Leominster

Unemployment rates across Central Massachusetts increased at the start of this year, with January unemployment higher in all three of the region’s metropolitan areas tracked by the state.

Wisconsin-based packaging firm Quad/Graphics Inc. will close its Leominster Packaging plant by April 29, resulting in approximately 60 layoffs.

Leominster-based Fidelity Bank donated more than $400,000 to more than 275 organizations, events, and causes in 2022 through its LifeDesign Community Dividend program.

Although the growth slowed last year, 2022 still showed Central Massachusetts has become a destination for new businesses. Another 2,772 new businesses incorporated in the region in 2022, a 1.5% increase over the eye-popping 2021 figures.

While single-family home prices in Worcester County remained relatively steady in January, the number of home sales dropped significantly.

People are on the moved at Fidelity Bank, GFA Federal Credit Union, and Waters Corp.

To move on from the garage to the real world isn’t as easy as “I have an idea!” In the world, we cherish ideas and people who bring them to life, but what is often lost is to make something, to start a company, to build something new, money is required.

Leominster-based Regional Home Care has reached a $2.5-million settlement with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office resolving allegations the home care agency improperly collected payment from MassHealth members and engaged in deceptive debt collection practices.

Two Central Massachusetts locations of Bed Bath & Beyond were among 149 to be shuttered in the latest round of closures announced by the company on Tuesday.

Hannaford Supermarkets has begun installing defibrillators at all 185 of its stores to save the lives of customers and employees in case of a sudden cardiac event, the Scarborough, Maine-based food retailer said.