Greater Worcester

Residents of Great Brook Valley in Worcester are now eligible to receive technical assistance and training to become business owners and employees in the legal cannabis industry.

The funding jolt from subsidies and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which saw a $20 million increase in the tax package Gov. Maura Healey signed in October, will benefit more than 1,900 housing units.

Central Massachusetts professionals are getting hired and promoted at companies like Mechanics Hall, Mirick O'Connell, MutualOne Bank, and Bowditch & Dewey.

Most managers will agree hiring and retaining talented employees is more difficult than it used to be. The labor market is tight, costs make it harder to offer attractive benefit packages, and of course, most professionals became well acquainted with remote work during the coronavirus pandemic and generally enjoyed it.

The most significant burden on the single-family market, not just in Central Massachusetts but around the country, is interest rates.

In a post-COVID world, the demand for these services is higher than ever, yet animal nonprofits are reporting financial crises as flattening donations are failing to cover expenses.

“Hopefully this is a cautionary tale for those municipalities that are still resistant to refunding unsubstantiated community impact fees,” Thomas MacMillian, the legal representative for Caroline’s, told WBJ in an email.

Hundreds of people crowded into the State House's largest hearing room to offer feedback on the five-year, $4.1 billion housing bond bill, representing a cross-section of affordable and public housing activists, real estate developers, and residents who themselves continue to withstand the crushing pressure of high costs and low supply.

With concerns over a lack of affordable housing dominating headlines, communities across the country are starting to reconsider the issue of mandatory parking minimums.

Gov. Maura Healey launched into her second year as governor with big spending promises, but Democratic leaders in the Legislature say they aren't planning to raise taxes to pay for them, even as the state's fiscal picture looks grimmer than it did a year ago.