July 13, 2009
Mass. company brings back 80 furloughed workers
GREENFIELD - A Greenfield plant has brought back about 80 workers who had been laid off for nearly three months.
Kennametal Inc. spokeswoman Christina Reitano says the employees returned to work on Monday and represent nearly all of those who have been on extended furlough.
The move was welcomed by union officials.
The 137-year-old facility makes taps, which are thread-cutting tools used to make bolts, nuts and similar components for the aerospace, automotive and heavy equipment industries. Originally known as Greenfield Tap and Die, it was once the dominant employer in the western Massachusetts town.
Latrobe, Pa.-based Kennametal bought the company in 1997.
To read a Globe story about the furlough, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:11 PM | Comments (0)
Citizens collects school supplies for low-income kids
Citizens Bank said that it is collecting new school supplies for low-income children in Massachusetts, the fourth year it has done so.
"Beginning today, pencils, pens, notebooks, and other supplies can be donated at any Citizens Bank branch in the state through August 2," the bank said in a press release. "This year’s Gear for Grades program is in collaboration with Cradles to Crayons."
The press release added: "Gear for Grades has helped more than 8,000 children in Massachusetts return to school with the essential supplies they need to succeed. This year, more than 3,000 backpacks filled with new school supplies will be donated to children throughout the state. More than 20,000 backpacks will be distributed by Citizens throughout New England as part of this year’s Gear for Grades program."
Posted by globebusiness at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)
Abt names Flanagan as next chief executive
Abt Associates Inc. said that Kathleen L. Flanagan has been named president and chief executive, succeeding Wendell J. Knox, who had announced his retirement in June of last year.
With offices in Cambridge, Abt Associates applies scientific research, technical assistance, survey, and consulting expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues; international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex business problems.
"Knox, who has served as president and chief executive officer for the last 17 years, will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors," Abt said in a press release. "Flanagan will assume her new position on October 1, 2009."
Since 2005, Flanagan has led the company’s Social, Economic, and Health Policy Line of Business as group vice president, Abt said.
The photo of Flanagan that appears with this post was taken from Abt's press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:22 PM | Comments (0)
Local AP bureau chief is tapped for NY job
David Marcus, the bureau chief for the Associated Press southern New England office, is leaving the bureau at the end of August to become the assistant director of newspaper accounts at the news agency's New York City office.
Marcus broke the news to his staff in Boston on Friday.
"I love Boston. I love the AP members in Boston and southern New England,'' said Marcus, 56. "This is a chance for me to use everything that I have learned from newspapers. We are always looking for ways to serve the members as they want to communicate with their customers better... I'm very excited about that."
Marcus arrived at the news cooperative's office in Boston in 2006 after succeeding Edward S. Bell, who retired from the AP after 16 years.
Marcus had been overseeing the southern New England operation which handles news coverage in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. He was in charge of a staff of 19, from news reporters and editorial assistants to photographers.
Prior to Boston, Marcus had run the agency's Albany bureau for three years. He joined the AP in 2002 as assistant bureau chief in Philadelphia.
His replacement in Boston has not been named.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:59 AM | Comments (1)
Commerce offers safety program for older drivers
The Commerce Insurance Co. said it is teaming with In Control Advanced Driver Training, the state-certified crash prevention program, to provide senior citizens with the skills necessary to reduce their risk of being involved in a crash.
Commerce said it is making the program available to licensed drivers age 65 and older for $75, now through August 14, a savings of more than $200.00.
"In Control provides hands-on crash prevention training in a safe environment, where professional instructors help seniors refine the skills and attitudes needed to be a safe driver, as well as teach them how to compensate for driving skills that may have decreased over the years," Commerce said in a press release.
Older drivers has become a hot topic in Massachusetts following a series of high-profile accidents involving older drivers. Some state lawmakers recently vowed to "fast track" proposed legislation that aim to further regulate older drivers.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)
Decas Cranberry taps next chief executive
Decas Cranberry Products Inc. announced the appointment of Charles B. Dillon as chief operating officer and successor to chief executive Jeffrey Carlson.
"Mr. Dillon will replace Jeffrey Carlson as president and chief executive officer on Jan. 1st, 2010 when Mr. Carlson, the current president and chief executive officer, retires," the Carver-based company said in a press release. "Mr. Carlson will continue to work with the company in a consulting role."
Decas Cranberry Products, Inc. is an 80-year-old, vertically-integrated grower, handler, processor, and marketer of cranberry and cranberry-based ingredient products that processes more than 50 million pounds of cranberries each year.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. travel office promotes discount pass
The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism said that its Summer Mass Value Pass will offer discounts of at least 25 percent at more than 300 Massachusetts attractions, retail establishments, lodgings, and restaurants statewide.
Referring to the Mass Value Pass as MVP, the office said in a press release that the program runs through Aug. 30 "for all summer travelers and in-state residents looking for affordable entertainment and lodging over the summer months."
The press release added: "If you're looking for affordable ways to enjoy Massachusetts more than ever this summer, go to massvacation.com and choose from a variety of money-saving adventures. Download the pass and start saving today."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices have biggest weekly drop of 2009
(File photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America)
Gasoline prices in Massachusetts fell for the third straight week, with a 3-cent decline that is the largest one-week drop since the end of 2008, AAA Southern New England said.
"AAA’s July 13 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.569 per gallon, down 3 cents from last week and 7 cents in the last three weeks," AAA Southern New England said in a press release. "The current price is 4 cents above the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.52, and is $1.50 less than the $4.06 found this time a year ago."
Posted by globebusiness at 9:45 AM | Comments (6)
Italian gastronomes pursue studies at UNH
In Italy, eating is an art form, so at first glance, it would seem unlikely that a country celebrated for its cuisine would dispatch some of its most promising young gastronomes to the University of New Hampshire to learn more about the "science of eating," but such is indeed the case.
In a press release, the university said that it is "hosting a group of Italian students this summer who are the first foreign exchange students to participate in the university’s new EcoGastronomy dual major, the first such program at any US university."
The release added, "Fourteen students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) in Pollenzo, Italy, are spending the summer living on campus in Durham and learning about the science of food and eating, ecotourism, and advertising."
In the fall, meanwhile, a group of Granite State gastronomes are scheduled to spend the semester at the University of Gastronomic Sciences as part of the joint student exchange program.
"While in Italy, UNH students will complete a series of upper level core courses such as history of cuisine and gastronomy, food communication, aesthetics, food and wine tourism, food business economics, and sensory analysis," the university said.
Studying sensory analysis in Italy --- it's a hard life.
(File photo of artichoke risotto: AP/McRae Books)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:08 AM | Comments (0)
Freeport potato vodka earns kudos
Combine Downeast spuds with pristine water, and the result is a premium Maine potato vodka known as Cold River Vodka.
The spirit's creator, Maine Distilleries LLC of Freeport, Maine, said its signature vodka has earned the “2009 Best of Freeport Award” in the Distilled & Blended Liquors category from the US Commerce Association.
"Known for its distinct nose and satin-smooth finish, the gluten-free vodka is hand-crafted and batch-distilled in a copper potstill, using water from Maine’s Cold River and farm-fresh Maine potatoes," Maine Distilleries said in a press release.
The image that accompanies this post was taken from its website.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:50 AM | Comments (8)
RI bucks trend, fights to keep greyhound racing
(File photo: John Tlumacki/Globe staff)
LINCOLN, R.I. (AP) -- Greyhound tracks are folding across the country, but in cash-strapped Rhode Island -- where the unemployment rate is among the nation's worst -- lawmakers are betting on the dogs to save jobs.
Rhode Island legislators are fighting to expand greyhound racing, an increasingly outdated and unprofitable sport that has been squeezed out by newer forms of gambling. Over the objection of Gov. Don Carcieri, lawmakers have moved to force a bankrupt, state-licensed slot parlor to run 200 days of live racing at its greyhound track even though current law only requires 125.
Carcieri, a Republican, vetoed the legislation, but lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated General Assembly say they expect to override it.
Supporters of the dog racing bill say it's necessary to save 225 jobs -- including pari-mutuel clerks, bartenders, and security workers -- to preserve tax revenue and to retain the 5,000 people who visit the track each week.
They also argue the public shouldn't be penalized for what they say are the bad business decisions of the owners of the gambling parlor, called Twin River.
"I did not want to see more people out of work," said Sen. Frank Ciccone III, the bill's sponsor. "My compassion is with the poor people who are trying to make a living than with the multimillionaires who overinvested and tried to take more money out."
The move bucks a national trend away from greyhound racing. In the last year alone, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot question banning greyhound racing amid allegations the dogs were mistreated; a pro-dog racing group wants to contest that referendum.
New Hampshire's two remaining greyhound tracks won state permission last month to end live racing after waning interest from bettors. The state ditched a requirement that the tracks host 50 days of racing to complement simulcast wagering -- a law that a spokesman for one facility, the Lodge at Belmont, likened to forcing a "Cadillac dealer to have a horse-and-buggy division."
About 30 tracks remain nationwide, down from a peak of about 55 in the early 1990s, said Gary Guccione, executive director of the Kansas-based National Greyhound Association.
"There has been a downsizing," he said. "It started when the lotteries really started expanding and when the casinos were getting a foothold in different parts of the country."
UTGR Inc., the owners of Twin River -- which opened as a horse racing venue in the 1940s -- filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, unable to repay more than a half-billion dollars in debt taken on during massive renovations.
The Carcieri administration supports an end to live racing, saying wagering at Twin River has declined from $150 million in 1990 to $13 million. Twin River moved earlier this year to suspend greyhound racing, which the facility says costs it more than $10 million a year, and wanted legislative permission to get rid of the sport as part of a structured bankruptcy deal with Carcieri's administration.
"The governor has said all along, 'Get rid of the dogs. It doesn't make financial sense to continue dog racing,"' said Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe.
Instead, lawmakers voted to expand the required number of annual racing days, though the track usually operates about 200 days on its own, said Jennifer Bramley, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association.
Though Guccione said tracks are still busy in states like Florida and Arkansas, there's been ongoing upheaval in New England.
In New Hampshire, the Lodge at Belmont and Seabrook Greyhound Park suspended live racing but will continue to simulcast races from tracks around the country, which typically draw a bigger betting pool and a chance for higher payouts.
Wagers on live racing at the Lodge at Belmont accounted for only $180,000 of the $45 million in overall pari-mutuel wagers at the facility last year, said spokesman Rick Newman.
The Massachusetts ban, approved last November, takes effect Jan. 1, 2010, at the state's two tracks. Supporters of the ban had argued that the sport was inhumane and that dogs were routinely injured during races. Now a pro-dog racing group is pressing for a court inquest into the election, saying voters were deliberately misled about the treatment of the dogs.
"By throwing out an industry, you have to move out of state," said John O'Donnell, a Massachusetts greyhound trainer and member of Protection of Working Animals and Handlers, a pro-dog racing group seeking an inquest into last year's election. "So it's not like I can just up and get another job in Massachusetts if I want to stay in my profession."
Back in Rhode Island, Dante Sarro, 82, who spends three afternoons a week at the track and has been betting on dogs for longer than he can remember, says he can't figure out why his hobby is considered unprofitable.
"I can't work anymore. I've got a bum leg. I'm too old. So this is what I enjoy," he said. "For a lot of the old-timers, it's their pastime."
Posted by globebusiness at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
In a laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduate students hover around a complex setup that involves tubes, chambers, and dials. The students load sawdust into one side of the machine and, within moments, a brown liquid begins to drip into a catch basin on the other side.
The liquid - known as green gasoline - is the chemical equivalent of traditional gasoline, but cleaner and less expensive. According to its inventor, that means the green gas, also referred to as grassoline, has the potential to transform the economy.
“The goal is to make all of the same compounds you can make from petroleum,’’ said George Huber, the professor leading the research. “When you look at biomass versus crude oil, biomass is significantly cheaper.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Knee-surgery devices maker raises $50 million
A Burlington medical device company, ConforMIS Inc., is set to disclose today that it has raised $50 million from a consortium of private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds, one of the largest investments in a Massachusetts life sciences company this year.
The company will use the money to expand its product line in the growing field of knee resurfacing, a potential $6 billion market, said Philipp Lang, ConforMIS’s chief executive. The company, founded in 2004, will also build up its sales force in the United States and Europe.
ConforMIS, with about 100 employees worldwide, including more than 60 at its Burlington headquarters, takes its name from products that conform to patients’ knees and require minimally invasive surgery. It has introduced three implants used in partial knee replacements and plans to seek approval next year for a total knee replacement product.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Heavyweights trading punches in digital face-off
Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have been sparring with each other for years. This summer, the gloves have come off.
The two most powerful companies in digital technology are openly invading each other’s most lucrative markets: the office productivity software and computer operating systems Microsoft makes, and Internet search, which Google dominates.
Last week, Google declared an end to “beta,’’ or test status, for its online office software, Google Apps, as part of a new effort to sell the service to corporate users. Then the company said it’s building Chrome OS, a full-fledged operating system for personal computers that will compete with Microsoft Windows. It’s due next year.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2009
Cats on a plane? Tabbies fly in style on Pet Airways
Things are looking up for pet owners who want to fly their cat or dog to their destinations. (Essdras M Suarez/ Boston Globe)
Can't bear to put Fifi in cargo when you fly? Try booking her a ticket on Pet Airways instead.
The pet-only airline is launching service Tuesday July 14 out of New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles, and plans to expand into Boston by early fall.
"We've had a tremendous amount of requests from pet owners in Boston," said director Alyse Tognotti.
The airline, based in Delray Beach, Fla., has partnered with Suburban Air Freight cq to transport cats and dogs in 19-passenger Beech 1900 aircrafts. Up to 50 "pawsengers" will travel in carriers in the main cabin -- the seats and overhead bins have been removed -- and be taken care of by a pet attendant. Inter-species fights will be kept to a minimum by separating the dogs and cats; other household pets such as birds and gerbils will be allowed onboard in the near future.
The airline is starting out with one round-trip flight a week, beginning in New York and stopping in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Denver on the way to LA. One-way ticket prices range from $149 to $299, depending on the pet's size and destination, and demand has been high so far: The first two months of flights are sold out.
Husband-and-wife owners Dan Wiezel and Alysa Binder came up with the idea for Pet Airways when they moved from Silicon Valley to Florida five years ago and had to put their beloved Zoe, a now 17 1/2-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in cargo. The idea of their dog being stuck in the belly of the plane made the former high-tech recruiters anxious, Tognotti said: "She's not baggage."
Pet Airways has pet lounges set up in each of its airport, which include major facilities such as Baltimore-Washington International Airport and regional operations such as Republic Airport cq on Long Island. The airline's staff members all have backgrounds in animal training and handling, Tognotti said, including a round-the-clock veterinary staff.
The airline is aiming to attract people who are moving, traveling, or rescuing animals and plans to serve 25 cities within two years.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:37 PM | Comments (25)
Hunter is tapped for business development post
Michael Hunter has been appointed as the Massachusetts Undersecretary of Business Development, the administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick said.
According to its website, the mandate of the state's Department of Business Development is assist domestic and foreign companies that want to locate, expand, grow, or maintain a presence in Massachusetts.
Most recently, Hunter was the director of the Business Resource Team at the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the administration said in a press release.
In his new job, Hunter will oversee the Massachusetts Office of Business Development; Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism; the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment; the Massachusetts Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance.
Hunter succeeds Gregory Bialecki, who was named Secretary of Housing and Economic Development by Patrick earlier this year.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)
G.I. Joe goes Hollywood. Lights, camera, WW III.
Rhode Island toymaker Hasbro Inc. said it is deploying new G.I. Joe products in anticipation of a new "live-action" G.I. Joe movie that is set to debut in theaters early next month.
"G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra," from Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment, is scheduled for an Aug. 7 release, Hasbro said in a press release.
According to Hasbro, G.I. Joe pioneered the action-figure genre some 45 years ago, but this time-tested warrior has lost none of his youthful vigor - or his eagerness for recreational combat.
Among new G.I. Joe products coming out are action figures "sculpted to match their on-screen counterparts, including Sienna Miller as BARONESS and Channing Tatum as DUKE," Hasbro said in a press release. "Figures come with high-tech gear and projectile launchers, allowing for play among multiple waves that are set to be released throughout the summer."
The image at left is Joe from his salad days. The image at right above is Joe spiffed up to color-coordinate with his new movie. Both images are from Hasbro. Check out those waistlines. Looks like Hollywood Joe has been working out with a personal trainer.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
Fidelity says no search for Lawson replacement
Fidelity Investments yesterday it is not searching for a replacement for its number two executive, president Rodger Lawson.
The mutual fund company's comments were in response to Wall Street Journal report that 
Lawson hopes to step down by year-end, but is waiting for Fidelity to find a successor, citing an unnamed Lawson acquaintance.
Spokeswoman Anne Crowley said Lawson hasn't resigned and isn't being fired, but declined to comment on whether he plans to leave Fidelity later this year.
"I'm not going to participate in speculation about hypothetical departure dates," Crowley said.
Lawson, who joined the privately held company in 2007, holds the No. 2 position behind Fidelity Chairman Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III. Two people who were briefed on developments within Fidelity's executive suites told the Globe in recent weeks that Johnson was unhappy with Lawson for making certain decisions without his approval, such as hiring a management consultant to advise the company on restructuring moves.
Crowley declined to comment on the matter, saying instead that, "Rodger has the full confidence of the chairman."
Lawson is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
Other high-level executives have left Fidelity recently. In April, Walter Donovan, Fidelity's former head of equities, left to become chief investment officer for Putnam Investments. And Marvin Adams, who oversaw Fidelity's technology and real estate operations, left Fidelity last month to take on "new challenges."
Crowley did say Fidelity had an executive recruiter trying to fill other senior jobs, and said the company is constantly trying to refresh its pool of talented executives as part of its normal succession planning. But she said disputed the Journal's report that the recruiter has been trying to find candidates for Lawson's job.
Fidelity watchers have not generally considered Lawson, 62, a top candidate to replace Johnson because of Lawson's age and because another Johnson family member is waiting in the wings. Johnson's daughter, Abigail, runs Fidelity's personal and workplace investing unit, the company's largest division, and has been vice chairman of Fidelity's board for several years. Still, the elder Johnson, 78, has not announced any plans to retire.
To read some Globe coverage about Lawson and Fidelity, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:55 AM | Comments (4)
Fall River window and door factory closes
A window and door maker is closing its Fall River plant, putting nearly 300 people out of work.
A spokeswoman for Silver Line Building Products Corp. tells The Herald News of Fall River that the shutdown is effective Friday.
North Brunswick, N.J.-based Silver Line, a division of Anderson Windows, built the 200,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility on a 15-acre parcel in 2001 for $13.1 million. It employed more than 500 people at its peak, but a drop in demand for the products over the last few years has caused a steady decrease in the building's work force.
Company spokeswoman Maureen McDonough says the site will maintain a skeleton staff.
Fall River's 13.9 percent unemployment rate is the second worst in Massachusetts.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:22 AM | Comments (6)
Who, What, Where
Steve Schauer and Steven Chwiecko have new jobs at First Wind, a wind power company headquartered in Newton. Schauer, who has served as First Wind's vice president of finance since joining the company in November 2008, was promoted to senior vice president of finance and treasurer. In this new position, he will be responsible for all project finance, tax equity, corporate debt capital, and treasury operations. Chwiecko joins the company as senior vice president of commercial asset management. Mr. Chwiecko has more than 25 years of experience in the unregulated power generation area focusing on asset management and acquisitions, most recently for Atlantic Power Corp. In this newly created role at First Wind, Chwiecko will oversee the company's leases, power sales agreements, REC sales contracts, and interconnection agreements for current operating wind projects.
Jonathan Lieber has been appointed as chief financial officer of Xcellerex Inc., a Marlborough company that specializes in how biomolecules are developed, manufactured, and commercialized into biotherapeutics and vaccines. Lieber joins Xcellerex from Altus Pharmaceuticals, where he was senior vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer.
Michael Kaicher has been hired to the position of senior vice president of business development at Capital Advisors Group, an institutional investment advisor based in Newton. He will focus on mid- to large-cap corporations in New York and New Jersey. Prior to joining Capital Advisors Group, Kaicher served as senior vice president and sales director of Evergreen Investments' Short Duration Institutional Asset Management Group.
Amee Chande (right) is the new senior vice president of strategy at Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies. In that job, she is responsible for working with senior management to develop all elements of the company's global strategy and reports to John Mahoney, the company's vice chairman and chief financial officer. Chande joins Staples from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where she served most recently as vice president of new business development, Staples said.
David M. Madden has been appointed as the independent chairman of the board at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Watertown company that is looking to develop drugs through RNA interference. Madden has held leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical industry for over 15 years. Most recently, he served as interim chief executive for Adolor Corp., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company with a focus on pain management. Douglas M. Fambrough, general partner with Oxford Biosciences Partners and previous chairman, remains on the now six-person Dicerna board.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)
Proposed RI hospital merger moves forward
PROVIDENCE -- A proposed merger between two Rhode Island hospital groups is moving forward.
Lifespan and Care New England on Thursday submitted 110,000 pages of documents to the Department of Health and the attorney general's office in their application to form a single company that would oversee seven hospitals in the state.
They are Lifespan institutions Rhode Island, Miriam, Bradley, and Newport hospitals and well as Care New England network institutions Women & Infants, Kent and Butler hospitals.
The combined company would employee more than 18,000 people, making it the state's largest private employer.
Proponents say the merger would lead to better services, boost research, and attract better doctors. Critics say it would drive up costs and harm smaller hospitals.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Office rental rates fall in Hub
Boston’s office market is experiencing the sharpest drop in rental rates in nearly a decade, with the supply of vacant space continuing to increase as employers cut back during the economic slowdown.
Average asking rents in Greater Boston plunged to $28.11 per square foot in the second quarter of 2009, a 12 percent decline from the same period last year, according to Lincoln Property Co., a real estate services firm. Rents are at their lowest level since 2001.
The drop-off is being felt throughout the market, from downtown Boston to the outer suburbs, reflecting the pervasive impact of the recession. Those shedding space include financial and law firms in Boston, pharmaceutical and technology firms along Interstate 495, and Cambridge consulting companies.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Economy's woes check in at hotels
The news is bad for Boston’s hotel industry this year, but it will be better in 2010, according to recent forecasts released by two local hospitality consultant groups.
As Americans cut back on business and leisure travel during the recession, occupancy and room rates, as well as revenue per available room, are expected to fall dramatically this year. But the studies suggest Boston-area hotels have reached bottom, and the numbers are expected to improve next year.
At Boston-area hotels, revenue per available room - a key measure that factors in both occupancy and average daily room rates - is expected to fall 19.5 percent this year compared with 2008, according PKF Hospitality Research. In 2010, the decline is expected to be just half a percent.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Citibank chief has ties to Boston
Former Bank of America president Eugene McQuade, once one of Boston’s most powerful banking executives, faces perhaps the challenge of his professional life: Turning around Citigroup’s massive US banking unit.
McQuade, who helped build FleetBoston Financial into a regional behemoth before helping to engineer its sale to Bank of America, was tapped yesterday to become chief executive of Citibank, the nation’s third-largest bank, with more than $1 trillion in assets. His appointment was part of a major shuffling in Citi’s executive suites by chief executive Vikram Pandit.
McQuade, 60, faces the challenge of cleaning up Citibank’s troubled balance sheet and paying back $45 billion in government aid the company has received since last fall. McQuade estimated it would take two to three years to turn the bank around.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Patients OK as Genzyme cleans up drug facility
A nearly monthlong halt in the production of two drugs that treat rare genetic disorders has not yet caused significant hardship for those who depend on the treatments, according to patients and advocates.
“We haven’t heard any real upset in the patient community thus far,’’ said Jack Johnson, a Missouri man who takes Fabrazyme, one of the drugs made by Cambridge biotechnology company Genzyme Corp., and who also runs a support and information group for people with his disorder.
Genzyme shut down its Allston production plant last month after it found a virus had contaminated a piece of equipment used to make the drugs. Although the virus is not believed harmful to humans, Genzyme decided to undertake a massive decontamination effort as a precaution.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Tally up the decade
Jim Tobin says 10 years is long enough to run a company. It certainly should be enough time to decide what kind of job he did.
Tobin, 64, announced his intention to step down as chief executive at Boston Scientific Corp. just two weeks ago, and today is his last day in the top job at the Natick medical device company. Tobin’s decade as CEO encompassed two extraordinary events: the development of Boston Scientific’s intensely-followed drug-coated stent for cardiac patients and the company’s disastrous 2006 acquisition of Guidant Corp.
The official company assessment: Attaboy! Boston Scientific highlights the company’s business expansion and introduction of new products that help patients around the world over the past 10 years. It points to a more diversified business and a pipeline filled with new products on the way. “Jim led Boston Scientific through a period of tremendous growth and diversification that transformed the company,’’ chairman Pete Nicholas said at the time of Tobin’s retirement news.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 9, 2009
Discount fares drew heavy traffic for Southwest
If you found yourself unable to access Southwest's site to score tickets yesterday there's a reason.
The discount carrier's big 48-hour fall sale, which featured the cheapest fares the airline has offered since 1996, drew so much traffic that it hobbled the company's website for about five hours yesterday.
The airline, which will begin service from Logan in the middle of next month, launched the sale Monday and it ended yesterday. Paul Flaningan, a company spokesman, told Bloomberg News that portions of the website went down about 9:30 a.m. and were restored by about 2:40 p.m.
Southwest offered mea culpas but decided that it would NOT extend the sale to make up for lost time due to the techical hiccup.
The sale, which was atypical in that fall discounts aren't usually offered till later in the summer, kicked off a mini-price war as most of the major carriers rushed to match fares on competitive routes.
The lesson here, if any, is that these days sales pop up quickly -- and disappear as quickly. So if you're in the market for travel the best deals often go to those who act quickly.
Photo by istockphoto.com
Posted by globebusiness at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
Workers at Union Hospital vote to join union
More than 400 hospital workers at Union Hospital in Lynn have voted to join the Service Employees International Union, Local 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East said.
The union said it represents more than 340,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.
Union Hospital is part of North Shore Medical Center and a member of Partners HealthCare, a healthcare provider.
At Union Hospital, "the new members of 1199 SEIU include certified nursing assistants, phlebotomists, housekeepers, dietary workers, and many others – joining registered nurses, physical therapists, medical technologists and other professionals who were already 1199 SEIU members at the 147-bed acute care facility," the local said in a press release.
Last month, nearly 500 workers at Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester voted to join 1199 SEIU, making it the second hospital in the Caritas Christi Health Care network to unionize this spring. In April, more than 800 employees at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton voted to affiliate with the same union.
A Globe story on the Caritas Carney vote noted that union officials were organizing campaigns that would result in similar votes on unionization at other area hospitals. Traditionally, hospitals were not unionized in this market.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
BJ's Wholesale Club June same-store sales fall
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the Natick-based warehouse-club operator, said that same-store sales fell 7.5 percent in June, hurt by lower gasoline revenue compared with a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected same-store sales to fall 7.2 percent.
Total sales for the five weeks ended July 4 fell 4.8 percent to $1 billion.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key measure of retailer performance, because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
The company said lower gasoline revenue hurt June same-store sales. The price of gas in June was about 36 percent lower than the price in June last year. Also, cool and wet weather during the month throughout most of the Northeast hurt results by 1 to 2 percentage points.
Year-to-date, same-store sales fell 4.1 percent and total sales fell 2 percent to $4.04 billion.
Strongest sellers included food, such as breakfast food and candy, along with electronics such as computer equipment. Sales of products including air conditioners and apparel were weaker.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)
Wal-Mart executive joins Staples team
Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, announced the appointment of Amee Chande as senior vice president of strategy.
In that job, she is responsible for working with senior management to develop all elements of the company's global strategy and reports to John Mahoney, the company's vice chairman and chief financial officer, Staples said in a press release.
Chande joins Staples from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where she served most recently as vice president of new business development, Staples said.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)
TJX reports strong June sales
(File photo: Stephan Savoia/AP)
TJX Cos., the Framingham company that operates such apparel and home furnishing retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright, said that its June sales were above expectations and it raised its second-quarter outlook.
Many retailers were bracing for subpar June sales because of poor weather and a tough economy. A year ago, consumers had some money from government stimulus checks to spend, but that's not the case this year. In the current environment, retailers that offer lower prices, such as TJX chains, often fare better than pricier merchants.
At TJX, sales for the five-week period that ended July 4 were $1.84 billion, up 4 percent over the same period last year, the company said in a press release.
At stores open at least a year, June sales were up 4 percent. This metric is known as same-store sales, and it's a measure closely watched by Wall Street analysts in seeking to assess a retailer's performance. TJX refers to same-store sales as consolidated comparable store sales.
TJX president and chief executive Carol Meyrowitz said in a statement: "We are pleased that consolidated comparable store sales increased 4%, significantly above our expectations. We saw strong increases in customer traffic across our divisions as the extreme values we offer customers continue to resonate despite the challenging economic environment. Our strategies of running the business with lean inventories and buying close to need are serving us well by enabling us to flow fresh selections of exciting fashions and brands to our stores. With above-plan sales and strong merchandise margins for the first two months of the quarter, and July sales expected to exceed our previous guidance, we are raising our earnings outlook for the second quarter. We now expect second quarter earnings per share from continuing operations to be $.56 to $.59, over last year's very strong second quarter performance of $.48 per share."
Posted by globebusiness at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
EMC Corp. has won the high-stakes bidding war for Data Domain Inc., with a rival data storage company, NetApp Inc., dropping out of the fight - two days after EMC boosted its bid to $2.1 billion.
“This is a compelling acquisition from both a strategic and financial standpoint,’’ Hopkinton-based EMC’s chief executive, Joe Tucci, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to bringing Data Domain together with EMC to form a powerful force in next-generation, disk-based backup and archive.’’
In a news release, NetApp’s chief executive, Dan Warmenhoven, said the latest EMC bid pushed Data Domain out of his company’s price range.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Smooth turnover vowed at insurer
Board members at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care had long known their chief executive, Charles D. Baker, was weighing a run for governor, so they had prepared a transition plan in the event of his departure. Yesterday, they put it into action, naming chief operating officer Bruce Bullen as interim chief executive of the state’s second-largest health insurer.
The move will take effect at the end of next week, when Baker, 52, leaves the company to begin putting together his campaign.
Bullen, 62, was recruited to join Harvard Pilgrim in 1999, two months after Baker arrived. He has been part of the management team that led the Wellesley-based insurer into and out of state receivership and through a turnaround that has made it profitable in the midst of an economic downturn. Harvard Pilgrim was recently cited by the J.D. Power and Associates research firm as having the highest member satisfaction of any commercial health plan in New England.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Frank proposes home loan plan for jobless
Congressman Barney Frank wants to prevent unemployed homeowners from losing their houses by giving them government money to pay their mortgages.
The Newton Democrat, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, will hold a hearing in Washington today on his proposal to spend $2 billion to prevent foreclosures on borrowers who don’t qualify for other mortgage aid programs because they are unemployed. The funds would come in the form of loans, and borrowers would have to pledge their homes as security.
The catalyst for the proposal is a growing jobless rate that reached a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June, Frank said.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Stricter rules for mortgage brokers keep hundreds out
In its first year of licensing mortgage professionals, Massachusetts disqualified hundreds of applicants from working in the industry because they had criminal records, shoddy finances, or other questionable history.
Nearly one-fourth of the 7,747 applicants for a mortgage origination license in the state’s most recent fiscal year were rejected or withdrawn, after Massachusetts adopted regulations that prohibit felons, those convicted of misdemeanors related to fraud, or people with a record of financial mismanagement from handling mortgages.
The vast majority of the rejected applicants had already been working as mortgage brokers or loan officers in Massachusetts prior to the new licensing requirements. Some had been previously convicted of bank, insurance, or securities fraud, while others had poor credit histories.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
TECH LAB: Freedom of an unlocked phone may not be worth it
How would you like a free cellphone? It will cost you only $600.
Granted, that is a loose definition of the word. “Free’’ usually means keeping our wallets folded. But for some, it means the freedom to use a cellphone with the carrier of their choice.
Most of us get deeply discounted phones in exchange for being locked into a two-year contract with Verizon, Sprint, or another carrier. But some people would rather pay full price for an unlocked handset - one that’s open to being used with different carriers - then hook up with whatever carrier offers the best service or price. When a different carrier offers a better deal, they can immediately switch. Ah, now that’s being free.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:26 AM | Comments (1)
July 8, 2009
Who, What, Where
Catherine Minnerly has joined NAI Hunneman as an executive vice president and principal. Headquartered in Boston, NAI Hunneman is a provider of commercial real estate services to corporations, institutions, and the private market. Prior to joining NAI Hunneman, Minnerly served for the past seven years as senior director at Cushman & Wakefield. At NAI Hunneman, Minnerly will be in charge of leasing in the Greater Boston South Suburban Region.
John Verderese has been appointed leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's US Advisory Services Talent Management group. Verderese continues to be based in the firm's Boston office. In his new role, Mr. Verderese will leverage his significant human capital and human resource transformation experience to help drive the strategy, direction, and growth of the firm’s Talent Management services within the People and Change practice.
Jason Maring (right) is the new director of sales and marketing at ABODE Builders, a green home builder based in Plymouth, N.H. Most recently he directed the marketing efforts for Terramesa Resort Properties, a national real estate development company with five resort properties encompassing over 1,500 homes nationwide, including South Peak Resort in Lincoln, N.H.
Eric Anderson is now a technical architect specializing in rich application solution development at Roundarch, a firm with offices in Boston that specializes in digital design and implementation. Before joining Roundarch, Eric held the role of director of product management at Brightcove Inc.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:39 PM | Comments (0)
Putnam launches new ad and Twitter campaign
Putnam Investments, the Boston-based money management firm, said it is launching a new advertising campaign titled "This Is Putnam Today."
The campaign focuses on the "dramatic changes" at the company since Robert L. Reynolds became president and chief executive officer one year ago, Putnam said in a press release. (The image from the campaign that appears with this post was included with Putnam's press release.)
The campaign will include an social media component through the introduction of the company's new Twitter page, where financial professionals and investors can follow the latest developments at Putnam at http://twitter.com/putnamtoday. Reynolds, meanwhile, will be tweeting regularly at http://twitter.com/robertlreynolds.
"The first advertisements in the campaign, which will appear in the July print and online versions of financial newspapers and trade publications, spotlight the managers of six large-capitalization equity mutual funds," Putnam said in a press release. "Some of these managers have been recently recruited to Putnam. Others are longer-term Putnam veterans. All have contributed to the impressive broad-based performance generated during the past year."
When the tech bubble burst early in this decade, Putnam's mutual funds plummeted, and investors withdrew billions of dollars from Putnam after regulators found that some Putnam managers were improperly trading in their own funds.
Reynolds and his predecessor, Charles E. "Ed" Haldeman, have worked hard in recent years to right Putnam.
