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Friday, August 3, 2018

Worcester area economy grows by 2.5%

The Worcester area economy grew by 2.5 percent in the second quarter, beating the pace of growth seen at any point in the region in the past year.

A 55,000-square-foot development called the Trolley Yard rising where the Worcester Regional Transit Authority had its longtime facility has its first tenants.

The Brookstone store in the Natick Mall will close as the company plans to significantly scale back its retail business as it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Their honeymoon startup

Two weeks after their wedding, Dave and Deb LeRiche bought Batch Ice Cream and moved the company from Boston to the LeRiches' New Braintree home.

Milford Crossing 92% leased with two new tenants

Milford Crossing has signed leases with two new tenants, bringing the shopping plaza to 92-percent occupied less than a year after it opened.

Framingham State University and the MetroWest Nonprofit Network are forming a partnership to help train a next generation of nonprofit workers in the area.

Column: Running out of time and energy

Even as we celebrate all that our business community contributes to the region, we can see a cloud on the horizon. Energy costs are rising quickly at a time when we are already among the five most expensive states to do business in.

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Regional Roundup

Dave & Buster's approved for Natick Mall (MetroWest Daily News)

Proposed Worcester pot dispensary runs into opposition (Telegram & Gazette)

Suburban office parks undergo makeovers to draw workers (The Boston Globe)

Planned Fitchburg pot shop operator stresses security plans (Sentinel & Enterprise)

Week in review

$3.2M for Worcester airport improvements, $372K for Fitchburg

Worcester Regional Airport received a $3.2-million federal grant this week to pay for improvements to the shorter of its two runways. The funding will allow for a rehabilitation to Runway 15-33, a 5,000-foot-long runway closest to the airport terminal secondary to the airport's longer Runway 11-29. Fitchburg Municipal Airport also received funding on Tuesday. The airport, which doesn't have commercial flights, received $372,000 to repair its runway.

First medical marijuana sales in Worcester

Talk about marijuana these days has largely been about the belated but quickly arriving day when the first store opens for legal recreational sales. Worcester, however, just got its first medical marijuana dispensary. Good Chemistry opened at 9 Harrison St. on Thursday. Good Chemistry also hopes to enter the recreational sales market by the end of the year.

Head of Saint Vincent resigning

Jeffrey Welch is departing Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and other affiliates little more than one year after becoming CEO for parent company Tenet Healthcare's hospitals in Massachusetts and South Carolina. Welch said he will leave to oversee Tenet hospitals in the Miami area.