Hudson

BJ’s Wholesale Club shoppers can soon expect to see an increase in their yearly billing statements as the Marlborough-based retailer plans on raising membership fees in the new year.

Marlborough-based BJ’s Wholesale Club has named Scott Schmadeke as executive vice president, chief operations officer, effective immediately.

Central Massachusetts is a region that likes to wax nostalgic about bustling main streets and tight-knit mill communities. A lot has changed over the decades, with shifts in the way people do their shopping, the decline of traditional manufacturing, and the rise in tech industries. And our communities have shifted with the times.

Social equity cannabis companies say more support needed.

Twenty-three Central Massachusetts businesses made the 2024 Inc. 5000, an annual list of the nation’s 5000 fastest-growing companies compiled by Inc. magazine.

Just as cannabis businesses are gearing up for the holiday known as 4/20, an unofficial celebration of marijuana where dispensaries see some of their largest crowds of the year, eleven companies in Central Massachusetts received $430,000 from the first grants from the Massachusetts Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund.

Central Massachusetts professionals are getting hired and promoted at Workers Credit Union, Spectrum Health Systems, Fidelity Bank, and Fallon Health

Central Massachusetts businesses in Worcester, Natick, and Hudson are among those benefiting from a Gov. Maura Healey Administration grant injecting $3.14 million into the state’s manufacturing industry.

A culture-focused nonprofit has assumed ownership of the historic Hudson Armory, setting the stage for a renovation to see the space turned into a regional arts and entertainment destination.

Massachusetts was third in the New England region in union membership in 2023.