June 22, 2015 - Worcester Business Journal

Transportation

Downtown by foot and wheels: A help for business in Worcester?

(From the June 22 print edition) Worcester is pushing a comprehensive approach in its transportation infrastructure - especially downtown - one that embraces a combination of walking, biking and driving. And city officials see that as a potential boost for downtown businesses.

Energy

Lift cap, give us more solar energy

Should Massachusetts lift its net-metering cap to help encourage wider adoption of solar energy?

Government & Politics

Will new sick-time law cause headaches?

Brendan O'Connor, the owner of O'Connors Restaurant in Worcester, isn't upset that the state will make his business offer paid sick days to all employees starting July 1. It will mean higher costs that he'll have to pass on to customers, he said, but he doesn't take issue with the idea.

Advice

Got a business dream? Vision to reality in 10 steps

At one time or another in your career, you may have dreamed of a better way — a new way, even — to bring a service or product to the marketplace. If you're repeatedly lying awake at 2 a.m. imagining what your business would look like and how it would function, then congrats! Entrepreneurship has begun!

Transportation

City, rail carriers stress safety in shipments of oil, other flammables

Tons of freight roll daily into and out of Worcester on tracks used by CSX, Pan Am Railways and the Providence & Worcester railroads. As the economy continues to bounce back from the Great Recession, freight transportation is growing as well, bringing more goods of all kinds through the region on the rails — everything from cars and toilet paper to flammable liquids and hazardous materials.

News

Contract with nurses offers hope amid industry change

After several years of a relationship that many would describe as adversarial, UMass Memorial Health Care and a key union turned a critical corner last week when they reached a one-year contract agreement for the thousands of nurses who work at the system's UMass Memorial Medical Center campuses in Worcester.

News

Accolades & Honors

Centage Corp. of Natick achieved Microsoft’s Application Development Gold Competency. Centage provides budgeting and forecasting software for...

Advice

101: Managing millennials

Managing millennials — those born between 1980 and 2000, or 1981 to 1999, depending on who's counting...

Real Estate

Empty nesters help boost condo sales in and around Worcester

In the midst of struggling condo sales statewide, Worcester County is bucking the trend with empty nesters bolstering the residential segment that has traditionally been known as supporting first-time home buyers.

Technology

The behavior behind the breaches

Prelert, based in Framingham, focuses on the “behavioral analytics” behind data, so the IT department can more easily uncover what it needs to know about potential operational and security risks — then act quickly, before anyone notices. The company is the creation of Mark Jaffe, a serial software entrepreneur.

News

Fresh Beginnings

It’s About Time, a mobile dry cleaning company from Dudley, is opening a storefront at 40 Hamilton...

Government & Politics

Transportation spending

State transportation officials this month said it's going to take about $3 billion in fiscal year 2016 to keep Massachusetts up to speed with repairs, maintenance and upgrades. Here's what's behind their spending plan.

Startups

The four tests that can take your idea from fantasy to reality

All too often, entrepreneurs move quickly to spend precious resources that they don't have to launch a product they believe is perfect into a market they're convinced is huge. And they do this without doing much, if any, market research.But what should you do with that cool idea?

Real Estate

Real Deals

Real Deals highlights recent commercial property transactions in Central Massachusetts.

Arts & Entertainment

PawSox to WooSox? Sure! But without public funding

Earlier this year, the Worcester Sharks announced they would leave the DCU Center for California. With the...

News

Finding the right hire: HR pros share favorite job interview questions

Interviewing prospective employees is as much an art as it is a science, and a process that only the most specialized professionals carry out on a regular basis. We asked three human resource professionals to share their three “go to” questions that they use when they interview candidates, which they use to help determine if a candidate is a good fit.

News

Incorporations

These Central Massachusetts businesses filed incorporation papers with the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office from March 16-31, 2015.

Real Estate

Out of Boston’s shadow? Worcester charting own economic course

When it comes to the kind of big, splashy headlines that Worcester's leaders like to cut out and frame, the last few months have been a bit of a bust for Worcester. But those who are authoring the city's next chapter believe Worcester is on the right track and moving out of Boston's shadow.

Energy

June 22, 2015Edition

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