Fitchburg

Fitchburg, Framingham, Worcester State and their counterparts statewide will require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines this fall, they said in a joint announcement Friday.

A firm registered to owners in Chelmsford and Burlington have paid $2.6 million for a pair of adjacent buildings on the eastern edge of downtown Fitchburg.

The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce is strongly encouraging business owners to fill out its open business impact survey as it determines how to best support the local economy as it begins recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Worcester, Framingham, Fitchburg, Hudson and Hopkinton are among 31 youth substance abuse prevention programs across the state sharing in $3.8 million in new state grants.

The Gov. Charlie Baker Administration has awarded $1.1 million to Central Massachusetts municipalities and nonprofits as part of a new Regional Pilot Project Grant Program aimed at helping bolster economic recovery by supporting uniquely regional challenges, according to a Thursday announcement. 

The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce is launching a third COVID-19 business impact survey aimed at tracking how the pandemic is affecting the local business economy, the organization announced this month.

Massachusetts cities most affected by the coronavirus pandemic have gotten additional state aid, including nearly $834,000 for four Central Massachusetts cities for mobile vaccination and other efforts.

The Worcester area's unemployment rate improved slightly in February. But that good news masks a lingering problem: the number of people working dropped for the second straight month.

Colleges in Central Massachusetts are due to receive an estimated $100 million among them under the latest federal pandemic aid program.

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. on Wednesday announced it had approved a $35,000 loan to the owners of Black Hydra Tattoo in Fitchburg: Emily Shortsleeves, Matt Gallagher, and Brad Touchette.