North County

The North Central Massachusetts Development Corp., the economic development arm of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, has approved $35,000 in financing for two small businesses in its region.

Precision Optics Corp., Inc., a Gardner-based optical instrument manufacturer, announced on Thursday that it received a $1.5-million production order from a defense/aerospace company.

Leominster restoration company SERVPRO will pay $67,000 in fines to settle claims of illegal asbestos work at a Fitchburg elementary school, according to a Monday press release from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.

After 94 years of ownership, the Hills family sold Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell for almost $1.2 million, according to the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds and an announcement on the farm’s website.

The state plans to allocate $171 million for construction projects on 25 bridges in Central Massachusetts, according to an initial list posted by Gov. Charlie Baker.

The United Way of Central Massachusetts has been awarded $4.5 million, to be dispersed over two years, through the federally funded Afterschool and Out-of-School Time Rebound grant, the nonprofit announced Thursday night.

UTZ Quality Foods, a snack food manufacturer with a Fitchburg facility, is becoming more energy efficient, thanks to a project run by Unitil Corp., a New Hampshire-based natural gas company.

A Braintree-based developer with plans to construct a more than 370,000-square-foot industrial facility in Lunenburg bought its planned site on Leominster-Shirley Road for $2 million, according to the Worcester North County Registry of Deeds.

The property with a Buick GMC and Cadillac dealership at 495 Main St. in Leominster was sold for $4.3 million to Richard Durand, who owns another dealership in Hudson, according to the Worcester North District Registry of Deeds.

Community Legal Aid, Inc., a free legal aid provider for residents in Central and Western Massachusetts, has named Worcester attorney Leticia Medina-Richman as its first chief operating officer, according to the CLA website.