INSIDE THIS EDITION • NEW BUILDS • PUBLIC POLICY • EVENTS • OPINION • UPCOMING Women’s Leadership • LEADERSHIP Conference Touts • SMALL BIZ Empowerment • PHOTOS • ADS PAGES B1-2 WORCESTER REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NEWSPAPER • VOL. 1 ISSUE 2 - JUNE 2017 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Special Report - Pages A8-14 DAWNDAWN OFOF AA NEWNEW ERAERA Worcester redevelopment renaissance surges ahead prouting from what City Manager through a bevy of city-infused tax increment continues at a rapid pace. A new $21 million Edward Augustus, Jr. calls “big, financing deals downtown and in outlying Homewood Suites hotel in Washington Square dead walls” at the now-razed neighborhoods. Nonetheless, today's historic just opened. Worcester Center Galleria mall efforts are completely re-shaping Worcester's Around City Common, the Grid District’s complex, a group of massive new skyline. Many of the new and revitalized buildings multitude of 365 modern apartments and mix of downtown redevelopment projects rising downtown, situated nearby at the South restaurants progresses with more unit and lobby are accelerating this spring along with significant Worcester Industrial Park and biotech Gateway openings soon. Nearby, Roseland Residential industrial expansion in abutting neighborhoods. Park, or supporting new job creation among Trust’s $90 million upscale apartment homes SFacilitated by $90 million in state and federal expanding Quinsigamond Village and Canal project is well under construction. funds to demolish the former mall along with $10 District manufacturers are either now open, in And just outside the downtown area, major new million in city district improvement financing to next phase development, or slated to launch at building continues to advance at commercial and modernize most of the area’s key streets and various points this year. industrial developments helping to attract more infrastructure, more than $300 million in private In the downtown area alone, a multi-phase companies to relocate here while encouraging investment has poured into the city over the last $70 million downtown garage and twin office existing firms to remain and expand. five years. towers development nears the finish line. The Developer interest was partially garnered city center’s future $30 million AC Marriott hotel SPECIAL REPORT BEGINS ON PAGE A8 Manufacturing careers boom As Worcester continues to see economic as expected. In response to this, Worcester growth and development, the city’s long Regional Chamber of Commerce President time industries have been seeking new ways and CEO Timothy P. Murray, along with to maintain and contribute to a vibrant local David J. Ferreira, executive director of the economy. A prime example of this can be Massachusetts Association of Vocational found within the manufacturing industry. Administrators, and Lewis Finfer, executive With a majority of the city’s director of the Massachusetts Communities manufacturing jobs being occupied by older Action Network, created the Alliance for generations, many employers are faced Vocational and Technical Education. with a new wave of job openings due to With the success of fundraising efforts, the retirement of their primary workforce. the AVTE asked The Kitty and Michael Although Worcester County is home to Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional multiple technical and vocational schools, Policy at Northeastern University to these jobs have not been filling up as quickly SEE MANUFACTURING, PAGE A7 PAGE A2 • CHAMBER EXCHANGE NEWSPAPER - JUNE 2017 Get out of town. Right here in town. FlyWorcester! flyworcester.com JUNE 2017 - CHAMBER EXCHANGE NEWSPAPER • PAGE A3 PUBLIC POLICY Forum fears impact from Health Care Reform With Worcester Cham- Secretary Sudders casts ber President and CEO Timothy P. Murray looking concerning voice toward on, Marylou Sudders, state Secretary of Health repeal and replace bill & Human Services, told a packed audience at the Marylou Sudders, state Secretary of Health & recent Business & Govern- Human Services, told listeners at a recent Business ment Forum that healh care reform will hurt the & Government Forum that health care is an Massachusetts economy. “extraordinary economic engine” for Massachusetts with about one in 10 jobs now associated with that industry. The quarterly Worcester Regional Chamber Business & Government Forum sponsored by Fallon Health and Ventry Associates was held on MCPHS’s 9th floor in March 2017. The morning session featured Sudders and UMass Memorial Health Care President and CEO Eric Dickson in an audience packed room offering panoramic views overlooking the expanding downtown development of citizens in the United States at just about 97 This is a federal-state share program and we now landscape. percent,” says Sudders. “Coverage is a good base have 300,000 people [in Massachusetts] on Medicaid Speaking just prior to the first decision by U.S. to start from, but we then understood we had to as a result of that