In November, Worcester voters will have a chance to vote on the Community Preservation Act, which uses a 1.5% property tax surcharge to fund community projects beginning in fiscal 2024.

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 Worcester Regional Research Bureau was honored to continue our proud history of collaboration with the Worcester Business Journal this May with our coordinated focus on homeownership issues.

The first federal coronavirus relief plan – the $2.2-trillion CARES Act from March 2020 – provided much-needed calm in the early phases of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Central Mass., the restaurant industry is more developed in places like Worcester, Sturbridge and Marlborough, which have eschewed the state liquor license cap law in favor of having unlimited bars and eateries in their communities.

Restaurants are bringing in far less money for food and drink during the coronavirus pandemic – and it’s showing both the hit the industry has taken this year as well as the financial toll declining tax revenue will have on cities and towns.

When a would-be restaurateur approaches Worcester city officials with a plan to open a new eatery, not so much stands in the way procedurally – at least compared to most Massachusetts cities and towns.

A lively restaurant scene is vital to the economies of Central Massachusetts communities like Worcester, Marlborough and Sturbridge. As shown in WBJ’s “No Limits” story on page 8 – our latest collaboration with the Worcester Regional Research Bureau – these communities have helped build this buzzy industry thanks in part to their eschewing of the traditional Massachusetts law capping liquor licenses.

Worcester’s middle class has shrunk in the past decade, with more households often finding themselves in or near poverty, according to a report by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

In some pockets of Worcester, including in areas off Shrewsbury Street and in Main South, roughly one third or more of households lack internet access, according to a report by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.