Greater Worcester

Inside Route 128, incubators for early-stage companies are numerous, but in MetroWest and Greater Worcester, the options are far more limited. But two local nonprofit leaders, Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, and Barbara Finer, CEO of TechSandBox in Hopkinton, have been pioneers on the incubation frontier and are leading ongoing efforts to increase resources to help local startups thrive.

Amy Lynn Chase is an entrepreneur, who has helped build up the Canal District as she builds her own businesses, but this relative newcomer is increasingly being leaned upon by the established Worcester business community for both her social media prowess and her fresh perspective.

Leading research and public health outreach efforts both locally and globally, the University of Massachusetts Medical School does much more than educate medical students.

To call Chip Norton a fresh face to Central Massachusetts is a little bit of a misnomer, since he has owned and/or developed several multi-million real estate projects in the region for years, but he was largely working behind the scenes until late October when his firm purchased two Front Street office towers in Worcester for $33 million.

Community banks -- striving to compete against multi-billion conglomerates while maintaining their strong local ties -- are taking a creative approach to combine their power while retaining their identities.

Brian W. Thompson heads the leading small business lender in Central Massachusetts and the biggest Worcester-headquartered bank -- with $1.7 billion in deposits -- but it is his community connections that make him so intertwined with the business community.

Power comes in many forms, but from power derives influence; and how people use that influence is ultimately reflective of the power they hold.

Last month, the City of Worcester was getting ready to solicit bids for a new wave of...

Michael P. Angelini holds sway over Central Massachusetts in countless ways. He is chairman of one of its largest law firms, Bowditch & Dewey. He is chairman of the Massachusetts Port Authority and director at both Commerce Bank and the UMass Medical Center Foundation.

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a new tax rate compromise as the City Council struggles to find middle ground and set a tax rate for the coming year.