Haldeman has recently emerged as the top candidate to run mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
To read recent Globe coverage of Putnam, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
Beach-chair hogging is high crime in etiquette survey
Emily Post, the late and legendary arbiter of good manners, might disagree, but hogging beach chairs is deemed a more grievous breach of seashore etiquette than urinating in the ocean, according to a survey from TripAdvisor.
The Newton-based travel community asked folks for their thoughts on beach and poolside etiquette, and among the no-nos that vexxed TripAdvisor's demanding public were littering, smoking, and chaps with brawny haunches who insist on sporting skimpy Speedo swimwear. (Women's bikinis of "dental-floss" dimensions were also frowned upon by at least one survey respondent, TripAdvisor said in a press release.)
According to TripAdvisor, its survey represents the input of more than 3,800 US respondents. Of that sample, 24 percent indicated that beach-chair hogging is the most common beach and pool etiquette violation.
As for using the Atlantic as a loo, "53 percent of travelers admit to finding it acceptable to urinate in the ocean if other swimmers aren't near," TripAdvisor said in its press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
Fourth of July Pops concert gets high TV ratings
(Photo: Maisie Crow for The Boston Globe)
The Boston Pops July 4th Concert on WBZ-TV (Channel 4) really popped in ratings last weekend.
WBZ came in first place in ratings, capturing 440,000 total viewers between 8 and 10 p.m. The program featured Neil Diamond, CBS late night host Craig Ferguson, and the Pops on the Esplanade.
During the 10 to 11 p.m. segment of the telecast, which highlighted the fireworks display over the Charles River, 748,000 viewers tuned in. That helped WBZ beat NBC's Macy's fireworks display show on WHDH-TV (Channel 7), which drew 30,900 viewers.
WBZ said that broadcast was its second best rating in total viewers since the station began broadcasting the Pops in 2003. The fireworks also helped deliver more viewers to WBZ at 11 p.m., where it won the newscast in total viewers and in key demographics such as adults between the ages 25 and 54.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:47 AM | Comments (2)
Today in Globe Business
As weekly paper closes, black community loses a voice
The impending shutdown of the Bay State Banner, the only Boston newspaper focused exclusively on the black community, leaves a gap in the city’s coverage of African-Americans and raises questions about the survival of small, minority-owned papers in this recession.
Yesterday, as readers, community activists, and city officials began to mourn the loss of the 44-year-old weekly publication, publisher Melvin Miller said that he hopes an investor will save the Banner before it closes this month. The last issue is set to come out tomorrow.
“I would hope that before it’s too late that people step forward to decide, even though we are in the middle of a recession, that this is the time to step forward,’’ said Miller, 75, who blamed the paper’s troubles on the economic downturn and the advertising slump.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Pick your handset or network, not both
If you want an iPhone, you must subscribe to AT&T’s cellular phone network. But if you want to use your iPhone to make cheap Internet phone calls, you can’t do it over AT&T’s cellular data network.
That’s because AT&T has an exclusive deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone - and because the company bars iPhone users from using its data service for voice calls.
And AT&T isn’t alone. The nation’s Big Four cellphone companies - the others are Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp., and T-Mobile USA - all offer sophisticated smartphones available from no other carrier. And their policies limit what consumers can do with them.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
After the switch to digital, recycle's the word
It was only four years old, but its time had passed.
On a Saturday morning shortly after the United States adopted a new digital standard for television broadcasting, Debra Takacs took her black, roughly 15-inch Magnavox - a dinosaur of a TV set - to the Wellesley Recycling and Disposal Facility and put it out of its misery.
“I wasn’t going to buy the converter box’’ needed for the set to receive digital signals, Takacs said. She and her husband have bought a 47-inch TV to replace the outdated little set that was designed for traditional analog signals.
Since 2000, it has been against Massachusetts law to put electronic products like television sets and computer monitors, which are packed with toxic substances, in landfills or incinerators. Many municipalities and some businesses contract with recyclers, who either sell used monitors and TVs intact or process their components, dismantling and preparing the equipment by hand. Leaded glass must be washed. Metal, glass, and plastic must be separated and sent to handling facilities.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Partners aim to turn lab's discoveries into Cape Cod jobs
Regional Technology Development Corp. of Cape Cod is teaming up with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole to promote and create a market for the laboratory’s work. The goal is to translate scientific discoveries into business opportunities.
The partnership is similar to one the nonprofit development corporation already has with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a nonprofit whose researchers study the ocean and how it interacts with other environments. At the marine lab - also a nonprofit, with interests complementing those of the oceanographic institute - researchers study biological, biomedical, and environmental sciences.
Robert A. Curtis, chief executive of the Regional Technology Development Corp., also known as RTDC, said the agreements are sure to help the Cape’s economy, as the partners will target local companies interested in using the technologies the RTDC is marketing.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Casinos team up for ad campaign
Competing casinos Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are teaming up to take on a gambling giant: Atlantic City.
The two Connecticut resorts launched a billboard ad campaign on Monday aimed squarely at the New Jersey hot spot, home to 11 casinos: “Two worlds beat one City,’’ one reads. “Escape the Jersey snore,’’ states another. There are seven billboards in all, located in northern New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y.
The partnership marks the first time the two casinos, located 7 miles apart, on either side of the Thames River in the southeast part of the state, have joined forces. “It just seemed like something whose time has come,’’ said Mitchell Etess, president of Mohegan Sun.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
As Boston businesses struggle, Menino looks to fill vacancies
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino guided a tour bus filled with brokers and retailers yesterday, taking them to empty storefronts along Newbury Street and in the Fenway that he said were ripe for new businesses. Menino called on his guests to fill the nearly 20 spaces.
In return, Menino offered tenants that signed leases in the next six months advertising space on two outdoor displays in the city’s downtown for a month, a value of $5,000, according to a release.
“We’re giving them new incentives to maybe locate in the Newbury Street area of Boston,’’ said Menino, as he led his second annual Retail Opportunities Tour. “We’re being aggressive in the marketing of our city.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 7, 2009
Southwest Airlines announces brief sale
Southwest Airlines, which will launch service from Logan starting Aug. 16, announced a big 48-hour sale, with one-way fares going for as low as $30, $60, or $90 based on length of travel.
The move bucks a recent industry trend, which saw the major airlines raising ticket prices over the past couple of weeks as the beleaguered carriers once again find themselves facing volatile fuel prices.
The terms of the Southwest sale go like this: For flights up to 400 miles, you could pay as little as $30; 400-750 miles $60; and more than 750 miles $90. These fares don't include taxes and fees, and you must purchase before July 9 for travel from Sept. 9 through Nov. 18. Also you can't travel on Fridays or Sundays.
The complaints with this kind of deal tend to focus on the fact that sale fares tend to be in rather short supply. But here in Greater Boston we have an advantage because Southwest doesn't begin flying till next month, so, for the most part, there's no shortage of seats available for the fall.
I plugged in a few September and October dates for flights to the Midwest and California and found a number of openings at sale prices.
This sale could also kick off a smallish price war on competing routes, according to one airline analyst who was quoted in a Reuters story.
"While airline ticket prices have stabilized recently from their free fall, airlines are by no means out of the woods as oil prices remain volatile and demand precarious," said Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, in an e-mail this morning. "Later today we should see significant airfare matching activity (even for the modest 2-day purchase period on the Southwest sale) as legacy airlines will not want to be undercut."
Posted by globebusiness at 3:28 PM | Comments (0)
Group issues report on NH ski season
(File photo: Mark Wilson/Globe staff)
There were 2,289,426 alpine skier and snowboarder visits to New Hampshire resorts last winter, decline of 3 percent for the previous winter of 2007-08, which set the state's all-time record for skier visits.
The numbers were compiled by Ski NH, a statewide association representing 37 alpine and cross country resorts and more than 200 lodging properties in New Hampshire.
A shortage of natural snowfall last March resulted in an early close to the 2008/09 season, the association said.
"The 2008/09 season was the third best year since statewide skier visits were first tabulated in 1983/84," Ski NH said in a press release. "That number was also 7.3 percent above the average of the past five seasons and up 8.9 percent over the past 10-year average."
The press release included a statement from Karl Stone, Ski NH's marketing director.
"There were obviously concerns going into this past winter, given the state of the economy and fuel prices at that time," Stone said. "While many other areas of the country did feel the impact, we were able to capitalize on good snowfall and weather, the value we offer, and our close proximity to several major New England cities.
Alice Pearce, Ski NH's president, added in a statement: "The ski industry is fortunate to have guests that are passionate about the special experience they enjoy with family and friends on our slopes and cross country trails. Business levels may have been able to equal last year's record, but a lack of natural snowfall in March brought the season to an earlier close than usual."
Posted by globebusiness at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)
Boston Ventures acquires CK Media
Boston Ventures, a Boston private equity firm that invests in the media, information and publishing, entertainment, and communications sectors, said that its Fund VI portfolio company, BVK Holdings, owner of the consumer enthusiast publisher New Track Media, has acquired CK Media LLC, a publisher of quilting, sewing, and scrapbooking magazines.
Boston Ventures bought CK Media's assets from creditors. Boston Ventures did not disclose a purchase price.
CK Media includes nine magazines with combined circulation of about 1 million, said Boston Ventures, which added that the business also includes a conference and events division, book publishing, digital properties, and other business units serving the same consumer base of soft craft hobbyists.
The acquisition of CK Media increases New Track’s annual revenues to about $80 million, Boston Ventures said in a press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:02 PM | Comments (0)
Nelson Mullins expands in Boston
The law and lobbying offices of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, a law and lobbying firm, said it has added 21 professionals to its Boston office, many through the acquisition of the Boston law office of WolfBlock LLP.
WolfBlock is a Philadelphia firm that dissolved earlier this year, said Joseph Donovan, managing director of Nelson Mullins' lobbying operations.
With more than 400 attorneys and lobbyists, Nelson Mullins is headquartered in Columbia, S.C., and has several offices in the Southeast. In 2006, it opened a Boston office, which had five attorneys before the influx of folks from WolfBlock.
Nelson Mullins has been looking to bulk up its Boston office, and WolfBlock's troubles offered Nelson Mullins an opportunity to further that goal, Donovan said.
Several WolfBlock attorneys are also joining the Nelson Mullins office in Washington, D.C.
The Boston office will now have two co-chairs: Bill Hogan, who previously led the office, and Robert B. Crowe, a major fund-raiser for the Democratic Party who had previously headed WolfBlock's Boston office, Donovan said.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
Kraft joins efforts to bring World Cup tourney to US
Robert Kraft, a founding investor of Major League Soccer, has accepted an invitation to join the board of directors for the USA Bid Committee in its efforts to bring the FIFA World Cup to the United States in 2018 or 2022, the bid committee said.
Kraft is the founder, chairman, and chief executive of the Kraft Group, whose assets in sports and entertainment include the New England Patriots National Football League team, the New England Revolution soccer team, and Gillette Stadium.
“Robert Kraft has been a true champion for soccer in the United States and the USA Bid Committee is extremely pleased to welcome him to our board of directors,” Sunil Gulati, chairman of the USA Bid Committee and president of US Soccer, said in a statement. “He paved the way for World Cup soccer to come to New England in 1994 and his leadership of the Revolution and within MLS has been instrumental in elevating the profile of the sport in this country.”
The USA Bid Committee is a non-profit organization created to prepare a successful application to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 on behalf of the United States Soccer Federation.
(File photo of Kraft: David L. Ryan/Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:50 AM | Comments (4)
Staples gears up for back-to-school season
Staples Inc., the Framingham retailer that sells lots of back-to-school supplies, today unveiled a list of what it deems as must-have products for trendy scholars looking to be both hip and studious.
In the Staples' calendar, July 15 marks the official start to the 2009 back-to-school shopping season, and among the items that students will want this year are the Staples Foot Calculator ($3.99), the company said. (Shown at right.)
And for those who wish to major in lunch, Staples suggests that students "brown bag it in style" with an "Access Insulated Tote Lunch Kit ($9.99) featuring a thickwall insulated compartment with top carry handle." (Shown at left.)
"Staples has the back-to-school products students most want to help them start the school year off right," Jevin Eagle, Staples executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, said in a statement. "Next week's 'First Bell' marks the start of the back-to-school shopping season and our commitment to helping parents save on the most important items on their student's shopping list, making shopping easy and affordable."
The photos that appear with this post were taken from Staples press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
Papa Gino's announces key promotions
Papa Gino’s Inc., the Dedham parent company of the Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo restaurant chains, announced the promotions of Gary Sandeen and Kathy Tirrell in a move "geared toward strengthening the company’s day-to-day operations."
As executive vice president of operations, Sandeen will be responsible for all aspects of the Papa's Gino brand, and Tirrell will have the same title and responsibilities for the D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches brand, the company said.
Rick Wolf, president and chief executive of Papa Gino’s Inc. said in a statement, “Gary’s and Kathy’s deep operating experience with each brand will enable the company to be more responsive to our guests at the restaurant level.”
Papa Gino’s Inc. operates more than 370 company-owned and franchised Papa Gino’s, D’Angelo, and dual-location restaurants and employs more than 5,000 people.
The photo that tops this post was taken from D'Angelo's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:32 AM | Comments (0)
Feds tell RI bank to stop making student loans
A Rhode Island bank has been ordered by federal regulators to stop making student loans.
The US Office of Thrift Supervision said Monday that North Providence-based Union Federal Savings Bank must stop making loans after the bank's parent company was ordered to lessen its reliance on the private lending packages.
Union Federal and its parent, Boston-based First Marblehead Corp., agreed to oversight by the OTS and accepted a cease-and-desist order.
Under the agreement, the bank must either boost capital on hand or sell some of its student loan portfolio.
The agreements set minimum capital and deposit requirements for Union Federal.
First Marblehead's CEO says the company is working hard to address the issues.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:48 AM | Comments (0)
Business confidence in Mass. slips
Business confidence in Massachusetts slipped eight-tenths of a point to post 38.2 reading in June on the Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index.
The index is based on a 100-point scale with 50 as neutral; the June 2009 reading was down 10.7 points from June 2008, and 15.9 over two years, said the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, or AIM, which represents large employers in the state.
“The average reading for the second quarter of 2009 was 37.5, up from 34.5 in the first quarter, despite June’s decline,” Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. “The overall trend is positive, but not strong, and confidence remains very low – this was the second-lowest quarterly average in the history of the index, which has now completed 18 years.”
The graph that accompanies this post was included in AIM's press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:21 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Lenders avoid redoing loans, Fed concludes
Mortgage lenders don’t try to rework most home loans held by borrowers facing foreclosure because it would probably mean losing money, a study released yesterday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston concludes.
The Boston Fed’s findings suggest the Obama administration’s major effort to solve the foreclosure crisis by giving the lending industry $75 billion to rewrite delinquent loans to more affordable levels is not likely to work.
One of the study’s coauthors, Boston Fed senior economist Paul S. Willen, said the government would be better off giving the money directly to struggling borrowers to help them with their payments, rather than to lenders that are averse to working out the troubled loans.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
At a time when one job posting can attract hundreds of applicants, the unemployed are doing everything they can to stand out. There’s the man who walked the streets of Manhattan wearing a sandwich board that read: “MIT Grad for Hire.’’ A Connecticut woman rented a billboard along Interstate 95 to advertise her eagerness to land a job. A Hopkinton software engineer took out an ad for himself on a classical radio station after 10 months of looking for work.
The traditional job search - sending out resumes, crowding into jam-packed career fairs - often ends up going nowhere when there are 13.7 million unemployed people nationwide and only 2.5 million jobs to fill, as is now the case according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. So people are advertising themselves everywhere from the back of car windows to Facebook in the hopes of catching the eye of a potential employer.
“People are just getting as creative as they possibly can,’’ said Chuck Campbell, a career coach based in Holliston.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Bingham McCutchen discloses merger
Bingham McCutchen LLP, one of Boston’s largest corporate law firms, has announced plans to merge with McKee Nelson LLP, with the combined firm to use the Bingham McCutchen name.
The firms signed a letter of intent to merge on or before Aug. 1.
McKee Nelson, with 120 lawyers and offices in New York and Washington, D.C., will bring the total at Bingham McCutchen to roughly 1,120 lawyers worldwide.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Room to breathe
There are all kinds of sellers of big-ticket items. Some are indifferent and others are desperate. The New York Times Co. comes across as highly motivated and a little too aggressive.
Of course, the Times Co. is trying to sell The Boston Globe along with its other New England newspaper property, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. If you’re not interested in newspapers, there is also the company’s 17 percent interest in the Boston Red Sox, which the Times Co. has been trying to move with remarkably little success.
The process of selling the Globe was being hustled along at top speed. The company hadn’t even settled its last and most important labor negotiation, no minor detail, when it asked for initial bids by tomorrow (a union vote is scheduled July 20). Now the process is on hold and people are getting more time to prepare offers.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Matty still rules the airwaves
MEDFORD - It was a Friday morning, and MC Hammer was late. Matt Siegel, also known as Matty in the Morning, was sharing his frustration with thousands and thousands of friends.
“This is my favorite moment in my whole career,’’ said Siegel, morning host at Boston radio station KISS 108. “Our guy MC Hammer booked for the show at 8:30 sharp, and where is he?’’
Finally, the iconic star of 1990s hip hop called in, and Siegel did some hammering of his own.
“Are you on Eastern Standard Time? Are you on Daylight Savings Time? Or are you on Hammertime?’’ he joked.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
EMC raises stakes in bidding war
EMC Corp. has jacked up its offer for Data Domain Inc. to more than $2.1 billion in its latest effort to win a bidding war against rival NetApp Inc.
EMC yesterday increased its all-cash offer for Data Domain’s 62.9 million outstanding shares by more than 10 percent, from $30 to $33.50 per share.
“Our calculus was that this was the price that would be compelling enough to convince the Data Domain board to agree to our transaction,’’ said Matthew Olton, EMC’s vice president of corporate development.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Deadline for Globe bids is postponed
The New York Times Co. has postponed tomorrow’s deadline for prospective buyers of The Boston Globe to submit preliminary bids for the newspaper, people briefed on the sales process said. No new date has been set for the bids.
Representatives of Goldman Sachs & Co., the investment banking firm hired by the Times Co. to manage the newspaper sale, have told interested parties they will be given more time to prepare an initial offer for the Globe and its sister paper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the people said. These people asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to discuss the process.
In a letter to potential bidders last month, Goldman Sachs requested the nonbinding bids by July 8. The letter also said buyers would be asked to assume about $59 million in pension liability for the two papers. And it suggested that approved parties would be notified about a week later about taking part in a second round of bidding.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2009
Dunkin' franchisee seeks bankruptcy protection
A Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, citing a sales decline that made it impossible to meet loan obligations.
Kainos Partners Holding Company LLC, of Greer, S.C., operates 56 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in New York, South Carolina, and Nevada and employs about 700 people, according to court documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The company also has eight stores under construction.
The company said it owes between $10 million and $50 million and has $10 million to $50 million in estimated assets.
The company said average weekly store sales had declined so much that it could not meet its debt obligations. Rising food costs were another factor.
Canton-based Dunkin’ Donuts is a subsidiary of privately held Dunkin’ Brands Inc., owned by Bain Capital, Carlyle Group, and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Dunkin’ Donuts has about 1,200 US franchisees.
(AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 4:46 PM | Comments (3)
Mass. gas prices fall 2 cents a gallon
"Gasoline prices in Massachusetts are down for the second straight week, the first time in 2009 prices have declined in consecutive weeks," AAA Southern New England said today.
"AAA’s July 6 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.599 per gallon, down 2 cents from last week and 4 cents in the last two weeks," AAA Southern New England said.
"The current price is two cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.61, and is $1.49 less than the $4.08 found this time a year ago," AAA Southern New England said.
(Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
July 3, 2009
Liberty Mutual renews Fourth of July sponsorship
Liberty Mutual Group, the Boston insurance company, said today it is renewing its sponsorship of the Boston Pops Fourth of July Concert on the Esplanade for another three years.
The sponsorship renewal agreement with Boston 4 Productions, the company that produces the event, totals $7 million and covers Fourth of July Concerts from 2010 through 2012, said the company, which added that 2012 also happens to Liberty Mutual's 100th anniversary.
Liberty Mutual began sponsoring the event in 2005; its initial five-year sponsorship ends after this year's concert, a company spokesman said.
"This event has helped define our great city for decades while becoming one of the nation's biggest Independence Day parties," Edmund F. Kelly, Liberty Mutual Group chairman, president, and chief executive, said in a statement. "I can't think of a better way to celebrate America's birthday, whether you join us at the Esplanade, or enjoy the festivities on television."
This year's concert will feature Pops conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, joined by Grammy Award winner Neil Diamond, whose hits include Red Sox fan favorite, "Sweet Caroline."
A Globe story from 2004 noted that Liberty Mutual stepped in bail out Boston's Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade after there was a possibility the event could be scrubbed because of insufficient funding.
Liberty Mutual's decision ended a search for a new sponsor by David Mugar, the local philanthropist who founded the celebration with Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler in 1974. Fidelity Investments was a previous sponsor. For many years, Mugar paid for the show himself, the Globe story noted. But production costs had increased so much that he said he could no longer afford the expense.
As for tomorrow's Fourth of July celebration, its emcee is Craig Ferguson of the CBS "Late, Late Show," and the celebration is scheduled to air locally on WBZ-TV from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., followed by a national CBS broadcast from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Liberty Mutual said in its press release.
"For those watching the celebration from home, Liberty Mutual will bring the event's 21-minute fireworks grand finale commercial-free to millions of viewers across the nation," the release added.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)
Back Bay website aims to woo tourists, locals
The Back Bay Association said it has just launched a new website that is part of a larger marketing campaign that promotes one of Boston's most famous neighborhoods as the ideal destination for folks interested in "Culture, Cuisine, Couture, and Commerce."
The new site, www.VisitBostonBackBay.com, is "a fully interactive portal to the products, services, restaurants, galleries, and attractions the Back Bay has to offer," the association said in a press release.
Aimed at local, regional, national, and international consumers, the website features interactive brand listings of local businesses, videos of neighborhood attractions, virtual walking tours, maps, and events; it also includes information about parking and local history, the association said.
The Back Bay Association represents the neighborhood's local businesses, merchants, restaurants, hotels, property owners, and companies as well as schools and churches.
“The launch of this new website marks a major expansion of the promotional capabilities of the Back Bay,” association president Meg Mainzer-Cohen said in a statement. “VisitBostonBackBay.com draws together all the world-class brands and attractions that make The Back Bay the ultimate consumer destination.”
Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
New Cadillacs are coming to Woburn
For Cadillac buffs, next Thursday could be a day of high excitement. That's when the luxury brand has scheduled a stop on its "Sneak Peak Tour" for R.C. Olsen Cadillac in Woburn.
From 5 p.m. until 8 p.m Thursday., as potential customers munch on hors d'oeuvres and finger foods, the Olsen showroom will showcase two new 2010 models, the SRX Crossover and the CTS Sport Wagon, a variation of the popular CTS sedan.
For the last few years, the crossover, which combines features from the sport utility vehicle and a regular car, has been one of the hottest of vehicular genres for many automotive brands, said Stephen DeSisto, general sales manager at Olsen Cadillac.
Cadillac's SRX Crossover made its debut earlier in the decade, and the 2010 model is widely anticipated because it represents the SRX's second generation, DeSisto said.
"It's a real special car," he said. "I haven't seen one myself. They've been keeping it under wraps a little bit. Hopefully, there will be a lot interest in it among Cadillac buyers - and among Lexus buyers and every-other-kind-of buyer as well."
The auto industry has been hard hit by the recession - General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC recently filed for bankruptcy protection, and they are expected to close more than 3,000 dealerships nationwide, including dozens in Massachusetts, as they restructure.
But things seem to improving slightly - a headline in yesterday's Wall Street Journal said, "Car makers see end to sales slide." That could mean good timing for this year's crop of new models and for Olsen Cadillac, whose website proclaims, "We're here to stay!"
The "Sneak Peak Tour" next Thursday will give potential customers an opportunity to "see and feel" the SRX Crossover and the CTS Sport Wagon, DeSisto said; customers will then have a chance to pre-order vehicles that will become available later this summer.
The photo that appears with this post was taken from Cadillac's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
Summer program to help troubled youth is underway
Citizens Bank and the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston said that their Summer Enrichment Series is underway in partnership with Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
The goal of the series is to help curb youth violence, Citizens Bank said.
"Funded with a total of $400,000 from the Citizens Bank Foundation, the Summer Enrichment Series was launched in 2007 in response to Mayor Menino’s call to action," Citizens said in a press release. "This year’s program is expected to provide summer employment and programming to nearly 1,000 local youth."
Citizens Bank Massachusetts president Robert E. Smyth said in a statement, “We are deeply committed to supporting the neighborhoods where our customers and colleagues live and work and enriching the lives of the future generation and keeping them safe from harm are small ways to show our support.”
Posted by globebusiness at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
Plant disease hits eastern US veggies early, hard
(File photo: Joanne Rathe/Globe staff)
CONCORD, N.H. - Tomato plants have been removed from stores in half a dozen states as a destructive and infectious plant disease makes its earliest and most widespread appearance ever in the eastern United States.
Late blight - the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s - occurs sporadically in the Northeast, but this year's outbreak is more severe for two reasons: infected plants have been widely distributed by big-box retail stores and rainy weather has hastened the spores' airborne spread.
The disease, which is not harmful to humans, is extremely contagious and experts say it most likely spread on garden center shelves to plants not involved in the initial infection. It also can spread once plants reach their final destination, putting tomato and potato plants in both home gardens and commercial fields at risk.
Meg McGrath, professor of plant pathology at Cornell University, calls late blight "worse than the Bubonic Plague for plants."
"People need to realize this is probably one of the worst diseases we have in the vegetable world," she said. "It's certain death for a tomato plant."
Tomato plants have been removed from Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Kmart stores in all six New England states, plus New York. Late blight also has been identified in all other East Coast states except Georgia, as well as Alabama, West Virginia and Ohio, McGrath said.
It is too early in the season to know whether infected plants will taint large crops or negatively affect commercial growers. But if that happens, growers could be forced to raise prices to cover costs associated with combating the disease.
Agriculture officials in the various states still are trying to determine where the outbreak started. One major grower, Alabama-based Bonnie Plants, supplies most of the tomato plants to big-box stores, but it is unclear whether the plants were infected before or after leaving the supplier's multiple greenhouses.
"There's no way in the world you can pin this on one plant company, but we just happen to be the biggest," said Dennis Thomas, the company's general manager.
The company has regularly inspected greenhouses in 38 states, including Maine, New Hampshire and New York. Its most recent inspections -- in New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- found no evidence of disease.
"We've not been written up one time for any late blight disease that was confirmed," Thomas said, noting that Bonnie Plants sprays seedlings before shipping them to stores, but that doesn't happen after the plants arrive. He said the company was proactive in removing plants once the outbreak occurred.
In the meantime, plant experts are warning gardeners to be on the lookout for the disease and to take quick action if it crops up. The first sign is often brown spots on plant stems, followed by nickel-sized olive-green or brown spots on the tops of leaves and fuzzy white fungal growth underneath. Tomato fruit will show firm, brown spots.
Spraying with fungicides can control late blight if begun before symptoms appear, but many plant experts recommend removing and destroying the plants instead to prevent spores from traveling.
Donald Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said the state's potato farmers are concerned, but not in crisis mode.
"It's pretty easy to make our growers aware of it, that's the simple part. But what we've started to do is really reach out to home gardeners throughout Maine to ask them to be very diligent about checking their tomato plants or potato plants," he said.
Hilary Chapman of Hopkinton, N.H., hasn't yet seen any signs of blight on her four tomato plants -- two she planted from seed and two purchased from a small local greenhouse.
"I have one plant that has two tomatoes on it, and everything looks good," she said, "but I'll be watching."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:22 AM | Comments (17)
Saucony wins vendor award
Saucony, a global athletic footwear and apparel brand based in Lexington, said it was named the 2009 Fleet Feet Sports Footwear Vendor of the Year.
"This award recognizes a footwear manufacturer for providing excellent product, support, and services to Fleet Feet Sports stores," Saucony said in a press release.
Fleet Feet Sports is a chain of footwear stores with its corporate headquarters in North Carolina.
Saucony Inc. is a subsidiary of Collective Brands Inc., a Kansas-based footwear specialty retailer, and a division of the Stride Rite Corp., a Lexington-based brand perhaps best known for its namesake children's shoes and Keds sneakers.
The photos that appear with this post were taken from Saucony's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Air base partner avoids closure
The agency charged with overseeing one of the largest developments in Massachusetts, the conversion of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, narrowly avoided closing down thanks to a $250,000 cash infusion from its corporate partner yesterday.
The South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., made up of officials from Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth, said the funds, from Miami developer LNR Property Corp., will allow it to operate through September. The agency would have closed “within a week’’ without additional funding from LNR, said its chief executive, Kevin Donovan.
The emergency funding is a stark example of the many struggles Tri-Town and LNR have had obtaining 900 acres of the old Navy station and converting it into a minicity known as SouthField. Under the arrangement, LNR would build more than 2,800 housing units, a golf course, a sports complex, and 2 million feet of commercial space.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Car insurance rates 8 percent, state says
The cost of auto insurance in Massachusetts has fallen since the state stopped setting rates a little more than a year ago, the Division of Insurance said yesterday.
According to a state study, auto insurance rates dropped 8.2 percent from April 2008 to April 2009, compared with a 5.2 percent decline from 2006 to 2007. The state allowed insurance companies to start setting their own rates on April 1, 2008, under what officials called a “managed competition’’ plan. Previous to that, auto insurance had been highly regulated.
Since the regulations were relaxed, nine auto insurers have entered the Massachusetts market, including two of the nation’s largest - Geico and Progressive Insurance.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Biting hands that feed
Biotech companies fight with each other over the commercial rights to ideas and technology all the time. Patent lawsuits are as much a part of the business as lab work and clinical trials.
But those companies rarely go to court against big universities or scientific institutions, the source of talent and so many initial discoveries for the biotech industry. They don’t compete directly and, besides, do you really want to risk biting the hand that feeds you?
That’s partly why a lawsuit filed last week in Suffolk Superior Court is so extraordinary. The case involves a cast of world-renowned scientists and institutions in a dispute over key intellectual property rights in an emerging field that could change biotechnology, and possibly create vast fortunes.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Gas retailers face slow July Fourth
ACTON - Coffee in hand, Jeff Bursaw eyes the live feed on the flatscreen monitor at a rolltop desk inside his gas station. A blue bar ticks across the gray background, highlighting the constantly-shifting prices of crude oil, gasoline, and home heating oil as traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange bid the commodities up and down.
He does this every day, all day to make sure what he’s charging per gallon at Bursaw Gas & Oil in Acton not only stays competitive with, but is cheaper than, prices at the Mobil station down the street. In a span of 75 minutes on a recent day, the market swung up 5 cents and down 2.
“You can get up, go get a cup of water and everything is different,’’ Bursaw explains of his steady monitoring.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Two suitors for Globe join forces to submit bid
Former advertising executive Jack Connors and private equity investor Stephen Pagliuca have joined forces to prepare for a potential bid to buy The Boston Globe, according to people briefed on the sales process.
This week the two got approval from the Globe’s owner, The New York Times Co., to team up for a potential bid, the sources said. Connors and Pagliuca had been weighing separate bids for New England’s largest daily. Nondisclosure agreements had stipulated bidders could not work together, but the two sought permission to collaborate.
As that team and at least one rival local group craft preliminary bids, due Wednesday, the Times Co. has moved to make a sale more palatable by asking would-be buyers to assume only a portion of the Globe’s pension liability, a major concern to prospective owners, the sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sales process.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 2, 2009
Talbots completes sale of J. Jill
(File photo: Wiqan Ang for The Boston Globe)
Talbots Inc., the Hingham apparel retailer perhaps best known for classically styled women's clothing, said that it has completed the sale of its J. Jill brand to an affiliate of a San Francisco based private-equity firm.
Talbot announced in June that it would sell the women's casual clothing business to focus on rejuvenating its core business. To read a Globe story about that announcement, please click here.
An affiliate of Golden Gate Capital paid $75 million cash, less an $8.1 million adjustment based on the estimated closing date, as part of the agreement. Talbots had bought the brand in 2006 for $517 million.
The sale included 205 J. Jill brand stores, a New Hampshire distribution facility, intellectual property, accounts receivable, and inventory related to the transferred stores, along with certain related liabilities.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:18 PM | Comments (4)
Foley Hoag's Keating will chair Boston Foundation
The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, said that Michael B. Keating (right), a partner at the law firm Foley Hoag LLP, has been elected as the chair of the foundation's board of directors.
Keating succeeds Reverend Dr. Ray Hammond,a Boston clergyman who had served as chair since 2002 and stepped down due to term limits, the foundation said in a press release.
The Boston Foundation has assets of $763 million. In its fiscal 2008, the foundation and its donors made nearly $79 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $102 million.
Keating's photo was taken from Foley Hoag's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (1)
Who, What, Where
Keith Turner (right) is the new vice chairman of the board of directors for Mercury Media, a Marlborough direct response media agency. As vice chairman, Turner will advise Mercury Media on best practices for attracting television’s elite advertisers and educating them on the evolving direct response advertising industry. Turner served as president of NBC Universal Sales & Marketing between 1998 and 2006.
Jay Kramer has been appointed to the post of vice president of worldwide marketing for Sepaton Inc., a Marlborough provider of disk-based data protection solutions. Most recently, Kramer served as vice president of marketing for iStor Networks.
Howard King, Joann Ellington (left), and Mark D. Battle have new jobs at Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston. King has joined the bank as a reverse mortgage specialist in its Mortgage Banking Department and will work out of Eastern’s Reading and Lynn offices, covering Middlesex County. Previously, King worked as a reverse mortgage specialist with Reliant Mortgage Corp. Ellington will be a senior loan officer in Eastern's Mortgage Banking Department. She will work out of Eastern’s Chelmsford office. Prior to joining Eastern Bank, Ellington worked as a loan officer at Wells Fargo. Battle has joined Eastern as a senior loan consultant in its Mortgage Banking Department. He will work out of Eastern’s Reading office. Before joining Eastern Bank, Battle worked as a senior loan consultant with Washington Mutual Bank.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:40 AM | Comments (0)
Magazine ranks firms by commitment to diversity
The magazine black enterprise has announced its fifth annual listing of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity in its July issue, and while no Massachusetts-based companies made the list, some of the top companies have a big presence in the Bay State.
They include Bank of America Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., and IBM Corp., all of which have made acquisitions of Massachusetts companies.
According to black enterprise, the companies identified in this special report demonstrated strength and outperformed their peers in one or more of four key categories: board representation, employee base, senior management, and supplier diversity.
To read the black enterprise list, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
A steady hand for troubled Freddie
Charles “Ed’’ Haldeman Jr. keeps looking for bigger messes to clean up. Taking the helm of the embattled mortgage giant Freddie Mac fits the bill.
Haldeman - who this week ended his seven-year tenure at Boston’s Putnam Investments - has been recommended by Freddie Mac’s board to be its chief executive, but he must be approved by the company’s US regulator, according to a person knowledgeable about the decision.
