How the Worcester Biz Journal got its start

Worcester Business Journal publisher Peter Stanton writes about the publication’s beginning.

Stanton writes, “Fast forward to 1989 and the real estate bubble had burst and a full-fledged Savings & Loan crisis ensued, dragging down banks, developers, and many others in its wake, including the then out-of-state owners of Business Worcester. With the company on the rocks, a white knight magically appeared on the scene.

“Allen Fletcher, whose family owned the Telegram & Gazette, had moved back to Worcester from the West Coast, ostensibly to work at and eventually have a chance to run the paper of record. While he was a reporter who did time in the Fitchburg bureau, he was also on the board of directors. In 1986 however, the T&G was sold to the San Francisco Chronicle, ending that chapter of local ownership. So while Business Worcester was closing its doors in late 1989, Fletcher, with a heavy dose of encouragement from Paul Giorgio, was there to jump at the chance to recruit the remaining team to join a new venture, which was the birth of Worcester Business Journal, 35 years ago.

“WBJ was the founding publication in what would become Worcester Publishing Ltd. Like its early predecessor, the company was burgeoning with talent, and it rapidly expanded, founding the Hartford Business Journal in 1992, followed by the 1993 purchase of Worcester Magazine.”

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