Blackstone Valley

The former headmaster of St. John’s High School has been named the new CEO of Whitinsville-based UniBank, and the former interim president will step into the permanent role. 

The Grand View, a waterfront event venue in Mendon, is being sold to a New York-based management group from Imperial Cars owner Kevin Meehan.

The Blackstone Valley Animal Hospital in Uxbridge has been sold for $800,000 to a Pennsylvania-based veterinary real estate investing firm.

A opioid abuse recovery center is being established at the Family Continuity Recovery Support Center in Northbridge thanks to a share of $3.5 million in state government funding.

Half of Massachusetts cities and towns have enacted or are considering a ban on recreational marijuana businesses, towns like Uxbridge and Athol have gone in the other direction.

Worcester could have up to 15 cannabis shops. Western cities of similar size show there could be demand for far more, but the economic impact may not be so noticeable.

The moment the ballot initiative passed in November 2016 allowing for recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, economic development officials across the state should have been sharpening their pencils.

Bookstores are making a comeback across the country, with the New York-based American Booksellers Association seeing a 50% rise in the past decade in the number of its member locations.

Check out these movers and shakers of Central Massachusetts.

The Worcester Planning Board has now signed off on three recreational cannabis retail stores in the city, after approving two more earlier this week.