If approved, the 60-year-old Haldeman would become the second prominent Boston businessman to try to fix Freddie Mac. Richard Syron, who ran the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, was hired as Freddie’s chief executive in 2003 after a $5 billion accounting scandal. He resigned in September after failing to prevent the company’s slide into government receivership.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Larry Platt, the top editor of Boston magazine, is from Philadelphia and it shows. During a breakfast interview last week, his description of an upcoming story about recently indicted former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi hit a pronunciation snag. “Is it Di-May-si or Di-Mah-si?’’ he asked with a hint of uncharacteristic bashfulness.
Platt - who is also editor of Philadelphia magazine, both owned by Philadelphia-based Metrocorp Inc. - is unfamiliar with the scene in the Massachusetts capital and unapologetic about it. But he intends to make Boston magazine a “must read’’ that “gets the movers and shakers in Boston shaking.’’
In the process, he also hopes to halt a sales slump that has caused the glossy monthly to lose money this year for the first time in its nearly 40-year history.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Scientists find master heart cell
Harvard University scientists said yesterday they discovered a master human heart cell that gives rise to three major types of heart tissue, providing new tools for drug development and an important advance toward the ultimate goal of repairing damaged hearts.
Using human embryonic stem cells, the researchers have unraveled part of the process by which the human heart is built during development - insight they hope could be used to understand congenital heart disease and create new therapies for cardiovascular disease, the top cause of death in the United States.
“Since these [cells] are entirely human, you can use this system now to study the role of specific genes in human heart disease, and as ways to screen drugs for cardiotoxicity and for therapeutic effect,’’ said Dr. Kenneth R. Chien, director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is senior author of the paper, published in Nature yesterday.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Developers of Pike site told to act
The Patrick administration has ordered developers of the $800 million Columbus Center project to either move forward with construction or spend millions of dollars to remove staging at the site - an ultimatum that could be a death knell for the foundering Boston development.
State officials expect the developers, the real estate arm of the California state pension fund and Boston-based Winn Cos., to remove barriers and take other steps to clean up the Back Bay work zone within several months, but officials also hint they will remove the team if it doesn’t soon produce proof it can build the massive project.
“At some point we need to call the question and say, is this really going to happen?’’ said Jeffrey Mullan, executive director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which has leased the site to the developers.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
TECH LAB: One call rings them all ...
After years of wasting our time with built-in cameras, music players, and casual games, cellphone makers are finally giving us something we really need: one plug to charge them all. Next year, the world’s leading phone manufacturers will adopt a universal interface, so that one power adapter will charge any phone.
But the most important telephone interface is nowhere near universal. I refer, of course, to the phone number. We’ve got home numbers, work numbers, cell numbers, sometimes several of each. They all do the exact same job, only with different phones. What we need is a universal phone number that can ring any or all of our phones.
And soon you’ll be able to get one, courtesy of Google Inc. The company has begun rolling out Google Voice, a service to let us manage our telephonic lives through a single, Internet-connected phone number. There’s no charge, although you still have to pay for your regular phone services.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
CombinatoRx in 'creative' merger with Canadian firm
CombinatoRx Inc., a Cambridge biotechnology company that last year eliminated two-thirds of its workforce in a bid to stretch its cash, yesterday said it has found a Canadian merger partner that will bring an infusion of cash and create a stronger pipeline of drugs.
In what was billed as a merger of equals, CombinatoRx, which trades on the Nasdaq exchange, agreed to combine with privately held Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia. The deal will result in the reduction of about 20 more jobs at CombinatoRx.
Ownership stakes in the new company will hinge on the outcome of a US Food and Drug Administration ruling, scheduled for November, on Neuromed’s application for a pain relieving drug called Exalgo. The merger is set to close by the end of the year.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2009
Freddie Mac eyes Haldeman for CEO
The board of mortgage giant Freddie Mac has selected Putnam Investments chairman Charles E. "Ed" Haldeman Jr. as its top candidate for chief executive, according to a person knowledgeable about the company.
The news comes the day after Putnam announced that Haldeman is retiring as the Boston money manager's chairman. Haldeman was brought in seven years ago to guide Putnam after its mutual funds plummeted in the wake of the tech bubble bursting. (To read a story in today's Globe about Haldeman and Putnam, please click here.
In a memo to the staff, Putnam chief executive Robert Reynolds wrote of Haldeman: "When a company is sorely tested, as Putnam was some years back, the job of restoring investors’ trust and confidence is not easy. But Ed Haldeman’s steady hand and his commitment to integrity did help Putnam get back on track. Under his stewardship, we also secured an ideal corporate partner in Great-West LifeCo and the Power Financial Corp."
The possibility that Haldeman might become Freddie Mac's chief executive was first reported by the Wall Street Journal is reporting. The Journal cited "people familiar with the situation" as the sources for its story.
If Haldeman were to become chief executive of Freddie Mac, he would hold a job once held by Richard Syron, an economist who once led the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Posted by globebusiness at 4:00 PM | Comments (4)
Crabtree & Evelyn files for Chapter 11 protection
Soap and lotion seller Crabtree & Evelyn Ltd. says it filed for Chapter 11 protection on Wednesday, a victim of the recession and management missteps.
The pressure of repaying debt forced the company to file for bankruptcy, acting president Stephen Bestwick said in a court filing. He said management changes had resulted in several shifts in strategy, hurting its wholesale business.
The company plans to use the court's protection to renegotiate leases with reluctant landlords in its effort to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy. The filing does not include operations outside the United States.
The Woodstock, Conn.-based company reported in a court filing that it owed $46.2 million in debt and had $31.7 million in assets as of March 31. The privately held company runs 126 retail stores that sell bathroom products and gift basket items at Copley Place in Boston, Watertower Place in Chicago, The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, Embarcadero Center in San Francisco and Century City Mall in Los Angeles, among others.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:04 PM | Comments (0)
Starbucks unveils "new and improved" menu items
(File photo: Robert Caplin/Bloomberg News)
Is the Hub ready for Oregon blueberries? Starbucks Corp., the Seattle company best known for its coffee, seems to think so - despite the fact that many locals may be partial to blueberries from Maine.
Buffeted by tough times, Starbucks has vowed to improve the taste of its food by focusing on simplified recipes that rely on such ingredients as whole grains and Oregon blueberries. New menu additions, which incorporate these changes, are now available at the chain's Boston cafes, the company said in a media alert.
One "new and improved" item is the Blueberry Oat Bar, which features two types of organic blueberries. Maybe one of those types is the lowbush blueberry from Maine.
Another new-and-improved offering could well represent a major advance in food-science alchemy - the Marshmallow Dream Bar.
The very name conjures up visions of gluttons and galoots and folks whose racing lines require swaddling in muumuus and tent dresses. But don't be deceived. According to Starbucks, the "revamped Marshmallow Dream Bar is a sensible indulgence" - one that clocks in at a mere 210 calories.
While sensible indulgences may not add heft to a customer's waist line, they will hopefully fatten the bottom line of a chain that has recently been forced to shut some stores and right-size its barista workforce.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (3)
Harvard: Recession alters business landscape
Harvard Business Review explores how the economic crisis has fundamentally altered the business landscape in a special July-August issue titled, "Managing in the New World."
The issue includes input from more than 30 business and economic experts on how the recession and the financial crisis have reshaped global competitiveness, strategy, consumer behavior, regulation, leadership, and risk management, Harvard Business Review said in a press release.
Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius writes: "There's a widespread sense that there will be no going home again - that the landscape of business has forever been altered."
Harvard Business Review is published by Harvard Business Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
School's out, but factoids are in
As a trivia question, it would go like this: “What profession is shared by a majority of the trivia night hosts in Central Massachusetts?’’
The answer: teacher.
But they would never put that question before the Tuesday night trivia crowd at the Old Timer Restaurant in Clinton. It’s too easy.
After all, the host one recent evening, Joel Bates, is an assistant principal at Florence Sawyer School in nearby Bolton; the scorekeeper, Steve Grant, works for him as a second-grade teacher. At least a half-dozen other teachers were in the standing-room-only crowd.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Lexington drug maker Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday it has won approval for an iron replacement therapy with the potential to be its first blockbuster drug.
The company said the Food and Drug Administration granted long-delayed approval to market its Feraheme injection for intravenous use in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adults with chronic kidney disease. The FDA has approved fewer than two dozen new drugs annually in recent years.
Brian J.G. Pereira, president and chief executive of Amag, said in an interview that the approval represents the biggest milestone in the company’s 28-year history. It has produced and stockpiled the therapy in anticipation of the FDA’s decision.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Haldeman retiring as chairman of Putnam
Charles E. “Ed’’ Haldeman came to Boston seven years ago to rebuild Putnam Investments’ reputation as a venerable money manager after its mutual funds plummeted when the tech bubble burst.
He will now be leaving Putnam without fulfilling that goal, as the Boston firm said yesterday Haldeman is retiring as chairman of its investment arm, while his successor, chief executive Robert Reynolds, solidifies his control over the direction of Putnam.
“Bob Reynolds is doing a great job as CEO,’’ Haldeman said in a statement. “This is a good time for me to advance to the next stage of my career.’’ Putnam said he was traveling yesterday and unavailable for additional comment.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Harvard program targets diversity at highest levels
Ursula M. Burns takes over as chief executive of Xerox Corp. today, making her the first African-American woman to head a Standard & Poor’s 100 company. Harvard Business School professor David A. Thomas is impressed by Burns’s ascension. But not that much.
“When you consider all the women of color that went into the pipeline for these jobs 25 or 30 years ago, having just one rise to the top means we have a long way to go,’’ said Thomas, who is also the business school’s faculty chair.
Last week, Thomas and his colleagues at Harvard kicked off Next Generation Executive, a program aimed at improving that track record in corporate America. Nearly 30 minority executives from around the country were invited to be part of the first class and spend a week attending intensive sessions at the school aimed at helping them advance even higher. The sessions will be followed up with six months of coaching and culminate with a retreat in Naples, Fla., in December.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
With new firm, ex-AG Reilly goes back to trial roots
Former attorney general Thomas Reilly is leaving the international law firm Greenberg Traurig to join a smaller Boston-based boutique where he will return to his roots as a trial lawyer.
Reilly, 66, today will join the firm Cooley Manion Jones LLP, a 50-lawyer firm that specializes in litigation and represents victims of the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island.
“I’ve been a trial lawyer pretty much all of my career and I miss it,’’ said Reilly, whose work at Greenberg involved advising clients on government investigations, civil litigation, and business regulation. “I can’t be in court all the time, but I hope to be back trying cases and using the skills I acquired over all these years.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Agency focused on cutting toxics loses funding
It is a miniscule slice of the state’s $27 billion budget - less than $1.5 million to fund an obscure environmental agency at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
But the Toxics Use Reduction Institute is part of a state-mandated program that has reduced the use of hazardous substances by local manufacturers 41 percent in its 20-year history. That funding has been eliminated, and the institute’s 18 employees do not know where their next paycheck will come from - or whether it will come at all.
The institute is just one casualty of a fiscal crisis that has ravaged Massachusetts, forcing the state to raise taxes and cut funding. About two weeks ago, the Legislature’s budget conference committee decided to eliminate the Senate and House line items that would have provided the institute with $1.2 million to $1.4 million for fiscal 2010, leaving it to UMass-Lowell to fund the agency. The committee did not specify how much it expected the school to provide, but the question is urgent. The institute’s fiscal year ended yesterday, and it has no funding, effective today.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2009
Dunkin' stops selling hot chocolate as a precaution
Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain, said that it will temporarily stop selling hot chocolate and Dunkaccino beverages as a precautionary measure after one of its suppliers learned that some of its equipment might be contaminated with Salmonella.
Dunkin' Donuts emphasized that its decision was voluntary and precautionary.
"We have confirmed that no Dunkin’ Donuts products were contaminated," the chain said in a statement. "However, we have made the decision to temporarily withdraw the beverages from our stores to ensure the safety of our customers. No other Dunkin’ Donuts products were subject to this withdrawal. We expect to have these products back in stores shortly, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our customers."
The supplier is the Plainview Milk Products Cooperative of Plainview, Minn.
Earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a press release about Plainview recalling some products because of potential Salmonella contamination.
To read the FDA's press release, please click here.
In a news story from yesterday, Reuters noted that Plainview said then that there have been no reports of illness related to its products.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:23 PM | Comments (5)
State Street: Investor confidence rose in June
Global investor confidence rose 7 points from a revised May reading of 108.5 to reach 115.5 this month, said State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corp.
Headquartered in Boston, State Street Corp. provides financial services to institutional investors.
Updated on a monthly basis, the index seeks to measure investor confidence on a quantitative basis by analyzing the actual buying and selling decisions of institutional investors, State Street Global Markets said. The graph that tops this post was included in State Street Global Markets' press release.
The index was developed through State Street Global Markets’ research partnership, State Street Associates, and by Ken Froot and Paul O’Connell.
“June marks the third consecutive month that the Global Index has remained above the neutral level of 100, the level above which institutional investors are increasing their allocations to risky assets,” Froot said in a statement. “Notwithstanding some concerns around the long-run sustainability of fiscal positions and the impact of quantitative easing on inflation, institutional investors continue to endorse the long-run outlook.”
Posted by globebusiness at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
Reebok hockey brands sign draft picks
(File photo of Tavares: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
Reebok International Ltd., the Canton outfit perhaps best known for athletic footwear, said it has signed up recent top National Hockey League draft choices to endorse its hockey brands.
John Tavares, who hails from the same Toronto suburb as one of Don Cherry's haberdashers, will join the CCM brand's roster, and Victor Hedman, a blue-line bruiser from Sweden, has signed a multi-year agreement with Reebok Hockey, Reebok said.
(At left, ex-Bruins coach Cherry styles some tony togs in this undated photo.)
As recent Globe coverage noted, Tavares was selected in last week's NHL draft by the New York Islanders, and Hedman, who has attitude as well as size, was picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Other NHL stars on the rosters of Reebok hockey brands include Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Pavel Datsyuk.
Reebok is now a subsidiary of the Adidas Group.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)
Galvin's website lists Fourth of July events
The office of Secretary of State William F. Galvin said that its official website is listing Fourth of July holiday events such as parades and fireworks displays across Massachusetts.
Because some cities and towns are still in the process of planning their events, some information may be changing on a daily basis, Galvin's office cautioned.
The image that appears with this post was taken from Galvin's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:47 AM | Comments (0)
American Airlines to shut down Conn. call center
WINDSOR, Conn. - American Airlines has announced plans to shut down a reservation center in Connecticut by this fall.
The airline says it will close the call center in Windsor, a move that affects hundreds of employees. The airline said that it's too soon to know how many workers might lose their jobs.
A spokesman says some workers will be given the chance to work from home or transfer to one of the three remaining reservation centers in Dallas; Tucson, Ariz.; and Raleigh, N.C.
A spokesman says the airline has been forced to cut costs. The shutdown is expected by September.
The Windsor call center on Day Hill Road takes ticket reservations and handles customer questions.
The AP said it used information from the Hartford Courant in its report. The file photo that appears with this post was taken by Jason Janik of Bloomberg News.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:18 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Madoff gets 150 years in prison
NEW YORK - Despite his claims of contrition, Bernard L. Madoff was sentenced yesterday to 150 years in prison for a crime a federal judge called an act of “extraordinary evil.’’
The lengthy sentence - ensuring Madoff will die behind bars - was the harshest possible punishment that US District Judge Denny Chin could impose.
In March, the former investment manager confessed to swindling some of the nation’s wealthiest families and prominent philanthropies out of their fortunes, along with cheating widows, retired teachers, tradesmen, and hundreds of other middle-class investors out of their life savings.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Software company plans IPO
For the first time in more than a year, a venture-backed Massachusetts company intends to go public.
LogMeIn Inc. of Woburn, maker of software for remotely controlling personal and business computers, hopes to sell 6.6 million shares at between $14 and $16 a share and could raise as much as $107 million.
Lead underwriters for the offering are JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Barclays Capital. The price is expected to be set today, with the stock offering likely tomorrow.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Digging out of the hole
Everybody loves a comeback story, especially when people make money on the road to recovery.
The mutual fund business is chock full of products and managers who need a story just like that. No Boston fund company is so desperate for a comeback as Putnam Investments and the new managers it hired to deliver exactly that.
Putnam’s largest, most important stock mutual funds have been infamous for appallingly bad investment performance in recent years. The 2009 experience has been comparatively brief, but dramatically better.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Dealing with the rain
Salon Capri owner Nicholas Penna Jr. is doing what he can to keep the rain from washing profits away.
After weeks of weather-related cancellations, Penna launched a Puddle Jumper pedicure special, which lowers the price of the Newton salon’s luxury pedicure by $1 each day it rains in June - and includes an umbrella-covered escort from the parking lot. By yesterday, the $45 treatment was $38, a price Penna didn’t think he’d ever get to.
“I feel like Barry and Eliot when they never thought that the Red Sox would win the Series,’’ Penna said, referring to the Tatelman brothers of Jordan’s Furniture, which promised to refund customers’ money for certain purchases if the baseball team won the championship in 2007 - which it did.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
State Street could face civil fraud charges
Federal regulators are considering bringing civil fraud charges against State Street Corp. over investments in risky mortgage-related securities by some of its conservative bond funds.
The Boston-based investment giant said in a regulatory filing yesterday that it received a so-called Wells Notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission last week related to “disclosures and management’’ by its investment arm. A Wells Notice indicates agency staff is considering asking commissioners to bring a civil enforcement action, and is intended to give State Street an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
State Street said it is cooperating with the SEC and related probes by the Massachusetts secretary of state, the Massachusetts attorney general, and other regulators. The agencies’ investigations have been previously reported.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:23 AM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2009
Who, What, Where
Ellen Cook has joined Jones Lang LaSalle as senior vice president on the corporate solutions team. With a big presence in Greater Boston, Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. Cook will manage real estate portfolio transactions worldwide for client Iron Mountain Inc. The portfolio includes 65 million square feet in 1,000 locations. Before joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Cook was an account director with Cushman & Wakefield.
Richard F. Herlihy has joined Berkeley Investments Inc. as its senior director. Berkeley Investments is a Boston-based real estate investment and development company. Herlihy is the former head of the Capital Market group of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.
Kenneth W. Bair has been appointed as senior vice president and head of research and development at FORMA Therapeutics, a Cambridge company that seeks to integrate chemistry and biology to unlock the best targets and pathways that genomic medicine has revealed. Bair brings to FORMA more than 30 years of management experience in oncology drug discovery, development, and chemistry.
Dave Dugan has been promoted to president at BzzAgent Inc., a Boston word-of-mouth media network that pair consumers with products, information, and digital tools to activate widespread opinion-sharing throughout its BzzScapes social media site. Dugan most recently served as senior vice president of strategy and partnerships.
(Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
State Street may face SEC charges over mortgages
Asset management and servicing giant State Street Corp. of Boston said it might face civil charges by US securities regulators for exposing investors to losses on subprime mortgages.
The company said that Securities and Exchange Commission staff had issued a "Wells" notice to its banking unit on Thursday regarding disclosures and management by State Street Global Advisors of "active" fixed-income strategies in 2007 and in prior periods.
A Wells notice indicates that SEC staff may bring civil charges, and gives the recipient a chance to mount a defense.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday that it had no comment on the matter.
State Street, which has $1.4 trillion in assets under management, said it had been cooperating with the SEC and other regulators.
In 2007, State Street established a $625 million legal reserve to cover investor claims after the company invested in mortgage-related securities that lost value when credit markets tightened in the second half of the year.
Many investors have sued State Street, accusing it of misleading them about the risks of the investments. Last month, the company said that as of March 31, it had made $418 million of payments from the legal reserve, leaving $207 million.
State Street disclosed the Wells notice in an SEC filing.
In morning trading, the company's shares were down 2 percent at $47.38.
At Friday's close, the stock was up 22.8 percent year to date, beating the 16.5 percent rise in the Dow Jones U.S. Asset Managers Index. (Reuters)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (6)
Mass. gas prices fall for the first time in 12 weeks
(File photo: Michael Fein/Bloomberg News)
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts dropped for the first time in 12 weeks, down 2 cents to $2.619 a gallon, according to the weekly survey from AAA Southern New England.
The survey calculates an average for self-serve, regular unleaded gas.
The current price is 2 cents below the national average for self-serve unleaded of $2.63, and is $1.45 less than the $4.06 found this time in Massachusetts a year ago, AAA Southern New England said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
Friendly's says Free Ice Cream Day a hit
Friendly Ice Cream Corp., the Wilbraham company that operates the Friendly's chain of more than 500 family restaurants, said it gave away more than 500,000 scoops of ice cream during its Free Ice Cream Day promotion on June 6.
That number was up from roughly 300,000 scoops given away on Free Ice Cream Day in 2008, the company said.
Friendly's attributed the increase to "blog coverage and the company's social media presence."
Friendly's added in a press release, "A new company Twitter feed along with an active Facebook fan page drove momentum and consumer anticipation."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. File photo: Lane Turner, Globe staff.)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Small investors saved the day for state
When the state government faced an urgent cash crunch this past year, an unexpected ally stepped forward to help raise money when it became impossible to borrow from Wall Street: Massachusetts residents.
Since the fiscal year began in September, Individual investors bought more than half of the bonds -some $1.2 billion worth - that the state issued in four offerings to pay for government services, a seven-fold increase over purchases by individuals during the prior year, according to state officials.
As it turned out, both sides needed each other during an unprecedented credit crisis that brought borrowing in global financial markets to a near standstill. For the state government, ordinary investors were its only recourse after the financial institutions that normally buy such bonds were paralyzed. For the buyers, the state bonds were a safe - and profitable - investment compared to stocks, which were declining at rates not seen since the Great Depression.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
Is this the future bookstore?
The Northshire Bookstore, in quaint Manchester Center, Vermont, has all the classic trappings: exposed beams, wood tables stacked with hardcover bestsellers, comfortable leather chairs nestled into alcoves.
And then there's "Lurch," a hulking jumble of machinery that is often groaning and shuddering in a corner behind the sales counter.
Officially known as the "Espresso Book Machine," Lurch, as the employees call it, is a "print on demand" contraption, the size of a meat freezer, that creates books for customers while they wait.
The publishing world is closely following the experiment in Northshire, the first independent bookstore in the United States to install the clattering book machine. If Northshire can make money printing books downloaded from massive online catalogs, it will show how small, brick-and-mortar bookshops might be able to match the overwhelming variety of products offered by a giant online retailer like Amazon.com. It could streamline the traditional book supply chain, with much less need for space in warehouses, inventory on hand, shipping expenses, or management of returns. And no book ever has to go out of print.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BLOG FILTER: Apple chief is no model, blogger says
Jobs: Not a role model. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs now joins Mickey Mantle and David Crosby as a member of the Famous Liver Transplant Recipients Club. Bill Taylor, an author and blogger at the Harvard Business Review, looked at Job’s leadership style in the wake of the news that Jobs had received a transplant earlier this year -- but that he and his board chose not to inform investors.
In terms of the impact his products have had on the world, Steve Jobs represents the face of business at its best. And yet, in terms of his approach to leadership, Jobs represents the face of business -- well, if not at its worst, then certainly not as something worth emulating. It's not so much the secrecy about his liver transplant or the controversies over backdated stock options. Those are matters of corporate governance and investor relations, which, while important, aren't all that urgent. To me, the issue is more Jobs's approach to leadership itself -- which, despite the compelling and cutting-edge quality of his products, is strangely unappetizing and often downright retro.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Stimulus cash boosts solar plans
The state plans to use $20 million in federal stimulus money to build about 16 megawatts worth of solar installations in Massachusetts. The projects, which officials are expected to detail today,will include locations atop the terminals at Logan International Airport, and at nine state wastewater facilities, two Somerville housing projects and residence hall at Westfield State College.
It's "phase one of the 'solar big bang,'" joked Ian Bowles, secretary of the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. His office has been working for several months to identify sites across Massachusetts where solar panels might be put to use.
One of those sites is at Logan, where solar installations - an estimated 2.75 megawatts in all - would be built atop each of the airport's four commercial terminals.
The state is seeking bids for all the projects, Bowles said, and hopes to start construction this fall. Some of the solar installations could be completed in about six months.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Protein may open door to new drugs
A protein found on brain cells, known to contribute to nicotine addiction, may also be the key to developing drugs for a wide range of diseases and medical conditions, including obesity, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
In a recent study, researchers at Brown University in Providence discovered the protein, called the alpha-7 receptor, has a previously unsuspected wide-ranging influence on processes within the body.
It affects dozens of cellular interactions and interacts with 55 other proteins, including a separate class of receptor that is a target for about 40 percent of all therapeutic drugs.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2009
Two Massachusetts airports get federal stimulus money
Two Massachusetts airports are receiving federal funds to improve their runways as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Federal Aviation Admistration is giving the Massachusetts Port Authority $5.3 million to reconstruct Runway 9-27 at Logan International Airport; and the Westfield-Barnes Airport will get $503,000 for Runway 2-20.
The FAA is allocating $1.1 billion to airports under the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. About 3,400 airports are eligible to receive the funds.
(By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe staff)
Posted by kstringer at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2009
Filene's Basement sale approved
A bankruptcy judge today approved the $62.4 million sale of the Filene's Basement chain to discounter Syms Corp. and the New York firm Vornado Realty Ventures.
A company created by the two businesses acquired all of the assets, except for the lease for the Downtown Crossing store, which went directly to Vornado, said Terry Corrigan of Abacus Advisors, who is overseeing the Basement's restructuring.
Vornado and Gale International own the downtown Boston property where the Basement had operated for more than 100 years. The Washington Street site was shuttered in 2007; a stalled redevelopment project there has been unable to secure financing.
Syms and Vornado declined to comment.
Vornado and Gale wanted the lease back because it was far below market rent at $2.28 per square foot and it required the owners to pay Filene's Basement $500,000 a month until the project is completed.
A local official with knowledge of Syms' plans said the merchant wants to bring Filene's Basement back to Downtown Crossing, and an executive involved in the redevelopment project said it would be open to negotiating with Filene's Basement for a new lease at market rates.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
Posted by kstringer at 7:26 PM | Comments (1)
State's seeking information about workplace fraud
The Massachusetts Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy will seek testimony about workplace fraud at meeting at 10 a.m. Friday at Bunker Hill Community College, 250 New Rutherford Ave.
Suzanne Bump, state secretary of labor and workforce development, and George Noel, state director of labor, will conduct the meeting and present findings from the task force’s first annual report.
The Globe has reported on the "underground economy" that's being created by soaring unemployment, which could lead to the exploitation of immigrants as jobs become more precious.
Statewide, immigrants make up 17 percent of the workforce, nearly double the share in 1980. Those that are most at risk are poor, less educated, and not fluent in English.
The task force was created by Governor Deval Patrick in March 2008.
(By Sean Sposito, Globe correspondent)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)
Danvers Bancorp to buy Beverly National for $62m
Danvers Bancorp Inc. today said that it would acquire Beverly National Corp. for $62 million, or $23.04 per share, to be paid in Danvers stock.
Danvers' chief executive, Kevin Bottomley, said the deal would increase the bank's earnings prospects. Both banks are based in Massachusetts.
The offers amounts to 1.66 shares of Danvers common stock for each share of Beverly National. The deal was approved by Beverly's board.
Danvers owns Danversbank and operates branches in Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties and shares territory with Beverly National. Danvers said the acquisition would make it the sixth-largest bank in Massachusetts, by market share.
Bottomley would continue as CEO after the acquisition. Beverly's CEO, Donat Fournier, would become executive vice president. Three members of Beverly's board would join the Danvers directors on its board.
Together, the banks would have $2.2 billion in assets and $1.6 billion in deposits.
The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, still needs shareholder approval.
Danvers shares closed Tuesday at $13.88; Beverly shares closed at $16.90.
(AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)
Sapient to buy Nitro Group for $50 million
Sapient Corp., a Boston digital marketing and consulting firm, said Wednesday it agreed to buy the advertising agency Nitro Group LLC for about $50 million in cash and stock.
Sapient cast the acquisition as a means of expanding its advertising reach across traditional as well as online media.
"Clients want a fully integrated, strategically led and digitally enabled agency," Sapient executive director Gaston Legorburu said in a statement.
Nitro, a privately held company based in New York, has operations in North America, Europe, Australia, and China and lists Volvo, Nike, Foot Locker, and others as clients.
Sapient said it expects the deal to close early next month. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2009
Hill Holliday wins award for Liberty Mutual work
Boston ad agency Hill Holliday said it has won a "Media Plan of the Year" award for a campaign on behalf of Liberty Mutual, a Boston-based insurance company.
The award was given by industry trade publication AdweekMedia.
Liberty Mutual ads have the tag-line of "Responsibility. What's your policy?"
The Hill Holliday campaign that was honored is for Liberty Mutual's responsibility project, which is online content that reflects themes in Liberty Mutual's TV and print ads.
The online content includes independently produced short films and a blog about responsibility and what it means to various people.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:58 PM | Comments (0)
Globe management and Guild resume talks
Boston Globe management and the Boston Newspaper Guild resumed negotiations late this afternoon, focusing on the size of the pay cut the union’s members would have to take, according to union members with knowledge of the negotiations.
Guild members just eight days ago rejected a $10 million package of concessions that included an 8.4 percent pay cut, as well as deep reductions in health and retirement benefits. The size of the pay cut was viewed as a key reason for the proposal's narrow defeat.
Negotiators have spent much of the past day haggling over the value of the concessions included in the package, scrubbing numbers to see if additional savings can be found to reduce the size of the pay cut, according to union members.
The Times Co. has insisted that the Guild provide $10 million in savings, so any reduction in the pay cut has to be covered by savings in other areas. The Guild represents nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office employees at the Globe.
The bargaining resumed following a marathon session yesterday that lasted more than 12 hours and stretched past midnight. The Guild is the only major union that has not approved concessions sought by the Times Co., which in early April threatened to shutter the money-losing paper unless it could gain a total of $20 million in savings from Globe unions.
After the Guild rejected the concessions last week, the company imposed a 23 percent wage cut to gain the $10 million it says it needs from the union. The wage cut went into effect Sunday.
The Guild has challenged the move, filing an unfair-labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The first hearing was scheduled for today, but the Guild postponed it.
Robert Gavin, Globe Staff
Posted by globebusiness at 11:56 AM | Comments (6)
Cumberland Farms readies cancer drive
Officials at Cumberland Farms are scheduled to announce today the Framingham-based convenience store chain's plans to help fight childhood cancer during an event at Children's Hospital Boston.
"In the month of July, the company will donate five cents per cup of coffee, including its signature Farmhouse Blend, sold in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire to Children's Hospital Boston to fund pediatric cancer research," Cumberland Farms said in a media advisory.
The advisory included a statement from Cumberland Farms president Ari Haseotes, whose son is a cancer survivor.
"This campaign gives customers the opportunity to support a great cause while enjoying a delicious, affordable cup of coffee," he said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:42 AM | Comments (0)
New Balance celebrates US shoemaking heritage
New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. has always taken a different approach to marketing. While larger rivals hire star athletes to flog their sneakers, Boston-based New Balance might have an ad campaign about the love-hate relationship that no-name runners have with running.
New Balance's latest "awareness campaign" is an online documentary that notes that New Balance is "the only athletic company that still produces footwear in the United States." The video, produced by a production company called Digital Kitchen, can also be viewed on New Balance’s Facebook and YouTube fan pages, the company said.
To view a video that show-cases a New Balance facility in Skowhegan, Maine, please visit this website: www.newbalance.com/usa .
"Later this month, New Balance will invite consumers to share their feedback to win an opportunity to experience Skowhegan shoemaking first-hand," the company said in a press release. "For every entry, New Balance will donate $1 to the nonprofit National Center for Craftsmanship (NCC) up to $50,000. The NCC is dedicated to the preservation, enhancement, and sustainability of quality craftsmanship from construction and manufacturing to art and handicrafts."
Last year, New Balance reported worldwide sales of $1.64 billion. While many of its shoes are assembled in the United States, New Balance at times has outsourced the production of some of its shoes to facilities abroad.
The photo that appears with this post is a company handout from 2006.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:16 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Data Domain board rebuffs EMC bid
Data storage titan EMC Corp. of Hopkinton has encountered a roadblock in its campaign to acquire Data Domain Inc. for nearly $2 billion. The Data Domain board yesterday voted to reject EMC's $30-a-share, all-cash offer, and follow through on a previously arranged merger with EMC rival NetApp Inc.
Data Domain president and chief executive Frank Slootman said the board "determined that the $30 per share EMC offer is not in the best interests of our stockholders at this time."
Meanwhile, EMC issued a statement reaffirming its bid for the company, setting the stage for an effort to bypass the Data Domain board and buy stock directly from shareholders.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Syms wins battle for the Basement
Discounter Syms Corp. unseated Men's Wearhouse yesterday as the winner of the bankrupt Filene's Basement chain with a $62.4 million bid for the bargain business. But it's unclear whether the 100-year-old brand will return to its Downtown Crossing flagship site, famed for the automatic markdown policy.
Syms made the cash offer in a joint venture with Vornado Realty Trust, the New York real estate firm that owns the downtown Boston property where the Basement had operated.
It is not detailed in the plan, however, whether the merchant will again do business at that location, said Terry Corrigan of Abacus Advisors, the firm overseeing the Basement's restructuring. The flagship store has been shuttered since 2007 because of a stalled project by Vornado and another company to build a 39-story tower on the site.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Globe and union talk into the night
WEYMOUTH - Boston Globe management and the paper's largest union negotiated past midnight this morning and agreed to resume bargaining later today as they try to end a bitter standoff over deep wage cuts and other concessions, union and management officials said.
What was supposed to be an information session at a labor office here to discuss a company-imposed 23 percent wage cut turned into a marathon negotiating session. Globe spokesman Robert Powers described the discussions as "substantive." Leaders of the Boston Newspaper Guild said they remained hopeful of an agreement.
"We discussed many issues during today's meeting with the Guild, but have not reached an agreement," Powers said early this morning.
"Talks are continuing," said Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Agency wants Navy to cut price on land
The cash-strapped agency overseeing redevelopment of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station wants the US Navy to cut its sale price on 900 acres of land so it can afford to proceed with one of the state's largest building projects.
South Shore Tri-Town Corp., a joint venture of Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth, had previously agreed to buy the massive parcel for $43.6 million, but has been unable to obtain the financing to close on the purchase.
Now Tri-Town is instead preparing a request to reevaluate the value of the land, a move to lower the price in the context of the slumping real estate market.
Kevin Donovan, chief executive of Tri-Town, declined to discuss details of the revised offer, saying it is still being negotiated internally and may change in the coming days. He said the agency's board of directors could vote as soon as Monday to send a new offer to the Navy.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Protecting the little guy
Who's looking out for you?
That would be a fair question to ask this week, when the Obama administration formally rolls out its new master plan to regulate financial markets. There will be plenty of people and agencies responsible for watching markets and big institutions. That's important work, no doubt, but average Americans can be excused for failing to see much of a direct impact on their daily lives.
