Worcester Business Devbelopment Corporation
Podcast
Hosted by Craig Blais, CEO, WBDC
The Worcester Business Development Corporation was founded by people from your community, for your community. It works as a collaboration between public and private sectors to create a healthy economy in the Worcester area. We do this by recognizing and reacting to challenges in the local economy. Our main goal is to assist in the development of businesses in Worcester and foster growth of entrepreneurs in the area, as well as expand the tax base and promote employment opportunities. We are your neighbors, your support system, your friends.
Six Nonprofits Successfully Relocate to Former Unum Building in Worcester
In one of the most intriguing and complicated deals the city has had to navigate, the site of the historic Denholm building will see new life. What has been lost in the story is how six nonprofits have now successfully relocated to the former Unum building on Chestnut St. Creating a nonprofit center for the city. Before that successful move could happen and the proposals could start coming in on the Denholm building, negotiations with the occupants, including six large and vital nonprofits, had to be completed. The spaces, law offices, nonprofits, etc. were owned as condos by the occupants. Over time the upkeep of the building had just become too great. On this edition of The Podcast of the WBDC, CEO Craig Blais, Worcester’s Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn and Katie Krock, developer of 18 Chestnut St., tell the entire story of how this remarkable move was pulled off. (Image by This Week in Worcester)
RECENT STORIES
WBDC President Craig Blais gathers the Worcester delegation to talk about economic development
WBDC President Craig Blais gathers the Worcester delegation to talk about economic development, incentives and critical programs we rely on for successful economic development in the region. Speaking on the legislatures role and about such projects as the Reactory and the WBDC’s recent announcement with Saint Gobain are State Senator Michael Moore, Anne Gobi, Robyn Kennedy and State Rep. Jim O’Day. Blais also announced that the final parcels at the Reactory have been sold to Galaxy Life Sciences.
Saint Gobain and the WBDC
We throw around words like transformative too easily but in this case it is accurate. The deal between Saint Gobain and the WBDC that sees 51 acres, half of the campus being transferred, is truly transformative and historic. Craig Blais, President WBDC, and Patrick Dwyer from Saint Gobain take us through the deal and what it will mean for Worcester and the Greendale neighborhood. As Blais says – you just don’t have tracts of land this size become available.
Table Talk Pie and Mount Carmel Sites
The podcast of the WBDC centers on two new housing projects going up in Worcester. One at the site of the former Table Talk Pie bakery next to Polar Park. The other off 290 at the former site of Mt. Carmel. Craig Blais, President and CEO of The Worcester Business Development Corporation is joined by Rich Mazzocchi, Partner at Boston Capital and Jim Lambert, Development Director at Wood Partners. They go into detail about the need for housing, the projects they are bringing to Worcester and what attracted them to the city, and comment on inclusionary zoning.