Massport gives $840,000 to summer jobs program

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan International Airport, the Boston seaport, and the Tobin Bridge, said it has committed more than $840,000 this year for summer jobs and college internships in communities where Massport operates transportation facilities. Massport chief executive Craig P. Coy said the funds will create up to 269 summer jobs and more than 50 college internships. A total of $50,000 of the funding is being designated to support Boston's summer jobs program, with other funds going to community organizations in Charlestown, East Boston, South Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. (Peter J. Howe)

The Food and Drug Administration approved a simpler way for people to take Humira, an arthritis medication manufactured in Worcester by Abbott Laboratories. The company said it will start selling the Humira Pen in August. The FDA approved the Humira Pen to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Currently, Humira is administered through prefilled syringes. With the new device a patient pushes a button to uncover a needle that injects the medication. The pen contains the same dose as a prefilled syringe, 40 milligrams every other week. (Diedtra Henderson)

Boston Federal Reserve Bank president Cathy Minehan's pay jumped 31 percent in 2005, the biggest increase among the Fed's regional presidents, according to the Fed's annual reports. The increase was largely due to a change in salary calculations to recognize length of service, said a Boston Fed spokesman. Minehan, among the Fed's longest-serving bank presidents, is also among the highest paid, earning $355,600 last year, up from $270,900 in 2004. Minehan, 59, has led the Boston Fed since 1994. (Robert Gavin)

Boston advertising agency Modernista will create national branding advertisements for Cadillac in the United States, General Motors Corp. said. This year, Cadillac had awarded Modernista a contract for some models, but yesterday GM said it would have Modernista create US brand ads for its entire line. GM did not disclose Cadillac's advertising budget, but AdAge.com estimated Cadillac's national media spending at $225 million. That would make Cadillac one of the largest accounts ever won by a local agency. (Chris Reidy)

Canadian securities regulators extended a cease-trade order for managers and insiders at Cognos Inc. until two days after the company files delayed annual and first-quarter reports, the Burlington software maker said in a mandatory two-week update on the status of a US securities review. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the company's allocation for revenue from post-contract customer support. (AP)

James Swanson, chief investment strategist at Massachusetts Financial Services Co., said high returns on equity and cash reserves at companies will spur global mergers and acquisitions for at least two more years. A record $1.8 trillion of mergers and acquisitions were disclosed in the first half of this year, 2.4 percent more than the previous record in 2000, Bloomberg data show. ``The low cost of capital is driving mergers all over the world," Swanson, said in a phone briefing. ``It's sustainable for . . . probably another two years." (Bloomberg)

The number of warning letters sent to companies in violation of federal food and drug safety laws has fallen by more than half under the Bush administration, according to a report by a Democratic lawmaker. The drop in enforcement actions by the Food and Drug Administration occurred even as agency inspectors continued to turn up a relatively steady number of violations, said Representative Henry Waxman of California. The FDA issued just 535 warning letters in 2005 to manufacturers of drug, food, medical, and other products, down from 1,154 in 2000, according to the report. The number of seizures of unsafe products declined to 20 in 2005, from 36 five years ago. (AP)