They should be more interested in another element of the Obama plan that proposes something entirely new: a commission to protect consumers from dangerous and deceptive financial products.
Advocates describe it as a financial version of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission that makes sure the toaster you buy isn't likely to burst into flames.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:39 AM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2009
Syms has winning bid for Filene's Basement
(File photo: Tom Landers/Globe staff)
Discounter Syms has unseated Men's Wearhouse as the winner of the troubled Filene's Basement chain with a $62.4 million bid for the bankrupt bargain business.
But the future of the Downtown Crossing flagship, famed for its automatic markdown policy, is unclear, according to Terry Corrigan of Abacus Advisors, the firm overseeing the Basement's restructuring.
The offer is a joint venture with Vornado Realty Trust, the New York real estate firm which owns the Downtown Crossing property, and the proposal must be approved by a bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday.
The deal covers 23 stores, the Burlington headquarters, the Auburn warehouse, along with inventory and the Filene's Basement name.
However, it is not certain under the plan submitted whether Filene's Basement will remain at the Downtown Crossing property. The flagship has been shuttered since 2007 because of a stalled project by Vornado and other local developers to build a 39-story tower on the site.
Syms could not immediately be reached for comment. Vorando declined comment.
"We're very pleased with the outcome. The chain continues. Employees will keep the vast majority of the jobs," Corrigan said.
The transaction is expected to close immediately following approval from the bankruptcy court.
Men's Wearhouse, in a joint bid with Crown Acquisitions, had offered nearly $65 million for about 20 stores, leaving more claims from landlords. That lowered the value of their proposal, according to Corrigan.
Men's Wearhouse had initially been declared the winner of the 100-year-old Filene's Basement brand during the June 5th auction. But objections raised by the losing bidders, including Crown Acquisitions and Syms, led a judge to reopen the process.
Men's Wearhouse and Crown Acquisitions could not be reached for comment.
Filene's Basement filed for Chapter 11 last month and blamed its liquidity crisis on the economic downturn, underperforming suburban stores, credit problems, and the loss of the flagship store in Downtown Crossing.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:45 PM | Comments (10)
Barneys will sell "sustainable" Keds
Keds, the sneaker brand that is part of Stride Rite Corp.'s footwear portfolio, is working to provide "exclusive" kicks at Barneys New York stores and online at www.barneys.com this month for about $75 a pop.
The selling point: These Keds are enviromentally friendly, Lexington-based Stride Rite said in a press release.
According to Stride Rite, the new Keds line is the result of a "designer collaboration" with Barneys New York and Loomstate, a design house dedicated to using organic cotton.
Describing the new Keds, Stride Rite said: "Each will be comprised of certified organic uppers and linings, nickel free eyelets and 100 percent recycled insole boards. To further reduce the product's carbon footprint, Keds will take recycled shoeboxes and re-purpose them as the shoeboxes for the Keds by Loomstate collection."
Stride Rite is now a unit of Collective Brands Inc.
The photo of red Keds that appears with this post was taken from the Keds website.
(By Sean Sposito, Globe correspondent)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Survey: Many employees game the clock
Roughly one hourly worker in five - or 21 percent - has cheated on a time-sheet to gain extra pay, according to Kronos Inc., a Chelmsford company that focuses on workforce management software.
The new survey, from a think tank sponsored by Kronos, found that 69 percent of those that "game" the clock admit to punching in earlier or punching out later than scheduled, and 22 percent said they added time to their time-sheet.
According to the survey, 14 percent said they don't punch out for unpaid lunches or breaks, and 5 percent admit to having someone punch them in or out.
(By Sean Sposito, Globe correspondent)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices are up 8 cents a gallon
(File photo: Lisa Poole/AP)
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts rose 8 cents to $2.599 in the latest AAA weekly survey, AAA Southern New England said.
It was the 10th consecutive week that the Massachusetts average for a gallon self-serve, regular unleaded gas increased, AAA Southern New England said.
The current price is $1.47 less than the $4.06 found this time a year ago, AAA Southern New England said. The current Massachusetts average of $2.599 a gallon is up 97 cents since the start of the year.
The current Massachusetts price is 7 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.66; in the previous weekly survey, AAA calculated the national average price for a gallon of gas at $2.61.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)
Dunkin' Brands opens 15,000th store
Dunkin' Brands, the Canton company that operates the Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins chains, said it is marking the official opening of its 15,000th store today.
The store that brings the company's global count to 15,000 is in Raleigh, N.C., the company said.
"In a nod to both Dunkin' Donuts' and Baskin-Robbins' roots and future, the very first US Dunkin' Donuts store at 543 Southern Artery in Quincy, Mass., will commemorate this occasion by selling coffee and donuts for 15 cents from 3 to 5 p.m.," the company said in a press release "At the same time, the new Baskin-Robbins Café 31 at Patriot Place in Foxborough, Mass. will offer soft-serve ice cream cones for 15 cents from 3 to 5 p.m."
The company is in the midst of an ambitious expansion plan for Dunkin' Donuts, its coffee-and-baked-goods chain. When the company was purchased by new owners in 2006, Dunkin' Donuts had roughly 5,000 stores in the United States. Shortly after the purchase, officials at Dunkin' Donuts said they planned to triple the number of Dunkin' Donuts stores in the US to 15,000 by 2020.
As of today, there are just over 6,300 Dunkin' Donuts stores in the United States and more than 8,800 stores globally, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:09 AM | Comments (2)
Today in Globe Business
CAMBRIDGE - Emil Jacob was lying on the floor of an airplane when inspiration struck.
During a flight from Bucharest to Paris, Jacob had the good fortune to have three seats to himself, but he couldn't stretch out because the armrests were locked in place. So Jacob, a veteran of many long, cramped flights to his native Romania, put his sweater on the floor and settled in for a snooze.
When he woke up, he started contemplating the space above him.
"I was looking up at all the height, and I thought it was absurd that people are suffering down here," Jacob said. "Just a couple of steps away there is a lot of space and comfort."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
The art and science of advising Obama: Aide discusses priorities, principles
On his first day on the job, President Obama declared he would "restore science to its rightful place." His early actions, including a surge of investment in science through the stimulus package and the lifting of restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research, were good news to many in the scientific community. Instrumental in guiding the president's thinking on all matters scientific is John P. Holdren, who was a Harvard professor and director of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth before being named White House science adviser. Holdren was at MIT last week for a symposium celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing and sat down for an interview with Globe staff writer Carolyn Y. Johnson. Here is an edited version of the conversation.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Globe's engravers OK pay cuts, end of lifetime job guarantee
A representative of the Boston Newspaper Guild says the union will bring "an offer of resolution" to a meeting today with Boston Globe management, in an effort to come up with cost-cutting measures the union can support.
The Guild, the paper's largest union - representing editorial, advertising, and business workers - last week narrowly rejected a proposed contract that effectively would have eliminated lifetime job guarantees for about 190 members, cut wages by more than 10 percent, and reduced benefits. Management responded by declaring a bargaining impasse and imposing a 23 percent wage cut on Guild members, starting yesterday.
Representatives of the Globe and the Guild are scheduled to meet this morning - a meeting the company has said will be limited to how to implement the 23 percent cut. But Kathie Dalton, a Guild executive committee member, said yesterday that the union will use the session to put forth an "offer of resolution." She stopped short of calling the unspecified offer a proposal.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:31 AM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2009
Auction for Filene’s Basement will continue Monday
The auction for the bankrupt Filene’s Basement chain will continue on Monday with discounter Syms Corp. likely to raise its $61.2 million offer for the 100-year-old brand.
So far, Men’s Wearhouse Inc., in a joint bid with real estate firm Crown Acquisitions Inc., has submitted the highest proposal of $64.9 million for 20 shops, including the shuttered flagship in Downtown Crossing, inventory, and the trademark name, according to Terry Corrigan of Abacus Advisors, which is overseeing the Basement’s restructuring. The Men’s Wearhouse deal allows the company to decide at a later date whether to maintain the Basement’s headquarters in Burlington, which employs about 49 people, and the warehouse in Auburn, where about 50 people work, Corrigan said.
Syms, in partnership with real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust, has offered $61.2 million for 23 stores and the chain’s inventory, along with the headquarters and wearhouse. Both transactions would close immediately following approval from a bankruptcy judge next week. ‘‘We’re hopeful we have a final answer on Monday,’’ Corrigan said. The bidders could not be reached for comment.
The auction for the famed Filene’s Basement has dragged on for more than a week. Men’s Wearhouse’s was tapped on June 5th as the successful bidder, beating out Syms and Crown Acquisitions with a $62 million offer that included an additional $5 million if Filene’s Basement won a lawsuit over rent disputes. But complaints about the auction raised by the two losing bidders, along with a sweetened proposal from Syms, prompted a judge to reopen the process this week.
On Wednesday, Stanley Chera of Crown Acquisitions said Men’s Wearhouse, the Texas men’s clothier, had dropped out of the auction. But then Chera decided to team up with Men’s Wearhouse against Syms and Vornado Realty Trust, which owns the Downtown Crossing property where the shuttered Filene’s Basement flagship is located.
(Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff)
Posted by kstringer at 3:54 PM | Comments (1)
Walmart offers Father's Day gifts for the man cave
Want to accessorize the big guy's man cave on the cheap? Then Wal-Mart Stores Inc. claims it has the Father's Day gift selection for you.
Starting June 14, the chain will offer many deals on such man-cave necessities as Blu-ray movies, select DVDs, and "video game bundles," Arkansas-based Walmart said in a press release.
One example: $59.96 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Wii bundle with Wii Motion Plus Accessory and protective sleeve. It will be available in stores starting June 16. (Woods is shown at right in a file photo.)
Just as Franklin Park zoologists scrutinize the behavior of Little Joe, the thinking man's gorilla, Walmart studies the domestic habits - and consumer needs - of dads. Drawing on its dad research, Walmart has apparently determined that the man cave, like the universe, is ever expanding. Pop's domain, according to Walmart, now takes in a "garage cave."
And no garage cave would be complete, the chain humbly suggests, without a $15 Black & Decker 75-piece drill accessory kit or a $15 Carrand Power Jet Wash Wand.
And don't forget the $149 Royal Oak Deluxe Charcoal Grill for the al fresco man cave. With lots of cooking surface, it's ideal for barbecuing choice hog meats or filet mignons the size of catcher's mitts.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. File photo of Woods: Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images.)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Three Boston businessmen - a Boston Celtics owner, a former advertising mogul, and a member of the family that ran the Globe for generations - have emerged as prominent potential buyers of the Globe, according to people knowledgeable about their interest in the city's leading daily.
Actively mulling bids for the newspaper, according to these people, are Stephen Pagliuca, a private equity executive and Celtics co-owner; Jack Connors, cofounder of a major advertising firm and chairman of Partners HealthCare; and Stephen Taylor, a former Globe executive and member of the family that sold the Globe to the New York Times Co. in 1993.
The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the potential bids, said the three businessmen are in various stages of reviewing the Globe's finances and assembling investors who could be part of their groups.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Health plans may fall short, Mass. says
The state's pioneering healthcare law requires residents to have insurance that meets minimum standards, but regulators are discovering many employers' plans test the limits by exploiting loopholes in the rules.
Regulators yesterday said that reviews of scores of health plans show many cap the benefits insurers pay each year on prescription drug coverage, exclude maternity coverage for dependents, or place an annual overall dollar limit on benefits.
Jamie Katz, general counsel for the Connector Authority, which oversees the state's health initiative, said the gaps raise "difficult issues" because companies are assuming their plans are adequate in the absence of specific regulations that say otherwise.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
When WFXT-TV (Channel 25) reporter Jim Armstrong needed help on a recent story, he sent this Twitter message to his 179 followers: "working on a special project about. . . . wait for it. . . . CouchSurfing. u familiar?"
When WHDH-TV (Channel 7) reporter Ryan Schulteis arrived at the scene of a Harvard University shooting, he immediately alerted the station's 9,853 fans on the social networking site Facebook.
And when WCVB-TV (Channel 5) asked for Mother's Day photos through their new social media forum, ULocal, 300 photos poured in that day.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
State loses battle with Gillette over taxes
Massachusetts lost a lengthy court battle yesterday to void Gillette's tax credits after the shaver maker reorganized its corporate structure a decade ago.
The case dates back to December 1998, when Boston-based Gillette Co. liquidated one of its subsidiaries, Gillette USA, and merged it into the parent company.
At the time, Gillette USA had collected millions of dollars in tax credits from investment in its manufacturing plant on the Boston waterfront, which in turn enabled the consumer products company to shave millions of dollars off its annual corporate excise taxes.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Globe's DC chief Canellos tapped to lead editorial page
Peter Canellos, The Boston Globe's Washington bureau chief for six years, has been named editor of the paper's editorial page. He succeeds Renée Loth, who has held the position since 2000 and is retiring to write a weekly column for the Globe.
In his new role, which he will begin Aug. 3, Canellos will oversee a staff of 12, including the editorial board and op-ed columnists, and will supervise editorials, letters to the editor, and commentary for both print and online. Canellos will also be responsible for the Sunday Globe's Ideas section and oversee its three employees. Gareth Cook remains editor of Ideas.
Canellos will report to the Globe's publisher, P. Steven Ainsley, with whom he will shape the paper's editorial positions on regional and global issues.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
With two acquistions, AOL looks to tap local ad market
AOL, the troubled Internet company that is being spun off by parent company Time Warner Inc., is buying itself a parting gift. It is acquiring a pair of start-ups, including one in Boston, that run websites featuring neighborhood news.
Going Inc. of Boston, founded in 2006, offers information on local parties and entertainment events. The company runs websites targeting 30 US cities, including Boston, Chicago, Miami, and New York. Patch Media Corp., based in New York, publishes community news online, covering five towns in New Jersey. Patch was launched in 2007 and funded by an investment company owned by AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong. Financial details of the transactions were not released, but the Associated Press reported AOL paid less than $10 million each for the two privately held companies.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:29 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2009
Yolanda has a deal for laid-off brides
Pink slips don't go with white wedding dresses, so Yolanda Cellucci, a local impresario of bridal couture, said her Yolanda's Bridal Salon in Waltham will award wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses to three brides-to-be who have recently lost their jobs.
"The contest, in collaboration with the 'Matty in the Morning' Show on Kiss-108, kicked off this week and will run through July 15th," Cellucci said in a press release. "Brides-to-be are asked to write in with their stories explaining why they should win Yolanda’s Bridal Stimulus. Winners will be announced in July."
More details can be found at the Kiss 108 website, the release noted. (The photo that appears with this post was taken from the Yolanda's website.)
“We wanted to do something to help all those brides who got laid off or lost jobs because of the economic situation,” Cellucci said in a statement. “Brides who don’t have to pay for a gown or bridesmaid dresses can use the money to pay other bills. It’s just a small way of giving back.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
A Nordstrom Rack is planned for Shoppers World
Nordstrom Inc., the Seattle-based fashion retailer, said it plans to open a 40,159-square-foot Nordstrom Rack store in Framingham's Shoppers World in spring 2010.
Nordstrom Rack is part of the company's off-price retail division, the company said in a press release. "Nordstrom Rack carries merchandise from Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com at 50-60 percent off original Nordstrom prices," the chain says on its website.
The press release describes Shoppers World as a 778,476 square foot shopping center with such stores as Kohl's, Best Buy, Bob's Stores, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, PetSmart, Old Navy, and Toys 'R' Us.
The release added: "Nordstrom Rack at Shoppers World will be the retailer's second Rack store in the Boston area, joining Nordstrom Rack at Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, Mass. The company also operates three Boston-area stores located at Natick Collection, Burlington Mall, and Northshore Mall in Peabody, Mass. On March 26, 2010, Nordstrom plans to open a new store at South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Mass."
The photo that appears with this post was taken from the Nordstrom Rack website.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:14 PM | Comments (5)
Germiest vacation spots? TripAdvisor's on the case
A Newton-based firm has created a list of the world's "germiest" destinations.
TripAdvisor LLC, which is best known for user-generated reviews of hotels and tourist attractions, picked the top five, tongue in cheek.
The world's germiest attractions, by TripAdvisor's lights:
1. Blarney Stone, Blarney, Ireland. 
(The photo of the Blarney Stone that appears with this post was included in TripAdvisor's press release.)
Up to 400,000 mouths from all over the world touch the stone each year.
2. Wall of Gum, Seattle, Wash.
A tradition at Seattle's Market Theatre in Post Alley has turned into a giant wall of gum. In the 1990s, visitors began sticking their gum to the wall while waiting in line.
3. Oscar Wilde's Tomb, Paris, France
"With a rainbow of hundreds of visible kiss marks adorning the grave, and countless more planted every year, one can't help but wonder...isn't there a cleaner way to show your literary appreciation?" TripAdvisor asked.
4. Foul Fowl: St. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy
"Be careful - these dirty fowl have been known to leave foul unexpected gifts on tourists," TripAdvisor warns.
5. Forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater (Handprints and Footprints), Hollywood, Calif.
"The forecourt to this historical Hollywood landmark features the hand and footprints of some of the biggest stars in history," TripAdvisor says. "But this intimate look at Hollywood's hands can get a bit grimy given that millions of fans place their fingers in the molds of their favorites.
To read a recent Globe story about TravelAdvisor, please click here.
(By Sean Sposito, Globe correspondent)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
Survey: Hard times don't hurt work relationships
Low workplace morale and strained relations between bosses and their minions may not be as bad as feared.
At first blush, it might seem that a recession would aggravate tensions among the cubicle drones parodied in the comic strip Dilbert. (The strip is run in The Globe. Dilbert is shown at right with Dogbert, the thinking man's office tyrant.)
But a new survey from Accountemps, a staffing service for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals, paints a rosier picture.
"Lean economic times do not appear to have harmed work relationships," said Accountemps, a division of Robert Half International Inc., a California company specializing in staffing and risk management services.
According to the telephone survey of 457 workers, 87 percent of those interviewed said they have a good rapport with their supervisors and 95 percent get along well with coworkers.
"In fact, slightly more respondents today described their relationships with supervisors and peers as 'very good' than did participants in a 2005 survey on the same subject," Accountemps said in a press release.
“In good times and bad, building strong relationships with peers and supervisors is a priority for most professionals,” Accountemps chairman and "Motivating Employees For Dummies" author Max Messmer said in a statement. “Employers must continually nurture a culture in which employees feel valued and engaged - workers who enjoy interacting with each other not only make the office more pleasant, but also produce better work.”
To read a story in today's Globe about how free food can lift the workplace mood, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
DIGMA aims to help grow state's design economy
The Design Industry Group of Massachusetts, or DIGMA, has announced its launch with the help of a $150,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s John Adams Innovation Institute.
DIGMA describes itself as "an economic cluster initiative aimed at growing the design economy" that collectively employs and an estimated 44,500 people in Massachusetts.
DIGMA, its press release elaborated, is "a multi disciplinary group that includes architecture, advertising, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, and other design specializations."
DIGMA's press release included a statement from Massachusetts Housing and Economic Development Secretary Gregory Bialecki.
“Design is one of the creative industries that the Patrick administration is looking to as a source of innovation and economic growth,” he said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)
Happy birthday, Brigham's Ice Cream
(Image provided by Brigham's.)
When Brigham's unveiled Quack Tracks, an ice cream salute to the children's classic "Make Way for Ducklings" and the duck boats that ply the Charles River, it seemed to be the desert trolley's ultimate triumph.
(Move over, key lime pie and tiramisu. Apres-dinner sweets have just been taken to a whole new level.)
Studded and veined with mini peanut-butter cups and "tracks" of fudge, Quack Track's vanilla ice cream never seemed to have it so good. But now the desert scientists at Brigham's ice cream skunk-works are pushing the envelope once more, and this time, the Lynnfield-based brand is showcasing "Confetti & Cream."
Brigham's describes the "new limited edition flavor" as a sort of birthday present to itself - this is, after all, the 95th birthday of a famous local brand purchased last year by HP Hood LLC, the Lynnfield-based dairy company. (To read a story about that purchase, please click here.)
In a press release as rich with sugar and froth as an exotic frappe, Brigham's said Confetti & Cream is "a taste explosion of fun: cake batter flavor, confetti chips and frosting all swirled together in Brigham’s famous vanilla ice cream."
In a statement, Brigham's spokesperson Lynne Bohan added, “We hope consumers will have just as much fun eating it as we had making it.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:22 AM | Comments (2)
Today in Globe Business
With money tight, food buys favor
At a time when businesses are cutting jobs and benefits, they're finding that when it comes to boosting employee morale, a free hot dog goes a long way.
William A. Berry & Son Inc. had layoffs in January, but that didn't stop the Danvers construction company from holding a cookout in the parking lot for employees. There were hamburgers and hot dogs - and plenty of camaraderie.
"Feed 'em and they'll come," said payroll manager Judy Manuel. To her, this kind of effort by the company says: "The ones we keep, we want to take care of."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Filene's Basement is back on the block
Men's Wearhouse yesterday dropped its $67 million bid to buy Filene's Basement and an auction for the bankrupt chain will be reopened tomorrow, according to one of the losing bidders, Stanley Chera of Crown Acquisitions.
"The original winner is out," Chera said in an interview yesterday.
Men's Wearhouse, the men's dress retailer based in Texas, did not return calls seeking comment.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Hospital workers say yes to union
Nearly 500 workers at Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester will join the Service Employees International Union, making it the second Caritas Christi Health Care hospital to unionize this spring.
In April, more than 800 employees at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, the flagship of the six-hospital chain, voted to affiliate with the same labor union, Local 1199 of SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
The vote at Carney was 299 to 78, with about 79 percent of the 377 workers who cast ballots opting to join the union. Another 115 eligible workers did not vote in the two-day election, which ended yesterday afternoon.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Changing signals without much static
Ruth Savage helped draw blueprints for the navigation system that carried the first men to the moon 40 years ago. But even Savage, now an 89-year-old retiree, couldn't figure out how to deal with this weekend's switch from the original analog system of television broadcasting to a new digital system.
So she made a phone call to John Fabiano at the city of Boston's Commission on Affairs of the Elderly.
In a visit Tuesday to her West Roxbury home, Fabiano hooked up the connections between the small converter box, her TV set, and the rabbit-ears antenna she uses to pull in the channels. He showed her how to set up the box so that it will deliver the new digital versions of Boston's local TV stations. Savage, who worked as a draftswoman at Draper Labs in Cambridge in the 1960s, was delighted. She called the eight-year-old portable set in her kitchen, "my new, old TV."
To read the full story, please click http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/11/making_the_signal_switch_without_much_static/.
------------------------------------------------------
TECH LAB: Palm Pre is good, but it's no iPhone
Nearly a week with a Palm Pre cellphone, and I've only placed a couple of calls. I've been too busy taking photos, reading the news, listening to music, playing games, watching videos, and reading the instructions.
That's a major weakness of Palm Inc.'s much-anticipated new gadget. The $199 Pre is a powerful, versatile smartphone, and in some ways better than Apple Inc.'s renowned iPhone 3G. But it falls short of the elegant simplicity that Apple has taught us to expect.
Besides, Apple's just cut the price of the basic iPhone to $99, half that of the Pre. And Apple is rolling out new, improved iPhones and upgraded software to boost capabilities. Throw in a desperate recession, and it's plainly a lousy time to launch the Pre, but it's the only time Palm's got.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Dispute could hurt possible sale of Globe
The latest contract dispute between The New York Times Co. and The Boston Globe's biggest union could drag on for several months, if not years, complicating the potential sale of the newspaper, according to legal and business analysts.
The Globe reported yesterday that the Times Co. is seeking bids on the newspaper it has owned since 1993, less than a day after the Boston Newspaper Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The Guild is challenging the company's decision to declare an impasse in negotiations and impose a 23 percent wage cut on the union's members.
Globe spokesman Robert Powers said, "We've been in touch with the NLRB and are in the process of responding as appropriate."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
$300,000 price sets record - for parking
Housing prices may be down, but the cost of a coveted parking space is up. Way up.
An unidentified buyer yesterday paid $300,000 for a private parking space in the Back Bay, making it the most expensive parking space in Boston, according to Listing Information Network, which tracks the city's real estate market.
Debra Sordillo, the Coldwell sales agent who brokered the deal, said several residents at 48 Commonwealth Ave. engaged in a bidding war for the space, driving the asking price of $250,000 up to the record-breaking $300,000. The winning bidder did not want to be identified, she said.
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2009
Union says it would be interested in a stake in Globe
The Boston Newspaper Guild said today that it is interested in becoming a partner and taking a stake in The Boston Globe should a buyer emerge for the newspaper.
Guild president Daniel Totten said the union would be interested in negotiating a deal with prospective buyers similar to the one in Portland, Maine. There, the Guild local and other unions at the Portland Press Herald made wage and benefit concessions to a buyer in exchange for a 15 percent stake in the company and seats on the board of directors.
The Globe reported today that The New York Times Co. is seeking bids on the newspaper, which it has owned since 1993. The Guild and the Times Co. are now locked in a bitter dispute over $10 million in wage and benefit cuts the company says it needs to keep operating the paper.
The Globe’s biggest union this week rejected a contract offer that would have spread the cuts among wages and benefits. The Times Co. soon after declared an impasse and will impose a 23 percent pay cut on Guild employees, starting Sunday. The Guild represents nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers.
‘‘We recognize that we are all facing difficult economic times and understand that any future owner of the Globe would require changes to our contract,’’ Totten said in a statement. ‘‘We would like to explore with any potential new owner the possibility of an equity stake in the newspaper for its Guild employees and would work with any ownership group to be a positive dynamic in any sale process.’’
Times Co. officials won’t comment on potential sales or divestitures of assets.
In a separate letter to Times Co. chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., Guild leaders called for the company to resume negotiations to help the prospects for selling the Globe.
‘‘For the Times Co. to be in a position of strength with regard to selling The Boston Globe, it will have to reach a fair wage agreement with the Boston Newspaper Guild,’’ the letter said, ‘‘one that forgoes the punitive action of cutting the wages of members by 23 percent. This will diminish the value of the paper by forcing the very best workers to go elsewhere.’’
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:04 PM | Comments (7)
Men's Wearhouse drops bid for Filene's Basement
Men's Wearhouse has dropped its $67 million bid to buy Filene's Basement and an auction for the bankrupt chain will be reopened on Friday, according to one of the losing bidders, Stanley Chera of Crown Acquisitions.
"The original winner is out. They're not bidding. They couldn't perform what they promised," Chera said.
Crown Acquisitions, the New York retail real estate firm which made the opening bid of $22 million in a joint venture with the Chetrit Group, is planning to raise its offer at Friday's auction.
Men's Wearhouse did not return calls seeking comment.
Syms, which failed with its $50 million offer at last week's auction, also is planning to enhance its bid to $63 million for 22 stores. The deal, a joint venture with New York real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust, will also include a quicker closing date than the fall date set by Men's Wearhouse, according to Alan Cohen, Filene's Basement chief restructing officer.
"We don’t know who else will show up on Friday," Cohen said.
Syms did not return messages seeking comment. Vornado, which owns the Downtown Crossing property where the shuttered flagship for Filene's Basement is located, did not return messages seeking comment.
A hearing was scheduled today to approve the $67 million sale of Filene's Basement to an affiliate of Men's Wearhouse. But it was delayed until June 19 as two of the losing bidders contested the validity of the auction on Friday.
Crown Acquisitions and Syms filed objections to the auction, calling it a "sham" and "brazen noncompliance," in separate court filings Tuesday. Both losing bidders challenged the timing of Men's Wearhouse proposal, which was submitted six hours after the deadline, included a closing date months later than the bidding procedures required, and involved a reorganization, rather than an asset sale
"It was a travesty," Crown Acquisitions said in court records seeking to block the transaction.
Syms president, Marcy Syms, said in court documents that Men's Wearhouse has "successfully perverted the auction process." Syms had submitted a bid valued at nearly $50 million.
After nine hours of intense bidding on Friday, K&G Acquisition Corp, the Men's Wearhouse affiliate, emerged as the successful bidder for the Burlington-based Filene's Basement, a month after the famed discount merchant filed for bankruptcy protection.
The $62 million purchase price covers the assets, including 17 to 20 of the store leases, inventory from all 25 existing locations, and leases for the company's headquarters in Burlington and a distribution center in Auburn. An additional $5 million is earmarked if Filene's Basement prevails in litigation over rent disputes with Vornado Realty Trust, the owner of the Downtown Crossing property where Filene's Basement's flagship store is based, according to a Basement official with knowledge of the deal who is not authorized to speak publicly.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
Posted by kstringer at 6:42 PM | Comments (7)
Back Bay parking space sells for record $300,000
Housing prices may be down, but the cost of a coveted parking space is not.
Today, a buyer paid $300,000 for a private parking space in Boston's Back Bay section, making it the most expensive parking space in the city's history, according to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
Debra Sordillo, the Coldwell sales agent who brokered the deal, said several residents at 48 Commonwealth Ave. engaged in a bidding war for the space, driving the original asking price of $250,000 up to the record-breaking $300,000. The winning bidder did not want to be identified, she said.
Though the price is more than what many people pay for a house, Sordillo said prime parking spaces in a neighborhood just a block from the Public Garden are in short supply.
"There's only so many parking spaces in the city," said Sordillo. "And in this part, there's very few."
The owners of the parking space live in the six-unit building, which is also up for sale. The people who own the space are also trying to sell a posh two-bedroom suite with direct elevator access for $2.5 million. It includes a space in the building's underground parking garage.
The $300,000 parking space came with few amenities other than its location -- it is outdoors and uncovered.
The previous record was set in 2007, when another buyer paid $250,000 for a nearby parking space behind 31-33 Commonwealth Ave.
(By Megan Woolhouse, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 5:37 PM | Comments (26)
Galvin wants Cohmad records in Madoff case
Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin is again pressing in court for Cohmad Securities Corp., a brokerage firm that was part-owned by Bernard Madoff, to produce customer records that the state and the trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy are seeking.
Last week, a Suffolk Superior Court judge overruled a hearing officer who had stripped Cohmad of its license to do business in Massachusetts for failing to respond to Galvin's request for the information. Cohmad's lawyers had argued that they were not provided enough time to respond to the request.
Galvin's office today filed a motion asking the court to require Cohmad to provide the customer information, including the number of Massachusetts investors that did business with the firm and the fees earned on those clients. Time is of the essence, the state argued, "because Cohmad has begun to wind down operations, which can lead to significant dissipation of assets and information."
"We think this is a deliberate effort to conceal assets from the trustee,'' Galvin said in an interview.
He said his office has been working with Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee in the Madoff bankruptcy case, who is also interested in receiving copies of the Cohmad accounting. Picard is charged with recovering as many assets as possible to distribute to Madoff's victims.
Cohmad's lawywers were not immediately available for comment. In the past, they have said that while Cohmad had Massachusetts customers, it did not have an angoing intermediary relationship with any investors its employees may have introduced to Madoff.
Cohmad for many years had a Boston office. One person who worked there was Robert Jaffe, a member of a wealthy philanthropic family in Boston that lost hundreds of millions of dollars to Madoff. Jaffe maintains that he had no idea Madoff was conducting a multi-billion-dollar fraud.
(By Beth Healy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:23 PM | Comments (1)
Who, What, Where
Jed Cohen has joined Leerink Swann as managing director of investment banking. Before joining Leerink Swann, a Boston-based healthcare investment bank, Cohen was a managing director at Citigroup Global Markets in its Health Care Investment Banking Group.
Ram Ramakrishnan is the new vice president of strategy and corporate development at Millipore Corp., a Billerica-based provider of technologies, tools, and services for the global life science industry. Previously, he was senior vice president of growth at Pentair.
Paul J. Asmar has joined UGL Unicco, a subsidiary of United Group Limited, as vice president of operations and facilities management. UGL Unicco is a Newton-based provider of outsourced facilities services. In this newly created position, Asmar is responsible for setting strategy and developing new programs to provide comprehensive management, operations, and facilities services for large commercial accounts in the Northeast. Asmar served most recently as vice president of national operations at EMCOR Facilities Services Inc.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)
Survey: Local businesses are more upbeat
More than half of the Boston-area executives and company board members who attended a recent economic roundtable - or 56 percent - said the economy has already hit bottom or will do so by the end of the year, said KPMG LLP, which organized last week's roundtable.
At a similar meeting in November, 77 percent of Boston area executives surveyed said they expected the economic downturn to last at least another 18 months, putting the low-point in the market well into 2010 or after, said KPMG LLP, the US member firm of KPMG International, which offers audit, tax, and advisory services.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
SatCon to raise $20.2 million in public offering
SatCon Technology Corp. said it has priced a common stock offering that will raise $20.2 million.
The Boston-based company, which makes power generation products for the alternative energy industry, will sell 15.6 million shares of common stock at $1.30 per share.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said it plans to use the proceeds for working capital, other general corporate purposes and possible acquisitions of other businesses, products or technologies.
SatCon granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 2.3 million shares. Thomas Weisel Partners is the managing underwriter and Ardour Capital Investments is the co-managing underwriter.
Shares lost 55 cents, or 26 percent, to $1.56 in morning trading. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
CRA International buys consulting firm
CRA International Inc., a Boston firm that offers a range of consulting services, said it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Marakon Associates, a consulting firm known for value-based management.
"The acquisition provides additional breadth, depth, and scale to CRA's business consulting capabilities and creates a new value management practice," CRA said in a press release.
"Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed," the press release added. "However, the acquisition is anticipated to be slightly accretive for the remainder of this fiscal year and is expected to contribute to the growth in CRA's revenues and earnings in future years."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)
Fidelity: Couples struggle with retirement planning
Married couples have done little to improve their communication, planning, and management of retirement finances despite the recession, according to a new survey from Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity, a Boston mutual funds company that offers retirement savings plans, said the report was its second Couples Retirement Study; the first was conducted in 2007.
"In comparing this year’s study results to two years ago, couples show little progress in how they approach day-to-day finances, longer-term investing decisions and retirement planning basics," Fidelity said in a press release. "For example, the study found that less than half of couples make decisions jointly regarding the day-to-day financial decisions of the household such as budgeting and bill payment (45 percent)."
The study was conducted online in April by the Richard Day Research firm and focused on a national sample of 502 mostly middle-age couples with annual household income of at least $75,000 or with investable assets of $100,000 or more.
When asked what financial advice the couples would give to newlyweds, the most popular response was, "Make all financial decisions together," Fidelity said.
Fidelity's press release included a video on the study, which is embedded below. The video is four minutes and 19 seconds long.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:26 AM | Comments (1)
Today in Globe Business
Appraisal discrepancies hold up some sales
Property appraisals, once a routine part of a real estate deal, are complicating home sales as the slumping market makes it difficult for appraisers to pinpoint values.
Surprising buyers and sellers, appraisers increasingly are setting home values lower than an agreed upon sales price or the amount required for a homeowner to refinance. The discrepancies are, in part, being caused by a paucity of recent home sales - making it challenging to properly compare prices - and sales of foreclosed properties, which can disproportionately depress neighborhood values.
