Greater Worcester

Central Massachusetts manufacturers should focus on product development as large firms shift operations out of the Bay State, employers and industry experts said Wednesday.

Office vacancy rates in Central Massachusetts fell over the last year, following a trend throughout the eastern half of the state and indicating business growth, according to data from global real estate broker Colliers International.

A new Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) team will call Worcester home, making it the 10th franchise for the league in New England. The team, which has yet to be named, will fill the baseball void created when the minor-league Worcester Tornadoes folded due to financial troubles last summer.

Residents of western Worcester County want rural Massachusetts to stay that way, according to a planning meeting Wednesday.

Assumption College's surplus fell by $2.1 million in fiscal 2013, while freshman enrollment slipped nearly 10 percent, according to figures released by the college.

UMass Memorial Health Care is exploring potential “collaborative opportunities” with Springfield-based Baystate Health that could include clinical work, the Worcester-based health care system said today.

Digital Federal Credit Union signed an agreement Tuesday to provide up to $100 million in financing for residential solar loan projects.

Central Massachusetts is leading the state when it comes to adding new jobs, according to the latest figures released by the state.

Worcester-based Polar Beverages has landed a five-year distribution agreement with a California beverage provider for one of its products, according to a statement from that company.

On the same day that it was ranked the top private health plan in the U.S. for the 10th straight year, non-profit insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care on Thursday disclosed that it has reduced its workforce by 65.