Small Business

Residents who need to buy health insurance will now have until March 23 to get coverage through the Massachusetts Health Connector's open enrollment period, the Connector announced Friday.

Worcester may have improbably managed to keep shoppers coming into the city in the age of new highways and suburbanization, but it didn’t last. In the past decade or two, Worcester has seemed to lose its place as the shopping heart of Worcester County.

Renee Diaz, founder of popular Worcester bakery The Queen’s Cups, is side-stepping into party planning, launching a second business aimed at organizing and coordinating smaller, more intimate events. 

Gov. Charlie Baker had hoped the Legislature would act quickly on a business relief bill he filed last month, but lawmakers were unable to get the proposal across the finish line before the last session ended, prompting Baker to restart his push Wednesday.

Employees who worked New Year's Day will be the last to get paid time-and-a-half for their efforts on the holiday if Gov. Charlie Baker signs off on a piece of the $626 million economic development bill on his desk.

Worcester software firm ten24 Digital Solutions launched a new company on Jan. 1 to drive growth for its headless commerce software, the company announced on Wednesday.

Community financial institutions have been given priority during the second round of Paycheck Protection Program applications, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced on Monday.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced on Friday the Paycheck Protection Program would re-open on Jan. 11 to new borrowers and certain previous recipients who want to apply for a second coronavirus relief loan.

The post-Christmas business restrictions put in place by Gov. Charlie Baker to prevent a worst-case holiday surge of COVID-19 will be extended at least an additional two weeks as the number of daily new cases of the virus in Massachusetts and the rise in hospitalizations continue to ring alarm bells.

Patrick Smith, the head of small business banking at Santander Bank, joins the Weekly Business Report to advise small businesses on the opportunities and pitfalls for financing in the coming year, especially as companies begin to emerge from the recession, which is now nearly a year old.