North County

.About a year ago, Fidelity Bank Chairman and CEO Edward Manzi began working on a deal with Matt Burke, his counterpart at Hyannis-based bank Cape Cod 5.

Discussing long-term care options for an aging loved one is not a conversation people happily anticipate. In fact, it can be challenging and uncomfortable. It’s also a conversation that shouldn’t be put off.

Rise and Grind Cafe and Smoothie Bar at 805 Main St. in Fitchburg received two loans of $32,500 from the City of Fitchburg and $32,000 from the North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. in Fitchburg.

UMass Memorial Health, the largest healthcare provider in Central Massachusetts, has signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore a potential affiliation with one of the region’s few remaining independent hospitals, Milford Regional Medical Center and its Milford Regional Physician Group 

The parent companies of Fidelity Bank of Leominster and Cape Cod 5 in Hyannis have agreed to merge into a single holding company called Mutual Bancorp.

Advocates working to prevent UMass Memorial Health from closing its birthing unit at HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster are doubling down their efforts in the last days before the planned closure, attempting to persuade Gov. Maura Healey to issue a stay to keep it open.

Ascend Elements is planning to move its headquarters and research-and-development facility from Westborough to Devens in September 2024.

Unemployment rates across Central Massachusetts remained virtually unchanged from July to August, continuing the summer’s trend of low unemployment across the region, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on Tuesday by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The College of the Holy Cross and all three of the Central Massachusetts state universities gained in the U.S. News and World Report rankings released Monday, while Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University fell.

Home sales in Worcester County and throughout Massachusetts continue to be sharply down from 2022, while prices remain consistently higher, sharply so in the city of Worcester.