Business Matters: Central Mass. by the Numbers
525
A developer is looking to demolish the former 5 & Diner restaurant at 525 Lincoln St. in Lincoln Plaza, Worcester, and build a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant, a national fast-food chain that specializes in fried chicken. The Parikh Network, a New Jersey-based developer, is looking to raze the vintage-looking 2006 building, which has remained vacant since it closed in 2012. The developer’s application was set to appear in front of the city Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday. If approved, the location would be the second drive-thru Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in the city, with another on Park Avenue in 2015. KFC and Crown Fried Chicken are also just down the street.
$5,250
Qualifying Amazon hourly workers attending Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester will receive prepaid tuition assistance after the city school was selected as an education partner for Amazon's Career Choice program. Amazon will prepay $5,250 in tuition for full-time employees who have worked for the company at least 90 days; part-time employees will receive $2,625 in prepaid tuition for the school year. A single, three-credit course at QCC costs approximately $1,000 and 70% of students enrolled at the community college this fall were part time. Amazon employees will be eligible for the assistance as long as they remain at the company.
130
The project to build a center platform at Worcester's iconic Union Station is “on track” at roughly 50% completion and should be ready by next winter, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said during a visit to the station Tuesday. The project to build a high-level center platform at Union Station will enable the station to handle two trains at once, effectively doubling the station’s capacity. The station is the only station on the Worcester line that can only accommodate a single train at a time, despite being the 10th busiest station in the commuter rail’s roughly 130-station network, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said.
$970
A fake puppy breeder scam that conned people across the country used an uninvolved Templeton home as its official address, bringing suffering to the family that lives there. The Templeton resident said about 15 to 20 instances have occurred of people stopping at her house in search of a puppy they believe they purchased. The Better Business Bureau said that the operation has also scammed residents of states including Ohio, Iowa and Illinois. Victims in Ohio and Illinois paid $970 while the Iowa victim paid $870 via payment methods like Zelle and PayPal.
$400,000
Two city development projects received state grants designed to redevelop underutilized properties and the city also received a grant to conduct a downtown quality-of-life study. Boston Capital Development received $400,000 for the Table Talk Pie building redevelopment into a mixed-income apartment building and WinnDevelopment received $900,000 for its senior housing redevelopment of the former Boys Club building along with a new adjacent five-story component with additional units. The city also received a $25,000 Massachusetts Downtown Initiative grant to hire a consultant to conduct a quality-of-life study for downtown.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Business Matters: Central Mass. by the Numbers
