North County

Lawmakers appear increasingly likely to make hospital expansions and closures an area of scrutiny this session, fueled in part by the planned shutdown of a Leominster maternity ward that has drawn vociferous criticism.

The local unemployment rate in Central Massachusetts communities remained low in May, including falling further from April figures in the North Worcester County region.

About half a dozen legislators from the greater Leominster area did not mince words during a committee hearing Tuesday, alleging that UMass Memorial Health is putting undue strain on Bay Staters with the closure plans its leaders announced last month.

The global pharmaceutical company has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for commercial cell therapy manufacturing in Devens.

Waltham-based utility National Grid will donate $800,000 to eight chambers of commerce in Massachusetts, including $100,000 to the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce in Fitchburg.

Gardner manufacturer Precision Optics has named Wayne Coll its new CFO.

People are on the move at UMass Memorial Medical Group, Fidelity Bank, and Clark University.

Multifamily residential developers have been proposing thousands of apartments throughout Central Massachusetts, but communities are resisting the push for more housing to protect their resources and what residents and officials see as their town’s character.

Bisousweet Confections will renovate and purchase equipment for its new 20,000-square-foot facility in Leominster with a $1.25 million loan from MassDevelopment.

While Beacon Hill searches for solutions to the serious housing shortage that fuels affordability concerns in Massachusetts, a real estate industry organization wants to see the Community Preservation Act program retrofitted to put a greater emphasis on housing production.