Annual Reports
Letter from the Chair & President/CEO
Invest. Improve. Accelerate Growth.
The WBDC Reflects on 2022 and Looks Towards the Future
For the WBDC, 2022 was a year of transition. The City of Worcester welcomed new City Manager Eric Batista. The Commonwealth elected a new Administration with Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. The WBDC embarked on its largest project to date, the Greendale Revitalization Initiative. While there is a lot to look forward to in 2023, we take this opportunity to reflect on the WBDC’s accomplishments of 2022.
Theatre District:
Our project at 20 Franklin Street continued to stabilize with the execution of a 7-year lease expansion with Quinsigamond Community College to allow for the development of an expanding nursing program, we welcomed the Hanover Theatre as a new tenant in the basement and began to explore redevelopment opportunities with our parking lot on Federal Street. In 2023, we will remain committed to cultivating new ways to enhance the Business Improvement District and continue to create a growing, vibrant theatre district.
The Reactory:
Phase II infrastructure construction was completed in 2022, which led to the official opening of Reactory Drive as a public way in December. The City Administration, along with the support of Congressman Jim McGovern secured a major infrastructure grant from the US Department of Commerce to allow for the completion of our role as developer of the park and transition to a fully private, conventional development with Galaxy Life Sciences. This sale allows the WBDC to transition to our next major initiative in 2023.
The WBDC started this project in 2016, and it is amazing to see our vision for a biomanufacturing park come to life in such a short amount of time, with WuXi Biologics’ construction of a 200,000 SF facility progressing each day towards completion in 2024.
Greendale Revitalization Initiative:
The WBDC completed the land transfer of 51 acres of land from Saint Gobain in November for the purposes of remediating and redeveloping the site. Before the year was over, the WBDC was able to secure multiple funding sources from the state and federal governments totaling over $7 million for the redevelopment of this Brownfields site. As these funds become available in 2023, remediation and demolition will begin in a phased process while we work to find a productive reuse of the parcels with a private developer. Our goal will be to attract developers and end-users with a focus on creating jobs for the Worcester region.
504 Loan Program:
The WBDC welcomed Christina Escobar as the new Director of SBA and Lending in 2022. Working alongside staff, the SBA Program was able to complete 13 loan fundings totaling $5.3M. We will continue to build relationships with area banks and add to our loan portfolio in 2023.
New Year, New Tagline:
2023 seems like the perfect opportunity to give the WBDC tagline a little refresh. Invest. Improve. Accelerate Growth. It encapsulates the WBDC’s mission to enhance tax base expansion and job creation. As we have in each previous year, we remain committed to working in partnership with the City, State and Federal governments and the private sector to advance and strengthen our ever growing Worcester market.
Sincerely,
Cheryl M. Lapriore Craig L. Blais
Chair President & CEO