MetroWest

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

WBJ sources over the past 35 years have contributed memorable sentiments.

As the biomanufacturing sector continues to expand into a wide range of applications, billions of dollars are being spent on biomedical research, targeting diseases and improving patient outcomes with technology.

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.

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

Tracking Central Massachusetts tourist locations’ decisions and challenges – and how they handled them over the last three decades – is an exercise in business strategy. How do you get people to keep coming to your attraction?

As leaders, they ably represented two of Central Massachusetts’ longest-running institutions: each intricately tied to Isaiah Thomas. One turned his bequeathed library into the world’s preeminent repository of pre-20th-century print materials in what is now the United States. The other invoked the patriot printer’s name for its annual award to citizens who serve Worcester with distinction.

While Central Massachusetts business leaders have seen substantial diversification among small business owners in the past three decades, the same cannot be said for those among the area’s highest-paid.

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.