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September 28, 2007

AG mails checks to ex-Wendy's workers

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said today that it has mailed payments totaling nearly $192,000 to 406 former employees of 13 Wendy's restaurants in Western Massachusetts.

The restaurants were abruptly closed July 20 by a Wendy's franchisee who was later indicted on charges that he failed to pay all wages, Coakley's office said.

Checks mailed by Coakley's office should reach former employees within the next several days, and they result from an agreement between Coakley's office and Wendy's International Inc. of Ohio; the agreement created a $350,000 fund to help alleviate the hardship of the employees who worked in stores that closed, Coakley's office said.

Employees who believe they are owed wages and who have not yet contacted Coakley's office are urged to call the office's Fair Labor Hotline at 413-784-1240, ext. 156, or 617-727-3465.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)

Bristol-Myers will pay $515 million

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and a subsidiary have agreed to pay more than $515 million to settle federal and state investigations into their drug marketing and pricing practices, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan announced today in Boston.

Government investigators alleged that Bristol-Myers Squibb paid illegal remuneration from 2000 to 2003 in the form of consulting fees to induce doctors and other health care providers to buy the company's drugs.

Investigators also claimed that from 2002 to 2005, the New York-based drug maker promoted the sale of Abilify, an anti-psychotic drug, for pediatric use and to treat dementia-related psychoses. Neither use is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Abilify is used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

In the second quarter, the company reported $412 million in sales of Abilify, a 27 percent increase from a year earlier.

Bristol-Myers announced in December that it had tentatively agreed with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston to settle an investigation into its marketing activities. At that time, the company did not disclose which drugs were involved.

Besides Abilify, Bristol-Myers Squibb makes Plavix, a blood thinner that is the company's top-selling drug, and Pravachol, a cholesterol-lowering drug. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:25 PM | Comments (0)

Friendly's announces iScream winners

A rap video - a visual paean presumably to the pleasures of the Fribble Shake and the Happy Ending Sundae - won a top prize in an "iScream" contest sponsored by Friendly Ice Cream Corp. of Wilbraham, the company said.

The contest asked teens and young adults to submit videos and photos expressing their passion for Friendly's, and nearly 4,000 entries were submitted, the company said.

The rap that won in the video category of the competition was made by Wilbraham resident Joshua Schussler, who received a $10,000 gift card entitling him to merchandise from Apple Inc., Friendly's said.

The company described Schussler's winning entry as a "rap video dedicated to everything Schussler and a pal love about Friendly's, including the food, ice cream, Friendly's staff, and the restaurant's strong heritage in Western Massachusetts."

Thanks to his Apple prize, the Schussler rap on Friendly's could soon be immortalized on his very own iPods, iMacs, and iPhones.

Somerville resident Kevin Reilly also took home a $10,000 Apple gift card for winning in the contest's photo category.

Reilly photographed "a young woman eating a 56-ounce carton of Friendly's ice cream while tubing on a lake, epitomizing the summer fun Friendly's offers," the company said.

Friendly's, a chain of roughly 515 company-owned and franchise restaurants, was recently purchased by Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Florida-based private equity firm, for $337.2 million.

A sampling of contest entries can be viewed on Friendy's iScream Web site.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

Verizon FiOS coming to Medway

Verizon Communications Inc. said that its FiOS TV service becomes available today to 3,500 households in Medway.

Medway is among 55 Massachusetts communities where the FiOS TV service is now available, said Verizon, which added that it is currently negotiating with 11 other Bay State communities to obtain additional franchises.

As of today, the service is available to more than 390,000 Massachusetts households, the company added.

Headquartered in New York, Verizon delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Idenix Pharmceuticals laying off 100

Biotechnology company Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that it is cutting 100 positions and amending an agreement with Novartis to stop all activities dealing with the hepatitis B drug Tyzeka.

Novartis will have full responsibility for all activities related to the drug, which is called Sebivo in Europe. Idenix will still receive royalty payments on sales. Novartis owns 56 percent of Idenix.

The job cuts will leave the company with about 200 employees. The jobs being cut mostly support the development and sale of the hepatitis B drug. The move is expected to reduce the company's cash burn rate by 40 percent to 50 percent.

The company expects a charge between $5 million and $10 million for employee severance and asset writeoffs. But, the layoffs will result in savings between $40 million and $45 million on an annual basis, Idenix said.

In July, the Food and Drug Administration halted development of the company's hepatitis C drug candidate valopicitabine because results did not show enough benefit based on the observed risks.

Shares of Idenix fell 14 cents, or 14.6 percent, to $2.89 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $2.29 and $10.83 over the last 52 weeks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

NE unemployment down slightly

The New England unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in August, down 0.3 percentage points from July and essentially unchanged from August 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in August, said the bureau, part of the US Department of Labor.

New England's unemployment rate has largely remained in the 4.5 percent to 4.8 percent range since August 2004, the bureau said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

Authoria raises $22.5 million

Authoria Inc. of Waltham announced today a new round of debt and equity financing totaling $22.5 million.

The Waltham company is a provider of on-demand talent management solutions that help companies recruit, develop, compensate, retain, and engage employees.

Authoria said that new investors in the round included Horizon Technology Finance of Farmington, Conn., and Velocity Financial Group, a Chicago firm with a Massachusetts office in Wakefield.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

AS&E lands $13.1m US contract

American Science and Engineering Inc., a Billerica company focused on X-ray detection technology, announced today the receipt of a $13.1 million service contract from the US Department of Defense.

The contract is to support the department's fleet of Z Backscatter Vans, a company screening systems that can be built into delivery vans and used to detect explosives and plastic weapons, American Science and Engineering said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

Plumbers gear up for toilet month

October is National Toilet Tank Repair Month, and in the coming weeks, master plumber Mike McLaughlin expects to be busier than a barman on New Year's Eve.

"Business begins to pick up right after Labor Day," said McLaughlin, the Salem franchisee of Mr. Rooter, a plumbing and drain-cleaning company. "Vacations are over. People are thinking about winter heating, and everybody wants their homes nice and tidy for the holidays."

Indeed, only a surfeit of fruitcake or a surprise visit from Mr. Scrooge and the Grinch can be less welcome at Christmas than a bathroom emergency that can hydrate the premises with water unfit for filling a swank Sigg canteen.

Throw in the region's old housing stock, aging sewer systems, and winter weather that can freeze pipes, and plumbers rarely enjoy much downtime during the fourth quarter, said McLaughlin, who's keen on regular maintenance and same-day service as ways to combat the malodorous malaise of a dysfunctional bathroom.

"We're always available when you need us - that's our mantra," he said during a telephone interview yesterday.

Cars and pianos may not be the only things that need periodic tune-ups; when it comes to toilets, McLaughlin said, valve seal balls and flappers require regular replacement.

With many consumers interested in protecting the environment these days, there are added dividends to having a well-tuned toilet - a leaky one can waste 200 gallons of water a day, plumbers claim.

After 25 years in the business, McLaughlin knows a thing or two about American Standard and Toto, two popular toilet brands.

As he sees it, innovation is a constant in bathroom technology as scientists seek relentlessly to re-engineer the loo and transform a once-humble venue into a luxurious comfort zone replete with state-of-the-art bells and whistles.

Among marvels that McLaughlin has witnessed was a demonstration of an American Standard toilet model capable of sucking down 30 golf balls with a single flush.

Then there's a high-end Toto.

"It will wash your backside with a warm water rinse," he said.

Such best-in-breed solutions aren't confined just to the high-concept toilet; there are also high-tech ways for plumbers to install pipes outdoors.

When it comes to replacing 50-year old drain systems that link a home to a community sewer system, less invasive techniques, similar to angioplasty and arthroscopic surgery, lessen the need for excavation equipment and earth movers.

One of these methods, called "trenchless pipe replacement," uses cables equipped with video cameras and transmitters to snake new pipe into space previously occupied by old pipe that rotted out or was damaged by tree roots, McLaughlin said.

Plumbing, he noted, isn't just about guys with shovels and backhoes anymore.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

Bain Capital buying 3Com for $2.2 billion

The long-rumored private equity buyout of communications networking company 3Com Corp. came to fruition today, as Bain Capital and Chinese networking company Huawei Technologies acquired 3Com for $2.2 billion in cash.

3Com shareholders will receive $5.30 per share for their stock, a premium of 44 percent over 3Com's Thursday closing price of $3.68. The company's shares jumped as high as $5.11 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

“We believe that this agreement better positions 3Com to establish itself as a global networking leader, which will benefit our employees, our customers and our partners,” said 3Com president Edgar Masri.

3Com makes data network switches, security appliances and Internet Protocol-based telephone equipment. Once a world leader in networking technology, the company has never fully recovered from the collapse of the Internet boom of the late 1990s.

Today, 3Com derives over half its revenues from sales in Asia, largely thanks to its H3C Technologies Ltd business in China. H3C was born as a joint venture between 3Com and Huawei, but last year 3Com acquired the entire H3C operation for $882 million.

Reports that Bain was in talks with 3Com have circulated for months. Abner Germanow, networking analyst for IDC Corp. in Framingham, said the deal may finally have come to fruition now because recent declines in 3Com's stock price have lowered the cost of the transaction.

Germanow said that taking 3Com private could put the company in a better position to overhaul its products and sales channels to compete against industry giant Cisco Systems Inc. "It's a combination of access to capital and removing the pressure to deliver results to Wall Street every quarter," Germanow said.

3Com founder Bob Metcalfe is now a a principal at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm in Waltham. Metcalfe said Bain was probably attracted by 3Com's strong position in a booming Asian data networking market, as well as recent growth in 3Com's revenues. "Bain obviously thinks they see an opportunity the public markets don't see," said Metcalfe.
(By Hiawatha Bray, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)

Hingham savings bank declares dividend

Hingham Institution for Savings declares regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share

Regional bank operator Hingham Institution for Savings said Thursday its board declared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share.

The dividend is payable Oct. 22 to shareholders of record Oct. 10. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

Watts Water COO resigns

Watts Water Technologies Inc., which makes valves used in plumbing, heating and other applications, said Thursday William D. Martino has resigned as chief operating officer and president of North American and Asian operations, effective Sept. 30.

The company did not disclose a reason for the resignation.

Ernest E. Elliott, executive vice president of marketing, will take on Martino's duties on an interim basis until the company names a successor.

Shares of Watts Water shed 2 cents to $31.10 in after-hours trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Cognos forecasts improved revenue

Business software company Cognos Inc. said Thursday it expects third-quarter earnings between 36 cents and 44 cents per share.

On an adjusted basis, the company forecast earnings of 45 cents to 53 cents per share. Cognos expects revenue of $270 million to $285 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are expecting earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue of $270.8 million.

Last December, Cognos, which is based in Canada but has a US office in Burlington, Mass., reported adjusted earnings of 48 cents per share on revenue of $247.8 million for the third quarter.

For the full year, the company forecast earnings of $1.66 to $1.76 per share, adjusted earnings of $2 to $2.10 per share, and revenue in the range of $1.08 billion to $1.1 billion.

Analysts estimate profit of $2.03 per share on sales of $1.07 billion.

Shares fell $1.05, or 2.5 percent, to $41.40 in after-hours electronic trading. The stock rose 20 cents to $42.45 in the regular trading session. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)

Eaton Vance to issue $500m in notes

Investment fund company Eaton Vance Corp. said Thursday it will issue $500 million in long-term debt to potentially be used for investments, expansion, acquisitions or share repurchases.

Eaton Vance offered the debt as 6.5 percent 10-year senior notes due in 2017.

Citi and Merrill Lynch & Co. acted as the joint book-running managers for the offering.

Shares of Eaton Vance rose $1.18, or 3 percent, to $40.40. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Metabolix gets $2M award

Metabolix Inc., which is developing biodegradable plastics from corn sugar, said Thursday it received a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Metabolix said it will use the award, part of the agency's Advanced Technology Program, to develop a commercially viable process for producing biobased chemicals from renewable agricultural products. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

Matritech, Sysmex terminate license pact

Matritech Inc. of Newton and Sysmex Corp. said today they will terminate a 2002 agreement under which Sysmex was granted a license for a Matritech technology that can be used in screening for cervical cancer.

All rights licensed in the agreement revert to Matritech as of today, the companies said.

Last month, Matritech agreed to be acquired by Inverness Medical Innovations Inc., Waltham company first known for over-the-counter pregnancy and fertility tests, for an initial purchase price of $36 million.

Matritech develops protein-based diagnostic products for the early detection of cancer.

Sysmex is a global company headquartered in Japan.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:26 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: Boston, New York lag in service

The Red Sox and Yankees may be tops in the AL East, but Boston and New York are in a race for the bottom when it comes to providing customer service.

That's the lowdown from a "nationwide mystery shopping survey" conducted by a company called Grass Roots; the survey looked at service experiences in a number of cities and in a number of sectors, including service at bars, banks, and coffee cafes.

According to the survey, Phoenix ranked best for all-around customer service; Boston tied second to the bottom, and the worst performing city was New York.

Locals need not despair, however. The survey found that because of high service levels in two particular sectors, Boston is the best place in the county to open a bank account or order a fast-food hamburger.

"The US service experience is still one of the highest in the world," Jane Edwards-Hall, general manager of Grass Roots Performance Measurement in the USA, said in a statement. "What did surprise us was the wide variation of standards in different cities in the US - some of our cities have a lot of catching up to do!"
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

Telefonica deploys JumpTap

JumpTap Inc., a Cambridge mobile search firm, announced that it has launched its services on Telefonica, a Spanish telecommunications company that is looking to bring search and advertising to the screens of mobile phones.

JumpTap said that Warner Music, Coca-Cola, and BMW are among the first advertisers to launch mobile campaigns on Telefonica.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)

Stop & Shop to offer vaccinations

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. announced it will offer influenza and pneumonia vaccinations in the pharmacy departments of select stores.

The program, which is a partnership with a healthcare services company Maxim Healthcare, is set to run from tomorrow through Nov. 17, said Stop & Shop, a Quincy-based chain that operates 389 stores in much of the Northeast.

Consumers interested in receiving vaccinations may obtain additional information by visiting the company's website.

Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, consumers can also get information by dialing this phone number: 1-800-767-7772.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2007

Foundation awards $14m in grants

The Boston Foundation today announced the distribution of nearly $14 million in fall grants to nonprofit organizations that focus on such issues as education, housing, and workforce development.

Receiving a $75,000 unrestricted, unsolicited grant was the Colonel Daniel Marr Boys & Girl Club in Boston, the foundation said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Mascoma to build biofuel plant in Tenn.

Mascoma Corp., a Cambridge company focused on low-carbon renewable fuels, plans to build a Tennessee facility that will produce cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass.

Mascoma, which is working with the University of Tennessee, today said the large-scale demonstration facility should be operational in 2009.

The Tennessee plant will be Mascoma's third cellulosic biorefinery; it has begun construction on a facility in New York state that will produce fuel from multiple sources and plans a commercial scale biorefinery in Michigan that will use wood.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

2 new domestic robots from iRobot

The Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot

Forget R2D2. The next frontier in robotics is a miniature tank that borrows some of the technology behind military bomb-defusing robots to eject rotting foliage from your gutters.

At the DigitalLife conference in New York this afternoon, iRobot chief executive Colin M. Angle unveiled two additions to the company's home robot line, which has so far focused on vacuuming and scrubbing. The Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot speeds down gutters to clear out the gunk, while the ConnectR Virtual Visiting Robot lets people check in on their home by laptop -- remotely interacting with kids, playing with pets, or just snooping around to make sure the laundry is folded.


The ConnectR Virtual Visiting Robot

While the Looj and the ConnectR are far from the romantic vision of robots as electronic companions, Angle said, they are real robots that give people more control over their home -- either decreasing the drudgery of daily life or giving people a better connection to their home.

"When we talk about the iRobot home and products, it's all about finding ways to add to our quality of life."

iRobot, which is based in Burlington, Mass. and is the maker of the military PackBot robot used in Iraq and Afghanistan to scout enemy positions or defuse roadside bombs, has sold 2 million of its Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners worldwide and also offers a mopping robot called Scooba. But the newest home robots bring robotics to new parts of the home.

The Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot is a slim, bright green tank controlled by a remote. For $99, the mundane task of cleaning a gutter becomes more like Formula One racing. It takes just one trip up the ladder to drop the Looj in the gutter; then the diligent homeowner turns it on and drives it back and forth, using the pointy end to bust up leaf clogs while a rubbery propellor spins to dredge the gunk out, clearing 80 feet in 10 minutes.

The second addition to iRobot's home robot line is the ConnectR Virtual Visiting Robot, a disc-shaped robot that looks a lot like its Roomba home vacuuming robot, except for the camera perched on one end. Using a laptop computer, a person can call the ConnectR robot, which uses the home's wireless network and Internet telephony techonology. From their laptop, remote users can manipulate the camera, steer the robot, and talk through a microphone to give themselves roving eyes, ears, and a physical presence in their home.

The robot will cost $499, but the company is launching a pilot program, allowing people to buy the ConnectR for $199 as long as they agree to give feedback about the experience.

To a person in the room with the device, the robot is like a mobile speaker phone that can follow them around, while the remote user can read a book aloud, or coach them through a complicated task. While it doesn't have a video screen for people to see the person who is calling the robot, it does have a mood light allowing them to get a sense of how people are feeling, whether its angry (red) or calm (yellow or green).

The world of consumer robotics has long excited the imagination, with visions of talking, capable robots with personalities, like Rosie from the Jetsons. But as home robots have begun to become affordable and practical, the reality is that creations tend toward convenience.

"To build robots that can multitask and do multiple things can't be done for two reasons -- it's too expensive, and you have to create a robot to do something as good or better than you do it now," said Dan Kara, president of Robotics Trends in Natick. "The approach they're taking with low-cost, single-function, utilitarian robots is the way to go in this marketplace right now."

View a photo gallery of the iRobot's new domestic robots here.

(By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

CB Richard Ellis picked to manage properties

Asset manager ING Clarion has selected CB Richard Ellis/New England to manage more than 1 million square feet of its Greater Boston properties, including 101 Arch St. in Boston, 200 Newport Ave. in Quincy, 880 Winter Drive in Waltham, and 100 Staples Drive in Framingham.

They are part of a 26-property national portfolio with more than 7 million square feet, CB Richard Ellis said today.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:09 PM | Comments (0)

Momenta Pharmaceuticals promotes executives

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. today named Steven Brugger, a member of the company's executive team for the past five years, to the newly-created position of chief operating officer.

He previously oversaw the company's strategic business operations, development and regulatory areas.

Ganesh Venkataraman, who co-founded the company, was named chief scientific officer. He also will continue in his current role as senior vice president for research, Momenta said.

Momenta shares fell 29 cents to $11.55. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:04 PM | Comments (0)

10 City Square sold

Compass Realty Associates of Burlington paid $11.5 million to buy 10 City Square, an office building in Charlestown that is home to Olives Boston restaurant, a broker involved in the transaction said today.

The broker is NAI Hunneman Commercial, a Boston-based real estate services firm.

NAI Hunneman said it represented the seller, CBE Technologies, a Boston-based information-technology service provider.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

Exact Sciences completes study

Exact Sciences Corp. announced today it has completed the second and final phase of its blinded, multi-center study of its Version 2 technology for stool-based DNA screening for colorectal cancer.

The Marlborough company said that final results of study are anticipated before the end of the year.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

Roffman joins Nutter McClennen

Boston law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish announced today that Ian D. Roffman has joined the firm.

Roffman is a former senior trial counsel for the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm said.

At Nutter McClennen & Fish, Roffman will be a litigation partner in the firm's Government Investigations and White Collar Defense group, the firm said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Mass Bar starts veterans program

The Massachusetts Bar Association said today it is providing free training to attorneys who will offer pro bono legal services to veterans.

The training is provided jointly with US Trust, a wealth management firm headquartered in New York, the association said.

The goal is to help veterans who are "struggling to navigate the legal system in the areas of benefits, housing, employment, and medical care," the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

Poll: Most say "The Office" is their office

"Which TV work environment is most like yours?" Monster.com asked in an online poll, and the overwhelming response was, "The Office."

According to Monster, a job-hunting and recruiting website with a big presence in Maynard, 53 percent of the roughly 4,800 respondents to its "Monster Meter" poll indicated that their workplace was "boring and mismanaged," just as the one portrayed in "The Office," which, according to Monster, has its season's premier tonight.

"ER" attracted 23 percent of voters, who identified their own workplace with the "fast-paced and nonstop" environment shown on "ER," Monster said, while 13 percent of voters related to the "competitive and cutthroat" atmosphere of "The Apprentice."

Only 11 percent said of respondents said their workplaces resembled the one in "Grey's Anatomy," which is seen as being rife with romance and personal drama, Monster said.

Monster is the flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc. of New York.

Monster has an alliance with The New York Times Co., parent company of The Boston Globe, to sell help-wanted advertising.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage rates rise for 3rd straight week

Mortgage rates rose for the third straight week, according to a weekly survey conducted by mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

For the week ending today, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.42 percent, up from last week's average of 6.34 percent; last year at this time, the average was 6.31 percent, Freddie Mac said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Genzyme reaffirms buyout offer for Bioenvision

Biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. said today it will not change its tender offer price for Bioenvision Inc.

In July, Genzyme completed a tender offer for the company that totaled about 22 percent of its outstanding shares on an as-converted basis.

The offer stands at $5.60 per share, Genzyme said. Genzyme had earlier waived a condition to its tender offer requiring that it acquire at least 50 percent of outstanding shares, though it does own 100 percent of Bioenvision's preferred stock.

A special meeting of Bioenvision's shareholders to vote on the Genzyme offer is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Shares of Genzyme closed at $63.13 and shares of Bioenvision closed at $5.43 Wednesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

CRA reiterates upbeat outlook

Financial and management consulting company CRA International Inc. maintained its full-year revenue guidance today and anticipated strong demand for its services.

CRA expects its 2007 sales will climb 10 percent to 12 percent, and it expects to hit the high end of the range.

Full-year earnings per share are anticipated to grow 12 percent to 18 percent from the previous year's results of $2.24 per share, which would put earnings in a range of approximately $2.50 per share to $2.64 per share.

CRA anticipates earnings per share to come in the middle of the range.

Net income is expected to rise in the mid to high teens percent range, with the company predicting results at the low end of the range. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

School bus antitrust pact reached

FirstGroup PLC and Laidlaw International Inc. will sell some of their school bus operations contracts under an antitrust agreement Wednesday with 11 states -- a pact expected to allow FirstGroup to complete its $2.8 billion acquisition of Laidlaw on Monday.

The agreement resolves a multistate investigation and lawsuit led by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who argued that combining the nation's two largest school bus operators would limit competition among private bidders for local school districts' bus service contracts.

In some areas of Massachusetts such as Cape Cod and the South Shore, FirstGroup and Laidlaw have dominated such contracting, Coakley said.

"Absent this lawsuit and settlement, FirstGroup would have had a monopoly in these areas after the merger, and been able to increase its bid prices to the school districts," Coakley said.

In most states covered under the agreement, the combined company must sell off some of its district contracts as well as related assets such as buses and depots. Agreement terms vary from state to state.

FirstGroup also agreed to pay the 11 states a total $1.1 million to cover investigative costs.

Besides Massachusetts, the states participating in the settlement are: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington.

In Massachusetts, FirstGroup will be required to sell nine contracts on Cape Cod, the South Shore and northern Worcester County to another operator approved by the school districts and the attorney general. The new operator hasn't been determined.

In Boston, FirstGroup will be required to complete the remaining six years on its Boston Public Schools contract and then make its Boston assets available to any other operator that may subsequently win the Boston bid, Coakley said.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, is subject to court approval.

As a result of the pact, Naperville, Ill.-based Laidlaw and FirstGroup said that they expect to complete their transaction Monday, after expected clearance later this week from the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division.

FirstGroup, the largest bus operator in Britain and the second-largest in the U.S., offered in February to acquire Laidlaw for $35.25 a share and also assume about $800 million in debt. Laidlaw is the largest school bus operator in the U.S., and also operates Greyhound Lines intercity bus services. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

Phoenix Technologies lays off 12

Software developer Phoenix Technologies Ltd. will close its Norwood, Mass., facility, laying off 12 employees, the company said in an regulatory filing Wednesday.

In a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, Phoenix said it expects to complete the restructuring in the next four weeks.

The company expects to record a $750,000 restructuring charge during the fourth quarter, $500,000 of which will be related to severance costs and $250,000 for continuous lease obligations for the facility.

Phoenix said the facility was no longer economical.

Shares of Phoenix Technologies finished Wednesday's trading at $10.93. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:01 AM | Comments (0)

AS&E gets $4m African contract

American Science and Engineering Inc., a Billerica company focused on X-ray detection technology, announced today the receipt of a $4 million contract from "a new African customer."

The contract is for multiple Z Backscatter Vans, a screening system built into a commercially available delivery van, and for SmartCheck Personnel Screening Systems, a "non-intrusive screening system that allows operators to detect threats and contraband hidden on a person while ensuring privacy," said the company, which goes by the initials AS&E.

"This new African client has responded to AS&E's full range of product offerings and the benefits of our signature technology, Z Backscatter," president and chief executive Anthony Fabiano said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:47 AM | Comments (0)

Critical Therapeutics launches Zyflo CR

Critical Therapeutics Inc. of Lexington and Dey L.P. said today they began the nationwide launch of an asthma treatment called Zyflo CR.

Dey is an affiliate of Germany-based Merck GKaA.

Zyflo CR extended-release tablets are a twice-daily medication for the prevention and chronic treatment of asthma in patients 12 years of age or older, the companies said.

With a combined 240-person US sales force, the companies said they have begun promoting Zyflo CR to a targeted group of about 18,000 allergists, pulmonologists, and primary care physicians.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Mueller joins Idera board

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced the election of Hans Mueller to its board of directors.

Idera of Cambridge is a drug discovery company developing potential treatments for cancer and infectious, respiratory, and autoimmune diseases.

Mueller most recently served as a senior vice president for New Jersey-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Idera said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)

Ridgid sponsors MIT solar team

RIDGID said it is the official power tool sponsor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team that will compete next month in the 2007 Solar Decathlon.

Solar Decathlon teams participate in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar powered house; teams transport their houses to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they will form a solar village.

Partly sponsored by the US Department of Energy, the Solar Decathlon runs from Oct. 12 through Oct. 20.

"The sustainability practices that are being showcased in this competition are those that home builders will begin to incorporate in their planning," Wyatt Kilmartin, director of Ohio-based RIDGID Branding, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

DCU Center extends SMG contract

SMG, a Philadelphia-based company that manages arenas, convention centers, stadiums, and theaters, announced that the city of Worcester has extended its contract to manage the DCU Center's Convention Center through August 2012.

SMG noted that it is currently contracted to manage the arena portion of the DCU Center through June 2012.

SMG said it was retained as the private management company for both the arena and the convention center before their respective openings; the arena opened in 1982, and the convention center in 1997.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

Atlantis Components bought by Swedish firm

Atlantis Components Inc., a Cambridge company in the dental implant market, announced today that it has been acquired by a Swedish medical technology company for $71 million in cash.

The buyer is Astra Tech AB, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca PLC, a British pharmaceutical giant, Atlantis said.

"The acquisition allows Atlantis to increase its market penetration of the dental market while further enhancing Astra Tech's ability to provide comprehensive solutions including digital dentistry needs," the companies said in a statement.

Astra Tech noted that its North American subsidiary is headquartered in Waltham.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

BioProcessors Corp. expanding

BioProcessors Corp. of Woburn said it is expanding its operations to meet demand from growing life sciences companies that are testing drug candidates.

BioProcessors is a developer and provider of micro-engineered solutions for cell culture-based upstream bioprocess development.

"The biopharmaceutical industry is accelerating its pace to clinical trials in order to identify successful therapeutic candidates sooner," Jonathan Rennert, president and chief executive of BioProcessors, said in a statement. "Expanding our capacity and scope allows the company to respond more quickly and effectively to this key market need."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

Interleukin loses another executive

Interleukin Genetics Inc.'s chief financial officer, Thomas E. Gerson resigned last week for "personal reasons" after just two weeks on the job, the company disclosed today.

Gerson is the latest in a string of executives to leave the struggling Waltham biotech company, which is developing a series of genetic tests. Interleukin's controller, John M. McCabe resigned effective Aug. 30. The company's chief medical officer, Dr. Ramon W. Mohanlal, left on Aug. 17, and in July, Interleukin chief executive Timothy J. Richerson and chief strategy officer David A. Finkelstein resigned on separate days.

The company's stock has fallen 80 percent this year as its losses have increased. As of March 31, Interleukin had 27 employees.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:58 PM | Comments (0)

N.E. lags in healthcare benefits, agency says

New England lags the nation when it comes to businesses offering their workers healthcare benefits, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In New England, 54 percent of establishments offer medical care benefits to their employees, compared with 60 percent nationwide, said the bureau, part of the US Department of Labor.

Similarly, 61 percent of workers nationwide had access to retirement benefits, compared with 57 percent of New England workers, the bureau said.

New Englanders pay more for their healthcare benefits.

For single-coverage plans in New England, the average flat monthly employee contribution was $96.82, the highest amount for any of the nine regions of the country, the bureau said; nationwide, the average contribution was $81.37.

"This is a high-cost area,"’ regional bureau commissioner Denis McSweeney said of New England.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:53 PM | Comments (0)

Breaking ground at Fan Pier

When you've waited almost 50 years for a groundbreaking, it has to be a memorable one. Fan Pier's kickoff today was a party to remember.

Almost five decades after restaurateur Anthony Athanas bought Fan Pier for development, Joe Fallon today played host to 300-400 guests, as he, his partners at Mass Mutual and Cornerstone Financial Real Estate Advisers, and public officials broke ground on an 18-floor office tower on the South Boston Waterfront.

Little bottles of cold water kept guests cool on a 90-plus day under two large tents -- one for the speeches, and one, on the other side of a spiffy marketing center, for tables and tables of food.

"Today we break ground on the largest waterfront project in the city's history," said Mayor Tom Menino, who charged that it would be the largest green, LEED-certified development in the nation. (Southie Sen. Jack Hart cracked that, to the late South Boston city councilor Jimmy Kelly, "green development would have meant only Irish people would live there.")

"Fan Pier will enhance Boston's reputation as one of the world's great cities," said Menino. Asked about his plan to move City Hall, he vowed again to abandon the lonesome plaza and put it on the waterfront during his tenure.

