Central Mass. South

Employees at companies including Cornerstone Bank, ERA Key Realty Services, and Flexcon Holdings Trust are advancing in their careers.

The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester increased its full-tuition grants to students whose families make $100,000 a year or less.

Lebanon Hill Housing, a 116-unit housing development for the elderly in Southbridge has been sold for $12.76 million, a year after the property was sold for $7.1 million.

A months-long WBJ investigation shows how a dysfunctional agency hollowed out by turnover, bogged down by infighting, and plagued by a fuzzy leadership structure is impeding businesses in a struggling industry.

Fifty-six cities, towns, and organizations throughout Central Massachusetts have been awarded $31.06 million to boost their economic development projects.

As the economic climate has shifted over the decades, some Central Massachusetts companies have left the region.

How do you whittle 35 years of headlining business news down to a couple thousand words and a few pages? You don't. But here, we take our best shot to highlight the companies, individuals, and moments that left a lasting impression.

WBJ has an extensive physical photo archive from the days when businesses sent in black-and-white photos of their executives and new hires.

You can define success in myriad ways: holding your ground; uncompromising ambition; the relentless pursuit of excellence; steady as she goes; staying a step ahead. The one thing shared in common by the most-heralded and well-run companies Worcester Business Journal has chronicled over 35 years is a bit of all these things.

As a 1979 Holy Cross graduate, I returned to Worcester in September of 1980 to start my publishing career in advertising sales.