Worcester Homecoming looks reunite business leaders with ties to the city
Photo | Grant Welker
The Worcester skyline
Beginning on Wednesday, prominent professionals with ties to Worcester will return to the city, as currently residing local leaders discuss the ongoing economic changes and development occurring in the Heart of the Commonwealth.
The event is the culmination of two and a half years of planning for the Worcester Homecoming 2022, an event put together by Lauren Zingarelli, who serves as the executive director of the event, and Peter Stanton, CEO of New England Business Media in Worcester. The event is inspired by a similar homecoming event held in Detroit.
“We have a diverse group of local, business, and community leaders who are involved with the project,” said Sherri Pitcher, the director of marketing at Fontaine Brothers, and who serves as one of two Homecoming Chair positions at the event. “The plan is to do it biannually, so we’re already planning the 2023 event.” The event this year was originally scheduled for 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Invited guests to the event include Ken Barrett, the global chief diversity officer for Detroit automaker General Motors, Deb Cote, a TV producer for CBS and CNN, and Imoigele Aisiku, the vice chair of emergency critical care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The event will begin Wednesday evening at the BrickBox Theatre in Worcester, which features a fireside chat with Nobel Prize recipient Craig Mello and Priyanka Dayal McClusky, a health reporter for Boston NPR station WBUR and a native of Shrewsbury. The event then moves on to the Polar Park baseball stadium for a private tour, followed by a welcoming reception on the ballpark’s Hanover Deck.
Thursday marks the first full day of events for the homecoming, with attendants gathering at the Marriott Hotel in Worcester, morning remarks made by Worcester Mayor Joe Petty and Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. Additional talks are scheduled throughout the day before another reception is held at the Hanover Theater in Worcester. Closing remarks are then made the following morning back at the Marriott.
“The whole hope is to rebuild relationships with these people, who either grew up here or went to school in the Worcester area,” said Pitcher. “It’s to reignite that connection and inspire them to go back to the communities they currently live in and become ambassadors for the city.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Worcester Business Journal is wholly owned by New England Business Media, which is co-owned by Peter Stanton, an organizer of Worcester Homecoming.
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