Everybody thanked Fallon, who two years ago bought Fan Pier's 21 acres for $115 million and got busy making happen what had only been dreamed of for decades. "He's a risk taker with a long-term, big-picture vision," said WCVB-TV's Natalie Jacobson, who emceed the event.

With a loud pop, blue balloons burst overhead, and confetti rained down on the VIPs, who wielded shiny shovels to toss around a little sand that had been hauled in for the occasion.

"Fan Pier is now a reality," said Fallon, noting that it will have more than four acres of parks and a marina with "stern-to" docking, to accommodate the megayachts of those world travelers who might want to live or stay at Fan Pier.

During the entire event, models -- each dressed to symbolize one luxury aspect or another of Fan Pier -- stood motionless on small platforms. For "Food," a woman was poised biting in to a lobster. For "Shopping," one held a bouquet of roses and a red leather purse, surrounded by shopping bags from Neiman Marcus and Jimmy Choo. For " Spa," a blonde reclined in a tub overflowing with rose petals.

A red and white Volvo racing vessel cruised around the harbor, as business people, government officials, media types, and hangers-on listened to the thank-yous and heard the promises of Fan Pier, the 2.9-million-square-foot mixed use center that is slated to materialize on eight blocks along Northern Avenue over the next decade or so.

"I played street hockey on these parking lots," said City Councilor Michael Flaherty. "As a teenager I parked cars. This area has a great history and an even greater future."

Mary Benoit of Sales Directors Inc., who is handling Fan Pier marketing for the Fallon Co., put today's soiree together.
(By Thomas C. Palmer, Jr., Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:08 PM | Comments (0)

Campath MS testing moves forward

Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge and its German partner Bayer Schering Pharma AG appear to be moving closer to seeking approval to use their cancer drug, Campath, to treat multiple sclerosis.

The companies said they have begun Phase 3 trials of Campath in MS patients. That's usually the final phase of testing done by a company before federal approval is sought. Genzyme and Bayer Schering said they plan on reporting Phase 2 trial results at an Oct. 14 medical conference in Prague.

If all goes well with the Phase 3 testing, they hope to seek regulatory approval in 2011 to market the drug, also known as alemtuzumab, to treat MS. Campath has already been approved in the United States as a treatment for a type of leukemia.

Genzyme voluntarily suspended testing of the drug in 2005, after one patient using it died from bleeding in the brain.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Genzyme Corp. and Bayer Schering Pharma AG hope to use cancer drug to treat multiple sclerosis.

Posted by globebusiness at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

Brigham's hosts "notorious" movie phrase vote

Brigham's Ice Cream is urging locals to vote on its website for the most famous movie one liner of all time.

Brigham's has taken to adorning some pint-sized containers with "notorious phrases" from famous movies and TV shows. One recent example: Bada Bing, a flavor featuring cherry ice cream with real cherries and chocolate chips. As fans of "The Sopranos" know, Bada Bing is the name of a strip club that is a regular venue in the TV show's narrative.

Locals can choose their favorite from a list of top 10 one liners listed alphabetically on Brigham's website.

Entries include "Go ahead. Make my day" from "Dirty Harry," "Here's Looking at you, kid" from "Casablanca," and "May the force be with you" from "Star Wars."

Voting ends 5 p.m. Friday, Brigham's said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

Kogut named director of Chefs Collaborative

Chefs Collaborative said today it has named Melissa Kogut as its executive director.

Based in Boston, Chefs Collaborative describes itself as a national nonprofit organization dedicated to giving chefs the information and tools they need to make sustainable food purchasing decisions.

Kogut is a former executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, which advocates for women's reproductive freedom, Chefs Collaborative noted in its press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

New phase for CombinatoRX treatment

CombinatoRX Inc. of Cambridge announced today the start of a Phase 2b clinical study of a potential treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee.

The company said it has dosed the first patient with CRx-102, an oral synergistic combination drug candidate in development for immuno-inflammatory diseases.

The company also said that CRx-102 has already demonstrated "clinical efficacy" in three Phase 2a clinical studies, including for hand osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

Fox News selects Maven platform

Maven Networks, a Cambridge-based Internet TV platform company, said today that Fox News has selected Maven to power all of Fox's online video channels for its global news network.

Maven says its Internet TV platform enables media companies to make their video libraries available for syndication to a network of online media outlets while maintaining full control of content and advertising.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

Video game exhibit at Boston Federal Reserve

Fans of Spacewar!, Donkey Kong, and Frogger take note: The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said today it is hosting an interactive exhibit on the history of video games.

In the bank's Economic Adventure Gallery, visitors can view an exhibit titled "Video Games Evolve: A Brief History from Spacewar! to MMORPGs."

The exhibit offers a look at the evolution of the home-gaming console, a timeline of video history, and an in-depth look at the motion-capture process, a key animation tool for modern games, the bank said.

Open Monday through Friday afternoons, the exhibit is free and can be viewed by appointment only through January, the bank said; a valid driver's license or photo ID is required to enter the building.

To make an appointment, contact Melita Podesta at 617-973-3197, or send an e-mail to melita.v.podesta@bos.frb.org
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

Lionbridge to repurchase $12m in shares

Lionbridge Technologies Inc. said today that its board has authorized company management to repurchase up to $12 million of its common stock, at its discretion.

Waltham-based Lionbridge is a provider of globalization and testing services.

On the Nasdaq Stock Market this morning, shares were trading at $3.78; so far this year, shares are down about 41 percent.

"Today's announcement regarding our share-repurchase program underscores our financial strength and our commitment to increase shareholder value," Lionbridge chief executive Rory Cowan said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

Timberland will close stores as sales dip

Bootmaker Timberland Co. of Stratham, N.H., said today that it will close nearly 40 specialty retail shops across the globe and take a $17 million charge amid declining sales.

Timberland, whose shares fell more than 6 percent, said it expects a low, double-digit drop in third-quarter sales and a full-year decline of about 5 percent.

"We have decided to begin the closure of most of our specialty retail stores in the United States, as well as stores in Asia and Europe," Chief Executive Jeffrey Swartz said in a statement.

Most of the store closings will occur early next year, Timberland said, adding that will raise annual operating profit by $6 million, while lowering yearly sales by about $40 million.

Sales of Timberland's trademark work boots, a long-time fashion staple of urban consumers, have been declining recently with footwear trends moving toward sneakers with slimmer profiles.

Timberland's sales have also been hurt by later back-to-school seasons in Texas and Florida and by a challenging retail climate which has seen skittish consumers rein in spending, Susquehanna Financial analyst Christopher Svezia told Reuters.

Many retailers have warned that sales may be pressured over the second half of the year as consumers see their adjustable-rate mortgage payments jump and pay more for food and fuel.

"It's just a difficult environment and there's been a major fashion shift," said Svezia, who has a "neutral" rating on Timberland's stock.

Timberland said the closings are part of a transition to smaller, footwear-focused stores in the United States.

The company also said it expects third-quarter operating margins to dip 6 percentage points, a drop Timberland partly blamed on a voluntary recall of its Direct Attach Steel Toe Series footwear.

Operating margins for the year will fall by 4 to 4-1/2 percentage points because of restructuring costs, Timberland added.

Timberland's shares have fallen nearly 40 percent from their 52-week high of $33.45 on Nov. 14. The stock fell $1.26 to $18.96 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Camb. writer in romance novel semifinals

Cambridge resident Allison Newman is among 25 semifinalists in a romance writing competition being held by Gather.com.

Gather.com of Boston is a social media website; many such sites target a young demographic, but Gather.com aims for an audience of well-educated, middle-aged consumers who might be interested in sharing online discussions on everything from politics to fine dining.

To engage its target demographic, Gather.com has taken to sponsoring literary competitions, such as one to find mystery writers and its current quest to find aspiring romance writers.

The winner of the romance competition will receive a publishing contract with PocketBooks, an offshoot of Simon & Schuster Inc., along with a $5,000 advance, said Gather.com, which added that nearly 500 manuscripts were submitted in the competition.

The winning book will be featured in more than 1,000 bookstores that are part of chains operated by Borders Group Inc. of Michigan, Gather.com's official retail sponsor, Gather.com said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

Kopin supplies Kodak

Camera maker Eastman Kodak Co. is making increasing use of electronic viewfinders, or EVFs, from Kopin Corp., Kopin said today.

Taunton-based Kopin said that Kodak has selected Kopin's CyberEVF 230K-NF viewfinder for Kodak's new Easyshare Z812 IS digital camera.

It is the fourth Easyshare model that uses Kopin's ultra compact EVF, Kopin said.

"This marks another milestone in our strategy to make Kopin's compact modules the EVF of choice among the world's leading high-zoom digital camera makers," Kopin president and chief executive John C.C. Fan said in a statement.

Kodak is based in Rochester, N.Y.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: 1 in 10 pets will trick or treat

An alert from the nation's retailers: On Halloween, don't forget to trick out Fido in trick-or-treat outfit - or get a pumpkin-colored fright wig for your favorite tabby.

According to a survey from the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based retail trade association, one in 10 Halloween celebrants, or 7.4 million households, "plans on donning their beloved pet in some sort of costume."

The federation noted in a press release that devils and pumpkins are likely to top the list of pet costumes this year with witches, princesses, and angels rounding out the top five.

Dressing up your pet this Halloween? Share your plans

Need some ideas? View our photo gallery of pets in costume.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)

SilverSword gets Boston Biomedical job

SilverSword LLC, a Newton consulting firm specializing in information-technology solutions and maintenance for small and mid-size businesses, said today it will be managing the IT network of Boston Biomedical Inc.

According to its website, Boston Biomedical of Norwood is a privately held biotechnology company focusing on research and development of novel therapeutics to treat cancer.

Boston Children's Hospital Trust, the philanthropic resource for Children's Hospital Boston, has also recently signed on with SilverSword, the firm said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

Nanobiosym lands US contract

Nanobiosym Inc., a Medford company that is developing a portable nanotechnology-enabled platform that can detect genetic fingerprints from any biological organism, said today it has been awarded a $2 million government contract.

The contract from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency plans to "validate the use of Nanobiosym's proprietary technology platform for emerging biodefense applications" that would reduce the threat of biological warfare and bioterrorism, the company said.

Besides that work, Nanobiosym said it seeks to leverage its nanotechnology platform to enable portable, real-time detection of food and air-borne pathogens, as well as water testing, animal and crop testing, and screening of blood and transplant organs.

One company vision is to give patients worldwide real-time access to their own diagnostic information via low-cost handheld devices.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)

Tech/Ops Sevcon declares dividend

Tech/Ops Sevcon Inc., which makes solid-state controllers, said today that its board declared a regular quarterly dividend of 3 cents per share.

The dividend is payable Oct. 25 to shareholders of record Oct. 10. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Alkeremes, Indevus cite positive results

Two local life sciences companies announced today positive preliminary results from a Phase 2a clinical study of a drug candidate for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

The companies are Alkermes Inc. of Cambridge and Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Lexington.

The companies are testing ALKS 27, an inhaled formulation of trospium chloride.

According to the companies, single doses of ALKS 27 produced "significant improvement in lung function over 24 hours compared to placebo."

COPD comprises mostly smoking related diseases and is the fourth largest cause of death in the US, the companies said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. career day planned for Oct. 18

The administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick disclosed plans for a day-long "Massachusetts Career Day" on Oct. 18.

The day will feature a statewide job fair and employment events at Massachusetts Career Centers, Patrick's office said.

Administration officials plan to visit career centers in every region of the state to meet with job seekers and employers, Patrick's office said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage applications down

For the week ending Sept. 21, the volume of mortgage loan applications decreased 2.8 percent as measured by an index of the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group representing the real estate finance industry.

For the week ending Sept. 21, the index read 654.2, a decrease on a seasonally adjusted basis from 673.2 one week earlier, the association said.

On an unadjusted basis, the index was up 15.4 percent compared with the same week one year earlier, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Perretta joins State Street

State Street Corp., a Boston-based provider of financial services to institutional investors, appointed Christopher Perretta as executive vice president and chief information officer.

Perretta will report to vice chairman Joseph Antonellis, who has also held the chief information officer's position since 2002, State Street said.

"With the increasing sophistication of new investment strategies and products, we need to ensure that our information technology strategy remains at the forefront of the industry," Antonellis said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:24 AM | Comments (0)

Lexington office building sold

Real estate firm Gateside Corp. of New York sold a one-story office building in Lexington for $12.85 million, said a broker involved in the transaction.

The broker for the 105,656 square-foot-building at 113 Hartwell Ave. is Meredith & Grew of Boston.

Meredith & Grew represented Gateside and procured the buyer, a joint venture between Neelon Properties LLC, a real estate firm in Waltham, and AEW Capital Management L.P., a real estate investment management services company in Boston.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

Acumentrics installs system in Ohio park

Acumentrics Corp. completed the installation of a solid oxide fuel cell system at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.

Westwood-based Acumentrics is a developer of fuel cells.

The system installed in Ohio makes the park's environmental education facility "grid independent," said the company, which refers to solid oxide fuel cells as SOFCs.

"Parks are environmentally sensitive locations where an extra premium is placed on the clean and efficient power that SOFCs can provide," company chief executive Gary Simon said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)

Sprint enhances Boston area network

Sprint said that it invested more than $23.4 million to improve and enhance its Boston wireless networks during the first six months of 2007.

Initiatives included adding 51 new sites to extend its wireless network further, Sprint said.

Sprint is part of Virginia-based Sprint Nextel Corp., a global communications company offering a range of wireless and wireline communications products.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)

Sovereign expands New Bedford call center

Sovereign Bank announced the expansion of its call center in New Bedford by increasing the call center's second shift.

The second shift operates in the evening hours until 11 p.m., the bank said.

"Our commitment to New Bedford continues to be consistently reinforced through our support of local community organizations, housing projects, and the creation of jobs," Minnie Saleh, the bank's regional president for Bristol County, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2007

Z Corp introduces new handheld scanner

Z Corp. of Burlington introduced today the ZScanner 800, the second product in its line of handheld, self-orienting 3D scanners.

The company said the ZScanner 800 offers five times the resolution and more than double the accuracy of its first-generation 3D scanner.

According to the company, its new product is ideal for reverse engineering, design, manufacturing, digital mockups, and simulations.

Z Corp. said that the ZScanner 800 will be available in November through the company's reseller network; the product's suggested retail price is $49,900.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)

Device bill being considered

The Legislature is again considering a bill that would require healthcare providers in Massachusetts to obtain a patient's consent before treating them with reprocessed medical devices and instruments that area designed to be used once.

Senate Bill 1338, which is being pushed by the state's medical device industry, is scheduled to be heard by the joint legislative Committee on Public Health at 10 a.m. tomorrow, at the State House. A similar bill, filed two years ago, died in a separate committee.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:14 PM | Comments (0)

MIT partners with BP

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and BP PLC, the London-based oil company, announced a major research partnership today that will focus on energy conversion technologies.

The program will explore the conversion of low-value carbon feedstocks, such as petcoke and coal, to high-value products, such as electricity, liquid fuels, and chemicals, while minimizing carbon dioxide emissions, the two said.

In establishing this partnership, BP also becomes the inaugural founding member of the MIT Energy Initiative, which was created in 2006 to address global energy issues, MIT said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

State Street Global invests in Canadian firm

A joint venture of money manager State Street Global Advisors and Dutch pension fund ABP has bought a minority interest in Canadian investment firm Sectoral Asset Management, State Street said today.

State Street Global Alliance, owned jointly by SSgA, the world's biggest institutional money manager, and Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, the world's third-largest pension fund, has bought the stake in Montreal-based Sectoral to boost its portfolio of asset managers, State Street said in a statement.

The statement did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction or the exact stake bought in the Canadian firm.

Sectoral, which focuses on equity investments in the health care sector, has $2.9 billion in assets under management in mutual funds and separately managed institutional accounts. The new partnership will help boost Sectoral's presence in the North American institutional market, it said.

State Street Global Alliance invests in early stage asset managers and held a portfolio of seven investment firms with total assets of $21.6 billion as of end-June, the firm said.

SSgA is the investment management arm of Boston-based State Street Corp and managed $1.93 trillion of assets as of end-June. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Canadian officials criticize TJX

Retailer TJX Cos. failed to put in place adequate security safeguards to protect customer information, the privacy commissioner of Canada said today.

TJX responded by saying that while "we respectfully disagree with many of the commissioners' factural findings and legal conclusions," the company has chosen to implement the commissioners' recommendations, with most of them already in place.

A joint investigation by Canada's commissioner of privacy and Alberta's privacy commissioner was launched after TJX, the Framingham-based operator of such chains as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, disclosed in January that its computer system had been breached, resulting in the theft of millions of credit card and debit card numbers, Canadian regulators said.

"The company collected too much personal information, kept it too long, and relied on a weak encryption technology to protect it - putting the privacy of millions of customers at risk," Jennifer Stoddart, privacy commissioner of Canada, said in a statement.

Stoddart added, "A database of millions of credit card numbers is a potential gold mine for fraudsters, and it needs to be protected with solid security measures."

According to Canadian regulators, TJX believes the intruder may have initially gained access to customer information via the wireless local area networks at two of its US stores.

TJX noted in a statement: "TJX agrees with the commissioners' report that storage of consumer data should occur only when there is a legitimate business need for doing so. A key component of our customer service is a no-hassle merchandise return policy, and collecting and storing drivers license numbers from customers returning merchandise without a receipt was pivotal to launch prevention relating to this policy."

TJX also said that it had invested millions of dollars on company security before the breach, and following the breach, it took additional steps to strengthen its security systems.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

Locals make Working Mother list

Ad agency Arnold Worldwide, the Boston Consulting Group, and Massachusetts General Hospital were among local entities that made Working Mother magazine's nationwide 100 best companies list in 2007, Working Mother said today.

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. also made the list, which did not rank companies but listed them alphabetically.

According to Working Mother, its list was based on an application of 575 questions, including questions about compensation, child-care, and flexibility programs.

"The 100 best companies are shifting their corporate cultures dramatically," Carol Evans, chief executive and president of Working Mother Media, said in a statement. "They used to focus on solving employee's work-life balance problems, but now they're creating workplaces that help employees value downtime, take care of their own wellness, and keep their workload manageable."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

CDC will use BioTrove technology

BioTrove Inc. of Woburn said that the US Centers for Disease Control will use BioTrove technology to evaluate food safety.

BioTrove is a provider of technology platforms that enable the acceleration of life sciences research impacting public health, as well as drug discovery and pipeline decisions by pharmaceutical companies and researchers.

The company said the centers' Coordinating Center for Infectious Disease will use its OpenArray technology platform to identify bacterial strains in tainted food, beginning with E. coli and Salmonella and soon others, such as botulism.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

Canaccord Adams forms new unit

Investment firm Canaccord Adams Inc. announced today the formation of a mergers-and-acquisitons group at its US headquarters office in Boston to provide strategic advice to growth companies in the technology, life sciences, and consumer sectors.

The new unit will be headed up by managing director Andy Viles, and it will work on strategic M&A, divestitures, recapitalizations, takeover defenses, fairness opinions, and valuations, the firm said.

"Building this M&A practice is a natural extension of our business," Canaccord Adams president and chief executive Kevin Dunn noted in a statement.

Canaccord Adams is a subsidiary of Canaccord Capital Inc., an independent full-service investment dealer headquartered in Vancouver.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Unicco purchase completed

United Group Ltd. of Australia said today it has completed its $408-million acquisition of Unicco Service Co., a Newton company that offers janitorial and property management services.

A specialist in property management services, United Group announced its plans to buy Unicco in July and noted that Unicco would become its largest US operation.

"Unicco's very capable senior management team will continue to manage the business with Mr. George Keches remaining as president, and Mr. Lou Lanzillo, vice chairman, will become United Group's chief operating officer Americas & Europe," United Group chief executive Richard Leupen said in a statement.

About 5,000 of Unicco's 18,000 employees work in Massachusetts, Unicco said in July.

In 2002, some of Unicco's janitors went on strike for 24 days over pay and healthcare benefits for part-time workers, a Globe story noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

American Tower doubles debt offering

American Tower Corp. today doubled the amount of debt it plans to sell to $500 million, citing increased market demand.

The company, which owns and operates wireless communications towers, expects the offering of 7 percent senior unsecured notes due 2017 to close Oct. 1.

American Tower plans to use the expected $493.5 million in proceeds to repay the debt under its senior unsecured term loan credit facility. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)

Edgewater completes Lynx acquisition

Edgewater Technology Inc. said today that it has completed an asset acquisition of Lynx Business Intelligence Consulting Inc. with an up-front cash-and-stock payment of $5 million.

Wakefield-based Edgewater is a technology management consulting firm specializing in providing information-technology services, and the company said its acquisition of Lynx, a Los Angeles firm that provides professional management services, would expand its geographical footprint on the West Coast and allow it to offer additional expertise to its customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)

AMSC's new product gets initial order

American Supercomputer Corp., a Westborough company specializing in energy technologies, said today it received its first order for a new product line.

The new line of static VAR compensators, which ensure reliable operations of transmission grids, not only have a lower initial cost, but also lower energy and maintenance costs, the company claims.

The initial order for the new product line is from Bonneville Power Administration, an operator of high-voltage transmission grid in the Pacific Northwest, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)

Cubicin now available in Canada

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Lexington said today that its antibiotic Cubicin is now approved for marketing in Canada as a treatment for infections.

Cubist added that Ontario-based Oryx Pharmaceuticals has licensed Cubicin for the Canadian market.

Cubist said that Cubicin was introduced to the US market in 2003 and has also been approved by regulators in many European countries as well as in Taiwan, South Korea, and Israel.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:36 AM | Comments (0)

Shreve's gurgling cod goes pink for charity

Long-time local jeweler Shreve, Crump & Low said it has commissioned a limited edition of its iconic gurgling cod pitchers - in pink - to honor National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Partial proceeds of sales for the pink gurgling cods will go to support breast cancer research, testing, and education at the Faulkner-Sagoff Breast Imaging and Diagnostic Centre in Boston, said the jeweler, which added that the customary cod colors are white, cobalt blue, coral, and green.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

AG Mednet partners with MGH

AG Mednet Inc. of Boston said that its network has been selected by Massachusetts General Hospital to make certain kinds of diagnostic imaging more widely available.

AG Mednet, which provides a diagnostic imaging exchange network, said it will transport diagnostic images from remote sites that require 3D post-processing services to the MGH 3D laboratory and return images resulting from the 3D process.

"We have decided to launch the MGH Tele3D service to offer other hospitals and imaging centers the same level of clinical quality, consistency, and reliability available at MGH and to make available to the broader imaging community the specialized expertise we have developed," Gordon J. Harris, director of the MGH 3D Imaging Service, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)

Two housing reports, two different views

The median sales price of a Massachusetts single-family home fell nearly 5 percent in August, the 16th straight month of year-to-year price declines, and the volume of sales fell 1.5 percent, according to the Warren Group.

The Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of local real estate data, said that the August median price for a single family home declined 4.9 percent to $314,000, compared with $330,000 in August 2006; August was the seventh month in 2007 in which prices fell between 4.5 and 5 percent on a year-to-year basis.

The volume of single family homes sold statewide in August was 5,528, down 1.5 percent from 5,614 in August 2006, the Warren Group said.

The Warren Group's look at the monthly housing market was one of two reports that were issued today; a separate report from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors offered a sunnier forecast.

According to the realtors' group, which uses a different methodology to capture data, the median sales price for a single-family home in Massachusetts rose 1.4 percent in August to $357,000 when compared with August 2006.

The number of single family homes sold in August rose 6.6 percent to 4,700, MAR said.

For the Warren Group, Massachusetts condo sales followed a similar pattern to what it saw for single family homes; the median August sale price for a condo dropped 1.1 percent to $273,000 from a year ago, and volume fell 2.2 percent to 3,050 units, the Warren Group said.

As for MAR, it said that August condo sales rose 3.4 percent to 2,235 units on a year-to-year basis, and that the median condo selling price rose 4.8 percent to $291,250.

Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, commented on his view of the local housing market in a statement.

"Although sales numbers have fluctuated throughout the first eight months of this year, we're seeing remarkable consistency in price changes," Timothy Warren said. "It seems the market is reaching its natural level for the time being. That trend is likely to continue during the last four months of this year."

Doug Azarian, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, also issued a statement.

"It is definitely a positive sign to see two consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains to end the summer," Azarian said. "Combined with the recent interest rate drop by the Fed and continued legislative action on Capitol Hill, the potential for continued sales growth through the fall is good."

Home buying tends to be seasonal in Massachusetts, with big bursts of activity generally coming in the spring and the fall. Typically, August is not a big month for sales in the Bay State.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:03 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2007

State Street to end traditional pensions

State Street Corp., the world's largest institutional money manager, today said it is ending the traditional pensions it offers to about 15,000 US employees, joining a growing list of firms making workers responsible for their retirement savings.

Boston-based State Street said that starting Jan. 1 it will offer more benefits in its 401(k) plans and double the amount it contributes to those plans.

State Street declined to spell out the financial impact of the move. "It is not a cost-saving initiative," said Carolyn Cichon, a spokeswoman.
(Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)

MFS forms unit to offer hedge-fund capital

Boston asset manager MFS Investment Management today said it is entering the alternative investments business with a new subsidiary that will provide seed and expansion capital to emerging hedge fund managers.

Four Pillars Capital Inc., presided over by Thomas A. Knott, will be run as a separate unit from MFS; the two will not share investment resources, though MFS will provide key operational, marketing, and distribution support.

MFS, which invented the mutual fund, is part of Sun Life Financial Inc., of Toronto.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:17 PM | Comments (0)

IDEAS Boston 2007 coming Oct. 4

Scientists, entrepreneurs, and academics are among those expected to gather Oct. 4 at the Ideas Boston 2007 conference to share their next big ideas.

At the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the conference aims to showcase the quality and quantity of ideas, innovation, and creativity incubating in New England.

Conference sponsors include the Boston Foundation, Partners Healthcare, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and McDermott Ventures. Along with TV station WCVB and radio station WBUR, The Boston Globe is a media partner.

More details are available at the conference's website at www.ideasboston.com
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff).

Posted by globebusiness at 1:20 PM | Comments (0)

Staples plans "green" store in Miami

Office-supply retailer Staples Inc. said today that it plans to celebrate a groundbreaking later this month for a new store in Miami that will be constructed in compliance with green building standards.

The store could be the first of its kind for Staples and for the city of Miami if it wins green building certification as planned, Framingham-based Staples said.

According to Staples, the store's builders will follow the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, green building rating system used by the US Green Building Council, Staples said.

The store will be built in compliance with LEED silver certification standards, the company added.

Among planned environmentally friendly features for the store are a highly reflective roof designed to improve energy performance and a rainwater collection system that will help reduce strain on the city's water system, Staples said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)

E-mail eclipses phone, but IM may be trouble

When it comes to workplace productivity, e-mail is king, but instant messaging can be a potential headache for management because of its "disruptive" potential.

Those are some of the findings of a new survey from Dimension Data, a South Africa-based company that specializes in information-technology infrastructures, which noted that the e-mail has overtaken the telephone as the preferred communications tool for the workplace.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed said e-mail had a positive impact on their productivity, compared with 53 percent and 52 percent respectively for conventional phones and mobile telephony, Dimension Data said.

From a productivity standpoint, instant messaging and blogs are considered more "disruptive and could negatively impact productivity if not managed properly," Dimension Data said.

The survey polled 524 enterprises in 13 countries, Dimension Data said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)

Shire taps Gregoire for a top position

Shire PLC, a British pharmaceutical company, said today it has appointed Sylvie Gregoire as president of its Cambridge-based Human Genetic Therapies business.

Gregoire replaces David Pendergast, whose retirement was announced in March; Pendergast will continue with Shire as an advisor through 2007, Shire said.

Gregoire most recently served as chairwoman of the board for IDM Pharma, a California-based biopharmaceutical company, Shire said.

Posted by globebusiness at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Analogic swings to profit

Health and security imaging equipment company Analogic Corp. said today that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as high-performance computed tomography subsystems sales rose.

For the period that ended July 31, Analogic earned $8.3 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with a loss of $8.5 million, or 63 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Considering just its continuing operations, the company earned 60 cents per share from during the period, compared with a loss of 59 cents in the same quarter last year.

During the fourth quarter, Analogic's revenue rose to $92.9 million, compared with $83.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to report earnings of 57 cents per share from continuing operations on sales of $88.6 million.

Results in the year-ago quarter included $5.9 million restructuring and asset impairment charge.

The company's products revenue grew year over year to $83.1 million from $76.1 million, and its engineering revenue also increased to $6.7 million from $4.5 million.

Analogic said its high-performance CT subsystems sales increased significantly from the fourth quarter of last year, and its ultrasound systems and subsystems sales, as well as sales of power systems for magnetic resonance imaging, were similar year over year.

For the year, Analogic earned $15.4 million, or $1.11 per share, compared with $25.1 million, or $1.83 per share in the prior year. The company earned $1.11 this year from continuing operations, compared with 34 cents last year.

Analogic shares rose $2.14, or 2.9 percent, to $77 in premarket trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

State Street bank building for sale

The holding company for the First National Bank of Ipswich said it plans to sell its building in Boston's Financial District at 31-33 State St.

The holding company, First Ipswich Bancorp, said the proposed sale is part of a "long-term strategic plan to refocus priorities and strengthen the institution."

The plan is for the bank to continue to occupy the space and operate its branch in the Boston building under a long-term lease agreement.

The bank said the building will be sold through a "call for offers" process managed exclusively by a unit of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services firm.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

OmniSonics appoints Cole chairman of board

OmniSonics Medical Technologies Inc. today announced the appointment of J. Daniel Cole as its chairman of the board.

The Wilmington-based company focuses on developing medical devices for occlusive vascular disease.

Cole is a founding partner with Spray Venture Partners, a Newton firm that invests in healthcare technology companies, OmniSonics said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

GreatPoint raises $100 million

GreatPoint Energy Inc. announced today the final closing of a $100 million strategic equity round.

The Cambridge-based company is a developer of catalytic gasification technology to convert coal, petroleum coke, and biomass into clean natural gas.

One of the co-leaders of the round was Sustainable Development Investments, a unit of Citigroup Inc.'s Citi Alternative Investments, GreatPoint Energy said.

The other co-leader was the Dow Chemical Co., GreatPoint Energy said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

Adnexus sold to Bristol-Meyers

Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said today it will acquire privately held Adnexus Therapeutics in a $430 million all-cash deal.

Biotechnology company Adnexus Therapeutics will become a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers and remain based in Waltham, Mass.

