December 28, 2009
Mass. gas prices up a penny
Gasoline prices in Massachusetts are ending the year on a relatively quiet note, up one penny from last week, according to AAA Southern New England.AAA’s December 28 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.59 per gallon, up a penny from last week. The current price is one cent below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.60.
A year ago at this time the Massachusetts average price was $1.62, 97 cents lower than today’s average.
In 2009, AAA’s weekly surveys found an average for the year of $2.31 for self serve unleaded, with a high of $2.64 on August 31 and again on November 9, and a low of $1.62 on January 5.
The range in prices in the latest AAA survey for unleaded regular is 48 cents, from a low of $2.41 to a high of $2.89.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2009
Mr. Vader goes to Wall Street
Dario Cantatore/Getty Images
From the Death Star to Wall Street?
"Star Wars" bad guy Darth Vader was flanked by Storm Troopers as he rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. No, he wasn't testing out a new planet detonation device. The characters were on hand to represent Lucasfilms Ltd. and the timeless appeal of its most famous movie franchise. Everyone's favorite garbage can-shaped robot - R2-D2 - was also on hand, rolling along the trading floor.
No word yet on whether Vader used the force to influence the markets.
Watch video of the event below.
Posted by jnunes at 3:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2009
Mass. gas prices down another penny
The cost of a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts continues to trickle down as drivers prepare for holiday travel.
AAA Southern New England reports today that a gallon of self-serve regular has dropped a penny from last week to an average of $2.58. That's one cent below the national average and 93 cents higher than at this time last year.
The range in prices in the latest AAA survey for unleaded regular is 56 cents, from a low of $2.33 to a high of $2.89
Oil prices hovered above $73 a barrel on the international market today ahead of an OPEC meeting where investors expect the cartel to keep production levels unchanged.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. pushing energy efficient neighborhoods
Massachusetts officials are hoping to use a federal stimulus grant to take the idea of energy conservation down from the lofty heights of solar panels and wind turbines and bring it back to the neighborhood.The "whole-neighborhood" approach to energy efficiency sounds simple enough, even mundane -- from weather-stripping to improved insulation.
But in New England with its bitter winters and drafty, aging housing stock, that challenge can be more daunting than in balmier parts of the country. It can also produce more dramatic fuel savings.
The goal of the federal "Retrofit Ramp-Up" program is to demonstrate that economical energy upgrades can be created for a large portion of residential, commercial and public buildings in specific communities.
The state has teamed with the City of Boston to seek the $60 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to show that significantly upgrading energy efficiency in an older, urban neighborhood is possible.
The centerpiece of the proposal is a plan to give an energy facelift to Boston's historic Blue Hill Avenue corridor which runs through the city's Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester neighborhoods.
If approved, the state would use $15 million of the $60 million to retrofit the corridor.
Boston officials say Blue Hill Avenue is a good place to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency programs in a dense city environment.
More than 60 percent of residents in the neighborhood live in rental housing, spending upward of 10 percent of their income on energy costs. The city will use the federal dollars to help persuade landlords to upgrade the buildings, lowering energy costs for tenants.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said the investments will not only improve homes, but "transform lives by significantly lowering utility bills and will create good paying green jobs for local residents."
Officials estimate if the state is awarded the $60 million grant, it would result in total annual energy bill savings of up to $41 million by the third year of the project.
It could also create or save more than 4,700 "green economy" jobs statewide, including weatherization contractors, HVAC vendors and installers, energy assessors, and program support personnel
The state is likely facing competition from other states. There's only $360 million available nationwide for the program and the Department of Energy is expected to announce 20 awards of between $5 and $75 million within the next 90 days.
State Environmental and Energy Secretary Ian Bowles said the proposal dovetails with other state initiatives designed to boost energy efficiency, while simultaneously pushing renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
One of those initiatives is the drive for "high performance" buildings -- from hospitals to schools.
The state is offering $15 million in federal stimulus dollars for proposals for the super-energy efficient buildings. The state wants projects that can dramatically reduce energy consumption and substitute renewable energy sources for fossil fuels.
The ultimate goal is the "zero net" building which relies on everything from super-efficient insulation to solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal power to be energy neutral, producing as much energy as it consumes.
Under the Green Communities Act, the Commonwealth has also adopted a new, highly energy efficient state building code and launched a new Energy Efficiency and Building Science Skills Initiative at Springfield Technical Community College.
In the meantime, Bowles said the state will be happy with helping prevent Massachusetts' stock of older apartment buildings, single family homes and trademark wooden tripledeckers from wasting energy.
"By penetrating entire neighborhoods," Bowles said, the whole neighborhood approach "offers a unique opportunity to lower utility bills across communities, creating local jobs as well as more comfortable spaces for people to live and work." (AP)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2009
Putnam survey: People more upbeat about economy
Many Americans expect improvements in the economy and their personal finances, but are planning to rein in holiday spending this year and step up saving next year, according to an online survey of 1,000 adults commissioned by Putnam Investments.
Americans are focused more on their financial health than on their physical health, with “saving more” the number-one New Year’s resolution for 2010, cited by 36 percent, said Putnam, a Boston-based mutual funds company.
In a press release about the survey, Putnam said: "Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) think that stock prices will go up in 2010 and just over half are expecting improvements in the housing market,consumer confidence, consumer spending, and unemployment. However, caution prevails, with 57 percent expecting that consumers will still spend less next year than they did this year and only 40 percent expecting that the US economy will be 'much healthier' in 2010."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. unemployment rate drops 2d straight month
The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell in November for the second month in row, suggesting that the state's struggling job market might be nearing a bottom.
The jobless rate slipped another tenth point in November, to 8.8 percent, following a four-tenths percentage point plunge in October, to 8.9 percent, said the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
In November, the national unemployment rate fell to 10 percent from 10.2 percent in October.
The state's job market, however, remains weak. Massachusetts employers sliced payrolls by another 1,700 jobs in November, led by steep losses in retail, personal services, financial services and government.
Still, two sectors that increasingly drive the state's economy posted strong gains. Education and health services added 3,100 jobs, while professional and business services, which includes a variety of technology, scientific and research firms, added 1,200 jobs.
Two industries hardest hit in recession also posted job gains. Manufacturing, which has lost 23,000 jobs, or 8 percent of employment, since the recession began here in March 2008, gained 900 jobs. Construction, which has lost one in five jobs since the beginning of recession, added 200 jobs, the second consecutive monthly gain.
The unemployment and payroll jobs reports can diverge at times because they are based on separate surveys by the US Labor Department. The unemployment rate is estimated from a survey of households, while payroll employment data comes from a survey of businesses.
To read today's press release from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, please click here.
To read a recent Globe story on the US unemployment rate, please click here.
To read the Globe story on Massachusetts unemployment numbers for October, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
Sipple signs on with Putnam
Putnam Investments, a Boston mutual funds company, announced that Scott Sipple has joined the firm as Head of Strategic Relationships, focused on communication with the asset management research platforms of major wealth management firms.
The newly created position will report directly to William T. Connolly, Head of Global Distribution for Putnam.
Sipple joins the firm from Fidelity Investments, where he headed the Boston mutual fund giant's Bank Trust business unit.
Robert Reynolds, a former vice chairman at Fidelity, took over as president and chief executive of Putnam in 2008. A Globe story in July noted that that more than a third of Reynolds's senior hires have Fidelity ties.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:41 AM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2009
New England Boat Show has a new owner
The National Marine Manufacturers Association, a Chicago-based group that represents the recreational boating industry in North America, said it has acquired the the New England Boat Show from North America Expositions Co. as part of a larger strategic repositioning of its boat show portfolio.
Financial terms of the sale are not being disclosed, the association said.
"The New England Boat Show, now in its 54th year, will proceed as scheduled Feb. 20-28, 2010, at the state-of-the-art Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and will continue to be directed by long time show manager Joe O’Neal," the association said in a press release.
With this purchase, the association said it now owns and produces 20 consumer boat shows annually throughout North America.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:47 PM | Comments (0)
Uno's holiday offer - 12 days of freebies
You've heard the carol "The 12 Days of Christmas." Now Uno Chicago Grill, the Boston-based restaurant chain, is offering "12 Days of Freebies," a concept that could make Scrooge very nervous.
There's a bit of a catch. Folks first have to join the Uno Insider's Club (no membership fee required). Then members can log onto the chain's website at www.unos.com and through Dec. 20, they can qualify for freebies that can be redeemed between January through March. As Scrooge, a man of business, can tell you, those are normally slow months in the restaurant trade, what with many folks making New Year's resolutions to lose weight and save money.
But for Insider's Club members still yearning for cakes and ale during those dreary months, there's the promise of a good deal. At the Uno website, members can download coupon offers, including $5-off discounts on a purchase of $15 or more, a free 60-day membership to BJ's Wholesale Club, free snack hour items, and a free kid's meal with the purchase of an adult entrée, said Uno, a chain of more than 200 company-owned and franchised full-service Uno Chicago Grill units. (For more details, click here to read the chain's press release.)
To drive home the value of its offer, Uno cited a report that estimates how much it might cost to buy all the items mentioned in "The 12 Days of Christmas."
And so if some Scrooge-like soul were to monetize the value of three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree, not to mention five golden rings and the all-important conga line of 11 ladies dancing, what would the math work out to?
The bean-counter's report cited by Uno puts the price tag at more than $87,000.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. airplane parts maker shutting down
Executives at a Taunton airline parts manufacturer says they plan to close the 90,000-foot plant, putting more than 100 people out of work.
Esterline Haskon Aerospace sent a letter to employees saying the 60-year-old business was closing because of the recession, price competition, and decreased demand for the rubber seals the company makes for airplane doors and windows.
Operations will be consolidated at a larger facility in Brea, Calif. The exact date of the shutdown has not been determined, but the company says workers will be given 60 days notice.
Plant manager Vito Gallo tells the Taunton Daily Gazette that terms of the shutdown and whether employees will be offered severance or jobs elsewhere within the company haven't been determined.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)
Holiday travel is projected to rise, AAA says
A total of 2.9 million New Englanders plan to travel during the holidays, up 12.7 percent over last year, and 2.5 million of those New England travelers will go by car, AAA Southern New England said.
Nationwide, AAA said it is projecting that 87.7 million Americans will be traveling 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holidays. That is a 3.8 percent increase from the same period one year ago; the projected increase for the Christmas/New Year period is also the largest projected increase for any major holiday this year, AAA said.
“More Americans traveling during the winter holidays is another sign consumers are continuing to grow more confident in their personal financial situations,” Lloyd P. Albert, AAA Southern New England senior vice president of public and government affairs and new business development, said in a statement.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
Eastern will be official bank of Sox baseball on NESN
Globe StaffEastern Bank and New England Sports Network jointly announced that Eastern Bank will become the "official bank of Boston Red Sox baseball on NESN" in 2010.
The agreement includes full bank advertising exclusivity in the Boston and Providence media markets during all of NESN's spring training and regular season game coverage, the Boston-based bank and NESN said.
"The deal, which marks Eastern Bank’s largest and most aggressive advertising campaign to date, includes commercial spots in NESN’s Red Sox pre-game and game coverage and a presenting sponsorship of NESN.com’s Leading Off, an exclusive game-day update and preview that includes up-to-the minute news and notes from the ballpark, starting lineups, and commentary from many of NESN’s experts," a press release from NESN and the bank said. "Eastern Bank’s sponsorship with NESN will also include an in-branch and online consumer promotion to be announced in the spring."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
Much holiday shopping remains to be done
If you haven't finished your holiday shopping, you're not alone.
According to a survey commissioned by the National Retail Federation, the average person had completed 46.7 percent of his or her holiday shopping by the second week of December, less than the 47.1 percent completed by this time last year. The 2009 figure is the lowest percentage since 2004, when the average person had completed 46.3 percent of their shopping by the same period, the federation said.
Why are folks delaying a bit more this year? Perhaps it's because the recession has many consumers choosing to buy gifts with cash or debit cards, rather than with credit cards.
In any case, many retailers are gearing up for a big surge in the coming days as procrastinators throng stores in the final days before Christmas, the federation said.
Don't feel bad if you haven't finished shopping yet. According to the federation's survey, 19.1 percent of consumers had not even started their shopping as of late last week.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
Tedeschi opens new store in Everett
Tedeschi Food Shops, the Rockland-based convenience store chain, said it has just opened a new store in Everett.
The store at 2029 Revere Beach Parkway is the chain's 189th location and its fourth store in Everett, Tedeschi said.
"In addition to wide assortments of snacks and beverages, the new facility will offer customers fresh food items like the TD’s Deli Express lines of premium sandwiches, delicious wraps, and freshly made salads," the company said in a press release. "The store will offer Green Mountain premium coffee in a variety of flavors."
Posted by globebusiness at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Work party no longer so hearty
There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate at the Boston branch of Deloitte & Touche LLP this year.
Like many other companies, the accounting firm has had to reduce staff. So when it came time to plan the holiday party, the managers debated: Should they hold a party to boost morale, or drop it as an unnecessary expense? In the end, they decided to have a modest celebration, as they did last year. It wasn’t in the State Room, where it has been in better times, with steak and stunning 33d-floor views of the city. It was downstairs, in a suite at the John Hancock Tower, where 500 employees gathered after work on a recent Friday for grilled pizza, ribs, and mac and cheese. Beer and wine flowed, courtesy of the company, but spouses were not invited.
“When you’re trying to keep your costs down, you’d much rather keep your head count stable than have a lavish holiday party,’’ said managing partner William Bacic. But, “It’s still very important to bring our people together.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Charity errs big on fund values
The Boston Foundation mistakenly overstated the value of funds it manages on behalf of some 900 donors by a total of $30 million this past summer, prompting the region’s largest charity to send an unusual letter to the donors, warning them of errors in their philanthropic accounts.
The mistake was essentially an accounting error caught during a routine audit of the organization’s books and ultimately did not affect the amount of money the Boston Foundation gives to nonprofits, said its president, Paul Grogan.
It gave away $86 million in its last fiscal year. However, Grogan could not say whether individual donors may have made philanthropic decisions based on the incorrect information.
The error, which overstated account balances by an average of 8 percent, was reported and corrected in “preliminary’’ quarterly statements mailed to donors last month.
To read the full story, please click here.
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The dividing line between the Internet and television became a little thinner yesterday, as the nation’s largest cable company unveiled a nationwide test of a new service that lets subscribers watch their favorite shows online.
The offering from Comcast Corp., called Fancast Xfinity TV, demonstrates how cable companies are trying to attract and retain subscribers by integrating video entertainment services and the Internet.
Rival cable provider Verizon Communications, which operates the FiOS video service in 16 states, is testing its own TV-on-the-Internet offering. In addition, Verizon has introduced data widgets that deliver Internet news, weather, and traffic reports to the TV screen, and a feature that lets a customer remotely program a digital video recorder through a smartphone or Internet browser.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Bank of America may turn to an insider
The odds keep getting better that an executive from Wellesley will be the next leader of the nation’s biggest bank.
Bank of America Corp. could choose a new chief executive to replace the retiring Kenneth Lewis as early as this week, said a person who was briefed on the search status. And the search appears to have narrowed to two internal senior executives: Brian Moynihan, a Wellesley resident who runs the company’s extensive consumer and small banking division, and Gregory Curl, its chief risk officer, who is based in Charlotte, N.C., where the company is based.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Biogen Idec raises stakes, vows to oust Facet board
With a deadline of midnight tonight looming in its bid for Facet Biotech Corp., determined suitor Biogen Idec Inc. applied fresh pressure yesterday by threatening to replace the majority of Facet’s directors if they don’t heed the wishes of investors who favor the buyout.
The eleventh-hour gambit came in a regulatory filing from Biogen Idec yesterday. The Cambridge company said it would attempt to gain control of Facet’s board if most of its shares are turned over under Biogen Idec’s tender offer, but Facet board members refuse to approve the unsolicited takeover bid.
Biogen Idec’s “best and final’’ offer of $17.50 a share, which values the Redwood City, Calif., drug developer at $420 million, expires at midnight. Even as executives from the two companies have sparred over the takeover bid this fall, researchers at both have worked together on developing a pair of drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and cancer.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Out-of-town law firms target Boston for growth
While Boston’s established law firms are focusing on expanding overseas, national and international practices are targeting New England’s largest city for growth.
At a time when Boston firms are looking outside of the city’s saturated legal market for growth, an increasing number of outside firms are eyeing Boston in what has been an otherwise turbulent year for a legal profession hit by falling revenues and job losses.
Because of the recession, some of Boston’s most prestigious law firms have frozen salaries, slashed bonuses, and cut positions in the past year. But market insiders say the down economy actually has made it easier for outside firms to lure lawyers from established Boston firms and make inroads into the city’s lucrative finance, biotech, and health care industries.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:53 AM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2009
Who, What, Where
Chanchal Samanta (shown at right in a company photo) will serve as chief technology officer for PlumChoice, a Billerica company that provides remote technical services. Samanta's post is a newly created position. Samanta has held senior research-and-development and product development positions with companies in the telecommunications, enterprise software, and financial services sectors, including Applix (now owned by IBM), Unica Corp., Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, and Fidelity Investments.
Michael Owings has been appointed to the newly created role of chief privacy officer at Phase Forward, a Waltham-based provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety. Owings, 55, has held the position of vice president of quality and regulatory compliance at Phase Forward since 2004 and will continue in that related role.
Judy Warner, former bureau chief of Adweek/New England, has been promoted at Directorship Magazine to managing editor and chief content officer; she was previously deputy editor. The magazine for corporate officers and board directors said it has also appointed Mary Helen Gillespie to the position of deputy managing editor. Gillespie is a former business editor of the Boston Herald.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
Give your chicken dinner an extreme "shakeover"
Shake 'N Bake, the Kraft Foods brand, looks to remind consumers that its mixes can transform a chicken dinner from "drab to fab" by placing ads in 17 Boston-area shopping malls "during the fashion-conscious holiday shopping season," Kraft said.
"With fun, tongue-in-cheek call-outs such as 'You're looking good today. Is your chicken looking good tonight?' and 'You look positively yummy. Your chicken, not so much,' the mirrored ads encourage shoppers to check out themselves - and the state of their chicken dinners," Kraft said in a press release. "The playful mall ads mark Shake 'N Bake's first advertising campaign in more than a decade."
Shake 'N Bake brand manager Ellen Thompson said in a statement, "We wanted to catch consumers during the holiday season when they are putting their best faces forward for festive social engagements, and remind them how easy it can be to also dress up their dinner routine without extra time or effort."
The image that accompanies this post was taken from the Kraft website.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
Finagle unveils slider mini bagels
Finagle a Bagel, the Newton restaurant chain, said it is adding something called "Bagel Sliders" to its menu.
The sliders are miniature versions of the chain's plain bagels. Sliders are 1.25 ounces each, the company said. According to the Finagle website, many of its traditional bagels weigh in at 4 ounces. (The photo of the sliders that appears with this post was included with Finagle's press release.)
Sliders are packed four to a box and sell for $2.99, Finagle said.
Finagle is expanding its menu as some consumers are cutting down on restaurant visits because of the tough economy and many fast-food restaurant chains are aggressively promoting their value menu items.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:26 AM | Comments (0)
JetBlue will offer Hub-San Jose flights
JetBlue Airways said it will add a 34th nonstop destination from Boston's Logan International Airport, with new daily nonstop service to San Jose, beginning May 13.
"JetBlue’s new route connecting two of America’s key technology centers will be the only nonstop service between the two cities, complementing the airline’s existing nonstop service between San Jose and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, the only other nonstop air service between Silicon Valley and the Northeastern United States," JetBlue said in a press release.
The release included a statement from said Ed Freni, director of aviation for the Massachusetts Port Authority, who said, “San Jose was Boston’s largest unserved market."
JetBlue said it previously offered Boston-San Jose service; citing soaring fuel prices, JetBlue ended the route last year.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:25 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Holiday returns can carry a hefty price
Before unpacking that new netbook computer or digital camera this holiday season, make sure you really want to keep it. There could be a price to pay just for opening the box.
A state survey set to be released today shows that a growing number of retailers are imposing fees on returned goods, especially electronics, even if the product is not damaged. The charges, known as restocking fees, range from 10 to 60 percent, depending on the merchant.
The hefty return penalties are a surprise to many consumers, like Barbara Wallace of Boston, who bought a $549 laptop computer for her granddaughter at Best Buy in Dorchester yesterday. If her granddaughter decides to return the computer because it is not the one she wants, her grandmother could be out $80.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Search narrows for new bank chief
A top candidate to be chief executive of Bank of America Corp. said yesterday that he is out of the running and would stay in his current job, running Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
“As you may know, I was approached by another bank as part of their CEO search process. It’s not an opportunity that I sought,’’ Robert P. Kelly wrote in an e-mail message to BNY Mellon employees. “After talking with them, I firmly concluded that my place is here at BNY Mellon.’’
Kelly, 55, had previously informed his company’s board that he was in discussions with Bank of America.
To read the full story, please click here.
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As Gillette distances itself from its major pitchman, the Boston shaving giant will focus more on its roster of other sports stars to promote its brand.
Gillette, which over the weekend became the first major sponsor to limit ads featuring Tiger Woods after the golf icon publicly acknowledged that he has had extramarital affairs, said yesterday that viewers will see athletes such as Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, a former Boston College standout, more often in ads.
Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co., said it will continue to air “Fusion MVP’’ razor ads that have featured Ryan since September. Although the company will no longer run spots that exclusively feature Woods, Gillette said it will continue its “Champions’’ campaign, which began in 2007.
To read the full story, please click here.
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'Venture fairs' offer start-ups places to pitch
Terry Swack, cofounder of a new software company, quickly set up her laptop on the podium. Her opening PowerPoint slide splashed on to the large screen at the front of the charmless hotel function room.
She paused for just a few seconds as an official placed a small digital alarm clock on the podium. Now she could begin. She had exactly seven minutes before the clock would start beeping, loudly and annoyingly.
Swack, the chief executive of the Cambridge start-up Sustainable Minds, was one of 66 entrepreneurs giving presentations earlier this month at the New England Venture Summit at the Dedham Hilton - an event promoters said was “one of the premier venture conferences’’ on the East Coast.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Housing planned at ice cream plant
The unused factory where Brigham’s made its ice cream for generations of New Englanders will be sold to an Atlanta developer, who wants to build apartments on the site.
Wood Partners Inc., which calls itself one of the nation’s largest builders of apartments and condominiums, has an agreement to buy the 4-acre site in Arlington from Cambridge Savings Bank, which foreclosed on the property in August 2008.
Rick Dickason, Wood Partners’ director of development for New England, did not disclose the sale price, but said the deal marks the company’s first foray into the New England housing market.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Hospital-size headaches
The people who run Boston’s big hospitals have some of the toughest executive assignments in the city, managing the uncertainties of health care reform and the economic pounding of a hard recession.
Leading Boston Medical Center has never been a walk in the park, under any conditions. The medical, political, and financial challenges of running a teaching hospital with 4,700 employees and a mandate to treat Boston’s poor puts the job in a category of its own.
If anything, that job appears to be more challenging as BMC trustees prepare to select a successor to longtime chief Elaine Ullian. Health care reform has not produced the kind of government reimbursements Ullian anticipated. The recession has battered everyone, while the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy took a powerful ally from the medical center’s political orbit.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:42 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2009
Wally the Green Monster is flying JetBlue
JetBlue Airways is looking to put some serious mileage on Wally the Green Monster in a "Where's Wally" promotion that gives participants a chance to win two roundtrip flights on JetBlue to any of its 32 nonstop destinations from Boston.
In 2008, JetBlue announced a multi-year partnership with the Boston Red Sox, becoming the team's official airline and a partner of Fenway Park. Wally, of course, is the Sox mascot, and the promotion that JetBlue has just unveiled aims to turn Wally into a well-traveled jet-setter.
In a press release about the "Where's Wally Jetting? sweepstakes," JetBlue said: "Today through Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, each week the Red Sox mascot, Wally, will leave clues to his whereabouts by posting a blog of his adventures from his current destination before jetting off to the next vacation spot. By correctly guessing where Wally is each week, fans will have the chance to win two round-trip flights from Boston to any of JetBlue's nonstop destinations served from Logan."
To enter, residents of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,and Vermont can complete an online form for one entry per week, or mail the entry to JetBlue, the airline said.
(In the file photo that appears with this post, Wally hugs Sox legend Luis Tiant. The photo was taken by Jim Davis of the Globe staff.)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:23 PM | Comments (0)
Affiliated Managers to buy Aston funds owner
Affiliated Managers Group Inc. is buying the parent company of the Aston mutual fund family in an all-stock deal worth nearly $114 million.
Beverly-based Affiliated Managers and Highbury Financial Inc. said in separate news releases today that Affiliated Managers, or AMG, will issue nearly 1.75 million shares of AMG common stock at the deal's closing, which is expected in next year's second quarter. The shares will be issued in exchange for all the outstanding equity of Denver-based Highbury, and Highbury's sole subsidiary, Aston Asset Management, will become an AMG affiliate.
The companies did not offer an estimate of the transaction's value. The total would be around $113.6 million, based on Friday's $64.93 closing price for Affiliated Managers shares and the number of AMG shares to be issued at the time the deal closes.
After the deal's closing, employees and management at Aston, as well as subadvisers who manage the company's funds, will remain, Affiliated Managers said. Chicago-based Aston is the principal adviser to the Aston Funds, a group of 24 subadvised, no-load mutual funds with assets of about $6 billion as of Sept. 30.
The firm distributes its domestic equity, international, alternatives, sector, balanced and fixed-income funds to consultants, registered investment advisers, broker-dealers and workplace savings plans like 401(k)s.
The boards of Affiliated Managers and Highbury have approved the deal, along with the trustees of the Aston funds. The transaction is subject to approval of both Highbury shareholders and Aston mutual fund shareholders, as well as other closing condition and regulatory approvals.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:03 PM | Comments (0)
Globe has new Metro editor; McGrory will return to column
Brian McGrory, who gave up his column to lead the Globe's metro news coverage, will return to his column after two-and-a-half years as the Globe's deputy managing editor for local news, Globe editor Martin Baron said today.
Jennifer Peter, the paper's city editor will succeed McGrory, who will relaunch his column in early January.
Baron, in a memo to staff said a new publication schedule for the paper's local columnists, including Yvonne Abraham, Kevin Cullen and Adrian Walker, has yet to be determined.
When McGrory took the deputy managing editor job, he asked that he have the option to return to his column after two years, Baron said. McGrory recently decided to take that option.
"I’m sad to have one of America’s best journalists step out of a position that is central to our success, " Baron said. " I know, though, what we gain: The return of a superb columnist, also one of America’s best, and just the sort of eloquent and forceful voice for the Globe in the community that is also critical to our success."
