Blackstone Valley

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development awarded $164 million through 338 grants for economic development projects around the state, including 55 in Central Mass.

Jushi, a cannabis company based in Florida, has dropped plans to open a cultivation and production facility on an empty parcel in Grafton. 

BlueWave, a Boston-based solar B Corp, raised $91 million in equity and debt to finance five agrivoltaic projects across Massachusetts, including one in Douglas.

With more than $1 million in annual sales, The Blessing Barn Home Store and Sharing Center and its sister locations in Mendon and Boston support the nonprofit Compassion New England.

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.

Granite Heights Marketplace on Fortune Boulevard in Milford, home to Staples and Petco retail locations, was sold to an affiliate of Mendon’s Meehan Realty Management Corp. for $10.3 million.

Affiliates of Florida-based real-estate investment firm Westbrook Partners purchased a portfolio of industrial properties from Boston real estate firm Marcus Partners for $167 million, including four Central Massachusetts properties in Sutton and Franklin.

Despite progress in the lower rungs of higher education’s leadership ladder, women are not equally represented in the industry’s top executive spot.

With affirmative action now barred in college admissions, workplace and education officials expect an immediate impact in the diversity at the start of the workforce talent pipeline and worry about a cooling effect on DEI efforts overall.

Grafton food insecurity nonprofit Community Harvest Project has secured an Agricultural Preservation Restriction for its 75-acre apple and peach orchard in Harvard.