Banking & Finance

For the past 30 years, Richard Carr has helped his clients, many of whom are business owners, prepare for and weather financial storms. As the coronavirus pandemic upends the economy, Carr and his team at Carr Financial Group Corp. in Worcester are figuring out what the future will look like.

Companies like Worcester Fitness, Centage Corp., Anna Maria College and Clinton Savings Bank all have had recent hires and promotions.

For banks certified as U.S. Small Business Administration lenders, last Friday was a rush of activity for an industry more used to thoughtful and methodical transactions. The planning was still there, but no spare time once the SBA began accepting applications for the $349-billion federal relief program.

Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO and president of UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, joins the podcast to talk about all the efforts the hospital system is making to deal with the anticipated spike in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks.

With events canceled across the state and most hospitality businesses considered non-essential, the Central Massachusetts tourism industry is anticipating major losses due to the efforts to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

Banks and credit unions don't have to have a previous affiliation with the U.S. Small Business Administration in order to help companies obtain loans under the $349-billion Payroll Protection Program, created to help businesses maintain their staffs in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

One message was clear during Worcester Business Journal's webinar Thursday about the $2-trillion stimulus package in the wake of the coronavirus crisis: Get your loan applications as soon as possible starting Friday.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Tuesday evening it has begun mobilization of the program designed to help them avoid layoffs and rehire staff amid the economic crisis caused by the efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Worcester Business Journal on Thursday will start a free webinar series for Central Massachusetts businesses to better understand how they can benefit from the $2-trillion federal economic stimulus package.

In this episode of The Weekly Business Report, co-hosts Brad Kane and Hank Stolz practice social distancing for this podcast and go without guests. Instead, they talk about what has made them happy personally, amid all the COVID-19 craziness