Fitchburg

Six years after cannabis legalization, the fledgling industry remains unequal. But two new bills aim to make good on that promise of bringing equity.

The goal of this effort is to better the health of community members in 11 communities: Ashby, Ayer, Bolton, Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend.

A Fitchburg company producing high-precision molding for medical and consumer packaging has been acquired by a Michigan-based industrial technology company.

Overall, more than 20,000 PPP loans for a total of $1.8 billion were given out to businesses across Worcester County, with more than 4,800 and $450 million of those loans going to businesses within the city of Worcester, according to data from the SBA.

MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development financing agency, awarded $315,175 to a developer planning to redevelop a vacant three-story building in downtown Fitchburg.

The New England Newspaper & Press Association has given nine journalism awards to Worcester Business Journal at part of the 2021 Better Newspaper Competition, honoring stories on the legacy of slavery in Central Massachusetts, housing discrimination in Worcester, and attempts to narrow racial and gender pay gaps.

The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce announced Monday its economic development affiliate, the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., is launching a new small business loan program. 

Worcester Business Journal began listing the most influential people in the Central Massachusetts economy in 2013, using various iterations of the concept to arrive at the Power 50, which started in 2018.

The Power 50 may not necessarily hold the most power in the region, but they are the people who most effectively wielded their power to have an outsized influence on the economy and the community within the last year.

Fitchburg has been selected as one of three cities to be included in MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative Creative Cities program, which supports arts and culture partnerships in TDI districts.