As a result, sales and mortgage refinances are increasingly in danger of falling through, according to real estate agents and others in the industry.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Lender settles with state for $10 million
Fremont Investment & Loan Co., once one of the state's largest subprime mortgage lenders, agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges that it offered predatory loans in low-income neighborhoods across Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley said yesterday.
"They essentially agree that their actions were unfair and deceptive, and they have agreed to pay damages for that," Coakley said.
Fremont had previously denied the charges in court.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
MELROSE - Vincent Izzi gestured around the empty showroom at Melrose Dodge, a car dealer with no new cars left to sell. A welcome mat with the phrase "Grab life by the horns" greeted no one. Dodge Avenger pamphlets cluttered a desktop.
"I don't think we'll be using those," said Izzi, the dealership's general sales manager.
Melrose Dodge lost its Chrysler LLC franchise yesterday, one of 789 dealerships nationwide that the bankrupt automaker said it needed to pare from its network. Eleven other Massachusetts dealers also were on the cut list.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Holyoke is chosen for computing center
The Western Massachusetts city of Holyoke has been selected to host an ambitious, "green," high performance computing center, according to plans that will be disclosed tomorrow by the state and a consortium of universities and technology companies.
The Holyoke high performance computing center, projected to cost approximately $100 million, will be managed by a collaborative led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts that will also include the EMC Corp., the data storage giant based in Hopkinton, and Cisco Systems Inc., which has a regional research center in Boxborough.
Holyoke was chosen as the site for the center because of the availability of inexpensive, environmentally-friendly hydroelectric power from the nearby Connecticut River, according to members of the collaborative. Hol yoke is also situated near high speed data lines that run along the nearby Mass. Pike and Interstate 91.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
After close vote, Icahn lands second seat on Biogen Idec board
Biogen Idec Inc. said yesterday that Carl C. Icahn, the activist investor who has called for splitting up or selling the Cambridge biotechnology company, has won a second seat on its 13-member board.
Richard C. Mulligan, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, will become a Biogen Idec director, joining a fellow Icahn nominee, Alexander J. Denner, who is managing director of Icahn Partners LP in New York. Icahn owns nearly 5.6 percent of the company's stock.
Last week, Biogen Idec said Denner was elected along with a pair of management candidates, Robert W. Pangia and William D. Young. The company had said results of shareholder balloting for a fourth board seat were "too close to call." Yesterday, it confirmed Mulligan won that seat based on a preliminary count by an independent inspector of elections, IVS Associates. Mulligan prevailed over Biogen Idec management's nominees Lawrence C. Best and Alan B. Glassberg.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)
June 9, 2009
Hearing for $67M Filene's Basement sale postponed
The bankruptcy court hearing scheduled today to approve the $67 million sale of Filene's Basement to an affiliate of Men's Wearhouse will be delayed until June 19th as two of the losing bidders contest the validity of the auction on Friday.
New York retail real estate firm Crown Acquisitions and discounter Syms filed objections to the auction, calling it a "sham" and "brazen noncompliance," in separate court filings today. Both losing bidders challenged the timing of Men's Wearhouse proposal, which was submitted six hours after the deadline, included a closing date months later than the bidding procedures required, and involved a reorganization, rather than an asset sale
"It was a travesty," Crown Acquisitions said in court records seeking to block the transaction.
Men's Wearhouse did not return calls seeking comment.
Syms president Marcy Syms said in court documents that Men's Wearhouse has "successfully perverted the auction process." Syms had submitted a bid valued at nearly $50 million.
After nine hours of intense bidding on Friday, K&G Acquisition Corp., the Men's Wearhouse affiliate, emerged as the successful bidder for the Burlington-based Filene's Basement, a month after the famed discount merchant filed for bankruptcy protection.
The $62 million purchase price covers the assets, including 17 to 20 of the store leases, inventory from all 25 existing locations, leases for the company's headquarters in Burlington and a distribution center in Auburn. An additional $5 million is earmarked if Filene's Basement prevails in litigation over rent disputes against Vornado Realty Trust, the owner of the Downtown Crossing property where Filene's Basement's flagship store is based, according to a Basement official with knowledge of the deal who is not authorized to speak publicly.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
Posted by kstringer at 7:50 PM | Comments (0)
Globe won't negotiate further with union on cuts
Boston Globe management said today that it has ‘‘no interest’’ in bargaining further with the paper’s largest union over a package of concessions and will move ahead with imposing a 23 percent pay cut on members of the Boston Newspaper Guild.
The company imposed the draconian wage cut after the Guild, which represents nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers, last night rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts. In response to a request by the Guild to rescind the unilateral wage cut and reopen bargaining, Gregory Thornton, the Globe’s chief negotiator, said management believes further discussions would be futile.
‘‘The parties have bargained and are at impasse,’’ Thornton said in a letter to Guild president Daniel Totten. ‘‘Therefore, the Globe will not rescind its ‘declaration of impasse’ or withdraw its notice of implementation.’’
In an earlier letter to Thornton, Totten said the union believes the pay cut violates labor laws, as well as terms of its contract. In the letter, Totten called for the two sides to engage in mediation to settle the dispute.
‘‘The Guild requests that The Globe/NYT rescind its unilateral declaration of impasse and notice of implementation of the wage reduction so that, while reserving all contractual and statutory issues, the Guild has the opportunity to negotiate as to the wage reduction alternative proposal,’’ Totten wrote.
Meanwhile, a group of Globe reporters sent a letter to New York Times Co. chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., imploring him to intervene.
‘‘We’re asking you to call off the lawyers, head off a bitter fight, and come forward with a plan that would attract a bit more support from the Guild,’’ the reporters wrote. ‘‘Many of us voted against the contract because we saw it as inequitable – that we were being asked to take a steeper cut than management. If you could find a middle ground that would provide more equity – such as making our pay cut equivalent to that of management – I’m sure you’ll find significantly more support.’’
Catherine Mathis, the Times Co.’s spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Also today, the Times Co. issued a statement saying that with the 23 percent pay cut the company has removed the threat of closing the money-losing paper. The Times Co. has said it needs $20 million in concessions from the Globe’s unions, or else it may need to shutter the paper. Without the savings, the Globe is on track to lose $85 million this year because of the recession and the migration of readers online.
‘‘Because we have achieved the $20 million in savings we needed, we do not foresee closure at this time and are focused on executing the Globe’s turnaround plan,’’ Mathis said in a statement.
Six other unions have ratified contracts that total slightly more than $10 million in wage and benefit cuts. But the Guild on Monday voted 277 to 265 to reject a package of cutbacks that included a pay cut of 8.4 percent, the elimination of guaranteed employment for some workers, and five days of unpaid leave.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:43 PM | Comments (54)
Globe union files labor complaint
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff
The Boston Globe's largest union said it filed unfair labor practice charges today with the National Labor Relations Board as Globe management insisted it would impose a 23 percent wage cut on members of Boston Newspaper Guild beginning Sunday.
The guild's action, announced at a membership meeting tonight, follows the union's narrow rejection on Monday of a $10 million package of concessions that included wage reductions totalling about 10 percent; deep cuts in health and retirement benefits such as a pension freeze; and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees. After the vote, the paper's owner, the New York Times Co., declared an impasse and moved to impose the draconian wage cuts to gain the savings it says it needs to keep operating the money-losing paper.
Guild leaders also said they asked the NLRB to seek a court order to block the Times Co. from imposing the wage cut while the case is being litigated, a process that could take months. Such court orders are rare in these cases, according to legal specialists,and certainly unlikely before the pay cut goes into effect Sunday. The Guild won't hold its hearing before the board until Tuesday.
"What's really clear is this is going to happen,'' said reporter Donovan Slack. "Covering a quarter of my paycheck beyond a few weeks is untenable. Beyond a few months is impossible."
In addition to the NLRB complaint, the guild is also pressing to resume negotiations over the package of concessions. Guild leaders are calling for the parties to enter into mediation to resolve the dispute, and will meet Monday with Globe management.
"This is very, very difficult for all our members. We know there's a lot of fear and nervousness," guild president Daniel Totten said after the union meeting attended by about 100 members. "We want to get a deal."
But Globe management said there's no other deal to be had. The union and management have scheduled a meeting for Monday, but Globe spokesman Robert Powers said its purpose is "to discuss the implementation of the 23 percent wage cut."
In letter to Totten earlier today, Gregory Thornton, the Globe's chief negotiator, said management has "no time and therefore no interest" to bargain further with the guild. The letter, written in response to a guild request to rescind the wage cut and reopen bargaining, said management believes further discussions would be "futile."
"The parties have bargained and are at impasse," Thornton said in a letter to Totten. "Therefore, the Globe will not rescind its 'declaration of impasse' or withdraw its notice of implementation."
In an earlier letter to Thornton, Totten said the union believes the unilaterally imposed pay cut violates labor laws, as well as the terms of its contract, and as a result " the Guild has the opportunity to negotiate as to the wage reduction alternative proposal."
Meanwhile, a group of Globe reporters sent a letter today to Times Co. chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. imploring him to intervene in the contract dispute.
"We’re asking you to call off the lawyers, head off a bitter fight, and come forward with a plan that would attract a bit more support from the Guild," the reporters wrote.
Catherine Mathis, the Times Co. spokeswoman, declined comment.
But the Times Co. issued a statement earlier today saying that with the deep wage cut imposed on Guild members, the company removed its threat to close the Globe because it had achieved a total of $20 million in concessions from its unions. The Times Co. had been threatening to shutter the paper if it couldn't get major savings from the unions.
Posted by globebusiness at 5:43 PM | Comments (25)
Globe reporters appeal to Times Co.'s chief
A group of Boston Globe reporters has written to New York Times Co. chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. following Monday’s union vote to reject proposed concessions. Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Mr. Sulzberger,
We have long admired your commitment to producing the world’s best journalism. We know, as a former reporter, that you appreciate the work we do and how we have continued to publish hard-hitting, thoughtful papers throughout these hard times.
Despite all the rhetoric of the last few weeks, we believe you want to do the right thing – that, at bottom, you’re a mensch. We’re all too aware of the awful economic climate and the precipitous challenges to the newspaper industry. Most of us went into this work because of our love for it, not for the money. We never expected high salaries; we just wanted reasonable pay, enough to make ends meet.
We’re writing to you because we’re asking for you to step in and show us what we have admired about you for years – your fair-minded leadership. We’re asking you to call off the lawyers, head off a bitter fight, and come forward with a plan that would attract a bit more support from the Guild.
More than 130 members of the Guild – surely enough to tip the balance in any future vote – have signed a petition, saying we’re ready to take painful cuts and do what it takes to preserve the long-term future of The Boston Globe. Many of us voted against the contract because we saw it as inequitable – that we were being asked to take a steeper cut than management. If you could find a middle ground that would provide more equity – such as making our pay cut equivalent to that of management – I’m sure you’ll find significantly more support.
We believe that you don’t want us to take a 23 percent pay cut. We believe you understand that the consequences of such a drastic cut would be disastrous for many of us who have worked tirelessly for the Globe for years. Not only could many of us lose our homes and our child care, but too much of our top talent might no longer be able to afford to work for a newspaper that they’ve given their hearts and souls to for so long.
Mr. Sulzberger, we’re asking for your leadership. You can make a difference. We desperately need it right now.
We look forward to your response.
All the best,
Concerned Reporters at The Boston Globe
Posted by globebusiness at 5:33 PM | Comments (33)
Fung Wah Bus plans Providence-NY service
Fung Wah Bus will start nonstop service from Providence to New York starting June 15.
Plans call for daily departures from Rhode Island at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., with two returns from New York at 4:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Tickets are priced at $40 each way.
The discounter faces competition on this route from Greyhound and Peter Pan, both of which schedule multiple departures.
Greyhound charges $14-$34 one way, depending on how far in advance you buy tickets, and its buses make stops in between. Peter Pan offers nonstops at $37 or $45, with the lower price being an online fare. Company officials say the firm also has a late-night rate of $32 and student discounts.
Thanks to Matthew Keller of busjunction.com for the tip.
(By Paul S. Makishima, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:58 PM | Comments (2)
State Street will repay TARP proceeds to Treasury
State Street Corp., the Boston company that provides financial services to large institutional investors, said that its application to repay the full amount of the US Department of the Treasury's investment in the company under the Troubled Asset Relief Program has been approved.
State Street was one of several financial institutions to have their applications approved.
State Street said in a press release that it expect to redeem all the 20,000 shares of its Series B fixed-rate cumulative perpetual preferred stock purchased in the US Treasury's $2 billion investment from October.
"We have consistently supported the objectives of the Capital Purchase Program and believe our participation in the program, as one of the nine banks asked to initiate it, has assisted the federal government's efforts in stabilizing the financial markets," Ronald E. Logue, chairman and chief executive of State Street, said in a statement. "As a result of improving financial market conditions and our strong capital position, State Street has been able to replace the government's CPP funds with private capital, in keeping with the Treasury's original intent."
The US Treasury Department said Tuesday that 10 of the nation's biggest banks were approved to pay back a combined $68 billion of taxpayer money pumped into them last year to combat the credit crisis.
Many banks had chafed at restrictions on executive pay that accompanied the capital injections. Permitting some of them to repay money to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, effectively initiates a process of separating stronger banks from weaker ones as the financial sector begins to regain its balance.
Treasury refused to name the banks but some quickly stepped forward, including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co, to say they were among those cleared to return money.
US Bancorp, American Express, Bank of New York Mellon, and BB&T Corp also said they had received approval to repay funds the government had pumped into them to try to ensure the banking system was well capitalized.
A source familiar with the matter said Northern Trust, State Street, Capital One Financial Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc had also received a green light.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pared gains after the approvals were announced on concerns that banks' repayment of government bailout money may damage prospects for economic recovery.
Some analysts, however, viewed the government's decision as a positive as it was announced by the US Treasury after bank regulators had determined banks' had met criteria for repaying, including a proviso that they be in position to support lending.
"People should be pretty comfortable that now the government is allowing these banks to pay the TARP money back, they fully believe that the worst is behind us," said William Lefkowitz, an options strategist with VFinance Investment.
CHAFING OVER PAY RESTRICTIONS
Some banks remain on government life support, which makes them subject to the pay restrictions. Others complained they did not need the help and were being put at a competitive disadvantage because they couldn't set their own pay levels.
Treasury is expected to outline new rules Wednesday for compensation for top earners at firms still being supported by taxpayer funds, sources have said. Those rules will detail how restrictions Congress has put in place will be applied.
In addition to these limits on pay, US officials are eyeing ways to influence compensation practices across the entire financial industry. Bank regulators want to explore how to effectively influence pay structures in ways that might reduce excessive risk taking.
The Obama administration has argued that the incentive structure on Wall Street encouraged banks to take excessive risks by focusing on short-term gains, helping set the stage for the financial crisis that struck last year.
When the government invested bailout funds in banks, it received dividend-paying preferred shares. The repayments that banks were approved on Tuesday to make will go toward repurchasing those shares.
Treasury said banks that repay their preferred stock get the right to repurchase warrants that Treasury holds in their firms at fair market value. The warrants give the government the right to buy common stock at a predetermined price for up to 10 years and were intended to give taxpayers a chance to share in the profits of healthy banks.
"These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
Geithner has said that money paid back into the $700 billion bailout fund by healthy banks can be reused to help smaller banks, including those that have already gotten one bailout.
The Treasury said that combined with repayments received so far from other financial firms it will receive $70 billion for companies that took part in the bailout program. More than 600 banks across the country have received funds from the program.
After doling out an additional $30 billion for General Motors Corp, the Treasury's unallocated financial rescue funds had dwindled to about $54 billion, assuming other announced programs are to be fully funded.
As a condition of being allowed to repay, banks had to show they could raise money on their own from the private sector both by selling stock and by issuing debt without the help of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp guarantees. The Federal Reserve also had to agree that their capital levels were adequate to support continued lending. (Reuters)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:19 AM | Comments (4)
Who, What, Where
William E. Aliski has been appointed as senior vice president and chief commercial officer at FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge. The move is in anticipation of the commercialization of the company's lead compound, Fx-1006A, which is being developed as the first therapy for the treatment of rare genetic diseases associated with misfolding of a key protein called transthyretin. Aliski joins FoldRx from Simon Kucher Partners, a global consulting company specializing in pricing and reimbursement, where he served as senior director.
Jeff Hitchcock (right) is the new vice president of business development at Humboldt Storage and Moving, a Canton-based moving company and a large agent for United Van Lines. Hitchcock will be responsible for cultivating new national moving account relationships and opportunities for both the domestic and international sides of the business as well as assisting the moving company in strengthening existing corporate relationships. Hitchcock has more than 30 years of experience in
the moving and storage business, spending much of his professional career at Clark & Reid Movers and Moving Specialty Services.
Alex Leikikh has joined the Mullen, the Boston ad agency, as managing partner, director of account service, a new position at the agency. Leikikh was most recently a group account director at Fallon in Minneapolis, and he has worked on branding efforts for such clients as United Airlines, BMW, Alamo Car Rental, and Boston Market.
Jeffrey D. Weiner has been named as the director of sales and marketing at Woodmeister Master Builders, a Holden company focused on luxury home construction. Weiner will play a key role in developing and implementing new marketing strategies, sales processes, and business development initiatives. Since 2002, he has owned and operated JDW Marketing, providing marketing consulting services to executives at high-tech companies.
Evan E. Gallagher has been promoted to assistant vice president at NAI Hunneman, a Boston provider of commercial real estate services. Gallagher joined NAI Hunneman in 2005. Before NAI Hunneman, Gallagher was a regional account executive with Enterprise Rent-a-Car Corp.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
Talbots posts 1Q loss, to cut 20 percent of jobs
(File photo: Wiqan Ang for The Boston Globe)
Talbots Inc. this morning recorded a fiscal first-quarter loss amid increased charges, and said it will institute new job cuts of 20 percent as it looks to lower costs and streamline operations.
(Sixty-one open positions are being cut, and 264 workers are leaving the company, Talbots spokeswoman told Bloomberg News.)
The women's apparel retailer, which is headquartered in Hingham, posted a loss of 44 cents per share, or $23.6 million, for the period ended May 2. That compares with a profit of $1.6 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Loss from continuing operations was 35 cents per share in the latest quarter. Excluding restructuring and impairment charges of 12 cents per share, loss from continuing operations was 23 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, forecast a loss of 49 cents per share.
Talbots, which announced yesterday that it is selling its J. Jill brand for about $75 million, said the latest round of job cuts are part of its $150 million expense reduction plan and include the elimination of open positions. The 20 percent head count reduction is expected to result in annual savings of about $21 million. To see a Globe story on the proposed J. Jill sale, please click here.
In February the retailer announced that it would cut 370 corporate-level jobs. The new cuts are on top of that. To read a Globe story about that cut, please click here.
Sales for the first quarter fell 26 percent to $306.2 million from $414.8 million as sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, dropped 26.9 percent. Same-store sales are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
On average, analysts expected revenue of $313.2 million.
Talbots predicted a second-quarter adjusted loss from continuing operations of about 50 cents to 58 cents per share.
Analysts forecast a second-quarter loss of 68 cents per share.
Talbots operated 586 name brand stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada at the end of the first quarter. (AP. The photos of the models that appear with this post were taken from Talbots website.)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (10)
BC event focuses on philanthropy in a recession
The Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College is scheduled to begin a two-day summit today on the state of wealth and giving during an economic crisis.
The center said in a press release that it has teamed up with the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Eaton Vance Investment Council to "address the growing uncertainties and concerns that characterize this significantly challenging time in the world of philanthropy."
“I believe that this will be one of the most important conversations regarding wealth and giving in the foreseeable future," Center on Wealth and Philanthropy director Paul G. Schervish said in a statement. "It is a conversation we need to have as a field and as a nation."
More information about the summit can be found by clicking here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
The Boston Globe's largest union last night narrowly rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts, and about an hour later the paper's owner declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed a 23 percent pay cut on the union's members, effective next week.
The move by The New York Times Co., which said the Globe's dire financial condition gave it no choice, could quickly shift the bitter contract dispute from the bargaining table to the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. The Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers, has told members it would file unfair labor practice charges with the board and seek a court order blocking the Times Co. from imposing the pay cut.
In a statement, Globe spokesman Robert Powers said that management was disappointed by the vote and that the company must now move ahead with the deep pay cut. The company sent a letter advising Guild officials of the move last night.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Despite the recession, Massachusetts companies and interest groups have sharply increased spending in Washington, D.C., to influence how federal officials distribute more than $1 trillion to revive the lagging economy.
In the first three months of the year, local firms spent $14.4 million to lobby the US government, according to federal records, 21 percent more than in the first quarter of 2008. Also, the number of Massachusetts companies hiring lobbyists increased 14 percent this year, to 320.
"That spending is up this year is a telling reminder that lobbying is a very different kind of industry," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors the influence of money in politics. "It may seem counterintuitive during an economic decline, but many companies feel it's a good way to maximize their chances at shaping legislation that will affect them."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Talbots finds a buyer for J. Jill
The $75 million deal struggling Hingham clothier Talbots Inc. struck yesterday to unload J. Jill, coming just days after the purchase of Filene's Basement, suggests that the worst may be over for the beleaguered retail market.
The sale of J. Jill to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, at a fraction of the $517 million Talbots paid in a bidding war in 2006, is expected to close by July. The transaction will slash the chain by 25 percent - from 279 shops to 204 stores - but keep about 670 employees in the Quincy headquarters and the New Hampshire distribution facility. Only one of the 75 underperforming shops to be shuttered is located in Massachusetts but officials would not disclose which shop would be closed.
Yesterday's sale comes seven months after Talbots chief executive Trudy F. Sullivan disclosed plans to dispose of J. Jill , the casual merchant aimed at women 35 and older, as a way to allow Talbots to concentrate on the turnaround of its namesake brand. The tight credit markets and liquidity challenges have made it too difficult for Talbots, with $200 million in debt from the J. Jill takeover, to attempt to make over two major brands.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Steiff worker says CEO raped her
A former executive assistant to Steiff teddy bear company chief executive Martin Frechen has filed an $80 million lawsuit claiming Frechen raped her in 2004 and continued to sexually harass her at meetings and conferences after the alleged incident.
Company officials deny the claims of the employee, Jane Collins, 32, of Fall River, who said yesterday that she kept the sexual assault a secret because she was a single mother who needed to keep her job. At the time, Frechen, who headed Steiff North America Inc.'s division in Raynham, was in the process of leaving the company to take another job in Germany.
"He was the golden boy and everyone thought the world of him," Collins said in a phone interview. "So I put it behind me and made-believe that it didn't happen."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Regulators: Fund firm hid losses
Federal and state regulators yesterday accused Boston-based Evergreen Investment Management Co. of overstating the value of one of its mutual funds for a 17-month period, and then secretly tipping off select clients about steep losses in the fund before disclosing them to other investors.
Evergreen agreed to pay $40 million to investors who lost money in the fund as part of its settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and to hire an independent compliance consultant, who will review its procedures. It is also paying a $1 million fine to Massachusetts securities officials.
The allegations center on the Ultra Short Opportunities Fund, which Evergreen marketed as a conservative investment that provided shareholders with steady income at low risk. Instead, fund managers bought riskier mortgage-backed securities, some of which plunged in value in 2007, according to the complaints.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Drug giants pump $40m into Aileron
Four global pharmaceutical companies have joined in a consortium to provide $40 million in financing to Aileron Therapeutics, a Cambridge biotechnology start-up that is developing a novel approach to treating cancer and other diseases.
Aileron's technology, "stapled peptides," combines molecular devices called staples with fragments of proteins called peptides, enabling them to remain in the human body long enough to be effective. Most peptides are prone to breaking up in the bloodstream within minutes.
"The pharmaceutical industry is looking for new growth avenues," Joseph A. Yanchik III, the president and chief executive of four-year-old Aileron, said yesterday. "If it plays out, this opens up a new playing field, and that is what they're starving for."
To read the full story, please click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Take that, West Coast
Remember when there used to be a technology rivalry between America's coasts?
That's a sad kind of joke today. The West Coast rules the technology world. It dominates anything and anyone foolish enough to toil here in the East. They start more successful companies and buy the best businesses we manage to create here.
It isn't enough for them to succeed. We must be humbled. The East Coast technology establishment, especially the crowd around Greater Boston, gets needled for being too cautious and too inhibited to compete with the West Coast. The latest exclamation point: Greylock Partners, one of Route 128's pioneering venture capital firms, is moving its headquarters to California's Menlo Park!
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:31 AM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2009
Turnout is high in Globe union vote on cutbacks
About 80 percent of the members The Boston Globe’s largest union turned out to vote on whether to accept $10 million in wage and benefit cuts that the newspaper’s owner, The New York Times Co., says it needs to keep operating the money-losing paper.
Results of the voting won’t be known until later this evening.
Nearly 550 of 690 editorial, advertising, and business office workers represented by the Boston Newspaper Guild cast ballots on a contract proposal that would cut their pay by about 10 percent, slice health and retirement benefits, and eliminate lifetime job guarantees, union officials said.
The Times Co. has said it would impose a 23 percent pay cut on Guild employees should they fail to ratify the contract proposal.
The Globe, New England’s largest newspaper, is projected to lose $85 million without significant cost savings, according to the Times Co. Six other Globe unions have already ratified wage and benefit cuts that total more than $10 million.
In many ways, the day passed like any other day at the 137-year-old newspaper. Reporters made calls on stories, photographers ran out on assignments, and sales representatives sold ads. But with Guild members voting in a large conference room starting at 8 a.m., it was decidedly not a typical day.
Some paced the hallways, unsure about how to vote.
‘‘Either way, we’re going to lose,’’ said David Filipov, a reporter for 14 years at the Globe.
As Dina Rudick saw it, voting yes was the best of two terrible options.
‘‘The industry is in peril, and for us to expect things to remain the same is ludicrous,’’ said Rudick, a Globe photographer for the past seven years. ‘‘We may not like it, but we have got to evolve, and evolution may look like shrinking for now.’’
Musset Valentine, a circulation clerk, and father of four, said he voted no because he could not afford the cuts.
‘‘I don’t like the way the New York Times has treated us,’’ Valentine said. ‘‘We’ve had no raises in years, and I have a wife and kids in the house. I can’t vote yes.’’
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:41 PM | Comments (1)
Wellford joins Bingham's Washington office
Bingham McCutchen LLP, a law firm with a big presence in Boston, said Hill Wellford, former chief of staff of the US Justice Department's Antitrust Division, is joining Bingham's Washington, D.C., office as a partner in its antitrust and trade regulation practice group.
"Wellford is the latest partner to join Bingham's antitrust and trade regulation practice within a year," the firm said in a press release. "Last fall, Leiv Blad, Boyd Cloern, and Jon Roellke joined Bingham from Clifford Chance in Washington, where Blad and Roellke led that firm's US antitrust practice."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)
Globe's largest union rejects cuts
Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, left, and Scott Steeves, vice president of the Boston Newspapers Guild, walking out of the Boston Globe before announcing the Boston Newspaper Guild vote to reject a package of major concessions that included $10 million in wage and benefit cuts. (Matthew J. Lee/ Globe Staff)
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff
The Boston Globe's largest union tonight narrowly rejected $10
million in wage and benefit cuts, and about an hour later the paper's owner
declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed a 23 percent pay cut on the
union's members, effective next week.
The move by The New York Times Co., which said the Globe's dire
financial condition gave it no choice, could quickly shift the bitter
contract dispute from the bargaining table to the National Labor Relations
Board and federal courts. The Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents
nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers, has told
members it would file unfair labor practice charges with the board, and
seek a court order blocking the Times Co. from imposing the pay cut.
In a statement, Globe spokesman Robert Powers said management was
disappointed by the vote, and that the company must now move ahead with the
deep pay cut. He said the company sent a letter advising Guild officials of
the move tonight.
"As we have stated, the $10 million in cost savings from this
multifaceted proposal is essential to The Boston Globe's financial
future," Powers said. "We regret having to take this action, but have no
financially viable alternative."
Guild president Daniel Totten declined comment on the company's move
to implement the 23 percent pay cut until he could review the letter. After
the vote, Totten said in a statement, "With today's vote, members of the
Boston Newspaper Guild have said that The New York Times Company must do
better than the offer that was presented. Globe workers and the New England
community understand that the quality of The Boston Globe — an institution
so vital to the life and culture of the region — depends on the fair
treatment of the men and women who work so hard to produce it."
Guild members, with about 80 percent participating, voted 277 to 265
to reject the company's contract offer, which included pay cuts totalling
more than 10 percent; deep cuts to health and retirement benefits,
including a pension freeze; and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees
for about 170 veteran members.
The Guild is the only one of the Globe's four major unions to reject
concessions the Times Co. said it needs to continue operating the Globe,
projected to lose $85 million this year without significant cost savings.
In early April, the Times Co. said it would shutter the Globe, New
England's largest newspaper, unless the paper's unions agreed to a combined
$20 million, with half demanded from Guild.
Unions representing mailers, press operators, and delivery truck
drivers approved concessions worth nearly a combined $10 million.
In declaring the impasse, the Times Co. said it tried its best to
reach agreement with the Guild, but could not. The pay cut goes into effect
next week and will appear in Guild employee checks on June 25, Globe
management said.
"The urgency of the Globe's financial condition makes it imperative
that we achieve those savings and savings negotiated with our other unions
immediately," said Gregory Thornton, the Globe's chief negotiator, in a
letter to Totten.
The Thornton letter also invited Totten to discuss the 23 percent pay
cut with management "any day this week," before it takes effect.
The Times Co.'s move represents another chapter in the contentious
relations with the Guild. Unlike other unions, Guild leaders never reached
a tentative agreement over concessions, promising only to bring the
company's offer to members for a vote, without recommending for or against.
Still, union leaders signalled in several ways that they would not be
unhappy if members voted down the proposal. Totten, for example, said he
was going to vote "no" in the hopes of negotiating a better deal.
Both sides would embark on a risky path by moving from the bargaining
table to the legal process, according to labor law specialists. Unfair
labor practice cases hinge on whether negotiations were conducted in "good
faith," a term with a definition that is murky at best, said Thomas
Kohler, a Boston College law professor.
As a result, these cases can drag on for months, if not years. The
Detroit newspaper strike of 1995 was launched after management declared an
impasse in contract negotiations and imposed its own conditions on union
workers. The case was litigated into the next decade.
"There is no litmus test that the bargaining is in good faith,"
said Kohler. "It's a messy process and it can be lengthy."
Guild members would likely have to live with the onerous pay cut
until the case is resolved because courts rarely grant orders to block such
moves while the cases are being litigated, according to labor law
specialists. On the other hand, the Times Co. could be liable for millions
of dollars in back salaries and interest should the Guild challenge
eventually succeed.
Ultimately, the best outcome for both sides might be to negotiate a
deal, said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark
University in Worcester.
"If the United Auto Workers can settle with General Motors on the
brink of bankruptcy, why can't the Times Co. settle with its reporters?"
Chaison said.
In many ways, today passed like any other day at the 137-year-old
newspaper. But with Guild members voting in a large numbers — turnout
exceeded 80 percent — it was decidedly no typical day.
Some voted no, others voted yes, and still others paced the hallways
at the paper unsure of how to vote.
"Either way, we're going to lose," said David Filipov, a reporter
for 14 years at the Globe.
As Dina Rudick saw it, voting yes was the best of two terrible
options. "The industry is in peril and for us to expect things to remain
the same is ludicrous," said Rudick, a Globe photographer for the last
seven years. "We may not like it, but we have got to evolve, and evolution
may look like shrinking for now."
To read previous coverage of the issues facing The Boston Globe, click here.
Posted by dbeard at 11:16 AM | Comments (97)
Massachusetts gas prices keep on rising
(File photo: Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe)
The average for Massachusetts gas prices was up 8 cents in the latest weekly survey by AAA Southern New England; prices have now risen for nine consecutive weeks.
AAA's June 8 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.519 per gallon, 89 cents higher than at the start of the year.
The current Massachusetts average price is 10 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.61, and is $1.52 less than the $4.03 found this time a year ago, AAA Southern New England said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:07 AM | Comments (7)
Dunkin’ Donuts unveils 99 cent breakfast
(This photo was provided by the company.)
Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based coffee-and-baked goods chain, unveiled a menu offering that aims to provide customers with breakfast for under a dollar.
The new product is called the Wake-up Wrap, and it will be available today through mid-July at participating Dunkin' Donuts shops throughout the country, the company said.
"Available for only 99 cents, the Wake-up Wrap features a five-inch round tortilla served oven-toasted with ½ scrambled egg and a slice of American cheese," Dunkin' said in a press release. "This is the first sandwich at Dunkin' Donuts to feature a tortilla."
For an additional 30 cents, customers can accessorize their breakfast tortilla with a slice of cherrywood smoked bacon, the chain said; sans bacon, the egg-and-cheese version of the Wake-up Wrap weighs in at less than 200 calories.
A new ad campaign from Boston ad agency Hill Holliday will support the launch of Wake-up Wrap; the theme of the campaign is, "Breakfast NOT Brokefast," Dunkin' Donuts said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:15 AM | Comments (4)
Talbots agrees to sell J. Jill for $75 million
Talbots Inc., the Hingham retailer perhaps best known for classically styled women's apparel, said it has agreed to sell "substantially all of the J. Jill brand assets" to Jill Acquisition, LLC, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm, for $75 million.
Talbots bought J. Jill in 2006 for $517 million. The photo that accompanies this post was taken from J. Jill's website.
"This is a significant strategic step forward for Talbots as it enables us to focus our time, resources and attention exclusively on rejuvenating our core Talbots brand and return to profitable growth," Trudy F. Sullivan, Talbots president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Talbots press release added: "As part of the transaction, J. Jill will continue to be led by Paula Bennett, J. Jill brand president. All of the J. Jill brand employees located at the Quincy, Mass., and Tilton, N.H., facilities and at the transferred store locations will remain employed by the buyer. J. Jill will continue to operate under the same brand name, will remain headquartered in Quincy, Mass., and will continue to operate its distribution center in Tilton, N.H."
Talbots has been seeking to execute a turnaround as the recession has hurt many retailers.
Last year, Talbots said it would slow store openings, reduce capital spending, eliminate television and national print advertising, and shutter another 22 shops - on top of 78 recently disclosed store closings. To read a Globe story about that, please click here.
For the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, Talbots reported a loss of $560.7 million.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:23 AM | Comments (16)
Cybex pink treadmill supports cancer research
Cybex International Inc., a Medway-based manufacturer of exercise equipment, announced the debut of special pink treadmills to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is October.
"The pink treadmills will be sold to health clubs, YMCA’s, hotels and spas, student recreation centers, corporate employee gyms, and other exercise facilities around the country," the company said in a press release. "CYBEX will donate 10 cents for every mile logged on any pink 750T treadmill throughout the month of October" to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The photo that appears with this post was included in the press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)
Green Mountain unveils daring new coffee flavor
Not satisfied with such mundane flavors as hazelnut and French vanilla, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. seems intent on experimenting with an exotic variety of caffeine - peach coffee.
