North County

Five Central Massachusetts companies will receive $520,000 in grants from the commonwealth and are expected to create...

With the pot containing the state's lone slots parlor license, three competitors pitched their geographic desirability, ability to fund and quickly construct a facility and their past performance before the state's gaming commission Monday.

The slots parlor proposals for Leominster and two other communities in Massachusetts will go to a public hearing today before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which will decide which of the three will get the state's sole slots license.

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.