Peter joined the Globe in 2004 as co-editor of the north suburban edition, and later served as political editor. She became city editor in 2007.
"Jen knows the Globe well, having led the staff on some of our biggest stories," Baron said in his memo. "You’d be hard-pressed to find someone with her range and experience, and her appointment is a good reminder that the Globe newsroom has a remarkably deep reservoir of talent.
Below is the memo that editor Martin Baron sent to the staff:
When Brian McGrory became Metro editor, he set a clear and ambitious course. Stories would be unique and enterprising. They would not only be important; they would be interesting and entertaining. There would be humanity and no lack of humor. The quality of writing would be top-notch.
Those were goals in May, 2007. Today, we can honestly say he has accomplished them all, brilliantly so. This is a Metro staff that day after day sets the state and local news agenda. Under Brian's strong and skilled leadership, the staff routinely beats the competition on major stories. Investigative moxie has been built into its DNA. We've dramatically improved our hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute presence online. And this is a staff with a wide-ranging repertoire. We have stuff that hits hard when called for. We also have reportorial gems that surface the personality — and the characters — of the community. These are stories of emotion and empathy, of sorrow, joy, and laughter. Whatever the story, one thing is for sure: The writing matters. And it sparkles, often because Brian himself applied the polish. Now I have to let you in on something Brian told me when he graciously and enthusiastically took on the job of Deputy Managing Editor/Local News: He wanted advance permission to return to his column after two years. I gave it, of course. If Brian was going to lend his talents to the entire newsroom, this was a loan term I could scarcely refuse.
We?re well past two years, and we?re nearing three. Brian has reminded me of my commitment, and I'm going to honor it. He'll be returning as a columnist in early January. (To his fellow columnists: We'll be working out a new schedule.) I'm sad to have one of America's best journalists step out of a position that is central to our success. I know, though, what we gain: The return of a superb columnist, also one of America's best, and just the sort of eloquent and forceful voice for the Globe in the community that is also critical to our success. So much of what our newsroom has achieved in recent years is a product of Brian's ferocious work ethic, deep contacts in the community, his dedication to craft, boundless creative thinking, and a leadership style that is both inspired and inspirational. Think back on a remarkable run of coverage: revelations about corruption at the highest level on Beacon Hill; investigations into abuse of disability pensions; magnificently comprehensive, vivid, and sensitive coverage of Senator Kennedy's illness, death and funeral; the inner workings of City Hall, and the circles of influence, revealed as never before; and scoops and works of distinctive enterprise that are truly too lengthy to list here. He has set a high standard for us all. Another accomplishment — a huge one — is that he has constructed a remarkable team of reporters and editors. From that talented team comes his successor, Jennifer Peter, who as City Editor has been a marvelous leader in her own right: committed, driven, versatile, deeply knowledgeable. You have to wonder at her seemingly limitless capacity for work and her infinite patience. You have to admire her comfortable manner and how easily she listens, drawing out the best in others. I know for a fact that Brian leaned constantly on Jen for some of the soundest judgment in the newsroom.
Jen knows the Globe well, having led the staff on some of our biggest stories. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone with her range and experience, and her appointment is a good reminder that the Globe newsroom has a remarkably deep reservoir of talent.
Jen's professional career in Boston began in 2002, when she was hired by the Associated Press as a general assignment reporter and then quickly moved to the State House. She became the AP's lead reporter on the legalization of gay marriage and its local reporter assigned to John Kerry's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Jen has built an impressive career at the Globe in the last five years. She became co-editor of the Globe North section in 2004, the Globe?s state political editor in January 2007 and then city editor later that year. She has coordinated the local news report and directly overseen coverage of schools, police, transportation, and Boston's neighborhoods.
As political editor, she directed coverage of the tumultuous early days of the Patrick administration and the final gay marriage vote, with all the drama that preceded and followed it. As city editor, she played a central role in coverage of the Tai Ho fire, which killed two firefighters, and the controversies it ignited; the so-called Craigslist killing; and Senator Kennedy's brain cancer diagnosis and death. She has worked powerfully well with reporters on some of our most memorable enterprise.
A New England native — born and raised in rural New Hampshire (Gilsum, population 500) — Jen majored in English and Fine Arts at Amherst and then received her master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication. South Boston is her home today.
Before coming to Boston for the Associated Press, Jen covered a lot of ground in her early reporting career. She started at a two-reporter newspaper in Sun Valley, Idaho, and then moved on to The Day in New London, Conn., where she covered state politics, the explosive expansion of gambling in southeastern Connecticut, and the region's troubled nuclear power plants. After taking a position at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., she covered municipal government and the state legislature. She also served on the paper's investigative reporting team, collaborating on stories about patronage within the state sheriff's department, routine violations of a law designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay, and Capital One's role in directly writing a law that allowed it to charge higher interest rates.
So we're in for a smooth transition in Metro when it takes effect with the New Year. We're also in for another period of strong leadership.
Please congratulate Jen on her appointment as Deputy Managing Editor/Local News. And, Brian, many thanks for your enormous and enduring contributions to a great news organization.
Marty
Posted by globebusiness at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices fall 2 cents a gallon
Globe Staff
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts has fallen 2 cents to $2.599 a gallon, AAA Southern New England said.
The slight drop followed three straight weeks of unchanged prices in a weekly survey that tracks the average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gas.
The nationwide average price for a gallon of this kind of gas is currently $2.60, AAA Southern New England said; a year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $1.66.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
Interactive Data agrees to buy 7ticks
Globe Staff
Interactive Data Corp., a Bedford-based provider of financial market data, analytics, and related solutions, said it has agreed to buy 7ticks LLC, a privately held Chicago-based provider of electronic trading networks and managed services.
Under the terms of the agreement, Interactive Data said it will pay $30 million in cash upon completion of the acquisition; the final purchase price is subject to certain post-closing adjustments, as well as an earn-out provision that is based on the achievement of certain performance milestones.
"Acquiring 7ticks will accelerate Interactive Data's plans to increase the flexibility, agility, and resiliency of its network infrastructure, thereby supporting a broader range of high-quality direct exchange access and consolidated data-feed services," Interactive Data said in a press release. "Interactive Data expects to retain all of 7ticks' 42 full-time employees, including its leadership team."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. ends check casher partnerships targeting Social Security recipients
Globe Staff
Six local check-cashing services have signed consent orders with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to end a practice that resulted in some Social Security recipients being charged fees to deposit and access their benefit checks, the state's Division of Banks said.
By partnering with out-of-state banks, the local check-cashing services could offer direct-deposit services to Social Security recipients; recipients who used these services were then "routinely charged between $4 and $4.95" by the out-of-state banks each time a Social Security benefit check was electronically deposited into one of these accounts, the Division of Banks said.
Roughly 2,700 individuals in Massachusetts had opened such accounts, said the Division of Banks, which added that it had discovererd the partnerships while conducting routine examinations of check cashers.
Massachusetts law requires all state-chartered banks and credit unions to cash Social Security and other pension benefit checks at no charge, even if the consumer does not have an account.
Check-cashing services that signed consent orders included Boston Check Cashers and its 20 Boston area locations; Cassie H. Farmer, d/b/a Family Financial Center, in Framingham; JMT Check Cashing Inc., d/b/a United Check Cashing, in West Springfield; Northeast Check Cashing Inc., d/b/a the Money Stop, in Worcester; Parras Inc., d/b/a Ace Cash Express, in Worcester; and Speedy Check Inc., in Lowell, state officials said.
"Under the terms of the consent orders, all six check cashers will be required to terminate their relationships with the out-of-state banks and end all advertising that implies that they offer banking accounts," the Division of Banks said in a press release. "In addition, they must provide a letter to each customer that has established a limited-purpose bank account notifying the customer that the check casher will no longer be able to provide direct deposit services."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
Big week kicks off for online retailers
Globe Staff
This will be a frenetic week for merchants that operate retail websites as shoppers scramble to buy gifts that will arrive in time for Christmas.
So predicts Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation. Working with the BIGresearch firm, Shop.org tracks the shipping schedules of online retailers, among other activities.
“Many of the busiest online shopping days of the year are expected to occur the week of Dec. 14 as shoppers everywhere head online to make holiday purchases in advance of impending shipping deadlines,” Shop.org said.
“Shoppers looking to save on shipping should also keep Dec. 18 in mind, as 17.9 percent of retailers said that would be the last day the company would offer a free shipping promotion for holiday gifts,” Shop.org said in a press release. “Shop.org's website, CyberMonday.com, maintains a free shipping section with a list of retailers still offering the popular promotions for delivery by Christmas.”
Posted by globebusiness at 9:25 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
With many out of work, recruiters working harder
WESTBOROUGH - Every time recruiter Sharon Gilbert rejects a job candidate's resume, it weighs on her.
"You're changing somebody's life a little bit," said Gilbert, director of recruitment for Conservation Services Group, an energy efficiency company in Westborough.
And with as many as 578 resumes flooding in for a single opening, Gilbert has had to click the reject button a lot more than she used to. One person applied for 35 positions between February and August and landed three interviews, but was never hired. But the worst part is turning down overqualified applicants, such as the former chief financial officer and bank executive who applied for a $60,000-a-year financial administrative position that involves processing invoices and filling out expense reports.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Shoppers, get out your smartphones
Finale Desserterie & Bakery in downtown Boston has always had a ZIP code. Now, thanks to the Internet search titan Google Inc., the dessert restaurant also has a bar code.
The black-and-white square, with its pattern of irregular shapes, is pasted to Finale's front door. It's part of a window sticker declaring that Finale is "a Favorite Place on Google."
The endorsement may or may not impress passersby. The bar code will mean nothing to most people. But a tech-savvy consumer who scans the bar code with a smartphone will quickly see a Google Web page full of information on Finale, including menus, prices, and reviews from people who have dined there. Finale could even tempt customers to walk through the door with special offers.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Cubist moves to buy California drug maker
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., leaping into the biotech deal-making bazaar, is set to disclose today that it will spend up to $402.5 million to buy a California company that is developing an antibiotic to fight so-called superbugs.
Cubist, a Lexington therapeutics company, already markets an antibiotic, Cubicin, to battle infections caused by the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.
Now it has agreed to pay $92.5 million cash - and as much as $310 million more in future milestone payments - to acquire two-year-old Calixa Therapeutics of San Diego, which is testing an antibiotic called CXA-201 to treat complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections.
"It's right in our sweet spot, right in our strike zone," said Michael W. Bonney, president and chief executive of Cubist.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Space panel says US can't promise the moon
CAMBRIDGE - Under the current plan, people are supposed to set foot on the moon again in 2020.
But that may change. A blue-ribbon panel appointed to review the US space program issued a detailed report this fall that said it lacks the resources to carry out its mission. The report explores possible new directions, including forgoing moon landings and rethinking the plan to end US participation in the International Space Station in 2015.
Last week, Norman Augustine, the former chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp. and chairman of the panel that issued the report, visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with other experts to give an insider's view of the way the panel came to the provocative conclusion that the program "appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory. It is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources."
To read the full story, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2009
Tavern on the Green retains Streambank
Globe Staff
Streambank LLC, a Needham-based advisory firm specializing in the sale of intangible assets, said it will lead the marketing and sales efforts for intangible assets of the Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York.
Streambank said it has been retained by Tavern on the Green Limited Partnership, which has operated the restaurant under a concession agreement with the city of New York since 1974.
The partnership filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in September, after the city announced its intention to enter into a new concession agreement with another operator at the end of Tavern’s current term, Streambank said in a press release. Streambank’s retention is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
Among the available intellectual property assets is the Tavern on the Green trademark and goodwill as well as a website, a URL, and customer data, Streambank said.
The marketing of Tavern on the Green's trademark and goodwill assets is underway, and an auction date will be determined soon, Streambank added.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Winning campaign becomes marketing mess for Gillette
When Gillette rolled out its biggest sports marketing campaign in 2007, it had what seemed to be an advertiser?s dream team: Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer, French soccer star Thierry Henry, and - perhaps the most famous of them all - American golfer Tiger Woods.
The unbeatable lineup is now giving Gillette razor burn. In September, Federer threw a temper tantrum at the US Open finals, which he lost in an upset. Then, last month, Henry set off an international furor when he illegally touched a ball with his hand to set up a winning goal in a World Cup qualifier between Ireland and France.
And now Woods has captured headlines with his mysterious Nov. 27 car crash in front of his Florida home and alleged extramarital affairs with 13 women, including a porn star and a cocktail waitress.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Case's career rewarding by any measure
WELLESLEY - The idea for the most influential measure of the nation's housing market began in Karl E. Case's living room about 25 years ago. The Wellesley College economics professor was stunned to realize he had earned more in equity in his three-bedroom home than he made teaching during the same period. He grew obsessed with housing values and wanted to come up with a better way to measure them.
Within a few years, Case and his colleague Robert J. Shiller of Yale University created what is now called the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices, a measure based on repeat home sales that industry officials and economists rely on to gauge the health of the country's housing market.
Case spun his ideas on home values into a series of papers, became one of the nation?s foremost specialists on housing, and imparted his passion to students, leading them on tours of Boston neighborhoods and requiring them to go through the process of buying a house as part of their course work.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: The decade's best
It takes more than luck for money managers to beat the competition over an entire decade. Dan Rice sticks to a long-term analysis of the world economy and its energy needs, no matter how markets gyrate.
Ken Heebner sees broad investment themes and has the nerve to bet big.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Westwood Station's funding on the line
Governor Deval Patrick's administration is backing off plans to spend millions of dollars in stimulus money to support development of the Westwood Station complex, leaving one of the state's largest mixed-use projects without the road improvements it needs in order to start construction.
Westwood Station originally was among five large private developments that the Patrick administration targeted last summer to receive stimulus funds for the public improvements in and around the properties.
But now officials have concluded that the road work for the massive mixed-use complex along Route 128 won't be ready in time to meet the March deadline the federal government imposed on states for allocating their stimulus funds.
"It's not shovel-ready," said Gregory Bialecki, the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. "Parts of it are not fully designed or permitted."
To read the full story, please click here. ------------------------------------------------------
Facet deals unexpected rebuff to Biogen Idec
The cat-and-mouse takeover game between Biogen Idec Inc. and Facet Biotech Corp. took a surprise turn yesterday, with Facet's board urging investors to reject Biogen Idec's fattened offer, but opening the door to selling at a higher price to Biogen or another bidder.
Facet's move, outlined in a regulatory filing, raised the possibility that Biogen Idec's three-month pursuit could morph into a bidding war for the Redwood City, Calif., biotechnology company - a scenario that would drive up the price for Cambridge-based Biogen Idec.
The two companies have been collaborating on developing drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and cancer.
To read the full story, please click here.
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A year after collapse, fresh outrage at Madoff's deceit
A year since the world learned that Bernard Madoff pulled off one of the biggest cons of all time, some victims are expressing their loss and outrage publicly for the first time - in court.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Congregation Beth Pinchas in Brookline, best known for its charismatic spiritual leader dubbed the Bostoner Rebbe, said it invested $850,000 over 14 years with New York financier J. Ezra Merkin, a fellow Orthodox Jew who funneled billions of dollars in clients' money to the convicted swindler.
Beth Pinchas accused Merkin, his fund Ascot Partners, and its auditor of "misrepresentations and other wrongdoing which facilitated a massive Ponzi scheme" and caused the congregation to lose a substantial portion of its savings, according to a complaint filed in Superior Court in Massachusetts.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2009
Ex-Ropes & Gray attorney charged in SEC inquiry
Globe Staff
The Securities and Exchange Commission said today that it has charged another former Ropes & Gray LLP attorney in the SEC's ongoing investigation into a $20 million insider trading ring involving Wall Street traders, lawyers, and hedge fund managers.
In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that Brien P. Santarlas "tipped material nonpublic information about confidential proposed corporate acquisitions by firm clients to a network of others in exchange for kickbacks," according to an SEC press release.
Santarlas worked with another former attorney in Ropes & Gray's New York office, Arthur J. Cutillo, to "access and misappropriate the confidential information," said the SEC, which added that it charged Cutillo and eight others with insider trading last month. To read an SEC press release about that action, please click here.
An initial attempt to reach Santarlas was unsuccessful.
An international law firm, Ropes & Gray has Boston roots. Santarlas left the firm in September 2008, a spokesman for the firm said.
"The actions of these two former associates represent an extreme breach of their duty of trust to our clients and the firm, as well as gross violations of our policies and civil and criminal law," the firm spokesman said in a statement. "We have been actively cooperating with the authorities in their investigation of this matter."
According to the SEC's allegations, Cutillo and Santarlas tipped material, nonpublic information concerning two proposed corporate acquisitions. Some of the tips were about a plan by Bain Capital LLC to buy 3Com Corp. in Marlborough.
"The SEC alleges that the downstream tippees of Santarlas and Cutillo who traded on these two deals made approximately $20 million in illegal profits," the SEC's press release said.
To read a recent Globe story about this insider trading case, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)
Getting fiscally fit is a popular New Year's resolution
Globe Staff
So suggests a new survey from Fidelity Investments.
The Boston mutual funds giant said it commissioned a telephone survey of more than a thousand Americans, and one finding was that 43 percent of individuals said they are more likely to consider financial resolutions when the new year dawns; in a typical year, roughly a third of folks make financial New Year's resolutions. Fidelity cited tough economic times as the reason for the jump.
In a press release about financial New Year's resolutions for 2010, Fidelity said: "This number increases to 55 percent among those ages 35 to 44, who often are managing multiple financial goals such as saving for retirement and a child's education and paying down mortgages. Additionally, more women surveyed (48 percent versus 39 percent for men) said they are likely to consider financial topics in 2010."
But be warned: Keeping a financial resolution may be hard as keeping a resolution to lose weight. "Although nearly one-third (30 percent) of Americans said it was harder to keep a financial resolution over other popular resolutions, 60 percent said they had stuck with their past financial resolutions versus 51 percent who kept non-financial resolutions," Fidelity said.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
Subway has big expansion plans for Massachusetts
The Subway restaurant chain, which specializes in submarine sandwiches, said it plans to increase its presence in Eastern and Central Massachusetts by roughly 130 stores over the next five years.
There are currently 175 Subway restaurants in the market, said a company known for TV ads starring Jared, a formerly out-sized chap who managed to slenderize his bulky racing lines on a diet that he says relied heavily on Subway fare.As part of a five-year expansion plan, the Connecticut-based chain has put a new development in place that will not only look for new franchisees in Massachusetts but will also seek to assist existing franchisees on improving their operations, the chain said in a press release.
"Along with filling about 150,000 square feet of retail space with the team's projected growth, it will also provide about 1,300 additional jobs at the new restaurants," Subway said.
According to Subway, its submarine sandwiches may be obtained in more than 32,000 locations around the world.
The image that appears with this post was taken from Subway's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Nancy J. Wysenski has been appointed as executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge biotechnology company. Before joining Vertex, Wysenski held the position of chief operating officer at Endo Pharmaceuticals, a 1,200-person specialty pharmaceutical company. As chief commercial officer for Vertex, Wysenski will have broad responsibility for sales, marketing, market research, and sales operations activities as the company creates and executes commercial plans to support the potential launch of its late-stage product opportunities.
Steve Jacobs and Tracy Hurley have won promotions at Arbella Insurance Group, a Quincy-based auto insurer. Jacobs' new title is vice president of marketing, and Hurley is now vice president of claims. Jacobs assumes responsibility for coordinating all aspects of Arbella's market position and strategy as changes ushered in by Massachusetts new managed competition system increase the competitive landscape, and Arbella's entry and growth in other New England states broadens the focus of marketing efforts, Arbella said.
Brian W. Monnich and Elizabeth M. Reilly are among the lawyers being promoted to partner at WilmerHale, a firm that has a big presence in Boston. The firm, which says it emphasizes diversity, noted in a press release that it is promoting 91 women and 86 men. "Among our best and brightest lawyers are women and minorities," William F. Lee, WilmerHale's co-managing partner, said in a statement.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Health insurers mum on practices
Executives from some of the state’s leading health insurance companies, facing an unusual public grilling from state regulators yesterday, refused to answer key questions about why some hospitals and doctors are paid up to three times as much as others for the same services.
But some of the company officials acknowledged that the affordability of coverage for employers and their workers is not a priority in negotiating contracts with health care providers. Instead, they said, provider payments are based on fierce competition among hospitals and doctors in some areas of the state, as well as employers’ insistence that a particular hospital or physicians’ group be included in their plan.
The testimony was part of a monthlong probe by the state Department of Insurance into the reasons for disproportionately high health insurance rates paid by small businesses; but the agency has expanded its investigation to determine what is behind the soaring increases in insurance costs overall, including the large disparities in payments to providers.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MANAGING YOUR MONEY: Saying 'no' may be best gift for grown kids
Let me ask you: When should parents turn off the financial spigot for adult children?
Usually during the holiday season, I get a lot of questions about what to give someone for Christmas or how much to spend. This year the questions center mostly on how and when to help someone out. The notes are particularly heartfelt from parents, many of whom are also in a bind. A lot of adult children now dealing with unemployment or college loans or unbearable credit card debt are beelining it to their parents.
I received a note during an online discussion from a mother struggling to determine if it’s time to cut off her subsidies to her 22-year-old son, who is attending college.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Curling up with an e-book
I’m not in the market for one of those electronic reading devices. I’ve already got one clipped to my belt. It’s called a BlackBerry Bold smartphone, and every day I scour various newspapers and magazines on its narrow, glowing screen.
But millions of others want the width and the warmth of printed text in a device that lets them fit hundreds of favorite titles inside a purse or briefcase. Which is why online bookseller Amazon.com says its Kindle e-readers are now the company’s fastest-selling items. Even an e-reader skeptic like me is fond of the $489 Kindle DX, with its vast screen using technology from Cambridge company E-Ink, a crude but serviceable Internet browser, and the ability to instantly download new books and periodicals. Meanwhile, the Kindle’s most attractive rival, the Barnes & Noble Nook, is sold out until sometime next year.
Then again, you can get all the Sony Corp. Readers you want, though I’m not sure you’ll want one of the current models. While quite good as reading devices, their lack of wireless access seems like a dealbreaker.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Interim labor chief calls jobs a top priority
Nancy Snyder doesn’t know how long she will hold her job as the state’s interim secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. But whatever the length of her tenure, she plans to advance an agenda that focuses on putting Massachusetts residents back to work.
Snyder, 53, of West Roxbury, was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick last week, following the resignation of Suzanne Bump, who plans to run for state auditor in next year’s election. Snyder, taking a leave from her job as president of Commonwealth Corp., said she plans to return to the quasi-public job-training agency as soon as the governor names a permanent successor to Bump.
The Patrick administration is reviewing candidates and hopes to make an appointment early next year, administration officials said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Here's a beef: Chain's steak was a bit shy
Don’t scrimp on the steaks.
That’s the message from the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs to the restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday, whose supplier was fined $700 for serving steaks smaller than advertised at five restaurants - in Attleboro, Springfield, Swansea, Taunton, and Worcester.
Ruby Tuesday confirmed yesterday that one of its suppliers, Colorado Premium Foods, was fined but the casual dining chain did not have more details on the offense.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by bdinardo at 6:04 AM | Comments (0)
December 9, 2009
State fines Ruby Tuesday supplier for underweight steaks
Don't scrimp on the steaks.
That's the message from the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs to Ruby Tuesday, whose supplier was fined $700 for serving steaks smaller than advertised at five restaurants in Attleboro, Springfield, Swansea, Taunton, and Worcester.
Ruby Tuesday confirmed today that its supplier, Colorado Premium Foods, was fined but the casual dining chain did not have details on the offense.
"We'll dig deeper on this," said Ruby Tuesday spokeswoman Meridith Hammond. "But we believe this in no way impacted our guests as far as the food they received."
But consumer complaints triggered the state's investigation, which revealed that Ruby Tuesday's 7-ounce and 9-ounce sirloins, and its 12-ounce rib eye all came in underweight. Ruby Tuesday, on its website, promotes its meaty entrees -- including the 9-ounce Cowboy Sirloin and 12-ounce Rib Eye -- as handcrafted steaks "that are seared to perfection and topped with seasoned butter."
The company has nine restaurants in Massachusetts, according to its website.
Hammond said she is not aware of fines in other states involving underweight steaks and that Ruby Tuesday has several suppliers.
Posted by kstringer at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)
FairPoint hearing on customer rebates put on hold
PORTLAND, Maine -- A bankruptcy court hearing has been put on hold on a motion by FairPoint Communications asking that it not be forced to give rebates to its Maine customers.
The hearing in US Bankruptcy Court in New York was scheduled for Wednesday, but it was delayed.
The company is objecting to an order from the Maine Public Utilities Commission that it to pay rebates totaling $8 million over the next 12 months because of poor service to customers.
The North Carolina-based FairPoint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October. It is scheduled to file a bankruptcy reorganization plan on Thursday. The company has faced numerous problems since it bought Verizon's land line and Internet operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2008.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
Include a receipt with that holiday gift
Alert the followers of Emily Post. And tell other authors of famous etiquette books that it's time to update some of the rules: Including a sales receipt with a holiday gift is no longer as gauche as eating your salad with the wrong fork or ordering a blush zinfandel at dinner.
So proclaims the National Federation of Retailers, a trade group of merchants that perhaps has a vested interest in the dos and don'ts of holiday shopping.
"The stigma of gift receipts is diminishing among Americans," said the federation, which pointed to the results of a recent survey it commissioned to back up its claim.
According to the survey, 58.6 percent of respondents said they enclose a gift receipt most of the time or some of the time when giving a gift.
Indeed, the federation suggests that including a receipt with a gift rises to the level of a thoughtful and considerate act.
"Whether it’s a toy, an appliance, a DVD, or a sweater, gifts of all shapes and sizes can be easily returned when a gift receipt is attached," Tracy Mullin, the federation's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "In this economy, no one wants to worry that a present will be a duplicate, or go unused, so many people are relying on gift receipts to make the returns process easier."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
New RI economic development head recommended
PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. approved a new leader yesterday as part of an overhaul of the quasi-governmental agency, which has been criticized as ineffective in a state with a struggling economy and whose 12.9 percent unemployment rate is third worst in the nation.
Ioanna Morfessis has been a private consultant based in Phoenix since 2004, but has more than 25 years of experience as an economic development official in Arizona and Maryland. The corporation's board unanimously approved her appointment as executive director with an annual salary of $250,000, $150,000 more than her predecessor, Saul Kaplan, according to the Providence Journal.
The state is struggling with how to close a roughly $220 million budget deficit and has a hiring freeze, but Governor Don Carcieri, chairman of the Economic Development Corp.'s board, defended the salary.