The companies said the acquisition of Adnexus will help advance Bristol-Myers's role in biologics and includes an early stage trial for cancer treatment candidate Angiocept. Angiocept is designed to be a so-called anti-angiogenic drug, or one that tries to stop cancerous tumors from developing new blood vessels.

The deal "is an important step in accelerating the strategic transformation of our pharmaceutical business to a biopharma business model," said Bristol-Myers Squibb Chief Executive Jim Cornelius, in a statement.

In its pursuit to develop biotech drugs, Cornelius noted that Bristol-Myers already has taken steps to expand its biologics manufacturing capabilities with a site in Syracuse, N.Y., and a future biologics facility planned in Devens, Mass.

Under the terms of the deal, New York-based Bristol-Myers will acquire all of Adnexus' issued and outstanding shares of capital stock and stock equivalents. The net purchase price is $415 million after deducting Adnexus' net cash balance at closing.

The deal does not include any debt, Bristol-Myers said.

In addition, Bristol-Myers may pay an additional $75 million in three increments of about $25 million each, in the event certain development and regulatory milestones are achieved.

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

The two companies previously had an alliance to develop drugs in various therapeutic areas, including cancer. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:23 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: average Halloween tab is $64.82

As investors fret about a housing slump causing US consumers to cut back on spending, the National Retail Federation said today that consumers are expected to spend $5.07 billion on Halloween-themed merchandise this year.

A Washington, D.C.-based retail trade association, the group said a survey it commissioned found that the average consumer plans to spend $64.82 on Halloween candy, decorations, and costumes in 2007, compared with $59.06 a year ago.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:18 AM | Comments (0)

Polaris implements aPriori technology

Concord-based aPriori said today that Polaris Industries Inc. of Minnesota has made a corporate-wide purchase of aPriori software to manage the product lines of Polaris snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and motorcycles.

APriori is a provider of enterprise cost management solutions for discrete products and manufacturing companies.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

American Tower offers $250m in notes

American Tower Corp., an owner and operator of broadcast and wireless communications sites, said today that it will offer $250 million of 10-year fixed-rate senior unsecured notes in an institutional private placement.

American Tower plans to use the proceeds to refinance a portion of its current debt.

The offering is expected to close in late September. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

Biogen partners with Johns Hopkins institute

Biogen Idec Inc., a Cambridge drug company, announced today a research collaboration with the newly formed Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

The collaboration will focus on the discovery and development of therapies for neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease, and Parkinson's Disease, Biogen Idec said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)

GenomeQuest raises $4 million

GenomeQuest Inc. announced today that it has secured $4 million in additional venture funding.

GenomeQuest is a Westborough-based company that provides a genomic search platform that helps life science researchers to manage, mine, and analyze genomic sequence data.

The Series B financing was led by Mosaix Ventures, a Chicago private equity firm focused on life sciences companies, said GenomeQuest, which added that investment follows a $4.1 million Series A round in November, 2005.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)

Griffen joins Linear Air

Linear Air announced today the appointment of William Griffen, a retired Marine Corps colonel, as vice president of flight operations.

Linear Air of Concord is a very light jet, or VLJ, air taxi service, and the company said that Griffen's appointment comes at a time when Linear Air is entering a "period of intense growth."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Ariad drug starts phase 3 trial

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge announced today the start of a global Phase 3 clinical trial of a drug to treat patients with metastatic soft-tissue and bone sacromas.

The treatment is oral deforolimus, and the trial is designed to evaluate about 650 patients who will randomized to take either oral deforolimus or a placebo at approximately 125 sites, the company said.

The company said Ariad and New Jersey-based Merck & Co. have a global collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize deforolimus for oncology; under the agreement, Merck will pay Ariad a $13.5 million milestone payment upon dosing the first patient in the Phase 3 trial.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

Densmore joins Arnold as "chief talent officer"

Arnold of Boston said today that Michael Densmore has joined the ad agency as chief talent officer.

In that capacity, he will be responsible for "developing and owning the overall recruiting strategy for all the agency's departments and disciplines, Arnold said.

Densmore will work out of the agency's New York office, where part of his goal will be to assist in raising the visibility of that office, Arnold said.

Densmore returns to Arnold from the ad agency JWT, Arnold said.

Arnold's client list includes Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, Boston mutual funds giant Fidelity Investments, and the Volvo Car brand.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

Gillette pledges another $500k for Southie

Gillette announced today that it will pledge another $500,000 over the next three years to address the drug crisis in South Boston.

Gillette planned to make the announcement at ceremony this morning to present $175,000 in funding to South Boston community-based organizations.

Gillette said the the $175,000 in grants was the final phase of an earlier three-year, $500,000 commitment to address the drug crisis in South Boston through the support of drug prevention and treatment initiatives.

Now Gillette said it plans to follow through with a second, $500,000 commitment, bringing total funding over six years to $1 million.

Long a local icon, the shaving giant was acquired by Procter & Gamble Co. of Ohio in 2005 and maintains significant operations in South Boston.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

Pro-Pharmaceuticals names Zucconi president

Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that Theodore D. Zucconi has been named president.

A Newton-based company focused on advancing drugs through glycoscience, Pro-Pharmaceuticals said the position of president had been previously held by David Platt, who will continue to serve as chief executive and chairman of the board.

Zucconi, who is president of a management consulting firm called Implementation Edge, has been nominated to serve on Pro-Pharmaceuticals' board of directors, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2007

Amgen closing local biotech it bought

Alantos Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge biotech company that was sold to Amgen Inc. for $300 million in July, plans to shut down and eliminate its 45 jobs in Massachusetts and Germany, said Amgen spokeswoman Mary Klem.

Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has another 200 workers in Cambridge. The drugmaker is offering voluntary buyouts to its older and long-term employees -- including those in Cambridge -- as part of a corporate-wide cost-cutting plan.

The company said it could also lay-off some employees later this year. Klem, however, said Amgen intends to retain a significant presence in the city.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:44 PM | Comments (0)

Twin Rivers plans new Quincy refinery

Twin Rivers Technologies Inc. disclosed plans to invest more than $13 million in its Quincy oleochemicals plant site.

Plans call for installing a new glycerine refinery as well as for increasing hydrolyser capacity, said the company, which added that operations at the new refinery should start by May, 2008.

Refined glycerine is used in such products as cosmetics, soaps, and mouthwash, Twin Rivers Technologies noted, and demand for refined glycerine is growing as new uses for it are discovered.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)

Vitasoy launches educational initiative

Vitasoy USA Inc. announced today the start of an education initiative that seeks to dispel the misperception that soy may be too risky for people with breast cancer to include in their diets.

Ayer-based Vitasoy USA said the initiative will include giving complimentary organic single-serve soy milk to participants in October's breast health month activities.

Specially designed eight-ounce bottles of chocolate organic soy milk, dubbed Pinkies, feature the breast health movement's pink ribbon symbol and an invitation to sign up for a free subscription to the Vitasoy breast health e-newsletter, said the company, which markets all-natural tofu as well as soy milk.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

Bradley Airport mulls a name change

What's in a name? Plenty, according to the board of directors of Bradley International Airport.

At a meeting yesterday, board members for the Windsor Locks, Conn., aiport near Hartford started brainstorming new names in hopes of increasing the airport's name-recognition and luring more travelers.

The topic comes up occasionally, and no one has officially decided to change the airport's name.

But board members say the issue is more urgent now that Bradley is offering daily nonstop service to Amsterdam on Northwest Airlines and competing for passengers with Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y.

Yesterday someone jokingly suggested "Air Frantz," after L. Scott Frantz, the board chairman, who often flies himself to the airport for meetings.

More serious suggestions included "Bradley-New England International Airport" and just "New England International Airport."

"I'm just trying to get your juices going," Frantz told board members at the brainstorming session.

Changing the airport's name could cost millions because Bradley would need new signs, logos, stationery and advertising.

Potential objections could come from the family of Lt. Eugene Morris Bradley, after whom the airport is named.

Bradley, an Army Air Corps member and Oklahoma native, was killed in a training accident on Aug. 21, 1941, at what was then a military airfield.

Board members wouldn't be legally required to consult Bradley's family about a name change, but said they'd do it anyway.

Thomas Palshaw, an Ellington resident who published a history of the airport in 1998, said he has never been able to locate any of Eugene Bradley's relatives. He said he expects veterans groups would object to any name change.

Any change would need approval from lawmakers. The board discussed a name change as recently as 2004, but never did anything about it. Among the suggestions were naming the airport for former Gov. Ella Grasso.

Bradley board member David Kilborn said colleagues should consider names that evoke the airport's position in the region. It serves both Hartford and Springfield, Mass.

"Bradley really is the gateway to New England," he said.

Even if the name is changed, Bradley can probably keep its call letters, BDL. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

Racetracks see survival in casinos

Country Star makes a wide turn entering the stretch, passing several horses to close in on Backseat Rhythm.

"C'mon," Jerry Rock urges, looking up at the race being simulcast from Belmont Park outside New York City to Suffolk Downs in Boston.

Country Star finishes second, which is good news for Rock, a Lynn resident who at 53 appears to be among the younger bettors yesterday afternoon. First place would have brought $230, but second place means $80 paid on his $20 bet.

The state's four racetracks hope they're as lucky when it comes to casino gambling. Governor Deval L. Patrick's plan to license three resort casinos presents a go-for-broke opportunity for horse and dog tracks that have seen better days. If they lose out, they might not survive.

"All of them are in pretty shaky financial position," said Clyde Barrow, a gambling researcher at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. "Most people who watch this issue thought one or two would have gone under already."

All four tracks -- Suffolk Downs in Boston, Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere, Raynham Park, and Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville -- say they're putting together casino proposals in anticipation of possibly bidding for a license if the Legislature endorses Patrick's plan. Several other casino developers, as well as two Indian tribes, also will vie for the same licenses.

"We're hanging in there but business can always be better," said George Carney, owner of Raynham Park, which features dog racing and simulcast horse and dog racing.

That's an understatement. Gross revenue from track betting and simulcast has been plummeting for years, from $473 million in 1995 to $342 million a decade later, according to figures from the Massachusetts Racing Commission. Gross revenue fell to $324 million last year. The figures don't reveal net revenue, but tracks typically come away from less than 10 percent.

The governor wants to allow commercial casinos in a bid to generate 20,000 new jobs and $450 million in annual tax revenue, which he would spend on transportation upgrades and property tax relief. The casinos would be distributed one each in the western, southeastern and greater Boston regions of the state. Competitive bidding would be open to all, including Indian tribes.

"We see the governor's announcement as an opportunity to show how Suffolk Downs can help fulfill his vision for economic development," said Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer at Suffolk Downs, the only thoroughbred horse track in New England.

A resort casino on the 166-acre site Suffolk Downs would add 5,000 jobs to the region, said Tuttle, estimating that the track currently supports more than 2,000 jobs.

Boosting Suffolk Downs' hopes is new ownership with casino experience. Richard Fields, a former associate of Donald Trump, partnered with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to build casinos there and bought Suffolk Downs this spring.

Rock, whose horse placed second, looked around the betting floor and painted a grim picture of the future of tracks.

"It seems like the only time there's a crowd here is for the Kentucky Derby and probably this weekend for the MassCap -- the major events," he said. "The sad thing is sometimes people you see here now, you see at eight o'clock at night. For most of them it's just a place to go."

But track officials say new ownership is reinvigorating Suffolk Downs. This year's marketing budget is about $1.8 million, far above the $300,000 spent last year. Television ads have been promoting this Saturday's running of the MassCap, which is the Massachusetts equivalent of the Kentucky Derby.

The MassCap was last run in 2004. Prior ownership canceled the race to save money.

"We seem to be able to capture public attention for the big days, but not able to sustain it. That's the big challenge, how to sustain it," Tuttle said.

Casino or no casino, Tuttle said Suffolk Downs will survive.

"Our ownership is committed to thoroughbred racing here for the long haul, no matter what happens. We're not going anywhere," he said.

Barrow, the UMass researcher, said Suffolk Downs is "in the best position right now" financially and because Wonderland appears to be the only competition for a Boston-area license. He called Wonderland the "weakest of the four" tracks, and the revenue numbers support that. Wonderland had a 46 percent gross revenue decline in live betting from 2005 to 2006.

Officials at Wonderland did not return a call Thursday.

Last year, a bill to allow each of the state's horse and dog tracks to install up to 2,000 slot machines was rejected in the House on a 100-55 vote.

Patrick has stated that he opposes slots at the tracks, or "racinos," arguing that it does little to foster economic development. In addition, allowing slots would also open the door to Indian casinos, potentially limiting the state's bargaining power in any revenue-sharing deal with tribes.

Plainridge Racecourse, a 91-acre harness racing facility in Plainville, prefers legislation allowing slots but definitely will bid for a full-fledged casino, said track president Gary Piontkowski, who isn't worried about losing out.

"Nobody's jumping off a ledge here," he said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

Castle Group buys office condo

The Castle Group Inc. has purchased the first unit at the Cooper Building, an office condo redevelopment project in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, a broker involved in the transaction said.

The broker is NAI Hunneman Commercial, a Boston-based real estate services firm.

The Castle Group is a public relations and events management firm that is relocating from Boston's Government Center, NAI Hunneman Commercial said.

Built in 1854, the Cooper Building is a four-story building with 33,000 square feet, the broker said, and the property is being redeveloped as office condominiums by Davis Marcus Partners, a Boston-based real estate investment and development firm.

Posted by globebusiness at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Gibson Sotheby's buys Hub real estate firm

Gibson Sotheby's International Realty announced today it has acquired Lois R. Kunian Real Estate Inc., an independent real estate brokerage firm in Boston's Back Bay.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"Sotheby's offers global exposure and a brand legacy that has taken 260 years to build - that is a perfect fit for me and my clientele," Kunian said in a statement.

This was the latest in a series of acquisitions by Boston-based Gibson Sotheby's since being purchased by three local businessman last year, the firm said.

A Globe story from December noted that the firm purchased Gibson DomainDomain, a Boston real estate agency that played a central role in gentrifying Boston's South End neighborhood.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

Interactive Data appoints new chairman

Interactive Data Corp., a Bedford-based financial market data provider, said today it appointed Pearson PLC's Rona Fairhead to chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately.

Interactive Data is a Pearson subsidiary that provides financial market data and analytics to financial institutions, active traders and individual investors.

Fairhead, 45, succeeds John Makinson, who resigned from Interactive Data's board after nearly five years.

Currently chief executive of the Financial Times Group, Fairhead oversees the Financial Times, Pearson's international business newspapers and financial magazines, as well as its interests in Interactive Data, FTSE, which is owned jointly with the London Stock Exchange, and The Economist Group.

She has served as one of five Pearson-affiliated directors on the nine-member Interactive Data board since February.

Phil Hoffman, a director on the Interactive Data board since February, will replace Makinson as chair of the compensation committee.

Shares of Interactive Data rose 27 cents to $29.04 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

Shares of 3Com Corp. fall

Shares of 3Com Corp. fell at the opening bell today after the networking solutions company lost money in the first quarter and analysts cut their targets accordingly.

The Marlborough-based company said sales grew 6 percent to $319.4 million, as its loss widened to $18.7 million.

Shares of 3Com, which offers products helping manage voice, video and data over a network, had risen almost 4 percent yesterday before the earnings report.

On the Nasdaq Stock Market, 3Com stock gave back those gains and more in morning trading Friday, losing 27 cents, or 7.2 percent, to $3.47. The stock has traded in a range of $3.24 to $5.24 in the past year.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue cut his price target and sales estimates for the company. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

AT&T invests in Bay State wireless network

AT&T Inc. announced today a planned investment of more than $71 million in the Massachusetts wireless network in 2007.

According to Texas-based AT&T, that amount will bring the company's three-year investment in the state's wireless network to more than $420 million.

"Our goal is to ensure that AT&T customers have the very best wireless experience possible - which includes excellent coverage and quality of service," Steve Krom, AT&T's vice president and general manager for wireless operations in New England, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)

J&J says its stent is better

The drug coated Cypher stent made by Johnson & Johnson was more effective than a Taxus stent made by rival Boston Scientific Corp. in small coronary vessels, according to data cited in a Johnson & Johnson press release today.

New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson said its Cypher stent reduced by more than half the rate of major adverse cardiac events compared to the Taxus stent in small coronary vessels, according to data appearing this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

But Natick-based Boston Scientific said the study showed "no significant difference between the two stents with respect to death, cardiac death, or heart attack."

Stents are mesh tubes used to keep open arteries that have been cleared during medical procedures. Some stents are coated with drugs, but the effectiveness of drug-coated stents has been a subject of much debate in medical circles.

In a statement, Boston Scientific said the "study was not designed or powered to analyze differences in small vessels between Taxus and Cypher. In fact, the results are inconsistent with Johnson & Johnson's own Reality trial, which featured similar sized vessels and whose results demonstrated no statistically significant difference in target lesion revascularization between Taxus and Cypher.".
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:37 AM | Comments (0)

CRA opens Austin, Texas, office

CRA International Inc., a Boston-based business and economic consulting firm, announced today the opening of an office in Austin, Texas.

Jeff Andrien, a vice president in the firm's financial division, will head up the Austin office, said CRA, which also has Texas offices in College Station, Dallas, and Houston.

The Austin office expects to benefit from its proximity to the University of Texas, CRA suggested.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)

LeMaitre raises revenue guidance

LeMaitre Vascular Inc., a Burlington company that makes devices to treat aortic aneurysm and other vascular conditions, raised its 2007 revenue guidance after announcing its $2.8 million takeover of medical device maker Vascular Architects.

LeMaitre Vascular now expects 2007 revenue in a range of $39.8 million to $41.3 million.

The company expects its acquisition of Vascular Architects to hurt its earnings results slightly over the next twelve months before improving. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

Central Square building sells for $10 million

MassAve Realty Trust sold a Cambridge office and retail building in Central Square to Meritage Properties LLC for $10 million, said a broker involved in the transaction.

The broker for the building at 485 Massachusetts Ave. is Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate money management and services firm headquartered in Chicago.

According to its website, Meritage Properties is an owner, operator, and investor in mid-sized East Coast properties; the firm has offices in Scarsdale, N.Y.

The five-story building that Meritage purchased has 35,000 square feet of space, and the sale included a surface parking lot at 49 Bishop Allen Drive with 43 parking spaces, Jones Lang LaSalle said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Peermeta closes on Series A investment

Peermeta Inc. said today it has closed on a $6 million Series A investment.

Focusing on the intersection of digitized content, Web 2.0 services, social networking, and mobile technologies, Acton-based Peermeta says it provides a foundation for a new generation of personalized content across Web-enabled mobile devices.

The company said the funding came from investment firms Sigma Partners, which has offices in Boston, and Kepha Partners of Waltham.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

Toy testing firm works overtime

Gone is the 40-hour work week at Specialized Technology Resources Inc.; as boxes of toys pile up in the middle of its testing lab, workers are coming in on weekends, and product testers who normally would check tools or candles are working on chess sets and plastic cars.

Business is bustling since the recent recalls of millions of toys. Management at the international product testing company is considering adding to its 1,600-person staff.

"Right now, we're using everybody in toy land," said Linda Root, manager of the company's toy testing lab in Enfield, Conn.

The recalls have toy companies from the largest toy maker Mattel Inc. to small importers clamoring to hire companies such as STR to test and retest their toys as a way to allay consumer fears ahead of the key holiday shopping season.

Several testing firms operate worldwide, including Switzerland-based SGS Group, which has 48,000 workers in 1,000 locations, Bureau Veritas Group, with 26,000 employees in 700 locations, and London-based Intertek, which employs 20,000 people in 100 countries.

Mattel's first recall this summer, 1.5 million toys tainted with lead paint, was a wake-up call for the industry, said Sue DeRagon, STR's associate director of toys and premiums. Since then, Mattel and others have recalled more than 20 million toys for high lead levels or for small magnets that children can swallow, prompting toy companies to do more tests.

That's kept the lab, housed in an old textile mill in this town north of Hartford, plenty busy. Toy companies are sending samples of finished toys to test, especially for lead and magnets, which can be dangerous if they are swallowed and join together in the digestive system.

Testers conduct a battery of tests on each toy, based either on U.S. toy safety standards or something more stringent, if that's what a company wants.

To check for lead, lab workers use a razor blade to scrape off paint from the toy's painted surface. They need .1 grams of paint to test, which can be a challenge when dealing with something like dice which has only painted dots, or a chess set with lots of nooks and crannies.

"It is very tedious work. It's not easy," Root said. "You do have to pay attention so you don't lose fingers and cut yourself in any way. There is no easy way of getting it off. It can take hours." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:03 AM | Comments (0)

Report: Many parents delay college savings

Less than one in five families had saved more than $25,000 for college by the time their child entered freshman year, and of those who did any financial planning at all, 41 percent of parents did not start until their child entered high school.

Those are findings from a new survey from First Marblehead Corp., a Boston firm that helps banks create and market private student loans, then packages those loans into securities that investors can buy.

Based on the survey's findings, First Marblehead has just launched a campaign called Smart Borrowing, an effort designed to provide "objective, consumer-friendly information to potential borrowers, the company said; the campaign includes a website at www.smartborrowing.com.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:53 AM | Comments (0)

Hertz offers hourly rates at Hub location

The rental car brand Hertz has launched an hourly rental program in Boston at its Park Plaza location, where vehicles are available at rates that start at $12 per hour, the company said.

The program called Hertz Hourly Rentals includes unlimited mileage and 24-hour emergency roadside assistance, and hourly rentals can be reserved with a call to 877-262-3539, Hertz said.

Hertz is part of New Jersey-based Hertz Global Holdings.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)

15 Beacon makes historic list

The building that houses the XV Beacon Hotel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a preservation group called the Trust for Architectural Easements announced.

Plans for the commercial building 15 Beacon St. were drawn in 1903 by architect William Gibbons Preston, and the building's first occupant was the Boston Transit Commission, the group said.

According to an architectural historian, the building "embodies the Classical Revival style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries."

Potential impacts on 15 Beacon St. will be considered during the planning for federal, federally licensed, or federally assisted projects in the vicinity, and the property may qualify for federal historic preservation grants when funds are available, the group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:23 AM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2007

Red Sox unveil green initiatives for Fenway

The Boston Red Sox announced today that the team plans to make Fenway Park "even more green" through a series of environmental initiatives.

The club said it is teaming up with the Natural Resources Defense Council , a New York-based enviornmental action group, as the Red Sox look to improve Fenway in time for Fenway's 100th anniversary in 2012.

Environmental initiatives being explored include a recycling program, improved refuse removal, and the consideration of installing solar panels on some of the ballpark's roofs, the Red Sox said.

"We are not only committed to preserving the history, beauty, and integrity of Fenway Park, but we are also determined to enhance the park's environmental attributes," Larry Lucchino, president and chief executive of the Red Sox, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)

Greater Boston Chamber debuts blog

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce said today it has officially launched a blog that aims to be "a one-stop shop" for information about local business issues.

The blog, with the address of blog.bostonchamber.com, will include information about employer issues, policy positions, the jobs market, and opinion pieces, the chamber said.

"We're focused on making the chamber blog a great resource that will quickly and directly get important information out to members, the media, and government leaders," chamber president and chief executive Paul Guzzi said in a statement.

An early blog post features something called the Massachusetts Jobs Update, which the chamber describes as an economic snapshot highlighting statewide and regional job trends.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:28 PM | Comments (0)

Movie crew makes for a big day at pizzeria

A movie crew filming local scenes for "Bachelor No. 2" helped a new Back Bay pizzeria ring up a record sales day, a restaurant partner said.

In a press release, Bostone Pizza partner Chris King said that a late night feeding frenzy by hungry grips and gaffers helped push sales over the top.

According to King, the film crew put in "a rush job for 100 hot subs," and Bostone Pizza had to muster staff reinforcements to complete the order on time.

As King sees it, that late night order is a perfect example of how the local micro-economy benefits from luring movie companies to the Hub.

No word on whether one of the movie's stars, Dane Cook, joined in on the hot-sub chowdown.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)

Shaw's names Wahlstrom president

Larry Wahlstrom will be the new president of Shaw's Supermarkets Inc., Shaw's corporate parent said today.

Wahlstrom will succeed Carl Jablonski, who has decided to retire after 38 years with the company, said Supervalu Inc., the Minnesota food company that operates such chains as West Bridgewater-based Shaw's and Jewel-Osco, which is based in the Chicago market.

Wahlstom has been president of Jewel-Osco, Supervalu said.

Its Shaw's division operates more than 200 stores, Supervalu said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

InnoCentive broadens its scope

InnoCentive Inc., a Web-based community that seeks to match a global network of problem solvers with research-and-development challenges, announced today a "major expansion beyond their traditional domains."

The Andover company sees its traditional domains as life sciences and chemistry; now it says it wants to broaden its scope to include business and entrepreneurship, engineering and design, physical sciences, and mathematics and computer sciences.

InnoCentive's business model is to help corporate and nonprofit clients solve R&D problems by posting descriptions of them on a website visited by thousands of researchers, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians from around the world; those who solve a problem can qualify for a financial reward.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

Sirtris publishes aging study

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the publication of a study by its own researchers and Harvard University scientists that reveals a new mechanism to slow aging.

Cambridge-based Sirtris has a focus on developing small molecule drugs with the potential to treat diseases associated with aging, such as Type 2 diabetes.

According to Sirtris, the study published in the journal Cell shows that activation of Sirt3 and Sirt4, members of the sirtuin family of enzymes, provides protection against cell damage.

The study's findings, the company said, "further validate sirtuins as important targets for treating diseases of aging.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon's Goglia exercises options

The treasurer and vice president of corporate development of defense contractor Raytheon Corp. exercised options for 18,751 shares of common stock under a prearranged trading plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In a Form 4 filed Wednesday with the SEC, Richard A. Goglia reported he exercised the options Monday and Wednesday for $44.45 to $55.91 apiece and then sold 24,751 shares on the same days for $61.71 to $62.55 apiece.

The stock sale was conducted under a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan which allows company insiders to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed even if they come into possession of material nonpublic information.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Raytheon is based in Waltham, Mass. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

State jobless rate fell in August

Massachusetts' unemployment rate dropped sharply in August, falling below the national jobless figure for the first time in more than a year and a half.

State unemployment fell from 5.1 percent in July to 4.5 percent in August, and the state gained 2,800 jobs.

The national jobless rate in August was 4.6 percent, marking the first time since December 2005 that Massachusetts has recorded a lower rate.

The state's August unemployment decline was driven by a nearly 41,000-person drop in the size of the labor force, which is the sum of employed and unemployed workers in the state.

The decrease in the number of people without jobs was greater than the decline among those with jobs, causing the unemployment rate to fall. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

Hankin gets top spot at Sentient Flight

Sentient Flight Group, a Weymouth-based private aviation company, announced today that president and chief operating officer Steven Hankin has been named chief executive.

Current chief executive Greg Campbell will remain chairman of the board of directors and continue to focus on the company's overall corporate strategy and drive its acquisition program, Sentient said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

WilmerHale opens L.A. office

WilmerHale, an international law firm with main offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., announced today the opening of an office in Los Angeles.

The new office will be led by Randall Lee, a former assistant US Attorney and a former regional director for the US Securities and Exchange Commission, WilmerHale said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage rates rise slightly

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said that mortgage rates rose slightly for the week ending today.

In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.34 percent, up from last week when it averaged 6.31 percent; last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.40 percent.

"The recent retreat in mortgage rates has brought in an increased volume of mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, and pushed the share of applications for refinancing to the highest rate since April," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

PeopleCube raises $17 million

PeopleCube, a Waltham company that makes on-demand calendaring, resource, and event-management software, said today it has secured $17 million in funding.

The new round of funding comes through the purchase of all outstanding shares in the company by investment firms Truffle Capital of France and Big Bang Ventures of Belgium, PeopleCube said.

This infusion of additional working capital will be used to expand PeopleCube's business in Europe, to accelerate and enhance product development, and to provide additional partnership opportunities worldwide, PeopleCube said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

Athenahealth shares start trading

Shares of Athenahealth Inc., a provider of Web-based business services for health care practices, are expected to begin trading today after the company's initial public offering priced at $18 per share, well above expectations.

In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the on-demand software company had said it expected the offering, which totaled 6.3 million shares, to price between $14 and $16 per share.

Although the company has not achieved profitability, analysts touted its recurring revenue stream and "on demand" software offering.

Athenahealth is offering 5 million shares, while a group of stockholders is selling about 1.3 million shares.

Athenahealth plans to use a portion of the proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding debt. The remaining proceeds will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including marketing activities, further development of service offerings and possible acquisitions.

Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are the IPO's lead underwriters. Piper Jaffray and Jefferies & Co. are also underwriting the offering.

The underwriters have been given the option to purchase up to an additional 943,023 shares from the selling stockholders to cover any overallotments.

Athenahealth's shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "ATHN."
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

Kadant gets $35m in Asian orders

Kadant Inc. said today it received $35 million in orders from Asia for its stock preparation systems.

The Westford company is a supplier to the global pulp and paper industry.

Kadant said it received an order of over $13 million for three stock preparation systems from the Saigon Paper Corp.

Kadant also announced it has been awarded several additional contracts with a combined value of over $22 million from an Asian customer for stock preparation systems to produce linerboard.

"The order from Vietnam, along with the pending orders, demonstrates the continued strength of the paper industry in Asia as more production shifts to that region of the world," Kadant chairman and chief executive William A. Rainville said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: parents paralyzed by college costs

Many parents are so overwhelmed by the perception of costly college tuition that they fail to take adequate financial steps to prepare for their children's education.

That's a key finding of a survey out today from Upromise, the Newton company that helps families save for college while making purchases from restaurants, supermarkets, and other retailers.

The survey, called the Upromise College Preparedness Report Card, found that most US parents and teens are misinformed about the true costs of a college education. (You can compare college loan rates on Boston.com here.)

"This exaggerated perception of costs may be contributing to a level of paralysis in parents who are either not aware of, or not utilizing, available financial planning options," said Upromise, which added that its goal is "to help families demystify the financial planning options available and help them attain the dream of higher education."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon buys Oakley Networks

Defense technology firm Raytheon Co. said today it will acquire Oakley Networks, a developer of cyber-security technology, for an undisclosed sum.

Salt Lake City-based Oakley was founded in 2001 and has about 200 employees. It provides security technology for the U.S. government and Fortune 500 companies. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

BU's Bodie wins lifetime achievement award

The School of Management at Boston University announced that finance professor Zvi Bodie has received the Lifetime Achievement in Applied Retirement Research Award.

