North County

Gordon Lankton, founder of the Museum of Russian Icons and the man who transformed Clinton manufacturer Nylon Products into a billion-dollar, employee-owned company, died on Sunday at the age of 89.

Valley Florist and Greenhouse in East Templeton has received a $10,000 small business loan from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., the Fitchburg organization announced Friday.

Six Central Massachusetts communities earned a total of seven state grants announced late Thursday aimed at improving urban neighborhoods.

Fallon Health received 300 doses of Moderna's vaccine and by Friday it expects each of the 1,200 or so participants in its Summit ElderCare program will have received at least the first of the required two doses, either from Fallon's efforts or at other vaccination sites.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced Monday its award of $725,418 in Shared Winter Streets and Spaces program grants for five cities in Central Massachusetts to take initiative on challenges during the winter months. 

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. has awarded Kimatra Maxwell, owner of Leominster mental health counseling provider Connecting to Greatness, a $20,000 loan, the Fitchburg organization announced on Wednesday.

The Massachusetts biopharmaceutical industry raised far more investment than ever before in 2020, coinciding with the coronavirus pandemic that shifted an emphasis to potential lifesaving drugs, according to a report released Thursday.

Fidelity Bank, headquartered in Leominster, as well as its former president, John Merrill, have agreed to a $22.5-million settlement as part of a larger class action lawsuit related to the TelexFREE Ponzi scheme, although a significant portion of those costs will be covered by the bank's insurance.

A Cambridge firm developing fusion energy said Wednesday it'll build a 47-acre site in Devens in the latest boost for the community's development efforts.

Nearly $7 million in state funding announced Tuesday will go toward neighborhood and housing improvements in 10 Central Massachusetts cities and towns.