"You want to do a national search, you want to recruit the best candidate you can find then you're going to have to pay for that," he told the newspaper.
The appointment must be approved by the state Senate. Senate spokesman Greg Pare said it had not yet received the appointment yet, and he did not immediately know when the Senate would consider it.
"It is incumbent upon Ms. Morfessis to present herself and her qualifications to the Senate, which will make a decision in the best interest of the people of Rhode Island," Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed said in a statement.
A report released in April by a panel appointed by Carcieri found the Economic Development Corp. had failed to create a consistent economic growth strategy and failed to attract new employers to the state. It also suggested a nationwide search for a new director.
Since then, legislation passed to overhaul the corporation's leadership, including allowing the governor to appoint new board members and offer its next executive director a three-year term. Previously, there was no specific term for the position, which is appointed by the governor.
Representative Donna Walsh, a Democrat who served on the panel, called Morfessis a positive, forceful person who could bring decision-makers such as the governor, legislators and economic officials together to formulate a coordinated economic strategy -- something she hasn't seen in the past.
"I think we just need to have someone out in front of EDC that can proclaim all the good things about Rhode Island and make the connection with people throughout the country," she said.
Walsh said she thought there had been too much emphasis placed on luring large businesses to the state, and she would like the corporation to focus more on encouraging small-business development.
Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the Economic Development Corp., said Morfessis' experience leading the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore showed she could build coalitions among cities and towns, and among political opponents. He said he was also impressed with her work there on waterfront development issues, which is key for Rhode Island.
Stokes said he wants the agency to focus on growing existing companies and to become "one-stop shopping" for cities, towns, state agencies and companies looking for information.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:59 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Stimulus projects head for the fast track
Criticized for being slow to spend stimulus money on transportation improvements, Governor Deval Patrick is pledging to fast-track more than two dozen projects, from Boston to Pittsfield, and will have committed all of the state’s highway money before the March 2010 deadline imposed by the federal government.
Top Patrick aides outlined the new round of spending in a letter yesterday to a powerful congressman overseeing federal stimulus spending who had sharply criticized Massachusetts for failing to allocate its $437 million allotment more quickly. In the letter, the state said that for its next round of funding it has identified 28 road projects costing $212 million that will begin in the next few months.
The projects include an $8.1 million road improvement in Quincy that will assist with a $1.4 billion redevelopment of the city’s downtown, a $12.5 million repaving of the Route 9 commercial corridor in Framingham and Natick, and a $1.7 million reconstruction of a badly rutted section of Washington Street in Somerville.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Plan for Polaroid site dropped
A plan to turn the former Polaroid Corp. headquarters in Waltham into a 1.7 million-square-foot office and retail complex has been scrapped and the German bank that owns the property is back to searching for new development ideas.
Robert C. Buckley, the lawyer who represents Helaba Bank, told the Waltham City Council’s ordinances and rules committee Monday night that Helaba is looking at other uses for the 120-acre site off Route 128 and said he did not know what the final outcome will be.
“What was originally proposed is not going to be built there,’’ Buckley said. “Given everything that’s happened in the world in the last two years, it’s an opportunity to rethink it.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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N.E. bank finds a place in the Hub
Webster Bank, one of the largest banks to still be headquartered in New England, is finally targeting the region’s biggest city.
The Connecticut-based bank plans to unveil a 15,000-square-foot branch today in the site of the former Boston Stock Exchange downtown on Franklin Street - its first inside Route 128. That is the first of a number of branches Webster said it will open or acquire in Greater Boston over the next several years. The company has also been adding ATMs in the area through a partnership with Walgreen’s pharmacy chain.
“This is the beginning of what will be a significant growth opportunity,’’ said James C. Smith, chief executive of Webster Financial Corp., the parent of Webster Bank.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Talbots to restructure, cut debt, and merge with Conn. company
Troubled retailer Talbots Inc. yesterday disclosed a major financial restructuring that will cut its heavy debt load and buy out its largest shareholder, a move that puts the Hingham women’s clothing chain on firmer financial ground.
The retailer, which also posted third-quarter profit yesterday after five consecutive quarterly losses, said it will merge with a Connecticut company made up of Wall Street heavy hitters that will acquire 60 to 69 percent of Talbots stock for between $300 million and $350 million. The company, BPW Acquisition Corp., also will use the money to buy out the 54 percent stake in Talbots held by Aeon USA Inc., a unit of Japan’s largest supermarket retailer Aeon Co.
In connection with the deal, Talbots has obtained an additional $200 million in financing from GE Capital Corp., which will also be used to pay down the $491 million in debt held by Aeon and Japanese banks. Talbots said the cash infusion will allow it to reduce its debt by about $330 million.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 8, 2009
Talbots returns to 3q profit on lower charges
Talbots Inc. said it made money in the third quarter, benefiting from lower charges, trimmed expenses and a smaller loss from discontinued operations.
The results were much better than Wall Street expected, sending the company's stock up $1.65, or 22.9 percent, to $8.86 in midday trading. The shares have traded between $1.45 and $12 over the last year.
The Hingham-based women's specialty retailer earned $14.6 million, or 26 cents per share, after a loss of $170.8 million, or $3.19 per share, during the same period a year ago.
(In a press release, Talbots today also announced a plan to reduce its debt by $330 million.)
Income from continuing operations was $15.5 million, or 28 cents per share, after a loss of $14.8 million, or 28 cents per share. Excluding restructuring and impairment charges of 3 cents per share, income from continuing operations was $17.2 million, or 31 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates normally exclude one-time items, expected a loss of 14 cents per share.
Talbots reported a $911,000 loss from discontinued operations in the fourth quarter, much smaller than the $156 million loss from these operations it posted a year ago.
The company also lowered its selling general and administrative expenses to $99.2 million from $127.3 and cut its total ending inventory by $60 million.
Sales for the three months ended Oct. 31 dropped 14 percent to $308.9 million from $357.3 million, missing Wall Street's revenue estimate of $318.5 million. The company said its sales results declined because it took fewer markdowns.
Sales at stores open at least a year fell 15.9 percent in the quarter. This figure is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
For the fourth quarter, the retailer expects an adjusted loss from continuing operations of 6 cents to 14 cents per share.
Analysts predict a much bigger loss of 52 cents per share.
Talbots had 589 of its name-brand stores in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada at quarter's end.
The photo that appears with this post was taken from Talbots' website.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Leonard will head ICIC
The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City said in a press release that Mary Kay Leonard will become its president and chief executive on Jan. 4.
Based in Boston, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, or ICIC, is a national, not-for-profit organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter. Porter is relinquishing his role as chief executive; he will remain chairman of the board, an ICIC spokesman said.
In her most recent position, Leonard was senior vice president for the Community Builders, a developer of low-income housing in urban areas. Her resume also includes a stint as interim chief executive and chief operating officer of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, ICIC said.
Leonard's photo was provided by ICIC.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)
MegaBus offers free seats for early 2010
(File photo: Jennifer Taylor for The Boston Globe)
Megabus.com, an express bus line serving cities in the Northeast and Midwest, said it will offer 100,000 free seats to customers traveling between Jan. 6 and March 20, a normally slow time of the year for city tourism.
NYC & Co., the New York City's official marketing, tourism, and partnership organization, is helping to promote the offer, and 40,000 of the free seats are being allocated for Megabus.com trips to New York, the company said. MegaBus.com offers service to such cities as Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., as well as to Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit, among others.
Customers can begin booking immediately, and folks interested in trying to book a free ride are encouraged to visit the Megabus.com website and when asked for a promotional code, type in "GETAWAY" to book free seats; the offer is subject to availability, and there is a booking fee of 50 cents, Megabus.com said.
To read a recent Globe story about bus travel, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
Recession makes Gen Y more conservative
Many young workers say the economic crisis has made their generation more conservative, which is reflected in not only their financial decisions, but has also made them less inclined to "job hop" and more likely to seek to stick with their current employer until retirement.
Those are some key findings from a survey from Fidelity Investments, the Boston mutual funds giant. The survey looked at the attitudes and behaviors of more than 1,000 employed Americans between the ages of 22 and 33, said Fidelity, which referred to that age group as Gen Y.
In a press release, Fidelity said: "Over 70 percent (of those surveyed) are very concerned about their finances and have set the goal of daily money management and budgeting as their biggest focus. Most Gen Y individuals are using mobile technology to stay updated on their cash flow situations with 64 percent reporting that they typically check their balances online before making a purchase of $300 or more. On average, this younger generation holds over three credit cards with one fifth (20 percent) carrying a balance greater than $10,000 and one in four (25 percent) believing they will never be free of credit card debt during their lifespan."
Posted by globebusiness at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
Papa Gino's, D'Angelo's launch loyalty program
Papa Gino’s and sister chain D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches said they have launched a joint "Guest Loyalty Card Program."
The program enables customers to earn points on purchases at either Papa Gino’s or D’Angelo restaurants that can also be redeemed at either of the chains' restaurants, the company said.
"To kick off the program, Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo will offer a registration bonus of a free small Papa Gino’s pizza, a free small D’Angelo sub, and 25 bonus points," the company said in a press release. "In addition rewards members are eligible to win great prizes such as New England Patriots tickets and free food in the 'Football Frenzy' sweepstakes."
The program will be supported through radio advertisements, in-restaurant signs and posters, and through on-line banner advertising and search engine marketing, said Papa Gino’s Inc., the Dedham-based parent company that operates more than 370 company-owned and franchised Papa Gino's and D'Angelo restaurants.
The program comes as the recession has many consumers cutting down on their restaurant visits. Meanwhile, many fast-food chains have been aggressively promoting their dollar value menus.
The image that appears with this post was taken from the D'Angelo's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)
Green Mountain agrees to buy Diedrich Coffee
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., a Vermont coffee company, said it has agreed to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc. of California for $35 per share in cash pursuant to a cash tender offer, in a transaction with a total value of $290 million.
In a press release that refers to Green Mountain by its stock symbol, GMCR, the company said, "Concurrent with entering into the merger agreement with GMCR, Diedrich terminated its previously announced merger agreement with Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. following the expiration of the negotiation period granted to Peet's under the terms of the Prior Agreement. In accordance with the terms of the Prior Agreement, on behalf of Diedrich, GMCR paid a termination fee of $8,517,000 to Peet's in connection with such termination."
Green Mountain's press release included a statement from Lawrence J. Blanford.
Blanford said: "This combination further advances our objective of becoming a leader in the highly fragmented and competitive coffee and coffee maker businesses and provides significant growth opportunities for GMCR stakeholders. In particular, adding Diedrich's three strong brand platforms, which are highly complementary to GMCR's brands, as well as its manufacturing and distribution facilities in California will, upon completion of this transaction, enable us to more effectively reach consumers across North America and do so with an enhanced array of coffee choices."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:06 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Pay czar's personality is as big as the problems he's asked to solve
If the Harvard Law students settling into the Friday afternoon advanced seminar on mediation were expecting a self-effacing peacemaker as their guest speaker, they guessed wrong.
Kenneth Feinberg - maestro of some of the nation’s most complex settlements, now President Obama’s “pay czar’’ - walks into the room and begins speaking with a booming voice, thick with a Massachusetts accent.
He quickly launches into a theatrical review of some of the contentious legal logjams he has helped resolve, from mega-liability cases concerning Agent Orange and asbestos, to compensation for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Loan delinquencies seen falling
Massachusetts homeowners are expected to reverse a four-year upward trend in mortgage delinquency rates by the first quarter of next year, with more able to make payments on time, according to a study released yesterday by the Chicago-based credit bureau TransUnion.
The rate should fall in the first quarter of 2010 because of better economic indicators in housing and a decline in unemployment - landing at about 4.66 percent by the last quarter - TransUnion officials predict. The delinquency rate is based on borrowers who are at least 60 days behind on mortgage payments.
TransUnion vice president FJ Guarrera said the delinquency rate increases have slowed over the last three quarters and should reverse direction soon. He likened the change to what happens when a ball is thrown in the air - first it slows and then it turns around.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Revere project gets $47million jump-start
Governor Deval Patrick’s administration said it will spend $47 million in federal stimulus money and state funds to jump-start the long-delayed revitalization of the Revere waterfront, where a developer is proposing to build a complex of condominiums, offices, and a hotel on 9 acres.
The public aid will finance a 1,900-space parking garage for the $500 million Waterfront Square project, a seven-building complex near Revere Beach. About one-third of the spaces will be used for the development, the remainder for commuters who use the Wonderland MBTA station.
Waterfront Square is the latest beneficiary of Patrick’s policy to target federal stimulus money at public works projects connected to large private developments, hoping to generate more jobs and larger economic gains. The administration has provided funding for infrastructure improvements for a large project in Assembly Square in Somerville and for a new ramp connecting Route 24 to a business park in Fall River.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Small, bright spots
How many times have you read about companies making money this year by cutting jobs and every other expense to the bone?
That has been a familiar drumbeat repeated in countless quarterly financial reports from public companies in 2009. In a terrible economy, news of actual business growth has been nearly impossible to find. Companies don’t grow and they don’t spend, struggling through hard times and perpetuating them at the same time.
But there have been recent bits of evidence from corporate America suggesting something more upbeat, that the economy is starting to make modest gains. They are scattered data points, nothing any economist would call clear evidence. Here and there, companies say they are starting to do a little better and spending a little more.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 7, 2009
Today in Globe Business
Can a lull in solar activity head off climate change?
CAMBRIDGE - Old Sol these days is showing a strikingly bland face, one nearly unmarred by the usual wild magnetic storms, whipsawing coronal loops, and fiery plasma ejections
The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in almost 100 years,’’ said Madhulika Guhathakurta, lead program scientist for NASA’s Living With A Star program, whose focus is solar variability and its effects on the earth.
From the earth’s perspective, scientists say, the periodic lull in the sun’s activity means cosmic rays reaching our section of the solar system are way up, the planet’s ionosphere is way down, and the minimum may be producing some small but still important counteraction to climate change - though that is controversial.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New bid is no guarantee Biogen Idec will get Facet
Three months of volleying over a takeover bid by Biogen Idec Inc. will come to a head next week, when Facet Biotech Corp. investors respond to the unsolicited tender offer.
The proposed acquisition would join a pair of biotechnology companies focused on fighting autoimmune diseases and cancer. But it has provoked a ferocious tug of war between the businesses, which are already collaborating to develop multiple sclerosis and oncology drugs.
Seeking to break a stalemate that has persisted since Facet’s board rebuffed Biogen Idec’s original $14.50-a-share acquisition offer in September, the would-be buyer raised the ante Thursday by boosting its bid by 21 percent, or $3 a share, to $17.50 a share.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Innovation Economy: Great expectations for cutting-edge firms
Each year the World Economic Forum selects a small group of companies as “Technology Pioneers,’’ and there are usually a few local firms in the bunch.
This year, a committee of tech experts has chosen 26 companies developing products that “will have a deep impact on business and society.’’ Most will get an invitation to the forum’s annual gathering of CEOs, world leaders, and consciousness-raising celebrities in Davos, Switzerland, next month.
Of the 26 Technology Pioneers for 2010, 18 hail from the United States, and six are based in Massachusetts: Three of those are life-sciences companies (Aura Biosciences, MicroCHIPS, and Proteon Therapeutics), two could be dubbed cleantech (Metabolix and Boston-Power), and one is in infotech (StreamBase Systems). Two of those six Massachusetts companies are run by women, both of whom came to the Bay State from Europe (Elisabet de los Pinos of Aura is from Spain; Christina Lampe-Onnerud of Boston-Power is from Sweden.)
To read the full story, please click here.
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User Friendly: More than one way to reach Santa
After the yes-no-yes routine from the Postal Service about whether Santa will be responding to kids’ letters this year, it’s heartening to know that if you text the apple-cheeked one, he’ll be listening.
AT&T customers through Christmas Eve can connect directly with St. Nick by texting SANTA to 1224 on their mobile phones. Santa will reply with a greeting, and, perhaps, an invitation to write back with your wish list.
The snail-mail option, you will recall, started looking shaky last year after a sharp-eyed postal worker spotted a sex offender among some of the Postal Service’s Operation Santa volunteers.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:59 AM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2009
Today in Globe Business
Cold cash gains new warmth as holiday gift in hard times
Toy hamsters and flat-screen TVs? Not this holiday season.
In many households, something with a little less flash will be under the Christmas tree: cash, certificates of deposit, and college savings accounts. More than 44 percent of consumers say they are planning to give the gift of green this holiday season because of the economy, compared with 41.9 percent in 2008, according to a Western Union survey.
And as the nation has rekindled its sense of thrift - today’s personal savings rate of 4.5 percent is double that of a year ago - financial institutions are offering a flurry of deals to entice shoppers looking for the perfect savings account, certificate of deposit, or stocks or gold bullion for their friends and family.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Big solar statement for Fenway Center
The developer of a $500 million complex in Boston is dramatically expanding its solar installation, creating the largest private solar facility in Massachusetts, and one that -with its prominent location next to Fenway Park - will become the most visible example of the state’s embrace of renewable energy.
John Rosenthal’s Fenway Center project will have 1,200 solar panels on the rooftops of its five buildings that will generate up to 650 kilowatts.
The panels will supply all the power needs of a new commuter rail station Rosenthal is also building, making it the first energy-neutral transit facility in the state.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Comcast-NBC deal raises eyebrows
Comcast Corp. says its deal to buy 51 percent of NBC Universal for $13.75 billion in cash and assets will mean more and better entertainment options for consumers, but some broadcast industry watchdogs aren’t so sure. They fear that the deal will lead to higher cable rates, while giving Comcast far too much power over what millions of Americans can or can’t see on their television sets and the Internet.
“I think the proposed deal raises significant questions about consumer choice and competition,’’ said US Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a senior member of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. Markey said his committee will hold hearings on the deal, and he urged the US Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission to closely scrutinize it.
The proposed joint venture with General Electric Co. would give Comcast control of major media assets such as the NBC television network and Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo, cable TV news outlets CNBC and MSNBC, popular cable entertainment channels such as USA Network and SyFy, and the feature film company Universal Studios.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Alternative-fuel vehicles drive into auto show spotlight
Alternative-fuel vehicles are making a strong showing at the downsized annual New England International Auto Show this week, reflecting a growing segment in a slumping industry. But don’t expect them to be parked in your neighbor’s driveway anytime soon.
Nearly every automaker has or is working on some form of alternative-fuel car, from an electric Roadster from Tesla Motors to BMW’s first hybrid, the crossover ActiveHybrid X6 - both of which are on display at the Boston show. But even as manufacturers pour more resources into developing alternative-fuel technologies, the interest in these more expensive cars, while growing, isn’t overwhelming.
Gas-electric hybrids, which make up the majority of the alternative offerings at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, account for 2.8 percent of overall automotive sales, with 265,064 cars sold this year - more than half of them are plug-in Toyota Prius cars, according to the automotive information site Edmunds.com. Car sales in general have fallen over the past few years, and the number of hybrids sold has declined since a high of 346,431 in 2007. But hybrids’ share of the market has continued to climb: From 2006 to 2007, hybrid sales increased 27 percent while overall auto sales declined 2 percent.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Genzyme plans to boost drug’s production
Genzyme Corp. yesterday said it has scrapped its application to produce Lumizyme, a drug to treat the rare genetic disorder Pompe disease, in midsize bioreactors and instead will pursue a new pathway toward making the drug on a larger scale.
After inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration identified nearly 50 deficiencies at Genzyme’s manufacturing plant in Boston last month, including foreign particle contamination, the agency said it was delaying approval of the Cambridge company’s Lumizyme application until it corrected the persistent production problems.
But even as it works to respond to the inspectors’ findings and fix the problems at its Allston Landing plant, Genzyme said the FDA now has agreed to let it apply to make Lumi zyme in 4,000-liter vats, which had been the company’s ultimate aim. Previously, the agency had required approval for smaller-scale production - 2,000-liter batches - as a first step.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Boston Capital: O’Donnell selling Boston Culinary Group to Centerplate
Two business facts have been staring famous Boston concessionaire Joe O’Donnell in the face for years now. Consolidation had swept away most of the little guys in this mature industry and he didn’t have an exit plan of his own.
The way out now is clear. O’Donnell, 65, is selling his Boston Culinary Group to Centerplate, a larger concession and food service operator owned by private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. The sale is expected to close later this month or early next year.
The price of the transaction between the two private companies, which includes cash, stock, and options, was not disclosed but both sides said it would be less than the $210 million Kohlberg paid for Centerplate just 11 months ago.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:57 AM | Comments (0)
December 3, 2009
MFS is promoting Roberge to president
MFS Investment Management, a Boston money manager, said that Michael W. Roberge will be promoted to the position of president, effective Jan. 1.
"Mr. Roberge assumes the title from Robert Manning, who continues as chief executive officer and chief investment officer of the firm," MFS said in a press release. "Mr. Roberge will continue to serve as chief investment officer of US Investments, reporting to Mr. Manning."
As of Oct. 31, MFS managed $175.3 billion in assets on behalf of individual and institutional investors worldwide.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)
NH expects slight increase in visitors this winter
CONCORD, N.H. Tourism officials expect 6.5 million visitors to New Hampshire this winter, a 2 percent increase over last year.
The state Division of Travel and Tourism Development says spending by tourists and business travelers in the next few months is expected to total $830 million, on par with last year.
Officials expect an increase in the number of day trips, with most of the winter visitors coming from other New England states.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)
Rosengren defends Fed policies in Hub speech
The president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston vigorously defended the Fed's actions during the recent financial crisis in a speech delivered today in Boston.
Eric S. Rosengren told his audience why saving insurance giant AIG was important in the Fed's bid to prevent the country's economic catastrophe from spreading and he argued why views the Wall Street-versus-Main Street premise of interpreting the crisis is unhelpful.
This post is based on a copy of a speech that Rosengren is delivering today to the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association and that was distributed to reporters. Another point that Rosengren highlighted in his speech was the Fed's huge balance sheet.
To read a copy of Rosengren's prepared remarks, please click on "Full entry."
Eric S. Rosengren
President & Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Speech to the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association Annual Meeting
Boston. Dec. 3, 2009
First let me thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. I have always loved newspapers, and now as a policymaker I have an even greater appreciation for the ways that reporters, editors, and publishers inform the public, ask good and important questions, and often influence outcomes.
From all I have been hearing, it is not an easy time to be a newspaper publisher. So we have something in common. It has not been an especially easy time to be a central banker, either.
(Of course, the views I express today are my own, not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Board of Governors or the Federal Open Market Committee.)
As publishers you must spend a great deal of time thinking about the key stories of our time – and the ways that your employees are uncovering them, reporting them, and putting forth the narratives that engage readers and shape the common understanding.
Here, too, we have something in common. Central bankers care deeply about what people believe – that is, the stories they deem true – about issues like economic growth, financial stability, and inflation expectations. I know we could do a better job of explaining ourselves and communicating – although I think we do a much better job now than we did in the past.
Beyond those core central bank responsibilities, we also follow with intense interest the commonly accepted narratives – the stories, if you will – of this extraordinary financial crisis. Making sure these complex stories are known and understood can benefit everyone, if in doing so we find ways to avoid repeating the problems of the past two years. It is also important that we don’t assume the wrong lessons and adopt the wrong policies, going forward.
Of course, it is important and natural for the public, and the public’s representatives in Congress, to ask how the nation encountered such problems, and to vigorously explore what public policies – including those related to the central bank – would best prevent future crises. In short, to insist on getting the “straight story.”
In that spirit, today I would like to “report” to you three stories of this crisis – specifically around the controversial, emergency actions taken by the central bank. Understanding the context of those actions may help in understanding what policy reforms are necessary.
While I can’t claim to be fully objective, I pledge to tell it like I saw it. The three stories I will touch on are the following:
• First, why it was necessary to “bail out” certain firms – like AIG – and what this story teaches us about avoiding such necessities in the future.
• Second, why the Federal Reserve took such aggressive action to dramatically expand its balance sheet to address the crisis – and what implications and effects we expect from those actions.
• Third, the story behind what seems to many like a tendency of the Fed and other policymakers to focus more on Wall Street than on Main Street.
The Straight Story, Book One
The story of AIG is being told by many observers. I want to give you my take on why it was necessary to “bail out” AIG – and what the story says about how such outcomes can be avoided in the future. This narrative is, at its heart, about “the lesser of several evils.”
AIG was the largest US insurance company, with extensive business activities around the world. Importantly, AIG was one of the few companies that carried a Triple A credit rating.
The insurance subsidiaries were overseen by state insurance regulators, since there was and is no federal regulator for insurance, and the Federal Reserve does not have regulatory authority over insurance companies (nor do the OCC or FDIC, for that matter). AIG owned a small savings and loan institution that the Office of Thrift Supervision oversaw. Indeed, from our perspective the fact that the Federal Reserve had little by way of concrete, quantifiable information on the activities of the country’s largest insurer, because it had no role in regulating or supervising the company, was one of the serious problems going into this crisis.
As a result of AIG’s Triple A credit rating, a group of “financial engineers” in a relatively small subsidiary of the company (AIG Financial Products) realized that they could sell insurance against the default of securities, including securities backed by subprime mortgages. Because of AIG’s reputation and stellar rating, parties felt comfortable buying the insurance (knows as credit default swaps) from AIG, and AIG became a major insurer against credit losses on these types of securities. There was little supervisory oversight of the institution, and these transactions. In effect, the subsidiary became an unregulated hedge fund within AIG using the credit rating of the entire company to place large bets, with little held in reserve against these
bets going bad.
This reflects a significant risk-management breakdown within the company. It also represents a significant gap in supervision and regulation, because AIG had become systemically important by virtue of its out-sized role in writing this kind of insurance – but no one was aware of the full extent of the activities that made it systemically important and risky.
Vital to this story and the others I will tell you today is the context – essentially, what was happening in the economy and financial markets as AIG’s problems were being revealed. Figure 1 provides a timeline showing some of those events.
Bear Stearns had failed earlier in the year, Lehman Brothers had failed that weekend, and it was announced that Merrill Lynch was being acquired. The viability of the traditional investment banking model was fully in question. The stock market had declined sharply (as shown in Figure 2), and many of the credit markets were in severe disarray. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had been taken over by the government. The losses on assets in a money-market fund known as the Reserve Fund pushed its value below 100 cents on the dollar – it “broke the buck” – and this caused a run on prime money market funds that, as Figure 3 shows, was seriously disrupting short-term financial markets as mutual funds scrambled to increase liquidity. There was essentially a “run” on prime money-market funds. And several very large banks were rumored to be in trouble – including Wachovia, the nation’s fourth largest bank; and Washington Mutual, the largest remaining thrift since Countrywide had been acquired.