The Waterbury, Vt., company periodically issues Limited Edition Seasonal coffees for the caffeine connoisseur, and one current offering from the Green Mountain "flavor mavens" is Perfect Peach, the company said in a press release. (The release included the photo that appears with this post.)
In describing Perfect Peach, Green Mountain said, "Its light fragrance and sweet fruit notes make it perfect for warmer weather."
Peach joe? At first blush, this combo would seem unlikely to win over the discerning coffee lover.
But the Vermont flavor mavens have some advice for the skeptics: "Give peach a chance."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:41 AM | Comments (5)
Today in Globe Business
Fewer but bigger dealerships are expected to boost car prices
The shakeout in the US auto industry will mean fewer but larger dealerships - decreasing competition among dealers and pushing up consumer prices on some cars by several thousand dollars, according to auto companies and analysts.
Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp., which have filed for bankruptcy protection, are expected to adopt a model similar to their Japanese counterparts - offering fewer brands and marketing them through fewer dealerships. Toyota, which surpassed GM as the world's largest automaker, has about one-fifth the number of US dealerships as GM, but sells almost three times as many cars at each location, according to industry publication Ward's Dealer Business.
Such streamlining - Chrysler's trimming of dealerships is expected to begin tomorrow - will create more profitable businesses, say dealers and analysts, because surviving dealers will be able to sell a higher volume of cars per location. What's more, fewer brands will allow dealers to focus on improving customer service.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Little Joe clutched the mesh fence that separated him from the outside world. But the 16-year-old western lowland gorilla, famed for his 2003 escape from the Franklin Park Zoo, wasn't contemplating another jailbreak. He was doing business.
Senior zookeeper Brandi Baitchman had presented him with two colored dowels - gorilla cash in an experiment to see whether Joe could grasp the concept of money. The blue dowel could be traded for monkey chow, a favorite delicacy. The white one was worth nothing.
Without a hint of hesitation, and quicker than a stock floor trader, Joe picked blue. Baitchman slipped a chow pellet into his mouth.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Contract vote today for Guild as drivers approve Globe cuts
The last of The Boston Globe's biggest unions votes today on major concessions that management says it needs to keep operating the money-losing paper, following yesterday's approval by delivery truck drivers of $2.5 million in wage and benefit cuts.
In the most visible, if not most contentious, ratification vote, members of the Globe's largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild, will decide whether to accept a contract offer that would cut wages and benefits by $10 million and eliminate lifetime job guarantees for some veteran workers. Six other bargaining units - including the drivers' union, Teamsters Local 259, which ratified its contract by a vote of 89 to 69 yesterday morning - have approved concessions worth about $10 million.
The Globe's owner, The New York Times Co., has said it needs a total of $20 million in savings from Globe unions or else it may shutter the paper. Without the savings, the Globe, New England's largest newspaper, is on track to lose about $85 million this year as the recession decimates advertising revenue and readers migrate online, according to the Times Co.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BLOG FILTER: What's really behind E Ink's decision to sell
Why sell a rising star? Cambridge-based E Ink Corp. said last Monday that it was being acquired by a big Taiwanese display maker. E Ink, a spinout from MIT's Media Lab, makes the screens for the Amazon Kindle and many other e-book devices. David Weinberger, a Brookline author and blogger, wondered why.
E Ink is on a roll in a market that is about to explode (in the good sense). After 10 years of work developing a low-power, highly legible display, it's got something that works. Thanks to Kindle, it's proven itself in the mass market and it's in lots of people's hands. And the market is about to take off now that we have digital delivery systems, a new generation of hardware, and a huge disruption in the traditional publishing market. So, why would E Ink sell itself? The price - $215 million - seems relatively low for such a hot product. [E Ink had raised more than $150 million from investors.] If they need the money to fund R&D or to build manufacturing facilities, surely there were other possibilities. Apparently the market crisis made an IPO implausible, although, to tell the truth, I - with my weak financial grasp - am not convinced. Perhaps [E Ink and its investors] have reason to think the market is not going to take off, but that seems wrong. . . . Or maybe they have doubts about E Ink technology. Maybe they worry the cost won't drop fast enough for a commoditized market. Maybe color isn't on its way fast enough. Maybe they're worried about the inability (or so I'm presuming) of their tech ever to handle video, since the winning e-reader will eventually be multimedia. Maybe they know about [other e-book devices] on the way - Apple iPad or whatever the presumed product will be called - that will make static, black-on-gray pages seem obsolete.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:34 AM | Comments (1)
June 5, 2009
Syron at BC: Economic downturn was inevitable
If it wasn't the housing market, something else would have triggered the current economic trauma, according to former Freddie Mac chief executive Richard Syron.
In one of his first appearances since being ousted as head of the mortgage giant last year, Syron spoke to an asset management conference at Boston College today about the causes of the steep recession.
Syron, an economist who once led the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, declined to discuss anything about Freddie Mac or its mortgage business. Instead, he spoke broadly about the economy and its problems, citing vast amounts money in search of higher yields as a driving force behind the sharp economic decline.
"If it hadn't been housing it would have been something else," he said, meaning that some other kind of asset would have become inflated in value and caused economic pain if the housing market had not overheated.
Syron said the climbing rate of home ownership among Americans this decade, well above historical averages, may not have been such a good thing for the economy. But he declined to answer a question from the audience about the appropriate role for government in encouraging home ownership and assisting buyers finance homes.
"That's such a political thicket," Syron said. "I'm not sure my ideas are any better than anyone else's."
He left Freddie Mac last November, two months after the federal government seized the mortgage finance company.
(By Steven Syre, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:53 PM | Comments (1)
Who, What, Where
Stephen L. Deschenes has been named senior vice president and general manager of the annuities unit of the US division of Sun Life Financial Inc. The US division is based in Wellesley. Deschenes joins Sun Life from MassMutual Financial Group, where he served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the retirement income group.
Carl Byers plans to step down as chief financial officer and senior vice president of Athenahealth Inc., a Watertown company that helps doctors handle billing and records electronically. Byers has informed the company of his intention to step down in early 2010 to pursue a family goal to live abroad. Byers indicated that he will assist in the search for a new senior executive and will serve as long as needed to ensure an orderly transition.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)
Frontline show will focus on Bank of America
WGBH, the local public television station, said it has scheduled a June 16 program that focuses on Bank of America Corp. and its role in the financial crisis.
(In 2004, North Carolina-based Bank of America bought FleetBoston Financial Corp. to become the largest bank in Massachusetts.)
The Frontline program, set to air June 16 at 9 p.m. on WGBH 2 locally, examines Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis (left) and the bank's "rocky merger" with Merrill Lynch, WGBH said in a press release. Lewis was recently ousted as the bank's chairman after shareholders irate about the Merrill Lynch acquisition voted to separate the chairman's job from that of chief executive, a story in April noted.
The Frontline program is titled "Breaking the Bank."
To view a trailer from that program, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. Lewis file photo: Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP.)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)
Streambank tapped for jewelry chain asset sale
Streambank LLC, a Needham consulting firm, said it has been retained to undertake the marketing and sales efforts for the intellectual asset portfolio of Whitehall Jewelers Holdings Inc.
The Chicago-based national jewelry retail chain filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in 2008; a court-ordered liquidation followed unsuccessful attempts to sell the chain or obtain additional financing, Streambank said in a press release.
Streambank is an intellectual property consulting firm, specializing in the valuation, sales and marketing of intangible assets.
“Whitehall Jewelers provided engagement and wedding rings for tens of thousands of happy couples, as well as jewelry for other special occasions,” Gabe Fried, managing member and founder of Streambank, said in a statement. “With such a legacy, we believe there is substantial value in the company’s name and other intangible assets.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:12 AM | Comments (2)
Today in Globe Business
In tight market, big demand for used cars drives up prices
RAYNHAM - Drivers are snatching up an increasingly limited supply of used vehicles at some of the highest prices in years, even as auto dealers struggle to unload new cars.
Americans purchased nearly 4 million used cars in May, jumping 23 percent over the previous month, according to CNW Research. That comes as sales of new cars have plunged roughly 34 percent, despite sweetened incentives and cash-back offers. Meanwhile, the average transaction price for a used car hit $10,156 in April, the highest price since 2005, CNW Research reported this week.
Across the country, auto dealers are confronting a shortage of used cars and scrambling to increase trade-in incentives, scour online car listings, and engage in bidding wars at auction. The supply of used cars, particularly newer models, has dwindled recently because of a confluence of factors: consumers are not buying new autos and trading in old ones; the number of repossessions is waning; and rental companies, which usually provide a large inventory of used cars, are holding onto their vehicles longer.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
A day after adjourning its shareholders meeting without disclosing which candidates had won seats on its board, Biogen Idec Inc. conceded yesterday that investors probably had rebuked company executives and elected one of activist investor Carl C. Icahn's nominees.
The Cambridge biotechnology company released a statement indicating that a preliminary count by a firm it had hired to tally stockowner votes showed Alexander J. Denner, managing director of Icahn Partners LP in New York, will be a new director.
Also elected to the 13-member board were two management-backed candidates, Robert W. Pangia and William D. Young, according to the count.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Data firm rethinks $1.8 billion bid by EMC
One day after it rebuffed a $1.8 billion takeover bid from data storage goliath EMC Corp. of Hopkinton, the board of Data Domain Inc. has had second thoughts.
The company said yesterday that it would review EMC's offer, even though Data Domain's board on Wednesday voted unanimously to accept a $1.9 billion bid from NetApp Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif.
"Shareholders want the best deal for themselves," said Rajesh Ghai, storage sector analyst with ThinkEquity Partners LLC in San Francisco. Ghai said that Data Domain shareholders have urged the board to keep the EMC offer in play and prolong a bidding war that could drive up the value of their shares.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BRAINTREE - When brothers Michael and Greg Shea look around South Shore Chrysler, they see more than a lot filled with sparkling Jeeps and Town & Country minivans. The dealership is also home to four decades of Shea family history.
"I basically worked my way through school here," said Michael, 42, who attended nearby Archbishop Williams High School and spent many afternoons performing oil changes and installing tires. "We're just a local family - been here a long time and have a local business. We live and work in the same town that we grew up in."
Over the years, said Greg, 39, some customers have become more like family friends. "People come back and bring their kids, their grandkids," he said.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Frank intervention extends the life of GM's Norton center
General Motors Corp. will delay the closing of a Norton parts distribution center it planned to shutter by the end of the year, according to US Representative Barney Frank. The extension will temporarily preserve about 80 jobs.
The Norton warehouse is now expected stay open through July 2010, Frank said.
As part of its bankruptcy and government-backed restructuring, GM plans to close 14 US manufacturing plants and two other distribution centers by 2012. Workers at the Norton center learned Monday of its impending closing, the day the automaker filed for bankruptcy protection, said Mark Ridenour, the chairman of the United Auto Workers union that represents plant employees.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Life after proxy fight
Memo to Biogen Idec Inc. chief Jim Mullen: Get over it.
Grumpy billionaire shareholder activist Carl Icahn has won at least one and perhaps two of the four board seats that were up for election at Biogen's annual meeting this week. That's bad news for Mullen, to be sure, but facts are facts.
Mullen and Biogen haven't been taking them well this week. Biogen's shareholder meeting went postal Wednesday morning, when Mullen kept the polls open well past the customary time in what certainly seemed like a desperate effort to scrounge up last-minute votes. Biogen officials contend they were simply processing late-arriving ballots.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
June 4, 2009
House approves NH plant closings measure
CONCORD, N.H. - Parent companies would be held financially liable when subsidiaries fail to give New Hampshire workers 60 days notice of mass layoffs or plant closings under a House-approved bill.
The notice would apply to plant closings and when one-third or more of a work force is laid off. Only a warning is required, no extra pay or benefits. The bill would strengthen workers' ability to get back wages and health coverage.
Business groups said it would impose stricter regulations than a federal act imposing a $500 per-day penalty. The bill proposes up to $2,500 plus $100 per employee per day.
The bill would apply to companies that employ at least 80 workers; the federal act requires notice for plant closings involving at least 100. The Senate next considers the bill. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:25 PM | Comments (0)
Ninety Nine parent has new CEO
The Tennessee company that operates the Ninety Nine Restaurant chain has named a new president and chief executive.
O'Charley's Inc., which operates several casual dining restaurant chains including a namesake chain, said that Jeffrey D. Warne is its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Warne, who had served as president of the O'Charley's concept, was also appointed to the board of directors, the company said in a press release.
The release noted that the company operates Ninety Nine restaurants in 116 locations throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. According to the Ninety Nine's website, the Woburn-based chain was launched in 1952 by founder Charlie Doe.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’: Buy joe, get free Donut Day sinker
(File photo: Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff)
For some, Christmas is the most special of days. For others, birthdays take the cake. But for a rare breed, no holiday is more worthy of veneration than tomorrow's National Doughnut Day, which Dunkin' Donut plans to celebrate with a doughnut deal.
When it comes to adulating the sinker, few can match Dunkin', the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked-goods stores. (Indeed, the chain is so focused on its namesake product that its breakfast scientists have long plumped for the Americanized spelling of donut.)
In honor of National Doughnut Day - oops, we mean National Donut Day - the chain said that participating stores tomorrow "will give every customer a free donut of their choice, with the purchase of any beverage, limit one per customer."
Dunkin' also plans to announce the winner of its "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. One entry that caused much hubbub at a contest Web page was the sm'OREO. Some ingredients? Marshmallow filling, OREO Cookie Pieces, Graham Cracker Crunch, and chocolate frosting.
Whew! Down a dozen of those, and a giddy gourmet is sure to be embonpoint - in good condition, and with a physique that boasts generous racing lines to boot.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:49 AM | Comments (34)
Lionbridge wins $100m multi-year contract
Lionbridge Technologies Inc., a Waltham company whose specialties include translation and interpretation services, said the US Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review has renewed its selection of Lionbridge as the agency's provider of on-site and telephonic interpreters for immigration court proceedings.
"The contract includes one base year with five option years and is expected to generate approximately $100 million over the next six years," Lionbridge said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. tax collections down 14 percent in May
Massachusetts collected $1.28 billion in tax revenue in May, down more than 14 percent from a year ago.
The state took in $211 million less last month compared to May 2008, but collections were ahead of a revised benchmark for the month.
The state Revenue Department reported in a statement Thursday that between the start of the fiscal year last July 1 and the end of May, total tax collections were $16.5 billion. That is $2.2 billion - or 11.5 percent - less than a year ago.
The precipitous drop in revenue has prompted three rounds of budget cuts and set the stage for more in the budget being developed for the 2010 fiscal year.
Governor Deval L. Patrick was slated to release his 2010 budget revisions on Thursday. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:25 AM | Comments (0)
BJ's same-store sales worse than expected in May
(Company photo)
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said its same-store sales in May fell below analyst expectations, dragged down by the effect of lower gasoline prices.
Natick-based BJ's said same-store sales fell 6.8 percent. The retailer said excluding lower gasoline prices and sales volume, same-store sales rose 4 percent.
Analysts were expecting a smaller decline of 4.4 percent, said Thomson Reuters. Those estimates include the impact of gasoline sales. Analysts did not offer estimates without gas sales.
Same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least one year, are considered a key measurement of retailer health because they show performance at older stores rather than newly opened ones.
President and chief executive Laura Sen said traffic increased 5 percent from last year, excluding gasoline sales. May sales showed strength in basics like food, with sales up 6 percent, and consumables, televisions, and computer equipment, Sen said. The company saw continued drops in discretionary areas like apparel, jewelry, and sporting goods. It also noted the negative impact in the price deflation of certain foods, which dragged down sales.
In the four-week period ended May 30, BJ's total sales fell 4.7 percent, to $783.4 million from $822 million. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)
TJX reports strong May sales
TJX Cos., the Framingham-based retailer that operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright, said that not only were its May sales "strong," but that they also exceeded expectations.
Sales for the four-week period that ended May 30 were $1.49 billion, up 4 percent from the same period a year ago; at stores open at least a year, a metric known as same-store sales, May 2009 sales increased 5 percent from sales in May 2008, said the company, which added that May 2009 sales were "adversely impacted by foreign currency exchange rates."
Same-store sales are closely watched by Wall Street analysts. TJX refers to same-store sales as "consolidated comparable store sales."
In a statement, TJX president and chief executive, Carol Meyrowitz, said: "Our consolidated comparable store sales increase of 5 percent in May exceeded our expectations, as our strong value equation continued to resonate with customers and boost customer traffic. The month started out well, and sales trends improved further as the month progressed. Our strategy of running the business with lean inventories supports our close-to-need buying, and we are flowing extremely fresh fashions to our stores. One month into the quarter, we remain very comfortable with our previously anticipated range of second quarter earnings per share from continuing operations of $.43 - $.49, compared with $.48 in the prior year."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Biogen Idec's clash with raider ends in chaos
CAMBRIDGE - A normally tranquil shareholders meeting turned into a dramatic standoff yesterday, pitting top executives of the state's second-largest biotechnology company against billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, one of the nation's best-known corporate raiders.
The contentious annual meeting broke up in confusion over whether Icahn, who has a 5.57 percent stake in Biogen Idec Inc., had succeeded in winning seats on the board for any of his four hand-picked nominees.
Alexander J. Denner, one of four dissidents nominated by Icahn, said he and another Icahn-backed candidate, Harvard Medical School professor Richard C. Mulligan, were elected as directors, citing a tally by vote counters working for Icahn. In an unusual move, however, Biogen Idec adjourned the meeting after a three-hour recess without disclosing the results.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
EMC, NetApp heat up bidding war
Hopkinton data storage giant EMC Corp. pressed forward yesterday in its multibillion dollar bidding war against NetApp Inc. for a smaller storage firm, Data Domain, saying its current offer is "a superior alternative for Data Domain's shareholders."
But NetApp declared victory, as Data Domain management said it would accept a revised bid from the Sunnyvale, Calif., company.
EMC issued a statement following several gambits yesterday by NetApp, which sought to fight off the challenge to its plan. In direct response to EMC's surprise bid on Monday for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Data Domain, NetApp sweetened its earlier offer, which had already been accepted by Data Domain's management.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Rivals enter bids for Filene's Basement
Syms and rival Men's Wearhouse submitted bids yesterday for the bankrupt Filene's Basement with plans to keep the bargain brand alive, according to a Basement official with knowledge of the proposals.
An auction is set for tomorrow to sell off the 100-year-old company, which now has a total of three bids including one from Crown Acquisitions last month.
Syms spokeswoman Davia Temin said an acquisition of Filene's Basement "will bring together two of the great names in the history of off-price retailing. They're very complementary. Syms admires and respects the name, the legacy, and the employees of Filene's Basement, and plans to keep the Filene's brand alive with no interruption."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Local ad agencies may feel GM's pain
In an ad that ran in various newspapers yesterday, General Motors Corp. tried to assure customers that its bankruptcy would not disrupt the things they have come to expect from GM.
"At this critical point in our history, we cannot afford to lose your business. Or your trust. You have our word," read the ad, put in the form of a letter from Frederick A. Henderson, chief executive of the troubled company.
If only GM could reassure the people who help create its advertising. Ad agencies employed by GM know bankruptcy proceedings could force the Detroit auto giant to cut back on advertising. GM will scrap or sell certain parts of its business, which could mean an agency will be moved off an account or face having to cuddle up to a new set of executives.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
With Randy Price, WCVB aims to take back the morning
NEEDHAM - Longtime Boston newsman Randy Price is returning to TV at a time when there are fewer viewers and advertisers. But can Price's 25 years of experience help WCVB-TV (Channel 5) win the morning news race?
Price thinks so.
"We are going to be putting more muscle into the program," said Price from the offices of Channel 5, where he begins coanchoring the morning newscast with Bianca de la Garza on Monday. "You are going to see a difference."
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:32 AM | Comments (0)
June 3, 2009
Globe's publisher says a 23% pay cut looms if union rejects concessions
Gaining $10 million in savings from The Boston Globe’s largest union is ‘‘non-negotiable’’ and the company will take steps to immediately impose a 23 percent across-the-board wage cut should the union’s members reject a contract proposal to achieve those savings, Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley said in a note to employees today.
The Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents more than 600 editorial, advertising and business office workers, votes Monday on a proposal that would slash pay by about 10 percent, cut health and retirement benefits, and eliminate lifetime job guarantees for veteran employees.
The savings sought from the Guild represent about half the concessions the Globe’s owner, The New York Times Co., says it needs from several unions to keep operating the money-losing newspaper.
‘‘We do not want to take this action,’’ Ainsley said of the 23 percent pay cut. ‘‘We feel the proposed contract you will soon vote on, as difficult as it may be, is a more manageable way for employees to absorb the compensation reductions.’’
Guild leaders have told the rank-and-file they would quickly launch legal challenges to block management from imposing such pay cuts.
"It's more of the same," said Daniel Totten, president of the Guild. "It's intimidation and bullying."
In a letter to members posted on the Guild website shortly before Ainsley’s memo was distributed, Totten blasted the Times Co. for ‘‘threats, bullying and negotiating at gunpoint.’’ Noting that other local media companies have imposed higher pay cuts on managers than on the rank-and-file, he sharply criticized Times Co. management for not sufficiently sharing the pain. For example, he said, nonunion managers received bonuses earlier this year, but most Guild members have gone four years without a pay raise.
‘‘That’s one way to cope with such a challenge — sharing the pain and being a true partner with workers,’’ Totten said. ‘‘It’s just not the Times Co.’s way. Instead, they have created fear among the rank and file, and displayed favor for special interests of management.’’
In today’s memo, Ainsley also addressed a recent petition by some Guild members that called on him to limit pay cuts to 5 percent, the same imposed on nonunion managers earlier this year. Ainsley said he couldn’t respond directly to that proposal because under the law, the company can only negotiate with the Guild’s official bargaining team.
But, he said, the Globe’s financial situation is too urgent to begin another round of negotiations. In addition, he said, the recent elimination of bonuses means that nonunion managers will see their total earnings cut by at least 15 percent over the next year.
Scott Allen, a reporter and one of the petition's organizers, said he wasn't surprised by Ainsley's response. Still, he said, the company has the power to change its contract offer, and the union, if necessary, could act quickly.
"We're not talking a complete rewrite of this proposal,'' Allen said. "We all know that we have to make sacrifices -- and soon -- so we don't need these constant threats to reach an agreement.
Ainsley’s memo, much of it presented in question-and-answer format, comes in the face of strong opposition to the proposal from many Guild members. Some Guild leaders, while not explicitly calling for rejection, have suggested that members vote against the package, in hopes of negotiating a better deal.
So far, five other unions have ratified contracts which together account for about $8 million in savings. A sixth union, which represents delivery truck drivers, votes Sunday on $2.5 million in concessions.
Under the agreements with other unions, the concessions won’t take effect unless the company gains $10 million in savings from the Guild, Ainsley said in the memo. ‘‘The Globe will have no alternative other than to take all steps necessary to implement a 23 percent wage cut for all Guild members immediately,’’ Ainsley said.
To read previous coverage of the situation facing The Boston Globe, click here.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:49 PM | Comments (2)
Union leader blasts Globe's parent for 'threats'
The head of The Boston Globe’s largest union blasted The New York Times Co. for ‘‘threats, bullying and negotiating at gunpoint’’ as rank-and-file union members face a crucial vote Monday on whether to accept a company proposal that would slash pay and benefits by $10 million.
In a letter to members, Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, said Times Co. management has yet to take their fair share of cuts to help right the money-losing Globe. The Times Co. proposal would cut members pay by about 10 percent, slice healthcare and retirement benefits, and eliminate lifetime job guarantees for some veteran employees.
The company has also threatened a 23 percent across-the-board pay cut if members fail to ratify the proposal, Totten said.
Noting that other local media companies have imposed higher pay cuts on managers than rank-and-file, he sharply criticized Times Co. management for not sufficiently sharing the pain of the crisis. For example, he said, nonunion managers received bonuses earlier this year while most Guild members have gone four years without a pay raise.
‘‘That’s one way to cope with such a challenge — sharing the pain and being a true partner with workers,’’ Totten said. ‘‘It’s just not the Times Co.’s way. Instead they have created fear among the rank and file, and displayed favor for special interests of management.’’
In a statement, Globe spokesman Robert Powers said:
"We strongly hope that the Guild members will ratify the proposed contract. But we need to be clear. Our financial situation is untenable and we will take the steps necessary to achieve the needed cost savings. They are vital to the health and well-being of The Globe and our top priority is to ensure the Globe continues to serve the Boston community with high-quality journalism."
(Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:33 PM | Comments (4)
Job offers drop for MIT Sloan graduates
The head of the career development office at the MIT Sloan School of Management estimates that 80 to 85 percent of the Sloan class of 2009 will have a job offer by graduation, a 5 percent decrease from last year at this time.
The recession is responsible for the drop, and Jackie Wilbur, head of the school's career development office, indicated in a Sloan press release that this year's percentage of graduates with job offers is "in line with the school's results during the last severe downturn in 2002."
At a time when Wall Street firms are downsizing, many soon-to-be Sloan graduates "say the economic downturn broadened their horizons beyond the finance industry," the press release noted, and some members of this year's graduating class are "trading jobs with status and hefty paychecks for careers with a positive social impact."
The Sloan press release included anecdotes about students and their immediate career plans.
One of the examples provided was from Ilissa Schild, who said the economic downturn broadened her horizon beyond the finance industry.
This summer, she will start a new job at First Act, a Boston-based company that makes musical instruments from entry-level drums for kids, to custom guitars for expert players. Schild, who grew up in a musical family and has played guitar since she was 12 years old, will look at new technologies for the company's line of interactive musical toys, the press release said.
"This is an opportunity to be creative, to innovate, and to apply technology in new ways," she said.
By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
Gillette parent buys the Art of Shaving brand
Procter & Gamble Co., the consumer-products giant that bought Gillette in 2005, said it has purchased the Art of Shaving brand, a high-end, male-focused shaving products business that operates 36 stores.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
"The acquisition of the Art of Shaving supports P&G Beauty & Grooming’s strategy to build the world’s premier male grooming company," Ohio-based Procter & Gamble said in a statement. "It broadens an already strong portfolio of male brands, including Gillette, Old Spice, Braun and a collection of leading male Fine Fragrances, through its strength as a luxury brand and its strong connection with men."
In a statement, Chip Bergh, P&G's group president of global male grooming, said: “The Art of Shaving is an excellent strategic match for P&G, building our global leadership in men’s grooming and broadening our portfolio to reach high-end male consumers. This is a natural next step for an already strong partnership we began two years ago through the co-development of the Fusion Chrome Collection of razors and accessories.”
The image that appears with this post was taken from the Art of Shaving's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:18 AM | Comments (2)
Brockton hospital chief on leave amid probe
Norman B. Goodman, chief executive of Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, is on leave from his job pending an investigation into "allegations of inappropriate behavior," according to the hospital's board of trustees.
In a statement, the 17-member board did not disclose the nature of the allegations or say who was conducting the investigation.
"Given the ongoing nature of this investigation and the board's commitment to providing a fair process to all concerned, we cannot furnish any other details at this time," the board said in the three-paragraph statement. The investigation, which the hospital said was being done independently, is expected to take up to 10 days. But it is not clear when it started, when Goodman was placed on leave, and whether he is being paid during his time off.
Goodman was not at his Easton home today, according to a man who answered the phone at the house.
The hospital executive, who has headed Brockton's second-largest employer since 1990, earned $950,780 in compensation and benefits and had a $26,000 expense account, according to records filed in 2007, the most recent year available.
Hospital spokeswoman Karen Blomquist declined to comment on Goodman's leave of absence beyond what was released in the statement.
Neither Patti Roland, chair of Signature Healthcare's board of trustees, nor David R. Wolohojian, the vice chair could be reached for comment today.
(By Erin Ailworth, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)
RI AG calls for hearing on insurance rate hikes
PROVIDENCE - Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch says it's "outrageous" that no public hearing has been scheduled on double-digit premium hikes requested by the state's two biggest health insurers.
Insurance Commissioner Chris Koller is soliciting public comment, but has not scheduled a hearing. He says he's not required to do so.
Lynch tells The Providence Journal that it's outrageous that families struggling to make ends meet are excluded from the process.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield has proposed increasing average premiums 13.9 percent for small employers and 16.3 percent for large employers. UnitedHealthcare is seeking increases of 11.6 percent and 13.2 percent. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Pallotta is shutting his hedge funds
James J. Pallotta, one of Boston's most prominent hedge fund managers, told investors yesterday he is shutting down his funds and returning most of an estimated $800 million to clients, just months after starting his own firm.
Pallotta, an investor in the Boston Celtics, had started Raptor Capital Management in January after 15 years at Tudor Investment Corp., a giant investment firm based in Greenwich, Conn. He lost money in his last two years at Tudor and his performance this year was "roughly flat," he told clients in a letter yesterday. He said he will take a brief break from the business, according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Globe.
In the letter, Pallotta wrote that he will "step back from day-to-day investing for a few months" to develop a strategy to "capitalize fully on the next several years' developing investment opportunity set." He said his company will continue to exist.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
A fab reunion - of the Beatles
LOS ANGELES - It took a video game birthed in Cambridge to reunite the surviving Beatles.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of Beatles members John Lennon and George Harrison, appeared Monday at the annual gaming industry conference Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. They were there to promote the forthcoming The Beatles: Rock Band, the latest version of the hit series from Cambridge game maker Harmonix Music Systems. Ono and Harrison didn't speak, but as the animated game versions of band members appeared on the screen, McCartney joked, "Whoever thought we'd end up as androids?"
It was a quick appearance during a star-packed presentation from Microsoft Corp., which introduced Project Natal, a radical new control system for its Xbox 360 game system that recognizes the voice and movements of players without the use of a handheld device.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Randy Price is back but on Channel 5
Longtime Boston broadcaster Randy Price will return to the airwaves as morning anchor for WCVB-TV (Channel 5), which has been losing viewers of its early morning newscasts.
Price, one of New England's most familiar on-air faces, will become a reporter and co-anchor for the station's 5 a.m. EyeOpener newscast with Bianca de la Garza, starting Monday. He will also report for the station's website, TheBostonChannel.com. Price, 59, left abruptly in February as anchor at WHDH-TV (Channel 7).
"Randy is by far the best free agent, so to speak, on the market and I think we are lucky to be able to attract someone of his quality here," said Bill Fine, the station's president and general manager. Current EyeOpener anchor David Brown will continue reporting and serve as a fill-in weather anchor.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Cisco Systems gives its clients a look ahead
George Mellor runs a Providence computer company that does a lot of business with the network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. He made the trip to Boston this week to learn what Cisco planned to do to help support companies like his in the coming year.
Among the Cisco representatives on hand was Andrew Sage, who flew in from the company's headquarters in California to talk up its new small-business initiatives, and Paul Bosco, who was on hand to promote software and hardware products developed at Cisco's New England Development Center in Boxborough.
All three joined the roughly 1,500 technology pros who descended on the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center yesterday morning for the networking giant's annual Partner Summit. This year, the three-day event, the first held in Boston, is serving a dual purpose for the San Jose company: enhancing relationships with its "partners," the businesses from 93 countries that resell Cisco products and promoting the research at its Boxborough development center, which employs 1,700 workers on a campus off Interstate 495.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
June 2, 2009
W.B. Mason agrees to $545,000 settlement with Mass.
Office supplier W.B. Mason Inc. will pay Massachusetts $545,000 to settle allegations it mishandled credits owed to some business customers.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement Wednesday the Brockton-based company will also pay $5,000 to reimburse her office for the costs associated with its investigation.
Coakley began investigating W.B. Mason late last year after being told it used accounting processes and software that routinely allowed for aging credits to be removed from business customer accounts. W.B. Mason has since overhauled its systems to ensure such credits are no longer deleted.
(In a statement provided by his company's law firm, W.B. Mason chief executive Leo J. Meehan III said: "W.B. Mason is pleased to have resolved this matter. The credits referenced in the settlement were all issued prior to 2004 and, according to an independent national accounting firm, the majority of the credits were not valid and were never owed to the customers. While W.B. Mason has cooperated fully with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, W.B. Mason has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing and remains confident today that it handled all customer accounts appropriately."
(AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:55 PM | Comments (16)
Randy Price joins NewsCenter 5
(File photo of Price: Dominic Chavez/Globe staff)
WCVB-TV (Channel 5) said it has hired longtime Boston newscaster Randy Price as a morning anchor.
Price, who was previously an anchor at WHDH-TV (Channel 7), parted ways with Channel 7 several months ago, according to Globe story from February.
"One of the most respected journalists in broadcast television, Price will begin co-anchoring the EyeOpener newscast with Bianca de la Garza Monday, June 8," WCVB said in a press release. "He will also contribute to breaking news and major event coverage for WCVB, the market’s news leader."
The press release added that current EyeOpener anchor David Brown "will focus on reporting for NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com and serve as a fill-in weather anchor."
The press release included a statement from WCVB president and general manager Bill Fine.
“Randy is the consummate journalist - dependable, experienced, and universally respected," Fine said. "As a competitor, I have always admired him and am thrilled he is returning on the air as a member of NewsCenter 5. Randy is a great fit for WCVB and NewsCenter 5. Adding him to our already strong team of journalists will further enhance the quality of news we deliver to New England viewers."
In an interview with his new station that was posted on WCVB's website, Price said he was eager to return to “the best station in the business.”
“I am totally excited about getting back to work," he said. "I miss the news business, you know. Sitting at home watching the news is not the same as being there and participating in the process.”
(Julie Balise, Globe correspondent)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:26 PM | Comments (126)
Accounting employment expected to hold steady
Nearly 90 percent of respondents indicated that they anticipate no change in hiring at their companies' accounting and finance departments, according to a survey of Boston-area chief financial officers.
The survey was conducted by Robert Half International Inc., a California firm that provides staffing and risk consulting services.
In the survey, 3 percent of CFOs in the Boston area indicated that they expect to add accounting and finance staff during the third quarter of 2009, and 6 percent anticipate reductions in personnel, according to the most recent Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index; 89 percent of respondents anticipate no change in hiring.
"The local results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on interviews with 200 CFOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Boston area with 20 or more employees; 1,400 CFOs were queried for the national data," Robert Half said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
AC/DC music will be celebrated in sneakers
(File photo of AC/DC's Brian Johnson and Angus Young: John Gress/Reuters)
It's a marriage made in heaven - or maybe on the Highway to Hell.
Converse, the North Andover-based athletic footwear brand, said its fall collection will feature collaborations with rock bands AC/DC of Highway to Hell fame and Metallica.
"Iconic band graphics and visuals inspire this unique collection of Converse Chuck Taylor All Star shoe designs that celebrate two distinct bands that broke musical barriers and brought their inspired originality to music fans globally," Converse said in a press release. "With a rich musical heritage, Converse has collaborated with a wide range of groundbreaking artists and musical visionaries of the past, present, and future."
