North County

Gov. Deval Patrick has signed an $86 million spending bill, closing the books on fiscal year 2014, giving the Massachusetts Department of Transportation ownership of its headquarters next to the Boston Public Garden and creating a $2 million fund to support municipal public works and public health projects.

Devens-based AMSC said Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) is testing a cable that uses AMSC's trademarked wire at a smart grid demonstration site on Jeju Island, a province of South Korea. The high-temperature superconductor cable uses AMSC's Amperium HTS wire. According to AMSC, such cables are “power dense and have zero resistance, making them an ideal solution to moving large amounts of power underground and with a minimal footprint.” They're also capable of conducting 150 times the amount of electricity that can be conducted by copper or aluminum devices of the same size, according to AMSC, and benefit from no electrical losses, making them a “perfect conductor” of electricity.

As some communities evaluate tax rate changes for businesses, their is mixed evidence of the impact on businesses.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association has been on the move in Central Massachusetts in recent months. In July, registered nurses at Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer voted to join the union. Two months later, RNs at Athol Hospital did the same.

Lowell-based Enterprise Bancorp Inc., the parent of Enterprise Bank that has branches in Acton, Fitchburg and Leominster, reported an increase in net income fueled by net interest income for the third quarter.

Several Central Mass. organizations were among the 28 community hospitals to receive awards totaling $60 million from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), it announced on Wednesday.

Geronimo Properties of Leominster said it purchased the SouthFitch Shopping Center, a 30,000- square-foot retail property at the corner of John Fitch Highway and Summer Street.

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts has announces five grants to support a range of projects throughout the region — all of which are expected to improve the health of the area population.

Precision Optics of Gardner closed its fiscal year by reaching a sales record while reducing losses, the company said Tuesday.

It may not have profits, but AMSC, of Devens, does have prospects. Analysts say the troubled clean energy technology company is not in dire straits, but needs to execute on current orders and sign new deals to recover from several years of legal woes with overseas companies.