The award was given by the Retirement Income Industry Association, BU said, and Bodie was honored for a career dedicated to applying investment science to problems faced by consumers in saving for a secure retirement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

Post is appointed to BioVex board

BioVex Inc. announced today that it has appointed Leonard Post to its board of directors.

The Woburn-based biotechnology company is developing clinical treatments for cancer and the prevention of infectious diseases.

Post is currently chief science officer for Lead Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company based in California, BioVex said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

iTech US tops "Fast 50" list

A South Burlington, Vt., company specializing in information technology services, iTech US Inc., topped the list of the fastest growing technology companies in New England.

Called the New England Technology Fast 50, the list was compiled by Deloitte & Touche, a business services firm, and law firm WilmerHale.

The Fast 50, now in its 11th year, looks at technology, media, telecommunications, and life sciences companies in the region and ranks them by percentage revenue growth over the five years.

Vestmark Inc., a Wakefield-based service provider to the managed accounts industry, ranked second, and Litle & Co., a Lowell-based provider of payment processing solutions, was third, according to the Fast 50 list.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

Lehman raises $365m venture fund

Lehman Brothers, the global investment bank, said it has raised $365 million for Lehman Brothers Venture Partners V L.P., a fund focused on mid- to late-stage investments in high growth technology companies.

The fund will be managed by a team based in Menlo Park, Calif., and Boston, Lehman Brothers said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)

NetScout buys Network General

NetScout Systems Inc. said today it has agreed to buy Network General Corp. in a combined cash, stock, and debt transaction currently valued at $205 million.

NetScout, a Westford company, sells systems that report on the performance of computer networks, and Network General is a California-based information technology company.

NetScout said the acquisition will further its vision of providing superior network-based performance management, and it added that it believes for the full fiscal year of 2009, the combined company will approximately double NetScout's current revenue rate.

Separately, NetScout raised its guidance for its second quarter, which ends Sept. 30.

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $29 million to $30 million; previous guidance was $28 million to $29 million, the company said.

Net income per diluted share is expected to be in the range of 9 to 10 cents, versus earlier guidance of 8 to 9 cents, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2007

SEIU to step up hospital organizing

The Service Employees International Union will step up its Boston hospital organizing efforts tomorrow when members are expected to hand out leaflets in the Longwood Medical Area. SEIU has been working to organize employees in Boston's largely nonunion teaching hospitals for nearly two years.

An organizing rally is scheduled for Oct. 16. Union officials said they want hospital executives to sign agreements promising not to harass employees who work to organize workers
(By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:38 PM | Comments (0)

Ruling issued in Howie Carr case

Where's Howie Carr headed?

A Suffolk Superior Court judge issued a memo today on several motions in the increasingly-convoluted legal case between Howie Carr and his employer WRKO, which could mean that Carr can't jump to rival station WTKK as planned.

The afternoon talk radio host on WRKO-AM announced in July that he would jump to the morning drive-time slot on rival radio station WTKK, and promptly sued WRKO alleging that the provisions in his contract that bound him to stay at WRKO were unenforceable.

The judge wrote today that in the final judgment, which is yet to come, the part of the contract which included a non-compete clause is not enforceable under state law, but another clause that gave WRKO the right to match any new offer was enforceable.

Carr's contract would have expired today, but Entercom Communications Corp. of Pennsylvania, which owns WRKO, alleges that it matched the offer from a rival station and therefore Carr is bound to his contract until Sept. 30, 2012.

"The court is aware that Carr claims that he cannot be forced to work for WRKO," Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel wrote in his decision. "While Carr's position may have merit, it is not presently before this Court on the three motions in play. In short, it remains for another day, on another record."

Carr's spokeswoman and attorney did not immediately comment. George Regan, a spokesman for Entercom and WRKO, said today, "We hope Howie comes back to work soon."

WTKK is owned by Braintree-based Greater Media Inc.I

In a statement, Greater Media said: "At this point, Howie Carr has failed to obtain the ruling from the court that was a condition of him coming to work for us. The court's decision left many questions unanswered. We are disappointed that Howie will not be on WTKK tomorrow, but we are hopeful that he will be a part of the Greater Media family in the very near future."
(By Carolyn Y. Johnson and Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:35 PM | Comments (0)

Evergreen to pay $32.5m SEC settlement

Wachovia Corp's Boston mutual fund division Evergreen Investment Management Co. agreed to pay $32.5 million to settle allegations it allowed certain shareholders to market-time in violation of prospectuses, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today.

The settlement included Evergreen of Boston, three local affiliates and a former officer, and continues a series of settlements the SEC has reached with mutual fund complexes over practices that rocked the industry earlier in this decade.

Market-timing refers to trading rapidly in certain market sectors, which can diminish returns for shareholders as a whole and so is often limited by fund prospectuses. The SEC said Evergreen failed to adopt procuedures to enforce its own limits until October of 2003, and that from September 1998 to June 2004, excessive trading reduced the funds' value by nearly $29 million.

None of the parties admitted or denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Evegreen said in a statement that "Fund shareholders will not bear any of the costs associated with the settlement. Evergreen will work with an independent distribution consultant, to be approved by the SEC and by the Funds Independent Trustees, to develop a plan to distribute the proceeds of the settlement.''
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:07 PM | Comments (0)

Messina donates $2.25m to South Shore Hospital

Braintree real estate entrepreneur Francis X. Messina donated $2.25 million to South Shore Hospital of South Weymouth.

The hospital said it is the largest single gift it has received, and boosts the total of its current capital campaign to $17.5 million. The campaign aims to raise $22 million by December 2008.

F.X. Messina Enterprises of Braintree is a real estate development and management firm. The gift will enable the hospital to invest in new equipment for newborns and women with high-risk pregnancies; emergency department equipment for trauma victims; and cardiovascular care.
(By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

Zipcar enables mobile access

Zipcar Inc., the Cambridge-based car-sharing service, announced today plans to provide "instant, anywhere access" to its vehicle fleet from the mobile devices of its members.

In the first phase of the initiative, Zipcar said it will launch a mobile version of its Web reservation site.

Working with uLocate Communications Inc., a Boston-based publisher of mobile location services, Zipcar will create a GPS-enabled widget that will allow members to find and reserve vehicles from a mobile device.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

Clinical Data launches pain research

Biotechnology company Clinical Data Inc. said that its Cogenics division launched a pain research genotyping service.

The service, called the Pain Research Panel, enables the investigation of key target genes involved in pain, as well as those that deliver the therapeutic effects of drugs used to treat pain, inflammation and mood conditions. It was developed in part through an agreement with Algynomics Inc.

Clinical Data shares rose 65 cents to $33.32 in morning trading. The company is based in Newton. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

Menino names new BRA chief

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today said he has tapped John Palmieri, the economic development services director in Hartford, to fill the top slot at the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Palmieri, who worked in Hartford for 3½ years and in Providence, R.I., and Charlotte, N.C., before that, replaces Mark Maloney, who left early this year, as director of the city’s planning and economic development agency.

“John’s the right man for the job at this point,” said Dot Joyce, Menino’s spokeswoman. “He is excellent at translating vision into reality and has had experience in all aspects of the job.”

Palmieri, who is 56, said today he was "very excited and enthusiastic" to be taking the job. He expects to start work on Nov. 12.

"It's the consummate opportunity to perform the kind of work in do in a world-class city," he said.

Asked if he can handle the sometimes rugged political challenges of Boston, Palmieri said, "I'd like to think i can. I spent 18 years in Providence; that's a good start."

A months-long search ended when Menino made the decision over the last few days and informed other possible candidates of his decision, Joyce said. Paul McCann, a longtime BRA employee who now works part time, has been acting director.

Palmieri was director of economic development in Charlotte after his time in Providence. Timothy P. Kirwan, general manager of the InterContinental Boston Hotel, said he worked with Palmieri on a hotel project in Providence and considered him a friend.

Kirk A. Sykes, president of the Urban Strategy America Fund LP, a real estate investment unit of New Boston Fund Inc., said after Palmieri’s name was floated recently that they had worked together in Hartford, calling Palmieri “thoughtful and insightful.”
(By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Pryor moves up at State Street

State Street Corp. said today it is aligning its global performance and analytics capabilities under the leadership of senior vice president William C. Pryor.

Boston-based State Street is a provider of financial services to institutional investors.

"Building on State Street's already strong performance and analytics capabilities across the globe, this initiative will allow us to better deliver our offerings, to take advantage of economies of scale, enable us to bring products to markets, and to ultimately better serve our customers," vice chairman Joe Antonellis said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Indevus amends Sanctura contract

Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that it amended its licensing agreement with privately held Esprit Pharma for the drug Sanctura.

Allergan Inc., which makes eye care products and the Botox anti-wrinkle injection, said today it will buy Esprit for $370 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Indevus amended its license, commercialization and supply agreement with Esprit, making Allergan responsible for marketing and sales activities. Indevus is responsible for supplying Sanctura through June 30. In July 2008, Allergan will assume manufacturing responsibilities.

Allergan will pay Indevus an upfront license fee of $25 million and royalties on net sales. For a period of seven years, the royalties payable to Indevus will be subject to a guaranteed minimum, Indevus said. The minimum levels are $8.1 million in 2008, $10.6 million in 2009, $15.6 million in 2010, $18.1 million in 2011, $20.6 million in 2012, $23.5 million in 2013, and $26.3 million in 2014.

Indevus will also receive a milestone payment of $20 million in December of 2013 based on certain market exclusivity conditions. The company will also co-promote the drug through Sept. 2008 and receive a quarterly sales force subsidy amounting to a $9.3 million annual rate.

The Allergan deal doesn't change Indevus' previously announced licensing agreement with Madaus GmbH to sell Sanctura XR in certain territories outside the United States.

Shares of Indevus rose 27 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $7.55 in premarket trading. The stock closed Tuesday at $7.28. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Hill elected chair of Novelos board

Novelos Therapeutics Inc., a Newton biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer and hepatitis treatments, announced today the election of Stephen A. Hill as non-executive chairman of the board.

Since 1999, Hill has served as president and chief executive of ArQule Inc., a Woburn-based biotechnology company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Sepaton hires former HP executive

Sepaton Inc., a Marlborough-based company focused on data protection solutions, today announced the appointment of Fidelma Russo as executive vice president of engineering and development.

Most recently, Russo was at California-based Hewlett-Packard Co., where she served as a vice president of adaptive infrastructure, Sepaton said.

At Sepaton, Russo will lead its engineering organization and oversee the continuing technical advancement of its ContentAware software architecture for intelligent data protection, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)

Chitika launches Facebook application

Chitika Inc., a Marlborough company with the marketing slogan "We make advertising work in the blogosphere," today announced the launch of an ad channel for application developers for Facebook, the popular social networking website.

According to the company, the Chitika Facebook API gives developers the opportunity to generate ad revenue from their Facebook applications.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

Alnylam and Merck end partnership

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., which develops therapeutics based on RNA interference, said today that it has terminated its collaboration agreement with Merck & Co.

Alnylam has rescinded all grants of its intellectual property related to Merck development programs, including former co-developmental projects.

"It is fundamentally in our best interests to terminate our Merck collaboration," Alnylam President and Chief Executive John Maraganore said in a statement. He did not elaborate as to the reasons why. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)

Norwegian telcom chooses Nuance tech.

Nuance Communications Inc. said today that it has provided Telenor, a Norwegian telecommunications company, with speech-powered features for Telenor's customer-care solutions.

Based in Burlington, Nuance focuses on speech and imaging solutions.

Nuance said that the call steering application for Telenor went live in March and handles 25,000 calls per day.

Nuance also said that the time a customer spends in the self-service system has been reduced by 20 percent since the introduction.
(Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)

TA Associates hires Yanagi

TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm, said today that Tad Yanagi has joined its Boston office as a vice president.

Yanagi's resume includes a stint as an analyst at Morgan Stanley, the New York-based financial services firm; in his new job, Yanagi will focus on investments in healthcare and other service companies, TA said.

TA also said that James Hart is joining the firm as a vice president in its office in Menlo Park, Calif.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Walton joins ATG as VP

Art Technology Group Inc., or ATG, announced today the addition of Kenneth Walton to its leadership team as vice president of ATG OnDemand.

Cambridge-based ATG specializes in e-commerce suites for online retailers; the suites aim to attract prospects to a retailer's website, then convert them into buyers and repeat customers.

Walton joins ATG from USinternetworking Inc., a Maryland-based AT&T company and an applications service provider, ATG said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

Casual Male gets more into shoes

Casual Male Retail Group, a Canton-based haberdasher for "men of size and stature," announced that it is adding a footwear business called ShoesXL to its portfolio of lifestyle brands, which includes Casual Male XL and Rochester Big & Tall.

The company described ShoesXL as a new website and catalog business that will offer an extended range of fashionable, brand-name shoes for the big and tall man; the Web address for the new business is www.shoesxl.com.

Casual Male XL has carried a selection of shoes before, but never to this extent, president and chief executive David Levin noted in a statement.

"We are really responding to the needs and challenges of men of size and stature often face when searching for footwear," he added.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage applications rise

Mortgage applications increased in the latest weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A Washington, D.C.-based group that represents the real estate finance industry, the association said that its market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 673.2 for the week ending Sept. 14, an increase of 2.4 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis, from one week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the latest index was up 12.8 percent compared with the same week one year earlier, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

Sebastians opens Cambridge cafe

Sebastians, a Boston-based catering service and cafe chain, said it is opening its first cafe in Cambridge today and its seventh in the Boston area.

Open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Kendall Square cafe at 7 Cambridge Center will serve breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks, the company said.

The cafe aims to offer health conscious fare, and menu items include rice, pasta, and noodle bowls as well as made-to-order salads and sandwiches.

Customers can place online lunch orders for salads and sandwiches at sebastians.com.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:01 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2007

iRobot gets $19m order for bomb units

The Naval Sea Systems Command has ordered $19 million worth of bomb-disposal robots from iRobot Corp.

The Burlington company expects to deliver 128 iRobot PackBot Man Transportable Robotic System robots by mid-2008, it said today.

This latest award bring the total value of orders placed by the naval command to $94 million, iRobot said.

The company also makes robotic consumer products, including the Roomba vacuum cleaner.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:13 PM | Comments (0)

GPS units are hot -- for thieves

When Austin Sweazy pulled into the parking lot of an auto-repair shop, his fiancee reminded him that even though their errand inside would last just a few minutes, it would be smart to lock the car doors.

After all, she said, "you don't want anybody to steal your GPS."

Sweazy heeded her advice. But it didn't matter. In the few minutes the couple were inside the store, a thief smashed the window of Sweazy's car, snatched his $600 TomTom portable navigation unit off the windshield and fled into the gathering dusk.

Valuable stuff has been swiped from cars forever, but the theft of portable satellite-navigation units is dramatically increasing in many places. Crime analysts blame an alignment of economic and technological factors, while victims lament that the units, which cost several hundred dollars, are rarely recovered or replenished by insurance.

In Maryland's Montgomery County, outside Washington, D.C., 620 portable navigation devices were filched from cars through Aug. 31, blowing past the 189 taken in all of 2006. In downtown Philadelphia, GPS thefts jumped to 88 in the first eight months of the year from 33 in the same period of 2006.

Police in San Francisco and the Boston area also have cited increases -- as have authorities in Australia and Britain.

Police say the perpetrators are getting more brazen, stealing units in busy places during the day. California Attorney General Jerry Brown's Lincoln Town Car had been parked outside a state building in San Francisco's Civic Center for only about 10 minutes recently when a thief grabbed the GPS device inside.

Even people who take their GPS gadgets off their dashboards when they leave their cars are returning to find windows smashed, as thieves gamble that an empty plastic cradle suction-cupped to the windshield means a GPS unit has been hidden somewhere in the car.

That happened to Jessica Jaross when her car was parked outside a church in San Francisco one morning this summer. Even though she had stowed her $300 GPS unit in the car's center console, she left its empty holder stuck to the windshield. A thief busted the driver's side window in search of the treasure, and got it without setting off the car alarm.

It gets worse: Taking the plastic cradle off the windshield might not be enough if the suction cup leaves a ring of film on the glass. That alone can signal a thief.

That's why police in Montgomery County, Md., handed out 1,200 microfiber cloths at a fair last month and told motorists to clear suction-cup rings. Cops in Alexandria, Va., advise using moist towelettes.

Unless the mark is wiped away, a thief is going to bet the GPS unit is in the car, said Cpl. Jimmy Robinson, a spokesman for Montgomery County police. "The least you're going to get is a shattered window," he said.

Police say several things have come together to make this a lucrative crime -- so lucrative, in fact, that victims often say GPS thieves ignored other valuable items in their cars.

The units -- which gather real-time location information from global-positioning satellites and display that on digital maps -- have come down in price enough to become relatively popular in higher-rent districts. One leading maker alone, Garmin Ltd., will sell a few million this year.

Yet the devices are still not ubiquitous -- Garmin also estimates that only 10 to 12 percent of North American drivers have portable or built-in GPS in their cars. That leaves a huge market of people to be enticed by cheaper-than-retail GPS units on sale in pawn shops or online, where thieves love to fence their finds.

No monthly subscriptions are required to keep the devices running. Plus there's the somewhat ironic twist that even though these units are in touch with satellites all the time, they're just receivers, so their location can't be tracked for easy recovery.

Some GPS makers have given police free units for use in sting operations, but they say there's little else they can do, other than advise users to take precautions.

Users should etch a marking into the devices and write down their serial numbers, then report those to police and the manufacturer if a theft happens.

But that is probably of limited impact. TomTom's North American president, Jocelyn Vigreux, said that while the company maintains a list of serial numbers corresponding to swiped units, "not a lot of thieves send back the device that they've just stolen for repair."

GPS owners can also activate a password mode in which a four-digit PIN is required to run the unit outside a designated "safe location" like the customer's home. Yet the manufacturers say that protection is used by a tiny percentage of customers. At best, it could just give a victim the satisfaction of knowing the device was rendered useless to anyone else.

(And that's not even necessarily true: Most devices allow unlimited attempts to get the PIN right; a patient thief would need no more than half a day to guess all 10,000 combinations and unlock his treasure.)

No wonder, then, that most GPS victims just plunge right back in for a new one.

Erin Einhorn just moved from Miami to West Hollywood, Calif., where she works in sales and relies on GPS to get her through the Southern California sprawl. After her 4-year-old device, which had cost $1,000, was taken, Einhorn felt she had little choice but to shell out $500 for a new Garmin device.

Compounding her frustration is the fact that auto insurance generally doesn't cover portable, personal possessions in cars. Homeowners or rental insurance might, but rarely is the gadget's value much beyond the policy deductible limit.

There could be some hope if you bought your unit with a credit card that will cover theft of the product in the first 60 days or so, said John B. Townsend II, a manager of public and government affairs for the American Automobile Association's mid-Atlantic district.

"Other than that," he said, "you might be completely out of luck." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific lobbying nears $1m

Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. spent $980,000 in the first six months of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

Regulatory and Medicare reimbursement for medical devices, patent reform legislation, trade policies and an assortment of health care-related legislation were some of the lobbying issues for the company, according to the form posted online Wednesday by the Senate's public records office.

The company also lobbied on the use of dedicated spectrum for medical devices.

Brenda Becker, former assistant to Vice President Cheney for legislative affairs, was among those registered to lobby for the Natick, Mass.-based company.

Besides Congress, the company lobbied the Health and Human Services Department, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the Food and Drug Administration and several other agencies.

Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

Medway adds Verizon's FiOS

The Board of Selectmen in Medway granted a cable franchise to Verizon Communications Inc. for its FiOS TV service, Verizon said today.

The action means that Verizon's all-digital, fiber-optic network is available to an additional 3,500 households, said Verizon, which added that Medway is the 57th Massachusetts community where FiOS TV is or soon will be available.

Headquartered in New York, Verizon Communications Inc. delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

Realty Associates buys Franklin building

Realty Associates Advisors LLC has purchased 38 Forge Park, a single story flex building in Franklin, for $10 million, a broker involved in the transaction said today.

The broker is Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm.

Richards Barry Joyce said it represented the seller, Patriot/Reading Associates, a California-based private real estate investor, and procured the buyer, Realty Associates, a Boston-based institutional realty fund.

A flex building can accommodate a number of uses, including office and showroom space as well as manufacturing, laboratory, and distribution space.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

Blue Cross chooses Pegasystems tech

Pegasystems Inc. of Cambridge said today that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will use its business process management software to optimize member enrollment and on-boarding processes for large accounts.

Pegasystems said that Blue Cross will deploy its SmartBPM Suite for Blue Cross's Account Acquisition and Implementation project.

Pegasystems provides software designed to "drive revenue growth, productivity, and agility" for its customers.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the Bay State's dominant health insurer with about 3 million members.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

Artisan Pharma partners with Singapore firm

Artisan Pharma Inc. of Waltham announced today that it has finalized a strategic relationship with a Singapore-based company to manufacture ART-123, a treatment for disseminated intravascular coagulation, or DIC, in sepsis.

The Singapore company is A-Bio Pharma Pte Ltd., and the relationship between the two companies includes process development, scale-up, and the manufacture of ART-123, a recombinant protein, Artisan Pharma said.

Artisan Pharma president and chief executive Jeffrey D. Wager said in a statement, "This alliance enables us to focus more of our financial and human resources on ART-123 clinical development through strategic outsourcing of ART-123 manufacturing."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

ViaCell sets target for expansion

Biotechnology company ViaCell Inc. said today that it expects to complete expansion of its ViaCord processing facility in the first quarter.

The company did not disclose the estimated cost of the expansion or provide details on how it is enlarging the facility, except to say it would double current storage capacity. ViaCell officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The expansion comes as the company expects demand for its ViaCord product to increase, it said in a statement. The company said ViaCord preserves umbilical cord blood for medical use, including stem-cell applications for cancer treatment.

ViaCell said its has preserved the umbilical cord blood of over 130,000 newborns. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)

AMSC gets $20m China order

American Superconductor Corp. said today it has received a $20 million follow-on order for power electronics products that will be used in Chinese wind turbines.

The Westborough-based company specializes in energy technologies, and it said that the order is from Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corporation Ltd., which placed a $70 million order with the company in July.

American Superconductor's "wind power business continues to expand globally, with China serving as our largest market," company chief executive Greg Yurek said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)

Forecast: "bare minimum" holiday hiring

A new forecast predicts stagnant holiday hiring by retailers jittery about a possible recession.

The forecast is from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based outplacement consultancy.

"Retailers are expected to add the bare minimum of extra staffing for the 2007 holiday season as a slumping housing market, costly toy recalls, and the increased probability of recession threaten to dampen sales," Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

Hanover's new CFO abruptly resigns

Hanover Insurance Group Inc. said today that its newly appointed chief financial officer John Leahy has resigned for personal reasons effective immediately.

Leahy had replaced outgoing CFO Edward Parry III on August 31.

While Hanover searches for a permanent replacement, Frederick Eppinger, the company's chief executive, will serve as interim CFO and Warren Barnes will act as principal accounting officer.

Barnes is a vice president and corporate controller at Hanover. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:01 AM | Comments (0)

Acceleron names Knopf CEO

Cambridge biopharmaceutical company Acceleron Pharma Inc. announced that one of its founders, John L. Knopf, has been named chief executive officer.

Acceleron Pharma focuses on developing therapeutics that modulate the growth of tissues, including bone and muscle.

Knopf has served as the company's executive vice president of corporate development and recently as president, Acceleron Pharma said.

Knopf was also elected to the company's board of directors, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Aphios, BU Med. School land cancer grant

Aphios Corp. announced that the company and its collaborator, the Boston University Medical School, have been awarded a National Cancer Institute grant to develop a nontoxic Vitamin D analog for hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

The new molecular entity being developed, APH-M109, is an analog of the naturally occurring Vitamin D hormone that is very toxic at therapeutic concentrations, Aphios said.

Headquartered in Woburn, Aphios is a biopharmaceutical company that has an exclusive license to APH-M109 from BU Medical School.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Borders chooses ChoiceStream

ChoiceStream said today that book, music, and video retailer Borders Group Inc. has selected its retail suite.

Cambridge-based ChoiceStream provides personalization solutions for online retailers and entertainment, TV, and mobile brands.

ChoiceStream said Michigan-based Borders will use its RealRelevance Retail Suite to "deliver compelling, revenue-driving product recommendations to Borders' shoppers through its in-store computer search stations and its upcoming online store."

According to ChoiceStream, its RealRelevance Retail Suite has "the ability to automatically target relevant products to consumers based on their needs and interests."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

Davio's owner banks on "Philly Rolls"

Local restaurateur Steve DiFillippo said he is forming a wholesale food company to make his Philly Cheese Steak Spring Roll more widely available.

The owner of Davio's Northern Italian Steak Houses in Boston and Philadelphia and of the Avila Modern Mediterranean restaurant in Boston, DiFillippo said the Davio's Foods venture would make "the Philly Roll," now a menu item at his restaurants, available to outside retailers.

Outside venues where the Philly Roll will initially be available include Gillette Stadium, the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the Seaport Hotel, Boston Harbor Hotel, the State Room, and the Fairmont Copley Plaza, DiFillippo said in a statement.

According to DiFillippo, the Philly Roll is crafted from shaved steak, cheeses, and a proprietary blend of spices, then hand-rolled in a spring roll wrapper.

DiFillippo said he was partly prompted to move into the wholesale business because he is convinced that the Philly Roll is an ideal retail product - something that can be made in large quantities without a loss of quality or a need for preservatives.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Millennium hopes to extend Velcade use

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today it plans to file a supplemental new drug application for the use of its Velcade in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

Cambridge-based Millennium said it will file the application with the Food and Drug Administration in early 2008 based on encouraging data from a Phase III clinical trial of Velcade in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients.

An FDA approval of that application "would double the number of patients eligible to receive the benefit of Velcade," Millennium chief medical officer Nancy Simonian said in a statement. "We are confident that Velcade-based therapies will become the standard of care, since physicians typically use the most active agents in the front-line setting to improve long-term outcomes for patients."

The FDA has previously approved Velcade for multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior treatment.

In the United States, more than 50,000 individuals have multiple myeloma, and 20,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

Publisher resigns at Boston magazine

Paul Reulbach said he will resign as the publisher of Boston magazine, effective Oct. 5.

Reulbach, who began his career at the magazine in 1997 and who was promoted to publisher in early 2003, said in a statement that he wants "to explore other opportunities."

Several new projects and publications were launched or enhanced during Reulbach's tenure, including the magazine's Design Home project, Elegant Wedding, Concierge, Boston Home, and bostonmagazine.com, the magazine said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)

Foreclosure filings up

National foreclosure filings in August were up 36 percent from July and 115 percent from August 2006, according to a market forecast out today.

The forecast was prepared by RealtyTrac, a California-based online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Nevada, California, and Florida posted the top state foreclosure rates in August, and Massachusetts was ranked 12th, said RealtyTrac, which defines foreclosure filings as default notices, auction sale notices, and repossessions by lenders.

"The jump in foreclosure filings this month might be the beginning of the next wave of increased foreclosure activity as a large number of subprime adjustable rate loans are beginning to reset now," RealtyTrac chief executive James J. Saccacio said in a statement.

The number of repossessions, he added, is "increasing dramatically, which means that a greater percentage of homes entering foreclosure are going back to the banks."

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Bankers Association has been looking to differentiate the local banking industry from struggling national mortgage firms.

In a Sept. 6th statement, the association's president and chief executive, Daniel J. Forte, said: "Unfortunately, there may be a public perception that funds are drying up for mortgage borrowers. I can tell you at your local community or regional bank here in the Bay State and throughout New England, that is definitely not the case."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2007

State Street donates $10 million to MFA

As its record-setting campaign heads to the finish line, the Museum of Fine Arts today announced a $10 million gift from State Street Corp., the largest single contribution from a corporation in the museum's history.

The MFA's Fenway entrance, shuttered since the early 1980s but set to reopen next year, will be named after State Street.

The gift from the Boston financial services firm brings the MFA's fund-raising total to $415 million, $85 million away from its goal. The money will fund a massive expansion project set to be completed in 2010.

The project, designed by the British firm Foster and Partners, will add galleries, shops, and a 70-foot-high glass spine that will run through the complex.

Since 1981, the main entrance has been at the West Wing, designed by I.M. Pei. But in 1995, the museum opened its Huntington Avenue doors, which had been closed four years earlier to save money.

The Fenway entrance is part of the MFA's effort to open itself up more to the community, along with restoring its connection to the Emerald Necklace parkland the building overlooks.

State Street has long supported the MFA. Museum records show contributions dating back to 1970. More recently, State Street sponsored Fashion Show: Paris Collections 2006.

"There was a lot of familiarity with the needs of the MFA,"’ said Ronald E. Logue, State Street's chief executive. "‘We truly believe we are a global company so when we bring non-US customers to Boston, we really want to show off Boston. One of the places you can do that is at the Museum of Fine Arts."

Museum officials also said the MFA has received a $1.5 million challenge grant from the Michigan Kresge Foundation.

"It raises the bar, and I think it sends a message,"’ said William McAvoy, the MFA's director of institutional giving. "This is really important, from our point of view, at a time when we both know the corporate climate in Boston is tough. They really sent a message that support of cultural institutions is vital to the city’s vitality.’"
(By Geoff Edgers, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)

TransMedics plans to go public

The medical device company TransMedics plans an initial public offering of its common stock.

The Andover company did not disclose any terms of the offering, such as how many shares will be offered and at what price, but indicated the maximum offering price could total $86.3 million.

TransMedics has focused most of its efforts on developing and marketing a system to enable transplantation of beating hearts and other functioning organs.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)

Arnold is in venture with fashion focus

Boston ad agency Arnold said today it has teamed up with a New York agency called No. 11 to form a joint venture called ArnoldEleven.

The collaboration will specialize in providing integrated marketing communications for the fashion, beauty, and luxury industries, the two firms said.

Arnold's roster of clients includes Boston mutual funds giant Fidelity Investments; Timberland Co., a New Hampshire outfit known for its rugged footwear and apparel, and Hershey Co., a Pennsylvania-based snack foods and chocolate company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. distributes $8.4m in tourism grants

The administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick announced the awards of $8.4 million in travel and tourism grants to regional tourism councils.

The grants are to help the councils to promote and market destinations throughout the commonwealth, the governor's office said.

According to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, tourism annually generates more than $833 million in state and local taxes and nearly $13.1 billion in travel related expenditures.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

First Marblehead to reap $177m in fees

Education finance provider First Marblehead Corp. said it will receive about $177.1 million in upfront advisory fees when it completes two upcoming securitizations.

