Town Thanks Roche Bros.

From refreshments to Westborough’s emergency personnel during Superstorm Sandy to donations to town efforts, Roche Bros. supports this community consistently, town officials say.

Tuesday night, Westborough’s Economic Development Committee and board of selectmen publicly thanked the supermarket, located at Bay State Commons on Union Street.

The committee presented its first "Great Corporate Citizenship" award to Roche Bros. The committee intends to make the award quarterly, Chairman Lester Hensley said.

Roche Bros. is “the perfect candidate as the first recipient of this award,” because supermarket officials “continue to demonstrate their commitment to all of the nonprofit groups in the town through their generosity and their actions,” Hensley said.

Store manager Richard Roderick accepted the award on Roche Bros.’ behalf.

“We really try to support any community we’re in in any one of our stores. And Westborough has been good to Roche Bros. So, we like to return the favor and be part of the community as much as we can,” Broderick said before Tuesday night’s selectmen’s meeting.

 “We’ve always operated that way, long before I came on board 27 years ago. We help anybody—whether it’s donations, whether it’s helping the flat tire in the parking lot, anyone that needs a little extra support.”

Selectman George Barrette said he saw Roche Bros.’ generosity first-hand while running the Westborough Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner for a couple of years.

Roche Bros. showed both “financial generosity” and a “willingness to help us out at the last minute,” Barrette said.

“You’re a great partner,” he said.

“It’s a fun place. People know who you are.”

Selectman Timothy Dodd thanked Hensley, Town Manager Jim Malloy and the economic development committee for developing the award.

“I do think it’s very important that we recognize businesses in Westborough – businesses and residents – that make Westborough what it is,” Dodd said.

Hensley said selectmen formed the committee in 2008 with “somewhat forward thinking in respect to what was coming in the economy."

The committee has “dedicated itself to ensuring that Westborough maintains a mixed commercial and real estate tax base,” he said.

The group primarily has been reaching out to companies in town “and thanking them for being in Westborough, and also letting them know that we want to be part of their expansion plans and their growth plans,” Hensley said. The committee also has worked on attracting new businesses.

The committee has reached out to Roche Bros. before, he said. But, “we also wanted to take it a step further” with “public recognition,” he said.