To Keep WAMS, Worcester Should Put Magnets Back on the Menu

by Cara Berg Powers, Ed.D.,

If, like me, you went to the Worcester Public Schools in the 1980s and 90s, chances are pretty high that you had the opportunity to go to a citywide magnet school- schools with extended learning time grants, project-based learning, arts, science, and technology themes, and the explicit goal to break apart the racial and economic isolation that still exists today in many of our neighborhoods. Many of us that went to those magnet schools in the 1990s will remember how often our learning was described as building, “21st century skills.” They weren’t perfect, but they did prepare us for the diverse world we live in as adults. Yet, here we are a quarter into the 21st century, and our kids don’t have the same opportunities. Our schools are as segregated as they were before many of us even began school.

Right now, we have a historic opportunity to recommit to that 21st century vision, and prepare Worcester Public School students to lead into that future. With the School Boundary and Quadrant Alignment Project that is currently underway in the Worcester Public Schools, the question of how we organize about 25,000 kids into school buildings and communities is being asked for the first time in most people’s memory. So far, none of the plans that are being considered have proposed more equitable and inclusive schools, schools like the ones many of us grew up with. It’s not too late though- the district and consultants are RIGHT NOW finalizing the scenarios that the school committee will vote on, and you can still make your voice heard.

To that end, Saturday afternoon about 40 parents, educators, students, and representatives from the Worcester Public Schools gathered in the dimly lit auditorium of Goddard School of Science for the last of what has been months of community listening sessions about the alignment project. Goddard’s 125 year old building, originally home to South High School, is at the center of the major questions about how a district of the size and diversity of Worcester can equitably reimagine how our school buildings and communities will serve all of our kids. Built for a different time and bigger kids, educators have expressed concern about adding additional Pre-K spots to this already stretched school. 

In addition to the educators from Goddard that shared their concerns, over a dozen parents, educators, and even students from the Worcester Arts Magnet School spoke about their continued concern that moving the magnet program to a different building would harm the program and the results that it has produced. To anyone who has been following this process, this comes as no surprise. In fact, after the first plan recommended moving WAMS in order to accommodate anticipated growth in the neighborhood’s student population, the outcry was so swift and severe, that it was completely scrapped in the second plan.

Worcester Arts Middle Schools (WAMS) is an important example today of what could be: the student population at WAMS is a much lower proportion of high need students than the district overall. At about 57%, it’s significantly lower than the district’s 80% average, and about 40% lower than a school like Chandler Elementary, which is about 97%. It’s also almost 20% higher than Flagg Street, which has only about 40% high need students, and only 23% English Language Learners, compared to the District average of over 50%. Which is what a lot of the district looks like- either much higher or lower than the average, WAMS is unique in that it is somewhat in the middle.

One of the educators who spoke on Saturday at the community input session explained how this middle is possible: in 1992, WAMS opened as one of WPS’ many district magnet schools, designed to serve a combination of students from Lincoln Village, Burncoat’s single family neighborhood, and citywide open enrollment. To this day, WAMS is one of the most diverse schools in the district, and this mix of students is part of what makes possible the magic that so many students, parents, and educators have fought to defend. What some may not realize is that the same year, 1992, that WAMS opened, so did the Goddard School for Science and Technology, one of several district magnets at the time, that were created, beginning in 1975, to address the racial isolation and concentrated poverty in our incredibly diverse district. In 1990, almost 40% of incoming kindergarten students went to schools outside of their neighborhoods.

The marks of these attempts are all over our district. Schools that haven’t operated as magnets in decades still called that, or bearing the name of previous thematic schoolwork that inspired students in the 1990s, like Goddard. Just a few blocks away, Claremont Academy and Woodland Academy share a building that was built in the late 1990s to house and bring together a K-12 citywide magnet, global studies themed, project-based learning school where Woodland Street Community School had once been.

