If you closely follow the subtle changes in content over the decades Worcester Business Journal has been producing its annual Book of Lists, you’ll see the evolution of the Central Massachusetts economy.
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If you closely follow the subtle changes in content over the decades Worcester Business Journal has been producing its annual Book of Lists, you’ll see the evolution of the Central Massachusetts economy.
Contained in the snapshot the few dozen lists each Book of Lists provides every year are the companies and industries driving economic production and capturing the public’s attention at any given point in time. The last few years have seen the addition of industries like craft brewers and marijuana businesses, the expansion of the biomedical companies list, and the consolidation of players in the healthcare space.
Aside from notable movements up and down lists, such as Tree House Brewing Co. in Charlton becoming the largest brewer in Central Massachusetts, this year’s 43 lists are highlighted by three new additions: local restaurants groups, Massachusetts Department of Transportation projects, and temporary staffing companies. Each of these groupings had their own unique journey into 2021, as the whole of the region and the world are still contending with the coronavirus pandemic, with restaurants first needing to close down and then struggling to reopen as their workforces left; staffing agencies helping companies find workers in a difficult labor market; and public transportation construction again proving it can be resilient in a rough economy.
But the economic story from the last year is more than just these three, far from it in fact. Having three brand new lists out of 43 is a typical level of turnover in the Book of Lists, as the region’s economic profile is marked more by subtle shifts than wholesale change. A $51-billion economy doesn’t just turn on a dime. Yet, that small amount of new lists belies just how tumultuous the past 17 months have been. Literally every aspect of every list was impacted in one way or another by the coronavirus pandemic. Tourist attractions are still using 2019 figures to showcase their standing in the region. Hotels have started off 2021 strong, but they still have a lot of ground to make up for. The colleges & universities list has one less entry this year, with Becker College in Worcester fading out of existence.
As always, the only constant is change. The coronavirus pandemic took this truth to a whole new level, as the past year was marked by tumult and adaptation. As Central Massachusetts and the world appear on the cusp of entering a post-pandemic economy, we must always keep looking forward, preparing for what the changes may bring.
- Brad Kane, editor
