Greater Worcester

The elements are in place for a good year for the United States economy, according to panelists who addressed a group of about 250 this morning at the Worcester Business Journal's annual Economic Forecast Breakfast at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester.

The Worcester Art Museum is one of two in the world to receive a grant from The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) Museum Restoration Fund of the Netherlands this year.

Bridge Energy Group, a Marlborough firm focused on utility business consulting and system integration, announced it has been chosen by National Grid as the project leader for the utility's smart grid pilot in Worcester.

After expanding its operations in Rhode Island via merger, Connecticut accounting firm BlumShapiro plans to strengthen its foothold throughout New England, focusing next on more offices in Massachusetts, including Worcester.

With the application deadline on Tuesday, the state gaming commission is waiting for 11th-hour applications for up to four gambling sites throughout Massachusetts that were permitted under the 2011 gaming expansion law.

Gov. Deval Patrick's transportation financing plan would pump $13 billion in capital investments over the next 10 years into the state's infrastructure, highway and public transit systems, relying on a smorgasbord of reforms and controversial revenue options to make it happen.

JetBlue, which has been in talks with Worcester and state officials over the past year, likely wouldn't be offering commercial flights out of Worcester Regional Airport until 2014, the Massachusetts Port Authority's (MassPort) new CEO said today at the DCU Center.

MCPHS University, formerly the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, based in Boston, is expanding its footprint in Worcester.

Building on an existing undergraduate animal studies program, Becker College in Worcester has formed a school of animal studies, it announced today.

The owner of Auburn-based Casey Storage Solutions has expanded his company to a ninth location, purchasing StorageMAX Self Storage on McKeon Road in Worcester for $1.7 million.