Franklin
Franklin, MA · Business
People
whatnow.com
Uprise RI
WWLP 22News
Big Y named Forbes best-in-state employer for 8th year
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Big Y Foods Inc. has been named a Forbes Best-In-State Employer in Massachusetts and Connecticut for the eighth consecutive year. The regional supermarket chain received the workplace recognition as it marks its 90th year in operation. The company was founded by brothers Paul and Gerald D’Amour in 1936 and named for a specific road intersection in Chicopee where two roadways converge to form a ‘Y.’
needhamobserver.com
Boston
At a new South Shore housing development, live where the cranberries grow
Called Cranberry Crossing, the Norwell subdivision is oriented around the adjacent Cross Street Cranberry Bogs. Cranberries have deep roots in Massachusetts. Harvested for centuries and then commercially cultivated for the first time in the 1800s on Cape Cod, the cranberry industry remains alive and well in the state. According to Massachusetts Cranberries (the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association) the Bay State has thousand of acres of bogs and approximately 375 growers statewide.
northstarreporter.com
The Enterprise
Canton bank celebrates 135 years in the community
Canton Co-operative Bank is marking 135 years in Canton while recognizing employees and directors whose service stretches across decades. The bank was founded in 1891, according to a community announcement, and has continued operating under its original name. President and CEO Nick Maffeo, a Canton native, said its original mission focused on helping local residents buy homes. “In 1891, the first president of Canton Co-operative - Ephraim Thorndike - promised that Canton Co-operative would be the ‘easiest and safest place to borrow’ with the goal of helping local people get ‘homes, happiness and independence.’ Today we still help local people buy homes, and much more,” Maffeo said. Canton Co-operative is an independent mutual community bank rather than a stock bank. “Customers come first with us, not stockholders or Wall Street,” Maffeo said. Longtime Canton Co-operative employees recognized The bank is recognizing several current and former employees for their years of service. Deborah “Debby” Kreusch began working at Canton Co-operative in 1976 in a temporary summer teller position. Kreusch later served in several operational positions before becoming bank president in 1991. Kreusch served as president until 2014 and is now chair of the bank’s board of directors. April McKee joined Canton
needhamobserver.com
Axios Boston
Greater Boston renters need to make $181K to afford a starter home
A homebuyer needs to earn at least $181,000 a year to be able to comfortably afford a single-family home — and a lower-priced one at that — in Greater Boston, a new Boston Indicators report states. Why it matters: Homeownership remains out of reach for Greater Boston residents, especially Black and Latino residents, even as home sale prices soften, per the 2026 Greater Boston Housing Report Card released Tuesday. Catch up quick: Demand has outpaced housing supply for decades in Massachusetts, but home sale prices have increased on pace with (and sometimes outpacing) inflation. Those increases, plus increased interest rates, mean home prices are just starting to dip slightly even as the region's population growth and economy slow down. By the numbers: In 2021, interest rates were 3% and the median cost of a single-family home in a "low-priced town" was $553,500, per the report. Some 188,000 renters in Greater Boston earned enough to own a home in that scenario ($124,000 or more). Today, interest rates have more than doubled and the median for that home is $600,000. Now just 119,000 renters earn enough to afford a home ($181,000 or more). Data: Zillow via Boston Indicators, 2026 Greater Boston Housing