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WBJ Editor Brad Kane
Contained in the snapshot the few dozen lists each Book of Lists provides every year are the companies and industries driving economic production and capturing the public’s attention at any given point in time. The last few years have seen the addition of industries like craft brewers and marijuana businesses, the expansion of the biomedical companies list, and the consolidation of players in the healthcare space.
Aside from notable movements up and down lists, such as Tree House Brewing Co. in Charlton becoming the largest brewer in Central Massachusetts, this year’s 43 lists are highlighted by three new additions: local restaurants groups, Massachusetts Department of Transportation projects, and temporary staffing companies. Each of these groupings had their own unique journey into 2021, as the whole of the region and the world are still contending with the coronavirus pandemic, with restaurants first needing to close down and then struggling to reopen as their workforces left; staffing agencies helping companies find workers in a difficult labor market; and public transportation construction again proving it can be resilient in a rough economy.