AC/DC footwear - somewhere Crispin, the patron saint of cobblers, is smiling.
At left is a photo of an AC/DC Chuck Taylor sneaker. This style has a suggested retail price of $55, said Converse, which provided the photo.
The Converse brand is now owned by sneaker giant Nike Inc.
To read a recent Globe appreciation of AC/DC, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:26 AM | Comments (4)
Mass. business confidence rose in May from April
An index that seeks to track business confidence in Massachusetts recorded a reading of 39 in May, a 3.6-point gain from April.
The business confidence index is compiled by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, or AIM, an association of Bay State employers. Issued monthly since July 1991, the index uses a 100-point scale - a reading above 50 indicates that the state's employer community is predominantly optimistic, while a reading below 50 points to a negative assessment of business conditions.
(The graph that tops this post was included in AIM's press release.)
“This is the third consecutive monthly increase since February’s all-time low, each larger than the one before,” Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. “Although the economy is still deep in recession, the ‘positive hints’ we saw in March, and the ‘bottoming out’ foreseen in April, have given way to more substantially improved confidence in May.”
The Business Confidence Index hit a record low at 33.3 in February, AIM said, and the index's all-time high is 68.5, last reached in May 1998.
The index's reading for May 2009 was down 10.4 points from the reading in May 2008, AIM said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. textile printing plant is closing
A Webster factory that for decades has produced millions of yards of printed cloth is going silent as operations move overseas.
Officials with Cranston Print Works Co. say about 70 workers at the company's 450,000-square foot Webster plant will be laid off, and 30 will be given customer service jobs at the site.
The factory once employed 700 and churned out up to 70 million yards of printed cloth a year.
The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester reports that the plant's fate was determined in January when its Cranston, R.I.-based parent company announced it would shift textile printing to Korea, China, Pakistan, and Taiwan. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
GM filing alters the landscape
President Obama said yesterday the government's majority stake in General Motors Corp. will help create a leaner, more competitive automaker, hours after the company filed for bankruptcy and unveiled plans for a radical restructuring that in Massachusetts could cost at least 2,000 jobs.
"We are acting as reluctant shareholders, because that is the only way to help GM succeed," Obama said during a news conference in Washington. "What we are not doing - what I have no interest in doing - is running GM."
With the automaker's nearly $173 billion in debt and $82 billion in assets, the bankruptcy filing is the largest ever by an industrial firm, and the fourth-largest overall in US history. For months, GM has been under intense pressure from the Obama administration to come up with a survival plan, and while the filing in New York was expected, it marked a low point for a century-old corporation that until last year was the world's largest automaker.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
E Ink finds a buyer far from home
E Ink Corp. will expand research and development for its electronic paper display technology, roll out color capability, and hire about 20 more workers in Massachusetts as a result of its planned $215 million acquisition by Taiwanese display giant Prime View International.
But the purchase agreement, unveiled yesterday morning, highlights how difficult it's become for innovative Bay State start-ups - even those, like E Ink, poised to capitalize on huge emerging market opportunities - to retain local ownership and headquarters at a time when the window for initial public offerings remains tightly shut.
E Ink makes the key technology used in display screens for Amazon.com's popular Kindle and other electronic readers, a market expected to grow rapidly. Prior to the economic downturn, a company sitting on such a hot technology would have been likely to consider an IPO, selling its stock to the public for the first time, to raise the money to fund future growth; but the market for such offerings has dried up.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Craigslist changes get early approval
More than two weeks after Craigslist eliminated its "erotic services" section, law-enforcement officials say the classifieds website has reduced much of the objectionable content but it is too early to tell whether the new screening system will work long term to prevent prostitution and other sexual solicitations on the site.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Craigslist has "made some progress in blocking the most flagrant prostitution and pornography ads but continued prodding and pressure is appropriate."
Late last month, Blumenthal and attorneys general from six other states asked Craigslist for details on how it will keep prostitution off its newly created adult services section. Craigslist recently took down erotic services ads and promised to screen every listing posted to a new adult services section manually. The change was prompted by increasing scrutiny after Boston University medical student Philip Markoff was charged with killing Julissa Brisman, whom police say he met through the erotic services section on Craigslist. Markoff has pleaded not guilty to charges that include armed robbery and murder.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Fidelity's Abigail Johnson will lead fund board
Fidelity Investments executive Abigail Johnson is finally replacing her father as chairman of the board - just not the board of Fidelity.
The giant Boston investment firm said Johnson, 47, is in the process of succeeding her father, Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III, 78, as chairman of the board that oversees Fidelity's 161 fixed income and asset-allocation funds, which handle about $650 billion of the more than $1.2 trillion managed by Fidelity.
The move could stoke longstanding speculation that Fidelity is paving the way for Abigail Johnson to eventually succeed her father as chairman of FMR LLC, Fidelity's parent company.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Publishing in red ink
There are two kinds of newspaper companies in business today, the ones that are struggling and the others that face mortal danger right now.
The factor that almost always separates one from the other is how a company viewed debt in recent years. Two of the newspaper industry's highest-profile financial disasters, Tribune Co. and the McClatchy Cos., both confront stupendous debt problems. The New York Times Co., which owns The Boston Globe, has its own debt problems.
But the smaller GateHouse Media Inc., measured pound for pound, rivals any of them when it comes to debt hangovers.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:14 AM | Comments (0)
June 1, 2009
Cape Cod debuts new potato chip variety
Cape Cod Potato Chips, the Hyannis snack company, unveiled its newest potato chip variety - Cape Cod Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Potato Chips.
"Both flavors marry to create a rich, indulgent taste that perfectly pairs with Cape Cod's distinctively crunchy potato chips," the company said in a press release.
"Garlic has moved off the spice rack and right next to the salt and pepper, also gaining popularity in dips and marinades, so why not potato chips?" Heidi Daly Ford, brand manager for Cape Cod, said in a press release. "We crafted our newest variety for garlic lovers. Pasta and bread have nothing on our Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Potato Chips."
The company already offers a number of potato chip varieties, including Sea Salt & Vinegar, Sweet Mesquite Barbeque, and Cheddar Jack & Sour Cream, the press release noted.
The image that accompanies this post was taken from the company's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:13 PM | Comments (4)
Diamond to croon songs sung in red, white, and blue
(File photo: Christof Stache/AP)
Locals may soon hear "Sweet Caroline" in a venue other than Fenway Park.
Neil Diamond, the pop singer whose hit "Sweet Caroline" has become a sort of unofficial anthem of Red Sox home games, will join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops for this year's free Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade, said Liberty Mutual, the Boston insurance company that is the event's official sponsor.
"The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, which draws approximately 500,000 concert goers annually, will be hosted again by Craig Ferguson of CBS's 'The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,'" Liberty Mutual said in a press release. "For those celebrating at home, CBS television network will broadcast the concert live on July 4th from 10 - 11 pm ET. The final 21 minutes of the telecast, featuring the fireworks display, will be presented commercial free by Liberty Mutual."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:11 PM | Comments (17)
Mass. gas price rose 8 cents last week
(File photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America)
The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gas in Massachusetts rose 8 cents to $2.439, the eighth straight week of price increases, AAA Southern New England said.
In AAA Southern New England's latest weekly survey, the current Massachusetts price is 8 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.51.
And while the current Massachusetts average price is up 81 cents from the start of the year, this week's price is still $1.53 less than the $3.96 found this time in Massachusetts a year ago, AAA Southern New England said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:26 AM | Comments (1)
Who, What, Where
Don Bulens has joined Unidesk as president and chief executive. The Marlborough company specializes in virtual desktop management software. His appointment enables Unidesk founder Chris Midgley, who had been the company's acting CEO, to focus full-time on his CTO role and lead the company's technical strategy and product vision. Bulens has also joined Midgley on Unidesk's board of directors. Bulens was most recently president and chief executive of EqualLogic Inc., where he led the company to its $1.4 billion acquisition by Dell.
Lynne Dombroski (right) has been appointed as principal and client advisor for Silver Bridge Advisors, a Boston boutique firm that provides wealth advisory services. Dombroski joins Silver Bridge from U.S. Trust Bank of America, where she was a senior portfolio manager in the private wealth management division.
Kevin Sardinha has been appointed to lead the data and analytics practice at Molecular Inc., a Watertown interactive agency that seeks to create digital design solutions for its clients. Sardinha moves into his new role from his position as a senior strategist within Molecular's Strategy team, where he led engagements for adidas, Nikon, Reebok, and the Hartford. Molecular is part of Isobar, a global network of digital marketing companies.
Tom Thomas has joined Rive Technology as vice president of business development. With offices in Cambridge, the company uses proprietary technology invented at MIT that makes traditional zeolite catalysts more accessible to large hydrocarbon molecules, enabling increased production of gasoline and diesel fuel. Before joining Rive, Thomas was vice president and general manager of commercial programs at Accelergy, a company focused on process technologies for coal-to-liquids production.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)
Celtics are honored as top pro team of 2008
(Paul Pierce of the Celtics drives past Orlando's Dwight Howard. File photo: Jim Davis/Globe staff)
The Boston Celtics have been honored as the 2008 Professional Sports Team of the Year by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily.
The Sports Business Awards recognize excellence and outstanding achievement in the sports industry for 2008.
“Being named the top franchise in professional sports by the Sport Business Journal is a great honor for the Celtics and a testament to all the hard-working individuals in our organization,” Boston Celtics President Rich Gotham said in a statement. “We are grateful for the tremendous support we have received from our loyal fans, corporate and community partners who have played a major role in our success on the court and off.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:39 AM | Comments (1)
Today in Globe Business
Banks open the Sunday window
Six days a week, Brad Rowe works as a carpenter. On Sundays, he heads to the bank.
Rowe used to have to scurry to the bank during his lunch hour, he said. But then TD Bank expanded its hours, a huge convenience for people like Rowe with hectic schedules.
"Sunday is my day to cash my checks and pay my bills," said Rowe, 25, after doing just that at a TD Bank branch in Seabrook, N.H., just across the Massachusetts border.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
New life for an old farm
Chickens, horses, and goats still roam Elm Hill Farm in Brookfield, but the level of activity is a far cry from a generation ago, when it was a working farm and home to one of the most famous "spokes-animals" in marketing history.
Elsie the Cow, who pitched Borden Dairy products in the 1930s and 1940s and was more recognizable than some human celebrities of the time, was born and spent most of her life at Elm Hill Farm. Indeed, her presence is still felt: Type "Brookfield, Mass." in an Internet search engine and most results will make reference to Elsie. You can also wander into the back corner of a dusty barn at Elm Hill and see the stuffed head of Elsie's father hanging on the wall.
But like a lot of other New England farms, Elm Hill is no longer in full operation, and times are tight. A large tract of land has been donated to the Audubon Society, and another piece of the property was recently sold. The farm survives by boarding horses and offering community programs as a nonprofit foundation.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Boston-Power plans to build a new battery factory
A Westborough maker of a lithium-ion battery pack is poised to give the Bay State job market a much-needed boost as it looks to move into the auto market.
Boston-Power Inc., which manufactures the Sonata battery used in Hewlett-Packard laptops, today is expected to detail plans for a plant in Auburn that could employ about 600 people to produce batteries for plug-in hybrid and electric cars.
"I'm going to help [the electric-vehicle] market take off and I'd love to do that in the United States and, specifically, in Massachusetts," said chief executive Christina Lampe-Onnerud, who founded the company in 2005. It currently has about 100 employees in the state and several hundred more overseas.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BLOG FILTER: A drop in the bucket, with very big impact
Reimagining the venture capital business. Venture capitalist Terry McGuire took over last month as chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, at a moment when the VC industry is concerned about increasing regulation and diminished returns. Fellow VC Jeffrey Bussgang blogged about a recent conversation he had with McGuire, a cofounder of Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham.
[McGuire] made a few observations in his usual soft-spoken but pointed way that I found particularly interesting:
(1) Small ball. At $20-30 billion per year, the venture capital industry as a whole remains a "drop in the bucket" in terms of capital deployed relative to the over trillion dollars sitting in private equity firms. Yet the impact is enormous, with 18 percent of gross domestic product provided by venture-backed companies. Thus, there is great (positive) leverage in the VC model and, as a result, policy makers should be paying more attention to it and demonstrate an interest in how to accelerate it.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Researchers aim to engineer cells that they can control
Using bacteria and genes, Boston-area researchers have built living versions of a basic component of digital circuits - in essence, cells that can count.
Bacteria with crude math skills may seem a novelty, but the research was motivated by one of the major concerns about engineered organisms: the fear that they could escape scientists' control, with unknown repercussions. The genetic networks they built could provide a way to keep tabs on - and control of - the reproduction of such cells that might otherwise get out of hand.
"There's growing worry as we engineer these organisms and put them in the body or the environment. What do you do once you have them out there?" said James Collins, an author of the paper and professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University. "Wouldn't it be interesting if you could engineer a circuit that you could program into a microbe such that after some number of cell divisions or days, the organism was programmed with a natural expiration date?"
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2009
Survey: Hub drivers are bit better than New Yorkers
The driving habits of Boston motorists are legendary - in the Hub, road rage is an art form - but locals can take heart: By one measure, they're doing a bit better than their Big Apple counterparts.
That is one data point that can be taken from a survey titled the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test; it concluded that 20.1 percent of licensed Americans, or roughly 41 million drivers, would not pass a written drivers test exam if they took the test today.
GMAC Financial Services is a bank holding company whose financial-services specialties include automotive finance.
By GMAC's lights, Idaho and Wisconsin, which hitherto had been famous, respectively, for spuds and cheese, are also home to the nation's best drivers. Think you're a good driver? Take the GMAC test yourself by clicking here.
"Idaho and Wisconsin drivers tied for first in the nation, with an average test score of 80.6 percent," GMAC said in a press release. "New York drivers ranked last, with an average score of 70.5 percent. This is the second time Idaho ranked first and the second time New York has ranked last in the survey’s five-year history."
The Massachusetts ranking on the survey was 45th place, ahead of such states as California, New Jersey, and dead-last New York, according to the GMAC release.
In terms of driving skills, Americans from all states may be dumbing down, with this year's test scores lower than last year's, GMAC said.
"When we began this campaign five years ago, we embarked on a mission to help drivers become more aware of the rules of the road," Wade Bontrager, senior vice president of GMAC Insurance's Affinity Division, said in a statement. "We’ve seen the results ebb and flow, and this year, scores are down. This reiterates the fact that each and every one of us need to continually be brushing up on safe driving practices."
GMAC Insurance said its survey was administered by TNS, a market information firm, and the survey sample was made up of 5,183 licensed drivers nationwide.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:14 PM | Comments (23)
Necco wants your sweet tweets
(File photo: Lane Turner/Globe staff)
Before there were tweets, there were Necco Sweethearts, and now there are only a few days left to submit Necco Sweetheart suggestions - sweet tweets, if you will - that will be inscribed on many of the heart-shaped Necco candies that will be put on sale for Valentine's Day 2010.
Fans of Twitter, the popular social networking service, pride themselves on communicating in a sort of digital haiku form. Twitter text messages - or tweets to the cognoscenti - are limited to 140 characters or fewer.
But long before there were tweets, there were Necco Sweethearts, a pioneer of sorts in the short-form literary genre.
Indeed, the messages on Necco Sweethearts are so brief that they can make a tweet seem like a veritable trilogy. Twitter buffs will share their views on almost any topic, but the sentiments on Necco Sweethearts are largely confined to matters of romance.
For that reason perhaps, Necco Sweethearts have become a staple of Valentine's Day, an item sure to be found on any thoughtful Romeo's shopping list, along with a box of chocolates and a pricey nosegay.
As habitues of the candy aisle know, Necco Sweethearts, along with Necco Wafers, are made by the New England Confectionery Co., which is also known as Necco. The Revere company's portfolio also includes the Clark Bar and the Mary Jane.
The Necco company recently launched an online competition that asks the general public to submit suggestions for next year's crop of Valentine's Day Necco Sweethearts.
"Now, for the first time in the history of the iconic brand, the New England Confectionery Co. is inviting poets, texters, bloggers, and literary novices alike to create the next generation of conversation hearts that will appear in time for Valentine's Day 2010," the company said in a press release.
Presumably, the thinking here is that Twitter has schooled many folks in the art of composing concise messages, and now they're ready for an even more demanding challenge - penning pithy prose suitable for inscription on a Valentine's Day Necco Sweetheart.
More details about the competition can be found by clicking here.
But poets, texters, and bloggers better hurry. The deadline for submitting sweet tweets is May 31.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)
Study: Many continue to save for college
(File photo of a BC graduation: Joanne Rathe/Globe staff)
A survey of parents found that 52 percent are saving the same amount or more for college despite the recession.
The "How America Saves for College" survey was commissioned by SLM Corp., which is known as Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae is a provider of college savings programs. It is also the parent of Upromise, a Newton company that has devised a rewards program that helps parents save for college through everyday purchases.
Sallie Mae worked on the survey with the Gallup organization, and another survey finding was that 92 percent of parents expect their children to pursue higher education, and 48 percent plan to pay for most or all of the cost.
In a press release, Sallie Mae also noted: "A higher number of Hispanic parents intend to pay for all of the cost of their children’s college (20 percent of Hispanic parents, compared to 15 percent of white parents and 6 percent of African-American parents). Hispanic parents also are the most likely to be confident in their ability to save their goal amount - 54 percent indicated they are extremely or somewhat confident, compared to 44 percent of white parents and 31 percent of African-American parents."
Results from the study were based on a national telephone survey conducted in March and April among 1,200 parents of children under age 18, Sallie Mae said, and it was released today on “529 College Savings Day.”
Today, of course, is May 29, a.k.a. 5/29, and 529 happens to be a short-hand designation for a type of college savings plan.
On its website, Sallie Mae offers free planning tool that helps parents project the total cost of college by factoring in such data points as a child’s age, type of institution that the child hopes to attend, and the historical rate of increase in tuition. To see that planning tool, please click here. More Sallie Mae information on college savings can be found by clicking here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Jurys out
What's in a name change? For Jurys Boston Hotel, which officially becomes The Back Bay Hotel today, it's about highlighting its swanky location.
The hotel's parent company, Dublin-based Doyle Collection, formerly known as the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, has launched a rebranding campaign for its 11 luxury hotels in England, Ireland, and the United States, remodeling many of them and changing their names to reflect their geographical location. At The Back Bay Hotel, which opened in 2004 in the former Boston police headquarters, improvements included $1 million for new flat-screen TVs, armoires, and coffee makers in the rooms, among other improvements.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Navy questions plans at former South Weymouth Naval Air Station
Frustrated by a lack of progress, the Navy is questioning the ability of the public agency overseeing redevelopment of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station to complete a deal to buy the air base and proceed with one of the state's largest building projects.
A top Navy official on Wednesday sent a terse e-mail to the head of South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., a joint venture of Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth, admonishing the agency for failing to answer even basic questions about the status of the project, such as whether its partnership with a private developer of the base is still valid.
The Navy official also questioned whether Tri-Town has taken any meaningful steps to raise the $43 million necessary to purchase the remaining 900 acres from the Navy. Tri-Town has already missed a March 31 deadline to buy the land.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Ex-Madoff brokerage attracts big players
The Medfield investor who won the bidding for the brokerage business of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff has quietly assembled a powerful team of financial backers and executives to run the new firm, including former brokerage chiefs of Fidelity Investments and TD Waterhouse Group.
Darin S. Oliver, owner of upstart Castor Pollux Securities Inc., last month agreed to pay up to $25.5 million for the only legitimate business in Madoff's fraudulent empire - buying and selling Nasdaq-traded stocks for large investors. The sale of the business was conducted by a court-approved trustee charged with raising money to repay Madoff victims.
Castor Pollux is a one-man operation run by Oliver, 47. Though he is relatively unknown in brokerage circles, Oliver's gamble on a venture few others wanted to touch has drawn some major players. Only two other firms bid on the brokerage, which many saw as tainted by the Madoff link.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Publisher GateHouse will cut pay of most New England staff
GateHouse Media Inc., which owns more than 100 newspapers in Massachusetts including The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, said it will temporarily cut salaries by an average of 7.75 percent for most of its 1,500 New England employees as the chain struggles in an advertising slump.
Rick Daniels, the chief executive of GateHouse Media New England, said the recession has disproportionately hurt advertising revenue at newspapers in major metropolitan markets like the Bay State, forcing it to pare costs at its New England unit. Daniels said the temporary salary reductions, which begin Monday, are expected to save the company $2.5 million, or the equivalent of 100 full-time jobs.
"Outside New England, smaller or midsize cities or rural areas are much more typical GateHouse markets. They haven't seen the whipsaw effect that major markets have seen," said Daniels in an interview. "We are the largest market that GateHouse operates." The New England papers generate 22 percent of Fairport, N.Y.-based, GateHouse's revenue, he estimated.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: High interest in lower rates
The economy needs a lot of things to help it get out of the ditch. Low interest rates are near the top of the list.
That's why sharply rising yields on US Treasury securities could turn out to be such a financial wet blanket. Interest rates on government securities, especially longer-term notes and bonds, have been climbing all year. But their more recent advance has accelerated that trend.
For most of the year, consumer interest rates on loans to buy cars and houses have not gone up in lock-step with yields on Treasury securities. But that can't last indefinitely and 30-year mortgage interest rates took a big jump higher in just a single day this week, to an average of nearly 5.3 percent.
People and companies have to start buying more things for the economy to recover. The ability to borrow at attractive interest rates must be available for them to say yes to big-ticket items.
To read the full story, please click here.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:29 AM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2009
GateHouse plans to cut newspaper pay
Suffering from the an advertising slump that has hurt newspapers across the country, GateHouse Media New England said today that it plans to implement a temporary salary reduction for all employees of an average of 7.75 percent, beginning Monday.
According to the company's website, GateHouse publishes nearly 100 newspapers in Massachusetts, including the Patriot Ledger in Quincy and the Enterprise in Brockton.
In a memo to employees today, the company said it has asked leaders of its unions to immediately negotiate the temporary pay cut. The salary reductions will generate $2.5 million in savings this year, the company said.
The size of the pay reduction will vary depending on an employee’s salary, ranging from 7 percent up to just under 15 percent for the company’s top earners.
To read the company's memo, please click on "Full entry."
(Globe staff)
A MESSAGE FROM RICK DANIELS, CEO/PRESIDENT GHMNE
TO EMPLOYEES REPRESENTED BY COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS
As we all know too well, the road out of the horrendous economic and advertising slump has been extremely difficult, and yet we have a lot to be proud of on how we have responded. We are still bringing valuable and unique local news, information and advertising to our huge print and digital audiences. Together, we have taken many tough actions that have preserved – and often enhanced – our capabilities, while substantially decreasing GHMNE’s structural costs.
Regrettably, we need to share some tough news: We have asked the leadership of all of our unions to enter into immediate negotiations with regard to implementing a temporary salary reduction. The amount of reduction the company is seeking is 7.75%. This is consistent with the average reductions that all other GateHouse Media Massachusetts employees will experience, per a communication earlier today.
Why are we taking this step? Why now? It’s really pretty simple: As much as we have done everything in our collective power to blunt the negative effects the economic crisis has had on advertising, virtually ALL major metropolitan markets have been hit by advertising declines that have soared to the mid-twenties to mid-thirties percent (compared to prior year months) since early January. These revenue declines have dramatically hit the cash flows of most publishers.
Common sense tells us that when companies start suffering from negative cash flow, there is NOTHING good that happens, and these days, with lenders and vendors on short strings themselves, the “bad stuff” happens quickly. We seriously considered opening negotiations earlier this year, but given the obvious difficulties a pay cut creates for each of our family’s finances, we decided to make sure we were not going to see an advertising rebound that could allow us to avoid this painful step. We also considered the possible use of additional staff reductions to generate the almost $2.5 Million of savings this pay cut will generate for the remainder of 2009. Such cuts would have to be about 100 positions, and we did not believe we could continue to operate and deliver the high levels customers value were we to quickly cut this many positions. However, if we do not see some sustainable positive revenue trends in the latter part of this year we may be forced to revisit this subject.
Some might ask: Aren’t newspapers dead anyway? Are we just prolonging the inevitable? As a consumer and advertising medium, newspapers that deliver truly unique news and information are still very much in demand, although some very important parts of the business model, including the need to be fluently digital, are changing. One of the largest advertising agencies in the country visited us recently with a very simple message: Large local newspaper companies, with some changes, will be the major beneficiaries of the newspaper industry restructuring. As a corollary: Metro daily newspapers are in a world of trouble. Our industry IS going through wrenching changes, but a great many of those changes are poised to benefit us – as long as we remain economically sound in the near term. We will keep you informed about our challenges, AND our victories. Thank you – in advance – for your willingness to support personally difficult steps during these times that WILL allow us to grab the opportunities that arise out of adversity.
The senior management team and I will be conducting employee information sessions at a great many of our locations in early to mid June, we look forward to updating you further at these meetings.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:56 PM | Comments (1)
State will hold career seminar at Suffolk University
Have you recently lost a job? Or worry that you're about to get a pink slip? Then the state may have an all-day seminar for you.
Working with Suffolk University, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development has scheduled a career seminar for Friday, June 26, at the Sawyer Building, 8 Ashburton Place, Boston.
The seminar, which is set to run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., will focus on such issues as alternative job search methods, managing personal finances, and techniques for keeping stress under control, the executive office said in a media advisory.
The seminar is open to the public, but folks need to reserve a spot in advance. Reservations can be made by sending an e-mail to eparrish@suffolk.edu. For more information on a seminar that bills itself as a "Professional Survival Guide for Managing Your Career in a Down Economy," please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:07 PM | Comments (3)
Dunkin' gears up for Donut Day
(In this 2007 file photo taken by Globe staffer David L. Ryan, Medford native and Access Hollywood TV reporter Maria Menounos posed before the doughnuts.)
Sinker buff alert: Mark down June 5 as a red letter day on your calendar because that's when Dunkin' Donuts plans to celebrate National Doughnut Day with a giveaway of sorts.
For folks unacquainted with the movable feasts of the culinary calendar, National Doughnut Day falls on June 5 this year, and on that blessed day, Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain, said that participating stores nationwide "will give every customer a free donut of their choice, with the purchase of any beverage, limit one per customer."
And that's not all. The chain has been conducting its first-ever "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. From nearly 130,000 donut submissions, 12 finalists have been chosen, and on National Doughnut Day, Dunkin' plans to announce the $12,000 grand prize winner. More information on the contest can be found here.
Foodies may want to go easy at the eats table in the middle part of next week. As careful readers of this space may recall, Friendly Ice Cream Corp., the Wilbraham company that operates the Friendly's chain of more than 500 family restaurants, plans to hold a Free Ice Cream Day from noon to 5:00 p.m on Saturday, June 6.
So there you have it. Doughnuts on Friday. Ice cream on Saturday. For the undisciplined gourmet, excessive avoirdupois may run rampant in early June.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:46 AM | Comments (39)
American Ramp Systems is now Amramp
American Ramp Systems said that it has rebranded itself as Amramp.
Headquartered in South Boston, the company specializes in providing low-cost, steel modular ramp systems that can be generally installed in only a few hours and that can be easily dismantled without damage to home or property. The company has a national network of 40 franchises.
For a time, the company used both the American Ramp Systems and the Amramp names and now has decided to use just the Amramp name, a company press release said. The reasons for the decision: To end any confusion among customers and to stand out from competitors that were using names similar to American Ramp Systems, the company said.
Amramp added that it worked with Danvers-based Pelu-SO Creative and New Jersey franchisee Jack Pignatello to design the company’s new logo, which is part of the rebranding effort.
The photo that tops this post was taken from the company's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Mass. banks outperform peers
Bay State banks reported an increase in bad loans during the first three months of the year, but performed better than most of their peers across the country, according to government data released yesterday.
Over the past year, the amount of delinquent loans has nearly doubled, while profits slipped by more than a quarter at 172 Massachusetts-based financial institutions that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The federal agency released aggregated data yesterday on bank performance, for both the state and the nation as a whole.
Delinquent loans increased to $796 million in the first quarter of this year, up 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 and 93 percent higher than the first quarter of last year.
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
Insurers ranked on payment records
The state government Medicaid plan known as MassHealth, which covers low-income patients who can't afford insurance, was the slowest payer of health claims to Massachusetts doctors last year, averaging 56 days, and denied the highest share of claims, 23.8 percent, according to rankings set to be released today.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts took an average of 22.8 days to pay physicians who submitted claims last year, the fastest rate among Massachusetts health insurers, the rankings show. Tufts Health Plan, meanwhile, denied 4.9 percent of its claims, the smallest share among the five large payers billed by Bay State medical providers.
The rankings were prepared by Athenahealth Inc., a Watertown company that helps doctors handle billing and records electronically, in collaboration with the Physicians Practice management journal.
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
The campaign for Conan
With his lanky frame and styled red hair, Conan O'Brien looks nothing like a box of cornflakes or a tube of Colgate toothpaste. And yet, that's one way NBC has been portraying the comedian before he takes over the network's venerable "The Tonight Show."
That's right: The Brookline native, who attended Harvard, has been promoted like a new flavor from Coca-Cola or a soon-to-debut brand of floor wax. In one promo that has aired in recent weeks, domestic arts guru Martha Stewart says, "Oh, goodness, Conan is like the perfect treat." In another, actor Nathan Lane tells viewers: "Conan: Just look for the big red hair." Each promo also asks: "Have you tried Conan O'Brien?"
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
Auction threatens Bayside development
The owner of the Bayside Exposition Center is expected to lose more than half of the 27 acres of prime waterfront property it has slated for redevelopment after the hall goes on the auction block today.
Barring an 11th-hour postponement, the auction will punch a giant hole in Corcoran Jennison Cos.' plans to convert the old expo center into a $1 billion community on Dorchester Bay, with hundreds of residences, stores, and offices.
The company defaulted on a $22 million loan connected to the Bayside center late last year, setting in motion a legal process that will culminate with today's auction. The land occupied by the Bayside Exposition Center accounts for 17 of the 27 acres included in Corcoran Jennison's proposal, including the building itself and surrounding parking lots.
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
TECH LAB: MiFi lets you share your portable Internet connection
A remarkable new networking gadget from Novatel Wireless Inc. seems to have gotten everything right except the name. It's called MiFi, a catchy but inaccurate moniker for such an unselfish product.
Anybody with a BlackBerry or an Apple iPhone knows what it's like to carry the Internet around in a shirt pocket. But what about the person sitting next to you? Perhaps you'd like to share your cellular data stream with friends, family members, or business colleagues. Novatel's found a nearly painless way to do it: a tiny black rectangle about the same size as a business card case that acts as a portable Internet hotspot.
To read the full story, please click here.
-------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:23 AM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2009
Globe newsroom petition seeks smaller pay cut
A group of Boston Globe newsroom employees is circulating a petition that urges Globe management to limit pay cuts to 5 percent, arguing that a contract proposal that calls for about twice that amount is "in extraordinary danger" of rejection by their union.
The union, the Boston Newspaper Guild, is scheduled to vote June 8 on a final offer from the newspaper's owner, The New York Times Co. It specifies an 8.4 percent pay cut, plus five days of unpaid furlough, which add up to wage cuts of about 10 percent. In addition, healthcare and retirement benefits would be cut.
The petition, sponsored by six reporters and an editor and addressed to the Globe's publisher, P. Steven Ainsley, acknowledges that "significant cuts to our salary and benefits are necessary" to ensure the Globe's survival.
But it says reducing the pay cut to 5 percent - the same imposed on nonunion managers and accepted by New York Times employees - is necessary to win approval of the proposed contract and "avert the crisis sure to follow a rejection of the company's proposal."
Without a smaller pay cut, said Beth Daley, a reporter, union delegate, and one of the petition sponsors, the proposed contract is in "extraordinary danger."
"Management can adjust the offer. Let's all give up the same,'' she said. "There are too many unknowns on the other side of this if the offer is rejected."
Globe spokesman Robert Powers declined to comment. Union leaders could not immediately be reached for comment.
In addition to a 5 percent pay cut from April through the end of the year, nonunion managers will also be giving up their 2009 bonuses. Taken together, the cuts amount to at least a 16 percent decrease in compensation, according to a memo from Ainsley.
The Guild will be the last of the Globe's four major unions to vote on a total of $20 million in concessions the Times Co. is seeking from union workers. The company last month threatened to shutter the paper, which is projected to lose $85 million this year, unless significant cost reductions are made.
Last night, members of unions representing mailers and press operators approved contracts that would take about $7.2 million out of their wages and benefits.
The union representing delivery truck drivers votes June 7 on $2.5 million in concessions.
The Guild, the paper's largest union, representing more than 600 editorial, advertising and business office workers, votes the next day on $10 million in concessions.
It's possible that the Times Co. would impose at 23 percent across the board pay cut to achieve the $10 million in savings, should Guild employees reject the contract proposal.
The petition sponsors argue that adjusting the pay cut would be worth it for the company, avoiding turmoil that would follow a rejection and the legal battle likely to ensue if Globe management imposes a pay cut. Management would also gain other major concessions, including the elimination of lifetime job guarantees for about 190 veteran members.
Scott Allen, a reporter and one of petition sponsors, said the idea is to send management a clear message that if the contract is rejected, it's because of the 10 percent pay cut.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:52 PM | Comments (4)
Geithner unveils tax credits at Roxbury event
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in the city today, where he announced the awarding of $1.5 billion in tax credits for 32 organizations nationwide in a program meant to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.
The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provides incentives for private companies to invest in low-income communities.
“Many communities have been left with a shortfall of financial support and are unable to pursue desperately needed projects, leaving residents to fall even further behind," Geithner said. "The Recovery Act was a crucial step toward restoring economic growth, getting Americans back to work, and strengthening our nation’s financial stability.”
Geithner appeared at Project Hope, a non-profit in Roxbury, along with Governor Deval L. Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Approximately $190 million in credits will be made available to programs that operate in Masssachusetts.
(By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe staff. File photo of Geithner: Yuri Gripas/Reuters.)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:44 AM | Comments (10)
Who, What, Where
Liam Patrick was named managing director of Fireman Capital Partners, or FCP, a private equity firm based in Boston. Patrick will be responsible for merger-and-acquistions and investor relations activities for FCP and its investment vehicles. Prior to joining FCP, Patrick worked for private equity firm Rhône Group. FCP was founded in 2008 by Paul Fireman, Dan Fireman, and Andrew Spellman. Paul Fireman sold Reebok International Ltd., a Canton-based athletic footwear and apparel company, to Adidas-Salomon AG in 2006 for $3.8 billion. Paul Fireman and his wife, Phyllis, stood to make nearly $800 million from the sale.
Kevin Gray is the new chief technology officer at Qteros, a Marlborough company that has developed technology that turns biomass into cellulosic ethanol. Gray most recently served as senior director of biofuels research and development for biotech company Verenium Corp.