Securitizations are pools of loans that are packaged and sold to investors. The total value of the two deals backed by education loans is about $2.93 billion.

The upfront fees will account for about 55 percent of total revenue from the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the month.

Shares of First Marblehead rose 79 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $37.36 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

NStar submits request for lower gas rate

NStar, the Boston-based utility, said today it has submitted a winter-rate request that would be 18 percent lower than last year's rate for its natural gas customers.

If its rate request is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and goes into effect Nov. 1, the average NStar gas heating customer could notice a drop of $27 per month when compared with last November's price.

In a statement, NStar president and chief executive Thomas J. May attributed the request to charge a lower rate to "the continued decline of natural gas prices on the wholesale market."

The company said its request for the winter rate is for 98 cents per therm, compared with last year's rate of $1.19 per therm.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

iRobot misses out on government contract

Robot maker iRobot Corp. missed out in an effort to win a U.S. military contract to provide robots for use in the Middle East, a company spokeswoman said today.

Shares in the maker of robots for military use and home cleaning fell $5.48, or 23.2 percent, to $18.14 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market; iRobot is based in Burlington.

The US government announced the contract award late Friday, the spokeswoman said. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

MIT gets $50m for entrepreneurship program

Legatum, an international investment firm based in Dubai, announced today a $50 million gift for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that will create a program for aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Legatum president Mark Stoleson said in a statement that Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship will aim to provide a "launching pad for a new generation of entrepreneurs who want to develop the technologies and skills necessary to operate innovative businesses in a developing market context."

In a statement, MIT chancellor Phillip L. Clay said, "MIT has always been committed to making a difference in the world, and we believe this new center continues to help us fulfill that mission."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Filene's Basement to open Maryland store

Filene's Basement, the retailer that became famous for an iconic store in Boston's Downtown Crossing, said today it will open a new store in Columbia, Md., on Wednesday.

"The Basement does especially well in upscale areas, where consumers are fashion-aware and label savvy, but enjoy the fun of finding a bargain," company vice president David Garner said in a statement.

Filene's Basement said Columbia will bring its total number of stores to 34; the chain is a division of Retail Ventures Inc., an Ohio-based retailer.

Earlier this month, Filene's Basement temporarily closed its signature store in Boston while the Filene's Building in Downtown Crossing is extensively renovated as part of an ambitious redevelopment project.

The Downtown Crossing store is scheduled to reopen in 2009, the chain said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon awards $24m battery contract

Raytheon awarded a contract valued at about $24 million to Ultralife Batteries Inc., which makes specialty batteries and chargers, Ultralife said today.

The contract is to produce and supply satellite communications systems for armored vehicles. Deliveries are expected to begin this quarter and be completed in the second quarter of 2008. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

Infinity drugs gets orphan status

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that the Food and Drug Administration granted its cancer treatment candidate IPI-504 orphan drug status.

That designation gives companies seven years of market exclusivity with the drug along with reduced application fees, if the drug is approved.

The drug is aimed at treating a range of cancers and was given the special status specifically for use as a treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors. It is being developed with MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca PLC. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

Enpocket sold to Nokia

Finnish cellphone giant Nokia Corp. said today it has agreed to buy Enpocket of Boston to "accelerate the scaling of its mobile advertising business."

Enpocket describes its technology platform as a mobile advertising campaign management and delivery system.

A press release issued by the two firms did not include financial details of the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Calls to Enpocket were not immediately returned.

"Nokia has already announced its intention to be a leading company in consumer Internet services, and we believe that mobile advertising will be an important element in monetizing those services for our customers and partners," Nokia chief technology partner Tero Ojanpera said in a statement.

Earlier this year, AOL acquired Third Screen Media Inc., a Boston-based mobile advertising company, for an undisclosed price, a Globe story in May noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

eClinicalWorks opens NYC office

Westborough-based eClinicalWorks announced today the opening of an office in New York City.

The privately held eClinicalWorks focuses on the unified electronic medical record and practice management market.

Initially staffed with 30 employees, the New York office will serve to manage and implement the company's electronic health record solutions at physicians practices in the New York City area, eClinicalWorks said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Spire gets ear surgery grant

Spire Corp. of Bedford said today it has been awarded an $870,000 grant to develop a fiber laser for certain kinds of ear surgery.

The two-year grant is from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and it is for developing a high-power fiber laser capable of performing myringotomy and middle-ear surgery without the need for anesthesia, Spire said.

Spire provides products and services to the solar energy, biomedical, and optoelectronics industries that are based on a common technological platform.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

King, Sulentic join Staples board

Staples Inc., an office supplies retailer based in Framingham, announced today the appointments of Justin M. King and Robert E. Sulentic to its board of directors.

King is chief executive of J Sainsbury plc, a UK-based food retailer, and Sulentic is a group president of CB Richard Ellis Group, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services firm, Staples said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)

Microbia lands $70m licensing deal

Microbia Inc., Cambridge biotech company, said it has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with a New York drug company to jointly develop and market Microbia's first drug.

Under terms of the agreement, Forest Laboratories Inc. agreed to initially pay Microbia $70 million in licensing fees to share in the rights of Linaclotide, an experimental drug aimed at treating irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and other gastrointestinal disorders. But Microbia says it could ultimately earn $330 million in licensing and milestone payments over the life of the agreement.

Chief Executive Peter Hecht, who has led the company since its founding nine years ago, said numerous pharmaceutical companies expressed interest in the drug.

"This collaboration is first and foremost the best way we think we can get the drug to patients,'' Hecht said. But he also said the pact also provides money to build its commercial capabilities and continue working on a pipeline of future drugs.

It is also the latest vote of confidence in the privately held company. Microbia has already raised $231 million in private equity funding and is thought to be a candidate for an initial public offering. In addition to Linaclotide, Microbia currently has two other drugs in development, both for high cholesterol. Investors in the company include Fidelity Biosciences Group in Cambridge, Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham and Venrock Associates of Menlo Park, Calif.
Microbia, founded in 1998, has 110 employees.

As part of the deal, Microbia and Forest agreed to jointly develop and commercialize the drug in the United States, splitting the profits equally. Forest, a speciality pharmaceuticals company, will receive the exclusive rights to the drug in Canada and Mexico, while Microbia will retain all the rights outside of North America.

Microbia and Forest plan to begin phase 3 studies of the drug in 2008, large scale tests needed to prove the drug is effective in order to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The company has already shown tantalizing results in earlier stage trials. But only a fraction of drugs that show promise in early stage trials ever make it to market.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

EnerNOC buys MDEnergy

EnerNOC Inc. of Boston today announced it has acquired MDEnergy LLC, a Connecticut energy procurement service provider, for $7.9 million.

EnerNOC uses technology to automate the so-called demand response process for electricity utilities by signing up commercial and industrial companies to conservation programs; during peak demand periods, such as hot summer days, EnerNOC uses its technology to remotely curtail the electricity consumption of companies that have signed onto the program as a way to lower the likelihood of brownouts and outages.

EnerNOC said the acquisition of MDEnergy enables it to apply energy market intelligence as well as an online reverse auction technology platform to help commercial, institutional, and industrial customers make more informed commodity purchasing decisions.

EnerNOC said the purchase price of MDEnergy is composed of about 40 percent in cash and 60 percent in EnerNOC common stock; additional cash payments will be made by EnerNOC in the first quarter of 2008 based on MDEnergy's performance through the end of calendar year 2007.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Alnylam publishes new RNAi research

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the publication on new research on in vivo mechanisms for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

Cambridge-based Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company seeking to develop novel technologies based on RNA interference, or RNAi, a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes; because many diseases are caused by the inappropriate activity of specific cells, the ability to silence genes selectively through RNAi has great potential.

Alnylam said that research by the company and its scientific collaborators was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

Aurora funds Chinese research program

Aurora Imaging Technology Inc. of North Andover said today it will be a corporate underwriter for a program that will bring Chinese research specialists to the United States to learn about breast imaging modalities.

Aurora manufactures breast MRI solutions.

"There is an urgent need for more advanced breast imaging technologies among women in Asia, as breast cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in women," Aurora chief executive and president Olivia Ho Cheng said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)

MFS implements BladeLogic software

MFS, the Boston money management firm, selected software from BladeLogic Inc. for data-center configuration management, BladeLogic of Lexington said today.

MFS will also use BladeLogic solutions to enforce security and regulatory compliance, said BladeLogic, a provider of data-center automation software.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

OrganizedWisdom health site launched

OrganizedWisdom LLC announced today that it has unveiled its new Web search platform and launched OrganizedWisdom Health, which it describes as a "human-powered, doctor-guided search service for health."

The site at organizedwisdom.com features a custom health search engine curated by trained search experts and guided by a team of specialized doctors, the New York company said.

According to OrganizedWisdom, its service provides credible well-organized search results pages for the most popular health search terms without the clutter, redundant links, and index spam typically found in search engines.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

UK provider chooses Comverse

Comverse Technology Inc. said today that a subsidiary will provide services to Inclarity, a UK-based provider of hosted VoIP solutions.

Comverse of Wakefield said that Inclarity has selected Comverse's IPCentrex and IP Trunking Solutions to provide fixed mobile convergence services to its enterprise customers.

Comverse offers a range of solutions and services that enable operators and service providers to deliver hosted telephony services to businesses.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2007

Price for One Laptop Per Child rises

The vaunted "$100 laptop" that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers dreamed up for international schoolchildren is becoming a slightly more distant concept.

Leaders of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child that was spun out of MIT acknowledged today that the devices are now slated to cost $188 when mass production begins this fall. The last price the nonprofit announced was $176; it described $100 as a long-term goal.

Spokesman George Snell blamed the increase on a variety of factors, including currency fluctuations and rising costs of such components as nickel and silicon. He said the project was committed to keeping the price from rising above $190.

While less than $200 for an innovative, wireless-enabled, hand-powered laptop is a relative bargain, a price nearly twice what the project's memorable nickname promised could make it harder for One Laptop Per Child to sign up international governments as customers. Those governments are expected to give the computers to children for them to keep and tinker with, which the project's founders believe will cause critical thinking and creativity to blossom.

"Where does it end? It started out at $130, then it was $148, then it was $176, now it's $188 - what's next? $200?" said Wayan Vota, the former director of the Geekcorps international tech-development organization and current editor of the OLPCNews blog. "You have these governments who were looking at this original, fanciful $100-per-child figure, now we're going up towards or maybe past $200."

One Laptop Per Child says it has commitments for at least 3 million of its rugged "XO" computers, though it won't disclose which countries are first in line. Among the nations that have shown interest are Brazil, Libya, Thailand and Uruguay.

The "XO" machines feature an open-source interface designed to be intuitive for children; a sunlight-readable display; very low power consumption; built-in wireless networking; and a pull cord for recharging by hand. The laptops are being made by Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc. (2382.TW), the world's leading manufacturer of portable computers. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:49 PM | Comments (0)

Campion will leave Citizens

Citizens Financial Group Inc., which operates Citizens Bank, said today that Heather P. Campion, group executive vice president and director of corporate affairs, will be leaving Citizens after nearly a decade.

The press release from Providence-based Citizens Financial Group did not specify a reason for Campion's departure or say where she will be going, and a Citizens spokesman said the company would have no comment beyond its press release.

Citizens Financial Group chairman Lawrence K. Fish praised Campion for her contribution to Citizens in a statement included in the press release.

"Her talent and energy will be missed, and we wish her much success going forward," Fish said in his statement.

The Citizens spokesman said Campion was unavailable for interviews but he e-mailed a prepared statement from Campion to the Globe.

"As the company continues to transition as one of the top 10 banks in America, it's a good time for me to make a change," Campion said in her statement. "I'm leaving behind some great colleagues that I'll miss, but I am looking forward to my next opportunity."

Citizens Financial Group is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

New board members for TJX

TJX Cos. announced today that it has elected Jose B. Alvarez and Alan M. Bennett to its board of directors.

Headquartered in Framingham, TJX is an off-price retailer that operates such apparel and home-fashions chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, A.J. Wright, and Bob's Stores.

Alvarez, 44, has been president and chief executive of the Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover supermarket division of the Dutch food company Royal Ahold N.V. since 2006, TJX said.

Bennett, 57, served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Aetna Inc., a Hartford-based healthcare benefits company, from 2001 to 2007, TJX said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

Patrick proposes merging labor agencies

Governor Deval L. Patrick is proposing legislation to improve efficiency and performance by restructuring three state agencies charged with resolving public labor disputes in Massachusetts, his office said today.

The legislation calls for merging the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, the Labor Relations Commission, and the Joint Labor-Management Committee into one agency to be known as the Division of Labor Relations, which will be managed by a full-time commissioner appointed by the governor, Patrick's office said.

Patrick said in a statement, "The legislation calls for measures to increase accountability, efficiency, and transparency within our labor-related agencies so that they can perform as an effective 21st century business, not as a bureaucracy."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:07 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Bar Foundation awards grants

The Boston Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Boston Bar Association, announced today that it has awarded a total of $1.67 million in 2007 grants to projects providing civil legal services to low income people.

The grants aim to increase access to justice, and they come from the foundation's Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, or IOLTA.

The grants will fund 51 programs conducted by 44 nonprofit organizations throughout Greater Boston, the foundation said.

The total amount of the IOLTA grants is just over $600,000 more than last year's total, the foundation said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:19 PM | Comments (0)

Interactive agency moves to Fort Point

Interactive marketing agency Avenue A|Razorfish said today that it has moved its local offices from Cambridge to larger space in the Fort Point neighborhood of South Boston.

The agency said the move expands its local footprint from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, enabling it to accommodate an expansion to 70 employees over the next one to three years.

Seattle-based Avenue A|Razorfish said that it currently has 38 employees in its local office, and it noted that "the continued acceleration of the digital industry" necessitated a move to larger quarters.

The agency said its local client roster includes the New England Journal of Medicine and EMC Corp., the Hopkinton-based data storage giant.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

RI storage facility lands financing

The Boston office of CBRE|Melody said today that it has arranged $1.7 million in acquisition financing for the owners of a 379-unit self-storage facility in Cumberland, R.I.

The financing, provided by TD Banknorth Inc., a Maine-based subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, was obtained on behalf of Cumberland Self Storage LLC, a venture of the Stubblebine Company of Lexington and Summit Real Estate Strategies LLC.

CBRE|Melody is the debt and equity placement division of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., a commercial real estate services firm headquartered in Los Angeles.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

OuterLink appoints Joseph to top spot

OuterLink Corp. today announced the appointment of Andrew Joseph as chief executive.

The Lowell-based company provides satellite mobile asset solutions that allow customers to manage the locations of air, land, and marine vehicles through tracking and two-way messaging capabilities.

Joseph joins the OuterLink from Corel Corp., a Canadian company that specializes in graphics and digital imaging software, OuterLink said.

Joseph has also been named to its board of directors, OuterLink said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

Protonex shows off fuel cell systems

Protonex Technology Corp. said today it plans to exhibit some of its non-hydrogen fuel cell power systems at a London conference on fuel cells later this month.

The products that will be exhibited, the Southborough-based company said, operate on fuels that can be easily shipped and stored; when power is required, "the fuel cells consume the fuel and produce electricity via a clean electrochemical process with very little noise and emissions."

Protonex chief executive Scott Pearson said in a statement, "Providing fuel cell power systems that can run on readily available and easily stored fuels will enable us to deploy our products into the commercial markets sooner without requiring access to hydrogen."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)

Packaged meals on the rise

A ready-made dinner from Wal-Mart, anyone?

When it comes to packaged meal offerings - industry lingo that loosely translates to take-out food or prepared foods eaten shortly after purchase - some of the biggest growth in the restaurant industry is coming from supermarkets, convenience stores - and, yes, even retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that now offer foodservice options

That's one conclusion of a new study by the NPD Group, a firm in Port Washington, N.Y., that catalogs consumer habits.

"Over the past two years, the foodservice operations at retail outlets (such as convenience stores, supermarkets, discount stores, and price clubs) have posted stronger foodservice traffic growth than any other segment of the restaurant industry," NPD said.

Total restaurant traffic grew by 3 percent over the last two years, but foodservice purchases at retail stores outperformed the total industry with 5 percent growth in the number of meals bought for immediate consumption, said NPD, which added that discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target and price clubs are showing the strongest rate of foodservice growth.

Consumers once looked to supermarkets and convenience stores mostly for "packaged foods," noted NPD vice president Harry Balzer in a statement; now the customers of those stores also want "packaged meals."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)

Chicopee charter jet firm files for IPO

Pogo Jet Inc., a provider of private jet charter service, filed Thursday for an initial public offering of its common stock.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Chicopee, Mass.-based company said the IPO will be conducted through an "OpenIPO," a process in which the public offering price and allocation of shares will be determined by an auction conducted by the underwriter. The minimum size for any bid in the auction will be 100 shares, the company said.

Pogo plans to use proceeds from the offering to fund the purchase of its initial fleet of aircraft. The remaining proceeds will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including the build-up and maintenance of its operating facilities.

Pogo is a provider of private on-demand jet charter service focusing on major metropolitan markets such as New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Toronto. The company, which has established its headquarters at the Westover Metropolitan Airport in Chicopee, plans to inaugurate service in the first quarter of 2009. Pogo plans to operate 25 jets by the end of 2009 and about 100 aircraft by 2011.

Pogo is led by Robert Crandall, who served as chairman, president and chief executive of AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, from 1985 to 1998.

For the six months ended June 30, the company reported a loss of $799,600, compared with a loss of $679,900 in the first half of 2006. Pogo has yet to generate any revenue.

WR Hambrecht & Co. is listed as the sole underwriter for the offering.

The company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "POGO." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Monday ribbon-cuttings at WGBH, WPI

Two ribbon-cutting ceremonies of note are scheduled for Monday, one by WGBH, the other by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, or WPI.

On Monday, WGBH will formally open the doors to its new all-digital studio complex in Boston's Brighton neighborhood; besides housing WGBH's local TV and radio programs, the new facility will provide production studios and office space for such national series as Masterpiece Theatre and Antiques Roadshow, WGBH said.

In Worcester, meanwhile, WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park is set to officially open with a week-long celebration, including a Monday ribbon-cutting ceremony, WPI said.

According to WPI, Gateway Park is a major investment in the future of life sciences research and education, and partly because of the lower operating costs in Central Massachusetts and partly because of proximity to university researchers, Gateway Park should be an ideal location for biotech and life sciences companies.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

BJ's signs data deal with Qwest

Qwest Communications International Inc. announced it has signed an agreement with BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. that will make it BJ's primary data network provider for data services.

Based in Natick, BJ's operates roughly 175 club stores, said Qwest of Denver, a provider of telecommunications and other data services.

According to Qwest, its nationwide IP network will eventually allow BJ's to combine its voice and data applications on a single private network.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

ARC starts work on Laconia school

ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge said it marked a ground breaking this week for a new $24.3 million middle school in Laconia, N.H.

The firm specializes in educational, sports, science, corporate, biotechnology, and research-and-development facilities.

Another firm working on the project was Rist-Frost-Shumway/RFS Engineering, which, according to its website, has offices in Laconia.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Bruker gets $1.3m US contract

Bruker Daltonics Inc. of Billerica said today that it has been awarded a $1.3 million government follow-on contract for further work on a chemical agent monitoring program.

The company, which provides analytical systems for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear detection, said the contract is for further research, development, and testing within the Autonomous Rapid Facility Chemical Agent Monitor program by the US Department of Homeland Security.

The parent company of Bruker Daltonics is Bruker BioSciences Corp.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2007

Cubist's shares fall after patent error

Shares of Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell today as some analysts said the Lexington company's request to correct a patent on its antibiotic Cubicin could speed up approval for generic versions of the drug.

Before trading began today, the company said it wants a patent on the drug removed from the Food and Drug Administration list of patents, because one of the amino acids in the drug is incorrectly identified.

Cubist said it found the error as it was preparing for rivals to file applications for generic equivalents to Cubicin, the company's lead product.

Shares closed up 18 cents at $23.23 Wednesday, but were down 3.3 percent, at $22.46, this afternoon.

Generic drug makers could start filing applications for their own versions, or challenges to Cubist's patents. Some analysts suggested the move could delay those applications.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

Evergreen breaks ground for new facility

Evergreen Solar Inc. broke ground yesterday on a planned $165 million facility at the site of former Fort Devens Army base on land within the historical boundaries of the community of Harvard.

Evergreen Solar, a Marlborough-based manufacturer of solar power products, said the new facility should double the number of its Massachusetts employees to more than 600.

Among state officials who attended the groundbreaking were Ian A. Bowles, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Robert Culver, president and chief executive of MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:42 PM | Comments (0)

Bus passengers at Logan may soon see wait times

Logan International Airport passengers could by late next year see new computerized signs telling them how long they have to wait for an airport shuttle bus or Logan Express coach.

The board of directors of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, this morning approved a $1.9 million upgrade of a system used to dispatch taxicabs and limousines and collect fees they pay Massport to serve airport passengers.

Francis Anglin, Massport's information services director, said one appealing feature of the upgrade is that it also provides the underlying technology needed for message boards that would tell Logan passengers waiting outside the four terminals how many minutes until the next Massport shuttle bus or Logan Express coach to Braintree, Framingham, Peabody, or Woburn is expected to arrive. The system would use transponders like the Turnpike Authority FastLane toll-payment devices mounted on buses that sense when they have passed waypoints outside terminals. The waiting-time advisory system could also be used by airport rental car shuttle buses and other public transportation vehicles serving Logan.

Anglin said installing the system is subject to Massport directors approving funding in a capital plan early next year. "I'd like to shoot to get it in late fall 2008,'' Anglin said. "We'd really like to get it on the 22 and 33 buses'' that take riders to the MBTA Airport Blue Line station. "We know that people get frustrated, especially when they come in late at night and they're waiting to get the bus to the T and after a long trip to Boston they don't know how long they're going to have to wait,'' Anglin said.
(Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

Ringleader gets jail in TJX data breach case

A Miami man was sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in an identity theft ring that was tied to the data breach at TJX Cos., Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said today.

TJX, the Framingham-based retailer that operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright, disclosed in January that hackers broke into a system that managed credit card and debit card transactions, the attorney general's office said.

It is now believed that thieves were able to steal more than 45 million credit card and debit card numbers as a result of the breach; TJX has said that 75 percent of those cards were expired or had their data masked at the time of the theft.

The Miami man, Irving Escobar, was also ordered to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution for "leading the criminal operation that used personally identifiable information stolen from the TJX data breach," according to a press release from McCollum's office.

A criminal investigation conducted by the Gainesville, Fla., police department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed a complex operation that was using counterfeit cards with stolen credit card data; leading the operation, Escobar coordinated the use of these cards to purchase gift cards at Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs, McCollum's office said.

A TJX spokeswoman issued a statement, "We continue to support the ongoing law enforcement efforts to bring the criminals who attacked our company to justice."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)

J.C. Flowers invests in Kessler Group

Company management and affiliates of J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, a private equity firm, announced today they will invest $100 million for a minority stake in the Kessler Group.

Based in Boston, the Kessler Group is a privately owned financial-services firm that specializes in partnership development, credit card marketing, affinity marketing, and portfolio acquisitions.

Following the transaction, the Kessler Group said it plans to "develop a business focused on investment opportunities in the credit card industry."

J.C. Flowers is headquartered in New York.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

Cytyc to vote on purchase offer

Cytyc Corp. said today that it will hold a shareholder meeting on Oct. 18 to vote on its proposed acquisition by Hologic Inc.

The meeting will take place at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport at 9:00 a.m. EDT.

Cytyc shareholders would receive 0.52 of a share of Hologic stock and $16.50 in cash for each share of Cytyc stock they own. The combination would create one of the largest companies in the world that focuses exclusively on technology in women's health.

Cytyc shares rose 16 cents to $44.13 in morning trading as Hologic rose 6 cents to $54.28. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Harvard launches "deferred MBA" program

Harvard Business School unveiled an initiative today that will conditionally guarantee college undergraduates a place in its MBA program.

The initiative, which the school described as a "first-of-its-kind deferred MBA admissions program," is called HBS 2+2, and it's designed to reach out to qualified college students, especially those who may not typically consider business as a career path, the school said.

HBS 2+2 will "give undergraduates a guaranteed place in a future Harvard Business School MBA class, contingent upon their graduation from college and the successful completion of two years of approved work experience," the school said.

Undergraduates will be eligible to apply by July 1 after the conclusion of their junior year in college, the school said.

The school said it plans to help students admitted to the program find jobs for the two years between college graduation and their start at the business school, the school said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Perini names Burk CFO

Perini Corp. announced today the appointment of Kenneth R. Burk as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Framingham-based Perini specializes in general contracting, construction management, and design services.

Since 2001, Burk has held the position of president and chief executive of Union Switch & Signal of Pittsburgh, a transportation system, engineering, and electronics subsidiary of Ansaldo STS of Italy, Perini said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Clarks launches "cool" shoes

The Clarks Companies N.A. of Newton today announced the market launch of a new comfort footwear line that incorporates a patented air-circulation system for keeping feet cool.

The sport and casual line for men and women is called Unstructured; priced between $100 and $125, the shoes feature a "climate-control system that allows warm moist air inside the shoe to be replaced by ambient outside air," the company said.

The Unstructured collection will be available at such retailers as Nordstrom Inc. and the Walking Company as well as in Clarks and Bostonian stores, Clarks said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:34 AM | Comments (0)

Staples eyes governance changes

Staples Inc. announced today that its board of directors has agreed to propose an amendment to remove supermajority voting provisions from the company's charter.

The Framingham-based retailer of office supplies said that the proposal is in response to a June 2007 shareholder request and that the proposal is "consistent with Staples' commitment to corporate governance best practices."

The proposed amendment would remove current provisions that require that holders of at least two-thirds of Staples' outstanding voting stock approve certain significant corporate transactions, Staples said.

The proposed amendment is expected to be submitted for shareholder approval at the company's 2008 annual meeting and requires approval by holders of at least two-thirds of Staples' outstanding voting stock, Staples said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

Critical Therapeutics cites positive results

Critical Therapeutics Inc. announced today encouraging results from a clinical trial of an asthma treatment.

The Lexington-based company said that treatment with its ZYFLO CR extended release tablets "significantly improved lung function in moderate persistent asthma patients compared to placebo."

The company said that data from the clinical trial was published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal.

Results from a separate company study on asthma were published in the Drug Safety edition of the Official Journal of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance, Critical Therapeutics said.

That clinical trial focused on ZYFLO, an immediate release formulation of zileuton, the company said, and results demonstrated safety in patients with chronic asthma.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: Kitchens wasted on U.S. loo lovers

Forget granite counter-tops and Sub-Zero refrigerators, and save the luxury amenities for the bathroom - because most Americans log more time in the loo than they do in their kitchens.

So concludes a recent national online survey of 1,000 Americans by Ikea, the furniture company.

While 94 percent of those surveyed said that home is the most important place in the world, 46 percent said they spend more time at work than at home, the survey found.

And when they're at home, many Americans give their kitchens a good leaving-alone; 26 percent of those surveyed said they eat take-out food two to three times a week.

What's more, Americans occupy their bathrooms for between 16 and 30 minutes a day while only 5 percent of those surveyed said they spent more time in the kitchen, Ikea said.

Those results pose this question for consumers, "Should I renovate my kitchen into another bathroom?"
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Inverness completes Cholestech purchase

Medical diagnostics company Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. said today that it completed the buyout of Cholestech Corp., which also makes diagnostic products.

Cholestech agreed to the $326.3 million stock deal in June. Its shareholders received 0.43642 shares of Inverness stock for each Cholestech share held. In all, Inverness issued about 6.8 million shares of its stock.

Shares of Inverness closed at $48.56 Wednesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)

D'Angelo's expands "Toasted Classics"

Hearty trenchermen should take note of news from D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches, which announced today that it is expanding its line of Toasted Classic Sandwiches.

Since the line's rollout last fall, the Dedham-based chain said that toasted classics have accounted for more than 10 percent of overall sandwich sales.

Among new offerings are the Pastrami Reuben, the BBQ Steak, and the Spicy Meatball, which will augment an existing lineup that includes such choices the Tuna & Swiss Melt and the Thanksgiving Toasted, one of D'Angelo's best selling sandwiches, the chain said.

D'Angelo's parent company is Papa Gino's Holdings Corp., which also operates the Papa Gino's pizzeria chain.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)

Study: PC shipments will rise 12.6% in 2007

Worldwide shipments of personal computers are projected to rise 12.6 percent in 2007 to 257.5 million units, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

Headquartered in Framingham, IDC is a global market intelligence firm.

Countries in the Asia/Pacific region, excluding Japan, are helping to drive raised expectations for the sector, IDC said.

"Overall, we should expect to see strong growth for the next several years, with double-digit increases expected through 2009," Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, said in a statement. "The shift to mobility will continue to drive growth, as portable PCs are expected to represent more than 50 percent of shipment value during 2007 and more than half of worldwide volume by 2009."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

TA invests in Canadian printing company

TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm with offices in Boston, said it has completed a "significant minority investment" in Gandinnovations, a company focused on digital printing technology.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

TA noted that Gandinnovations, which has its headquarters in Canada, is a manufacturer of state-of-the-art wide format graphics printers and ink.

TA said that one of the firm's managing directors, A. Bruce Johnston, and senior vice president Harry D. Taylor will join Gandinnovations' board of directors.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Finagle serves pink bagels for charity

The Newton-based Finagle A Bagel chain is selling pink bagels at all 20 of its local restaurants to help raise awareness and funds for the Dimock Community Health Center.

The center serves families in Boston's Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods.

Finagle customers will be invited to purchase $1 pink ribbons, and all proceeds from the ribbons will go to the center for its women's outreach program, the chain said.

Finagle is working with the Boston Red Sox Foundation to raise awareness and funds for the Dimock center as part of a campaign that is scheduled to run through Oct. 5.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

Havas expands in Middle East

Havas, the French advertising and communications services group that owns Boston ad agency Arnold Worldwide, said it has "dramatically extended its operations" in the Middle East.

Havas said it has reached an agreement with the Chalhoub Group to turn it into a 50-50 long-term joint venture with the aim of building their advertising, media, and public relations interests in the region.

Havas said it previously had only a minority share in the Chalhoub Group, which specializes in the retail, distribution, marketing, and communications of global luxury brands.