My next slide (Figure 4) reprints some of the unprecedented headlines emanating, morning after morning, in some of the darkest days of the crisis. To me, they serve as a bracing reminder of where we were then – and, again, the context for what was done. Many firms were reporting an unwillingness to trade in financial contracts, as the health of the counterparties to those contracts became a growing concern. You’ve probably heard the maxim that markets abhor uncertainty, and the aforementioned problems left almost every counterparty tainted by uncertainty related to "cratering" assets they might be holding – representing losses which might prevent them from holding up their end of financial contracts. Fear approaching panic swept through global credit markets.
A manifestation of this panic was an unprecedented increase in the interest rate at which large global banks were willing to lend to each other for even very short periods of time, relative to the short term rates influenced by the Federal Reserve. You can see the dramatic widening of the spread between the two in Figure 5.
In this context – let me bring in a second headlines slide (Figure 6) – a sudden and disorderly bankruptcy of a company with the global scope, deep reach, and voluminous activity of AIG would have severely exacerbated the crisis. Banks and financial firms that thought their AIG insurance protected them against losses on the mortgage-based securities they held would teeter on insolvency if, to their surprise, their AIG insurance evaporated and they saw large additional losses. Their counterparties – firms that had lent them money and expected repayment – in turn quickly became fearful that their debtors might have exposure to an AIG failure, which could threaten their ability to repay and lead to runs on these institutions.
In short, the failure of AIG would have caused very large losses at, and indeed possibly failures of, many financial firms. While it is impossible to know exactly what would have happened – what we like to call the counterfactual – I believe AIG’s failure could well have caused cascading failures of many financial institutions, reminiscent of the Great Depression. This would have further frozen credit creation, and the end result would likely have been an even higher – I believe much higher – national unemployment rate than the very high rate we see now. Let me bring up my third and final headlines slide (Figure 7) which shows us some of what happened anyway, in late September and early October of 2008.
Faced with a rapid and disorderly failure, the best outcome – hypothetically – would probably have been for the government to take over AIG. The shareholders would have been wiped out, management removed, and the company placed in receivership. While that sounds rather grave, such a relatively orderly government take-over would have avoided many of the consequences of the disorderly failure that I just outlined. Unfortunately, though, there was no applicable resolution authority in place to accomplish this for AIG or for other systemically important, non-bank financial actors. And there still is none today. With banks, resolution authority exists and is administered by the FDIC. Not so for non-bank financial organizations.
Thus the experience with AIG revealed two gaps in the regulatory framework. No one was charged with regulating or supervising the high-risk behavior; and once everything went wrong, no framework existed to resolve the institution in an orderly manner.
If you will indulge me a metaphor, the lack of resolution authority is akin to having a highway that moves well most of the time. Small accidents occur, and generally the parties pull to the side with only minor disruptions to traffic – although those directly involved in the accident may be seriously impacted. However, if a large tractor trailer overturns, you need equipment that can handle an accident involving a vehicle of that size. Emergency equipment that could handle small vehicles might be totally lacking in this case. In the absence of such equipment, the roadway grinds to a halt and everyone who uses that road is affected – not just those directly involved in the accident. Even those with no interest in using the highway may find themselves in traffic jams that spill over onto surface roads.
We have been operating in a world where small bank failures can be addressed with acceptable side effects, but large bank failures or the failures of large non-bank financial firms cannot. It is in everyone’s interest that the tools exist to clear large “vehicles” and keep the “roadways” moving.
Again, an AIG bankruptcy was likely to completely freeze over already frigid financial markets, and create runs on AIG’s many counterparties. So the problem had to be contained. Since no resolution authority (outside of bankruptcy) existed in US law for a firm like AIG, and because no other financial institution was able and willing to buy AIG and internalize its financial problems, the only option for containing the problem was an emergency loan from the Federal Reserve. Regrettably, an emergency loan is a far-less-than-optimal solution. But I believe it was the only reasonable solution available at the time. We abhorred the steps taken, but thought them to be the lesser of several evils, given the situation.
Allow me to sum up the two gaps I mentioned a moment ago – gaps that remain today. First, no one was explicitly responsible for systemically important institutions. Second, lacking a framework of resolution authority, policymakers were faced with the option of an unprecedented bankruptcy that may have caused a run on financial markets and institutions. As a result, the Federal Reserve felt compelled, by the likely downsides of a bankruptcy, to lend to a company over which it had no regulatory or supervisory oversight, in a very limited time frame, in order to prevent a true financial-system meltdown.
There are many distasteful parts to this story, and the frustration many feel is absolutely understandable. I would simply suggest that the most important narrative is that the legal framework for resolution in an orderly, transparent, and more palatable manner did not exist – but should have, and must as we move ahead.
Indeed, while these controversial Fed actions were taken to prevent widespread problems for the entire economy, with proper resolution authority in place in the US, the Federal Reserve would not have needed to be involved with AIG at all.
The Straight Story, Book Two
My second story is about why the Federal Reserve had to expand its balance sheet so dramatically to address the crisis, and the implications of its swollen balance sheet. And how the need for such actions can be avoided in the future.
This narrative is, metaphorically, about the triage necessary in an “emergency room” atmosphere where, amidst the confusion and stress of the moment we found we had more creativity than many thought – leading to some very helpful “treatments” for the patients.
To see how dramatic the expansion in the Federal Reserve balance sheet has been, consider Figure 8. Prior to the crisis, the Federal Reserve had a balance sheet of $880 billion. Today it has expanded – more than doubled – to over $2 trillion. You can see why some eyebrows have been raised.
Initially, most of this expansion was a consequence of attempting to “restart” financial markets in the wake of their freezing up after the failure of Lehman Brothers.
Figure 9 gives one picture of the freeze-up by showing the dramatic decline in securitization of financial assets like home equity loans, credit card receivables, student loans, and car loans. While there are alternatives to securitization, such as bank lending, this represented a narrowing of financing sources and was likely to increase costs for the borrowers.
I’ll mention one example of Fed efforts. At the Boston Fed we operated the assetbacked
commercial paper money market liquidity facility or “AMLF” on behalf of the Federal Reserve System. The light green area in Figure 10 represents the AMLF, which provided money market funds – an increasingly important corner of the financial world – the ability to sell asset-backed commercial paper. The funds were having significant difficulty selling the paper because potential buyers were concerned about the extent to which it was backed by troubled mortgages – a risk most were unwilling to bear. The mutual funds, however, needed to sell the paper in order to meet the substantial redemption requests that arose as money market fund depositors sought to move their deposits to insured institutions in the wake of Lehman’s failure.
In the first ten days of operation, the AMLF lent out $150 billion. Please note that I said “lent out,” not “gave out.”
The facility currently has no loans outstanding and should improvements in market conditions continue, we may close it in February. It was structured to be attractive during times of financial stress, but unattractive under more normal economic conditions.
The facility experienced no losses – all the loans were repaid, with interest. Since the Federal Reserve delivers excess returns to the Treasury, this program not only supported money markets and the asset backed commercial paper markets, which were under great stress, but also as a side benefit generated income after expenses that we return to taxpayers. The Fed’s other market-stabilizing “emergency room” activities, such as the commercial paper facility and the foreign central bank swap lines, similarly helped stabilize panicked markets and are winding down naturally as markets normalize.
Even after all we did to provide and maintain sources of short-term funding, the Fed’s traditional policy tool – the short term interest rate – encountered the “bound” of zero. To offset our inability to lower interest rates any further, we made a policy decision to undertake programs to buy Treasury and mortgage-backed securities (see Figure 11).
This was designed to support market function, and ease credit conditions, in the mortgage
market. While the Treasury purchase program was an extension of traditional Fed openmarket
operations that we use to set short-term interest rates, the mortgage-backed securities program was a significant departure from conventional policy.
Since announcing the program at the March FOMC meeting, the Fed has purchased $300 billion worth of additional Treasury securities. The less traditional mortgage-backed securities program is scheduled to purchase $1.25 trillion by the end of the first quarter of 2010. Maintaining a healthy mortgage finance market is a critical economic policy goal, because housing is a major component of most economic recoveries – and because the housing sector has been significantly impacted by this downturn.
In fact, residential investment turned positive in the third quarter of 2009 after 14 straight quarters of decline.3 While there are many factors that account for the improved housing outlook, including the government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit program, Figure 12 highlights that 30-year mortgage rates declined on the announcement of the purchase program and have remained low since the Fed began purchasing mortgages.
Prior to the announcement of the program, the 30-year mortgage rate was over 6 percent,
while over the past 6 months the mortgage rate has hovered around 5 percent. Still, some are concerned that the expansion of our balance sheet will be inflationary. For several interrelated reasons, I do not believe this will be inflationary in the near term, and I offer them as critical parts of this story.
First, we can look to the one recent instance of a central bank in a developed economy setting its policy rate to zero and dramatically expanding its balance sheet – Japan. Despite the increase in the Bank of Japan’s balance sheet, shown in the red line of Figure 13, Japan’s main problem has been deflation, not inflation (as shown by the blue line in that figure).
Second, despite the expansion of our balance sheet, US inflation has been declining. This is typical of recession periods (see Figure 14) for the same reasons that Japan experienced deflation – labor markets remain slack as recessions end, and labor costs are subdued. So total and core inflation tend to be much lower coming out of a recession than going in. Currently in the US, labor markets are weak, and labor costs have been trending down, not up (see Figure 15), as has been the case in previous US recessions and in Japan over a more protracted period.
Third, expansion of reserves could be inflationary if banks had healthy capital ratios and loan demand was strong in an economic environment close to full employment. Unfortunately, I do not expect those conditions to predominate in the near term.
And, in general, I am confident that as conditions merit, the Federal Reserve will adjust the stance of monetary policy to an appropriately less accommodative stance. While the Fed’s aggressive actions and unprecedented policy stance may be a bit unsettling, I think this is a story of effective emergency action that will wind down naturally as the emergency conditions subside, and treatments that will set the patients on the road to recovery.
The Straight Story, Book Three
The third story I offer you today involves what seems like a tendency of policymakers to focus more on Wall Street than on Main Street. This narrative is, at its heart, about fixing the underlying “plumbing” or the supporting infrastructure of the economy. The commonly held narrative, quite understandably, has been Wall Street versus Main Street. I might suggest the actual story is more about where, like it or not, Wall Street and Main Street intersect and are
interdependent – and that too few appreciated this reality before the crisis and even now with the benefit of hindsight.
The recent financial crisis clearly exacerbated problems in what we call the “real economy” – the production of tangible goods and services by real workers using real capital equipment and materials. The Federal Reserve has a mandate from Congress to pursue policies that yield maximum employment consistent with price stability. As economic problems became worse, the Federal Reserve took many actions that have received substantial public scrutiny, and criticism – but, I believe, substantially mitigated problems that would have otherwise adversely affected employment and price stability. This was consistent with our mandate.
As I suggested earlier, we undertook many of the actions to support individual financial institutions because we lacked viable alternatives to prevent a full-scale meltdown of the financial sector, with its damaging impact on everyone. With no entity responsible for ensuring financial stability and no way to resolve systemically important non-bank financial firms (which is important because the non-bank “shadow” banking system played an expanding role in credit delivery to firms and individuals4), the Fed stepped in to prevent a series of financial failures that could and would have led to a much worse outcome for the economy – and thus for all “residents of Main Street.”
I can assure you, the immediate inclination was to let these institutions fail as a consequence of their risk-management breakdowns. But when weighed against the resulting losses in employment throughout the economy that were likely to mount if they had failed, we “held our noses” and did what we felt we had to do to prevent the actions of Wall Street from inflicting further collateral damage on Main Street.
My hope is that the work being done by Congress will remedy these significant regulatory gaps. My hope is that the Federal Reserve will not be in a position of needing to choose the lesser of two or more evils and lend to a deeply troubled yet systemically important financial institution it does not supervise. Similarly, my hope is that the Fed will not be in a position of needing to try to put in place ad hoc emergency remedies to stem the adverse economic consequences of a disorderly failure of one or more of these systemically important institutions.
Many of our actions operated through financial institutions or financial markets, but were designed to help Main Street weather a crisis. While the crisis was not of Main Street’s making, it took place within the financial infrastructure Main Street relies upon for credit, capital, and liquidity – an inherently frustrating scenario for citizens, to be sure.
However, measures like the Fed’s mortgage-backed securities purchase program have improved mortgage-market conditions, making it more affordable to obtain a loan for a home purchase or to refinance an existing mortgage. Our AMLF program was intended to support money market mutual funds at a time of great stress and, ultimately, shore up the market for commercial paper – a market that makes credit cards, student loans, and home equity loans more affordable. Our Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility or TALF program was designed to improve securitization, which makes credit more affordable, by facilitating the renewed issuance of consumer and small-business asset-backed securities – essentially providing a financing vehicle for credit instruments that had been disrupted by poor functioning in securitization markets. In doing this, the facility helps make credit more available for student loans, consumer credit, commercial real estate, and small business loans; leading to lower borrowing rates and improved access in the market for consumer and small business credit.
Altogether, our programs to support financial institutions and financial markets were intended to prevent a financial collapse – not to benefit financial institutions, but to avoid a dramatically higher unemployment rate across the economy.
The actions by the Federal Reserve, while out of the ordinary and out of our own comfort zone, were what were necessary during these trying times. Hopefully, we as a nation will take actions to ensure that many of these measures are not needed in the future.
Concluding Observations
I’m not sure if my three stories are told well enough to make it into the newspapers you all publish, but I thank you for listening.
I will conclude by noting that we are in a far better place than we were in the beginning of this year. I believe we are – appropriately – reading few if any articles that describe the nation as flirting with a second Great Depression. One reason we are hearing less about the risk of a second Great Depression is because of bold and creative actions taken by the Federal Reserve.
But let me acknowledge, without question, that the Federal Reserve, along with other regulators and parts of the government, did not accurately foresee and prevent all the problems that occurred over the past two years. We were far from perfect, but we are doing our best to learn from mistakes. We are partly responsible for the fact that we are coming out of a “great recession,” and no policymaker can be happy about that.
But let me stress – in contrast to some recent pundits – that this was not just a Fed failure, or that of the public sector alone. Financial organizations and indeed many economic actors of all stripes did not properly explore, and manage, the risks they were taking on.
But in the absence of the actions taken once the problems were apparent, we would have seen outcomes far worse than those the nation experienced.
Also, importantly, we are doing a great deal to understand and apply the lessons of the crisis. As Chairman Bernanke and others have pointed out, we are for example reorienting the Fed’s supervisory activities, in light of the lessons of the crisis, in areas like capital adequacy, risk-management practices, liquidity management, and the effects on risk-taking of compensation structures. And we are augmenting traditional firm-specific oversight with a more macroprudential5 approach to anticipating and addressing threats to financial stability – that is, one that goes beyond a focus on the safety and soundness of individual institutions to also focus on risks to the financial system as a whole.
In particular, I would point to the fact that avoiding a much more damaging wholesale financial collapse hinged in no small part on key parties like the Federal Reserve having the ability to obtain accurate assessments of financial firms’ conditions, and having the ability to influence the actions of key financial institutions and financial markets. Again, this was critical to avoiding an even more damaging financial collapse. One response to the crisis would be to limit the central bank’s activities solely to monetary policy, curtailing the Fed’s supervisory and lender-of-last-resort roles. My view – built on careful research, my experience as a bank supervisor and Discount Window lender, and my time as a member of the FOMC – is that supervisory and lender-of-last-resort responsibilities currently in place at the Fed were critical to preventing far worse outcomes for the economy and the country.
It is obviously appropriate, and important, for the public and the Congress to ask how we got into such a mess, why it was so hard to foresee, and how we can avoid such problems in the future. They should insist on getting the “straight story” – and on vigorously exploring what public policies would best prevent future crises.
I firmly believe the narratives I have shared today, and I hope they help shape understanding of this important episode – and what can prevent its recurrence.
Thank you.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
Office party advice: Lay off the punch and hijinks
Ambitious employees would be well advised not to let their inner party animal out for a romp during holiday festivities at the office.
So recommends the Creative Group, a division of Robert Half International Inc., a California company specializing in staffing services.
If the Creative Group's suggestions are any guide, it would seem that a discreet party persona is as essential to career advancement as having an MBA degree or the ability to laugh boisterously at a boss's lame joke.
The Creative Group said it conducted 250 telephone interviews with senior marketing executives and ad agency executives around the country, and one survey finding was that 92 percent of those polled said that "workers’ office party antics can affect their career prospects."
Instead of loitering about the punch bowl and becoming incandescent on its contents, the smart employee chooses to use the office party as a networking opportunity, the Creative Group said.
In a statement, Creative Group executive director Donna Farrugia said: "In many businesses, there may be few chances to mingle with corporate executives and others throughout the organization. Employees should use these events to form positive connections with colleagues outside their usual circle. Being well-networked internally can help professionals perform better and enhance their value to their firms."
Herewith are some tips for office-party behavior from the Creative Group, quoted from its press release.
1. Give the gift of good manners. Your social graces are on display at these events, so R.S.V.P. promptly, arrive on time and thank the host for having you. If it’s a formal dinner and you’re not clear on table setting etiquette, be sure to familiarize yourself before the event.
2. Bring good tidings to all. Go out of your way to chat with coworkers from other departments. Also, be friendly to guests who aren’t employed by your firm. They will appreciate being included in the conversation.
3. Get away from the grinches. Don’t spend too much time with the bah-humbug types at your holiday soiree. You want to avoid guilt by association. Plus, it’s more fun to spend time with those who are enjoying themselves.
4. Be jolly, but not overly so. Most people know that too many cocktails at a work function is a recipe for disaster. Yet, that doesn’t stop some from overindulging. Limit your alcohol intake, and don’t pressure others who choose to abstain.
5. Wrap up on a high note. Don’t be the first or last to leave the party. When departing, be sure to thank your host and those who worked on the event. Sending an e-mail or handwritten thank-you note to your host is another way to show your appreciation.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
Volunteers are more generous, Fidelity study says
The average amount of money donated to nonprofits by Americans who have volunteered in the past 12 months is $2,593 annually, more than 10 times the average $230 donated by Americans who have never had a volunteering experience.
That's a key finding of a new study by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, which was established by the Boston mutual funds giant Fidelity Investments in 1991.
Another survey finding: 67 percent of Americans who have volunteered in the past 12 months say they generally make their financial donations to the same organizations where they volunteer.
In a press release, Fidelity said that the Gift Fund study also found that 60 percent of Americans say that charities have become too much of a big business; that attitude is especially prevalent among people 55 years old and older.
According to Fidelity, the Gift Fund's goal is to "further the American tradition of philanthropy by providing programs that make charitable giving simple and effective." As of Sept. 30, more than 56,000 donors had recommended grants totaling more than $9.5 billion to over 130,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide since the Gift Fund's inception, Fidelity said.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
BJ's Wholesale sales climb in November
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said today that its sales rose in November as more cost-conscious shoppers visited the retailer to buy items in bulk, but the result missed analyst expectations.
Sales in locations open at least a year rose 1 percent at the discounter. Gasoline sales had no impact on the metric during the month, the Natick-based retailer said.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a gain of 4.7 percent, or 4.2 percent excluding gasoline sales.
Sales at locations open at least a year are seen as an important performance indicator because they measure growth from existing locations rather than newly opened ones.
Net sales for the month climbed 6.4 percent to $833.6 million from $783.2 million.
Executives at the wholesaler said sales of food rose 2 percent during the month, as shoppers picked up more fresh baked good, breakfast foods, frozen food and juices. Sales of other general merchandise fell 1 percent.
BJ's operates 186 food clubs in 15 states.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)
TJX sales rose 15 percent in November
TJX Cos. reported strong November results, saying that sales for the month were $1.8 billion, up 15 percent over the same month last year.
The Framingham retailer operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright; the chains sell apparel and home-fashion items at prices below what department stores charge for similar merchandise.
A retail metric that Wall Street scrutinizes closely is something called same-store sales - sales at stores open at least a year.
At TJX, November same-store sales rose 8 percent, said the company, which refers to same-store sales as "consolidated comparable store sales."
(The AP reported that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had higher expectations for TJX, predicting a 9.3 percent increase in November sales at stores open at least a year.)
TJX's press release included a statement from Carol Meyrowitz, company president and chief executive.
"We are very pleased with our November consolidated comparable store sales increase of 8 percent, which was achieved despite unseasonably warm weather during much of the month," she said. "The Marmaxx Group, consisting of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, posted a strong comparable store sales increase of 9 percent for the month. Business throughout the Thanksgiving week and weekend was strong, and our fourth quarter is off to a great start. We are confident in our momentum, and we will be frequently shipping fresh, exciting selections at excellent values to our stores throughout the holiday selling season to meet consumers' gift-giving needs. With the important month of December still ahead of us, we are maintaining our guidance for fourth quarter Fiscal 2010 earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $.65 to $.71."
Posted by globebusiness at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)
Second suitor looks at Worcester newspaper
Jeff Greene, a real estate magnate and billionaire investor who grew up in Worcester, is pursuing an 11th-hour bid to acquire the Telegram & Gazette, the Worcester newspaper is reporting.
Greene’s interest in buying the newspaper from The New York Times Co. would put him in competition with a local group headed by Ralph D. Crowley Jr., chief executive of Polar Beverages Co. of Worcester, and Harry T. Whitin, recently retired editor of the T&G, the paper said.
To read the full story on the Telegram & Gazette's website, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:28 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Wal-Mart will pay $40 million to workers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has agreed to pay $40 million to as many as 87,500 current and former employees in Massachusetts, the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in the state’s history.
The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay. Under terms of the agreement, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday by the employees’ attorneys, any person who worked for Wal-Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a payment of between $400 and $2,500, depending on the number of years worked, with the average worker receiving a check for $734.
“The magnitude is large - it’s bigger than most settlements paid in wage-and-hour cases,’’ said Justin M. Swartz of New York-based law firm Outten & Golden LLP, who has handled similar cases, including a pending case against Wal-Mart. “But you would expect it to be bigger since Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Harvard business dean to retire in June
Harvard Business School Dean Jay O. Light will retire in June after nearly five years leading one of the world’s most prestigious institutions for management education, and 40 years on its faculty.
Light, 68, began teaching at the business school in 1969 and was named dean in 2006, after serving as acting dean following Kim Clark’s departure. Clark left in 2005 to become president of Brigham Young University-Idaho.
During his tenure, Light oversaw a capital campaign that raised about $600 million for student financial aid, technology, building projects, and global research centers. He launched initiatives including a research center in India in 2006 and the establishment of one in Shanghai, due to open next year. He also completed renovation and restoration of Baker Library, with its world-renowned collection of business books and archival material.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Utility bets on offshore turbines
Cape Wind may have turned a critical corner.
Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick’s administration said the yet-to-be-built offshore wind farm has secured a long-term customer for its electricity: National Grid. It’s the kind of deal opponents had doubted the project could get.
“For Cape Wind, this is a tremendous step forward . . . [to say] yes, we can sell the power,’’ said Laurie Jodziewicz, manager of siting policy at the American Wind Energy Association, which today is wrapping up a two-day workshop in Boston on offshore wind power.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Mall operator seeks new lease on life
General Growth Properties Inc. yesterday filed a plan to restructure $9.7 billion in debt with hopes of removing at least 92 malls, including Faneuil Hall Marketplace, from bankruptcy protection by the end of the year.
The Chicago mall operator is trying to negotiate billions of dollars more in debt for various properties, such as the struggling Natick Collection.
The restructuring plan, if approved, could complicate efforts by local merchants to buy the lease at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. After General Growth filed for bankruptcy protection in April, a group of retailers received $25 million in pledges to try to take control of the shopping center and tourist attraction. Now that lenders have agreed to modify loan terms, General Growth is not under pressure to sell off prized assets to quickly come up with cash.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Digital picture frames offer scrapbook of options
I’m just old enough to remember scrapbooks, those big volumes with photographs stuck onto jet black pages with library paste.
These days, family snapshots dwell on computer hard drives, or on the digital picture frames found in millions of living rooms. The latest frames can store thousands of images, play music and videos, and download news headlines and weather reports from the Internet.
They’re nearly as capable as a full-fledged personal computer. And one of them costs just about as much.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MANAGING YOUR MONEY: Unhealthy decision
Here’s a government gift that should keep on giving.
Unless Congress and the president act soon, many unemployed workers and their dependents may lose their health insurance if a federal subsidy to help them pay for the coverage isn’t extended.
The economic stimulus package passed in February established an employer-provided subsidy for unemployed workers under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, commonly referred to as COBRA.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2009
Globe to cease publishing Lola women's magazine
The Boston Globe said it will cease publication of Lola, a free magazine aimed at Boston-area women.The December issue, out now, is the last. Launched two years ago, Lola had a distribution of about 70,000 but ‘‘did not meet business expectations,’’ said Globe spokesman Robert Powers.
The Globe will continue to produce two other specialty publications, FB, a fashion supplement inserted in some papers, and Design New England, a luxury home magazine, Powers said.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:12 PM | Comments (0)
Wal-Mart agrees to record $40M wage settlement in Massachusetts
Wal-Mart agreed to pay $40 million to as many as 87,500 of its current and former employees in Massachusetts in what is the largest wage-and-hour class action settlement in the state’s history.
The class action lawsuit was filed in 2001 and accused the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay. Under the terms of the deal, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court today, any person who worked for Wal-Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a payment between $400 and $2,500 depending on number of years worked, with the average worker receiving a check for $734.
“The magnitude is large – it’s bigger than most settlements paid in wage and hour cases, said Justin M. Swartz who has handled similar cases, including a still-pending case against Wal-Mart for Outten & Golden LLP, a New York-based law firm. “But you would expect it to be bigger since Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer.”
Under the terms of the settlement, neither side is allowed to comment. But in an affidavit filed with the settlement, plaintiffs lead counsel Phil Gordon of the Boston-based Gordon Law Group said the settlement “dwarfs settlements of similar class actions against Wal-Mart across the country. Gordon joined the case in June, after Wal-Mart nearly settled it for a sliding scale that would have obligated it to pay between $20 million and $40 million. The court rejected that settlement, and Gordon pushed for the flat, $40 million figure, according to the affidavit.
“For many employers, this settlement will serve as a reminder to take the payment of earned wages and benefits seriously. For many other employers, it will provide comfort that all Massachusetts businesses must operate on a level playing field – that following the laws and paying employees in full will not be a disadvantage to them,” Gordon wrote in the affidavit. “But most importantly, for employees of Wal-Mart, it finally pays them their earned wages and it puts in place systems and processes to ensure that abuses like those alleged never happen again.”
Posted by kstringer at 4:32 PM | Comments (0)
Regional economy shows signs of improvement
The New England economy is showing signs of improvement as most business surveyed by the Federal Reserve expect a recovery next year, the Fed reported today.
