Worcester chamber creates $2.5M fund for economic development

Photo | Courtesy of Matt Wright Photography Linda Salem Pervier (center), the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce vice president, poses with Gov. Maura Healey and Salem Pervier's husband Michael at the chamber's event on Thursday.

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By Brad Kane

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has launched a strategic opportunity fund to use for economic development and workforce initiatives through the chamber’s nonprofit foundation.

The chamber has raised $2.466 million from contributions and commitments for the Linda Salem Pervier Permanent Restricted Fund, against the goal of raising $3 million by the end of 2025, which is the chamber’s 150th anniversary, according to a Thursday press release from the chamber. The fund is named in honor of Linda Salem Pervier, the chamber’s vice president of membership development and finance, who has worked for the organization for 50+ years.

The money from the fund can be used for one-time initiatives, projects, and consulting services to aid in the economic development or workforce needs of Central Massachusetts.

“This will allow us to be both nimble in pursuing economic development or workforce needs, but also fiscally prudent as it relates to the chamber’s annual operating budget,” Timothy Murray, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, said in the press release.

The companies who have contributed to the fund include the Hanover Insurance Group of Worcester, bankHometown in Oxford, Unibank in Whitinsville, Berkshire Bank Foundation in Boston, Country Bank in Ware, Fallon Health in Worcester, Bank of America in Charlotte, Rockland Trust in Rockland, George I. Alden Trust in Worcester, Stoddard Charitable Trust in Worcester, Fidelity Bank in Leominster, Saint-Gobain Abrasives in Worcester, Rand-Whitney Container in Worcester, Cliff & Susan Rucker Foundation in Boston, Webster Five in Auburn, UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, Consigli Construction in Milford, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, the Worcester Business Development Corp., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in Boston, Cornerstone Bank in Southbridge, Fletcher Foundation in Worcester, Franklin Realty Advisors in Wellesley, UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Atlas Distributing in Auburn, Bay State Savings Bank in Worcester, Wyman-Gordon Foundation in Worcester, Hoche-Scofield Foundation in Boston, and The Guru Tax & Financial Services in Worcester.