Hospitality

Cannabis company Garden Remedies, which runs a dispensary in Marlborough and a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Fitchburg, announced last month it has completed a $1.5-million capital expansion, resulting in a new extraction lab to ultimately increase the company’s ability to produce refined cannabinoid oil.

Cliff Rucker, owner of the Worcester Railers HC hockey team, announced on Monday plans to open a new music venue and restaurant at a property he owns at 90 Commercial St. in Worcester, adjacent to The Worcester Palladium.

The Boston-based Clover Food Lab, a fast food company emphasizing from-scratch, fresh food, is expanding its meal box delivery service to Worcester, the company announced at the end of May.

After the coronavirus pandemic forced changes to work life – particularly an increase in remote work and a decrease in the need for office space – the results of this survey seem to suggest businesses are reverting to their traditional thinking.

Despite the rough past 16 months and the pandemic’s continued impact on the economy, local forecasters are optimistic about the short- and long-term future of the Central Massachusetts business community, especially as statewide restrictions have been lifted and vaccination rates rise.

As Central Massachusetts, and the nation, recovers from the sharpest recession in its history, companies around the region are coping with the same situation.

Taste of Shrewsbury Street will return to Wrocester in August this year, as yet another indication that life in and around Worcester is reverting to relatively normalcy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

With business restrictions surrounding the coronavirus now lifted, three business leaders from Fitchburg, Upton and Millbury discuss the special challenges they faced in overcoming the extra hurdle of starting a new business during the pandemic

Nicholas Lazzaro, a student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, founded his own automobile service business, Nick's On-Site Detailing, in order to put himself through college.

Restaurant sales in Massachusetts have increased sharply since early April and surpassed their comparable 2019 levels even before Massachusetts lifted the majority of its COVID-19 restrictions, the Federal Reserve Bank said in its latest Beige Book update Wednesday.