Upton

A total of 680 adult learners will benefit from a combined $6.6 million in funding from the Massachusetts state government, seeking to boost training in high-demand occupations within the trades, construction, and manufacturing sectors.

A third-generation roofer based in Fitchburg, Cochran earned his MBA from Fitchburg State University and turned the family trade into a business with locations in Massachusetts, Florida, and Connecticut. He now hopes to pass the tradition on to his son, continuing the legacy into a fourth generation.

The owners of an apartment building in Upton, one of whom is the owner of a Worcester apartment complex that saw a roof collapse in 2022, have sold the Upton property for $6 million just over 14 months after they purchased it for $1.7 million.

The myth that success is achieved solely through hard work and therefore poor people deserve their station in life because they don’t work hard enough is among the economic narratives sustaining racism throughout the economies of Central Massachusetts and the nation, according to the keynote speaker at WBJ’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Forum.

Companies must expand their networks & standardize processes to meet diversity, equity, and inclusion targets.

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.

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.

While Beacon Hill searches for solutions to the serious housing shortage that fuels affordability concerns in Massachusetts, a real estate industry organization wants to see the Community Preservation Act program retrofitted to put a greater emphasis on housing production.

The Upton Inn Apartments was purchased for $1.7 million by a corporation co-registered to Bechara Fren.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council granted $2,500 each to 69 Central Massachusetts organizations as part of $1.85 million doled out statewide in 2023 Festival Grants Projects.