Page 8 - 2023 Annual Report

T H E Y E A R IN R E V IE W

G O VE R N M E N TAL R E S E AR C H A S S O C IAT I O N

The Annual Conference concluded with an awards dinner at
Worcester Historical Museum and was honored to feature the
Managing Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of
Harvard University, Chris Herbert, to discuss the Joint Center’s
comprehensive analysis of housing across the country in “The
State of the Nation’s Housing 2023.” At this Awards dinner,
organizations were recognized for their contributions to their
communities.
As noted above, the Bureau was recognized with
the 2023 Outstanding Policy Achievement Award
The Worcester Regional Research Bureau has been an active for Local/Regional Work.
member of its national association, the Governmental Research It was also recognized with a 2023 Certificate of
Association, for many years with WRRB staff members serving Merit for Best Digital Communication for its ArcGIS
in leadership roles. In recognition of the Bureau’s role in the GRA StoryMap on Static Income, Rising Costs: Renting in
and prominence of WRRB’s research amongst its peers, coupled the Heart of the Commonwealth.
with national interest in Worcester, the Worcester Regional
Research Bureau was selected as the host of the GRA’s National GRA
Conference for 2023. 2023 Conference
Recap
The Research Bureau hosted dozens of public policy researchers
from across the country to learn, collaborate, and recognize
significant achievements by organizations across the country
at the Jean McDonough Arts Center. WRRB organized 10 forums
on significant areas of interest for the GRA membership and GRAPH 1: CITY OF WORCESTER'S POPULATION
the communities they serve. These also spotlighted community
leaders active on these topics to share their expertise and
provide context from Worcester and the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts. These educational sessions covered
Transportation, Housing, Food Security, ARPA, Public Workforce,
Racial Equity, Education Finance, and skill shares on Podcasting
and ArcGIS. The conference included a tour of the City of
Worcester focusing on development projects which featured
a visit to Polar Park, The Reactory, and Worcester Memorial
Auditorium. It concluded with the panel Reinventing Worcester,
on Worcester’s past, present, and future and featured the
Bureau’s report Reinventing Worcester. This report, and
StoryMap, provided a substantial review of the changes in
Worcester over the past 30 years—from physical development to
demographic shifts, economic opportunities to industry needs—
using the latest census data. This report found that Worcester
has been a consistently “young” city with median age in the early
thirties, and that Worcester is an increasingly more educated SCAN FOR MORE:
city with occupations shifting to “Management, professional,
and related occupation.” Industry has matched this trend with Reinventing
an overall increase in employment, particularly in the “Services” Worcester
sector which is largely “Educational, health, and social services.”
All the while, Worcester’s total population increased, reaching a
historic peak.

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