As a 2001 graduate of that school, the Accelerated Learning Laboratory, it’s pretty heartbreaking to see the way that prior disinvestment by our school district in the goals of integration, equity, and student-centered learning have been tossed away as the district moved that building back to “neighborhood” status, limiting attendance to those who live within a short distance from the building, and further isolating the high- need students that the school was created to integrate. In 1994, as a kid from Main South, I had access to a more diverse and specialized education because the city decided to invest in my neighborhood and bring kids from all over the city there to learn together. Now, a kid living on the same street I grew up on has far fewer opportunities. Not only is there no longer an integrated, project-based learning school in walking distance, they also don’t have the chance to go to school with kids outside their neighborhood at the comprehensive middle and high school they would have been districted to prior to the magnet opening.

One Woodland Academy parent shared her frustrations at a listening session at Vernon Hill School last month, noting that it seemed like schools in single family zoned neighborhoods, closer to the suburbs, have more access to playgrounds and other higher quality facilities. She shared that she had to “armor” her daughter in pants for school because wearing a skirt, she would risk injury from the small pavement lot that students there have to play in.

It does not have to be this way. We do not have to continue to accept segregation in our public schools, and the current work the district is doing to rethink school assignment lines and policies is an opportunity to turn the tide.  

If we keep WAMS, but also keep the rest of the status quo – in which most of our district is neighborhood schools only – it will harm all of our kids and continue to perpetuate the dangerous false idea that we must choose equitable or excellent schools. WAMS parents and educators have called WAMS a model. It can be just that, if we have the courage to care enough about all of our kids to invest in a future that expands all of their horizons. We can commit to a long-term plan to redesignate many of our previous magnet schools, and engage communities in identifying and planning learning themes, like additional art and dual language schools, as well as science and technology, project-based learning, and even civics themed schools. We have a generational opportunity to course correct.

Imagine if when you registered your child for kindergarten, you could opt into a lottery not just for WAMS and Worcester Dual Language, but for an assortment of high quality, integrated programs around the city. That whether or not you got into one of these programs didn’t feel existential because by better distributing the needs and bringing community together, we made it more cost effective and easier to make every school great. This is a choice we can make right now. We can ask the district to ensure that at least one of the options they consider to vote on includes a plan to better serve all of our kids. 

We can and must do better, for all of our future kids. If we truly believe that WAMS is a special school worth saving, let’s rebuild the district that made it possible, starting with at least one themed, elementary school magnet in each quadrant. We don’t have to choose between excellent or equitable schools. We can ensure that all of our kids have access to both. Email your school committee members, the Mayor, and the alignment project consultants, to ask them to give equity a chance.

Kraft Group, Unified propose $16 billion data center campus in Sutton

Unified Global Packaging Group and The Kraft Group have proposed a 10-building data center campus in Sutton that would draw about 900 megawatts of power at full build-out, according to a memo Town Manager Austin Cyganiewicz wrote to the Select Board.

The board scheduled a review of the proposal for its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to the meeting agenda. In the memo, dated Monday, Nov. 9, Cyganiewicz called the plan tentative. The developer has filed no application and has yet to give the town details on power, water, equipment and site impacts.

The developer puts the full campus at more than $16 billion in private investment. All taxable property in Sutton carries an assessed value of about $2.85 billion today.

What the developer wants to build

The campus would sit on Unified’s Unified Parkway property off Boston Road and Providence Road. Major electric transmission lines cross the land, including a 345-kilovolt line that runs from Millbury to West Farnum.

The first phase calls for two buildings of about 250,000 square feet each, drawing roughly 90 megawatts apiece and opening in 2029. The developer’s financial analysis assumes eight more buildings of the same size, opening two per year from 2030 through 2033.

The developer values each building at about $675 million in real property, mostly electrical, cooling and generator systems, plus about $1 billion in computer equipment. The operator told the town it has opened talks with ISO New England, the regional grid operator, to secure power and plans to explore reclaimed water for cooling.

Town projects lower tax bills

Town staff built their estimates on values well below the developer’s figures, assuming about $250 million per building for the structure and land plus about $560 million in fast-depreciating server equipment. That puts first-year taxable value at about $586 million per building, roughly a third of the developer’s number.