The survey, known as the Beige Book, found that some companies are either beginning to hire and reverse pay cuts, or plan to do so next year. Overall, business activity has been mixed over the past several weeks, with some firms reporting increasing sales, but others saying that business remains slow, according to the Fed. Many businesses also worry how long the economic rebound will last, but still expect economic growth to pick up in the coming months.
"Contacts in a number of sectors express uncertainty about whether recent improvements will last," the Fed report said, "but most -- outside of commercial real estate -- expect recovery to take hold in 2010."
The Beige Book, which is released eight times a year, collects anecdotal information from businesses to help assess economic conditions in advance of the Fed’s rate-setting meetings. The Fed is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate near zero when policy makers next meet Dec. 15 and 16.
The brightening outlook in New England reflects an improving national economy. Eight of the Fed's 12 districts experienced some pickup in economic activity over the past several weeks. The others reported that conditions were little changed from the last survey in October.
In New England, retailers reported a range of results, from sales declines to increases in the mid-single digits. Consumers remain cautious in spending, retailers told the Fed, but selling prices have stabilized.
Biopharmaceutical and equipment manufactures reported increasing sales, although other manufacturers particularly those that sell to retailers, restaurants, and personal service firms, said they remain in a slump. Most companies expect sales to grow next year.
Technology firms also reported mixed results. One company, for example, said that its customers remain hesitant to complete deals, while another said it has experienced strong demand across several product lines. Some companies plan to expand workforces and those that imposed wage freezes expect to soon lift them.
Commercial real estate continues to struggle. In downtown Boston, office leasing rates have plunged about 30 percent from their peak, and vacancy rates continue to rise. Sales remain scarce, and many commercial real estate firms expect the outlook to remain bleak for at least another year.
Home sales, meanwhile, continue to rise across the region, boosted by the federal government's $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, the Fed reported. Prices continue to drop in most local markets, except for Boston, where the September median price was up 6 percent from a year earlier.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)
Poinsettias from cooler greenhouses save money
DURHAM, N.H. - The 700 red poinsettias lined up in a University of New Hampshire greenhouse are sort of the horticultural version of hybrid cars: They're being grown at different temperatures in hopes of creating a more fuel-efficient plant.
Growing the perfect poinsettia has always been tricky. There's a narrow window to get plants to the ideal size, shape and color in time for the Christmas season. In recent years, high fuel costs -- for heating greenhouses and shipping plants -- have also made the work more expensive.
With that in mind, researchers like those at UNH have been experimenting with "cold finish" techniques that would allow growers to drop the temperatures in their greenhouses and save on heating costs.
Though cooler temperatures slow plant growth and can require earlier planting, growers who cut back a few degrees late in the season still could save 20 to 40 percent on energy costs, depending on their location, said Roberto Lopez, an assistant professor and floriculture extension specialist at Purdue University in Indiana.
"We've done the math ... even if you have to start the crop a week early, or even two weeks, you still end up saving significant amounts," he said.
And some of the varieties tested this year apparently don't need the earlier start, said Brian Krug, UNH Cooperative Extension specialist.
For example, he said, a grower using natural gas to heat a 1/2-acre glass greenhouse in Toledo, Ohio, would spend about $18,200 to grow about 11,800 plants at the conventional temperature of 71 degrees versus $13,500 if the temperature were dropped 9 degrees late in the season. A comparable greenhouse in New Hampshire, where oil heat is more common, would save about $7,300 off its $33,100 heating bill.
Poinsettias, a subtropical species native to Mexico and brought to the United States in the 1820s, are the nation's most popular potted flowering plants, according to the US Department of Agriculture, which puts the wholesale value of last year's crop at $154 million, 5 percent lower than 2007. This year's estimates were not available.
The poinsettia market is dominated by a handful of companies that sell cuttings to growers ranging from mom-and-pop greenhouses to large industrial operations. The average wholesale price for plants in 5-inch pots or larger was $4.82 last year, USDA said. Retail prices can be as high as $40.
Besides cold finish research, Purdue -- along with North Carolina State University and the University of Florida -- participates in the National Poinsettia Cultivar Trials to test new varieties. UNH and other schools also conduct smaller-scale trials and hold open houses for public input. At UNH, that happens Thursday through Saturday. Purdue's open house is Sunday.
Lopez, who's been researching with UNH for two years, said many poinsettia varieties don't make the cut.
"There are some that if you try to cold finish them, they won't be ready until Valentine's Day because of the delay in development, or you end up with really unattractive plants that are too small, or the bracts are too small," he said. Bracts are the colored leaves resembling flower petals on a poinsettia.
At the UNH research greenhouse, about 10 poinsettia varieties were started from cuttings in August at the traditional nighttime temperature and then moved to a variety of lower nighttime temperatures October. Researchers use infrared temperature sensors, photographs of specific bracts, careful measurements, and computer software to analyze the plants' growth and development.
Even though fuel prices have dropped nationally this season, the research is still critical, said Andy Higgins, president of California-based Ecke Ranch, one of the world's largest poinsettia breeders and producers. This August, natural gas prices were at a seven-year low, down 80 percent from the previous summer. Heating oil prices were half of last year's.
"The length of time it takes to produce a new poinsettia (variety) is a minimum of five years. So it's great energy prices went down, but we see it as very temporary," he said.
Last year's high fuel prices prompted many growers to scale back their orders for cuttings dramatically. This year, growers are being conservative, not because of fuel prices but because of the generally weak economy, said Higgins, who expects a reasonably good season.
The Society of American Florists says surveys show nearly three-quarters of poinsettias sold each year are the traditional red, but there also are white, pink, and orange varieties with names such as Polar Bear, Ice Punch, Orange Spice, and Peppermint Twist. Some newer varieties feature curled leaves resembling rose petals.
David Goudreault, assistant manager of the UNH research greenhouse, said he is more likely to judge a plant by stem strength than color, though he is partial to the "Ice Punch" variety, with rosy red bracts lightly washed with white over their centers.
"I have a hard time making up my mind," he said.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:07 PM | Comments (0)
Light will retire as Harvard Business School dean
Harvard Business School dean Jay O. Light will retire in June after more than four years leading one of the nation's top management programs and 40 years on the faculty.
Light, 68, joined the business school's faculty in 1969 and was named dean in 2006, after serving nearly a year as acting dean following the departure of Kim Clark. Clark left in 2005 to became president of Brigham Young University-Idaho.
During his tenure, Light oversaw a record capital campaign, raising nearly $600 million for student financial aid, technology, buildings projects, and global research centers, as well as launching new initiatives, including the opening a research center in India in 2006. and a facility in Shanghai, scheduled to open next year. He also completed the renovation and restoration of Baker Library, which houses a world-renowned collection of business books and archival material.
In a message to faculty, staff, students, and alumni, Light said: "There are significant opportunities and exciting challenges ahead for the school. I believe it is time to let a new dean guide the future path of this very special institution."
Harvard University president Drew Faust said she would soon launch a search for Light's successor. She praised Light as an " exemplary leader in a school devoted to the understanding and practice of leadership."
"In his years as dean, and throughout his decades at Harvard," Faust said, "he has done a great deal to define the distinctive character of Harvard Business School and to guide its course in everything from MBA education to innovative executive programs, from global engagement to initiatives in health care and science. "
Light is the George F. Baker Professor of Administration. He also held a number of administrative posts, including chairman of the school's finance unit; senior associate dean and director of faculty planning; and senior associate dean responsible for strategic planning and new initiatives.
The photo of Light that appears with this post was taken from the Harvard Business School's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)
Midwest Airlines is moving to Logan's Terminal B
Midwest Airlines will move its Boston operations from Terminal C to Terminal B at Logan International Airport, starting Dec. 8, the Massachusetts Port Authority said.
"Midwest flights will operate from Gate 15 on the US Airways side of Terminal B, and the ticket counter will be located next to the US Airways Shuttle counter," Massport said in a press release. "Midwest, which began service at Logan Airport in 1984, currently offers six daily departures to two destinations. The airline offers five daily flights to and from its hub in Milwaukee, and one daily flight to Kansas City. In 2008, Midwest handled 264,000 passengers at Logan, representing 1 percent of the airport’s traffic."
Posted by globebusiness at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. ramps up business tax incentives
Even as Massachusetts is forced to cut spending on some government programs, the state is ramping up spending on tax incentives to encourage companies to move to Massachusetts or expand here.
The state is expected to spend roughly $1.7 billion on economic development tax incentives in fiscal year 2010, up 4 percent from 2009, according to a new report by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. That compares to a 2.8 percent decline in overall budget appropriations.
The report found that economic development tax breaks have increased steadily from $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2004, with the exception of a one-year dip at the start of the recession in fiscal year 2008 when companies likely cut back some spending..
The policy center, a nonprofit research group based in Boston, said one explanation for the increase in tax incentives is that unlike traditional government spending, tax incentives do not need to be approved every year by the legislature and are often excluded when budget cuts need to be made.
In addition, the state has seen an increase in spending from some relatively new incentives for the film industry and life science companies. The state is expected to spend $150 million on film tax subsidies and $25 million for the life sciences incentive program in 2010.
By contrast, the state is spending less money on workforce training, job placement, tourism and other government programs designed to spur economic development. Spending, which is expected to total $138 million in 2010, has declined by an average of 8 percent a year, the report found. Workforce training and employment services accounted for the bulk of the spending -- $98.5 million. All of the figures are adjusted for inflation.
The report also made a number of recommendations to help make sure the tax incentives are effective, including providing more information on each expenditure, such as data on their impact and projected costs.
To read the report online, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
Hub is an also-ran when it comes to bad traffic
Here's a news flash that might come as a surprise to a motorist at a standstill on the MassPike: When it comes to cities with the worst traffic, the Hub failed to crack the top 10 --- in fact, in the competition for bumper-to-bumper congestion king, Boston is a mere speck in the rear view mirror of Seattle, the gridlock capital of America.
So proclaims a new traffic study from TomTom, the Dutch company with North American headquarters in Concord. A specialist in navigation devices and digital maps, TomTom said it used its technology to analyze massive amounts of traffic data in drawing up its list of the US cities with the worst traffic. For the record, Boston ranked 12th on TomTom's list.
In developing something it calls Speed Profiles, TomTom said it aggregated "the actual speeds that millions of anonymous, GPS-enabled drivers have traveled over the last two years. This community of drivers is the largest GPS data collection community in the world. It provides actual average speeds for every five minutes of the day on roads across the full network to help show a far more accurate view of historic traffic. In contrast, traditional historical traffic systems use random sampling from a limited number of road sensors on primary roads or from fleet vehicle traces."
According to TomTom's press release, cities were ranked according to how fast vehicles could travel on a city's street network.
"A city's traffic was defined as congested if drivers could travel at only 70 percent or less of the posted speed limit, meaning on average an hour long commute included 20 minutes or more of significant delays," TomTom said.
To win the dubious honor of TomTom's traffic trophy, Seattle clocked in with an average of 43 percent of its roads showing heavy delays, TomTom said. "Rounding out the top five cities after Seattle are Los Angeles (38 percent), Chicago (37 percent), San Francisco (35 percent), and New York (31 percent)."
One reason why New York ranked only fifth is that many Big Apple motorists often have mulitple options for getting to their destinations. Cities with fewer options for alternative roads tended to rank higher on the list, TomTom said.
As for Boston, 27 percent of its roads showed heavy delays in the TomTom study. That 27 percent was not good enough to make the TomTom top 10, and Boston ranked behind such cities as Washington, D.C.; San Jose, Calif.; and Atlanta when it comes to bad traffic, TomTom said.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)
Bosses more willing to hire jobless applicants
Once upon a time, there was a stigma attached to being unemployed, but because of the jobless recovery now apparently underway, that stigma may be fading.
That's one conclusion made by Veritude, a Boston company that provides staffing services, which conducted an online survey of 195 executives nationwide to determine their attitudes about hiring. Of the executives participating in the survey, 72 were from New England.
The recession, which triggered waves of layoffs, has apparently convinced some bosses that a job applicant's current unemployment status is not by itself an indication that a prospective job candidate would be a bad hire.
"When making hiring decisions, 44 percent of executives have no preference for a candidate's employment status," Veritude said in a press release. And "when it came to examining the acceptable length of time for a candidate to be unemployed, 36 percent of responding executives said they did not believe it mattered how long a candidate was unemployed given the recessionary conditions, with 36 percent indicating that six months or less was their ideal length of unemployment."
Veritude's release added, "Although in the minority, 19 percent of those surveyed do prefer candidates who are currently employed as regular, full-time employees. Candidates who are either employed full-time or currently employed as temporary or contract workers are preferred by 22 percent."
The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent in October, after hitting a 33-year high of 9.3 percent in September. The national rate reached 10.2 percent in October, the highest since 1983, a story in yesterday's Globe noted.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. Treasury gears up for eBay auction
Abandoned property collected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will be publicly previewed today at the State House before going up for auction on eBay, the office of Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill said.
As many as 500 lots will be available to the highest bidder when the eBay auction goes live on Saturday, Cahill's office said; those lots include gold and silver, rare coins, and jewelry including many rings. An appraisal of all the items up for auction values them at about $60,000.
In a press release, Cahill's office described how these items wound up headed for the auction block.
"As required by state law, safe deposit boxes that have not been maintained for seven years are turned over to the Treasury’s Abandoned Property Division," the release said. "The Treasury attempts to locate the owners or their heirs; if an owner is located, the property is returned. If not, the personal property is appraised and put up for public auction. Any proceeds remain available for rightful owners to claim."
Plans call for Cahill to play host today to a VIP/press reception at which selected items will be on view. Selected items will then be available for public viewing from 3:00 to 6:00 pm in Nurses Hall, which is in the State House, Cahill's office said.
A second public showing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at the Springfield State Office Building, and a Friday showing is set for the Massachusetts State Lottery office in Worcester, Cahill's office said.
This is the fifth eBay auction arranged by the Massachusetts Treasury. The Treasury's previous eBay auction, held roughly a year ago, yielded $75,000, Cahill's office said.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:52 AM | Comments (0)
Parking discount takes effect at Logan economy lots
Seasonal discounted parking at Logan International Airport’s on-airport economy parking lots has begun and will be in effect through Jan. 31, the Massachusetts Port Authority said.
"Customers parking for a week in economy parking will pay the equivalent of five days or $90, a savings of $18 over the regular posted economy rate, which has the seventh day free," Massport said in a press release.
More information is available at www.flylogan.com, Massport said.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Philanthropist got $1b in fake profit, Madoff trustee says
The trustee in the Bernard Madoff case is accusing Boston philanthropist Carl Shapiro and his family foundation of reaping $1 billion in fictitious profits from investments over 40 years, calling the Shapiros among the “largest beneficiaries’’ of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
The trustee, Irving Picard, made the allegations in a court filing last week, after months of private negotiations between his office and lawyers for the 96-year-old Shapiro broke down.
In a letter filed with Judge Burton R. Lifland in US Bankruptcy Court in New York, Picard’s office said Shapiro, during his long relationship with Madoff, enjoyed “unrealistically and consistently purported high rates of return and remarkable purported trading success.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Pfizer deal poses challenge to Genzyme
Drug giant Pfizer Inc., mounting a direct challenge to Cambridge biotech Genzyme Corp., yesterday said it will spend up to $110 million to license the global rights to a treatment being developed for the rare genetic disorder Gaucher disease.
Pfizer’s alliance with Israeli biotechnology start-up Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. to eventually sell the drug, which is based on plant cell technology, takes aim at Genzyme’s top-selling product, Cerezyme, which also treats Gaucher disease. The disorder is an enzyme deficiency that can result in bleeding, bone weakness, and enlargement of the liver and spleen, and afflicts about 5,700 people worldwide.
Genzyme, which charges about $200,000 per patient annually for Cerezyme, had to suspend production and ration delivery of the treatment to thousands of patients over the summer after finding a virus in a bioreactor at its Allston Landing plant where the drug is made. The company yesterday said it has begun shipping vials of newly produced Cerezyme for the first time since it resumed manufacturing.
To read the full story, please click here.
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NStar told to refund $20m to customers
The state ordered power company NStar to refund $20 million to customers who officials said were overcharged, and approved a rate hike for clients of National Grid yesterday.
How much individual NStar customers will receive and how that money will be returned to them remains to be decided, said Paul Hibbard, chairman of the state Department of Public Utilities. NStar charged customers for $20 million the company said it was owed under a 2005 rate settlement. That decision allows the utility to keep a portion of the money it saves customers by reducing the price it pays for power.
Hibbard said the state determined that the savings in question arose from actions the company “essentially would have done anyway,’’ and thus “did not qualify’’ under the settlement. “It’s unusual for a request of this magnitude to be denied in its entirety,’’ Hibbard said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Cape Wind, utility in pact
Governor Deval Patrick is expected to announce today that National Grid and Cape Wind have agreed to negotiate a long-term contract that would allow the utility to buy electricity generated by the planned offshore wind farm - a critical step to securing financing, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Cape Wind needs such a contract to help persuade banks and other investors to back the expensive project, which calls for building 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound. The proposed wind farm has been repeatedly challenged in the state Legislature, Congress, and the courts - and final approval has not been granted.
The project has long been backed by Patrick, as well as US Representative Ed Markey, the Malden Democrat who chairs a key congressional committee on energy independence and global warming.
To read the full story, please click here.
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A new look for downtown Quincy
It is Massachusetts’ next big urban experiment: A $1.4 billion plan to turn tired downtown Quincy into a modern and vibrant retail and residential destination.
The ambitious makeover, by Street-Works Development LLC of New York, would add stores, restaurants, and 1,100 new residences to a 10-block area by rehabbing some existing buildings and constructing up to a dozen new ones. The firm will also add parks and build tree-lined walkways to break up a district dominated by cars and pavement.
Though in planning for years, the downtown redevelopment took a significant step forward yesterday when Street-Works said it had hired Boston’s Suffolk Construction to spearhead the massive buildout.
To read the full story, please click here.
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JetBlue set to boost trips from Logan to Caribbean
JetBlue plans to announce today that it will increase flights from Boston to the Caribbean by 25 percent. The news, which comes a month after the low-cost carrier revealed plans to increase its total number of flights out of Logan International Airport by 30 percent, positions it to become the biggest airline flying out of Boston.
Starting May 3, JetBlue will add weekly flights year-round to Aruba; Cancún, Mexico; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and continue its daily service to Bermuda and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Adding Caribbean destinations in May isn’t ideal timing, said Daniel Kasper, head of the transportation practice at the Cambridge office of LECG, an economic and financial consulting firm. But he said it shows that JetBlue plans to grab openings in the market quickly to try to keep low-cost competitors Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways at bay.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 1, 2009
Business confidence rises in Massachusetts
An index that seeks to track business confidence in Massachusetts gained 1.6 points in November to 44.9, its highest level since September 2008, said the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, an association of the state's employers.
"The index has risen in eight of the nine months since it bottomed out in February,” André Mayer, the association's senior vice president of communications and research, said in a statemement.
The index uses a 100-point scale, with 50 representing a neutral reading. A reading below 50 suggests a pessimistic outlook by employers, while a reading above 50 suggests a positive outlook.
AIM’s Business Confidence Index, which has been issued monthly since mid 1991, has ranged from a low of 33.3 in February 2009 to a high of 68.5 in 1997 and 1998, the organization said; the index reading for November 2009 was up 3.1 points from the reading in November 2008.
The chart that tops this post was included with the association's press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Gartner agrees to buy AMR Research
Gartner Inc., a Connecticut research and analysis firm, said that it has agreed to acquire AMR Research Inc. of Boston for about $64 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.
"With projected full year 2009 revenues of approximately $40 million, AMR Research is a leading research and advisory services firm serving supply chain management and IT professionals," Gartner said in a press release. "The acquisition of AMR Research is expected to expand Gartner's suite of research offerings and also complement its consulting and events businesses."
Posted by globebusiness at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
DPU cuts proposed electricity rate increases
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities said it has cut rate-increase requests proposed by the Bay State's two largest electric utilities - National Grid and NSTAR.
The department, which refers to itself as DPU, said in a press release that it has cut National Grid’s proposed rate increase by $67 million, or 60 percent. By denying 60 percent of the requested increase, the DPU order reduces the average impact on a residential customer’s bill by $3.80 monthly, DPU said.
In a separate order, DPU said it "denied NSTAR’s petition to collect approximately $33 million from electric customers, an amount the company claimed was its share of benefits associated with Customer Savings Initiatives (CSI) under a rate settlement approved by the then-Department of Telecommunications and Energy in 2005. Under yesterday’s (Nov. 30) order, NSTAR must return to its customers the portion of these estimated savings – approximately $20 million – already collected from ratepayers."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ unveils more seasonal items
The doughnut-eating public will be relieved to know that Dunkin' Donuts continues to expand its regular menu with an array of seasonal treats and gifts for the holidays.
For gourmets not content on surfeiting themselves with fruit cake, a trip to a Dunkin' Donuts can yield up such offerings as the "chocolate mint donut, a chocolate cake donut topped with chocolate frosting and peppermint flavored candy topping," according to a press release from Dunkin', a Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain. (The chocolate mint donut is shown above.)
And Munchkins are now decked out in holiday finery, which in this case means that said doughnut-holes are sprinkled with "red, white, and green holiday nonpareils," Dunkin' said.
Need a last minute gift? Rest assured that Dunkin' has you covered. Festive and functional tumblers, for example, are available in "two-tone stainless" and acrylic styles. Presumably, these tumblers are the perfect vessel for housing a peppermint mocha latte (shown at right), a beverage item that recently went on sale at participating Dunkin' Donuts stores.
(Photos that appear with this post were provided by Dunkin'.)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)
Princeton Review taps Kirkpatrick
The Princeton Review Inc., a Framingham-based provider of test preparation and educational support services, said it has appointed H. Scott Kirkpatrick Jr. as the president of its Test Preparation Services Division.
Most recently, Kirkpatrick served as executive vice president of strategy and marketing for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; he was also the president of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. that offered curriculum-based technology solutions and services for multiple subject areas, Princeton Review said.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)
State Street announces acquisition agreement
State Street Corp., a Boston company that provides financial services to large investors, said it has agreed to acquire Mourant International Finance Administration as it looks to strengthen its position in global alternative asset servicing.
The purchase prices is not being disclosed.
"Headquartered in Jersey in the Channel Islands with approximately $170 billion in assets under administration and approximately 650 employees in locations including Dublin, Singapore and New York, MIFA (Mourant International Finance Administration) is a leading provider of fund administration services, particularly for alternative investments, such as private equity, real estate, and hedge funds," State Street said in a press release.
The press release added that State Street expects the transaction to be slightly accretive to 2010 earnings, excluding one-time costs.
State Street said it had more than $420 billion in alternative assets under administration as of Sept. 30.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:57 AM | Comments (0)
Staples 3Q profit climbs on lower charges
Staples Inc. provided an upbeat view of its business prospects today as the largest US office supply company posted a 72 percent rise in its third-quarter profit on lower charges.
The Framingham-based retail chain is seeing growth in North American retail, an improving catalog business, and solid profits from its European office products segment.
That is encouraging, as office supply retailers like Staples and Office Depot have come under pressure during the recession as consumers and small businesses tighten their spending on office supplies.
Staples earned $269.4 million, or 37 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up 72 percent from $156.7 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding integration and restructuring costs of $16 million, profit was 39 cents per share. Staples had $132 million of those expenses a year earlier, along with a $57 million one-time tax charge.
Staples acquired Dutch office supply company Corporate Express NV in July 2008 for $2.7 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates normally exclude one-time items, predicted earnings of 38 cents per share.
The retailer said sales slipped 6 percent to $6.52 billion from $6.95 billion. That still surpassed Wall Street's expectations for revenue of $6.45 billion.
North American delivery sales fell 11 percent in the quarter to $2.5 billion, while North American retail revenue edged up 1 percent to $2.6 billion. International sales dropped 10 percent to $1.4 billion, with sales at European stores open at least a year down 9 percent.
This figure is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Staples anticipates an adjusted fourth-quarter profit of 36 cents to 38 cents per share, which is in range of analysts' forecasts for earnings of 37 cents per share.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Six hospitals to sue state over payment shortfalls
Six community hospitals, squeezed by the economic downturn and the Massachusetts budget crunch, are set to file a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court this morning seeking millions of dollars from the state for unpaid health care services.
The suit charges that Massachusetts violated a law requiring adequate reimbursement to hospitals for patients insured by the government. The hospitals contend the state set repayment rates so low they do not cover the cost of such medical care.
The plaintiffs are part of a group of health care providers known as “disproportionate share hospitals,’’ institutions at which at least 63 percent of patients, mostly low-income or elderly, are covered by public insurance plans such as Medicaid or Medicare. Many of the hospitals are losing money, or barely breaking even, after taking on thousands of patients newly insured by public plans under the state’s 2006 health care overhaul.
To read the full story, please click here.
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$68 million in solar rebates goes fast
Massachusetts is burning through money for solar projects.
A $68 million state fund to provide sizable rebates to homeowners and business owners who install solar panels was expected to last three or four years. But the program - offering homeowners rebates that averaged more than $13,000 - proved so popular that the $68 million was tapped out in October, just 22 months after the program began.
Pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming demand, Massachusetts officials are developing a successor to the original program, dubbed Commonwealth Solar, and hope to have it ready by Jan. 1. Officials are trying to make the new subsidies as generous as the original ones.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New fund will keep rents low
A state effort to preserve affordable-housing rental properties received a boost yesterday as Governor Deval Patrick unveiled a $150 million loan fund aimed at helping organizations and individuals buy such developments and keep rents below market prices.
Patrick said the loan program, created with private and public funds, will be targeted at privately owned, subsidized properties that include rent restrictions for low-income residents, most of whom are senior citizens or disabled.
He detailed the plan at the State House during an event scheduled to celebrate a new law that gives the state right of first refusal on thousands of properties whose rent restrictions are set to expire. About 41,000 units of affordable housing are scheduled to revert to market-priced rents over the next decade as their owners pay off publicly subsidized mortgages and agreements keeping rents artificially low expire. Most of the apartments were created between the late 1960s and early 1980s when developers received financing incentives from the government in return for making apartments available to low-income tenants.
To read the full story, please click here.
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IBM buys Guardium of Waltham
Computer giant IBM Corp. is beefing up its database security offerings by acquiring privately held Guardium Inc. of Waltham. It’s another example of a computer firm expanding its product line in a bid to offer one-stop shopping to corporate customers.
IBM and Guardium declined to disclose details of the transaction, but an Israeli financial newspaper, TheMarker, reported that IBM would pay $225 million for Guardium.
