North County

Precision Optics of Gardner increased fiscal first-quarter revenue 61 percent while cutting its quarterly loss, the maker of optical systems announced Monday.

Jones Lang LaSalle said it has helped secure leases for 235,000 square feet of space in the Devens Industrial Park over the past month.

Massachusetts has come to be known as the Hollywood of the East, but it's been lacking one crucial element: a professional film studio where crews can shoot indoor scenes with all the necessary equipment on hand. That changed this fall when New England Studios finally launched in Devens. A project six years in the making, New England Studios may be the key to acheiving what Massachusetts economic development leaders hoped for when they designed film tax credits to lure the industry here: a new destination for the film industry.

American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC), a Devens-based wind and power grid company, announced it has increased its borrowing capacity through an amendment to its existing loan and a stock sales agreement.

Lexington-based Evergreen Village Collaborative has been selected by MassDevelopment to build 120 housing units in the Grant Road neighborhood of Devens, the state agency announced.

Devens-based wind and power grid company AMSC reduced its loss in its most recent financial quarter, but said governmental instability in Asia could prevent the company from reaching its full-year revenue target.

Athol-based manufacturer L.S. Starrett reported net income of $216,000 in the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year, a turnaround of more than $500,000 a year after it posted a loss of $351,000.

Nypro has agreed to lease more than 205,000 feet of space in Devens at the former Evergreen Solar plant, according to real estate companies involved in the deal.

The Patrick administration has awarded more than $240,000 in grants to Central Massachusetts communities to boost composting, recycling and waste reduction.

The Athol Area United Way will become part of the United Way of North Central Massachusetts, bringing together two key charitable-giving organizations that serve the northern swath of Central Massachusetts.