North County

Two decades have passed since Digital Equipment Corp. occupied a 58-acre site in Maynard just a mile south of town center. More than half of that time has been spent trying to redevelop the property.

Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester, Harrington Physician Services and AdCare Hospital are some of several Central Massachusetts companies to recently announce new hires.

A Millbury plumbing business not only helped unclog pipes and drains, but also illegally grew more than 1,000 marijuana plants at a time, federal prosecutors say.

Fidelity Bank grew by 5 percent in 2017, reaching total assets of $819 million while investing in more than 145 local businesses.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has set its own new record for number of patents in the past year, with 16 issued.

Slowey/McManus Communications, a strategic communications firm based in Boston, has opened a small Worcester office in an effort to branch out to clients in Central Massachusetts.

GateHouse Media, the New York-based owners of the Telegram & Gazette and a host of other daily and weekly newspapers in Massachusetts, spent $300,000 to purchase the Gardner News.

A historic hotel in Groton, once the site of the oldest hotel in the United States, has been rebuilt seven years after the historic structure was destroyed by a fire.

Massachusetts has chosen Worcester and Fitchburg among 10 cities to receive help in downtown redevelopment initiatives.

Daily newspapers in Fitchburg and Lowell and a related weekly publication earned a $5-million profit and a 26-percent profit margin in the last budget year.