Greater Worcester

New York-based airline JetBlue Airways Corp., which earlier this month announced passenger service from Worcester Regional Airport, recorded lower profits in the first quarter of 2013 compared to last year, it reported today.

After hearing public comment for more than two hours Tuesday night, the Worcester City Council voted 9-2 to recommend that the city manager enter into negotiations with developers who aim to build a slots parlor in the city.

Reliant Medical Group opened a new medical facility in Holden Monday, located on the campus of the former Holden Hospital on Boyden Road.

Ruff Dawg pet toys, a division of Worcester-based Jefferson Rubber Works, has acquired Astro Manufacturing, also of Worcester, and its line of pet toys.

Gross domestic product in Massachusetts increased 23 percent in the two years following the Great Recession of 2009, even as the number of Massachusetts manufacturing firms plummeted in the last decade, according to the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) 2012 annual report.

Saint Vincent Hospital today officially opened a state-of-the-art behavioral health unit that will include 13 beds for acute psychiatric patients on its main campus in downtown Worcester.

The MBTA will add two express trains on the Worcester-to-Boston commuter rail line – one in each direction – weekdays starting April 29, according to Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail (MBCR), which operates the commuter rail lines for the “T.”

A Worcester-based group that wants to open a film studio in the city has its eye on a vacant warehouse that once housed a passenger railcar manufacturing facility.

Worcester-based World Energy Solutions Inc. nearly doubled its sales in the fourth quarter of 2012, helping drive a 55-percent annual revenue gain compared to 2011.

After opening a new facility in Devens last week, Worcester-based Coghlin Cos., a contract engineer and manufacturer, said it plans to add more than 75 positions at the site.