wbjournal.com | June 25, 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
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.
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www.wbjournal.com
A division of:
Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
H
ype can be a good thing,
as long as you understand
the difference with tangible
results. You may sell the
sizzle, but the customer still
will want the steak.
For the better part of the last decade,
my oldest daughter Maggie has been
obsessed with Five Guys french fries.
Because we were spending $12 a pop, my
wife and I decided to try and sell her on
homemade fries. At first, she balked, and
then she would only eat them when her
grandmother prepared them. Eventually,
I got her to enjoy my version by cutting
the potatoes into creative shapes: e
Incredibles, Mickey Mouse and Kermit the
Frog. Maggie bought into the buzz of eat-
ing Kermit the Frog fries and now will eat
homemade potatoes regardless of shape.
Worcester's much ballyhooed economic
recovery is in the Kermit the Frog stage.
is isn't a bad thing: It's good to have
sizzle to sell. In many ways, economic
development is a constant sell job – to
new business, new residents – but those
of us in the market need to understand
the difference between the hype and the
reality. Declaring, "Worcester has arrived!"
aer only a couple of first-step victories
belies the large amount of work necessary
to reach peak vitality.
For his cover story, News Editor Grant
Welker sought to judge the status of the
Worcester renaissance, curious aer he
found Metro Worcester's new housing
starts – a key economic indicator – lagged
badly behind other U.S. metro areas of
similar population. What he found is
while the national, New England, state
and U.S. urban economies were in robust
recovery, Metro Worcester remained near
the back of the pack. To be fair, most hard
economic data takes time to be finalized,
so much of the facts Welker worked with
were based in 2016 – when few would
have declared a Worcester renaissance –
but that doesn't mean this isn't a good time
to gauge Worcester's economic recovery.
e data still shows this region has fallen
behind basically all other comparisons.
I'm, personally, excited about the direc-
tion Worcester is headed. A new wave of
professionals with a passion for the region
Kermit the Frog french fries
I N T H I S I S S U E
have a chance to write a new chapter in its
long history. But the sentiment is starting
to lean too heavily toward the hype, and
we need results. Once those start rolling in,
new businesses and new residents will eat
the french fries, regardless of shape.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
Knowledge +
Experience +
Trusted Advice.
It all adds up.
Large enough to serve the
needs of most businesses
and individuals; small
enough to offer the
personal attention you
expect and deserve.
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
12 Focus on Entrepreneurs & innovation
16 The List: Top incubators, co-working
places & makerspaces
18 Know How
19 Movers & Shakers
20 Photo Finish
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Regan Remillard, The Haven
Country Club
6 Creating non-degree revenue
Colleges seek out cheaper students as
fewer traditional students apply.
18 Gain customers through article
headlines
Advice columnist Kham Inthirath gives tips
on how to increase traffic to your website.
CORRECTION: In WBJ's 2018 Book of Lists, which
published May 28, the "Top colleges and universities" list
and the story "Student bodies largely shrinking" had Clark
University's full-time enrollment incorrectly listed as 2,213.
The correct number is 3,045.
