An interview with Sumner Tilton Jr. of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple
Among his many fields of civic endeavors, Worcester attorney Sumner Tilton Jr. is a director of Fletcher Tilton & Whipple PC, a member of the Wednesday Group and chair of the board of the economic development organization Choose Worcester. In this interview, he discusses the changing of the guard among the city’s movers and shakers, and the charitable donors behind the scenes who help those people move and shake.
Tilton: We took a pool of 40 or so applicants, and [search firm] Isaacs and Miller reduced it to seven or eight. The search committee reduced it down to three. And we had those three come to Worcester for two days each and then had the families of the two finalists come to town. Both of them declined for reasons other than the job. One was concerned about the ability to sell his residence [at a loss], and the other had a 14-year-old daughter who evidently got a vote. So we appointed a new search committee, and the candidate pool has continued to grow.
We’ve raised approximately $1.3 million [for Choose Worcester]. Of all the corporate asks in the city that we’ve made, nobody has said no. And that’s heartening.
WBJ: Where does the civic organization First Wednesday Group come in and what role does it play?
The idea of forming an economic development corporation came out of discussions we had at First Wednesday. If we don’t have an organization that tries to recruit businesses into the city that aren’t currently here, how’s it ever going to happen? But certainly, [that’s not the role of] First Wednesday Group. ...
WBJ: You have all these vest pocket redevelopment initiatives. It makes me wonder if the First Wednesday Group might be the glue, the matchmaker?
Tilton: The glue that holds a lot of this stuff together are the foundations.
Worcester is blessed to have these private family foundations. They are here because the founders of Wyman-Gordon and Norton Co. and Paul Revere, all decided to put stock in these trusts and appoint trustees to take the income and give it away to charity. And most trusts have grown and grown and now, the [new] Boys and Girls Club got built because of foundation support.
The College of Pharmacy wouldn’t be where it is without the foundations. Not only the initial renovation of the building but the purchase and renovation of the one on Foster and Commercial Street. ...
The George Alden Trust was funded with shares from Norton Co. And obviously that trust benefited from the sale of Norton to Saint-Gobain because the stock suddenly became worth more money and the Alden Trust became worth more. The Harrington, Ellsworth and McEvoy foundations, which all came from Paul Revere, benefited when Textron bought Avco Corp. which was the parent of Paul Revere, in 1985.
The Tilton File: |
Roots: Born 1938 in Worcester, MA
Education: BA, Williams College; JD, Boston University School of Law; honorary doctor of law degrees, Assumption College, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Professional memberships: American Bar Association; Massachusetts Bar Association; elected Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Board Memberships: Life Trustee and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of Clark University; honorary trustee of the Worcester Art Museum and the Ecotarium; currently serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of UMass Memorial Healthcare Inc., chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Health Care Security Fund (Mass. Tobacco Fund); trustee of the Willard House and Clock Museum and the Massachusetts Hospital Association; managing trustee of the Ruth H. and Warren A. Ellsworth Foundation and the Mildred H. McEvoy Foundation; trustee of the Francis A. and Jacquelyn H. Harrington Foundation.
WBJ: The acquisitions made the foundations’ stock rise in value. But was there a drawback in the loss of local control over the stock?Tilton: It certainly benefited the foundations at the time, because their value increased. And what the foundations have to do under law, is give away 5 percent of their fair market value. Five percent of a higher number, [results in] a higher number of dollars being given away annually. So that was good. ... When Norton Co. was independently owned, it was a New York Stock Exchange company ...and it was instrumental in the philanthropy of the city. It gave back to the city a lot of money. It supported all the capital drives; it supported the United Way, not that Saint-Gobain doesn’t now but certainly not to the extent that Norton Co. did when Norton Co. was independent.
Now [Worcester’s old-line] companies are governed by corporations that aren’t here. ... Hanover [Insurance Group] is the only company that has stayed here. And see what they’re doing for the city. ...Having your headquarters here helps.
All these CEOs used to be around the table on the first Wednesday of every month and that was the First Wednesday Group. And back in the days when Bob Stoddard and Joe Carter were all running these companies, they could set the city’s agenda. ....That doesn’t happen any more. But the foundations have flourished and there isn’t one foundation that’s worth less than it was five years ago. It’s good.
This interview was conducted and edited for length by WBJ Editor Christina P. O’Neill.
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