Founded in Israel in 2002, Guardium makes an auditing system that tracks every instance when data is accessed or altered. The system can also ensure that data is accessible only to employees who are entitled to use it.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Looking for a level field
HOLYOKE - Hank Porten, the chief executive at Holyoke Medical Center, points to the empty lot where he wishes he could build office space the hospital needs for doctors. Don’t hold your breath.
Porten’s own office is a fancy trailer behind the medical center in the employee parking lot, restroom not included. His hospital routinely scrapes by with only enough cash to pay about three weeks of expenses. He describes its financial rating as “trash bond minus,’’ which explains everything you need to know about his ability to borrow money.
So it’s no surprise Porten counts himself among six hospital chiefs expected to sue the state today to get more money for treating poor and aged patients. But hospitals trying to squeeze more cash out of the state is only part of the story.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Putting poor farms to use
MILTON - Preservationists, housing advocates, and other residents here are at odds over what to do with the town’s centuries-old poor farm. Should the 34-acre site be preserved as a historical reminder of how the community once aided its less fortunate citizens or be used for affordable housing that would benefit today’s residents?
The parcel - abutting an affluent neighborhood and the Blue Hills Reservation - was given to Milton by British Royal Governor William Stoughton in 1701 for the benefit of the poor. For many years, the farm provided food and shelter to those in dire need. But today its remaining buildings are crumbling and an endowment created to help low-income residents is dwindling.
The board of selectmen, saying action is needed, last year appointed a committee to make recommendations. Its report is expected Thursday, but already one of the suggestions in a draft version is generating buzz - a proposal to build dozens of units of affordable housing on the land.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2009
Locals on unemployment will need to wait till Dec. 15 to tap into extended benefits
An estimated 20,000 Massachusetts workers who exhausted unemployment benefits in recent weeks will have to wait until Dec. 15 to tap into a recently approved federal extension, state officials said.
That wait, however, is not as long as it could have been as the state reprograms its unemployment insurance computer system to incorporate the new extension, a process that won't be completed until mid-January, state officials said. The state will issue interim checks, based on estimates of unemployment benefits, on Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. Regular weekly checks will resume around January 15.
"We appreciate that people are anxious to get these checks,'' said Suzanne Bump, state secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. "We are trying to be as creative as possible to avoid the wait until mid-January."
Each time Congress enacts an extension, the state must rewrite some 300 separate programs that screen for eligibility, account for payments, recalculate benefits and incorporate other legal changes. The reprogramming takes six to eight weeks, plus another week for testing. State labor officials said they can't begin reprogramming the system until legislation is enacted because provisions can change until then.
The law went into effect on Nov. 8, with benefits beginning the week of Nov. 14. The Dec. 15 check will include the first four weeks of benefits under the extension. The Jan. 5 check will cover the subsequent three weeks.
The interim checks will be based on estimates, so subsequent checks may have to be adjusted to account for any overpayments or underpayments, state labor officials said.
The latest federal extension of up to 20 weeks applies to workers who have exhausted benefits since the end of August. About 20,000 workers exhausted benefits since then, according to state labor officials. An estimated 23,000 additional workers will exhaust benefits by March 20.
To issue the interim checks, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development needed to get approval from the US Labor Department, which oversees federal unemployment assistance, as well as the Internal Revenue Service and state Department of Revenue.
Unemployment insurance payments are subject to state and federal withholding taxes. The state revenue department also requires child support payments be withheld from unemployment checks.
The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent in October, after hitting a 33-year high of 9.3 percent in September. The national rate reached 10.2 percent in October, the highest since 1983.
Congress has passed three extensions of unemployment benefits since the recession began at the end of 2007.
More information about the latest extension is available through the home page of the state Division of Unemployment Assistance, www.mass.gov/dua or directly at www.mass.gov/dua/extensions.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)
Six hospitals plan lawsuit against the commonwealth
Six community hospitals are set to file a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court tomorrow morning seeking millions of dollars in payments from state government for unreimbursed health care services.
The plaintiffs are part of a group of health care providers known as "disproportionate share hospitals," institutions that serve communities of low-income or older residents, where at least 63 percent of patients are covered by public insurance plans such as Medicaid or Medicare.
Their lawsuit, which names the state's secretary of health and human services as the defendant, focuses specifically on reimbursements from Medicaid, the state-administered program that pays medical care for patients who can't afford it. It charges the state has violated a law requiring adequate reimbursement for care.
The hospitals maintain they have absorbed a combined shortfall - the difference between the cost of care they provided to Medicaid patients and the amount they were reimbursed by the state - of more than $100 million over the past three years. That has resulted in hundreds of layoffs and millions of dollars in cost-cutting moves, they allege.
"By ignoring its statutory, contractual, and other obligations to the plaintiff hospitals, (the state) has undermined and directly threatened their ability to provide care to the vulnerable and underserved safety net population they are mandated to serve," the lawsuit says.
"We recognize the important role that these hospitals play in our health care system and continue to work with them," said Juan Martinez, spokesman for the Office of Health and Human Services. "While we can not comment on the lawsuit itself, we are confident that the state's actions comply with all applicable law and will be upheld."
Hospitals involved in the suit include Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Holyoke Medical Center, Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill, and Quincy Medical Center. All are mid-sized hospitals whose leaders argue state government has show preferential treatment to Boston Medical Center and Cambridge Health Alliance, two Boston area providers that treat a similar patient population but receive more money.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:33 PM | Comments (0)
Campaign says Mass. is conducive to business
"Massachusetts: It's All Here," the statewide public-private marketing campaign dedicated to maximizing job growth and regional economic prosperity in the Bay State, said it has launched another phase of the campaign, which features such themes as "Growing Here" and "ReadyMass.""ReadyMass, which unveils more than 70 market-ready sites around the Commonwealth, is a critical piece of a larger goal to keep companies growing in Massachusetts and to convey to both in-state and out-of-state companies that Massachusetts has a ready inventory of properties to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors," the campaign said in a press release.
The release included a statement from Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki.
"One of the myths we hope to dispel through 'It's All Here' is that Massachusetts is somehow not conducive to conducting business," Bialecki said. "By highlighting the available resources and positive growth stories, we intend to demonstrate that Massachusetts is an ideal place to grow a business."
Posted by globebusiness at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)
Timberland, Reliance Brands partner in India
Timberland Co. said it will partner with Reliance Brands Ltd. to distribute Timberland brand clothes and shoes in India.
The shoes and clothes will be sold in Timberland retail stores and department stores throughout the country.
Reliance Brands, which is owned by Reliance Industries Ltd., is based in Mumbai, India. Reliance Industries is an oil and gas producer with a range of other businesses, including textiles and supermarkets as well as sellers of shoes, jewelry, books and toys.
Shares of Timberland, based in Stratham, N.H., slipped 5 cents to $16.34 in afternoon trading.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:12 PM | Comments (0)
Ford is the official car and truck of the Celtics
Ford is the "Official Car and Truck of the Boston Celtics," the Celtics, the New England Ford Dealers Association, and the Ford Motor Co. said.
The multi-year partnership includes in-arena signage, a website component, and in-game presentations for Ford, the three said.
"The New England Ford Dealers will be the presenting sponsor of LUCKY the Leprechaun’s Dunk Show, performed at home games throughout the season," the three said in a press release. "Additionally, the New England Ford Dealers and the Celtics have created the first-ever 'Lucky Mobile Dunk Truck,' a customized, Celtics-themed Ford F-150 that LUCKY will drive to promotional and community appearances."
Posted by globebusiness at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
Andrews is retiring as Jimmy Fund chairman
Mike Andrews, the 66-year-old former Red Sox second basemen, will retire as chairman of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund at the end of this year, the institute said.
Dana-Farber is exploring various options for the future role of Jimmy Fund chairman, a spokeswoman for the institute said.
"In 1979, after he retired from baseball and started a career in the insurance industry, Andrews accepted a part-time leadership role with the Jimmy Fund, eventually transitioning into the full-time role of the Jimmy Fund's executive director in 1984," the institute said in a press release. "Under his direction, the Jimmy Fund has grown from raising $1 million year to help further pediatric and adult cancer care and research to more than $64 million in fiscal 2009."
Andrews' connection with the Jimmy Fund began as a rookie Red Sox second baseman on the 1967 "Impossible Dream" team, the press release noted. (At left is a photo of Andrews from his playing days. The photo was taken from the Jimmy Fund website.)
The Jimmy Fund supports the fight against cancer at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices are unchanged
Gasoline prices in Massachusetts were unchanged for the third consecutive week, AAA Southern New England said.
AAA’s latest weekly survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.619 per gallon, the same average as for the previous two two weeks, AAA Southern New England said.
Nationwide, the average for a gallon of self serve unleaded gas was $2.62.
A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $1.84 a gallon, 77 cents lower than today’s average, AAA Southern New England said.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
TRC will inspect construction of W. Va. highway
The Lowell operations of TRC Cos. Inc. said it has been selected by the West Virginia Department of Transportation’s Division of Highways to provide construction inspection services for a new section of the Appalachian Corridor H located in northeast West Virginia.
"When completed, the entire Corridor H will cover an approximately 110-mile stretch of highway extending from Elkins, West Virginia, to the Virginia State Line near Strasburg, Virginia," the company said in a press release. "TRC previously has provided construction inspection services on two other sections of the same corridor."
Posted by globebusiness at 9:33 AM | Comments (0)
Northeast scallopers decry cuts as stocks boom
For the past decade, scallopers have supplied the struggling fishing industry with something almost as rare as leftovers of the fried, grilled or bacon-wrapped delicacy: good news.
For nine straight years, the booming scallop catch has made New Bedford the nation's highest-revenue fishing port. This summer, a survey of a key Northeast fishing area showed the strongest stocks of young scallops in nearly a decade.
So why, scalloper Dan Eilertsen asks, is he looking at 22 percent reduction in the number of days he can fish next year?
"The resource is just so incredibly strong," said Eilertsen, who owns four scallop boats. "It's just cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, and it doesn't make any sense."
Rules passed by the New England Fishery Management Council last week reduced the number of fishing days from 37 this year to 29 in 2010. That's lowered the projected catch by about 11 million pounds, to 41.5 million.
In addition, the industry has lost another 18,000 pounds per boat because fishermen are forbidden to make trips into an area of the Georges Bank fishing grounds -- a jaunt formerly allowed. Regulators are worried the fleet could damage troubled yellowtail flounder stocks there this year.
The industry estimates the new rules will mean a loss of $300,000 per boat.
"I've got to figure out how I'm going to make it all happen on a lot less dollars," said Eilertsen, of Fairhaven. "Somebody's going to lose their job somewhere."
Chris Kellogg, deputy director of the New England Fishery Management Council, which devises local fishing rules, said regulators took a conservative approach for the coming fishing year, which begins in March, after the industry overshot its projected catch last year.
The cuts aim to keep scallops at a level scientists says will allow strong reproduction, even as fishermen catch tens of millions of pounds of the mollusks at about $6 to $10 per pound, depending on size.
The overall approach has a proven record of success, including more and bigger scallops, Kellogg said.
"It's a strategy that's worked since 1994," Kellogg said.
The impact on retail prices is unclear, although the cuts will probably affect scallopers' income more than scallop-eating consumers, since the supply remains abundant.
The local scallop industry was in major distress in the mid-1990s after regulators closed three key scallop areas to protect vulnerable groundfish, such as cod and flounder. When regulators reopened the areas to the scallop fleet in 1999, an abundance was waiting to be caught.
In 2000, New Bedford started its string of nine straight years as the top revenue port in the country, including last year, when it had a total catch worth $241.3 million.
The industry got good news in August when the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on Cape Cod released survey results that showed juvenile scallops on Georges Bank were at their highest level since 2000.
The cuts as the stock flourishes are even more baffling at a time when the jobs are badly needed, Eilertsen said. Scallops are a success story that should be a lot more successful, he said.
"Overall, I don't know that we're really managing anywhere near our full potential," he said.
The biggest danger is that the cuts, and the subsequent lower catch, could make a healthy market appear unstable and scare buyers into alternative markets, said Kevin Stokesbury, a leading scallop scientist at the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
"They're all looking for a steady stable supply, and this interrupts it and it's not really clear why it's interrupted it," he said.
Kellogg said an economic analysis by the council indicates the losses from this year will be regained quickly.
The cut in fishing will allow spaces for the abundant juvenile scallops to grow to a more premium size. Yellowtail flounder stocks appear to be strengthening, he said, which could mean the fleet's lost trip to the closed area of Georges Bank will quickly resume with bigger scallops to catch.
"Long term, they're going to do even better," Kellogg said.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:51 AM | Comments (0)
Cyber Monday dilemma: Brady or bargains?
Not everyone will be glued to their TV sets tonight to watch the New England Patriots battle the New Orleans Saints. Indeed, many non-football fans are expected to be online scouring the Web for holiday shopping bargains today - many of them during football prime time.
Today, of course, is Cyber Monday. Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, claims credit for coining the term in 2005 "after retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving," Shop.org said in a press release. "Today, Cyber Monday is viewed as the ceremonial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season, when shoppers flood websites expecting robust promotions and many retailers highlight some of their most compelling holiday offers."
In its early days, when the Internet was still going mainstream, many folks did much of their online holiday shopping at work so they could take advantage of the boss's high-speed Internet connections. In that benighted era, most people were still using dial-up modems to get online from their home computers, and those pokey modems made online shopping at home a hassle. Now, though, high-speed home connections are widespread in American homes. And much to the relief of bosses everywhere, more people will do their Cyber Monday shopping at home.
So, for the dedicated online shopper, the Pats-Saints game tonight won't be the only game in town, and retail websites will in theory be competing with Monday night football for consumers' attention. That poses a dilemma for someone who values both good deals and good football --- Brady or bargains? Of course, in an era when multi-tasking is a sport of its own, there will presumably be folks who do some shopping while keeping an eye on the game at the same time.
In any event, here are some results from Shop.org's latest survey, which was conducted by BIGresearch:
According to the survey, 96.5 million Americans plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, up from 85 million in 2008.
"While some Cyber Monday shoppers will choose to shop from the office, the large majority will shop from living rooms and kitchens all across the country," Shop.org said in a press release. "According to the survey, 91.5 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers – or 88.2 million Americans – will shop from home on Cyber Monday while 13.5 percent, or 13 million people, will shop from work."
(The photo of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady that appears with this post was taken by Tom Shaw of Getty Images Europe.)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Pop-up stores are everywhere, and gone before you know it
By 5 p.m. on a recent Friday, a gray curtain was hiding the computers and photocopiers stuffed in the corner of a Fort Point photography and production studio. In their place, a bar had sprung up, a DJ had started spinning house music, and clothing racks in makeshift aisles burst with selections from Stil, Riccardi, Portobello Road, and local designers.
Over the next 24 hours, about 600 people made their way through the fashion emporium before it disappeared on Saturday evening and the studio returned to its usual appearance.
A flurry of these pop-up stores - which lease temporary space from other businesses or take over vacant storefronts - have appeared in recent weeks as companies try to make the most of the holiday season without the cost of keeping year-round outlets.
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In-store special: less energy
Cash registers, exit signs, even the soda machines - they all glow at the renovated Star Market in Chestnut Hill, but without using a lot of energy.
All the illumination at the supermarket comes from light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, director of engineering Holly Angell told a group of local environmentalists, business people, and others touring it recently. “We use half as many light bulbs’’ than with conventional lighting, Angell said, because LEDs shine brighter than incandescent bulbs. “They expect them to last more than 10 years.’’
The supermarket, which reopened at the end of October, is parent company Supervalu’s test lab for energy-efficient technologies it hopes to use next in California. A few stores in the Supervalu chain, which includes Shaw’s supermarkets, already use some but not all of the technologies.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Narcolepsy research triggers myriad brain studies
Research into an unusual sleep disorder is unraveling what goes awry in the brains of people who fall prey to daytime sleep attacks - and shedding light on everything from addiction to appetite.
Work that began in sleepy dogs and mice has led to a significant advance in understanding narcolepsy, providing new insight into the ways in which sleep and wakefulness, eating, and addictive behaviors are linked. The work is pointing to potential therapies not only for people who are chronically sleepy, but also for the much larger numbers who have trouble sleeping at all.
At the root of this work is a fundamental brain chemical called orexin. Research over the past decade has shown that narcolepsy is caused by the loss of a type of brain cell that produces orexin. Scientists have found that the chemical also helps determine when we are asleep and awake and plays a role in regulating appetite and addiction.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: Mypunchbowl.com tries to crash the party
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation.
Planning the perfect party. Ask someone who’s throwing a holiday party which website they intend to use to send invitations. You’re likely to get one of two answers: Facebook (if the party planner is, say, 25 or younger) and Evite (for the older demographic). Framingham entrepreneur Matt Douglas, founder of MyPunchbowl.com, hopes his two-year-old website can somehow elbow its way in between those two behemoths.
Organizing a great party, Douglas says, involves more than just spamming all of your friends with an invitation. He talks about planning a party as a workflow that “starts with figuring out the date, sending a save-the-date announcement, then doing an online invitation, managing what people are bringing if it’s a potluck, buying supplies, creating a gift registry, organizing travel, and then doing photo- and video-sharing after the party is over.’’
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:35 AM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2009
Northern New England launches ski season
AUGUSTA, Maine - As the economy lurches toward recovery, northern New England's ski industry is viewing the upcoming season with optimism, saying the amount of snow nature sends the region is a much bigger factor in determining how well the ski areas fare.
Improvements continued through the off-season at the three states' resorts, although not on a scale as when times are better. Like other businesses, the ski areas are finding new ways to feed their patrons' enthusiasm while being creative in luring potential schussers in.
New Hampshire ski areas, for example, are sending out text messages on the latest deals and promotions.
Ski areas are also banking on their proximity to bulging eastern markets that are within a day's drive of resorts in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, hoping to draw skiers who might hop on a jet in better times and wing it to slopes in the West.
"At the end of the day, it all comes down to snow," said Parker Riehle, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. Historically, when the snow is abundant, the ski areas do well, he said.
That's borne out as well in New Hampshire, where an all-time high as measured by skier visits was recorded two years ago. But even after the economy tanked last season, enough skiers showed up to give the industry its third-best winter, thanks in large part to the plentiful snowfall, said Karl Stone, marketing director for Ski New Hampshire.
"If it snows, it seems like we're doing pretty good," said Stone.
In Maine, the severe recession last winter sent many skiers and boarders to the smaller, family-friendly ski areas for which the state is known, said Greg Sweetser, executive director of the Ski Maine Association. While skier visits were down 2 percent in the state last season, Maine gained a little of New England's market share, Sweetser added.
Nationally, the outlook is positive, said Troy Hawks of the National Ski Areas Association. The industry drew 57.4 skier visits last winter even as the recession raged, accounting for the fourth-best season on record, NSSA said. Hawks said a lot of it has to do with the nature of skiers and snowboarders.
"People are passionate about skiing and riding. They still seek the sport out. It's really a lifestyle they choose," said Hawks. "Even during a poor economy, the ski industry holds up well."
Skier enthusiasm isn't everything. While ski areas try to outdo each other by opening first and strive to kick off their seasons by Thanksgiving, it's the back end of the season that's more critical to success, said Vermont's Riehle.
"In terms of any karma with the snow gods, I would gladly trade a Thanksgiving opening for a strong March," Riehle said.
With money tight, ski areas are concentrating mostly on improved snowmaking and grooming, with trails added on some mountains in the region. In Maine, a new 44-acre gladed area been added at Saddleback in Rangeley, and a new trail's been added from the peak at Shawnee in Bridgton.
Special night skiing dates are being introduced at Mount Abram in Greenwood. Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry improved their hotels.
In New Hampshire, skiers who want to stay up to date on the latest deals and promotions can sign up to receive text messages from "Moe Snow," a bouncing blue snowball character created by Ski NH and the state's tourism department. The marketing campaign includes a Web site, Facebook fan page and Twitter feed with such tongue-in-cheek postings such as "If a lizard can sell insurance, then a snowball can type!"
Gunstock in Gilford, which is completing a two-year $3 million expansion, has a new quad chairlift along with two new trails and two extended trails. Pats Peak in Henniker has a new lift-serviced terrain park. Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch has been improving its Notchview and Peabody Base lodges.
In Vermont, a new Tram Haus Lodge at Jay Peak is scheduled to open in February. It will have 57 studio, one- and two-bedroom suites, a new restaurant, small coffee shop and bar.
At Middlebury Snow Bowl, a 40-year-old Worth Mountain double chair has been replaced with a fixed-grip triple.
Stratton Mountain added freestyle terrain and Sugarbush in Warren added 75 acres of wooded terrain.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:21 PM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ trills about Fa-La-La-La Lattes
They don't believe much in down-time at the Dunkin' Donuts publicity department, where carpal tunnel syndrome is presumably rampant among the prolific flacks typing up all those press releases.
In today's news flash, the Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain wants its caffeine-swilling public to know that its "Fa-La-La-La-Lattes" are part of its holiday promotions.
"Throughout the hectic holiday season," many Dunkin' stores will be serving "small hot lattes for the value price of $1.99."
Earlier this week, the chain was tub-thumping about how it is serving free coffee today to any US Postal Service letter carrier. And just before that, a release noted that napping has become so prevalent on Thanksgiving that many Dunkin' stores plan to stay open until 2 p.m. tomorrow to help folks ward off unwanted drowsiness.
Here's some more breaking news: Dunkin' is unveiling "Peppermint Mocha Latte," which is "topped with whipped cream and a mocha drizzle. Served hot or iced, peppermint flavoring adds seasonal flair to the traditional Dunkin' Donuts latte," the company said.
A latte with mocha drizzle and seasonal flair? That's not every joe lover's cup of tea.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
State offers holiday shopping tips
Black Friday is hurtling our way, and the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation is offering some tips to consumers eager to practice responsible shopping.
"Stick to a budget" is one bit of holiday shopping advice from Governor Deval L Patrick's administration. "Don't over-use credit cards" is another. And for goodness sake, save those receipts.
As retail buffs can tell you, Black Friday - a.k.a. the day after Thanksgiving - was once regarded as the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. To see a larger list of the state's holiday shopping tips, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)
Stop & Shop comes through with 850 more turkeys
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. said it has donated complete turkey dinners for more than 850 families to the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, and the Open Door Food Pantry.
"The donation is in addition to Stop & Shop’s annual Turkey Express program which delivered 20,000 turkeys, nearly 280,000 pounds, to local hunger relief organizations this month," the Quincy-based grocery chain said in a press release.
"Today more than ever families are forced to make tough decisions between paying for food or paying their gas bill," Faith Weiner, senior director of public affairs for Stop & Shop, said in a statement. "This week we want to make it an easy choice by providing a free, ready-to-eat Thanksgiving dinner."
Of the last-minute donation to the 850 families, Stop & Shop said that each turkey dinner serves six to eight people and includes a fully cooked 10- to 12-pound turkey along with mashed potatoes, stuffing, butternut squash, gravy, and cranberry relish.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Amid high unemployment, some positions are hard to fill
Even with the country’s unemployment rate at its highest in decades, some companies are having trouble hiring highly skilled employees.
Phil Nachman, an Arlington recruiter for medical device companies, sees the wariness of the engineers and scientists he’s courting. They worry about the financial stability of potential employers, asking questions like “What’s the company’s stock price?’’ and “What are its annual sales?’’
Employers don’t understand such hesitance, he said. “Some of them think that the world is still their oyster.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Logue's parting gift set at $6 million
The era of parting gifts for chief executives, it would seem, is far from over.
The retiring chief executive of State Street Corp., Ronald E. Logue, will receive a $6 million “transition award’’ for retiring in March and staying on as chairman until Jan. 1, 2011, the company disclosed yesterday.
Logue, 64, announced his plans to retire last month and had already agreed to his departure date.
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Ex-Fidelity trader is held liable
A former Fidelity Investments trader was found liable by a federal jury in Boston for insider trading in his mother’s account, after buying a technology stock that Fidelity itself was actively trading.
In a civil suit brought by the Boston office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, David K. Donovan Jr. of Marblehead was found to have improperly traded shares of Covad Communications Group Inc. in 2003, which created profits for his mother.
He obtained confidential information on Fidelity’s internal system that it was buying a substantial amount of Covad stock, according to the SEC’s complaint. Donovan then bought Covad shares for his mother’s account, according to the SEC; she gained by selling the stock a month later, after Covad shares had risen in value.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Home sales rise in Massachusetts
Massachusetts home buyers are off the sidelines, purchasing homes in increasing numbers, despite some sellers’ reluctance to put houses on the market, real estate figures released yesterday show.
Sales of single-family homes rose by 17.2 percent in October, compared with the same month last year, marking the fourth consecutive month of increases, according to Warren Group, a private company that tracks real estate data. The number of sales, 4,295, marks the highest total for the month of October since 2005.
Some people are being lured into the market by the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers - recently extended into next year - as well as by low interest rates and falling home prices, real estate professionals say.
To read the full story, please click here.
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EMC faces shareholder lawsuit amid federal claims
High-tech giant EMC Corp., already facing allegations that it gouged the government on several contracts, now must contend with a lawsuit from shareholders.
Law firms in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania recently filed suit against the Hopkinton-based data storage company’s directors and key executives in Middlesex Superior Court.
The suit, filed on behalf of shareholder Margaret Boyce of Washington state, contends wrongdoing by EMC officials could cause the company to be hit with stiff legal fees and penalties, hurting shareholders. Boyce is asking EMC officials to compensate the company for any damages and to reimburse Boyce for the costs of bringing the suit, including attorney fees.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Developers envision a waterfront jump-start
The proposed expansion of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center has a built-in cheering section: local developers who hope a larger convention hall will jump-start building in a waterfront neighborhood struggling through the recession.
Construction in the area around the South Boston convention center has slowed dramatically over the past two years, with tight credit markets leaving some builders unable to advance developments that were expected to transform the area into an economic juggernaut.
But the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s announcement that it wants to double the size of the center offers a new glimmer of hope. Developers of nearby projects said the expansion would result in an influx of business travelers and tourists, whose spending would help support additional hotels, restaurants, and retail shops.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:09 AM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2009
Interactive Data to buy Dow Jones' online business
BEDFORD - Interactive Data Corp., a provider of financial market data, said that it's buying certain online financial data operations from Dow Jones & Co. for $13.5 million in cash.
Interactive Data sells real-time market data and other information to traders and financial institutions. It's buying technologies from Dow Jones that provide online news, market data, research, advanced charting, portfolio management, and alerts.
Dow Jones will retain its news business and assets such as BigCharts.com, which was part of its acquisition of MarketWatch Inc. in 2005.
