Hospitality

Companies are sounding the alarm on the state’s inconsistent product safety testing standards.

Kent dur Russell has been named the new board president at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston. Russell was previously the longtime CEO and curator at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton.

Nearly six years into the full legalization of recreational cannabis in Massachusetts, dramatic changes to the marketplace will require businesses that were early entrants to double-down on their efforts to differentiate themselves, and new entrants need to position themselves differently.

Following the organization’s success in Worcester, the nonprofit Worcester Regional Food Hub is aiming to open a new facility, Fitchburg Public Market, in October.

A local chef is planning a new restaurant for the ground level of the Union Station Garage on Franklin Street in Worcester.

A swath of regulatory changes are coming to Massachusetts' cannabis industry, including measures to clear the way for people with past criminal records to work in marijuana shops and to allow all cities and towns to eventually host cannabis cafes.

The chairwoman of the Cannabis Control Commission apologized to her fellow commissioners Thursday for any "angst" or "confusion" she caused at their last meeting when she unexpectedly announced the agency's executive director was leaving and that the CCC was in "crisis."

A hotel property at 50 Oriol Drive in Worcester, which will be turned into a 90-unit permanent supportive housing development, was sold for $10.8 million.

Toro Loco Taqueria has opened its doors at the DCU Center in Worcester at the location left vacant when specialty donut shop Glazy Susan closed in January.

The executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, Shawn Collins, will vacate his role by the end of the year, exacerbating problems at the already under-fire state agency based in Worcester.