Framingham

Danforth Art in Framingham has a new executive director, Debra Petke.

The international lighting company Royal Philips, which has operations in Framingham, has signed a $25 million research agreement with MIT and will move its North American research center from New York to Cambridge's Kendall Square.

Profits at Staples, which is on the verge of buying its chief rival in the retail office supply market, fell 38.5 percent in its most recent quarter amid weaker sales, the Framingham-based company announced Wednesday.

Framingham-based TJX Cos. said strong customer traffic in the first quarter of its new fiscal year led to an 8-percent jump in profits, to $475 million, or 69 cents per share, over the same quarter last year.

It's our annual list of 10 change makers from MetroWest who are making a difference in their businesses, industries and communities.

F. Javier Cevallos, a native of Ecuador who holds a doctoral degree from the University of Illinois, began his career in higher education as a professor of Spanish in 1984. The president of Framingham State University discusses his goals, and the state of public universities.

If you're shopping for property in MetroWest, does shopping influence your decision? Retailers that are considered more upscale brands — such as Cabela's in Berlin and Wegmans in Northborough — may bring with them a lot more than their products, experts say.

As companies work to attract the best talent from the Boston area, and local planners look for ways to address traffic congestion, transit options that get away from dependence on personal vehicles are popping up all over.

If one were to list the economic development factors working in Framingham's favor today, Town Manager Robert...

Framingham Town Meeting voters this week approved a new zoning bylaw that officials say will allow businesses in three of the town's technology parks to add space by building upward, while also protecting open space from residential development. The bylaw would allow owners of residentially-zoned land with more than five acres to sell their development rights to companies that want to add square footage at their offices in one of the town's three “43D” sites, which are business parks subject to streamlined permitting under state law.