CENTRAL MASS. BY THE NUMBERS

$2.7M

Almost $14 million in federal funding was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency for the purpose of cleaning and redeveloping industrial polluted sites in Worcester and other Massachusetts towns. Public officials, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. James McGovern, announced the funding in a ceremony held outside Saint-Gobain Abrasives at 1 New Bond St. Out of the $13.7 million, which was the largest awarded sum in the history of the program, Worcester received

$2.7 million in noncompetitive supplemental funding. Worcester has 13 cleanup projects completed or in progress, thanks to EPA funding.

78,793

When the last licks were done in the Telegram & Gazette's search for Best Ice Cream Stand in Central Massachusetts, West Boylston's Froze Zone was the clear choice of taste-testing readers. After more than 135,000 votes and countless spoonfuls, the heated, frozen-treat competition saw Froze Zone coast past Trombetta's Farm of Marlborough, the other finalist. Owned and operated by the 29-year-old gelatician Anthony Surabian, the 6-year-old Froze Zone scooped it out against a strong lineup of tasty destinations throughout the region. Froze Zone topped Trombetta's with 58% of the 135,034 total votes. The count was 78,793 to 56,241.

420

Newton-based McGovern Automotive Group is redeveloping the 15-acre property at 420 Boston Turnpike. Two massive manufacturing buildings that once stood on the property were partially flattened to make room for the project by McGovern, which purchased the land for $9.8 million in September 2021. The front part of the bigger of the buildings has been chopped in half to make room for a 65,300-square-foot storefront for Floor & Décor, a national chain with roots in Georgia. The rear part of the building, a 112,000-square-foot structure that is due for restoration, will function as a collision center for McGovern's five auto sales locations.

$4M

Over 30 towns and school districts throughout the state, including five from Central Mass., will receive part of a $4 million grant that will help improve or build broadband infrastructure. The five Central Mass. towns are Boylston, $335,000, for upgrading the broadband infrastructure in Berlin and Boylston and at Tahanto Regional High School; Gardner, $200,000, for expansion of the town's existing fiber-optic infrastructure connection with the Senior Center; Leominster, $200,000, for connecting 10 remote sites; Oxford, $20,000, for extension to the new concession stand at Ruel Field; and Winchendon, $189,350, for creation of a new municipal fiber network.

10

Worcester has been recognized for its contribution for the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The Worcester Film Commission has been nominated as “Outstanding Film Commission” at the 10th annual Location Managers Guild International Awards for the filming of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Other projects filmed in Worcester in recent years include “Confess, Fletch,” “Defending Jacob,” “Dexter: New Blood,” “Don't Look Up,” “The Holdovers,” “Honest Thief,” “Julia,” “Madame Web,” “New Guy,” “The Parenting,” “Spirited,” “The Tender Bar” and the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The LMGI Awards ceremony will be held Aug. 26 in Santa Monica, Calif.