Table Talk Promises $15 Wage Ahead Of TIF Deal Approval

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester City Council on Tuesday approved a $4.6 million tax-increment financing deal for Table Talk after the pie company agreed to boost wages for entry-level workers.

Table Talk plans to move out of its Kelley Square headquarters into a new facility along Gardner Street. The new HQ will be built from scratch at a cost of about $22 million. Table Talk negotiated the 20-year TIF package with the city to east costs related to the development.

According to the deal, Table Talk was planning to pay entry-level workers $12.50 per hour to start. That's below guidelines in the city TIF policy. The 2020 rate for TIF-backed projects is supposed to be $15 per hour minimum under the policy.

But just before the meeting, Table Talk President Harry Kokkinis informed Worcester Economic Development Director Michael Traynor that the company would pay new workers $15 per hour after six months on the job. The wage boost may have saved the deal from Council opposition.

"I had a major concern walking in here tonight, I was going to vote against it," Councilor George Russell told Traynor during a back-and-forth before the vote.

READ: New Table Talk Tax Break Passes Key Hurdle — With Pushback

The Council went on to approve the TIF deal unanimously. The Council Economic Development committee also approved the TIF unanimously on Jan. 28.

The new Table Talk development — which will be built on an assortment of vacant land and buildings near the Boys and Girls Club — may create up to 50 new jobs and retain 130. Table Talk is moving out of Kelley Square for a variety of reasons, including the new Polar Park development and ongoing road construction.

Construction on the project could begin in the spring with a tentative opening date sometime in 2022.

"For the seven acres of brownfield that these folks will be developing, this is certainly a win for the city," Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson said Tuesday night.