Banking & Finance

The Worcester Guardian online news site, which was founded by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, has received tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit from the U.S. Internal Revenue Services.

Angered over the serious financial challenges at Steward Health Care that could jeopardize the future of safety net hospitals in eastern Massachusetts, top House Democrats insisted Thursday they will not bail out the company.

With tax revenues running $769 million behind projections after December, the Healey administration last month slashed the year-end revenue estimate by $1 billion.

Major swaths of the state's health care system are now considered "high risk," with the crisis largely fueled by a major backlog of patients waiting to be discharged from hospitals, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association said Monday.

The situation in Central Massachusetts, where 15.6% of named executive officers are female, largely mirrors the Massachusetts rate of 16.1% determined in a statewide census.

A Ware-based financial institution will have its first woman president in the 174-year history of the business, as Mary McGovern has been named the next president of Country Bank. 

The Healey administration wants to tap new revenue sources and keep spending growth somewhat constrained in a $58.15 billion state budget that officials pitched as putting Massachusetts on a "glide path" toward potentially better financial conditions further down the road.

Applications for the first grants from a new fund meant to support cannabis entrepreneurs in communities disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs are due next month, with $2.3 million available to help qualified business licensees with urgent financial needs.

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts awarded four grants totaling $1 million to area nonprofits in order to improve child mental health, access for children to affordable health care, food delivery for people in need, and child care businesses.

The funding jolt from subsidies and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which saw a $20 million increase in the tax package Gov. Maura Healey signed in October, will benefit more than 1,900 housing units.