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October 2, 2017
Shop Talk

The joy & pain of selling 300% more cupcakes

Brad Kane

Since moving to Worcester's Canal District from Millbury, The Queen's Cups has quadrupled its revenues, creating a whole new animal for founder Renee King to manage.

  • Advice
    Advice

    Marketing: In-house or outsource?

    Laura Dibenedetto

    Deciding whether to hire in-house marketers or to outsource to an agency isn't always easy. Every situation is different, and there are variables. To keep things simple, I suggest starting by exploring three critical questions.

  • Focus On Energy and Manufacturing
    Focus On Energy and Manufacturing

    Natural gas leaks cost Mass. $39M annually

    Zachary Comeau

    Natural gas is leaking into the atmosphere from more than 900 locations in Worcester alone.

  • Advice
    Advice

    101: Out-of-area recruiting

    Susan Shalhoub

    There are many reasons not to limit a company recruiting effort to local potential employees.

  • Briefing
    Briefing

    Companies battle over Northbridge water rights

    Zachary Comeau

    The Riverdale Water Co., a privately owned supplier of water, is again angling to sell water to the Town of Northbridge.

  • Editorial
    Editorial

    Former WRTA site development needs to clear a higher bar

    Worcester's city government doesn't want more of the same when it comes to the redevelopment of the former Worcester Regional Transit Authority facility sandwiched between Grove Street and Park Avenue, and that's a good thing.

  • Historic hardware store closing on Main Street

    Grant Welker

    A 235-year-old hardware store is the latest retailer to close downtown, even as Worcester seeks to bring new activity to Main Street.

  • Focus On Energy and Manufacturing
    Focus On Energy and Manufacturing

    Mass. looks to retain its solar power status

    Grant Welker

    Overcoming its latitude and climate disadvantages compared to other states, Massachusetts has become a national leader in solar energy production, largely thanks to state incentive programs, which are due to make a major transition next year.

WBJ Web Partners

Today's Poll

Should Massachusetts significantly reduce the environmental review time for new housing projects?
Poll Description

In an effort to increase the pace of new housing development in Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey has proposed streamlining the environmental review process for certain new housing projects, with the goal of reducing the time spent on the process from about one year to 30 days. Environmental reviews are a hallmark of community planning, to ensure new development doesn't negatively impact surrounding properties or natural resources, even though the process does add significant time and often cost to projects. Healey's proposal comes after Massachusetts fell behind the national average in new housing production, despite adding 90,000 new units since she became governor in 2023.

New England already averages the longest timeline in the nation to build a single-family home once the developer has been giving the authorization to move forward with construction, according to U.S. Census statistics compiled by the National Association of Home Builders. In 2023, single-family homes in New England averaged 13.9 months from permit to completion. The South Atlantic states have the lowest average of 8.9 months while the region that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana is the second quickest at 9.4 months. The second-longest average after New England is the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania region, which takes 13.2 months.

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