Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 16, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 5 impacted by conflicting information. "e frequency of changing infor- mation, dates, etc. is a prohibitive issue as we try to transition kids or keep them on center. Basically, any stabil- ity continues to elude the situation," Young wrote. WBJ first reported on the pending closures of the Graon and Devens centers on May 28, one day before the announcement of the closures was made by the U.S. Department of Labor. e rapid closures led local officials to scramble to attempt to find housing for students unable to return home. e Department of Labor described the move as a pause, but did not share details on how or when the pause might end, and cited the Trump Ad- ministration's fiscal 2026 discretionary budget request calling for the Job Corps program to be eliminated. e Trump Administration cited the program's graduation rate, listed at 32% in the 2025 Job Corps Transpar- ency Report issued by Department of Labor, as one reason for the decision. e Graon Job Corps Center had a traditional graduation rate of 42.7% in 2023, while the Shriver Job Corps Center in Devens had a rate of 89.6%, according the Department of Labor. Court temporarily blocks Trump efforts to close Job Corps centers in Grafton and Devens A federal judge had ordered the President Donald Trump Adminis- tration to stop its attempts to shutter Job Corps centers across the country, including in Graon and Devens. Judge Andrew Carter of the U.S. District Court for the Southern Dis- trict of New York issued a temporary restraining order on June 4 barring the Trump Administration from taking steps to eliminate the 61-year-old program meant to increase the em- ployability of young adults. e ruling forbids the administration from taking any further action without first seeking congressional approval. Subcontractors working at the Graon site had received notices of termination of their contracts on June 4, Joscelyn Young, vice president of the Blackstone Valley Hub for Workforce Development, wrote in an email to WBJ. Young said campus staff are attempting to call students who le the site to have them return, but efforts to resume normal operations have been 29.9% Emergency department visits in Greater Worcester considered avoidable Source: Center for Health Information and Analysis March 31 Date of the closure of the second primary care facility shut down within six months at Community Healthlink, a behavioral health affiliate of UMass Memorial Health in Worcester Source: UMass Memorial Healt $69.83 million The minimum purchase price an anonymous, unsolicited party offered to purchase Akoya Biosciences in Marlborough. The bid was rescinded on June 2 when the party decided not to return a revised proposal with improved terms as requested by Akoya. Source: Akoya Biosciences The planned Worcester location for the burger-focused fast food franchise Checkers, which will be the first in New England Source: Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates 99 Gold Star Blvd. W

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