Under those assumptions, the first two buildings would pay about $10.4 million a year in property tax once fully assessed in fiscal 2031. With all 10 buildings on the rolls in fiscal 2035, the annual bill would reach about $27.8 million. Sutton’s entire tax levy for fiscal 2027 totals about $32 million.

Construction would also bring an estimated $31 million in one-time building permit fees. Cyganiewicz recommended putting that money toward capital needs and reserves or paying down long-term obligations such as debt and pensions.

Because Sutton raises only what its budget requires, a larger tax base spreads the same costs across more value. Staff estimates the first phase would drop the fiscal 2031 tax rate to $8.83 per $1,000 of assessed value, compared with $11.78 without the project. The full campus could push the rate to about $5.68 by fiscal 2035, compared with $12.05.

For the average single-family home, now assessed at $662,769, the fiscal 2031 bill would fall to about $6,846 from a projected $9,134. With the full campus, the average homeowner would pay about $5,800 less in fiscal 2035.

The town model does not yet put a dollar figure on new municipal costs, such as public safety training and equipment or road wear during construction. It also assumes the developer pays full property tax. Unified already holds a 15-year tax-increment financing agreement with Sutton worth about $46.1 million for its $475 million industrial expansion on the same property, the Worcester Business Journal reported. The memo does not say whether the developer would seek a tax break for the data center.

Budget gap ahead

Sutton’s Multi-Year Financial Plan projects a structural gap that grows from about $300,000 in fiscal 2028 to $9.1 million in fiscal 2033. Education costs rising 5.5% to 8% a year and benefits and insurance climbing about 10% a year drive the gap, while revenue grows about 2%.

Data center revenue would arrive too late for fiscal 2028 or 2029, so the town would still need another source for those years. Starting in fiscal 2031, the memo says, the gap would close and leave Sutton with about $10 million in unused levy capacity, growing to about $26 million by fiscal 2033.

New state rules apply

Gov. Maura Healey signed Executive Order 658 on Tuesday, Sept. 8, setting requirements for new data centers with peak demand above 25 megawatts. State permitting agencies may not issue permits until a developer shows the project conforms with the state’s data center framework and submits a community benefits agreement reviewed by the state Office of Environmental Justice and Equity.

“Under Governor Healey’s Executive Order, if a data center doesn’t have local approval, state permitting agencies will not advance the project,” the governor’s office said in a news release.

The order also requires data centers to buy enough new clean electricity to match their annual use or pay into a new Ratepayer Protection Fund that would lower supply costs for all electric customers. The state has until Dec. 31 to set up the fund’s payment mechanism and publish guidance for municipalities.

What comes next

The memo names a community benefits agreement and a zoning bylaw as the town’s two main tools. Because state permits now depend on an agreement, Cyganiewicz wrote, the town would hold “meaningful leverage.” He added that the town would make any terms public before Town Meeting acted.

Sutton’s zoning bylaws do not address data centers. An amendment would define the use, allow it only by special permit in a suitable district or overlay, and set standards for issues including noise, water use, traffic and decommissioning. It would require a Planning Board hearing and a two-thirds Town Meeting vote.

If Sutton pursues the project, the agreement, the bylaw and an independent technical review would move forward together over the next six months, according to the memo.

Mass. man indicted on charges of trafficking 20 kilograms of cocaine

A federal grand jury indicted a Lexington man on charges that he arranged for 20 kilograms of cocaine to travel from New York to Massachusetts, where he planned to sell it to his drug customers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Jianyang Huang, 39, faces one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Prosecutors identified Huang as a legal permanent resident from China.

Federal authorities first charged Huang by criminal complaint in March. He will appear for arraignment on the indictment at a later date.

How the alleged deal worked

Huang allegedly offered to pay a cooperating witness to pick up the 20-kilogram shipment in New York and drive it back to Massachusetts.

According to court filings, Huang put the witness in touch with the New York suppliers by handing over a password to a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app.

Prosecutors say Huang also had the witness photograph the serial number of a dollar bill. Huang allegedly sent the photo to the suppliers and told the witness to keep the bill and show it to them on arrival in New York.

