MetroWest

While many of its neighbors have collected hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from an...

Venture capital investment activity fell 15 percent in the first quarter of this year, representing a 12-percent drop in value, according to a report released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

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.

A five-story office building that sits next to the Framingham-Southborough line and formerly occupied by Genzyme Corp. was sold last week to a New Jersey firm that's planning a major expansion and renovation, according to a broker involved in the deal.

Fitchburg-based Arrhythmia Research Technology said its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings reports will be delayed due to an ongoing internal review of its revenue accounting methods.

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.

Cultural attractions are nice to have in every community, said Susan Nicholl, executive director of the MetroWest Tourism & Visitors Bureau in Framingham.

Waltham-based Thermo Fisher Scientific, which has facilities in Franklin and Milford, will grow by nearly a third early next year when it acquires a California-based biotechnology manufacturer for $13.6 billion. The intended purchase of Life Technologies is Thermo's largest deal since 2006 and is expected to increase its position in the DNA sequencing market. The deal is expected to close early next year.

Whether it be new hotels that have been in the works for several weeks or several years,...