Interactive Data said the acquisition will boost its online financial data business, which gives financial institutions various features on their websites to let consumers look up stock prices, manage their portfolio, get news about stocks they own, and others.
The Dow Jones business being acquired already has 200 institutional and other customers.
Interactive Data also agreed to redistribute news from MarketWatch to these institutions, which will make it available to their customers.
The acquisition is expected to boost cash flow this year and next, but won't boost earnings until 2011. The deal is expected to close in several weeks.
Shares of Interactive Data fell 15 cents to $25.95 in afternoon trading.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)
Business journalist fellowship funded at Harvard
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University has received a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to establish a new fellowship for business reporters.
The grant of more than $900,000 from the Las Vegas-based foundation will cover the cost of annual fellowships for one business journalist and one community journalist for five years beginning next fall. The Reynolds foundation first established the community journalism fellowship at Harvard in 2005.
Nieman Foundation curator Bob Giles says the grant is particularly important at a time when economic and business news is dominating the headlines and becoming more complex.
Journalists will be able to study topics from management and investment theories to international politics at any of Harvard's schools during the yearlong fellowship.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
Investor confidence declines in November
A global investor confidence index compiled by a unit of State Street Corp. fell by 7.6 points to 100.8 from October’s level of 108.4, partly because of jittery Asian investors, while the index for North America ticked up 1.1 points from 101.1 to 102.2.
The results were released by State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corp., a Boston company that provides financial services to large investors.
The State Street Global Markets press release included a statement from Harvard University professor Ken Froot, who helped develop the index.
"Across all regions, institutional investors are largely treading water; neither increasing nor reducing their aggregate holdings of risky assets," Froot said. "However, the aggregate figures mask some country- and region-specific views. This month, for example, institutional investors aggressively pared their holdings in selected markets, such as Australia, while continuing to add to their emerging markets holdings. Overall, investors are displaying some caution about the current level of equity valuations, and a desire to see more evidence of real economic activity and aggregate demand, particularly in the US, before adding to equity exposures."
The graph that accompanies this post was included with State Street's press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
Letter carriers could run on Dunkin’ tomorrow
Tomorrow could be a great day for letter carriers - if the folks delivering the mail happen to be fans of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
Here's the latest word from the highly caffeinated publicity department at the Canton-based chain: "On the eve of the holiday season, Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day, every-day stop for coffee and baked goods, is delivering a very special gift to the men and women who deliver our holiday cards, catalogs, and presents. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, Dunkin' Donuts will serve free coffee to any United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier. Any USPS letter carrier that is wearing an official uniform or shows their union card identification can visit participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants throughout the country for a free coffee, any size. No additional purchase is necessary."
Posted by globebusiness at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)
McKean is tapped as JFK Library Foundation CEO
David McKean has been named the chief executive of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, its board of directors said.
McKean will oversee all operations of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a federal institution.
McKean, currently staff director for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, served as chief of staff for US Senator John Kerry from 1999 to 2008; McKean succeeds John Shattuck, who resigned as chief executive in August to accept the position of president and rector of the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.
McKean grew up in Hamilton and is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College.
The "announcement of McKean’s appointment follows the recent election of Kenneth R. Feinberg as chairman of the board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation," the foundation said in a press release. "Feinberg succeeded Paul G. Kirk Jr., who resigned as board chairman in September when Governor Deval Patrick appointed him interim US Senator from Massachusetts."
Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)
Patriots license plates are coming to Rhode Island
Rhode Island officials have signed a bill that authorizes a Rhode Island license plate for the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation; proceeds from a license plate that will feature the Patriots log will benefit local non-profit organizations, the Patriots said.
The signing ceremony in Providence also kicked off the the 2009-10 'Keep the Heat On' campaign, an effort that provides heating assistance to struggling Rhode Islanders, the Patriots said.
The bill, a Patriots press release said, "allows Rhode Islanders to purchase the special New England Patriots license plates for a fee of $41.50 over the regular registration fee. Of that fee, $21.50 will go into the state's general fund and $20 will go to the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, the nonprofit organization founded by Patriots owner Robert Kraft to help support charitable and philanthropic agencies throughout New England."
Final design of the license plates are pending approval by the state police, the Patriots said.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
As market surges, many can't afford to hop back in
Arthur Caparell would love to be riding the stock market’s recent resurgence, but he’s still trying to recover from the recession’s blows.
The burly 57-year-old machinist watched his retirement savings wither and then, last March, he was laid off. He depleted his savings to get by, and now, with no money left to invest, he is watching the stock market rise with no hope of recouping his loss.
“Now is the time to invest,’’ said Caparell, who has picked up hours working at his girlfriend’s Roslindale flower shop. “But I’m more concerned about taking care of bills than with stocks.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Grim forecast for venture capital
Money will be hard to come by for venture capitalists next year as they struggle to lure skittish investors whose portfolios are still recovering from the recession.
“There will be fewer firms, fewer venture capitalists, by this time next year,’’ said Michael Greeley, a general partner with the Boston venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners. “Marginal venture firms will definitely be leaving the market.’’
Former venture capitalist Howard Anderson looks toward 2010 and thinks of a line from “The Lion King’’: “Not everyone invited will be coming back from lunch.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Breathing easier
LogMeIn Inc., a Woburn software company that raised $106 million by going public less than five months ago, was back in the stock market last week to sell more shares.
Why? Because it could, for one thing. The public market ate up more than 3.1 million shares of LogMeIn without a burp last Thursday. Nearly all the shares were offered not by the company but by its venture capital backers and other insiders. Total take: $58 million.
Most companies that sell additional shares so soon after their initial public offering represent one of two extremes, businesses that are hotter than a pistol or burning through so much cash they must ask for more. LogMeIn is neither, and that says something encouraging about the market for all kinds of Massachusetts companies in search of funding.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Meeting plans
It may not seem like the best time to talk about a massive expansion for the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
The economic downturn has pummeled the convention industry for the past two years. The size, the number of exhibitors, and attendance have fallen in nearly every quarter, according to the industry publication Tradeshow Week.
But the convention business has fared better in Boston than in the nation as a whole, as the medical and life science sectors, which account for about a third of the convention business in the city, have stayed relatively strong compared to other industries during the economic downturn.
To read the full story, please click here.
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This flu season: Have hand sanitizer, will travel
In the age of swine flu, Greyhound bus drivers have a lot more to think about than driving the bus.
Each driver now goes through training to assess passengers who look sick, asking them: “Are you running a fever? Do you feel achy?’’ Buses are also now equipped with vinyl gloves and a respirator mask in case drivers have to interact with a passenger who becomes ill.
Millions of Americans will be boarding planes, buses, and trains this week to visit friends and relatives for Thanksgiving, and this year riding in enclosed spaces with other people comes with a new worry: Does the person coughing in the seat next to me have the H1N1 virus?
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2009
Mass. gas prices are unchanged, AAA says
The average price of a gallon of gas in Massachusetts is unchanged from the previous week at $2.619, AAA Southern New England said.
AAA puts out a weekly survey that focuses on self-serve, regular unleaded gas, and in the latest weekly survey from AAA, the national average for self serve unleaded gas was $2.64, AAA Southern New England said.
"A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $1.91 - 70 cents lower than today’s average," AAA Southern New England said.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
RI slow to spend millions in stimulus funding
PROVIDENCE - Governor Don Carcieri's administration has failed for months to spend $20 million meant to insulate poor people's homes against the winter chill and put unemployed people to work during one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression.
All the while, the Republican governor has criticized President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan as ineffective in creating jobs even though the state isn't spending all the money it's been given. Half the funding had arrived by July, but state officials say it will only start flowing this week to agencies ready to spend it.
Rhode Island was among five states that had not started spending their weatherization funding money by late September, according to an analysis of federal records by the National Association for State Community Services Programs. The others were Alaska, Indiana, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
Jeanne Gattegno, president of Westbay Community Action, a charitable agency that helps Kent County residents become self-sufficient, attributed the delays to complex rules governing the stimulus program and state officials trying to cope with a sudden influx of cash.
"We were surprised it took this long, but it's here now at last," Gattegno said.
While other states also have struggled to start spending, the need for work is particularly desperate in Rhode Island, where unemployment stood at 12.9 percent last month, better than only Michigan and Nevada. A $20 million spending program would offer relief to at least some workers, said Leonard Lardaro, an economist at the University of Rhode Island.
"It's always better sooner rather than later assuming that you're not just throwing the money away," he said.
The stimulus bill enacted in February gives states about $5 billion to seal homes against the cold. Workers can apply weather strips to old doors, fix old heaters and boilers and inject modern insulation into lofty attics and drafty walls.
Rhode Island desperately needs the help. Economists expects a deep recession to push unemployment in the state to nearly 14 percent next year, and the job losses have been devastating for workers in construction and the building trades.
US Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said he was frustrated by the slow spending, especially since he said his constituents are worried about losing their jobs and providing for their families.
"The No. 1 problem is jobs," Reed said. "This money was designed to get people working as quickly as possible. That could have put some people to work."
Among those hoping for a job in energy conservation is Christopher Harrell, who moved to Rhode Island last year. After months of searching, the 35-year-old found a job in sales engineering before getting laid off in July. He now spends his evenings in an intensive class learning how to make homes more energy efficient.
"When I came here, I was greeted by a lot of fantastic people," said Harrell, who might benefit from the stimulus-funded work. "Very few of them had work to offer."
The delays are attributable to multiple problems, some caused by state government, others not.
The state's Office of Energy Resources filed its application on time in mid-May, but afterward state workers lost an electronic code allowing them to access an account containing the federal funding. As a result, Carcieri's administration was initially unaware that millions of dollars were ready and waiting.
Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Energy, said the agency helped Rhode Island correct the problem in August.
Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe described the lost code as a minor clerical error and said it didn't hamper the weatherization program. The roughly half-dozen community action programs, or CAPs, that will ultimately administer much of Rhode Island's stimulus funding still have money to conduct the work through other sources, she said.
The state had received half of its stimulus funding by July 10, but local authorities were tangled in a bureaucratic dispute with the federal government and didn't spend.
The conflict centered over a Depression-era law requiring contractors to pay wages equal to those prevailing locally for public works projects, and the stimulus law applied it to weatherization projects for the first time. The U.S. Department of Labor did not establish those wage rates until late August.
Federal officials say the wage determinations should not have stopped state governments from spending.
Gilbert Sperling, who heads the weatherization program for the U.S. Department of Energy, told states in a July 10 letter they could begin spending their weatherization money before the wage decisions were made. If workers were paid less than the soon-to-follow wage rules, those workers could be reimbursed after the fact, he wrote.
Carcieri's office like others in many states opted to wait because it worried paying workers after the fact would create accounting chaos.
"They gave us that advice, but we felt it was more important to have all the information in working with the CAP agencies rather than burden the CAP agencies and the state system to retroactively pay people," Kempe said.
Carcieri's office recently signed contracts with local community action programs that will identify homes in need of help and arrange for the weatherization work.
Given the uncertainty, Bob Gruttadauria, the owner of Greenwich Insulation Inc., said he has resisted hiring more workers to supplement his company, which does weatherization work. He was interested in hiring at least two more workers to supplement his shop's staff of about six.
"Until I see it, I don't really need the guys," he said. "You don't hire until you have the work."
Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Convention center looks to expand
State and city leaders today will unveil a blueprint for dramatically expanding the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, part of an effort to make the city one of the nation’s premier meeting destinations and spur private investment on the South Boston Waterfront, two officials briefed on the matter said.
James Rooney, head of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, will outline plans for adding exhibit space, an auditorium for special events, and at least one more hotel with hundreds of rooms, said the officials, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly before the plan’s release.
They said the expansion plan is preliminary and will not move forward until the public has a chance to weigh in. A committee of public officials and private individuals will be appointed to consider the plan and to recommend whether to move forward with an expansion.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Shedding light on how the brain works
More than two centuries ago, the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani found that electricity could make a dead frog’s leg kick, as if it were alive. Today, using the same basic principle but new tools, scientists are employing light to trigger brain cells - looking not for a kick, but for the origins of emotions, behaviors, and diseases in the brain.
Advanced imaging technologies have given neuroscientists new ways to peer into the working mind, but a precise understanding of how 100 billion brain cells create everything from memories to mental illness has remained elusive.
Now, by using gene therapy to insert light-sensitive proteins from algae and other organisms into brain cells, scientists are able to control specific brain circuits with light, and then watch what happens.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Abiomed's pumps help hearts go on
DANVERS - The cardiac device company Abiomed Inc. captured attention in June when its AbioCor self-contained artificial heart was implanted in a patient for the first time outside of a clinical trial.
Despite that high-profile success, which showcased its technology, the Danvers company has been refocusing on a less flashy though potentially more durable product: cardiac-assist devices, known as recovery pumps, which are used in hospital settings to help critically ill patients’ hearts recover, rather than having to be replaced.
“No one can make a product that’s as good as the heart,’’ said Michael R. Minogue, Abiomed’s chief executive. “If you can help protect the heart during a heart procedure, it can allow the heart to recover. This is now the major part of our business.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: Sparks fly over Silicon Valley vs. Bay State
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation.
Seeing Boston from Silicon Valley. Via e-mail and Twitter, I keep receiving links to the recent TechCrunch article “Why Silicon Valley Left Route 128 in the Dust.’’
It’s a pretty worthless piece. Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa concludes that Silicon Valley is a more dynamic, vibrant, and supportive ecosystem for start-ups because this past Columbus Day he was invited to three tech-related events. Yes, that’s the only piece of data in a 1,100-word essay.
About this deep primary research, Wadhwa writes: “It was a really hard decision which one to pick. And I found myself wondering, where else in the world would I have to face such a decision? The answer is nowhere. Silicon Valley, which has expanded to embrace the entire Bay Area as an engine of entrepreneurship and innovation, is a unique place of powerful and concurrent overlapping networks.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:13 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2009
Conn. jobless rate jumps to 8.8 percent in October
The Connecticut Labor Department says the state's unemployment rate increased slightly to 8.8 percent, even though employers added 1,000 jobs in October.
The gain is statistically small and doesn't erase the 6,600 lost jobs in September. However, Labor Statistics Supervisor Salvatore DiPillo says it is welcome news.
DiPillo also says initial claims for October, at 5,900, are at their lowest level since last December.
The news comes a day after health insurer Aetna Inc. announced it will eliminate 160 Connecticut jobs. More layoffs are expected by March.
Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association says in a report released yesterday that the number of foreclosures and seriously delinquent loans in Connecticut rose from 6 percent to 7 percent during the third quarter of this year to stand at 37,022.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
Ben & Jerry's honors athlete with ice cream flavor
Ben & Jerry’s, the Vermont ice cream brand, said it has created its first flavor to honor an athlete.
The athlete is Vermont native and snowboarder Hannah Teter, and her flavor is Maple Blondie, which is described as maple ice cream with blonde brownie pieces and a maple caramel swirl.
A portion of the proceeds from Maple Blondie sales will benefit Hannah’s Gold, Teter’s charity that funds various projects in Africa, said a Ben & Jerry's press release.
The release added, "Maple Blondie will be available in Scoop Shops nationwide starting late November and in pints on grocery store shelves mid-December."
The press release included a statement from Walt Freese, Ben & Jerry's chief euphoria officer.
"We couldn't think of a better athlete or humanitarian to honor with a flavor this year," Freese said.
The image that accompanies this post was included with Ben & Jerry's press release.
Ben & Jerry's is owned by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch food and consumer-products giant.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)
The BC Eagles have an official hot dog
"Under the agreement, Kayem Franks and Sausages will be served at BC athletic events at Alumni Stadium and Conte Forum, including football, basketball and hockey games, along with all other events at the venues," Kayem and BC said in a press release. "Kayem will also be hosting samplings and other promotions at BC home games as part of their new partnership."
Kayem Foods said it is best known for its Old Tyme Natural Casing frankfurters. The meat-processing company makes more than 400 products under such brand names as Kayem, al fresco, Schonland's, McKenzie, Triple M, Genoa, Jordan's, Deutschmacher, Kirschner, and Essem.
Images that appear with this post were taken from Kayem and BC websites.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)
RI unemployment drops to 12.9%, jobs still down
PROVIDENCE - The unemployment rate in Rhode Island has fallen for the first time in nearly three years, dropping slightly to 12.9 percent in October.
The state Department of Labor and Training said today that the state lost 1,100 jobs last month even as the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of one percent, from 13 percent. It is the first monthly drop since January 2007.
Spokeswoman Laura Hart says officials are cautiously hopeful the economy is stabilizing.
But the fact that the state is still losing jobs may indicate that some people have stopped looking for work. The data only take into account people actively seeking a job.
Rhode Island has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country. In September, it had the third worst jobless rate in the nation.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)
Sullivan Tire sponsors Adopt a Pet spot on NECN
Sullivan Tire & Auto Service, a chain that likes to feature blimps, dogs and, lately, Sox star Dustin Pedroia in its advertising, said it is sponsoring an "Adopt a Pet Segment" that will air weekly on New England Cable News."The segment features orphaned pets available for adoption on 'Good Morning Live' each Friday at 7:40 a.m.," said the Norwell-based chain with 50 retail locations and a company mascot who is a Saint Bernard dog named Ustinov.
"We are a company full of animal lovers, which is probably evident by our company 'spokesdog,'" Sullivan Tire vice president Paul Sullivan said in a statement. "Humane societies and adoption centers like the MSPCA are really feeling the effects of the economy in terms of more animals being surrendered. We hope we can do some small part to help."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)
Is there another candidate for Bank of America job?
Bank of America executive Brian Moynihan isn't the only banking executive with local ties who has been mentioned as a possible successor to Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis.
Houston investment firm Finger Interests Ltd., an activist Bank of America shareholder, recently suggested Citibank chief executive Eugene M. McQuade (right) would be an excellent candidate to replace Lewis, who plans to step down at the end of the year. McQuade, who helped build FleetBoston Financial into New England's largest bank, also served as president of Bank of America, which bought FleetBoston, and as chief operating officer at Freddie Mac.
McQuade declined to say whether he had been contacted about the Bank of America job, but said he has no plans to leave his current post. "I plan to stay at Citibank," he said.
Bank of America officials have refused to say who is in the running to replace Lewis. But Moynihan, a Wellesley resident who runs the bank's consumer banking unit, is believed to be one of the top internal candidates. The bank has said it hopes to announce a successor around Thanksgiving.
(The McQuade photo that appears with this post is a 2004 handout from Fleet.)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:12 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
State jobless rate declines, bucking trend
The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped last month for the first time in two years, and job losses slowed - signs the state’s beleaguered job market may be stabilizing.
Bucking a national trend, the state’s jobless rate fell to 8.9 percent in October, down from 9.3 percent in September, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported yesterday. Unemployment in Massachusetts had not fallen since June 2007.
“The only way you can read this employment report is as good news,’’ said Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor. “You need to take monthly data with a grain of salt, but the fall is so dramatic that it’s likely things are improving in the labor market.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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To outcry, Brigham's heads to bankruptcy
When sheriff’s deputies unexpectedly told employees at the Brigham’s restaurant in Arlington to leave last Friday, locking the doors behind them, longtime waitress Kathy Hogan was angry. But not at the county officers.
The owner of the failing ice cream shop chain, Luke T. Cooper, is “terrible,’’ said Hogan, who waited tables at the Arlington location for 37 years. “It’s very obvious he doesn’t care about people or give a damn about them.’’
The abrupt closure, caused by a landlord’s eviction of the restaurant for failure to pay rent, meant she was unable to say goodbye to regular customers she considered family. They included an elderly blind woman who relied on Hogan to read her mail aloud most days.
To read the full story, please click here.
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As jobs remain elusive, foreclosures rise again
More Massachusetts borrowers lost their homes to foreclosure in October than in the month before, figures released yesterday show, adding to evidence that the sluggish economy is hindering national efforts to help homeowners keep their property.
Foreclosures in the state jumped by nearly 30 percent to 911 in October from 703 in September, according to data released by the Warren Group, a private company that tracks real-estate numbers. At the same time, the number of foreclosures in October fell from a year ago.
Although data were mixed, the steady flow of foreclosures indicates federal efforts to keep distressed borrowers in their homes will not succeed unless the government also comes to the aid of unemployed homeowners, housing specialists said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Argument for rate caps
Jack McCarthy opened his Citigroup credit card statement recently and read something that made him call the company with a pressing question.
“Are you guys nuts?’’ he recalls asking a phone representative. McCarthy, who lives in Marstons Mills, says he’s owned a Citi credit card for about seven years and never missed a payment. But he says his interest rate was suddenly jacked up to 29.99 percent.
“It just completely blew my mind. I called and asked what did we do wrong. Why are we getting this?’’ McCarthy says.
To read the full story, please click here.
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YouTube videos will soon get captions
Soon you’ll be able to understand thousands of Internet videos even if the sound is turned down. With an assist from Boston public TV station WGBH, Google Inc. has developed technology that will automatically add on-screen captions to video streams on its popular YouTube website.
Ken Harrenstien, Google’s lead software engineer on the project, said the new technology will make many YouTube videos accessible to hearing-impaired people for the first time. “Many people have wanted this to happen for many years,’’ said Harrenstien, who is deaf.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Preschool firm looks to Massachusetts
A Georgia company that franchises high-end privately operated preschools plans to open its first Massachusetts location within 12 months.
Darin Harris, chief operating officer of Primrose Schools, said the company has secured property in Hingham. Primrose plans to open five additional locations in Massachusetts within the next four years and has been scouting potential locations in Bedford, Billerica, Canton, Lexington, Lynnfield, Sharon, Mansfield, Wayland, and Woburn.
Harris said company research indicates Boston is a good market for “the high premium segment, early childhood education that we offer,’’ adding, “It’s also a market where there was very little competition.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:10 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2009
Group says Ocean Spray's Choice brand doesn't use real fruit
A consumer advocacy group isn't so sweet on the labeling of a new dried fruit cranberry product from Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.
The National Consumers League, based in Washington D.C., sent a letter Tuesday to the US Food and Drug Administration, asking it to investigate the labeling of the Lakeville cooperative's "Choice" brand. The group alleges that Ocean Spray sells the food as "sweetened dried cranberry," but that it has more sugar than real fruit and is made from cranberry skins and not whole cranberries.
"That is a problem for people who are buying a product they think has cranberries when in fact, it's really no longer cranberry," said Sally Greenberg, NCL's executive director.
Ocean Spray officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment late yesterday.
NCL said its findings are based a Nov. 4 report by Krueger Food Laboratories, a Massachusetts company that NCL commissioned after receiving a tip from a "confidential whistle-blower." The analysis found that the "Choice" brand is made with cranberry skin mixed with sugar syrup, inverted beet sugar, and citric acid, according to the NCL.
"We’re all about honesty in labeling and food production and unfortunately these days, you see a lot of products being called things they are not,'' Greenberg said.
NCL's allegations come as the local cranberry giant prepares to launch this spring its "Heritage campaign" to inform consumers about the company's cranberry and grapefruit growers. The campaign, which coincides with the Ocean Spray's 80th anniversary, will celebrate its growers' by featuring their personal stories and photos on product labels and online, according to the company's website.
Posted by kstringer at 6:50 PM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ has the antidote for Thanksgiving naps
Dunkin' Donuts customer research has turned up some disturbing news: On Thanksgiving Day, napping is almost as common as pumpkin pie and high school football games.
That's the headline from a survey commissioned by the Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain, which concluded that more than half of American adults will nap this Thanksgiving, Dunkin' said.
You don't need to be a bean counter with an MBA to wonder what impact a rampant oubreak of napping could have on the caffeine business. Looking to combat this potential siesta menace, Dunkin' has issued an alert to the coffee-drinking public that many of its restaurants will be open until 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving. One Dunkin' tip for warding off drowsiness: Spike the eggnog with espresso.
But here's the rub: Thanksgiving can have even the most ardent coffee buffs swearing off joe for the day. According to Dunkin's survey, one theory why Thanksgiving naps are popular is that many people find that a mid-day snooze is an ideal strategy for avoiding too much face time with disagreeable relatives. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:42 PM | Comments (0)
Friendly's ice cream with your Bruegger's bagel?
Don't be surprised to see a retail operation offering Friendly's Ice Cream menu items along with Bruegger's Bagels at the same airport location some day.
Friendly's, which is based in Wilbraham, and Brueggers, which is headquartered in Vermont, share a corporate parent in Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Florida private equity firm whose investment portfolio includes such other chains as Fazoli’s Restaurants, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, and Timothy’s Coffees of the World Inc.
Sun Capital said that those restaurants, all of which have franchising expertise, are joining forces to "target non-traditional concession opportunities around the country, including food courts at airports, universities, and hospitals."
The release added: "Under a joint strategic development program, the five restaurant chains would be able to bundle and leverage their brands, as well as key personnel, to pursue non-traditional concession opportunities while leveraging the efficiencies of the related brands."
A franchisee interested in pursuing this opportunity would have "a single brand option or a combination of two, three, four, or five nameplates," Sun Capital said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:52 PM | Comments (0)
Feds report fewer workplace deaths in New England
A federal agency says 136 people died in New England from work-related injuries last year, 27 fewer than in the previous year and the lowest number since it began compiling the statistics in 1992.
The 2008 preliminary figures were released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The two New England states with the largest workforces -- Massachusetts and Connecticut -- accounted for two-thirds of the region's occupational deaths in 2008.
Sixty-one workers died in Massachusetts, 14 fewer than in 2007. Transportation accidents accounted for 30 percent of fatalities, while falls were the second-leading cause of death at 25 percent.
Connecticut recorded 28 worker deaths, down from 38 in the previous year.
There were 24 deaths in Maine, 10 in Vermont, seven in New Hampshire, and six in Rhode Island.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:14 PM | Comments (0)
Junior Achievement USA salutes MassMutual
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. said it has been named a Top 10 volunteer resource provider by Junior Achievement USA.
MassMutual is a mutual life insurance company headquartered in Springfield. According to the website for Junior Achievement Worldwide, the organization is dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy through hands-on programs.
In a press release, MassMutual noted that more than 950 of its employees and financial professionals have volunteered their time and talent for Junior Achievement activities and programs. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
Monster joins initiative that promotes Mass. economy
Governor Deval L. Patrick said that Monster.com, a career and recruitment website with operations in Maynard, has become the latest organization to join with the statewide public-private marketing campaign: "Massachusetts: It’s All Here."
"Massachusetts job seekers will now be able to access Monster.com’s leading search functionality directly from the It’s All Here website – www.massitsallhere.com/opportunity – to help them find jobs available within the Commonwealth," a press release from the governor's office said. "This partnership will support business and workforce development throughout the Commonwealth."