On March 25, the witness drove to Flushing, New York, and allegedly met with the suppliers. After the witness showed the dollar bill, the suppliers handed over two suitcases holding 20 kilograms of cocaine, according to prosecutors.

The witness then met with law enforcement officers, who confirmed that each suitcase held 10 bricks of cocaine wrapped in plastic.

Possible penalties

The charges of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, each provide for a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release up to life, and a fine of up to $10 million.

Massachusetts RMV to launch electronic car titles for private sales

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles will let car owners trade paper titles for electronic ones and transfer ownership online in private sales, under a program the agency announced Monday, Nov. 9.

Paper remains the default. Owners who keep their cars do not need to take any action, the RMV said.

Owners who choose the Electronic Vehicle Certificate of Title, known as E-Title, pay $25 to convert. The electronic record then becomes the official title and proof of ownership, and the RMV does not print or mail a paper copy. Switching back to paper costs another $25.

A 2025 change to state law, which took effect in July 2025, cleared the way for electronic titles.

How a private sale works

The first phase covers private sales between two Massachusetts residents. Both the buyer and the seller need a myRMV profile, which they reach through a myMassGov account.

The seller must hold an E-Title, or convert the paper title first, before releasing ownership to the buyer online. The buyer then completes a title application online and pays the title fee plus any sales tax. The new E-Title appears in the buyer’s name in the RMV system. The agency did not list the title fee amount in its announcement.

First-time myRMV users need a Verification Letter ID. They can request one online and receive it by mail within seven business days, or print one the same day at an RMV Service Center.

Registration rules stay the same. Getting plates still requires an in-person visit and an insurance agent’s stamp confirming coverage.

The RMV will not issue an E-Title to an owner until any electronic lien on the vehicle has been released.

Dealers wait until 2027

Dealership sales and trade-ins fall outside the first phase. The RMV aims to bring dealerships in its Electronic Vehicle Registration program into the system in spring 2027, according to the agency’s E-Title information page, and plans to offer dealers webinars and training before launch.

Until then, E-Title holders who want to sell or trade a car at a dealership can request a paper title.

Fraud protections

Each conversion, in either direction, generates a new title number and voids every earlier version, so only the most recent title counts. The RMV will keep reporting title records to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, a federal database.

Interim Transportation Secretary Phillip Eng, who also serves as MBTA general manager, said less reliance on paper documents can protect customers from lost titles and fraud. He said the system could eventually work across state lines.

Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie called the rollout the first step in a multi-stage effort to let customers keep titles without storing paper. In private sales, she said, the buyer and the seller each verify their identity and the vehicle’s ownership through the RMV.

Owners can send questions through Ask the RMV or email the agency’s title office at RMVTitles@dot.state.ma.us. More services are available through the RMV’s Online Service Center.

Kopin plans $80M Westborough expansion, up to 80 jobs with state backing

Westborough-based Kopin Corp. will open a new headquarters at 75 North Drive and invest about $80 million to expand its MicroLED manufacturing in town, the company announced Monday, Nov. 9.

The project could add up to 80 jobs over five years in engineering, advanced manufacturing, semiconductor processing and other business functions, according to the company. A $1.46 million state Investment Tax Credit and an $800,000 state equipment grant support the plan.

Moving headquarters functions next door from 125 North Drive, the company’s longtime base, frees room in that building for more manufacturing and future production programs. Kopin plans a phased buildout that includes facility upgrades and new equipment.

State incentives

The state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved Kopin’s tax credit Wednesday, Sept. 23, through the Economic Development Incentive Program. Kopin’s project joined nine others that received a combined $11.5 million in credits that day. The state expects the 10 projects to create 674 jobs.

The state’s list of 2026 EDIP awards puts Kopin’s planned investment at more than $80 million, aimed at bringing critical microdisplay manufacturing back to the U.S. The program awards tax credits to companies in exchange for commitments on hiring and capital investment in Massachusetts.

The $800,000 grant comes from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative, which the Center for Advanced Manufacturing at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative runs. Kopin will use the money to buy production equipment for MicroLED displays and for Neural I/o, an optical interconnect product.

