The family that formerly owned Nashoba, headed by publisher Frank J. Hartnett Sr., sold the chain in 2000, for an undisclosed amount of money. Two years later, MediaNews opened a new plant in
Devens, Massachusetts, in the middle of Nashoba's coverage area, to print Nashoba's weeklies,
The Lowell Sun, and the Sentinel & Enterprise. Nashoba newspapers' primary competitors are their sister dailies in Fitchburg and Lowell. Additionally, in Harvard, the company competes with a weekly owned by
Community Newspaper Company; and in Ayer, Devens, Harvard and Shirley with the daily
Worcester Telegram & Gazette. == Newspapers ==