Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 10, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 5 Report: Uxbridge school committee member secretly changed Town contract to benefit his cannabis business e Office of Massachusetts Inspec- tor General Jeffrey Shapiro has issued a rebuke to the Town of Uxbridge, aer an investigation found the Town had failed to notice the owner of a cannabis busi- ness had secretly altered a Town contract as he was seeking approval to operate in Uxbridge. e inspector general's investigation found Barry Desruisseaux, the owner of a prospective cannabis dispensary and then-member of the Uxbridge Planning Board, in 2019 altered a host community agreement to remove clauses he found objectionable aer the Town refused to make requested changes. e Uxbridge cannabis dispensary in question, operating under the name Green N' Go, has since opened. Green N' Go currently operates as a standard walk-in cannabis retail store, but is pur- suing regulatory approval to operate as a drive-through dispensary. Operating at the former site of a car wash, patrons will drive into the building via garage doors to purchase products. Desruisseaux is a minority owner of Green N' Go, but the current investor group is attempting to remove him from ownership, according to an email from Brian Carney, another member of the ownership group. In the spring of 2019, Desruisseaux had been in negotiations with then- Town Manager Angeline Ellison over provisions in his business' HCA, which is an agreement between a cannabis business and a municipality and re- quired part of the state process for apply- ing for a cannabis business license. In an April 2019 email, Desruisseaux objected to several paragraphs of the proposed agreement, saying they were onerous or unfair, according to a May 30 letter from the Office of the Inspec- tor General to Uxbridge officials, state legislators, and Massachusetts Canna- bis Control Commission officials. He requested a host agreement similar to prior agreements issued by Uxbridge, but Ellison declined, saying HCAs for other businesses shouldn't be compared as each business is different. Later in April, Ellison le her position as town manager, with Uxbridge Police Chief Marc Montminy taking over as acting town manager. A few weeks later in May, the Town sent a final dra of the document, which it expected Desruis- seaux to sign and return. Instead, Desruisseaux made signifi- cant alterations to the document, return- ing an agreement that was two pages shorter than the one he received. "e deleted sections pertained to core operational and public safety matters. Several of Desruisseaux's edits were especially noteworthy," reads the inspector general's letter. "For example, Desruisseaux removed the specified hours of operation, effectively allowing 16 more hours per week of retail sales. Desruisseaux also eliminated the town's input on facility managers and struck the section stating the circumstances under which the town could terminate the HCA, as well as the provision limiting the agreement to five years." Desruisseaux did not immediately respond to requests for comment from WBJ to the email listed on his CCC application, nor through the contact information listed for Green N' Go. He is no longer a member of the Town's Planning Board, according to Uxbridge's municipal website. Desruisseaux is still a member of the Uxbridge School Com- mittee; he was chairman of the School Committee until May 28, when he was ousted as the result of a Town election, according to an article from the Worces- ter Telegram & Gazette. Montminy, who viewed his duties as acting town manager to be mainly as a caretaker during the brief time frame between Ellison's departure and the ap- pointment of an interim town manager, signed the HCA without reviewing, believing it to contain already approved language. Uxbridge's town council did not review the HCA either, as it was not the town's practice to review documents again at that stage in the process. Webster First merges with Cambridge credit union, creating $1.5B entity Webster First Federal Credit Union, based in Worcester, on May 31 merged with a single-branch credit union based in Cambridge, bringing on its 1,200 members of $26.4 million in assets. e merger with the Cambridge Teachers Federal Credit Union marks Webster First's sixth merger since 2011, having already done so with Saugus Federal, Fitchburg Federal, Winthrop Federal credit unions in addition to Bos- ton-based Filene Federal and Industrial credit unions, according to a May 31 press release from Webster First. e Cambridge firm will now be known as Cambridge Teachers, a division of Webster First Federal Credit Union, and the merger isn't expected to impact the employment of its three em- ployees, said Webster First spokesman John Cournoyer. $33 million Contract signed by Framingham clean energy firm Ameresco to modernize infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions of two National Archives and Records Administration sites in College Park, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.. Source: Ameresco Women leading a Central Massachusetts institute of higher education, after the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education confirmed Donna Hodge as the next Fitchburg State University president, the first woman president in the university's 130-year history. Source: Fitchburg State University 4 3.2% Greater Worcester unemployment rate in April, a drop from March's rate of 3.6% and increase from the 2.8% rate in April 2023 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 431 Single-family homes sold across Worcester County in April, reflecting a 7.8% increase from April 2023 Source: The Warren Group We don't listen to business podcasts In their latest entrepreneurial venture, Worcester businessperson Joshua Croke has launched a new podcast, which is one of about a dozen podcasts in Central Massachusetts, all covering varying topics and communities. Nationally, podcasting has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with millions of shows to listen to on topics ranging from business leadership to pop culture. Even with the array of topics available, business podcasts continually rank as one of the most popular genres among listeners, garnering millions of downloads from those seeking to learn more about their fields of interest. When polled online, the majority of WBJ readers said they don't listen to podcasts to help with their business and career. Do you listen to podcasts to gain information and advice for your business and career? READER COMMENT: "Audio books are much better than podcasts, which waste a lot of time with ads, shoutouts, and time fillers like jingles, etc. However, the biggest problem with podcasts (and possibly reading as well) is that people are spending an inordinate amount of time self- brainwashing themselves with repetitive materials." Yes, the majority of the podcasts I listen to are related to my business. Yes, I listen to the occasional podcast related to my work. No, I only listen to podcasts for pleasure or entertainment. No, I don't listen to podcasts. 14% 28% 19% 39% W

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