Hopkinton

Ten notable MetroWest communities had a mixed April for single-family home sales, with prices rising in six of them, and the number of sales up in five.

Grocery delivery service Instacart is increasing its presence in Central Massachusetts with a new partnership with Price Chopper in Webster.

Michael Gorman, who founded the Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects firm in Hopkinton 42 years ago and now serves as its president, will retire in October.

The outdoor living history museum Old Sturbridge Village has turned the switch on a 5,400-panel solar energy system, adding a 21st century technology to a 19th century community.

Hopkinton solar company Solect is expanding into Illinois, its fourth state, where it sees a large untapped potential for solar energy production.

The MetroWest office market is serving as a relief valve for companies struggling to pay rents in Boston or Cambridge, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle report.

The MetroWest office market shrank slightly in total occupied square footage in the first quarter of the year, particularly in towns along I-495.

Single-family home sales rose in many MetroWest communities in February, including Marlborough, Natick and Milford, as inventory in many cities and towns remained low.

David Fraser, the former vice president of manufacturing and worldwide materials at EMC, is joining Worcester medical device manufacturer Cogmedix as senior vice president of operations.

The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, a nonprofit formed three decades ago to support the state's life sciences industry, is aiming to make it easier for communities to make themselves ready through the right zoning and permitting programs.