Small Business

Reversing direction after two months of gains, confidence among Massachusetts employers declined in July, with optimism about the state economy overshadowed by a more significant degree of pessimism over the national economy due to the damage that COVID-19 is inflicting on jobs, business and commerce.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Central Massachusetts business to take on new roles in preventing further spread of the disease, including enforcing mask-wearing in public and – at times – turning away would-be revenue-generating customers who don’t abide by the mandate.

With upticks in positive COVID-19 testing rates linked to larger social events, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that his administration is reviewing the state's guidance on gathering sizes, but blamed the behavior of people choosing to party without precaution for the clusters of infections that have sprung up.

Small businesses in Marlborough will again be able to apply for grants of up to $5,000 to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic after 25 businesses received grants in the first round.

Saying the nation "has one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery," U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a long-awaited relief package on Monday that proposes another round of stimulus checks, a scaled-back extension of unemployment benefits, and more than $100 billion aimed at bringing students back to school in the fall.

When Central Massachusetts businesses turned to banks for help applying for federal loans for coronavirus pandemic relief, they often skipped over local lenders in favor of national and larger options based outside the region, according to a Worcester Business Journal review of program data.

Uncertainty around whether the federal government will provide additional assistance to states and municipalities dealing with pandemic-related budget stress has been holding up progress on Beacon Hill, but Gov. Charlie Baker is optimistic that a relief package will emerge this month.

Even though fans will not be back in the seats at venues once sports restart, restaurateurs are hoping that the return of professional sports to television will give their businesses a boost.

Business confidence in Massachusetts rebounded in June in lockstep with the reopening of economic sectors that had been sealed off by government order to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

After two of his opinion columns were not allowed to be published, Bill Shaner quit GateHouse and started his own Worcester news opinion website.