Founded in Damascus, the group bill itself on its website as the "ambassador of luxury lifestyle in the Middle East."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2007

Friendly appoints a marketing VP

Friendly Ice Cream Corp. has named George "Skip"’ Weldon as its vice president of marketing.

The chain, headquartered in Wilbraham, has about 515 company-owned and franchised restaurants; it also makes ice cream that's distributed in stores.

Weldon had been vice president of field marketing for Dunkin' Donuts.

Friendly was recently acquired by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Florida private equity firm, for $337.2 million.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:34 PM | Comments (0)

Plaintiffs seek class-action bias suit vs. EMC

A sex-discrimination lawsuit by two former female employees of EMC Corp. describes a men's locker-room atmosphere at the data storage vendor's sales offices and alleges women were systematically denied equal pay and forced to accompany men on company-paid strip club visits.

A hearing is scheduled for Monday in a bid to include all women who worked in sales at Hopkinton-based EMC, the largest provider of data storage systems for corporate clients, from 2001 to 2004.

More than 40 women have alleged sex discrimination by EMC in lawsuits, affidavits, or complaints to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said plaintiffs' attorney Linda D. Friedman.

The 33,000-employee company contends the claims are baseless.

Said spokesman Mark Frederickson: ""We have a diverse, inclusive company, with thousands of successful women all over the world. Women are among our highest-paid sales people."

The suit, reported today by The Wall Street Journal, was filed in federal court in Chicago in June 2004 by Tami Remien and Debra Fletcher, formerly of EMC's Chicago sales office.

The lawsuit doesn’t specify a damages total being sought. It asks that the women be awarded past and future compensation and benefits they allegedly lost, as well as punitive damages and other relief.

Monday's hearing involves a dispute over expert witness testimony on the class-action question, and a ruling on class-action status is not expected immediately, Friedman said.

The lawsuit describes sexual discrimination as being "national in scope'’ at EMC sales offices.

Frederickson said EMC's US sales force is 13.5 percent female.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:09 PM | Comments (0)

Loans set to renovate North End apartments

MassHousing, the state's affordable housing bank, has made loan commitments of up to $10.5 million to help renovate the Casa Maria apartments in Boston's North End, the agency said today.

Casa Maria is an 85-unit complex for low-income elderly and handicapped residents that's owned by Casa Maria Housing Corp.

Built in 1980, the six-story building at 130 Endicott St. will undergo a $21.7 million renovation.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:49 PM | Comments (0)

Galvin says financial firm took personal data from career website

Morgan Stanley employees abused personal data from resumes on the CareerBuilder.com website to make cold calls to sell financial products, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin alleged in a complaint filed today.

In an administrative complaint filed today against the New York financial-services firm and three of its Boston employees, Galvin's offices described the methods as misleading, dishonest, and unethical, especially since many of the people contacted had already registered themselves on "do-not-call'' lists prohibiting contact by telemarketers.

The usage by Morgan Stanley also violated the firm's contract with CareerBuilder.com, Galvin said.

Morgan Stanley said in a statement that "These charges involve an isolated instance in one office involving a single financial adviser. Morgan Stanley takes its do-not-call obligations extremely seriously, has systems in place to prevent abuse and trains its personnel to abide by all regulations. The firm fully cooperated in this investigation from its outset. In fact, we provided all requested documents in a timely manner, including several hundred thousand documents and emails, and made all relevant personnel available for interviews.''
(Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)

Northland Investment names a new CEO

Steven P. Rosenthal will join Northland Investment Corp. as chief executive.

Headquartered in Newton, Northland is a privately held real estate investment and development company.

Northland said today that Rosenthal comes to the company from the Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo PC, where he was a co-managing member of the firm.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)

Berklee to honor actor Clint Eastwood

Berklee College of Music will present an honorary degree to Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood may be best known for tough guy roles such as Dirty Harry, but he has "created a deeper appreciation for music, specifically jazz, through his films as a director, producer, and as a composer," the Boston college said today.

Berklee cited the movie "Play Misty for Me," in which Eastwood played a jazz disc jockey, a biopic of jazz great Charlie Parker, and a documentary titled "Thelonious Monk Straight No Chaser" as examples of the Eastwood oeuvre where music played a star turn.

Plans call for Eastwood to be presented with the honorary degree by Berklee president Roger Brown and star alumna Diana Krall (class of 1983) at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Sept. 22.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)

Ex-Cartoon Network exec gets new job

The former head of the Cartoon Network who resigned over a publicity stunt that caused a terrorism scare in Boston will become the next president of HGTV, the home and garden cable network announced today.

Jim Samples, 44, will join Knoxville-based HGTV on Oct. 1, working with retiring HGTV chief Judy Girard before she steps down later this year, a company statement said.

HGTV is the largest of Scripps Networks' brands, reaching more than 95 million subscriber households and 5 million visitors monthly on its Web site. Scripps, a unit of media company E.W. Scripps Co., also owns Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living and Great American Country.

Samples resigned in February as general manager and executive vice president of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network after a promotion for a cartoon show caused bomb scares. Dozens of blinking circuit boards of a cartoon character giving the finger appeared in 10 cities. In some cases, police closed roads and sent in bomb squads.

Turner and its ad agency paid $2 million in compensation.

Scripps Networks President John Lansing didn't mention the incident in a statement Wednesday. Instead he emphasized Samples' nearly 15 years' experience in television and success in developing Cartoon Networks' young adult audience since 2001.

"Few people have the breadth and depth of experience that Jim brings -- experience that is very relevant to our growth strategy for HGTV," Lansing said. "Like Judy, Jim knows how to create compelling, original programming that viewers love while also broadening the appeal of the brand to attract new audiences." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)

Peapod enhances offerings

Internet grocery service Peapod LLC, which shares a corporate parent with the Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., said it is providing enhanced options for its small business customers.

Peapod had been fulfilling orders for both residential and small business customers from a Stop & Shop in Watertown; now a Stop & Shop in Boston's Allston neighborhood will focus on orders for Peapod's local small business customers, the company said.

By using a second Stop & Shop as a fulfillment center, Peapod said it can offer its business customers more flexible delivery windows and additional capacity.

According to Peapod, its service makes sense for small businesses such as law firms and design firms that want to stock the company kitchen with such items as frozen dinners, fresh juices, and vitamin waters as well as occasional deli and pastry platters.

Offices with fewer than 100 employees is "a high-growth potential area for our business" as such companies increasingly look to "provide convenient, nutritious food and beverages on-site for employees," Peapod president Andrew Parkinson said in a statement.

Chicago-based Peapod and Quincy-based Stop & Shop are both owned by Royal Ahold, a Dutch food company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

2 Tufts-New England buildings sold

A subsidiary of NNN Realty Advisors Inc. has acquired two buildings on the Boston campus of the Tufts-New England Medical Center for around $116 million as part of a transaction in which the medical center will lease back the buildings.

The acquired properties are the Biewend Building and the Tupper Building, both 14 stories tall, said Triple Net Properties LLC, the NNN subsidiary; much of the space in the buildings is used for laboratories and outpatient services.

Triple Net, which said it acquired the buildings on behalf of tenant-in-common investors, said the seller was NEMC Real Estate Co., the medical center's real estate arm, which was represented in the transaction by Grubb & Ellis Co., a Chicago-based real estate services firm.

Headquartered in California, NNN Realty Advisors is a commercial real estate and asset management firm.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

Barnstable best-savings Mass. town

When it comes to putting money away for retirement, nobody does it like the people in Los Alamos, N.M., but residents of Barnstable, on Cape Cod, aren't doing too badly.

For the second straight year, Los Alamos, a community of 18,500 residents tops A.G. Edwards' "Nest Egg Index." The index ranks the top 500 U.S. communities on their residents' personal savings and investing behavior. Barnstable was the highest-ranking Massachusetts town, finishing sixth in the saving sweepstakes.

The index also ranks the states, with Connecticut surpassing last year's winner, New Jersey, for the top spot. New Jersey fell to second, followed by Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maryland.

"It's no secret that developing a strategy for building your nest egg and sticking to your plan will give you a greater chance of successfully achieving your goals," said Sophie Beckmann, personal finance strategist for the St. Louis-based financial company. "But what the communities in this survey have demonstrated is that solid savings coupled with debt reduction leads to success, and the rankings show that."

The survey looked at the approximate 930 communities as defined by the Census Bureau. The "Nest Egg Index" involved a dozen statistical factors ranging from participation in retirement savings plans to personal debt levels and home ownership. A.G. Edwards used consumer data compiled by the marketing information firm Claritas and a cost of living measure from the Council for Community and Economic Research.

A.G. Edwards said high-performing cities and states tended to be those with strong housing markets and a propensity toward saving and investing, particularly in 401(k) plans, pension plans and other retirement vehicles.

Nineteen of the top 20 communities had lower debt levels than the national average, and all of them had above-average scores in all savings and investing categories.

Los Alamos achieved a score of 134.83, indexed to a national average of 100. The California metroplex of San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara was second at 127.61, followed by Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (125.15), Torrington, Conn. (121.15), and the San Francisco-Oakland area (118.94). Barnstable earned its sixth place rank with an 118.36 average.

The state rankings showed many Midwestern states in the top tier, and many southern states near the bottom.

Four of the bottom five states were in the South. Alabama ranked 46th followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, with an index score of 86.50. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

NaviSite buys netASPx

NaviSite Inc., which provides outsourced Web site and data services, said today that it will acquire privately-owned applications management service provider netASPx for $40.5 million.

The deal, which was expected to close by the end of today, includes about $15.5 million in cash and $25 million in convertible preferred stock, NaviSite said.

NaviSite said the acquisition of the Herndon, Va.-based company broadens its existing portfolio of applications management expertise, expands its customer base and bolsters its presence in the Midwest.

The deal was financed through a $20 million addition to NaviSite's current senior term facility and the issuance of $25 million of series A convertible preferred stock, the company said.

NaviSite shares rose 25 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $7.30 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

Bingham wins Marshall award

Bingham McCutchen LLP, a national law firm with a large local presence, has won the Boston Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Award for 2007, the association said today.

This year's award recognizes Bingham McCutchen for its generosity in providing pro bono legal representation to the needy and its commitment to improving the educational experience of underserved children and youth, the association said.

The award will be presented at the association's annual lunch Sept. 25 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

AS&E gets European customs order

American Science & Engineering Inc., which makes X-ray inspection products, said today that it has received a $4.1 million contract from a European customs agency to provide service and maintenance for its X-ray systems.

AS&E did not specify which agency or when the contract begins. Representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.

The company's chief executive, Anthony Fabiano, said in a statement that the contract "extends our longstanding relationship" with the agency.

AS&E shares fell 17 cents to $66.52 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

Microsoft, Novell open "interoperability lab"

Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. announced today the opening of an "interoperability lab" in Cambridge.

At the 2,500-square-foot facility, a priority of a lab team made up of Microsoft and Novell engineers will be to ensure interoperability between Microsoft and Novell virtualization technologies, the companies said.

Plans for the lab were announced last fall as part of a collaboration agreement between Microsoft and Novell, the two said.

Headquartered in Waltham, Novell designs, develops, and supports proprietary and open-source software for use in business solutions.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

Sermo raises $26.7 million

Sermo, a Cambridge-based online community of doctors, announced today that it has secured $26.7 million in Series C financing.

According to Sermo, nearly 30,000 doctors from all 50 states have joined its community, which looks to aggregate the collective wisdom of these doctors in a way that improves patient care.

Sermo said the Series C financing was led by Legg Mason Capital Management, a Baltimore-based equity manager that is a subsidiary of Legg Mason Inc.

With the new investment, Sermo said it will accelerate its efforts to better handle the influx of new content into the community and to improve the site experience for doctors.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

MFA masterpieces for your cellphone

For cellphone users who want to use a Claude Monet water lily or an Edward Hopper lighthouse as mobile wallpaper for their cellphone screens, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston has good news.

On its behalf, Boston ad agency Hill Holliday has developed MFA Mobile, which allows users to wirelessly download museum masterpieces to cellphones and other mobile devices, the museum said.

A single wallpaper is priced at $1.99. Users may choose an MFA Mobile subscription for $4.99 per month, which includes up to five wallpapers per month and a bonus exclusive wallpaper of the month.

"We're thrilled to be the first museum in the country to initiate a Mobile Wallpaper program, enabling users to carry a museum masterpiece with them wherever they go," Kim French, deputy director of communications at the MFA, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:08 AM | Comments (0)

TJX declares dividend

Off-price retailer TJX Cos. on Tuesday declared a regular quarterly dividend of 9 cents.

The dividend is payable Nov. 29, to shareholders of record on Nov. 8. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

HRPT Trust prices $250m offering

Real estate investment trust HRPT Properties Trust on Tuesday priced $250 million worth of debt in a public offering to be used to pay down outstanding debt on its revolving credit facility.

Settlement of the sale of its 6.65 percent unsecured senior notes due in 2018 is expected on Sept. 18.

The book-running managers for the offering were Wachovia Securities, Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS Investment Bank. Lead managers were Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets.

HRPT shares rose 10 cents to close at $9.46. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

Winthrop Realty declares dividend

Winthrop Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust, said Tuesday its board declared a regular quarterly dividend of 6.5 cents per share.

The dividend is payable Oct. 15 to shareholders of record Sept. 28. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:48 AM | Comments (0)

Protonex partners with Raytheon

Protonex Technology Corp. announced today that Raytheon Co. will participate in the development of its portable fuel cell power system for the US Army.

Protonex of Southborough is a provider of fuel cell power systems for sub-kilowatt portable, remote, and mobile applications.

The work with Raytheon will be completed under a subcontract of Protonex's previously awarded $3.5 million Army contract, Protonex said.

The contract calls for the development of a 250-watt portable fuel cell power source that is significantly smaller, lighter, quieter, and more efficient than alternative battery or generator systems, Protonex said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

Mora implements SolidWorks technology

Mora of Sweden has been making knives since the 1600s and now it is using design-analysis software from SolidWorks of Concord to improve the ergonomics of its knife handles.

SolidWorks said its software helps Mora to accelerate new product development and reduce costs.

In a statement, Mora design manager Olov Larsson added that SolidWorks' surface and free-form modeling capabilities allows the firm to "refine our grips based on knife function and user feedback."

SolidWorks is part of Dassault Systemes S.A., a French provider of product lifecycle management software.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:36 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage applications up

As investors look for signs of how trouble in the subprime mortgage market may be affecting the larger economy, the Mortgage Bankers Association today released its latest weekly figures on mortgage applications.

For the week ending Sept. 7, the association's market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application activity, was 657.4, an increase of 5.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 622.9 one week earlier.

The index includes an adjustment for the fact that banks were closed on Labor Day last week, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Sebastians to host "sustainable" dinner

For locals with a taste for organic wines and an extra 150 bucks in their pockets, a Harvest Wine Dinner Sept. 25 might be worth consideration.

On that date, Sebastians Interactive Kitchen is inviting the public to its location in Boston's Seaport District to "experience the delights of sustainable cuisine."

Among the planned menu offerings: New potato blinis with eggplant caviar and roasted red pepper.

The event will feature a cooking demonstration by Sebastians chef Julia Shanks, a cocktail reception, and a three-course meal of local offerings paired with organic wines provided by the Lower Falls Wine Shop, Sebastians said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

Rockport adds adidas technology

The Rockport Company, a Canton-based footwear company, is debuting a shoe line that features technology from its new corporate parent - adidas Group of Germany.

Rockport said its "stylish" new collection is equipped with adidas Torsion technology, which was originally designed for athletic footwear.

The Rockport with adidas Torsion men's collection "includes 14 styles ranging from athletic-inspired casual to modern, contemporary dress looks," the company said.

Rockport became part of the adidas brand portfolio as part of adidas's $3.8 billion purchase last year of Reebok International Ltd.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)

Sylvan reorganizes Boston centers

Sylvan Learning Inc. said it will franchise 11 company-owned after-school learning centers in the Boston area as part of a new strategy.

Baltimore-based Sylvan operates nearly 1,200 learning centers in North America that are perhaps best known for programs in reading and math.

Sylvan said its new strategy is the result of changes in consumer population and density; the company also said that the ownership of learning centers by local franchisees can make learning centers more responsive to community needs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2007

Mass., others seek more oversight of Microsoft

A group of states led by California and including Massachusetts today asked a federal judge to extend court oversight of Microsoft Corp.'s business practices for five more years.

The antitrust settlement reached in 2002 between Microsoft, the federal government, and 17 states is scheduled to expire Nov. 12.

Microsoft has been under court supervision for the past five years and has had to report regularly on its compliance with the settlement.

Stephen Houck, representing California, said an extension is necessary to ensure that Microsoft's new Vista operating system continues to comply with the consent decree.

California was joined by Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington said any extension would need to be for an "identifiable purpose.'’ Microsoft is on track to be in compliance with the antitrust settlement when it expires, she said.

The antitrust settlement barred Microsoft from certain anticompetitive behaviors, such as seeking deals with computer makers to exclude competing software.

Jack Evans, spokesman for Microsoft, said, "We'rea bit surprised that a few states are now requesting an extension,"’ given that they criticized the settlement as ineffective last month.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:33 PM | Comments (0)

Serica expands headquarters

Serica Technologies Inc., a privately held medical device company, says it has doubled the size of its Medford headquarters to 22,000 square feet.
The company, which has 30 employees, has a relationship with nearby Tufts University.

Serica said it is beginning to manufacture a natural silk material to help stabilize ligaments and tendons following surgery to repair connective issue.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)

Planning for Columbia Point begins soon

The Boston Redevelopment Authority will soon begin a public process to prepare a master plan for guiding development on Columbia Point in Dorchester, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said today.

According to Menino's office, a number of development proposals are being discussed for Columbia Point, where the University of Massachusetts at Boston has its campus and where the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum is located.

A Globe story in June noted that Corcoran Jennison Cos., which owns Bayside Exposition Center, is proposing to replace that facility with a $1 billion mixed-use project that could create a neighborhood of housing, office, and retail space on Dorchester Bay.

The master plan study area involves 412 acres between Dorchester Bay and Interstate 93, the mayor's office said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Billerica company gets order from Pentagon

American Science & Engineering Inc., a Billerica company that makes X-ray inspection products, today said the Department of Defense has purchased products for checkpoint security at an overseas military base.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The order included three SmartCheck systems, which screen personnel for explosives and contraband, and a Gemini system, which checks packages for unauthorized materials.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)

MIT endowment grows by $1.6b

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's endowments grew by $1.6 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, thanks in large part to a 22.1 percent investment return.

According to a news release, the endowment's assets totaled $9.98 billion.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Investment Management Co., the investing arm for MIT's endowments, reported strong returns from real estate, private equity, and domestic and international equities.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:42 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Globe Media launches "Lola"

Boston Globe Media announced today the November launch of "Lola," a lifestyle magazine aimed at women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

The magazine, with a planned print run of about 45,000 copies, will be available free of charge at 800 locations throughout Greater Boston; starting in January, Lola will appear monthly, said Boston Globe Media, a group that includes The Boston Globe, Boston.com, GlobeDirect, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Boston Globe Media noted that "Lola" will be the third niche publication it has launched within the last year; the other two are "Design New England" and "Fashion Boston."

Many newspapers, especially those in large urban markets where high-speed Internet connections are readily available, are losing readers and ad dollars to the Internet; developing niche publications is one way to capture additional revenue.

"We are strategically pursuing new markets and niche segments by developing a portfolio of publications that meet the targeted needs of advertisers and audiences," Boston Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley said in a statement.

The "on-the-go lifestyle magazine" is designed to bring Boston women a "best friend's take on everything and anything that can make local life a little better."

Lucy Bartholomay, the Globe's managing director of product innovation, further described "Lola" in a statement.

"Created as a trusted friend for women, 'Lola' will be informing, entertaining, and inspiring," Bartholomay said. "She'll have plenty to say about local restaurants and shopping as well as about healthy living, relationships, things to do and think about."

For convenience, the magazine will be of a compact size that easily fits into a purse, backpack, or briefcase, the company said.

Susanne Althoff, senior assistant editor of The Boston Globe Magazine, will serve as "Lola's" consulting editorial director, Boston Globe Media said.

Boston Globe Media is owned by The New York Times Co.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon delivers non-lethal defense system

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. said today that it delivered a non-lethal defense system to the U.S. Air Force.

Financial terms were undisclosed.

The system, called Active Denial System 2, uses wave energy to repel people without injuring them. The system emits a focused beam of millimeter-wave energy that slightly penetrates the skin producing an "intolerable heating sensation" that causes a person to flee, Raytheon said.

Raytheon built the system for the Air Force under the Office of the Secretary of Defense's advanced concept technology demonstration program.

Shares rose 25 cents to $59.89 during morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

VMware acquires Dunes Technologies

Virtualization software maker VMware Inc., the California company controlled by local data-storage giant EMC Corp., announced today that it has acquired Dunes Technologies.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dunes is a Swiss company that provides information-technology process software for virtual environments.

Software for virtualization technology enables the server computers used by businesses and other enterprises to run multiple operating systems, in effect transforming themselves into "virtual servers" that let organizations add computing power at low cost.

Last month, EMC of Hopkinton spun off 10 percent of VMware in a public stock offering; on their first day of trading, VMware shares rose 75.8 percent, notching the biggest opening-day gain to that point for any stock in 2007.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Report charts demand for accounting

A report out today found that a net 4 percent of chief financial officers for Boston area companies expect to hire accounting and finance personnel during the fourth quarter.

The report is the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index, and it is compiled by Robert Half International Inc., a California-based firm that provides staffing and risk consulting services.

According to the index, eight percent of executives surveyed plan to add staff during the quarter, and 4 percent anticipate reductions in personnel.

The net 4 percent increase is unchanged from the area's third-quarter forecast, Robert Half International said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

Denver firm buys Peabody apartments

Simpson Housing LLLP of Denver has purchased Highlands at Dearborn, a new 446-unit apartment complex in Peabody, said a broker involved in the transaction.

The broker is Apartment Realty Advisors, or ARA, which has offices in Burlington; the seller is the property's builder, Fairfield Residential, a real estate firm with offices in California and Texas, ARA said.

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed in ARA's press release.

A Globe story from early 2006 noted that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority had designated Simpson as the developer of a one-acre block of land in Boston's Bulfinch Triangle, near North Station.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

Lionbridge names Muir CFO

Lionbridge Technologies Inc., which translates software, Web content and other materials for companies to assist with international operations, said today that it named Donald Muir chief financial officer.

Muir, 51, will join the company on Sept. 17. He replaces Steve Lifshatz, who resigned in August. Lionbridge said the resignation was not related to his work at the company.

Muir has previously served as the CFO of American Power Conversion, a maker of backup power equipment that was acquired by Schneider Electric SA. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

Cognex changes accountants

Cognex Corp., a maker of vision sensors used in automated manufacturing, said today that it replaced Ernst & Young LLP as its independent public accountant with Grant Thornton LLP.

The company said the change was not made because of "any matter of accounting principles or practice, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or auditing procedure."

In late July, the company announced it would delay reporting second-quarter results to review accounting irregularities at its Japanese unit. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

TAGSYS raises $35 million fund

TAGSYS announced today that it has closed $16 million in the second and final tranche of its $35 million Series C round of funding.

The Cambridge company focuses on infrastructure that supports Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, technology, which uses radio frequencies to track people or objects; typically, a company will use RFID to track inventory and product flow in its supply chain.

TAGSYS said the closing brings total company financing to $80 million.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)

GlaxoSmithKline will sell Sepracor drug

Sepracor Inc. said today that it signed a deal giving GlaxoSmithKline PLC rights to sell its eszopiclone, known as Lunesta, insomnia treatment in markets worldwide, excluding North America and Japan.

The deal is worth $155 million if all milestones are met, Sepracor said. Sepracor will receive double-digit royalties that escalate as product sales increase, along with compensation for supplying the drug. GlaxoSmithKline will sell the products, which are under review by European regulators, as Lunivia.

Shares of Sepracor closed at $27.39, and shares of GlaxoSmithKline closed at $53.05 Monday.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:17 AM | Comments (0)

Globespan fund raises $380 million

Globespan Capital Partners announced the close of its fifth fund with commitments of $380 million.

With offices in Boston, Palo Alto, and Tokyo, Globespan is a venture capital firm investing in information technology companies.

With the closing, the firm said it has $1.1 billion under management.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

TRC gets Virginia contract

TRC Cos. Inc., an engineering and construction management firm with offices in Lowell, said today that it has been selected by the Virginia Department of Transportation to inspect two major truss bridges in the state.

The two bridges are the Route 3 Bridge, a two-mile bridge built in 1953 over the Rappahannock River, and the Boulevard Bridge, a steel deck truss bridge built in 1923 over the James River, TRC said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

Hasbro licenses Skee-Ball

Toymaker Hasbro Inc. said today it has signed a multi-year agreement that will allow it to create games based on Skee-Ball, a popular arcade game.

Hasbro has its headquarters in Pawtucket, R.I., but its games division is based in East Longmeadow.

Hasbro said that it signed an agreement with Skee-Ball Inc. of Pennsylvania and that the agreement was brokered by Skee-Ball's licensing agency, the Dimensional Branding Group of California.

Hasbro's press release did not reference the financial terms of the deal but noted that its first Skee-Ball branded products should reach the market by early 2009.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Doerfer joins JAMS

Gordon L. Doerfer, a retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, has joined JAMS, the Resolution Experts, the company said.

JAMS describes itself as the nation's largest provider of alternative dispute resolution services.

JAMS said Doerfer will be based in the JAMS Boston Resolution Center on Beacon Street.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

Rockport names Rupp to top spot

Parent company adidas AG said it has appointed Michael Rupp as chief executive of its Canton-based Rockport footwear brand.

Rupp, who joined adidas in 1987, will take over this position from Rick Paterno Jan. 1, adidas said.

"After almost seven successful years at the helm of Rockport, Rick has decided to step back from his post to spend more time with his family and explore business opportunities outside of the industry," adidas said in a statement.

Adidas acquired the Rockport brand as part of its $3.8 billion purchase last year of Reebok International Ltd.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)

VoodooVox raises $8.1 million

VoodooVox announced today the closing of an $8.1 million Series D financing round led by SoftBank Capital, a venture capital firm with offices in Newton and New York.

North Adams-based VoodooVox specializes in In-Call Media, the patent pending process of inserting ad-supported audio content directly into the call stream of high-call volume companies; according to VoodooVox, its In-Call network is generating new revenue for such companies as Virgin Mobile and Microsoft Corp.

VoodooVox said that SoftBank partner Steve Murray is joining its board of directors.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Summit gets MassHousing nod

MassHousing, the state's affordable housing bank, said that Summit Mortgage of Boston is an approved lender of its MassAdvantage affordable home loan products in Eastern Massachusetts.

Those loan products are aimed at low- and moderate-income home buyers.

"With nine lending locations in Boston and throughout Eastern Massachusetts, we are pleased to welcome Summit Mortgage as a partner in MassHousing's mission of providing affordable mortgage loans to low- and moderate-income home buyers," MassHousing executive director Thomas R. Gleason said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2007

Analog Devices cell chips sold to Chinese firm

MediaTek, Taiwan's largest chip designer by revenue, said today that it will buy cellular chip assets from Massachusetts-based Analog Devices for $350 million, a move that could give it a jump in China's upcoming third-generation telecommunications market.

MediaTek said in a statement that it is acquiring from the U.S. company a range of chipset products for various telecom technologies, including China's homegrown third-generation cell phone technology known as Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA).

TD-SCDMA is currently under trial in various Chinese cities ahead of the launch of third-generation services in the country.

As part of the deal, MediaTek said it is also acquiring an established customer base including Sharp, Samsung Electronics, and Lenovo Group.

MediaTek said it will pay for the acquisition in cash and it expects the deal to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.

Meanwhile, Analog Devices said it will continue developing wireless analog chips.

"This transaction will allow (us) to focus our resources in areas where our signal processing expertise can provide unique capabilities and earn superior returns," Analog Devices chief executive Jerald G. Fishman said in the statement.

Eric Chen of BNP Paribas said the deal makes financial sense because MediaTek is gaining Analog Devices' estimated 20 percent share in the third-generation dual mode -- TD-SCDMA and GSM -- market in China.

Following the deal, "MediaTek becomes (a) real China player," Chen said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:33 PM | Comments (0)

Business-plan contest's prize: $40k in tuition

Braun, a manufacturer of personal and household electronic devices, said it is starting a marketing plan competition for MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and 12 other schools.

Braun will give $40,000 toward business school tuition to the students with the best strategy for its electric shaver business. Three finalists will present their plans to a three-person panel at the Cincinnati headquarters of Procter & Gamble, Braun's parent company.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

Boston firm to assess Calif. prisons

VFA Inc., a Boston business management software company, will provide services to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the largest statewide correctional system in the country, to assess its infrastructure.

According to a news release, VFA will examine more than 5 million square feet of facilities to document building deficiencies and estimate costs for repairs and code compliance. The information will be databased for short and long-term purposes such as maintenance and growth planning.

"Progressive states such as California are learning how to leverage technology to turn that data into valuable information for making optimal decisions about facility spending and long-term capital planning,"’ said Jerry Kokos, VFA's chief executive.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:43 PM | Comments (0)

Report: New England home prices down

Global Insight, a Waltham economic research firm, today released a report that says home prices in New England have declined, despite an overall increase nationwide.

The report, on 2007's second quarter, shows a 2.6 percent increase in home prices nationally, compared to same time last year, the weakest increase since 1995.

The report shows price declines in New England, where the firm saw the highest overvaluation of prices in the past. Boston real estate is now considered undervalued by 1.7 percent.

"The price declines thus far can be seen as relatively mild, given the dramatic fall in home sales," said Jeannine Cataldi, Global Insight's regional real estate service manager. "But the evidence indicates that prices are slowly reverting to their historic relationship to economic fundamentals."
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)

Yodle opens Boston office

Yodle, an online advertising firm for small businesses, said today that it opened its Boston office.

According to a press release, Yodle helps small businesses corner and attract consumers most likely to seek their services by targeting them through online advertising. The firm says it generates about 7,000 phone call leads per month for its clients, and that $1 invested in the company's services leads to $12 in additional profit.

"We want to give the plumber in Milton and the dentist in Brookline an opportunity to reap the benefits of online advertising in a reliable and affordable way," said Court Cunningham, Yodle's chief executive. "There are millions of disenfranchised small businesses across the country, which means a huge opportunity for Yodle to help aggregate real leads – actual calls – and use our unique technology in a way that maximizes the potential of the Web like no one else can.�
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices dip 2 cents

Gasoline prices are down 2 cents from a week ago in Massachusetts, marking the eighth straight week of declining prices.

