Fitchburg

Three small businesses in downtown Fitchburg received loans totaling $55,000 from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., the development arm of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, the organization announced on Friday. 

Girouard Tool Corp., a Leominster injection molding company, was approved Thursday by the state for tax breaks to help make possible a $2.8-million expansion, and a Fitchburg restaurant has received a tax credit to move downtown.

Atlantic Medicinal Partners opened its first recreational marijuana dispensary in Fitchburg on Friday. The dispensary is locally owned and vertically integrated.

Atlantic Medicinal Partners of Woburn officially opened its new Fitchburg marijuana dispensary at noon on Friday, the company announced, where it will serve both recreational and medicinal customers.

Unemployment rates in July improved in Greater Worcester and Northern Worcester County, but each remained among the nation's worst, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. has received $946,000 in federal aid to help small businesses suffering during the coronavirus pandemic.

An unusually large share of coronavirus deaths in Worcester County — nearly four out of five — have taken place in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, according to state data.

On Aug. 5, Revolutionary Clinics in Fitchburg announced Mark Vlachos as its new director of cultivation. With nearly a decade of experience in the industry, Vlachos spoke to WBJ about what his job actually entails, and how he went from studying classics to managing cannabis cultivation facilities for various companies around Massachusetts.

Housing authorities in Central Massachusetts, which are charged with overseeing affordable housing, have taken in nearly $2 million in federal funds to help lower-income residents stay in their homes despite the economic upheaval related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The recession has erased roughly 24 years of job growth in the Worcester area. Some neighborhoods, particularly in Worcester and Fitchburg have been hit especially hard, with unemployment rates estimated at 30% or more.