Defense and AI work

Kopin makes microdisplays and optical systems for defense, enterprise, consumer and professional customers. Its color MicroLED displays go into next-generation vision systems for soldiers and pilots.

Neural I/o uses MicroLEDs to send data as light. The company designed it to cut the energy AI processors spend moving data from chip to chip, and it develops the technology with partner Fabric.AI.

Federal money also backs the MicroLED work. In October, Kopin received an additional $18.6 million through the Defense Department’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, which brings its total funding from that program to $34 million.

“MicroLED is opening new possibilities in how soldiers and pilots see critical information,” CEO Michael Murray said in the company’s announcement. He said state support helps Kopin build capacity in Massachusetts, where the company has operated for more than 40 years.

The Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus recently named Kopin a Manufacturer of the Year after state Rep. Kate Donaghue, D-Westborough, nominated the company.

Kopin, which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol KOPN, will report third-quarter results Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m.

Image credit: Google

Massachusetts gas prices fall 9 cents as oil slides, AAA says

The average price of regular gas in Massachusetts fell 9 cents in the past week to $4.08 a gallon, AAA Northeast reported Monday, Nov. 9.

Massachusetts drivers now pay 24 cents less than a month ago, when the average stood at $4.32. The state average remains $1.08 above this time last year, when a gallon cost $3, and runs 8 cents higher than the national average.

Prices dropped across southern New England. Rhode Island posted the largest weekly decline of the three states, 11 cents, and now matches the national average at $4. Connecticut fell 10 cents to $4.14, the highest price in the region.

Gas prices in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut

Average price per gallon of regular unleaded as of Nov. 9. Source: AAA Northeast.

Drivers nationwide saw a steeper drop. The U.S. average fell 16 cents in a week to $4 a gallon, 37 cents below a month ago and 94 cents above a year ago, according to AAA’s Nov. 9 survey.

Why prices are falling

Crude oil prices dropped about 12% last week. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, settled near $90 a barrel when trading closed Friday, Nov. 6, and Brent crude fell to about $98. Both slipped further in weekend trading, with WTI dipping below $90 and Brent below $95.

AAA tied much of the decline to multiple reports that the United States and Iran are open to renewed talks to end the war between them. Oil prices also fell sharply after last week’s midterm elections.

Domestic supply grew. U.S. producers pumped more than 14 million barrels of oil in a single week for the first time, according to the latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. AAA said the record reflects how oil and gas companies ramped up production this year amid tight global supplies and high prices.

Refineries ran at 94.5% of capacity, an increase of about 2% for the week and well above the 86% rate a year ago, the EIA reported. Gasoline demand rose by 450,000 barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day. Gasoline inventories fell by 200,000 barrels to 209 million barrels, 2.9 million barrels more than a year ago and about 2% below the seasonal average.

“The pace of price declines at the pump has accelerated in recent days and the national average price for regular unleaded is on the verge of falling below $4 a gallon for the first time since July 19,” said Mark Schieldrop, senior spokesperson for AAA Northeast.

Schieldrop said the months from August through October set the highest monthly averages on record. “Time will tell if the streak continues in November, or if prices cool enough to stop the trend,” he said.

Drivers can check current state and metro averages on AAA’s gas prices site.

Falling short of the American Dream

By Emily Micucci

On a Monday morning in October, a sister and brother crunch numbers and trade ideas for growing their fledgling Mexican eatery at 1 Kelley Square in Worcester.

Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez, 55, and Rosalio Carmona, 52, have big ambitions for El Sombrero Taqueria, which they opened in 2022. With another location at the Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough and a potential third on Park Avenue in Worcester, the siblings are determined to move beyond survival.

“We don’t want to stay small,” Rodriguez said. “We want to grow.”

But growth requires cash. Rising food costs are squeezing margins, and the owners anticipate raising prices. Other neighborhood restaurants have closed under financial pressure.

