Acton

Watertown-based optical detection and analysis company Dynasil Corp. returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2014, following the sale of its lead paint and medical products businesses.

Sales and profits soared at Psychemedics Corp. of Acton in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Maryland-based W.R. Grace & Co. paid more than $63 million Wednesday to resolve claims for environmental cleanups at 39 sites across the country, including its former Acton plant where the company manufactured chemicals from 1954 to 1982.

Swedish firm Ericsson has agreed to acquire Acton-based Azuki Systems Inc., a video software maker, according to a statement issued Thursday.

Lowell-based Enterprise Bancorp Inc., which has branches in Acton, Fitchburg, Leominster and Westford, reported annual net income of $13.5 million for 2013, a 9-percent increase over 2012, in a milestone year for loan growth, according to an earnings statement.

InfoTree Investment LLC has purchased the building at 30 Nagog Park in Acton for $1.17 million according to the broker, Marlborough-based O'Brien Commercial Properties Inc.

Since the Great Recession of 2009, business tenants in Greater Boston, including MetroWest towns along Interstate 495, have enjoyed low commercial rents and the upper-hand in negotiations with landlords. But is that starting to change? It's highly possible, according to data released this month in indSTATus, the industrial real estate market publication by TranswesternRBJ, the Boston-based commercial real estate firm that services clients between Boston and the 495 corridor.

An Acton home construction company has changed hands, with long-time employees taking ownership from the company's founders.

With one of the highest traffic death rates in the Western Hemisphere, Brazil recently took a bold step by requiring all professional drivers to pass a hair drug test when they apply for license renewals every five years. Effective Jan. 1, the Brazilian federal government hopes the law will act as a powerful deterrent to drivers, many of whom transport goods on 18-wheelers on Brazilian highways. By requiring hair testing instead of less-sensitive urinalysis, more professional drivers who use drugs and alcohol habitually will be prevented from renewing licenses, keeping the roads safer.

Acton-based Carbon Design Systems Inc., which builds virtual prototypes for architects and engineers, announced Wednesday an expanded partnership agreement with San Jose-based Cadence Design Systems to create faster and more effective system models.