Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 22, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 7 proud to ca you e of our own. We are thrilled to congratulate our own Darryl Caffee on his recognition as one of Worcester Business Journal's "40 Under Forty." Along with the rest of our mortgage lending team, Darryl is truly making a difference in the community that we all call home. Join us in celebrating his success, and contact us today for all of your mortgage needs. web5.com | 800.696.9401 Darryl Caffee SVP/Director of Retail Lending NMLS: #523049 W W BJ has partnered with the Worcester Historical Museum to run a year-long trivia contest in celebration of the 300th anniversary of Worcester's founding on June 14, 1722. Readers should email their answer to the question below by Sept. 1 to bkane@wbjournal.com or visit the trivia page on WBJoural.com to compete for a special year-end prize package. Sponsored by Worcester 300 trivia contest | part 13 And the answer to last edition's question: Joseph Hill, the Worcester inventor who at one point had more than 1 million clothes dryers in use throughout the country, is a native of Vermont. Worcester's beverage company In 1901, Dennis Crowley purchased the J.G. Bieberbach Co., uniting two alcoholic beverage distributors and so drink bottlers. e company changed its name following another acquisition in 1918. Prohibition in the 1920s led to the company to focus exclusively on so drinks. e company moved from its original facilities to its current location on Southbridge Street in 1968 and has since expanded in the neighborhood. e company's large inflatable mascot, Orson, watches over the traffic in I-290, and the Crowley family is now in its fourth generation of ownership over the business. n Trivia question: What is the name of the Worcester beverage manufacturer owned by the Crowley family? The production floor of Worcester's famous bever- age manufacturer PHOTO | COURTESY OF WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM Worcester trivia leaderboard 1. Mary Camosse - 5 2. Allison Chisolm - 2 3. Jeff Forts - 1 4. Cheryl Rosen - 1 4. 27 others tied - 1 Sweeping Mass. cannabis reform signed into law Nearly six years aer voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana and almost four years since legal sales began, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the first major step of its kind by state government to bolster the nascent industry and tear down obstacles that its participants face. Baker approved almost everything in a wide-reaching cannabis industry regula- tory reform bill, greenlighting measures to increase diversity in the field, increase oversight on agreements between mari- juana businesses and municipalities, and move closer to social pot consumption sites. e Republican governor struck a single section from the bill that would have required state agencies to examine ways to allow students to possess and use medical marijuana on K-12 school grounds. One of the most persistent problems cited is a lack of diversity in the field, even though Massachusetts lawmakers required that equity and inclusion be baked into the legal framework. To combat that, the legislation would create a new Social Equity Trust Fund and seed it with 15 percent of the money in the Marijuana Regulation Fund, which itself is funded by revenue from the marijuana excise tax, application and licensing fees, and industry penalties.

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