Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 29, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 29 MANUFACTURING M I T & Business Journal's EXCELLENCE AWARDS MANUFACTURING S U M M I T & EXCELLENCE AWARDS WBJ Worcester Business Journal The Worcester Business Journal will be recognizing some of the area's top manufacturing firms with our 11th annual Central Mass "Manufacturing Excellence Awards". For details and nomination form visit www.wbjournal.com/manufacturing We will be recognizing manufacturing companies in the following categories: Presenting Sponsor NOMINATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2026 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS! n GENERAL EXCELLENCE – C ompanies that are the best of the best. • Under 25 employees • 25 -99 employees • Over 100 employees n EMERGING MANUFACTURER n PRODUCT DESIGN & INNOVATION n WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTIVITY n GREEN MANUFACTURING n COLLABORATION IN MANUFACTURING n MANUFACTURING CHAMPION Corporate Sponsor investigations, personnel leaks, and other mismanagement and abuse in the human resources office. Until there is ac- countability, the commission will remain a cautionary tale to the entire nation." e CCC declined to comment for this story, referring WBJ instead to the statement in the settlement. e CCC is headquartered in Worcester's Union Station. e settlement amount is just under two years worth of pay for Sinclair, who had an annual pay rate of $161,244 in 2023, according to state payroll data. e payment involves $42,591 in attorney fees and $262,000 in a lump sum pay- ment, according to the document. e agreement was signed by CCC Executive Director Travis Ahern on Aug. 21, with Sinclair signing four days later. Sinclair had been suspended in De- cember 2023, continuing to be paid until he le the agency in January 2025, with the settlement making his exit official. Like the agreement signed by former CCC employee and whistleblower ingham-based Jack's Abby, purchased Wormtown Brewery in Worcester in April 2024 and followed that up with the purchase of Everett-based Night Shi Brewery in October. Cannabis agency reaches $305K settlement with former communications chief, as total spent on employee disputes reaches $1.5M Cedric Sinclair, former chief commu- nications officer at the Cannabis Control Commission, has reached a settlement agreement worth $304,591 over his dismissal, with the Massachusetts regulatory agency preparing to release a statement to thank him for his service to the state. e settlement comes following Sin- clair's suspension and later termination from the agency, with the agreement removing the punitive actions of his suspension and firing and allowing him to be vested in the state's pension plan. "Mr. Cedric Sinclair has notified the Cannabis Control Commission of his intention to resign from his role as chief communications officer with immediate effect," the statement, included as an ex- hibit in the settlement agreement, reads. "Mr. Sinclair is one of the Commission's inaugural staff members and was part of the team that helped to steer the agency from its initial startup days to the mature agency it is today with over 140 employees overseeing a vibrant $8-bil- lion cannabis industry in Massachusetts. We thank Mr. Sinclair for his service to the Commonwealth, and we wish him well in his future endeavors." Sinclair's settlement brings the total spent by CCC to resolve employee disputes to about $1.5 million since July 2023, according to a WBJ review of state records. e expenditures include outside counsel, mediations, settlements, and suspended employee's pay. "e settlement is a public vindication that underscores a toxic culture of retal- iation and corruption at the Cannabis Control Commission," Sinclair wrote in an email to WBJ on Sep. 2. "Staff were pressured to violate state conflict-of-in- terest laws during the Greenfield Greenery investigation, and facts were misrepresented to the public through intentionally flawed human resources Meghan Dube that WBJ reported on Aug. 28, Sinclair's agreement sees him drop claims filed against CCC with the Massachusetts Commission Against Dis- crimination and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. CCC denied any liabilities for the claims in both agreements, again saying it was the best course of action to avoid the cost and uncertainty of litigation. Sinclair had faced allegations of mistreatment and bullying from three anonymous former CCC staffers in a June 2024 article from WBUR and from current CCC Chief of Research Julie Johnson in a September 2024 Boston Globe article. An investigation of Johnson's allega- tions found insufficient evidence Sinclair violated bullying policies, with Johnson saying that investigation was not thor- ough, according to Globe reporting. Sinclair has drawn the ire of CCC Chair Shannon O'Brien, with the com- plaints and cross-complaints between O'Brien and Sinclar being investigat- ed in a report by Kimberly Jones, of Boston-based Athena Legal Strategies Group. One of the disputes between CRAFT BEER & CANNABIS Cedric Sinclair Continued on next page

• Cover