Two restaurants are headed to Lincoln Street, Worcester lands state funding for redevelopment and manufacturing, and MBI names a new advancement director.
New restaurants, redevelopment funding and investments in workforce development are among the latest developments across Worcester.
Two eateries are preparing to open on Lincoln Street, while the city has secured nearly $5 million in state grants for projects ranging from demolition of the former Denholm building to manufacturing infrastructure. Elsewhere, new businesses are celebrating openings, six Worcester high schools are receiving career education funding and Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives has named a new advancement director.
Jamaican, Mexican restaurants coming to Lincoln Street
The Worcester License Commission unanimously approved common victualler licenses for two new Lincoln Street restaurants, Jamaican Bites and Taqueria Acapulcos, at its Oct. 22 meeting.
Jamaican Bites plans to operate at 169A Lincoln St. and will serve island dishes such as jerk chicken, oxtail, beef patties, curry shrimp, pepper steak and curry goat. The establishment has proposed operating hours of 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Taqueria Acapulcos, a Mexican food truck that operates in Grafton, expands to a 12-seat restaurant at 453 Lincoln St. Serving dishes such as quesadillas, tacos and burritos, the restaurant plans to be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Save Money. Live Better. Eat Pretzels.
The city’s second Wetzel’s Pretzels location is now open inside the Walmart Supercenter at 25 Tobias Boland Way.
The new location joins an existing Wetzel’s store in downtown Worcester that shares space with Cold Stone Creamery and Planet Smoothie at 535 Main St.
In addition to its soft, hand-rolled pretzels, Wetzel’s offers snacks and beverages. Founded in 1994 by Bill Phelps and Rick Wetzel in Pasadena, California, Wetzel’s Pretzels has expanded into a national chain.
The Worcester Walmart location also features a Subway sandwich shop.
enVision Hotel, 4Milez Tattoo Studio to cut ribbons this week
The enVision Hotel and 4Milez Tattoo Studio each celebrate the opening of new facilities this week with ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
The five-story enVision Hotel at 110 Summer St., formerly a Holiday Inn Express and later Hotel Worcester, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 3:30 p.m. The hotel began accommodating guests in late August.
Founded by tattoo artist Jacob Rosa in 2022, 4Milez Tattoo Studio cuts the ribbon on its new location at 129 Water St. on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 3:30 p.m. The event features food, live painting, vendors and $50 tattoos.
The studio is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Six Worcester high schools receive funding for Innovation Career Pathways
As part of Massachusetts STEM Week, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration announced more than $5 million in statewide funding Oct. 22 to expand and maintain high school Innovation Career Pathways programs.
The programs offer students hands-on learning and opportunities to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In Massachusetts, more than 8,500 students are enrolled in 303 Innovation Career Pathways programs at 130 high schools.
Worcester Public Schools received a total of $45,915 to maintain Innovation Career Pathways programs at Burncoat High School, Claremont Academy, Doherty Memorial High School, North High School, South High Community School and University Park Campus School.
Programs offered in Worcester cover advanced manufacturing; allied health; business, finance and marketing; construction and related engineering; computer science and information technology; and biotechnology.
City receives nearly $5 million in state grants for four projects
Worcester receives nearly $5 million in state grants to help demolish and redevelop a vacant building site, create new manufacturing space, improve downtown wayfinding and attract businesses to vacant storefronts.
A total of $3 million will be used for demolition of the vacant Denholm building at 484 Main St. The funding will also help prepare the 1.2-acre site for redevelopment.
The city and New Garden Park Inc. were awarded $1.65 million for infrastructure improvements supporting 1 million square feet of new manufacturing space on Worcester’s north side. The project includes reconstructing an existing roadway and installing new street infrastructure to accommodate industrial development.
Four interactive digital wayfinding kiosks will be purchased and installed downtown using $250,000 of the grant funding. The project also includes installation of 88 new banners.
The state provides another $50,000 to help the city attract businesses to long-vacant storefronts within designated Commercial Area Revitalization Districts.
MBI names Worcester native as advancement director
Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives has named Sira Naras Frongillo its new director of advancement as the nonprofit prepares to launch its 2027-2030 strategic plan.
Frongillo joins MBI after more than 14 years with Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Division of University Advancement, where she held leadership roles in donor stewardship, alumni engagement and communications. A Worcester native with communications degrees from Worcester State University and Clark University, Frongillo has also taught communications at Worcester State, Clark and WPI.
In her new role, she’ll help advance MBI’s efforts to support life sciences startups, workforce development and the growth of a regional biomanufacturing hub.
“I’m proud to be born, raised, educated, and employed in the great city of Worcester, and I look forward to leveraging my communications and relationship building skills in support of MBI’s mission,” Frongillo said in the organization’s announcement.
MBI operates a life sciences business incubator and supports regional workforce and economic development initiatives. According to the organization, it has assisted more than 197 companies since 2000, supporting the creation of more than 1,800 jobs.
About Building Worcester: Building Worcester is The Worcester Guardian’s weekly roundup of business, development and economic news from across the city, tracking major projects, new businesses, public meetings, commercial real estate and the decisions shaping Worcester’s future.
Have a tip about a new business, development project or commercial property? Email Executive Editor Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org or reporter Mike Vigneux at MikeVigs@gmail.com.
