North County

Precision Optics of Gardner increased fourth-quarter revenue 4 percent and finished its fiscal year in June with a 17-percent jump in revenue, while cutting its quarterly loss, the maker of optical systems announced this week.

The 495 North submarket, which has struggled with office vacancy and offered lease rates well below those found in neighboring regions, showed signs of improvement in the third quarter of 2013, according to Boston commercial real estate advisory firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners (RBJ).

Residents of western Worcester County want rural Massachusetts to stay that way, according to a planning meeting Wednesday.

Wisconsin-based Great Wolf Resorts has begun construction at what will become Great Wolf Lodge New England in Fitchburg. The opening of the indoor water park and renovated hotel at what is now a Holiday Inn and CoCo Key water park is set for 2014, according to Great Wolf.

Jabil Circuit Inc., the Florida-based company that acquired Nypro Inc. of Clinton this year, reported quarterly and annual revenue gains for its 2013 fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, though net and operating income declined, due in part to a restructuring, the company said.

The Norm Wagner auto dealership in Lancaster has been sold to a Westwood-based chain of automobile dealerships.

By a comfortable margin of 61 to 39 percent, Leominster voters Tuesday approved plans for a slots parlor in the city.

Central Massachusetts is leading the state when it comes to adding new jobs, according to the latest figures released by the state.

Since news broke last week that Clinton-based precision-injection molding manufacturer Nypro is scouring Central Massachusetts for a new manufacturing site to accommodate new contracts for the production of medical devices, there's been speculation about whether it might set up shop in space left vacant when Evergreen Solar shuttered its Devens plant in 2011.

With just days before Leominster voters cast ballots that will decide whether plans for a proposed slots parlor can go forward, two impact studies released by city officials conclude that a gambling facility would benefit the city.