2020 Power 50: Allen W. Fletcher

Allen W. Fletcher, president of Worcester Public Market, Inc. and Harding Green LLC

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Allen W. Fletcher

Title: President
Company: Worcester Public Market, Inc.; Harding Green LLC
Located: Worcester
Residence: Worcester
Colleges: Harvard University & University of California, Berkeley

In early March, you would have said Fletcher’s big bet had paid off. In building the European-style food-centric Worcester Public Market off Kelley Square in the Canal District, he knew he was taking a risk with such an aggressive $21-million development in a neighborhood with relatively few workers and well-off residents within walking distance.

Yet, after it opened on Feb. 6, the public market became the new place to be in Worcester, as the buzz built around both smaller vendors and the planned Wachusett Brewing Co. taproom, even while the Kelley Square construction turned traffic and parking into chaos. All that momentum came to a screeching halt about a month later when efforts to stem the spread of coronavirus forced the market’s closure. Luckily for Fletcher, he still has the residential component of his development, the Kelley Square Lofts, generating revenue until the market gets back to full strength. In the meantime, Fletcher still has the shiniest new development in the Canal District until the Worcester Red Sox stadium opens in April.

What makes Central Mass. unique? The region has a strong sense of place, and its chains of interconnectedness are relatively self-contained.

He could guide you around West Africa: I speak Wolof, the language of Senegal.

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