn more about my adopted city.
I had thought the group would help me
gain insider knowledge, like which schools
are rivals, what streets are the worst to
drive on, and what the best toppings are at
George's Coney Island.
Instead, the Facebook group turned out
to be largely a collection of Donald Trump
fans, who are not shy at all using colorful
and hateful language to voice their support
of the president or their distaste for the
opposition. ey feel very strongly people
with different opinions are intellectually
and morally inferior.
I am not a Trump fan. I don't care for his
personal style, his support of hate groups,
his comfort with lying, or his position
on nearly all issues. So, my first thought
was to simply leave my new Facebook
group. Yet, Trump supporters make up a
significant portion of this country and our
political landscape, and I rarely get to in-
teract with them. I figured if I could keep
my cool but remain engaged while group
members called for Barack Obama to be
put in prison and used sexually derogatory
language toward Hillary Clinton, I might
learn something about what makes these
people tick. So far, the learning has been
a struggle; but if I'm going to avoid the
"I'm right. You're wrong." divisiveness of
national politics and maybe – just maybe
– convince a few people we can have dif-
ferent opinions and still respect each other,
then I better stick with it.
Of course, breaking outside your bubble
is good for business, too. As News Editor
Grant Welker points out in his cover story
"From generation to generation" about
succession planning, those family busi-
nesses who survive to the second and third
generations appoint leaders who've gained
perspective from outside the company.
You need to understand what makes other
companies, your industry and your market
tick. You can't just grow up in the family
Embrace different viewpoints, learn from others
I N T H I S I S S U E
business, stay in your safe zone, and be
successful.
at is why I strive to be outside my
comfort zone. You should, too.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
Congratulations
to
Atlas Distributing, Inc. &
Ida Rotman & Family
and all of those honored
at the
98th Annual Community
Celebration of
United Way of Central
Massachusetts!
From your friends at...
Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, PC
Certified Public Accountants
306 Main Street, Suite 400 • Worcester, MA 01608
508.791.0901 • www.grkb.com
NEWS & ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENTS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5 Flash Poll
14 Focus on Succession planning
16 The List: Notable mergers & acquisitions
19 Know How
20 Movers & Shakers
20 Photo Finish
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Tim Kennedy,
MassLive Media
8 An issue of grave concern
A year after a Harrington nurse was
stabbed, few hospitals have implemented
enhanced security measures.
10 A long time coming
A new $130-million development in
Maynard is set to bring an old Digital
Equipment Corp. site back to life.
