Monica Benevides

More than two years have passed since entrepreneur Ross Bradshaw embarked on the licensing process to open New Dia, a recreational cannabis dispensary in Worcester.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Friday step two of the second phase of the Massachusetts economy reopening plan will begin on Monday.

More than a dozen humanities-oriented organizations in Central Mass. will receive coronavirus relief through the federal CARES Act, Mass Humanities announced on Tuesday. According to the organization, which functions as the state-based affiliate for the National Endowment for the Humanities, $65,000 will be distributed across 13 different cultural institutions.

A small number of area businesses and organizations plan to commemorate Juneteenth in some form on Friday this year, another indicator of renewed momentum behind the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Savers Bank of Southbridge announced Wednesday it has named Rosemary Picard as the company’s new CEO and president, roles she officially assumed on May 11.

Over the course of the last year and a half, the medical and recreational cannabis retailers have grown into two very different yet overlapping businesses, largely coexisting and occasionally competing.

The Commonwealth Cannabis Company of Millis, known colloquially as CommCan, plans to triple its cannabis production in the coming months and hire 50 new employees as it expands into the second floor of its Medway grow facility, the company announced on Wednesday.

David Andelman, who bought the Mendon Twin Drive-In with his brothers Dan and Michael Andelman in 2014, will resign from the company, as well as CEO of Phantom Gourmet, Inc. in Boston, which he co-founded in 2013, according to a statement posted to the Phantom Gourmet page on Facebook on Tuesday. 

United Way of Central Massachusetts will take $500,000 from its reserve funds to help cover a projected $1-million deficit across Worcester summer youth programs, board chair Aivi Nguyen said on Wednesday. 

The Council of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester has selected University of Maryland Dean Scott Casper to be its next president, after longtime president Ellen Dunlap retires in the fall.