A statewide survey by AAA of New England found an average price of $2.65 per gallon for self-service regular unleaded. The average was $2.92 eight weeks ago.

A year ago, the average price was $2.64.

The current Massachusetts average is 12 cents below the national average of $2.77. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Bosch deploys PTC technology

Needham-based Parametric Technology Corporation, a mechanical design, manufacturing, and engineering software maker, said today that its Windchill software will be deployed at various business units of the Bosch Group, a top automobile components manufacturer.

According to the press release, adoption of the Windchill program, a data management software, "harmonizes" data management of different Bosch units and decreases the number of system configurations necessary, saving money and providing greater flexibility for operations.

"Bosch Group, as a global leader in automotive and industrial technology providing high quality products, needs efficient processes driven by an integrated product development system to maintain the high level of quality while at the same time reducing costs and increasing productivity," said Jim Heppelmann, executive vice president and chief product officer of Parametric.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Salad Creations opens first Mass. restaurant

Salad Creations, a national salad and wraps chain based in Florida, said today it has opened its first restaurant in Massachusetts at the newly re-opened Natick Mall, now called the Natick Collection.

According to a press release, a Salad Creations restaurant allows consumers to mix and match more than 40 different ingredients and 15 salad dressings. In addition, customers can pick from 10 featured salads as well as soups and wraps.

"“Salad Creations is the ideal solution for the customer who is tired of typical fast food and is searching for a delicious, quick and nutritious alternative,� said Leni Salgan, Salad Creations Natick owner. “Our guests should feel good about what they eat, which is why we only use the freshest seasonal ingredients possible."

The chain plans on opening 30 more restaurants by the end of the year. Its only other restaurant in New England is in Rhode Island.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

Kessler gets $100m investment

The Kessler Group, a Boston credit card industry investment firm, said Friday that a New York-based equity firm made a $100 million investment for a minority stake in the company.

According to a press release, Kessler will use the investment by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC, a private investment firm focusing on the financial service sector, to launch new marketing initiatives. Kessler is also creating Kessler Capital Corporations, an investment arm which will be led by the current Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Sandler.

"My partners and I are very pleased to have The Kessler Group as part of our family of companies and are enthusiastic about utilizing our capital to invest in and augment their best-in-class partnership, marketingand investment banking capabilities," said J. Christopher Flowers, managing director of J.C. Flowers & Co., in the press release.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Forrester bullish on digital home products

Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge-based research firm, said today that market for digital home products like high-definition televisions and digital video recorders will be the fastest growing consumer technology segment over the next five years.

According to the company's report, "The State of Consumers And Technology: Benchmark 2007," the number of households with a digital video recorder will grow from 21 million at the end of last year to more than 69 million by 2012. The number of households with a high-definition TV will grow from 36 million households at the end of this year to more than 69 million by 2012, as well.

"This report identifies which consumer technologies are shifting from the early adopter phase to widespread use by mainstream consumers," said Forrester Research principal analyst Charles S. Golvin.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

Payton Construction shuts down

Payton Construction Corp., a Boston construction firm, is going out of business after filing for Chapter 11 in March.

According to the Boston Business Journal, Payton failed to find a buyer or partner to help it emerge from bankruptcy. The company notified employees of the decision on September 5 and has begun to hand off its current projects to other contracting firms.

Payton, in its filings to the Bankruptcy Court, listed assets of more than $100 million and as much $100 million of debt, and said it employs about 225. The company said in the filings that it holds rights to about 300 contracts and that it ran over budget on three projects to a total cost of about $19.5 million: a 133-unit condominium project in the South End, a 170,000-square-foot mixed use project at 700 Harrison Ave., Boston, and a 204-unit apartment project in Malden.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon lands $15b counter drug contract

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. said today that it received a Pentagon contract worth up to $15 billion to supply a program designed to combat illegal drugs.

Under terms of the deal, the company's Raytheon Technical Services Co. division will provide equipment, material and services to the Counter-Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office at the Department of Defense.

Work began Aug. 24 and is scheduled to run through August 2012. Subcontractors include EG&G, a division of URS Corp., and Science Applications International Corp.

Raytheon shares rose 25 cents to $59.63 in early trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

Konarka partners with Japanese firm

Konarka Technologies Inc., a Lowell-based technology firm, said today it is enlisting the help of a Japanese business forms and information management firm to launch Power Plastic, a substance converting light to energy.

According to a press release, Power Plastic generates electricity upon exposure to light, allowing for the manufacture of devices or systems with an embedded, independent source of energy.

Toppan Forms Co. Ltd, which the release described as "a world leader in printing business, printable electronics and digital information technologies," signed a joint agreement with Konarka to help the technology hit the market faster.

"Konarka's Power Plastic is flexible, thin, printable and low in cost, providing our organization with promising new business opportunities as we strive to become an integrated information management service company," said Masanori Akiyama, chief executive of Toppan Forms.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)

Repligen, MIT get $65m patent settlement

Biotech drug developer Repligen Corp. said today that ImClone Systems Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million to Repligen and co-plaintiff Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of a patent infringement case settlement.

The case began in May 2004, when Repligen, which is based in Waltham, and MIT filed a patent infringement suit against ImClone related to the manufacture and sale of the drug Erbitux. The patent in question is held by MIT and exclusively licensed to Repligen.

As part of the settlement, Repligen has agreed to give ImClone a non-exclusive sublicense to certain patent rights.

Repligen said it expects $40 million in net proceeds from the settlement, after payment to MIT and legal expenses. The drug maker said it would use the proceeds toward growing its central nervous system drugs and bioprocessing business.

In premarket electronic trading, shares of ImClone Systems fell 92 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $35.82, while shares of Repligen remained unchanged. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:42 AM | Comments (0)

Report: portable navigation poised for growth

Framingham-based IDC, a technology market research firm, said today that the portable navigation devices market will grow by 53 percent worldwide this year and remain the "most popular segment of the consumer navigation market."

According to the company's press release, the market for portable devices providing directions via satellite networks represent 62 percent of the worldwide consumer navigation devices market and grew by 93 percent last year. While Western Europe and the US are the biggest markets, IDC said it expects to see future growth in Asia, particularly in China during the 2008 Olympics.

"IDC expects overall consumer navigation device growth to remain strong as GPS technology and additional services become integrated into a variety of product offerings affecting the way consumers live, play, and interact in the future," said Diana Hwang, the company's research manager of mobility.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:08 AM | Comments (0)

Talbots to begin ad agency search

Apparel retailer Talbots Inc. said today that it will begin a search for a new advertising agency to take over its Talbots brand account.

Talbots said Boston-based Arnold Worldwide has been its agency of record since 1997, but the company said after ten years, "this is the appropriate time to conduct an agency review."

Arnold Worldwide will be part of the review, Talbots said.

The retailer added that Pile and Co., a Boston consulting firm, will manage the review. It is expected to be completed in November. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

New bike light uses SolidWorks tech

A UK-based design firm produced a new wireless turn signal system for cyclists using a three-dimensional computer-assisted design software produced by Concord-based SolidWorks Corp., according to a statement released today.

The light system, designed by Gavin Thomson Design Ltd., features two sets of lights -- one on the front handlebar and the other to the seat post. When a cyclist uses the turn signal control to indicate a turn, both lights will be turned on to show which way the bicycle will go.

"Unlike most CAD products on the market, SolidWorks allowed us to be very inventive, very precise, and very fast at the same time," said Gavin Thomson, chief executive of the UK design company. "It gave us the confidence that what we were creating was accurate and 'manufacturable.'"
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

Report: EMC top storage firm

Hopkinton-based EMC led the storage software market for the second quarter of 2007 with a 24.6 percent market share, according to a report by IDC, a technology research and analysis firm.

The report, based on data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, said the worldwide market for data storage software grew to $2.8 billion in the quarter, a 10.4 percent increase from the same time last year. EMC's revenue for the quarter grew to $685 million, a 4.8 percent increase from last year.

"Customer demand for products that manage and protect information more efficiently and cost effectively continue to drive the need for storage software," said Rhoda Phillips, IDC's research manager of storage software.
(By Se Young Lee, Globe correspondent)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2007

Report: Teens crave four-star college chow

The taste buds of today's teens have been so tweaked and fine-tuned by frequent restaurant meals that many college freshmen find school cafeteria fare even more dull and disappointing than earlier generations of hungry scholars did.

So suggests a new report from the NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y., a research firm that studies and analyzes consumer behavior.

In an earlier era, it was thought that many 18-year-old chowhounds would eat almost anything, including a dining hall's day-old pizza or the faux croque-monsieur (Spam and molten Velveeta), but after spending much of their youth in bistros and trendy restaurants with indulgent parents, today's crop of teens has evolved into finicky purists who insist that their food providers have some passing acquaintance with the culinary arts.

For this demanding demographic, apparently, the uber chef is as esteemed as a pop singer or a kid who has created a widely watched video on YouTube.

In any case, NPD's report on the college dining scene noted, "On-site foodservice establishments have their work cut out for them as young consumers with sophisticated and discerning taste buds expect more from college cafeterias."

To NPD, this development represents a potential opportunity for on-campus dining services willing to please the palates of the students eager for more refined fare.

"Restaurants are really shaping teens' expectations on what should be available to them when they are at school," Kyle Olund, product manager for the NPD Group, said in a statement. "Campus foodservice providers have to cater to their expectations."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

Alnylam partners with Isis

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that they launched a joint venture, Regulus Therapeutics LLC, to develop microRNA therapies.

The technology deals with recently discovered small RNA's, which are believed to regulate a large number of human genes. The companies will grant Regulus exclusive licenses to their intellectual property, with Alnylam making an initial investment of $10 million and the companies sharing funding in the future.

Regulus will be operated as an independent company with a separate board of directors and management team. Both Alnylam and Isis will retain rights to develop and market any products Regulus decides not to develop itself or with a partner.

Regulus' scientific advisory board will be chaired by Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, who won the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1975.

Other board members will include David Bartel, a professor of biology at MIT and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; Scott Hammond, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Dr. Markus Stoffel, professor for metabolic diseases at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; Thomas Tuschl, associate professor at the Rockefeller University; and Phillip D. Zamore, Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

Bose elected to Hall of Fame

Amar Bose, legendary founder of the company that bears his name, has been elected to the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, said the trade group that established the hall.

That trade group is the Consumer Electronics Association, and it noted that as an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bose "embarked on research in acoustics that led him to invent a stereo loudspeaker that would reproduce, in a domestic setting, the dominantly reflected sound field that characterizes the listening space of the audience in a concert hall."

Bose will join 10 other honorees who will be formally inducted into the hall of fame at an October awards ceremony in San Diego, the association said.

The Framingham-based Bose Corp. sells such products as home entertainment systems, speakers, and headphones.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

Boston metro average hourly wage: $24.80

Workers in the Boston-Worcester-Lawrence metropolitan area averaged $24.80 per hour in compensation during October, according to new figures from the federal government.

The results are from the National Compensation Survey released by the US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Regional commissioner Denis M. McSweeney reported average hourly earnings of $35.77 for management, professional and related workers and $24.59 for natural resources, construction, and maintenance workers.

In the Boston-Worcester-Lawrence metropolitan area, management, professional, and related workers made up the largest occupational group accounting for 38 percent of the workforce, the bureau said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

Entergy union advocates compensation reform

A union representing workers at an Entergy Corp. nuclear power plant in Massachusetts said Thursday that it would push the company to allow shareholder input on the compensation of its top executives, which totaled more than $27 million last year.

According to Entergy's proxy statement filed in March with the Securities and Exchange Commission, chairman and chief executive officer J. Wayne Leonard, received $14.8 million in total compensation in 2006, a year in which the company dealt with the bankruptcy of its New Orleans subsidiary after Hurricane Katrina.

The Utility Workers Union of America local that represents workers at Entergy's Pilgrim Nuclear Station in Massachusetts said it filed a shareholder proposal urging Entergy's board to allow shareholders to cast an advisory vote on compensation packages of top executives.

An Associated Press calculation of total compensation put Leonard's figure at $15.5 million. That calculation included salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year -- and may vary from the company's reported total.

Entergy's SEC filing said four other top executives received compensation totaling $12.6 million.

Included were chief financial officer Leo Denault ($3.9 million), executive vice president of operations Mark Savoff ($2.7 million), utility operations president and chief operating officer Richard Smith ($3 million) and the company's chief nuclear officer, Gary Taylor ($3 million).

The union's move comes during a time of some investor dissatisfaction with the size of executive compensation packages.

Shareholders at Verizon Communications Inc., Blockbuster Inc. and Motorola Inc. have won votes giving them a say in executive compensation. But shareholders victories have been limited because mutual funds holding large blocks of stock often have backed companies in voting against the initiatives.

"Excessive compensation for top corporate executives becomes more of a scandal, every years," said union local president Gary Sullivan. "Our reform proposals would enable shareholders to communicate to Entergy's directors every year whether shareholders agree that executive pay levels established by the board are in the best interests of shareholders."

The proposal was submitted to Entergy for consideration at its 2008 annual shareholder meeting. The meeting date has not yet been set. The union said it would not attempt to obtain shareholder proxies for the proposal, and would instead encourage shareholders to adopt the idea.

Entergy spokeswoman Yolanda Pollard said the company was reviewing the request. She said Entergy's compensation packages are "competitive, but fair."

"The packages are designed to recruit, retain, motivate and reward leaders who can contribute to the long-term success of the company," Pollard said. "Retaining a credible executive leadership team at Entergy is a vital part of maintaining our reputation as an industry leader."

The union pointed out that Entergy New Orleans, the company's power and natural gas provider for New Orleans, received $200 million in federal hurricane recovery aid after flooding from Hurricane Katrina wiped out its system. Sullivan called that "unseemly" in light of the compensation packages.

But Pollard said the executive packages were only a fraction of the cost of business for Entergy New Orleans and the federal relief had helped stem additional costs being passed on to customers. In addition, she said management had been able to securitize storm damage costs to two other Entergy units in Louisiana, which also reduced customer costs.

Pollard also said the compensation packages were justified by the performance of Entergy's nuclear power unit and shareholders' return of 38 percent.

In trading Thursday, Entergy shares closed up $2.46, or 2.4 percent, at $106.29. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $76.29 to $120.47. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Delta downgrades Boston-Trenton planes

Delta Air Lines Inc. will downgrade its Boston-Trenton, N.J., service from 50-seat jets to 19-seat propeller planes Sept. 16, the airline confirmed yesterday.

The move comes seven weeks before Delta is to begin offering four daily round-trip small-jet flights from Logan International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport, about 30 miles southwest of Trenton.

Delta business partner Big Sky Airlines, which currently flies several routes out of Logan as a Delta Connection carrier, will take over the Trenton service on Sept. 17, a day after Delta subsidiary Comair stops flying the route, Delta spokeswoman Betsy E. Talton said. The move to slower planes will require "minor adjustments" to the current 85-minute schedule, Talton said, typically equalling an extra 6 or 7 minutes of flying time.

Fares on the smaller Beechcraft 1900 turboprop flights will drop to as low as $98 round-trip, Delta's website showed this afternoon, compared to current typical fares of $160 to $240.

The only other air service from metropolitan Boston to Trenton are flights from Hanscom Field in Bedford operated by Boston-Maine Airways Corp. Pan Am Clipper Connection.
(By Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

Smith & Wesson raises forecast

Shares of gun maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. rose in premarket electronic trading today after the company raised its fiscal 2008 profit forecast.

The Springfield, Mass.-based company pointed to robust sales of new shotguns and hunting rifles, as well as better sales to law enforcement, government and international markets. It now expects to earn 63 cents per share for the year, 1 cent per share higher than its previous forecast, which matches the estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Smith & Wesson reiterated its forecast of $330 million in sales, about $4 million below analyst estimates.

Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Eric Wold kept a "Buy" rating on the stock. He said Smith & Wesson holds about a 10 percent share of the domestic law enforcement market, but sales of its military and police pistols are improving quickly.

"With almost 18,000 law enforcement agencies (and 800,000 officers) up for grabs within the United States, we believe the company has only just begun to scratch the surface," he said. "We have estimated the domestic law enforcement market to represent about $100 million in annual sales."

The company said 231 law enforcement agencies use or have approved the military and police pistols.

After the bell on Thursday, Smith & Wesson reported stronger fiscal first-quarter earnings and sales than analysts expected.

The stock gained 96 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $21 in premarket trading. Shares finished at $20.04 Thursday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)

Oscient expects colitis-related patent

Oscient Pharmaceuticals of Waltham said today that it expects to be issued a patent that will cover methods for treating a serious form of colitis.

Oscient said that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a notice of allowance for a US patent relating to the methods of use of Ramoplanin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated disease, or CDAD, a form of colitis.

Based on that action by the patent office, Oscient said it expects the patent to issue within the next few months.

According to Oscient, Ramoplanin is a glycolipodepsipeptide antibiotic positioned for the Phase 3 development for the potential treatment of CDAD.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)

New leaders at Mass. Bar

Massachusetts Bar Association president David W. White Jr. has appointed new section leaders for the organization.

Some of those appointment include Ellen J. Zucker of the firm Burns & Levinson LLP being named leader of the Access to Justice section, the association said.

The Business Law section is being headed by Peter D. McDermott of Banner & Witcoff LTD and Robert J. Kerwin of Tarlow, Breed, Hart, & Rodgers PC, the association said.

And Jeffrey Catalano of Todd & Weld LLP has been tapped to lead the Civil Litigation section.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)

Eggrock lands Florida contract

Eggrock LLC, a Littleton-based company specializing in pre-built bathrooms for the hotel construction industry, announced that it has been awarded a contract for 109 bathrooms for a new Holiday Inn Express in Fort Myers, Fla.

The bathrooms were purchased by Sunway Construction Services Kansas, and plans call for December installation, Eggrock said.

"The Fort Myers Holiday Inn Express will be an important part of our expansion into the Florida hotel construction market," Eggrock president and chief executive Jeff Barrett said in a statement.

According to Eggrock, hotel bathrooms are expensive to build on site, partly because the building can involve multiple subcontractors; the Eggrock solution is to build bathrooms in a "controlled manufacturing facility," then deliver them to the construction site complete with finished floor and wall tiles, paint, wallpaper, fixtures, lighting, and electrical outlets all in place.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Two media firms choose Maven platform

Maven Networks Inc. said that two global media companies are launching new consumer video offerings on its Internet TV platform.

One of Cambridge-based Maven's marketing slogans is, "We power Internet TV."

One company signing up with Maven is Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which aims to syndicate "Sony BMG Musicbox," an online consumer video experience, to its network of Web properties in European countries, Maven said.

The other company that plans to use Maven's Internet TV platform is FT.com, a business information brand that will use Maven's syndication platform to deliver video content on its website, Maven said.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Cubellis to design Cohasset rail station

The Boston office of the design services firm Cubellis said that it has been selected as the architect for the proposed Old Colony Square project at Cohasset Station.

Cubellis said it was chosen for the assignment by Connell Real Estate & Development Co. of New Jersey.

According to Cubellis, Old Colony Square is a proposed mixed-use development project that is expected to feature residences and retail space next to the new Cohasset commuter rail station.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Hires, promotions at Stop & Shop

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. of Quincy announced promotions and new hires for Stop & Shop and its Giant Food sister chain, which has a big presence in the Washington, D.C., area.

The company said that David McGlinchey was promoted to the position of senior vice president for business insight and merchandising services while Jim Sylvia was promoted to senior vice president of real estate.

New hires included Peter Hurtgen, senior vice president of labor relations, and Ruth Kinzey, senior vice president of communication and public affairs, Stop & Shop said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

Report: Disc storage revenue up

Second-quarter worldwide factory revenues for external disc storage systems grew 6.2 percent from a year ago to $4.3 billion, as EMC Corp. remained the market's revenue-share leader.

Those were among the findings of the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Disc Storage Systems Tracker; IDC is a global market intelligence firm headquartered in Framingham.

Results from the second quarter of 2007 marked 18 consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth, though the second quarter of 2007 experienced a slowdown in some segments of the market after a robust 2006, IDC noted.

"We continue to see a lull in high-end spending in the second quarter of 2007," Brad Nisbet, program manager of IDC Storage Systems, said in a statement. "2006 proved to be an impressive year of spending among large organizations looking to achieve data center consolidation, especially in the US."

Storage giant EMC of Hopkinton maintained its lead in the external disk storage systems market with a 21.4 percent revenue share, IDC said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:03 AM | Comments (0)

Kraft "most influential" NFL owner

New England Patriots chairman and chief executive Robert Kraft was the top owner on a list of the 20 most influential people in the National Football League, said Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal, a trade publication.

Kraft was ranked fourth on the Sports Business Journal list overall, behind NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, players association executive director Gene Upshaw, and ESPN president George Bodenhemer, Sports Business Journal said.

Other owners on the list include Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys (sixth), Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers (eighth), and Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers (ninth), Sports Business Journal said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:59 AM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2007

2 Mass. firms settle with SEC on Bleidt case

Two Masaschusetts brokerage firms each agreed to pay $250,000 and be censured to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they failed to supervise former representative Bradford J. Bleidt, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to charges he cheated investors out of millions of dollars.

Neither of the firms, Commonwealth Equity Services LLP in Waltham and Detwiler, Mitchell, Fenton & Graves Inc., admitted or denied wrongdoing as part of their settlement with the agency, it said today. Nor did a South Dennis man who previously supervised Bleidt, James X. McCarty, who agreed to pay $50,000 to settle similar SEC charges.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:35 PM | Comments (0)

Biogen issues bullish outlook

Biotechnology company Biogen Idec Inc issued a long-term earnings outlook today that exceeded analysts' expectations and sent the company's stock up more than 7 percent to its highest level since early 2005.

Biogen also reiterated its 2007 outlook ahead of presentations it plans to make before investors at conferences over the next few days, and said it expects earnings per share growth excluding one-time items of 20 percent through 2010.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen, whose products include the multiple sclerosis drugs Avonex and Tysabri and the cancer drug Rituxan, said its goal is to generate revenue growth at a 15 percent compound annual growth rate through 2010.

The company said it expects the growth to be driven by Avonex, the expansion of Rituxan into other disease areas, and expanding the number of patients on Tysabri to 100,000 by the end of 2010.

"The key upside driver is the expectation of 100,000 MS patients on Tysabri in 2010, a number that implies upwards of $2.8 billion in world-wide end user Tysabri sales in 2010," said Geoffrey Meacham, an analyst at JP Morgan, who had previously forecast $1.25 billion in sales.

"In our view, the announcement signals confidence in fundamentals and the business outlook based on a commanding presence in the multiple sclerosis market," he said in a report.

On July 24, the company increased its full-year outlook to revenue growth of 16 to 18 percent over 2006. The company predicted earnings per share excluding one-time items of $2.60 to $2.70, representing growth of 16 percent to 20 percent.

The company expects 2007 net earnings per share of $1.84 to $1.94.

Biogen's shares rose $4.74 to $67.61 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)

Grad student credit card debt over $8k

Credit card debt levels for graduate students have remained stable since 2003, but few are paying off their card balances in full, according to a study out today from Nellie Mae.

Nellie Mae, an originator of federal and private education loans, said the findings of the study, titled "Graduate Students and Credit Cards in 2006," point to the need for credit education among graduate and professional students.

The average outstanding balance on credit cards held by graduate students increased 10 percent since 2003, from $7,831 to $8,612, an increase on par with standard cost-of-living increases, Nellie Mae said

Nevertheless, the behaviors of many graduate students "indicate that many of them still need information on reducing credit card debt, financing graduate school, and managing money," Nellie Mae spokeswoman Marie O'Malley said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian gas facility expanded

Even while it's still under construction, a new liquefied natural gas delivery facility in Saint John, New Brunswick that will serve the
New England market will be expanded to three tanks instead of two, the project's owners said this morning.

Canaport LNG LP, a joint venture of Canada's Irving Oil and Madrid energy conglomerate Repsol YPF that is building the LNG plant, said it's decided to build a third 160,000-cubic-meter storage tank alongside the two now under construction. The Canaport terminal is expected to begin operations late next year and will be able to deliver 1 billion cubic feet of gas daily to pipelines serving Maritime Canada and New England, with capacity to expand to 2 billion cubic feet in coming years, the companies said.

Massachusetts uses on average about 850 million cubic feet of gas daily -- although demand is much stronger in winter than summer -- according to the American Gas Association trade group. Thirty-eight percent goes to residential heating, cooking, hot water heaters and clothes dryers, 29 percent is used to generate electricity, and the rest is consumed by commercial and industrial facilities, the association says.

The decision to expand the New Brunswick facility comes as two companies, Excelerate Energy LLC and Neptune LNG LLC, are building offshore LNG delivery facilities in Massachusetts Bay and several other proposals are in the works from Maine to Rhode Island for expanded LNG supplies.
(By Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Tweeter receives new financing

Tweeter Newco LLC, the company that operates the Canton-based consumer-electronics chain Tweeter, said today it has received $80 million in new financing.

The company, which operates 102 stores under such retail nameplates as Tweeter, said the financing includes a $60-million asset-based loan facility from Wells Fargo Retail Finance LLC.

Tweeter filed for bankruptcy protection in June, and the following month, it accepted a $38-million bid for its assets from Schultze Asset Management LLC, an investment firm based in Purchase, N.Y.

In addition to the Wells Fargo loan facility, Schultze has increased its investment in Tweeter via a new $20 million term loan, the company said.

In a statement, Tweeter's new chief executive, George Granoff, said, "This new financing will ensure that we are properly stocked with a good selection of premium products from our best and most qualified suppliers."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

Arnold unveils new Volvo campaign

Boston ad agency Arnold Worldwide said today that its first TV work for Volvo Car Corp., which is set to debut next week, seeks to inject more soul into the Volvo brand.

The new campaign has the theme of "Life is Better Lived Together," Arnold said.

Arnold, which won praise for its decade-long "Drivers Wanted" campaign for Volkswagen of America, won the Volvo account this spring in partnership with a British ad agency called Nitro London.

At the time, the trade journal Adweek.com valued Volvo's advertising account at $150 million.

The goal of Arnold and Nitro's new work for Volvo is to "inject more soul into Volvo's long-standing 'for life' campaign," Arnold said.

"We discovered in the pitch process that Volvo drivers 'live' in their cars and like to bring people along for the ride," Arnold chief creative officer Pete Favat said in a statement. "Our goal is to illustrate that Volvo is a premium brand for those who want a more human experience."

Arnold and Nitro look to position Volvo as an alternative in the premium automotive category, as a "we" brand versus the traditional luxury "me, me, me" brands, Arnold said.

"Volvo has always stood for safety and thus seen as a caring responsible brand," Tom Ellis, Volvo's director of global advertising, said in a statement. "The 'life is better lived together' global platform adds emotion and clarity to the brand."

Arnold's work for Volkswagen drew high praise in the industry, but Arnold and Volkswagen parted company about two years ago.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

New Balance agency search down to 5

New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. announced today that it has identified five finalists in its search for an ad agency, including Arnold of Boston.

Headquartered in Boston, New Balance is a manufacturer of width-sized performance footwear, including running shoes, and athletic apparel; in 2006, the company said it had worldwide sales of $1.55 billion.

Other finalists in the ad agency search are BBDO and BBH, both of New York, and Cramer-Krasselt and Element 79, both of Chicago, New Balance said.

New Balance said it has engaged SelectResources International, a California search firm, to oversee the search for its ad agency of record.

New Balance said it expects the search will conclude "later this fall;" it did not disclose financial details about the budget that its ad agency of record will have to work with.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

SupplyScape raises $10 million

SupplyScape Corp. announced today the appointment of a new chief executive, Mark O'Connell, and added that it has completed a $10 million round of Series C financing.

The Woburn-based company provides software and services that improve patient safety, increase efficiencies, and maximize revenue opportunities for life-sciences companies.

O'Connell, whose titles include president and chief executive, was previously chief executive of MatrixOne of Lowell, a product-lifecycle-management firm that was acquired last year by Dassault Systemes S.A. of France, SupplyScape said.

SupplyScape said that all current investors, including IDG Ventures Boston, North Bridge Venture Partners, which has offices in Waltham, and Pilot House Ventures LLC of Boston, "participated fully in this round of funding."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

Sales rise at TJX

Discount-store operator TJX Cos., which operates the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, said today that its same-store sales rose 4 percent in August to top Wall Street expectations.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a 3.8 percent rise.

Total sales for the four-week period ended Sept. 1 rose 7 percent to $1.4 billion.

Year-to-date, same-store sales rose 4 percent while total sales rose 8 percent to $9.2 billion.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Verizon FiOS coming to Methuen

Methuen Mayor William M. Manzi III has granted a cable franchise to Verizon Communications Inc. for its FiOS TV service, Verizon said today.

Manzi's decision means that 5,200 households will have the option of subscribing to FiOS TV, which Verizon claims is superior to other TV options.

The mayor's authorization brings to 56 the total number of Massachusetts communities where Verizon's FiOS TV is or will soon be available the company said.

Headquartered in New York, Verizon delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

EnerNOC partners with Tampa Electric

EnerNOC Inc. of Boston announced today it has entered into a demand-response agreement with Tampa Electric Co., a subsidiary of TECO Energy Inc.

EnerNOC uses technology to automate the so-called demand response process for electricity utilities by signing up commercial and industrial companies to conservation programs; during peak demand periods, such as hot summer days, EnerNOC uses its technology to remotely curtail the electricity consumption of companies that have signed onto the program as a way to lower the likelihood of brownouts and outages.

EnerNOC, which recently became a public company, said the Tampa contract, which is for four years, is the fifth agreement it has signed with a utility company so far this year; other agreements include those with utilities in New Mexico and California.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)

Good Clean Food raises $1 million

Good Clean Food, a Maine company whose focus is "all natural dinner sauces," said it has secured a Series A round of funding of nearly $1 million.

The funding round was led by the Small Enterprise Growth Fund of Maine, which, according to its website, is a venture capital firm created by an act of the Maine Legislature.

The company, headquartered in Portland, Maine, said its products are currently available in a variety of retailers, including in some stores in supermarket chains operated by Whole Foods Market Inc. and the Hannaford Bros.

Good Clean Food said that it "plans to achieve bicoastal distribution of its seafood and chicken sauces" and that the funding should help it develop new product lines, increase distribution, and open an expanded kitchen and production facility in Maine.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)

ExtendMedia expands

ExtendMedia Corp. announced today it has expanded its operations in the United Kingdom and Western Europe through a network of individual business development representatives and industry partners.

