Blackstone Valley

In Worcester Business Journal's annual list of the most influential people in the Central Massachusetts economy, the Power 50, one-third of those listed have ties to the manufacturing industry.

Power dynamics in the Central Massachusetts business community made two major shifts in 2021, due to the two major events upending the entire global community.

L.L. Bean is planning to open a shop in the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley in Millbury, the famed Maine retailer announced on Thursday.

Discern’d Cannabis Purveyors, a planned pot shop in Grafton, has received a provisional state license and has plans to open this fall.

The Gov. Charlie Baker Administration announced on Friday it was allocating $433,381 to three Central Massachusetts towns newly designated as Green Communities under the state’s program.

Primerica, Inc., a Georgia-based financial-services company with several outposts in Central Mass., including Oxford and Millbury, plans to acquire 80% of Florida firm e-TeleQuote Limited, a senior health insurance distributor of Medicare-related insurance policies for $600 million.

The properting on which a longtime family-run hotel in Uxbridge, the Quaker Inn, sits has sold for $1.8 million.

Jushi Holdings Inc., of Florida, has reached an agreement to purchase Nature’s Remedy of Massachusetts, Inc. for $110 million, according to a Monday announcement.

Owned by friends and business partners Jay Rondeau and Jody Barton — both of whom maintain full-time jobs at TJX Cos. of Framingham — the new brewer specializes in small-batch brewing.

Two of the biggest visitor attractions in Central Massachusetts, the EcoTarium in Worcester and Southwick's Zoo in Mendon, are scheduled to reopen next month.