expansion.” Congress not to repeal and replace the Affordable tackle affordability and availability. When you pass Sudders adds that there’s currently 1.9 million Care Act, Sudders spoke often with “irreverent” something, it doesn’t mean you stop thinking about residents on Medicaid’s Health Insurance Plus language to describe the still lingering possibility it, tinkering with it and revising it. We have tinkered program, and another 252,000 residents on the of Republican-driven change to the current $19.77 with our coverage bill at least three times.” Connector who have subsidies as a result of the billion health care system in Massachusetts. Unlike the law’s ongoing review in Massachusetts, Affordable Care Act – 190,000 of whom qualify “Think about Worcester and the surrounding the nation’s Affordable Care Act has never once through cost sharing subsidies or advanced premium area and how much of it is health care-related,” says been revised. “For anyone who thinks it passed once tax credits. Sudders. “Then extend it out when you think of so it should not be revised, that’s really not good Today, Medicaid applicants have to only be Boys and Girls Clubs, social services, and children governance,” says Sudders. “Seven years later and considered low income or earning an annual salary and family programs. Health care coverage is a right now we’re going to repeal and not first think about of $16,383. This is the big change for Medicaid with and Massachusetts coverage has a long history of what we are going to revise, fix or improve upon; state expansion, Sudders says, which previously bipartisanship.” this is what we have at this moment.” allowed residents to apply on the basis of income The 2006 Massachusetts Healthcare Reform and other qualifying conditions. Act that currently occupies 40 percent of the state MEDICAID EXPANSION WOES “So we have at-risk just under a half a million budget was used by former President Obama’s people in a Commonwealth of 6.6 million who are Administration in 2010 as a blueprint for the nation’s Often the focus on Medicaid casts the system into at risk of losing health coverage [if the Republican’s Affordable Care Act. Sudders said authors of the a national spotlight, but Sudders says there are 50 repeal and replace measures passes],” Sudders says. original first-in-nation state law here knew it would different Medicaid programs in 50 different states Medicaid is also a revenue producer for be complex and must be tackled as separate issues. right now. “When you’ve seen one state’s Medicaid Massachusetts. Of the $37 billion in revenue that “We have the greatest [health care] coverage program, you’ve seen one state’s Medicaid program. comes into the state on average each year, $11 billion is Medicaid driven. UMass Memorial CEO believes better coordination among STATE WOULD FACE DEEP CUTS patients with multiple problems key to fixing health care What has happened in Massachusetts is reverse osmosis with almost an equal share of 500,000 e makes no don’t want to have that stroke residents previously on commercial health insurance qualms about it. or heart attack, then you should plans switching over to MassHealth in recent years. Worcester and move to Canada, France or Ja- It is projected that two million people will enroll in Massachusetts pan because you’re much more the state’s health care program next year. have the best res- likely to have that prevented in Based on the Congressional Budget Office cue care system in the nation, those countries.” calculus and methodology on the cost of replacing Haccording to UMass Memorial The fundamental problem the existing American Care Act, Sudders’ own data Health Care President and CEO with the current health care analysts projected $1.3 billion in lost revenues for Eric Dickson. system, Dickson believes, is not the state of Massachusetts in Fiscal Year 2020. “It “If you get in a bad car being able to effectively treat increases to about $2 billion two years later,” Sudders accident, get a stroke or have a and cure patients experiencing adds. heart attack then Worcester is multiple problems spread across The Secretary is quick to call Congress’s now the best place to be,” Dickson multiple providers and several stalled repeal and replace bill regressive, arguing that told listeners at the Worcester sites of care. The frustrating fact it eliminates a lot of tax cuts, provides more benefits Regional Chamber’s March for Dickson is that the United UMass Memorial Health Care Pres- to people of higher incomes, and targets older adults 2017 Business & Government States spends twice as much on ident and CEO Erik Dickson takes a in two different ways. The bill would have increased Forum. “We have stroke pa- health care as any other indus- question from the audience. private premiums for people over the age of 60 five tients now who lose the ability trialized nation. capacity or care for recovery?,” times that of younger people, and the actuarial value to speak or entire movement of “That squeezes out every- asks Dickson.