Headquartered in Boston, ExtendMedia provides a digital-content services platform that enables content rights holders and distributors to create, manage, secure, and monetize content services across broadband, TV, and mobile devices.

The company said its expansion will enable it to "tap into the brisk global market for online video delivery solutions that allow all members of the digital media value chain to better monetize and control their online video businesses."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

DecoTurf gets Olympic nod

DecoTurf of Andover said its full cushioned tennis surface has been selected for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and the International Tennis Federation ratified the choice of the company's DecoTurf II as the tennis court surface for the games, DecoTurf said.

DecoTurf is a division of California Products Corp., a supplier of acrylic sport surfacing systems.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

Lazard to open Boston office

Lazard Ltd., a financial advisory and asset management firm, announced it is opening a Boston office as part of its global technology and North American financial advisory expansion.

The firm said it has hired Michael Murray, formerly of Deutsche Bank, and Mark Dolins, formerly of Cowens and Co., to lead its activities for the new Boston office.

"Boston is a major technology corridor and gives us a locally based foothold in New England," Kenneth M. Jacobs, chief executive of Lazard North America, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

Biopure to pursue new use for Hemopure

Biopure Corp. said today that at the suggestion of the Food and Drug Administration, it will submit a protocol for a Phase 2 randomized trial for exploring the treatment of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with its drug Hemopure.

The Cambridge company said that it had recently met with the FDA to discuss the compassionate-use protocol for Hemopure, which it submitted in July.

Biopure describes Hemopure as an oxygen therapeutic, but others have described it as a blood substitute; the use of the product has been a subject of debate.

Hemopure has been previously used to treat US patients with certain kinds of anemia on a compassionate use, or case-by-case, basis, Biopure said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

September 5, 2007

Harvard Square's Sage Building sold

An entity controlled by Trinity Property Management Inc. has purchased the Sage Building, an office-and-retail property in Harvard Square, for $14.5 million, a broker involved in the transaction said today.

The broker is the Codman Co. The Boston firm said it represented the seller, Sage Family Trust.

The price for the 20,000-square-foot building worked out to about $725 per square foot, Codman Co. principal James M. Belli said.

According to its website, Trinity Property is a privately held real estate firm that owns and manages property in and around Harvard Square.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)

Chamber to honor small businesses

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce will honor Cafco Construction Management Inc. as its Small Business of the Year.

Cafco is a Boston-based construction management and general contracting firm.

Piantedosi Baking Co. of Malden will receive the business excellence award, the chamber said today, and Ian Lane Davis, founder and chief executive of Mad Doc Software LLC , an Andover company specializing in the development of games, will be feted with the first entrepreneur of the year award.

The chamber's awards luncheon is Oct. 18 at the Sheraton Boston hotel.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:31 PM | Comments (0)

Kiernan is tapped as WBZ-TV news director

WBZ-TV and sister station TV38 said today that Jeff Kiernan will take over as their news director on Sept. 24.

WBZ-TV and TV38 are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corp., a New York-based media company.

Kiernan will come to his new job from WCCO-TV, a CBS owned-and-operated station in Minneapolis, where he has been news director for four years, the local TV stations said.

Posted by globebusiness at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

Apple upgrades iPods, cuts iPhone price

The rumors were true, and then some.

Apple Inc.chief executive Steve Jobs was widely expected to announce major upgrades to its massively popular line of iPod music players, during a press conference in San Francisco today. But Jobs saved his biggest bombshell for last -- a $200 price drop on the company's new iPhone cellular telephone, from $599 to $399. Apple will also halt production of the $499 version of the iPhone.

Such a dramatic price cut, just over two months after the iPhone was introduced, might suggest customer resistance to the phone's high price. But Apple said that it's on track to sell a million iPhones by the end of September, just three months after the product was introduced.

Cellular network operator AT&T Inc., the only cell phone company authorized to carry the iPhone, said the lower price would boost sales of a product that's already a hit. "We're very pleased with customer response to the iPhone so far," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel, "and we expect that this new pricing will make it even more popular."

Word of the iPhone price cut came after Jobs described a host of iPod upgrades, including a new music player that uses the same kind of touch screen interface found on the iPhone.

First came a new iPod Shuffle with a gigabyte of flash memory storage, priced at $79. Jobs also showed off a new version of the popular Nano flash memory player with a larger color screen capable of displaying movies and videos. The new Nano will be priced at $149 with 4 gigabytes of storage, or $199 for 8 gigabytes. The new Nanos will be available in stores this weekend.

The large hard drive-based iPod will be renamed the iPod Classic, and will be available in a $249 80-gigabyte version, and a 160-gigabyte model selling for $349.

The new iPod Touch will go on sale in a few weeks. It uses flash memory for data storage, like the iPhone. It won't include a cellular telephone, but will allow for broadband Internet access using WiFi wireless networking. It will be equipped with a portable version of Apple's Safari Internet browser, and users will be able to go to Apple's online music store and download songs via WiFi, without having to attach the iPod to a computer.

Apple also announced a deal with coffee retailer Starbucks. iPod Touch users will get free WiFi access at all Starbucks stores. In addition, they'll see an icon on their screen, enabling them to instantly purchase and download the music playing in the store during their visit.

The iPod Touch will come in two models--an 8-gigabyte version priced at $299 and a 16-gigabyte version for $399.

(By Hiawatha Bray, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

Lynn lab to pay $8.5M settlement

A Lynn-based independent clinical laboratory will repay the state $8.5 million to settle charges of Medicaid overpayment and inappropriate referrals.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office says Willow Street Medical Laboratory LLC billed Medicaid for urine drug and alcohol tests that were not properly ordered by a doctor or authorized prescriber. Instead they were often ordered for non-medical purposes.

Investigations also showed the laboratory made inappropriate payments to secure additional business from Medicaid, substance abuse treatment programs, halfway houses, shelters and sober houses.

An industrywide investigation into urine drug tests billed to the state Medicaid program revealed the violations.

Willow Street Laboratory will set up a program to ensure full compliance with state laws and Medicaid regulations. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

SEC censures Boston Stock Exchange

The Securities and Exchange Commission said today it has instituted a settled enforcement action against the Boston Stock Exchange and its former president, James B. Crofwell, for failing to police specialists for improper trading practices.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the exchange and Crofwell each consented to a censure and an order to cease and desist from future violations of a securities law that requires exchanges to enforce rules governing member firms, the SEC said.

According to the SEC, the exchange and Crofwell failed to enforce exchange rules designed to prevent specialists from trading for their own accounts ahead of marketable customer orders.

The SEC said it found that the exchange's failure allowed hundreds of violations per day to go undetected despite repeated SEC warnings that the exchange needed to improve its surveillance systems.

As part of the settlement, the exchange agreed to spend at least $1 million to retain a third-party consultant to conduct comprehensive audits of the exchange's surveillance and examination programs, the SEC said.

Crofwell also consented, subject to court approval, to the entry of a final judgment in a related settled civil action ordering him to pay a $75,000 civil penalty, the SEC said.

Crofwell's attorney, Joseph L. Demeo of the Boston law firm Demeo & Associates P.C., said in a statement: "Jim is proud of his long service in the industry. This is an unfortunate incident in an otherwise unblemished career."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

Fantasize this: Invest virtual millions

Combine elements of fantasy football with social networking, and three entrepreneurs with Harvard ties think they might have a recipe for a hedge fund that would attract student and young investors.

Just emerging from beta testing is a website titled theupdown.com, a concept dreamed up by Michael Reich and Georg Ludviksson, two students at the Harvard Business School, and Harvard University graduate Phuc Truong.

The UpDown is a free "fantasy investing" website where anyone can join, create a portfolio, and start building and managing a virtual portfolio with a million bucks of virtual money, the three said in a statement.

Virtual managers whose portfolios beat S&P benchmarks could win real cash prizes of as-yet unspecified amounts, thanks to the backing of an angel investor, said a publicist for the founders.

In their press release, the three said that adding "a new and exciting twist to the frenzy created by fantasy sports leagues and incorporating a social website to their website, they will achieve great success in a new demographic market catering to financial investors."

Reich added in a statement, "We feel that the UpDown will bring together a community of passionate investors who will be driven to the site to share collective wisdom and compete amongst their friends with real-time stock investments."

The hope of the UpDown founders is that the website will generate collective wisdom that ultimately could be used to create a real-life hedge fund or mutual fund aimed at young investors, the publicist said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Gaynor leaving Sycamore

Sycamore Networks Inc. said today that its chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration, Richard J. Gaynor, will leave at the end of September to pursue another job opportunity.

The company, which develops optical networking products for telecom service providers, said it is looking for someone to fill his post.

In morning trading, Sycamore Networks shares slid 33 cents, or 8.2 percent, to $3.71. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

Thermo buys Davis Inotek

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., which makes scientific instruments and laboratory supplies, said today that it has acquired the instrument sales business of Davis Inotek Instruments LLC.

Thermo Fisher did not release financial terms of the agreement.

The acquired business provides test, measurement and process control instruments in various industries through catalogs and online. It will be renamed Davis Instruments. The instrument division had revenues of about $30 million last year.

Davis Instruments will become part of Thermo Fisher's Cole-Parmer catalog that sells technical products to industrial, pharmaceutical, academic and government customers. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Stock Exchange closes BeX

The Boston Stock Exchange announced that it has discontinued the operations, effective today, of the Boston Equities Exchange, an electronic stock exchange that launched in 2005.

While that venture struggled to gain market share, other Boston Stock Exchange ventures have continued to be successful, the Boston Stock Exchange said.

The Boston Equities Exchange was known as BeX, and Boston Stock Exchange chairman and chief executive Michael Curran said in a statement, "We are disappointed that BeX was not able to become competitive in today's marketplace and perform as well as other ventures of the Boston Stock Exchange, but we want to emphasize that BSE (the Boston Stock Exchange) remains a committed member of the National Market System."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

Cognos to acquire Applix for $339 million

Cognos Inc., a Canadian software and information technology services provider, said today it will acquire business analytics software provider Applix Inc. for $339 million in cash.

The offer equates to $17.87 per share, a 24 percent premium to Tuesday's $14.37 closing price of shares of Westborough, Mass.-based Applix. The deal is valued at $306 million net of cash on hand at Applix.

"The analytics provider is a terrific acquisition for Cognos," said Rob Ashe, chief executive of Ottawa-based Cognos. "It broadens our solution coverage for finance."

Applix's software and technology will add enhanced capabilities for financial services and banking analytics to Cognos's product line, the company said.

The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)

Taxus stent deemed effective for women

Boston Scientific's drug-coated Taxus stent is just as effective in women as in men, despite the higher risk profile of women patients, researchers said today.

Ghada Mikhail, a cardiologist at St Mary's Hospital Trust in London, said the findings were encouraging since previous studies had demonstrated a less favorable outcome in women compared to men when bare metal stents were used.

Results of the gender comparison study evaluating the device, which is used to prop open clogged arteries, were presented at the annual European Society of Cardiology congress.

Drug-coated stents have proved controversial once again at this year's meeting, with doctors receiving both good and bad news about about their risks and benefits. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

Sales rise at BJ's

Warehouse-club operator BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said today that its same-store sales rose 1.4 percent in August.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance, since it measures growth at existing units rather than newly opened ones.

BJ's said same-store sales included a 2.4 percent drop-off in gasoline sales. The lack of pharmacy sales impacted same-store sales by 0.4 percent, the company added.

BJ's said excluding those two negative factors, sales rose in all four weeks, with the highest increase in the first week of the month due to strong air conditioner sales.

The operator said it was also helped by strong sales of dairy, frozen products, meat, milk, office supplies, soda, water and televisions. Sales were weak for cigarettes, electronics, furniture, tires and toys, the company said.

BJ's said total sales rose 6.4 percent to $661.7 million from $622.2 million during the month. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

Mintz, Levin forms new unit

Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C. said they have established a new practice group that focuses on tax-exempt bond controversy resolution.

The new practice group is a response to the growing need "for a multi-disciplinary approach to assisting clients with navigating the complexities of audits and reviews of tax-exempt bond transactions," the firm said.

The group is made up of attorneys from the firm's public finance, securities, and litigation sections, and the group is headed by Jeremy Spector, Mintz Levin said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. Bar launches "eco-challenge"

The Massachusetts Bar Association has launched an "eco-challenge" that urges lawyers to change the ways they think and act in order to conserve energy and resources.

The formal name of the initiative is "The Lawyers Eco-Challenge - One Planet, One Voice."

When it comes to saving energy, "lawyers in Massachusetts will prove to be at the forefront of this important issue," David W. White Jr., the bar association's president, promised in a statement.

Lawyers can get with the program by switching to energy-efficient office equipment, shutting down computers at the end of the day, and turning off the lights when walking out of rooms, the bar association suggested.

The association added that a special task force will publish "Green Guidelines" shortly, and it will launch a contest at the start of the new year that will ask firms to compete against one another in reducing their energy consumption.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)

Study: social networking "new must-have"

The market for social networking applications is about to explode as companies adopt social networking as a marketing and communications tool, according to a new study from IDC, a Framingham-based market intelligence firm.

In 2006, that market for social networking applications was relatively small, at $46.8 million, but by 2009, it should grow to $428.3 million, creating a new application segment and establishing social networking as a new communication tool used for many purposes other than consumer socializing, IDC said.

"Social networking is the new must-have communication application and is being used for both marketing and operational efficiency," Rachel Happe, research manager for the Digital Business Economy at IDC, said in a statement. "Social networking applications drive engagements, information exposure, and conversions as well as reducing marketing and operational costs."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

Dyax partners with Bayer

Dyax Corp. said today that it will collaborate with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, a German pharmaceutical giant, in seeking to discover therapeutic antibodies.

Dyax is a Cambridge biotechnology company; Dyax's lead product candidate is DX-88, a recombinant small protein in clinical trials, in one case for the treatment of hereditary angioedema.

Financial terms of the agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma were not disclosed, but Dyax said it will receive clinical milestone payments and royalties on net sales that may result from the commercialization of any antibodies discovered through the collaboration.

Under the agreement, Dyax will identify therapeutic antibodies for two targets provided by Bayer Schering Pharma, the companies said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)

Meredith & Grew, FirstService complete deal

Meredith & Grew, a Boston-based commercial real estate company, said today that it has completed the sale of an 80-percent interest in the firm to FirstService Corp.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Toronto-based FirstService provides property services to commercial, residential, and institutional customers.

Meredith & Grew also announced that Thomas J. Hynes Jr. and Kevin C. Phelan have been appointed chairman and president of the firm, respectively.

Additionally, Ronald K. Perry has been named head of the firm's brokerage group.

Hynes said in a statement that as a result of the transaction, Meredith & Grew will "benefit from having access to the resources and capabilities of a large global organization."

Existing Meredith & Grew shareholders will retain a 20 percent interest.

While the strategic partnership with FirstService will allow Meredith & Grew to better serve clients," Hynes added, "Meredith & Grew's entrepreneurial spirit and strong leadership team remains."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:26 AM | Comments (0)

Akamai will support Silverlight

Akamai Technologies Inc., a Cambridge-based service provider for accelerating content and applications online, today announced support for Silverlight, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in from Microsoft Corp.

Silverlight is described as a plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications on the Web. Akamai also announced that it has collaborated with Microsoft to develop the Akamai Media Player Framework for Microsoft.

Akamai said it has worked with Microsoft over the past two quarters to create development code that serves as a foundation for developing custom Silverlight-based media players.

"Among our customer base, we are seeing tremendous interest in the Silverlight technology as a means to improve cross-platform reach and enable rich, powerful media experiences," Bill Wheaton, Akamai vice president of digital media, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Quattro lands $12.3m in funding

Quattro Wireless, a Waltham company focused on mobile marketing, said today that it has secured $12.3 million in Series B Funding.

According to a Globe story from May, Quattro is working to develop an all-in-one solution that will help publishers of all sizes create content-rich, ad-infused mobile websites that consumers can visit from their cellphones.

Quattro Wireless said today that its Series B funding round was led by Globespan Capital Partners, a venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Palo Alto, and Tokyo; the Series B round brings the company's total venture investment to $18 million, following a Series A round led by Highland Capital Partners, an investment firm with offices in Lexington and California.

Quattro Wireless said the Series B funds will be used to launch its GetMobile platform, a self-service solution that enables advertisers and publishers to build, monetize, and measure their mobile presence through the company's proprietary technology, exclusive inventory, and reporting capabilities.

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2007

FDA to fast-track review of firm's protein

GTC Biotherapeutics Inc. has won fast-track designation from federal regulators for ATryn, a protein produced in the milk of goats that has anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties.

The Framingham company is engaged in developing and producing human therapeutic proteins through transgenic technology.

According to GTC, fast-track designation by the Food and Drug Administration allows for an accelerated review process of ATryn as a treatment for patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency who are at risk of developing deep vein thrombosis or thromboembolism while undergoing surgery or giving birth.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:04 PM | Comments (0)

Ensemble names a new CEO

The biotechnology company Ensemble Discovery Corp. has appointed Michael D. Taylor president and chief executive.

Most recently, Taylor was senior vice president for the research-and-development division of Pfizer Inc., the New York-based pharmaceutical giant.

The Cambridge company is looking to develop novel drugs from its proprietary DNA-programmed chemistry platform.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

On-time arrivals decline at Logan

On-time arrivals fell 5.5 percent at Logan International Airport in July from a year earlier.

But amid a summer of woe for air travel, Logan held steady relative to other US airports.

And judging by the first seven months of the year, Logan is, comparatively speaking, getting better for on-time arrivals.

New data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that 36.7 percent of flights landed at Logan more than 15 minutes late in July, versus 31.6 percent in July 2006. The government lets airlines count flights as on time if they arrive or land within 15 minutes of published schedules.

In July of both years, Logan ranked as the sixth-worst of the 32 biggest US airports for arrival delays.

John F. Kennedy International in New York posted the worst on-time arrival numbers in July, with 42.7 percent of flights landing late, followed by LaGuardia, also in New York, Miami International, Newark Liberty International, and Dallas/Fort Worth International.

Year-to-date, Logan has improved from fifth worst to seventh worst, not because it is doing better but because others are much worse. Through July, 33.2 percent of flights landed late at Logan.

In both years, Newark Liberty ranked as the worst US airport for delays. So far this year, 43.2 percent of flights landed late.

Logan continues to rank much better for departures than arrivals. In July it was 18th best of the 32 airports for departures, up one position from a year earlier, and for the year to date 21st best, up from 22d a year earlier, but again, a case not of improvement but of not being as bad as other airports.

Logan's on-time departure rate dropped to 73 percent from January through July this year, but several other airports saw much worse declines.
(By Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:31 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices fall for 7th week

Gasoline prices are down 1 cent from a week ago in Massachusetts, marking the seventh straight week of declining prices.

A statewide survey by AAA of New England found an average price of $2.67 per gallon for self-service regular unleaded. The average was $2.92 seven weeks ago.

A year ago, the average price was $2.76.

The current price is 10 cents below the national average of $2.77.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:51 PM | Comments (0)

Spectra Energy expands in Northeast

Spectra Energy Corp., a Texas-based natural gas company, said today that it plans to invest about $1.5 billion in expansions that will bring incremental natural gas supplies to the New England, New York, and New Jersey markets.

"We're connecting supply from all compass points and moving it to the Northeast region," Spectra Energy chief executive Fred Fowler said in a statement.

According to Fowler, the move should be bring more reliable choices and more competitive pricing to the region.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. business confidence slips

An index that seeks to measure business confidence in Massachusetts lost 1.4 points from the previous month to register at 56.2 in August, just below the level it was a year ago.

Jitters among local manufacturers likely accounted for the decline in a monthly index calculated by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, an employer association of more than 7,600 Bay State businesses and institutions.

"Survey responses were largely recorded before the financial turmoil arising from the subprime mortgage crisis," Raymond G. Torto, co-chair of the group's Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. "The manufacturing sector accounted for the overall decline in confidence among Massachusetts employers, with particular concern over current conditions for their respective operations and prospective national business conditions.

On the index's 100-point scale, a reading above 50 indicates that the state's employer community is predominantly optimistic, while a reading below 50 indicates a negative assessment of business conditions, the group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)

ViaCell shares rise on deal news

Shares of ViaCell Inc. rose today after the biotechnology company said it will collaborate with Merck KGaA unit EMD Serono Inc. to develop an in vitro fertilization product candidate.

News of the collaboration sent ViaCell's stock sharply higher today. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company's shares rose 24 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $4.54 in morning trade. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific cites positive stent data

Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. said today that there were no additional incidents of blood clots in a five-year follow-up study of its Taxus drug-coated stents.

The study compared Taxus to bare-metal stents. Drug-coated stents are stents coated with drugs aimed preventing scar tissue from forming new blockages after artery-clearing surgery. In 2006, research showed that drug-coated stents might slightly increase the risk of blood clots, which could be life threatening, unless patients stay on anti-clotting medication. Earlier this year, another study questioned whether stents are more effective than drug therapy for treating patients not under threat of an immediate heart attack.

The five-year and final data from the study show that there were not additional thrombosis, or clotting, between years four and five. One patient in the bare-metal group of the study did experience a clot during the same period.

Sales of drug-coated stents have been declining since the concerns were raised last year. During the second quarter, sales of Boston Scientific's drug-coated stents fell to $437 million from $647 million.

Shares of Boston Scientific rose 38 cents, or 3 percent, to $13.21 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $12.11 and $18.69 over the last 52 weeks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

Idex powers ice cream company

Ice cream machine manufacturer MooBella LLC said today that it contracted Idex Corp.'s Fluid Management Inc. unit to provide engineering support and manufacturing capabilities that will allow MooBella to produce more ice cream-making machines.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MooBella makes a machine that instantaneously produces ice cream by mixing the ingredients and flash freezing them, removing the need for refrigeration.

Shares of IDEX rose 50 cents to $38.97 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

Caldeira joins Dunkin' Brands

Dunkin' Brands Inc., parent of such chains as Dunkin' Donuts, announced today that Stephen J. Caldeira will join the company next month in the newly created position of executive vice president for global communications and chief public affairs officer.

Reporting directly to Dunkin' Brands chairman and chief executive Jon L. Luther, Caldeira will oversee worldwide communications as well as lead the company's government, industry, and community relations efforts, Canton-based Dunkin' Brands said.

Most recently, Caldeira was cofounder and chief executive of the Elliot Leadership Institute, Dunkin' Brands said.

According to its website, the Tarrytown, N.Y.,-based institute is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development and advancement of executives in the food service and hospitality industries.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

P+S launches "Marketing Sciences"

Boston ad agency Partners + Simons said today it has launched Marketing Sciences, a new offering designed to bring a deeper level of measurement and accountability to client marketing programs.

"Marketers are frustrated at their lack of ability to measure programs and clearly demonstrate how their efforts are making a tangible difference," firm president Tom Simons said in a statement. "We believe that if clients spend 1-2 percent of their marketing budget on Market Sciences, they will see a 5-6 percent in either program performance or overall cost savings."

The firm's clients include Genzyme Corp., a Cambridge biotechnology company; EMC Corp., the Hopkinton-based data storage company; and Sovereign Bank, part of Sovereign Bancorp Inc., a Pennsylvania-based holding company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: Teens driving older cars

About 60 percent of teens are driving vehicles that are at least seven years old, and 27 percent of teens are driving vehicles that are 12 years old or older.

Those are among the results of a survey sponsored by Liberty Mutual Group, a Boston-based insurance company, and SADD - Students Against Destructive Decisions, a Marlborough group whose original mission was to help young people say no to drinking and driving.

"Are these the safest cars for teens who are already overwhelmingly at risk?" Liberty Mutual and SADD ask.

Safety should be as much a priority for selecting a used car as budgetary concerns, they said.

When it comes to parents selecting cars for their teenagers, "safety is often a second or third consideration, but it should be an equal if not leading consideration," Dave Melton, director of Transportation Technical Consulting Services at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Kirk hoping Clinical Data is his 2nd windfall

Randal J. Kirk, an investor who engineered the $2.6 billion sale of New River Pharmaceuticals to Shire Plc and pocketed half the proceeds along the way, is positioning himself for a windfall from another biotechnology company: Clinical Data Inc.

Kirk, known as R.J., is chief executive of Third Security LLC, a private equity firm based in Radford, Virginia, whose deals include the $2.4 billion sale of biotechnology company Scios Inc. to Johnson & Johnson in 2003.

Now he is gearing up to profit from Clinical Data, a genetic testing company that just released positive data from the first of two late-stage trials of its depression drug vilazodone.

Kirk, who declined to be interviewed, holds a 46 percent stake in Clinical Data, whose shares have risen 75 percent over the past year to close at $26 on Friday.

Kirk joined the company's board in 2002 and was named chairman in 2004.

Over the past few years he has been molding the company into a more valuable asset, divesting the old diagnostics businesses and acquiring companies involved in cutting-edge genetic testing and analysis.

Now, Newton, Massachusetts-based Clinical Data is ready to talk to partners, the company's chief executive said.

"R.J. Kirk has quite a bit of experience in this area," Drew Fromkin, Clinical Data's chief executive, said. "I think there will be no lack of interest, and we will be open to having these discussions."

Kirk is adept at squeezing value out of his investments.

As chief executive of New River, he took an experimental drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Vyvanse -- and gave Britain's Shire little option, but to buy the company to protect its own ADHD drug, Adderall XR, from competition.

"R.J. Kirk has played his hand brilliantly -- from the beginning all the way to the end. This is a case study for the ages, folks," WR Hambrecht & Co. analyst Andrew Forman wrote at the time of the $2.6 billion deal in February.

Early returns, however, suggest Vyvanse is not generating sales at the speed analysts expected. The most that can be said of it so far is that it is not cannibalizing Adderall, said Dr. Harry Tracy, publisher of the monthly journal NeuroInvestment.

"Kirk is an example of an entrepreneur, who is outstanding at amplifying a story and selling it to a pharmaceuticals company for far more money than the science is actually worth," he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson has spent millions of dollars on Scios's heart drug Natrecor, running new clinical trials after it was suspected of causing kidney problems and death. Results of a 920-patient trial earlier this year allayed those fears somewhat, but did nothing to improve confidence in the drug's efficacy.

In Clinical Data, Kirk is making a bet on the future of personalized medicine -- drugs tailored to an individual's genetic makeup.

Clinical Data acquired the rights to vilazodone from Merck KGaA of Germany in September 2004 after it had failed several clinical trials.

The company is betting that by altering the trial design and the type of patients tested, and combining it with a genetic test that will predict which patients respond best, the results will eventually be positive.

Some experts, including Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of the department of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, are skeptical that a test can be produced that can predict with any specificity which patients will respond best to vilazodone.

"It's the wave of the future but it's not ready for prime time," he said. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)

American Tower takes out $500m loan

American Tower Corp., which owns and operates wireless communication towers, said today that it took out a new $500 million senior unsecured loan to refinance existing debt.

The new term loan expires Aug. 30, 2012. American Tower did not disclose the financial terms of the loan.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:49 AM | Comments (0)

Clinical Data cites positive results

Clinical Data Inc., a Newton-based biotechnology company, announced today positive results from a trial of Vilazodone, its drug candidate for the treatment of depression.

The company said the Phase III study of Vilazodone met its primary and secondary efficacy endpoints.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)

Affiliated wins Boston parking contract

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. said today it has been awarded a contract renewal by the city of Boston to provide parking ticket collections, booting and towing, and fleet-management services.

According to the company, the contract has a length of up to three years and a total value of $19 million, including two one-year renewal options.

Texas-based Affiliated Computer Services provides business process outsourcing and information-technology services to commercial and government clients.

The company said it has worked with the city of Boston since 1981.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:52 AM | Comments (0)

ViaCell partners with Merck affiliate

ViaCell Inc., a Cambridge company researching medical uses of umbilical stem cells, announced today a collaboration with EMD Serono Inc., an affiliate of the German pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA.

ViaCell is exploring the commercialization of reproductive technology that would enable women to freeze their unfertilized eggs for later use; its investigational product in that area is called ViaCyte, and ViaCell said today that EMD Serono would provide support related to the clinical development of ViaCyte.

In addition, EMD Serono has agreed to provide certain quantities of two of its products for the treatment of patients participating in the ViaCyte study, the companies said.

Financial terms were not disclosed, the companies said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Analog powers Audi entertainment system

Analog Devices Inc. said today that its signal processing technologies will help create memorable entertainment experiences for the drivers and passengers of the Audi A5 Coupe.

Based in Norwood, Analog Devices designs, manufactures, and markets high-performance analog, mixed-signal, and digital signal processing integrated circuits used in industrial, communications, computer, and consumer applications.

The company said its Blackfin and Sharc processors will provide high-quality "in-cabin entertainment systems to drivers of the new Audi A5 Coupe."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

INX buys Select

INX Inc. said today it has acquired Select Inc., a local network services company, for $6.25 million in cash and $2.25 million in shares of INX common stock.

According to its website, Select has offices in Canton.

Texas-based INX is a provider of Internet-protocol communications solutions based on technology developed by Cisco Systems Inc. of California.

The purchase of Select "substantially expands our market presence in the Northeast and is part of our ongoing national expansion," INX chairman and chief executive Jim Long said in a statement. "Like INX, Select is a leading Cisco-centric provider of IP communications and advanced technology solutions."

Dana Zahka, founder and chief executive of Select, will join INX as regional vice president for New England, said INX, which added that Select has about $40 million in annual revenues.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

Report: cellphone banking poised for growth

The number of US consumers using mobile banking services on such devices as cellphones could reach over 1.6 million by the end of the year, rapidly rising to 35 million users by the end of 2010.

That's the bottom line of a new report from Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry.

The report is titled "Mobile Banking v. 2.0: Time for the Perfect Storm?"

While initial efforts to take mobile banking into the mainstream largely failed in 2001, improvements in mobile handsets and in the bandwidths of wireless networks make adoption of mobile banking more likely in the coming years, the report suggests.

"Today's mobile banking services are as far removed from their ancestors as MP3s are from eight-tracks," report author and Aite senior analyst Nick Holland said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

Nonprofit building center to launch campaign

The Building Materials Resource Center said it is about to launch its first-ever newspaper ad campaign that will appear in such publications as the Mission Hill Gazette, the Boston Baystate Banner, and the Dorchester Reporter.

The center is a Roxbury-based nonprofit that makes donated building materials available to low- and moderate-income households and to the general public.

The newspaper ad campaign will focus on potential buyers of materials by featuring various items used for home improvement and the center's low prices; a theme of the campaign is, "Found it at the Resource Center," the group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)