Carmona, who studied hospitality at Quinsigamond Community College and works in the kitchen at The Beechwood Hotel in Worcester, invests his earnings in the business. Rodriguez, the chef, pursues new revenue through pop-up events at local employers and a new takeout concept called Snackeria. Her children and nieces work there.

One of nine children, Rodriguez learned to cook from her mother and grandmother, both chefs. She remembers her mother selling food to neighbors in Mexico, followed by her young son carrying a pot of steaming food.

Today, she draws on that entrepreneurial spirit.

“We have to keep going with quality, passion, and love,” she said.

Yet determination alone cannot overcome financial barriers. Starting or expanding a business requires capital, and those without home equity, family wealth or other assets often struggle to secure it.

Less than 1 percent each of employer businesses in Worcester County are owned by Black and Hispanic people, far below national rates, according to Worcester County Insights, a data initiative from Greater Worcester Community Foundation and Worcester Regional Research Bureau. Those figures exclude sole proprietors and businesses without paid employees, including many small enterprises operated by entrepreneurs of color.

Conventional financing can be particularly difficult without collateral or an established financial track record.

Rodriguez and Carmona know this firsthand. The siblings previously operated another Worcester restaurant that shuttered during the Great Recession. When they tried again in 2022, financing came from a brother working in Mexico’s petroleum industry, rather than a bank.

Rodriguez wouldn’t risk the four-bedroom Shrewsbury home she and her husband purchased in 2005. Carmona had no property to leverage.

A home of his own

Even as he invests in the business, Carmona is pursuing another financial goal: homeownership.

He hopes to buy a mobile home in Worcester, a modest aspiration competing with the money he directs toward El Sombrero. His circumstances illustrate how business ownership and homeownership are intertwined. Property provides equity for business financing, while business income can help families save for a home. Without either, building wealth becomes harder.

Carmona sees new condominiums rising throughout Worcester and wonders who can afford them as interest rates rise and home prices remain higher than the national median. 

The numbers suggest his concerns are well-founded. According to WCI, Black and Hispanic homeownership rates in Greater Worcester stand at 33 percent, compared with 71 percent among White residents.

Nationally, rates are higher among Black and Hispanic households, although disparities persist. A 2025 National Association of Realtors report found the White homeownership rate was 72 percent in 2023, compared with 51 percent among Hispanic households and 45 percent among Black households.

The business ownership gap is similarly pronounced. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 22.6 percent of U.S. employer firms were minority-owned in 2022, far exceeding the reported share of Black- and Hispanic-owned employer businesses in Worcester County, although the figures use different racial and ethnic groupings and aren’t directly comparable.

Industry help?

Closing these gaps requires financing and institutions willing to help prospective owners navigate the process.

Darryl Caffee, senior vice president of home lending at Auburn-based Webster Five bank, understands the importance of representation in an industry where people of color remain underrepresented.

Caffee, who is Black, graduated from law school in 2012, entered banking as an in-house attorney and joined Webster Five in 2018. Today, he connects aspiring homeowners with mortgage products offering reduced down payments and first-time homebuyer incentives.

Those efforts have become more difficult since 2025, as federal guidance on creating programs to help lenders address social needs in homebuying has shifted under President Donald Trump’s administration. 

In 2022, federal regulators issued a statement telling lenders that creating special programs to encourage homeownership among people of color does not violate federal regulations, which generally forbid race-based lending and were ostensibly established to protect people of color from discrimination in banking.

The Trump administration rescinded this guidance in August, saying the 2022 interpretation under President Joe Biden’s administration couldn’t be reconciled with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or the Fair Housing Act. 

To comply with this new federal guidance, Webster Five now emphasizes income-based eligibility criteria. Programs through the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and Fannie Mae provide options beyond conventional mortgages.

“You have to have access to those products and programs. Otherwise, you’re really at the whim of what your portfolio will allow you to do,” Caffee said.

For Alexander Hayden, 26, that access helped turn ambition into investment.

Hayden, a Worcester Housing Authority construction project manager, grew up in Shrewsbury after his family moved from Montreal. He hopes to build a multifamily property portfolio and eventually provide concierge services to tenants.

