Paul Giorgio: A Week for Worcester to Shine

Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Starting this afternoon, Worcester gets its well-deserved “15 minutes of fame,” to quote Andy Warhol.  It begins with the arrival of President Obama this afternoon for the Worcester Technical High School graduation, and ends on Saturday with the Democratic State Convention.

So today, the national media spotlight will shine on Worcester.  What is the message we want to convey to all the press from throughout the region and the national press corps that covers the President on a regular basis?

I think the message today is clearly about the future.  Not only the future of the graduating class, but how Worcester is moving into the future.  Some would even say leading the way to the future.

The Worcester Story

The Worcester story is a fascinating one.  We have always been on the cutting edge of change in some way.  Although we stand somewhat in the shadow of Boston, the shadow is shrinking.  We have moved from being a leader in the Industrial revolution to a leader in the science revolution.

It was here that both the valentine and the monkey wrench were invented.  But it was also here that the space age had its birth when Robert Goddard fired the first liquid fueled rocket over one of Worcester’s seven hills.  It was here that the birth control pill was created and it was in Worcester, that the space suits that protected our first astronauts were made.

Today, the factories of American Steel & Wire and Coes Manufacturing are gone, replaced by a state of the art bio-technology park.

The old industries have been replaced by a world class Medical School, A world class robotics program at WPI and a leading edge video gaming program at Becker College.

The old smokestack industries have been replaced by companies such as World Energy Solutions, the county’s largest procurer of energy and a leader in the cap and trade debate.

In Worcester, we have moved from monkey wrenches to robots.  This is the story that Worcester Mayor Joe Petty will be relating to the President and to those assembled today.

This is the Worcester story we need to tell today.  We need to talk about science, innovation and education.  I can find no more fitting a place that that should be done than at the Worcester Technical High School graduation.  After all, in the beginning that high school was known as Boys Trade and turned out plumbers, electricians and tool makers.  Today it turns out America’s next generation of innovators in Biotech, science and robotics.

Worcester Week Continues

The Worcester Week continues on Friday and Saturday when leading Democrats from throughout the state come to Worcester and the DCU Center for their nominating convention.  Let us tell the assembled delegates, the press and those state leaders the Worcester story also.

Let us tell them about our accomplishments, but let us also remind them that the state does not end at Route 128 or even route 495.  We must tell them that the city of Worcester deserves its fair share.  Worcester has come a long way in the past few years but we have a ways to go.

Worcester is changing.  We are innovative and we are a vibrant and safe place to live and work.  We just need a little more attention from the state’s political leadership and a little more attention from the press.  This week we will get both.  So let’s shine Worcester.

Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.