Gardner

The local unemployment rate in Central Massachusetts communities remained low in May, including falling further from April figures in the North Worcester County region.

Waltham-based utility National Grid will donate $800,000 to eight chambers of commerce in Massachusetts, including $100,000 to the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce in Fitchburg.

Gardner manufacturer Precision Optics has named Wayne Coll its new CFO.

Heywood Healthcare in Gardner is replacing the CEO who has led the hospital system for 12 years, citing the changing healthcare landscape and the need to continue meeting its community's goals.

UMass Memorial Health intends to shut down its maternity ward at the HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, Leominster Campus this fall. Legislators and the nurses union oppose the proposal.

Metro regions across Central Massachusetts experienced lower unemployment again in April after a drop in March.

As the third leader to take over GFA Federal Credit Union in three years, Mark Hettinger brings a track record of asset growth and technological innovation.

The Leapfrog Group, a Washington D.C. based healthcare watchdog nonprofit, has released its biannual Hospital Safety Grade scores, giving one Central Massachusetts hospital an A rating while another received the second-lowest D rating.

The National Science Foundation awarded Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner a $350,000 grant to train electric vehicle technicians.

Business professionals from organizations of all types and sizes hold some amount of power, but how you shape the economy and community is when you are truly influential.