Of African descent, Hayden doesn’t fall into the category of White privilege, but he acknowledges advantages that many buyers lack. His mother allowed him to leverage her Shrewsbury multifamily property. Still, larger banks showed little interest in his plans.

At Webster Five, he found personalized assistance. Using first-time homebuyer incentives and leveraging his mother’s property, Hayden purchased a small Cape-style home he hopes to convert into a multi-unit property. His mother is a silent partner.

“I want to say I tried something, and if it fails, it fails,” Hayden said.

His experience illustrates what’s possible when family assets, financing programs and lending assistance converge, as well as the disadvantages facing those without such resources.

For entrepreneurs lacking substantial collateral, conventional financing can be especially difficult.

Think small

Overall, business loan approval rates are relatively high. A March 2025 Federal Reserve report found that, in 2023, 75 percent of applicants seeking loans, lines of credit or cash advances from small banks received at least some funding, compared with 66 percent of applicants at large banks.

But denial rates vary by race and ethnicity. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2025 report on small-business financing, 18 percent of White-owned businesses were denied financing, compared with 39 percent of Black-owned businesses and 29 percent of Hispanic-owned businesses. The figures come from a 2024 nationwide survey of small employer firms.

Such disparities point to institutional bias, said Monica Thomas-Bonnick, Webster Five vice president and commercial lending officer. A Black woman and industry veteran, she’s focused on leveling the playing field.

“People who look like me are not in the vast majority of those who own businesses,” Thomas-Bonnick said. “We have not had access to the same things, on purpose.”

Rather than accept those barriers, she advocates providing technical assistance and educating borrowers about loan requirements, particularly the importance of improving credit scores. That personalized attention lengthens the sales cycle, something not every bank embraces, she said.

“Once you educate them and you show you care about them being able to access capital, they start to put things into place to help them reach that goal of business ownership,” said Thomas-Bonnick.

Connecting with such lenders is crucial, said Elizabeth Cruz, president of the Worcester-based Latin American Business Organization.

Cultural attitudes, including distrust of financial institutions and reluctance to discuss personal finances, can discourage Latino borrowers, Cruz said.

Equally important is knowing where to find resources. LABO connects entrepreneurs with city government-backed grants, pitch competitions and Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce membership.

Cruz challenges the perception that Hispanic business ownership is minuscule. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2025 Massachusetts Small Business Profile, Hispanic entrepreneurs owned 70,512 businesses statewide, representing 9.9 percent of businesses. More than 92 percent had no employees, excluding them from federal employer-business statistics. The figures are based on 2022 Census data.

“I tell our members, ‘Hey, you’re making these great contributions in this country,’” Cruz said.

It’s a message Rodriguez of El Sombrero Taqueria embraces. A LABO member, she received a $25,000 City of Worcester grant for kitchen equipment. Although she previously was unsuccessful in obtaining a business loan, Rodriguez plans to try again to support expansion in 2027. She believes entrepreneurs must advocate for themselves, seek resources and find lenders willing to hear their stories.

She’s hopeful someone will listen when she applies for a loan once again.

“I’m not 100 percent confident that we’re going to get it, but we’re going to try,” Rodriguez said.

This story was commissioned by Greater Worcester Community Foundation through the Worcester County Insights Reporting Project. The project supports independent reporting on issues affecting Worcester County communities.

Disclosure: The Latin American Business Organization, one of the sources of information for this article, has received funding from Greater Worcester Community Foundation.

Lead image:Rosalio Carmona (L) and Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez (R)

Photos credits: Joe Brier, Maple and Main Creative

Gardner man surrenders after seven-hour standoff at Waterford Street apartment

A Gardner man who barricaded himself inside his Waterford Street apartment and threatened officers surrendered early Saturday, Nov. 7, ending a seven-hour standoff, police said.

Gardner police arrested David Margeson, 42, on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, according to a press release from Sgt. Ryan Coates.

Officers went to 53 Waterford St. at about 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, after a report that Margeson might be armed and was threatening violence. They found him locked inside an apartment at the address.

“Margeson barricaded himself in his apartment and continued to make threats of violence against officers,” Coates said in the release.

