Gardner

The Massachusetts unemployment rate in February fell for the second month in a row, after a slight uptick to end 2023.

A new coffee shop will open in downtown Gardner later this year, as husband and wife duo, Alexis and Osiris Vallejos, are planning their third Brilla Coffee location at 25 Main St., better known as the Bullnose Building with its two lion statues.

Clark University, the Leominster East Side Community Center, and the MetroWest YMCA Regional Early Learning Center are among the 20 Central Massachusetts entities slated to benefit from $23.08 million in federal funding pending final approval by the U.S. Senate and President Joe Biden.

As Heywood Hospital continues to navigate the bankruptcy process it began in October, the Gardner facility’s nurses have secured a new contract their union claims will help address alleged long-standing issues with staffing levels and stagnant wages.

The bulk of the $5.05 million in federal funds were a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021. 

All four metropolitan areas of Central Massachusetts saw significant jumps in their unemployment rates in December.

After months of discussions, UMass Memorial Health in Worcester and Milford Regional Medical Center have signed a definitive agreement for corporate affiliation, allowing the struggling MetroWest hospital to receive support from Central Massachusetts’ largest healthcare system. 

Heywood Healthcare leaders have worked in the last several months to right-size its operations amid an ongoing bankruptcy, said co-CEO Rozanna Penney, but Monday marked a day of regeneration for the Gardner-based health system.

Heywood Hospital in Gardner will reopen its inpatient mental health unit on Jan. 11, after having closed the facility in October 2021.

Every December for this Economic Forecast special edition, the journalists in the WBJ newsroom forecast 10 possible news events for the coming year, based on their expertise and the trends in the Central Massachusetts business community.