Fred Sammartino and Timothy Moynihan have new executive jobs at Empirix Inc., a Bedford company that specializes in service quality assurance solutions for new IP communications. Sammartino was appointed vice president of marketing and product management for the company's service assurance business unit, where he will be responsible for extending its global reach. Moynihan joined the company as vice president of marketing for the contact center solutions business unit, where he will be responsible for strategic business planning and product revenue growth strategies. Sammartino previously served as vice president of marketing and product management for Ellacoya Networks, and Moynihan served as vice president of global marketing and channels at Envox Worldwide.
Alex Chu has been named vice president of process development at Microbia Inc. Headquartered in Lexington, Microbia is an industrial biotechnology company applying proprietary metabolic engineering utilizing fermentation technology to create cost-effective, renewable specialty ingredients and biomaterials. Chu was most recently the vice president of manufacturing and process development at Adnexus Therapeutics.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
Staples profit falls 33 percent in 1st quarter
Office products retailer Staples Inc. said its profit fell 33 percent in the first quarter as higher operating expenses and one-time costs more than outweighed the benefit of a newly purchased supply chain business.
The world's largest office supply chain said it earned $143 million, or 20 cents per share, down from $212.3 million, or 30 cents per share, in the same period last year.
The Framingham-based company's profit in the latest quarter was 22 cents per share excluding one-time integration and restructuring expenses related to the company's acquisition of Dutch office supply chain Corporate Express NV last summer.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected income of 21 cents per share, on average. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time costs.
Staples reported higher cost of goods and occupancy costs and a jump in amortization and selling, general and administrative expenses.
Sales, meanwhile, grew 19 percent to $5.82 billion from $4.88 billion. Analysts predicted revenue of $5.85 billion.
In the company's North American retail division, same-store sales fell 8 percent. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance.
The retailer said the decrease reflected a drop in average order size and weakness in "durable categories" like business machines and furniture.
Same-store sales fell 14 percent in Europe, the company added. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (1)
Today in Globe Business
Home prices, sales plunge in the Bay State
The spring real estate market in Massachusetts so far is looking like a bust.
The number of homes and condominiums that sold in April plummeted and prices dropped as well, as the housing market showed no sign of shaking off its doldrums. Local agents say the slow start to the crucial spring season has several causes, from the sluggish economy to picky buyers holding out for bargains.
"A lot of buyers are out there, but a lot of them are very cautious. They look at a lot of properties before they want to negotiate. They are very quick to walk away," said Ronn Huth, owner of Buyer's Choice Realty in Wenham. The result, he added, is that "properties have been sitting for a long time."
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Icahn gains support in Biogen Idec proxy battle
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is waging a proxy battle with Cambridge biotechnology company Biogen Idec Inc., has won the unexpected backing of an influential advisory firm for two of the four dissident candidates he nominated for the company's board.
The recommendation by RiskMetrics Group, a firm that counsels institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds, may help Icahn gain representation on the 13-member board of Biogen Idec. But with management winning support from two other proxy advisers, Proxy Governance and Glass Lewis & Co., a stock analyst said he doubted Icahn will succeed in his plan to break up Biogen Idec.
"It's quite unlikely Mr. Icahn will gain control of the board of the company," said Geoffrey Porges, biotech analyst with New York investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "Most investors I've talked to are not impressed with the cohesiveness of his proposal."
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Men's Wearhouse, Syms, and the battle for Filene's Basement
Men's Wearhouse and rival Syms are planning to bid for the bankrupt Filene's Basement chain and keep the 100-year-old brand alive with at least 15 stores, according to a Basement official with knowledge of the talks.
In the past few weeks, executives from the two clothing businesses have visited the Basement's headquarters in Burlington to learn more about the famed Boston merchant, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Another bidder, Crown Acquisitions, has already offered $22 million to buy 17 of the Basement's 25 shops. Bids are due June 3 and an auction will be held on June 5.
"Both Men's Warehouse and Syms indicated they wanted to keep the Filene's Basement name," said the Basement official who could not be named because the talks are private. "There would be no benefit to buying it without the name and the 100-year history. The real estate is good - particularly in the Back Bay and Manhattan - but it's not that good to get rid of the Basement."
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Two major Globe unions OK contracts
Members of two of The Boston Globe's major unions last night narrowly ratified contracts that will cut their pay and benefits by more than $7 million, bringing the Globe's owner closer to achieving the savings it says it needs to keep operating the paper.
The owner, The New York Times Co., last month threatened to shutter the money-losing newspaper unless the Globe's unions agreed to a total of $20 million in concessions, and major contract changes such as the weakening or elimination of lifetime job guarantees for more than 400 workers. The Globe is projected to lose $85 million this year without significant cost savings.
Members of Teamsters Local 1, which represents about 250 full- and part-time mailers, voted 107 to 95 to approve $5 million in concessions, said Mary White, the union's president. Boston Newspaper Printing Pressmen's Union Local 3, which represents about 90 press operators, approved $2.2 million in concessions by a "narrow vote" after an angry meeting, said union president Martin Callaghan, who declined to release the vote totals or terms of the contract.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Minority owner is selling stake in the Red Sox
Advertising mogul Ed Eskandarian is selling his minority stake in the Boston Red Sox to Seth Klarman, a well known Boston hedge fund manager, according to two people briefed on the transaction.
Eskandarian is one of a group of three Boston businessmen who together invested $25 million in the 2002 purchase of the Red Sox, led by John Henry and Tom Werner. Their stake at the time represented about 3.6 percent of the $700 million deal. Eskandarian, chairman of Arnold Worldwide, a Boston advertising agency, invested about $6 million.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:31 AM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2009
Progressive agrees to pay Mass. fine
Progressive Direct Insurance Co., which has long compared its rates to competitors, agreed to pay the state $120,000 to settle charges that it inflated the rates for rival companies, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today.
Specifically, Coakley's office accused Ohio-based Progressive, the nation's fourth largest automobile insurer, of inaccurately comparing its six-month rates to the 12-month rates offered by other companies, such as Arbella Mutual, Liberty Mutual, and Commerce Insurance. Progressive inaccurately listed all the rates on its web site as six-month prices.
Progressive, which started offering policies in Massachusetts on May 1, 2008, stopped quoting rivals' rates on its web site and through its call center late last year, and notified Coakley's office about the mistake.
“For competition to truly work in Massachusetts, consumers must be able to easily access accurate information about rates from insurance companies,” Coakley said. “Progressive’s failure to provide correct comparison quotes harmed consumers and harmed Massachusetts’ ability to introduce a competitive system in automobile insurance.”
In addition, Coakley's office said Progressive failed to follow its own official rate practices, filed with the state's Division of Insurance, by charging consumer to list additional drivers on their policies who already carried their own insurance. Progressive agreed to reimburse drivers who were improperly charged.
Coakley's office also complained that Progressive frequently failed to notify customers' former insurer when a customer switched auto insurance companies. That in turn led some insurers to cancel customers' policies for nonpayment - instead of just closing the accounts when customers switched to Progressive - potentially hurting customers' credit scores. Progressive agreed to help any customers who were affected.
Progressive spokeswoman Cristy Cote acknowledged the company mistakenly calculated the rates for some competitors when it began offering insurance in Massachusetts last May.
But the company noted that it shut down the service and notified state regulators and competitors after it discovered the errors. It also said it offered to pay the difference for customers who bought its policy when a competitor actually offered a lower rate, provided the customer wanted to switch to the other firm. The company said it also cooperated with Coakley's probe into the other issues.
"We understand that the attorney general’s role is to protect consumers and we wholeheartedly support that goal," Cote said in a written statement. "We are glad to put this matter behind us."
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:25 PM | Comments (5)
Local is a winner of Upromise video contest
Sarah Tollerson, a sometime street musician who sings at MBTA stops about how tough it can be to pay back student loans, is one of three grand-prize winners in the Tuition Tales video contest.
The contest, which awarded $10,000 to each of the winners, was sponsored by Upromise, a Newton company that has devised a rewards program that helps parents save for college through everyday purchases. According to Upromise, there were nearly 700 entries in the contest.
The other winners were Chris Rehmann of Gulfport, Miss., and Marcus Dean of Washington, D.C., Upromise said.
The video that tops this post is Tollerson's entry in the contest. The video was provided by Upromise.
Upromise is a wholly owned subsidiary of SLM Corp., which is also known as Sallie Mae, a provider of saving-and-paying-for-college programs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)
AAA: Mass. gas prices are up 9 cents a gallon
(File photo: Lisa Poole/AP)
Gas prices in Massachusetts rose 9 cents to $2.359 a gallon in the latest weekly survey from AAA Southern New England.
Prices for self-serve, regular unleaded gas rose for the seventh straight week, but remain below the $3.95 found this time in the Bay State a year ago, AAA Southern New England said.
The current Massachusetts price is 7 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.42.
The current Massachusetts average price is now 73 cents higher than at the start of the year, AAA Southern New England said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:22 AM | Comments (4)
Village Automotive buys Volvo dealership
(Photo: Volvo handout)
Ray Ciccolo, president of Village Automotive Group, said the company has acquired South Shore Volvo in Norwell for $4 million.
The dealership will be called Volvo Village of Norwell, Ciccolo said in a press release.
The company also owns Boston Volvo Village, which it describes as the largest and oldest Volvo dealership in New England; the Norwell dealership will be the company's second Volvo dealership.
“We have had a lot of success with the Volvo brand, and we are excited to bring the level of service that our dealerships provide as well as our enthusiasm for the Volvo brand to the South Shore community,” Ciccolo (right) said in a statement.
The photo of Ciccolo that appears with this post was provided by Village Automotive Group.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
Galvin fines Lynnfield brokerage
The office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin today said that Investors Capital Corp., a Lynnfield brokerage, has been fined $250,000 for its lack of due diligence in hiring and supervising an employee who defrauded two ICC investors of more than $1.7 million.
In a consent order issued by the office's Securities Division, ICC also agreed to make whole the two investors who were defrauded by the former ICC registered representative Stephen Francis Clifford of Plymouth, Galvin's office said.
In a statement, Galvin said, "“A reputable firm can be blindsided by a rogue operator in its ranks, and I am glad the firm has stepped up to make its clients whole, but to abscond from even elementary diligence is to place a firm’s clients in double jeopardy.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
Retail rivals eye Filene's Basement
(It's a case of high excitement for customers at one of Filene's Basement's famous bridal sales. 2006 file photo: David L. Ryan/Globe staff)
Retailers Men's Wearhouse and rival Syms are planning to bid for the bankrupt Filene's Basement chain and keep the 100-year-old brand alive with at least 15 stores, according to a Basement official with knowledge of the talks.
In the past few weeks, executives from the two clothing businesses have visited the Basement's headquarters in Burlington, Mass., to learn more about the famed Boston merchant, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Another bidder, Crown Acquisitions, has already offered $22 million to buy 17 of the Basement's 25 shops. Bids are due June 3rd, and an auction will be held on June 5th.
"Both Men's Warehouse and Syms indicated they wanted to keep the Filene's Basement name," said the Basement official, who could not be named because the talks are private. "There would be no benefit to buying it without the name and the 100-year history. The real estate is good -- particularly in the Back Bay and Manhattan -- but it's not that good to get rid of the Basement."
One former Basement official briefed on the talks said Syms, the New Jersey off-price merchant, is considering partnering with the New York real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust to help fund the acquisition and potentially take back the cheap, long-term lease for the Basement's flagship store in Downtown Crossing. Vornado owns the Downtown Crossing property -- which has been shuttered since 2007 because of a stalled redevelopment project -- along with Basement locations in New York and New Jersey.
A report yesterday in the New York Post stated that Men's Wearhouse, the men's dress retailer based in Texas, and Syms planned to buy Filene's Basement simply for the real estate and replace the sites with their own brands. Syms and Vornado Realty Trust declined to discuss the matter. Officials at Men's Warehouse and Crown Acquisitions did not return calls seeking comment.
In its Chapter 11 filing on May 4, Filene's Basement blamed its current crisis on the recent economic downturn, credit problems, poorly performing suburban stores, and the loss of the flagship store in Downtown Crossing. Vornado had been paying Filene's Basement $500,000 a month to help offset losses from the closing of the Washington Street location, but the firm halted payments without notice in January, according to court documents.
A recent Globe story noted that Vornado has written off as a loss the $37 million it spent on demolition and construction at the Downtown Crossing site, indicating that the firm does not expect to turn a profit on the project in the foreseeable future. To read that story, please click here.
The Filene's Basement official with knowledge of the talks confirmed that Men's Wearhouse and Syms see cost-savings opportunities in combining the Basement's back-end of operations -- distribution, finance, and technology -- with their own systems. The official said several other people have inquired about the Basement but none have seriously pursued the business.
Additionally, Filene's Basement recently filed a notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, which requires companies to provide 60 days notice before the closing a business, about plans to potentially layoff more than 1,600 employees -- its entire workforce -- if the winning bidder in bankruptcy court decides to shut down the Basement.
To read a Globe Sunday story about Filene's Basement's recent struggles, please click here. (By Jenn Abelson and Casey Ross, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Developers see opportunity in car-dealer lots
With dozens of car dealerships in Massachusetts scheduled to be closed, real estate developers are looking to replace the soon-to-be-empty showrooms with stores, hotels, and office buildings.
"This potentially represents a sea change in the availability of commercial real estate," said Len Bierbrier, president of Bierbrier Development of Lexington. "You never see this many terrific opportunities to acquire usable land."
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will close the dealerships because they aren't selling enough cars. But the large lots they occupy - along highways as well as major suburban streets - are considered prime locations for other types of businesses.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
Hancock Tower: Rebuilding its fading image
The John Hancock Tower cuts a stunning profile on Boston's skyline, but employees who work there say behind its shimmering facade lay blemishes most people never see: random hot and cold spots, a dank and dated cafeteria, and no on-site parking.
"I like the outside so much better than the inside," said Ursula Hamman, 36, a senior account administrator who works in the sixth-floor offices of State Street Corp.
The recession has only added to the building's troubles, as some of its largest tenants have opted to leave rather than pay higher rents charged by a prior landlord, leaving nearly one-sixth of the tower vacant during the worst real estate downturn in decades.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Start-up built on free software
When cofounder Jay Batson was putting together his start-up Acquia last year, he figured one advantage would help it stand out from all the other companies that manage Web content for business clients.
The software was free.
"Free is very disruptive," Batson said. "In a fragmented market, 'free' commands a lot of attention."
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
3Com is finding an opportunity in recession
Ron Sege, president of 3Com Corp. in Marlborough, believes that the global recession has provided his company an extraordinary opportunity to become a major international supplier of high-end data networking gear, a market presently dominated by mighty Cisco Systems Inc.
"The recession is creating demand for what we have to offer," said Sege. Designed and built in China, 3Com's line of less-expensive data network switches, called H3C, are a good option for cash-strapped corporations looking to trim data management budgets, he said.
3Com was the first company to sell the now-universal Ethernet data networking technology and became a world leader in networking during the 1990s. But staggered by the high-tech recession of 2001-2002, 3Com shifted most of its development efforts to H3C, a joint venture in China with Huawei Technologies. H3C created a line of cheap, energy-efficient switches that companies can use to join many subnetworks into a single large data network.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Power Play
No one will ever accuse Greg Yurek of short-term thinking.
Yurek, a former professor who left MIT in 1987 to help start American Superconductor Corp., ended up running the company and taking it public four years later. The business proposition: develop materials that could conduct vastly more electricity than comparably sized copper or aluminum wire into a commercially viable transmission cable. Patience helped.
American Superconductor, now based in Devens, celebrated its first quarterly profit ever this month. Lots of people are talking about the company's superconducting wire now but, ironically, that product had little to do with the profit. A separate wind-power business built up in recent years by American Superconductor is the company's real moneymaker.
To read the full story, please click here.
--------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 6:06 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2009
Paragon plans big Hub flower show for spring
(This photo was provided by Paragon.)
Paragon Group Inc., an events marketing company headquartered in Needham, said it will produce the Boston Flower & Garden Show at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston next March.
According to Paragon, which has produced the New England International Auto Show among many other events, the new flower show will feature more than 100,000 square feet of exhibits, including 30 major gardens and 270 retail vendors.
Paragon's hope seems to be that the new show will help make up for the folding of the New England Spring Flower Show, which had a 137-year history.
That show was sponsored by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. A Globe story from late last year noted that the society said then that it could not mount a large flower show in 2009 because of financial difficulties and a slow economy. (To read that story, please click here. The society organized a smaller show earlier this year. To read a Globe story about that event, please click here.)
In a press release, Paragon noted that the new show will be directed by Carolyn Weston, who is a former director of some of the horticultural society's flower shows.
The firm's press release included statements from Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Paragon vice president Barbara Pudney.
“After a long hard winter, Boston's residents and visitors look forward to their first taste of spring at an annual flower show," Menino said.
Pudney added: "It is an honor to bring the flower show back to the city of Boston. Plans are underway to add exciting new elements to the event that will offer an array of experiences to tantalize the senses. Two new highlights will be organic food gardening and the inclusion of vibrant color into the landscape."
The photo that tops this post is an example of the kind of exhibit that show attendess can expect to see, a Paragon spokeswoman said. The exhibit shown in the photo was created by Peter Sadeck Landscape Inc., a firm located in Lakeville; the firm will be a featured exhibitor at the Boston Flower & Garden Show, Paragon said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:25 PM | Comments (0)
Bernanke to BC Law: US economy will rebound
(File photo: Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images)
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that the nation has returned to prosperity after severe economic downturns in the past, and will do so again as it works through the worst recession since the 1930s.
Bernanke, delivering the commencement address at Boston College Law school, told the more than 200 graduates that they were entering the workforce at difficult time, acknowledging that many had likely had job offers rescinded. But he urged them to remain optimistic.
“The United States endured a decade-long Great Depression and returned to prosperity and global leadership,’’ Bernanke said. “When I graduated from college in 1975, and from graduate school in 1979, the economy was sputtering, gas prices and inflation were high, and pessimism – malaise, President Carter called it – was rampant. The US economy subsequently entered more than two decades of growth and prosperity.
“The economy will recover - it has too many fundamental strengths to be kept down for too long,” he said, “and the mood will brighten.’’
Still, Bernanke said, the nation still faces several challenges, including an aging population and rising health care costs. He said the nation needs to save and invest more, and the educational system must be improved so it serves “everyone equally well.’’
“Many of you will play a vital role in addressing these problems, both in the public and private spheres,’’ he told the graduates.
Bernanke, the Fed chairman since 2006, has led the central bank and guided the economy through a severe financial and economic crisis that at times threatened to spiral into a depression. In recent months, however, the economy has begun to stabilize and many economists believe the worst is over.
Many analysts credit the aggressive, and sometimes, unprecedented actions the Fed has taken, slashing its key interest rate to near zero and pumping trillions of dollars into the financial system to keep credit flowing.
Yesterday, however, Bernanke steered clear of monetary and economic policy, urging business reporters covering the speech to “go get coffee or something.’’
Instead, Bernanke told a personal story of his journey from a small town in South Carolina to perhaps the world’s most powerful economic policy post. While life is unpredictable and events largely out of people’s control, he urged the law graduates prepare for, and become open to, the opportunities that surface during life.
“Any time you challenge yourself to undertake something worthwhile but difficult, a little out of your comfort zone,” he said, “or any time that you put yourself in a position that challenges your preconceived sense of your own limits, you increase your capacity to make the most of the unexpected opportunities with which you will inevitably be presented.’’
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:24 PM | Comments (2)
Fidelity plans free college-savings seminars
Fidelity Investments said it will offer 16 free seminars in Massachusetts that will focus on college savings options and how consumers can determine which option might make the most sense for them.
Folks who attend next week's seminars will receive two complimentary tickets to a New England Revolution game, Fidelity added.
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority is a co-host of the seminars along with Fidelity, a Boston mutual fund company whose product portfolio includes college savings plans such as the 529 plan.
According to Fidelity, next week has been designated as "529 Week," hence the timing of the seminars from Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, May 29, at Fidelity Investor Centers in Boston, Braintree, Burlington, Cambridge, Danvers, Framingham, and Shrewsbury, Fidelity said in a press release.
The press release noted that more information about the timing and the locations of the seminars can be found by visiting this page on the Fidelity website. Once on the page, click on "College planning."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:08 PM | Comments (1)
Mass. consumer confidence rose last month
Consumer confidence in Massachusetts jumped last month, soaring to its highest level since the fall of 2007 as residents sensed the worst for the economy is over, according to quarterly index published by a Boston consulting firm.
The Massachusetts Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 65 from 38 in January, a 27 point gain, according to Mass Insight Corp. It was the highest level since October 2007, when the financial crisis was beginning to intensify.
In January, when confidence in the state hit a record low, 80 percent of those surveyed said the worst was yet to come. Only 51 percent felt that way in April, according to the survey.
"Many consumers in our survey believe the worst is over,'' said William Guenther, president of Mass Insight, which specializes in organizing public-private initiatives. "In general, economists agree that while we're not out of the woods yet, the economy is no longer in free fall."
Massachusetts consumers, however, are not yet optimistic about the economy. A reading above 100 signals that consumers are generally optimistic. Below that level, they are pessimistic.
Still, Massachusetts residents have a brighter outlook than consumers nationwide. A similar national survey, published by the Conference Board, a nonprofit research group in New York, recorded a reading of 39 in April, 26 points below Mass Insight's index.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
XXI Forever pretties up for Northshore Mall debut
(This photo of Forever 21 styles was provided by Northshore Mall.)
Officials for the Northshore Mall in Peabody said that XXI Forever has scheduled a grand opening for tomorrow of a 40,000-square-foot clothing store in the mall's new wing.
XXI Forever is a large-store format for Forever 21 Inc., a Los Angeles-based retailer specializing in current fashion trends in women’s and men’s clothing and accessories, mall officials said in a press release, and the Northshore Mall store will be the first XXI Forever in this particular format in Greater Boston.
The XXI Forever store in Peabody is located near a Nordstom store that opened at Northshore Mall last month, mall officials said.
The two-floor XXI Forever store will include three of the retailer’s brands only seen in larger locations - Forever 21 apparel and accessories; Twelve by Twelve, a couture line; and Heritage 1981, a lifestyle brand for men and women, mall officials said.
Northshore Mall is one of roughly a dozen Massachusetts shopping centers operated by Simon Property Group, which owns and operates malls across the country.
"Forever 21’s expansion into Simon Malls across Massachusetts began in September 2008 with its opening at Auburn Mall, followed by the opening at Arsenal Mall in January 2009," Simon Property Group said in a press release. "The retailer is also planning to open store locations in Cape Cod Mall and Burlington Mall later this year."
The XXI Forever concept store at Northshore Mall is the second of its kind in Massachusetts; the other is at Holyoke Mall, Simon Property Group said.
The photo at right was taken from Forever 21's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)
Who, What, Where
Max Senechal and Nigel Godley have joined the headquarters office of CRA International Inc., a Boston company that provides management, economic, and financial consulting services. As a vice president, Senechal focuses on the development of business strategies, operations improvement projects, and due-diligence engagements within life sciences companies. Before rejoining CRA, Senechal was chief operating officer with Boston Analytics, a business research and analytics firm. Godley's title is senior consultant, and his focus is the international oil and gas industries. Before affiliating with CRA, Godley was at Hess Corp., where he was a senior strategy consultant. CRA also said that Robert Maness and John Brown have also joined the company as vice presidents in some of the company's other offices. William Fitzsimmons has also joined CRA as a senior consultant.
Andrew J. Centauro has joined JAZD Markets as vice president of finance. Headquartered in Andover, JAZD Markets specializes in online B2B directory-driven Marketing-as-a Service platforms. In his new role, Centauro will have overall leadership responsibility for the strategy and operations for all of the company's finance and control functions. Before joining JAZD Markets, he was chief financial officer of Newforma Inc.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Bay State's recession may outlast the nation's
The recession in Massachusetts will last longer and run deeper than in the nation as a whole, but the state may recover more quickly than it has from earlier economic downturns, according to a new forecast.
In the nation's economy as a whole, the recession is expected to end this fall, but will linger in Massachusetts until early 2010, according to the forecast released yesterday by the nonprofit research group New England Economic Partnership. By the time the labor market hits bottom a few months later, the state will have lost 6.5 percent of its jobs, compared to 5.7 percent nationally.
Still, Massachusetts should emerge from the recession in better shape than it did after the downturns of the early 1990s and 2001, which were led by the collapse of key Massachusetts industries, particularly technology. During the recession that began in 2001, for example, the state lost 6.1 percent of its jobs, compared to about 2 percent nationally. In the early 1990s, employment plunged by more than 11 percent in Massachusetts, compared to 1.5 percent nationally.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
April foreclosures drop in Mass.
There is some good news on the Massachusetts foreclosure front, but don't celebrate yet, housing specialists say.
Statewide, foreclosures plunged to 755 in April, the first time they have dropped below 800 in six months. Foreclosures were down 20.8 percent from March - when 953 homeowners lost their homes, according to data released yesterday by Warren Group, which tracks real estate transactions.
Year-to-date, foreclosure numbers also improved.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
Patriots plan lottery tie-in after NFL eases stance
The New England Patriots are developing the first licensed NFL instant ticket with the Massachusetts State Lottery just days after league owners voted to allow teams to partner with lotteries across the country. "This is going to be a hugely successful collaboration," Robert Kraft, chief executive of Kraft Group, which owns the Patriots, said yesterday. "We are looking forward to helping the lottery generate much needed revenue for the cities and towns of Massachusetts."
The promotion is a departure for the National Football League, which has been particularly conservative about any affiliation with betting or gambling, and previously banned team logos on state lottery tickets, according to sports marketing analysts. Professional baseball and basketball teams have partnered for several years with the lottery - the Red Sox were the first to have a Major League Baseball scratch ticket in 2006, and the Celtics have also had scratch ticket promotions.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
WBZ holds its ground in 11 p.m. news ratings
In the highly competitive May ratings period, WCVB-TV (Channel 5) captured the top ratings for most of the daytime newscasts while WBZ-TV (Channel 4) maintained its perch as the top-rated station at 11 p.m.
In fact, every station had something to boast about this month. WHDH-TV (Channel 7) won the morning news race; WFXT-TV (Channel 25) dominated at 10 p.m. and in overall late news; and WCVB finished first at noon, 5, and 6 p.m. The ratings, compiled by the Nielsen Co., were released yesterday for the four-week sweeps period that ended Wednesday night. Local stations use the ratings as a basis for setting advertising rates.
In prime time, some stations' ratings were down from a year ago, and heightened interest in local sports may have played a factor. In the past month, Boston viewers have been tuning in to NESN, ESPN, TNT, and Comcast Sports Network to watch not only the Red Sox and Major League Baseball, but the Bruins and Celtics in their playoff runs. Last week, games played by Boston teams, some of which spilled into the late news hour, represented five of the top 10 most-watched shows in Boston. The other top programs in that list were Fox's "American Idol" and CBS's "The Mentalist" and "CSI."
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON CAPITAL: Retail's cuts cushion a fall
Good news is hard to come by in the retail business.
Or so you would think. Everyone knows how the battered consumer economy left retailers struggling desperately to adapt. Besides banks and financial service companies, you would be hard pressed to come up with another industry under so much business pressure.
Investors would have logically braced for more bad news in advance of this week's parade of quarterly financial reports issued by big retailers. But those reports, by and large, turned out to be much more upbeat than expected.
To read the full story, please click here.
---------------------------------------------------------
Posted by globebusiness at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2009
Zipcar, MBTA expand partnership
Zipcar Inc., the Cambridge-based car sharing service, said it has expanded its partnership with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority by adding six new on-site vehicles and one new location to various T stations in the Boston area.
Zipcar said it now has 31 vehicles at 14 different T stations, including the newly added Wollaston location, where there will be two Zipcars, the company said in a press release.
"The new cars increase Zipcar accessibility to outer suburb residents and make it easier for these individuals to save money by giving up their personal car and instead using public transit, car sharing, and biking or walking," Zipcar said. "The neighborhoods of Quincy, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester will directly benefit from the additional vehicles."
The photo that accompanies this post was taken from Zipcar's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
Patriots, Mass. Lottery plan instant ticket
The New England Patriots said today the team is developing the first licensed NFL instant ticket with the Massachusetts State Lottery just days after the football league owners voted to allow teams to partner with lotteries across the country.
"This is going to be a hugely successful collaboration,” Robert Kraft (right), chairman and chief executive of the Kraft Group, which owns the Patriots, said in a statement. "We are looking forward to helping the Lottery generate much needed revenue for the cities and towns of Massachusetts."
The Massachusetts State Lottery said it has a proven track record of creating successful instant ticket products with major sports franchises. These products have generated over $740 million in sales and $101 million in local aid for the cities and towns of Massachusetts.
Last month, the Boston Red Sox unveiled its latest lottery venture, a $5 instant ticket, modeled after the original $5 Boston Red Sox Instant ticket, which was the first Major League Baseball instant ticket in 2006.
The Patriots ticket is expected to go on sale before the start of the 2009 NFL season.
"This is an excellent opportunity for two successful brands to work together on behalf of the communities of Massachusetts," State Treasurer Tim Cahill, chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, said in a statement. "During this economic downturn, cities and towns will benefit from this partnership."
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff. File photo of Kraft: David L. Ryan, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
NH House passes border sales tax bill
CONCORD, N.H. - The New Hampshire House has passed a bill intending to protect retailers from becoming tax collectors for other states.
The bill, which had passed the Senate, bars retailers from sharing sales information with out-of-state tax collectors. It was filed in response to action in Massachusetts revenue agents took against a Connecticut-based tire store chain that has stores in New Hampshire.
Massachusetts attempted to collect $108,000 in "use" taxes from Town Fair Tire for sales it made to Massachusetts customers at its New Hampshire stores.
New Hampshire does not have a general sales tax, a selling point it uses to attract out-of-state retail dollars.
The House had amended the bill, so now it returns to the Senate for final action before heading to the governor. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
Detroit firm tops 2009 Inner City 100 list
VisionIT is the winner of the Top Minority-Owned Company of the Year on the 2009 Inner City 100, an annual list that ranks the fastest growing inner city businesses nationwide.
The announcement was made by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, or ICIC, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote economic prosperity in America’s inner cities, together with the Staples Foundation for Learning, a private foundation created by Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies.
"Ranked first on the overall 2009 Inner City 100 list, VisionIT is a national provider of information technology outsourcing, staffing and vendor management for Fortune 500 corporations and government organizations," ICIC and the Staples Foundation said in a press release. "The company has 850 employees and reported 2007 revenue of more than $100 million."
The press release included a statement from Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, founder and chief executive officer of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, which publishes the Inner City 100 list. (Porter is shown at right in a Globe file photo.)
“Minority-owned businesses like VisionIT that continue to thrive even during these challenging economic times, serve as an inspiration to entrepreneurs everywhere, but particularly those within our nation’s inner cities,” Porter said. “Vision IT’s CEO David Segura, has demonstrated that hard work and determination are key to growing a successful business, and he serves as a positive role model for business owners throughout the country.”
To see a list of this year's winners, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. File photo of Porter: Pat Greenhouse, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Robert Hureau has been appointed as the chief accounting officer of Sensata Technologies Inc., an Attleboro-based company that supplies sensing, electrical protection, control, and power management solutions on a global basis. Hureau joined Sensata Technologies in February, 2007 as vice president and corporate controller and continues to serve as a vice president.
Stacey Clement has been promoted to senior vice president at Boston-based 360 Public Relations. Clement, who joined 360 Public Relations in 2005 from Atari Inc., heads 360PR's Entertainment and Electronics Practice.
John Grady, a Westwood resident, has joined the corporate finance department of New York Life Insurance Co., as a senior vice president responsible for the Mergers & Acquisitions area and the Treasury Department. Before joining New York Life, Grady worked at Old Mutual plc, most recently as executive vice president, global strategy and corporate development, with responsibility for long-term strategic planning implementation and merger and acquisition related activities.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
NEEP: Mass. recession won't end till early 2010
The recession in Massachusetts will run deeper and longer than in the nation as a whole, and job losses this year will exceed those of the 2001 downturn, according to new economic forecasts.
The recession is projected to end in Massachusetts in early 2010 compared to this fall for the national economy, according to the forecast by New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit economic research group.
Massachusetts tends to lag the national economy because it relies more heavily on business investment in technology and other products and services. Even after the recovery begins, businesses often spend cautiously until they are sure economic activity is picking up for the long term.
The state will lose 6.5 percent of its jobs before the recession ends, compared with 5.7 percent nationally, according to the forecast.
Massachusetts lost 6.1 percent of its jobs from the 2001 recession and 11.3 percent during the downturn of the early 1990s, considered the state’s worst since the end of World War II.
(This morning, the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported that the Massachusetts unemployment rate increased to 8 percent in April from 7.7 percent in March.)
Still, the state unemployment rate is forecast to exceed that of the early '90s, peaking at 9.5 percent in the summer of 2010. Unemployment peaked at 9.1 percent in the early 90s.
Home sales may have hit bottom already, but prices are expected to decline through at least the end of 2010, according to the forecast.
New England’s current economic problems will continue throughout 2009, with only modest improvement in 2010, according to Ross Gittell, James R. Carter Professor of Management at the University of New Hampshire.
Gittell was set to release his economic forecast at this morning's NEEP conference; UNH made some of Gittell's appraisals available in a press release issued this morning.
Among Gittell's predictions: The region is expected to lose more than 450,000 jobs, from a base of just more than 7 million, and employment is expected to hit its low point in the second quarter of 2010.
Others scheduled to speak at the NEEP event include Alan Clayton-Matthews, associate professor in public policy, University of Massachusetts, and NEEP director; Mark Zandi, chief economist at the forecasting firm of Moody's Economy.com; and Charles D. Baker, president and chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, according to a media advisory from NEEP.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:15 AM | Comments (38)
Mass. unemployment rate rises slightly
The Massachusetts unemployment rate increased to 8 percent in April from 7.7 percent in March, the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today.
The March rate was originally estimated at 7.8 percent, the office added.
The national unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent in April from 8.5 percent in March, the office said in a press release. One year ago, in April 2008, Massachusetts recorded a 4.8 percent rate while the US rate was at 5 percent.
"April job losses totaled 12,100," the agency's press release said. "While the Massachusetts economy continues to feel the effects of the national recession, the April job loss was significantly lower than the 19,900 job decline in March. The Information sector added jobs in April while Government sector jobs were unchanged with losses in State and Local Government offset by gains in Federal Government. All other sectors recorded job losses over the month."
The press release also said, "At 3,183,000, jobs are down 116,100 or 3.5 percent from one year ago, with 93,900 of the net job loss occurring over the last six months."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (12)
RI health insurers ask for rate increases
PROVIDENCE - Rhode Island's largest health insurance companies are seeking rate hikes.
Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher Koller says Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island is proposing a 16.3-percent rate increase for businesses with 50 or more employees.
UnitedHealthCare of New England has asked to raise its large group rate by 11.6 percent.
Blue Cross insures 70 percent of Rhode Islanders who receive health insurance through their employers, excluding state workers.
Koller is expected to rule on the proposed increases next month. They could go into effect in October. (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)