Officers spent the night trying to de-escalate the situation and brought in the Massachusetts State Police Crisis Negotiation Team to help, according to the release.

Margeson surrendered peacefully at about 2:30 a.m., roughly seven hours after police first arrived.

Coates credited the outside agencies that helped Gardner officers through the night.

“We would like to thank the Massachusetts State Police and the Gardner Fire Department for their assistance in this matter,” he said.

The release did not say whether officers found a weapon in the apartment or describe the threats Margeson made. It also did not say who called police or list a court date.

Editor’s note: The information provided in this report is based on recent events as described by the police. The claims within are allegations by police, which may be challenged by the accused in court.

Worcester relaunches Recycles Right, will skip contaminated bins starting Nov. 9

Worcester will stop collecting curbside recycling bins that hold unaccepted items citywide starting the week of Nov. 9, as the city relaunches its Worcester Recycles Right campaign.

The campaign targets rising contamination in bins at residential buildings with one to six units. Those are the only properties the city serves with recycling pickup; owners of buildings with seven or more units hire their own haulers, according to the city’s recycling page.

The city first developed the campaign in 2022. It pairs curbside audits and targeted education with enforcement carried out alongside Casella Waste Systems Inc., the city’s recycling hauler. Worcester first began leaving contaminated bins at the curb Oct. 1, 2022, according to a city announcement at the time.

“Every resident should have clear information about what goes in the bin, whether they’ve lived here for decades or moved in last week,” said John Odell, the city’s chief sustainability officer.

New residents arrive in Worcester constantly, often without knowing local recycling rules, so the outreach needs to continue in more than one language, the city said. Cleaner recycling also holds more value for reuse.

How the rollout works

• October and November: City staff and volunteers will check bins in neighborhoods with high contamination and hand out bilingual warning tags and door hangers.
• About one week later: Staff will return to the same routes and place “Oops” stickers on contaminated bins, which crews will leave at the curb.
• Week of Nov. 9: Enforcement expands citywide.
• Spring: Staff will prepare mailings for residents to reinforce the rules.

The city plans to promote the campaign on social media and its website, and it will review the results to guide future changes.

What goes in the bin

Worcester uses zero-sort recycling, so residents can mix accepted materials in one bin. Accepted items include paper, cardboard, glass food and beverage containers, plastic bottles and tubs with their lids, metal cans and clean aluminum foil. Containers should go in empty and clean.

Plastic bags and film top the list of banned items because they tangle in sorting equipment. Crews will also skip bins holding Styrofoam, wax-coated paper, hoses or wires, plastic cutlery, paper towels, baking dishes such as Pyrex, or medical waste such as gloves and masks. They will also leave behind any recycling packed inside a plastic bag.

Empty pizza boxes are fine, grease spots included. Residents unsure about an item can search the Recycle Smart Recyclopedia.

If your bin gets skipped

Residents can pull out the unaccepted items and set the bin out the following week, or bring the accepted materials to the Residential Drop-Off Center at 1065 Millbury St.

The city stopped handing out recycling bins Sept. 21 because of limited supply. Residents who need a new bin can use any durable, open-top, weatherproof container that holds 35 gallons or less and carries a clear “Recycling” label.

Collection schedules and the full list of accepted items are available at worcesterma.gov/recycling.

Southbridge police investigate Marcy Street shooting that left 1 wounded

Southbridge police are investigating a shooting on Marcy Street that sent one person to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Officers responded to reports of gunshots near Marcy Street at about 6:09 p.m. and found spent shell casings, according to a statement the Southbridge Police Department released Thursday, Nov. 5.

While officers were at the scene, they learned a person had gone to a local hospital on their own for treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg. Officers then went to the hospital and confirmed the wound was not life-threatening.

Detectives also responded to the scene and continue to investigate what led to the shooting.

Police have not identified the injured person or said whether they have a suspect.

The department said it will not release further information while the investigation continues. It plans to provide updates once the investigation concludes.

Anyone with information can call the Southbridge Police Department at 508-764-5420.