According to Patrick's office, the "It's All Here" campaign is "dedicated to maximizing job growth and regional economic prosperity in Massachusetts, strengthening Massachusetts businesses, increasing capital investment in the Commonwealth, supporting all regions and communities in Massachusetts, retaining the state’s highly valued workforce, and supporting a diversity of innovative industries."
Today's press release added, "The Monster search functionality on the It’s All Here website will automatically narrow search results to those within the Commonwealth and highlight opportunities throughout the state."
Monster.com has alliances with scores of media outlets to sell help-wanted advertising, including The Boston Globe and Boston.com. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
First Marblehead bank unit sells education loans
First Marblehead Corp., which packages students loans for sale to investors, said that a bank subsidiary that it's considering selling has completed the sale of its remaining portfolio of private education loans.
Union Federal Savings Bank sold the loans to a newly formed trust affiliated with Boston-based First Marblehead. The company said the bank no longer carries any private education loans on its balance sheet.
The loans had an aggregate carrying value of about $6.6 million as of Sept. 30, and Union Federal Savings Bank received sale proceeds of about $3.7 million. Union Federal's equity capital after the sale stood at about $44.4 million.
First Marblehead announced at its annual shareholders meeting on Monday that it had begun examining strategic alternatives for Union Federal, including a potential sale.
Shares of First Marblehead fell 8 cents, or about 3.6 percent, to $2.17 in opening trading. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of 58 cents per share to $2.93.
First Marblehead receives fees for helping banks package their private student loans into bonds, which are then sold to investors. Private student loans aren't guaranteed by the government and carry higher interest rates. Financial turmoil that peaked last fall has recently left investors wary of buying the bonds as defaults among student loans have risen.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)
Admonish, philanderer got big hits at online dictionary
When it comes to your popular action verbs, "admonish" got a good workout, thanks to an outburst by a congressman during a speech by President Obama.
The folks at Springfield-based Merriam-Webster Inc. measure the popularity of words by checking out the most frequently requested definitions on www.Merriam-Webster.com, which includes such features as an online dictionary and an online thesaurus.
Merriam-Webster has a list of requests for common words such as "affect" and "effect" that crop up year after year. Then there's a special list for unusual requests, which are often generated by something in the news. Such was the case for "admonish."
"The word of the year that received the highest intensity of searches over the shortest period of time is 'admonish,' defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition as, 'to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner,'" the publisher said in a press release.
The release included a statement from Peter A. Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large.
"Admonish shot to the top of the list three days after Representative Joe Wilson's outburst during a speech made by President Obama, and it remained among our top lookups for weeks," Sokolowski said. "When the House announced plans to 'admonish' Representative Wilson, the word was understood to be technical or official, and it has been repeated often in coverage of recent contentious political issues. While this particular story wasn't very important in the context of a year's worth of news, it triggered enormous interest in this word."
The behavior of some other public figures, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina and talk show host David Letterman, triggered searches on Merriam-Webster.com for the definition of the word "philanderer," the publisher said.
A visit to Merriam-Webster.com turns up an entry that notes that the noun "philanderer" applies to men, and its definition is "to be sexually unfaithful to one's wife."
Sad to say, in a year when layoffs cutbacks were rampant, the word "furlough" was also frequently searched, Merriam-Webster said.
So now the challenge is to use all three words in a single sentence: "A philanderer who fails to be admonished should be furloughed to a monastery for a self-improving stint of monkish unconcern."
Surely Boston.com readers can come up with something better than that. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. unemployment falls to 8.9 percent
The Massachusetts unemployment rate fell last month for the first time in more than two years, plunging nearly a half-percentage point as employers trimmed payrolls by just 900 jobs, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today.
The state jobless rate dropped to 8.9 percent in October from 9.3 percent in September, the first decline since June 2007. The surprising decrease bucked the national trend, which saw the US unemployment rate soar into the double digit for the first time since the early 1980s, hitting 10.2 percent.
In Massachusetts, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and other sectors continued to cut jobs, but most of those losses were offset by strong gains in two of the state's key employment sectors: professional and business services, and education and health services. The beleaguered construction industry even added 100 jobs, the first gain since February.
The modest job losses are a sharp reversal from September, when employers slashed 9,300 jobs, and the unemployment rate hit 9.3 percent, the highest level since 1976. The state has shed about 125,000 jobs, or just under 4 percent of employment, since the recession began in March 2008.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)
Brigham's restaurants look to bankruptcy protection
The head of a Maryland company that owns 13 Brigham's restaurants said that those restaurants will seek to file for bankruptcy protection.
Luke T. Cooper of Deal Metrics LLC, the Maryland company that bought Brigham's restaurants last year, said that the filing could come as early as tomorrow.
Another 14 restaurants affiliated with Brigham's are operated by independent licensees. They are not expected to be part of the bankruptcy filing.
News of the bankruptcy follows the closing earlier this month of the last Brigham’s franchise store in Boston. (To read a Globe story about that store closing, please click here.)
Deal Metric has since closed some of the other Brigham's it operates and Cooper said he plans to close more.
Kathy Hogan, a waitress at the Arlington Brigham's for 36 years, said a co-worker called her Friday morning to say sheriff's deputies were there to evict everyone and change the locks.
Hogan, 61, said she hasn't been paid for the "past couple of weeks" and that the shop manager had to pay for ice cream and food with cash from the register. A crack in the storefront window was fixed with duct tape, she said. Hogan said despite the restaurant's shabby appearance, regulars remained faithful. Some were like family, she said, and she regrets that she did not have a chance to say goodbye.
"They way they did it was terrible," Hogan said.
In mid 2008, Brigham's Ice Cream Inc., a nearly century-old local ice cream institution, was sold off and split between two buyers. Deal Metrics bought restaurants, and HP Hood LLC, the Lynnfield dairy firm, got the Brigham's brand name, its recipes, and its packaged ice cream business. (To read a Globe story about the sale, please click here.)
In an e-mail, a Hood spokeswoman wrote: "It is important to note that Hood is proud of and committed to the ongoing production of Brigham's Ice Cream, which will continue to be manufactured using the same Brigham's recipes, under the same high quality standards consumers have come to expect from the Brigham's brand. Consumers will continue to find and enjoy Brigham's Ice Cream and Elan Frozen Yogurt in their local grocer's freezer." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
For stimulus funds, unlikely destinations
There’s $1.5 million to fix a remote lighthouse on uninhabited Monomoy Island, off Cape Cod. Security measures to protect the Spirit of Boston party cruise ship from terrorist attacks will cost about $123,000. And the University of Massachusetts at Boston received nearly $95,000 to study pollen samples from the Viking era in Iceland.
Those are some of the Massachusetts projects being funded with taxpayer money under the federal stimulus law, according to a Boston Globe review of recently filed reports.
Congress approved stimulus funding to jump-start the economy, mostly by creating jobs, but also by paying for existing public services and cutting-edge research. In many cases, the $3.9 billion awarded in Massachusetts is financing precisely such ventures.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Citi would back an interest cap
Citigroup’s chief executive, Vikram Pandit, indicated the banking giant would support a cap on credit-card interest rates for new accounts if lawmakers in Washington, D.C., revive an effort to rein in the high rates many companies are now charging.
“We’re completely in support of having a rational rate structure,’’ Pandit said during a meeting in Boston with Globe reporters and editors. He stressed that any rate limits would have to be applied across the industry and only on new accounts.
Some credit-card companies have recently jacked up interest rates to as high as 30 percent ahead of a new federal law, to take effect in February, that limits how issuers can modify agreements with their customers. Efforts by some members of Congress to cap card rates - at 15 percent, for example - have failed.
To read the full story, please click here.
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After grilling, banker is praised
Bank of America executives yesterday stood by consumer banking chief Brian Moynihan, a leading candidate to be the company’s next chief executive, after two congressmen panned his performance at a hearing on the bank’s purchase of the troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co.
One of the directors on the bank’s CEO selection committee, NStar chief Thomas May, said the Wellesley resident distinguished himself at Tuesday’s hearing of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform while fielding an onslaught of tough questions.
“Brian had a tough assignment,’’ said May, who also testified. “When you are in a leadership position, you sometimes find yourself in these situations, and he met the challenge just fine.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Leaning to the left and hoping to be heard
Jeff Santos is on an ambitious mission: For the past year, he has been building Boston’s only progressive radio talk show station.
It may sound easy for the former Capitol Hill reporter and political consultant to lure liberal listeners to WWZN-1510 AM.
After all, Massachusetts is a blue state. The governor and Boston’s mayor are Democrats. And some left-leaning heavyweights - including Governor Deval Patrick, US Representative Barney Frank, and former governor and presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis - are in radio promos for the show.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Microsoft-Pure alliance is no threat to the iPhone
Remember when Microsoft Corp. seemed unbeatable, like the New England Patriots with a 17-point lead?
But when superior competition comes along, Microsoft is as vulnerable as any other outfit. Just look at what’s happened in the booming market for smartphones. Five years ago, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software ran on about one-fourth of the world’s smartphones. Today, it has fallen below 10 percent.
The company hopes to recoup those losses next year, with the release of a major upgrade, Windows Mobile 7. But for now, it’s counting on Windows Mobile 6.5, a modest improvement that came to market last month and is now available on a handful of new phones.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MANAGING YOUR MONEY: An improved gift card
I have a love/hate relationship with gift cards.
I love the concept and the fact that they make gift-buying so much easier. A gift card is a respectable way to give money - without looking as if you have no idea what to get a person, which, if we’re being honest, is often the case.
Yet I hate to receive a gift card. I’m a hoarder, and I don’t like to waste a gift card on hair rollers or the everyday personal items I need. So I tuck the cards away. Or I’ll hide a card from a particular restaurant, waiting for a special occasion to use it.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:59 AM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2009
Citi CEO open to credit card rate cap; says bank on upswing
Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit indicated the banking giant would support a cap on credit card interest rates for new accounts, if lawmakers in Washington DC revive an effort to reign in the high rates many companies are now charging.
Related
"We're completely in support of having a rational rate structure,'' Pandit said during a meeting in Boston with Globe reporters and editors. He stressed that any rate limits would have to be applied across the industry and only on new accounts.
Credit card companies have recently jacked up interest rates to as high as 30 percent ahead of a new federal law, to take effect next February, that limits how issuers can modify agreements with their customers. Efforts by some members of Congress to cap card rates, at 15 percent for example, have failed.
Pandit noted that Citi adopted a 10 percent rate on its cards three years ago, anticipating that other card companies would follow suit. But competitors did not, he said; instead, his company got hurt because some customers chose to pay off higher-rate cards first and started defaulting on their Citi debts.
He warned that if Congress did pass a rate cap, it could lead to banks reducing credit to customers. On the one hand that might crimp economic growth, Pandit pointed out; but on the other, such a cap might be prudent because it would curtail the kind of easy lending that landed so many consumers in debt.
"Whatever it is you put out there is going to impact the amount of credit creation in the US economy, and it's going to impact who's going to get cards. Very simple," Pandit says. But high rates also hurt consumers, he acknowledged. "I don't disagree with the notion that having high rates in this environment is not conducive to driving economic recovery."
But Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a website that rates credit card offers, said a real debate about rate caps is unlikely because the banking industry vigorously opposes such a measure.
"I would be shocked if a cap is ever instituted," he said.
In his talk with Globe staff yesterday, Pandit touched on a number of steps Citi is taking to improve its financial standing about being hammered by the financial crisis last year. The company, he said, has "turned the corner" and expects to soon be able to repay the $45 billion bailout it received from the US government. The investment effectively gives the government a 34 percent stake in the company.
Citi has raised $85 billion in the public markets or by selling businesses and has significantly improved its capital position, and is continuing to sell noncore operations, he said.
And Citi is eager to repay its bailout funds: "It's time for us to repay the government, with a debt of gratitude, as well as with a good rate of return,'' he said. He said Citigroup is working with regulators on how to do that, calling it a "big event" financially and "a good psychological event too, for everybody involved."
Pandit became chief executive of Citi in December 2007, after it suffered large losses on mortgage securities at the company. He has agreed to a salary of only $1 this year, and also is not receiving stock compensation.
Pandit said the company is focusing on its culture and wants to "be part of America's recovery,'' by offering new home loans and renegotiating more than 700,000 mortgages that had been in danger of foreclosure. "We do have a sense that it's good for everybody involved to keep people in their homes,'' he said. He acknowledged Citi was part of the nation's credit problem when it made $120 billion in mortgage loans at the peak. Last year, he said, the bank made about $80 billion in mortgages.
Citi will try to expand its customer base in the Boston area, but not necessarily by adding to its 31 branches here, Pandit said. Online services, ATMs and bank kiosks are part of the plan, he said. "We think we can serve more clients in Boston than we're serving right now and we want to take advantage of that."
Posted by globebusiness at 3:32 PM | Comments (0)
Black Falcon Cruise Terminal is getting an upgrade
Passengers at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in South Boston will be waiting for their ships to come in at a new $8 million check-in area by the end of next year, a renovation that will expand the terminal by 40 percent.
An unused 83,000-square-foot warehouse space on the third floor will be converted into a waiting area with separate spaces for loading and unloading passengers of a single ship. The renovation, which was approved by the Massachusetts Port Authority board today, is the second phase of an $11 million makeover of the terminal. It will be funded by a $3 increase in the $11 facility charge each cruise customer currently pays, effective for the 2011 cruise season.
The cruise industry is on the upswing in Boston, with the 2009 season marking the third year in a row of passenger increases, according to Cruiseport Boston; nearly 300,000 travelers passed through the cruise terminal this year, an 11 percent increase over last year.
Separately, the Massport board approved spending $8 million to add another gate in Terminal E at Logan International Airport, in the area adjacent to where Southwest Airlines operates. "It's likely that Southwest will go in there," said Massport spokesman Matthew Brelis.
The board also approved three security projects at the Port of Boston funded by $1.9 million in federal stimulus money: providing radio equipment to improve communication during emergencies, replacing an old boat used for water rescues and surveillance patrols with a bigger water craft, and building a pedestrian walkway at Conley Terminal that will allow sailors on container ships to access the street without having to walk across the loading area.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:25 PM | Comments (0)
Local Thanksgiving car travel could rise 8.8 pecent
An estimated 38.4 million Americans will be traveling 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up 1.4 percent from last year when concerns about the financial crisis kept many folks home, AAA Southern New England said.
"Much of the increased travel is projected to come from the New England states, which are expected to show an overall increase of 8.8 percent over 2008," a press release from AAA Southern New England said.
AAA said its projections are based on research conducted by IHS Global Insight, a Lexington-based economic research and consulting firm.
In New England, people tend to live closer together, and shorter distances between family and friends often translate into more holiday travel by car. Throw in local unemployment rates that are generally lower than the national unemployment rate, and conditions are favorable for an increase in New England car travel this Thanksgiving holiday, said Christopher Pike, principal of travel and tourism at IHS Global Insight.
In its press release, AAA added: "Last year, Thanksgiving travel fell 25 percent from 2007 in the wake of the ongoing housing and financial crisis. This year’s expected increase in travel reflects improved consumer confidence from one year ago, better financial market performance, and a growing sense among many consumers that the worst of the global economic crisis is behind us." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)
BJ's Wholesale 3Q profit falls on legal reserve
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said that a legal settlement helped push its third-quarter profit down 37 percent. But sales climbed as shoppers continued to hunt for deals on food and everyday items.
Wholesale clubs like BJ's have become increasingly popular with shoppers during the recession as they look for deals on food and everyday items. This has worked in BJ's favor, as the company based in Natick, has a heavier emphasis on food than some of its competitors.
In a press release, the wholesale club operator said it earned $17.7 million, or 32 cents per share, for the period ended Oct. 31. That's down from $28.2 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.
That includes a charge of $11.7 million, or 13 cents per share, for a reserve to settle a labor claim.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, expected a profit of 45 cents per share.
BJ's revenue rose 2 percent to $2.51 billion from $2.46 billion to top Wall Street's $2.48 billion estimate.
Sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.5 percent in the quarter, pressured by lower gasoline sales. That figure is a key indicator of a retailer's performance because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones. It rose 3.9 percent excluding gasoline.
BJ's ran 184 warehouse clubs in 15 states at quarter's end.
In a statement, BJ's said that it has "recorded an $11.7 million pre-tax charge in connection with settling a claim relating to the classification of various employees as exempt from overtime wages."
"Under the settlement, which still must be approved by the federal court, certain current and former mid-level managers will be eligible to receive payments to compensate them for particular hours worked in prior years," said the statement, which added that the settlement is "not an admission on the part of the company of any wrongdoing."
The release also said: "The number of employees who will receive compensation and the amount of each settlement will not be known until the court proceeds with final approval of the settlement terms and all employee claims are submitted."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:36 AM | Comments (0)
Timberland launches climate-change campaign
The Timberland Co., an outdoor footwear and apparel company that has long tried to incorporate environmental issues and social awareness into its marketing messages, said it is launching a campaign called, "Don't tell us it can't be done."
The campaign aims to encourage "citizens of the world to challenge government leaders attending the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen this December to set standards for emissions" and to "get involved in the climate change debate by giving them a forum to let their voices be heard," Stratham, N.H.-based Timberland said in a press release.
"Timberland is challenging world leaders at COP15 to commit to reducing global emissions – even if that means a cap and trade system," the release added.
The release included a statement from Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland’s President and chief executive.
"It’s time for companies to look at the effect their business has on the environment and do something about it," Swartz said. "If world leaders set the standards, businesses will find a way to innovate and make environmentally conscious products and profits at the same time. It can be done." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:58 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
US pressed bank on Merrill, Gifford says
WASHINGTON - Two top Bank of America Corp. executives gave a congressional committee conflicting versions of the bank’s controversial takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co., one saying that the federal government pressed the financial giant to complete the deal while the other testified he did not feel coerced.
Bank of America board member Charles K. Gifford testified that the government “pushed us hard’’ to acquire Merrill. But bank executive Brian Moynihan said he “did not feel at any point pressured by the government to do anything I didn’t want to do.’’
For more than two hours, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled three of the most prominent bank executives in Boston: Moynihan, Gifford, and bank board member Thomas May, head of the power company Nstar. Democrats on the committee focused on whether bank officials threatened to back out of the Merrill acquisition to pressure the government for billions of dollars in extra federal aid. Republican committee members questioned whether federal officials pushed Bank of America into the deal.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Shapiro seeks bigger payout from Madoff liquidator
Boston philanthropist Carl J. Shapiro is arguing that the liquidator for Ponzi artist Bernard L. Madoff should be forced to include years’ worth of fake profits when calculating claims made by the con man’s victims.
Shapiro, who lost at least $545 million in Madoff’s fraud, has joined other victims in objecting to the current method of tallying their claims, arguing it does not fairly account for the assets they lost in the decades-long fraud.
So far, Madoff trustee Irving Picard has been setting claims based on the deposits and withdrawals made by victims over the years. But in a Nov. 13 federal court filing, Shapiro reveals that he thought he was invested in a conservative portfolio of stocks and bonds, and asserts that Picard’s method violates regulations requiring that claims should be set based on investors “legitimate expectations’’ of their accounts.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Breast-care advice tests firms
The region’s makers of mammography systems, digital detectors, and medical imaging software are bracing for the fallout from guidelines released Monday that suggest women start regular breast cancer screenings at age 50, rather than 40, and get mammograms every two years instead of annually up to age 74.
While companies say the recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force won’t have an immediate impact on their business, they worry the guidelines could lead to fewer screenings - especially for women in their 40s - and to longer intervals between hospital orders to replace mammography equipment.
“This is another blow to the equipment industry,’’ said Maria Shepherd, founder of Data Decision Group, a Belmont research firm specializing in medical devices. “This could take away a big portion of the population that gets screened. Anybody who sells equipment is already having a hard time, because hospitals are having to make really tough choices’’ about how to spend money in a slow economy, she said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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'GBH takeover of 'CRB alters more than letters
Boston is following a trend in radio that’s taking place in other cities across the nation: Its only 24-hour classical music station now depends on listeners - not advertisers - to keep it afloat.
Last week’s Federal Communications Commission approval of WGBH’s $14 million purchase of WCRB-FM (99.5) means the classical musical station is now a public broadcaster, with a business model that draws revenue from donations and corporate sponsorship instead of relying on advertising.
Because classical music fans tend to be older, and advertisers typically want to court a younger crowd, WGBH sees listener support as a better way to ensure that the 60-year-old classical music station is financially healthy enough to continue to play Chopin and Mozart.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Economic expectations are not as grim in the Bay State
Boston-area residents are more optimistic about the economy and their own financial prospects than the nation as a whole, but they continue to cut spending as many struggle to make ends meet, according to a survey released yesterday by the banking giant Citigroup.
Boston’s brighter outlook is the result of the region faring better in the recession than other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest, which was battered by a slumping auto industry, and the South, hard hit by the housing collapse, said Lisa Caputo, a Citi executive vice president. But “better’’ remains a relative term.
About 7 in 10 of the Bostonians surveyed described local business conditions as fair or poor. One in 5 of the women said they sometimes can’t sleep because they are worried about paying household bills. About 1 in 4 of the men who were polled said fear of losing a job keeps them up at night. One in 2 two respondents said they are putting off major purchases.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:35 AM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2009
Hopeful about economy, but still losing sleep
Boston area residents are more optimistic about the economy and their
own financial prospects than the nation as a whole, but they continue to
cut spending as many struggle to make ends meet, according to a survey
released today by banking giant Citigroup.
Boston’s brighter outlook is the result of the region faring better
in the recession than other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest,
which was battered by a slumping auto industry, and the South, hard hit by
the housing collapse, said Lisa Caputo, Citi’s executive vice president for
global marketing and corporate affairs. But ‘‘better’’ remains a relative
term.
About seven in 10 Bostonians still describe local business conditions
as only fair or poor, according to the survey. One in five women said they
can’t sleep because they’re worried about paying household bills. About one
in four men said fear of losing a job keeps them up at night. As a result,
one in two residents said they are putting off major purchases such as
cars.
‘‘What we see happening is a reset,’’ Caputo said. ‘‘People are going
back to basics. No one is going back to the old ways of doing things.’’
Boston area residents are more optimistic about the economy and their
own financial prospects than the nation as a whole, but they continue to
cut spending as many struggle to make ends meet, according to a survey
released today by banking giant Citigroup.
Boston’s brighter outlook is the result of the region faring better
in the recession than other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest,
which was battered by a slumping auto industry, and the South, hard hit by
the housing collapse, said Lisa Caputo, Citi’s executive vice president for
global marketing and corporate affairs. But ‘‘better’’ remains a relative
term.
About seven in 10 Bostonians still describe local business conditions
as only fair or poor, according to the survey. One in five women said they
can’t sleep because they’re worried about paying household bills. About one
in four men said fear of losing a job keeps them up at night. As a result,
one in two residents said they are putting off major purchases such as
cars.
‘‘What we see happening is a reset,’’ Caputo said. ‘‘People are going
back to basics. No one is going back to the old ways of doing things.’’
The survey of 500 residents, conducted in September, is consistent
with other recent polls, which have found hints of optimism in
Massachusetts overshadowed by economic anxiety. This anxiety, much of it
related to weak labor markets, has consumers keeping tight reins on
spending, and economists forecasting a long, difficult recovery.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll last month found that two of
three Massachusetts residents believed an economic recovery was underway,
but nearly half were worried about losing their jobs. The October consumer
confidence survey by Boston consulting firm Mass Insight Corp. also found
that Massachusetts residents were more optimistic than consumers
nationally, but still insecure.
Nearly 60 percent said jobs were hard to get, and 64 percent expected
no job growth over the next six months.
‘‘There are these small surges of optimism that get squashed by
negative news,’’ said Mass Insight president William H. Guenther. ‘‘And the
thing that people are feeling the most is the job market.’’
The Massachusetts unemployment rate, 9.3 percent in September, was
the highest since 1976, but still below the national rate of 9.8 percent in
September. In October, the national rate jumped to 10.2 percent. The state
reports the October unemployment rate in Massachusetts Thursday.
In the Citi survey, four of 10 Boston residents said they had dipped
into savings or investments to pay bills. One in three said they were
working longer hours to make ends meet. The greatest concern for the
household budget: the rising cost of health care.
Still, the view of the future was brighter than current conditions.
Nearly two of three residents surveyed by Citigroup, or 65 percent, said
they expected the local economy to improve over the next year, compared to
57 percent nationally. Nearly 70 percent of those surveyed in Boston
expected their own financial positions to improve in the next year,
compared to 65 percent nationally.
An improving Massachusetts housing market is also providing a lift,
as both sales and prices have risen in recent months. Nearly two out of
three Boston homeowners, or 64 percent, said they believed they could sell
their home for more than they paid, compared to 57 percent nationally.
The Citi survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage
points.
Posted by globebusiness at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
Foxwoods fails to make full debt payment
Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of the world's largest, has failed to make a full payment on its debt, leading to a default and another credit-rating downgrade as casinos around the country struggle amid the severe recession.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns the Connecticut casino, said it has paid $14.2 million of the $21.25 million semi-annual interest payment that was due Monday on $500 million in debt notes. The tribe said it does not anticipate paying the balance within a 30-day period, resulting in a default.
The tribe, which has been seeking to restructure billions of dollars in debt, said its efforts are "separate and distinct" from operations at Foxwoods and will not affect customers, employees, suppliers or business partners.
Foxwoods is the most high-profile example of a tribe defaulting on its debt, said Megan Neuburger, director at Fitch Ratings. She said investors have long wondered what would happen if a tribe, which has national sovereignty, defaulted on its debt.
"This is definitely a precedent-setting situation," Neuburger said. "Certainly everyone in the investing community will be watching this to see what the outcome is."
Standard & Poors lowered its credit rating to D, its lowest rating. Lenders will be more hesitant to make loans to Foxwoods, said Craig Parmelee, S&P's managing director.
"The availability and cost of financing for Foxwoods in the future is in question," Parmelee said.
Foxwoods is one of several casinos across the country defaulting on its debt as consumers cut back on discretionary spending, Parmelee said. Among those, he said, are Buffalo Thunder and Inn of the Mountain Gods, both in New Mexico; and a Michigan casino owned by the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa.
Some commercial casinos not owned by American Indian tribes have gone into bankruptcy, he said.
Parmelee said he did not expect Foxwoods to close, however. Lenders can take possession of commercial casinos that default and sell them to third parties, but that option likely is not available when dealing with Native American tribes who operate as sovereign nations, he said.
The most likely scenario is a renegotiation of the debt, Parmelee said. That could mean some loan forgiveness, but lenders might question payments to tribal members and review the tribe's business plan, he said.
"I don't think shutting down the casino is the best route to meeting the goals of either party," Parmelee said.
Tribal officials said last month they had entered into a forbearance agreement with senior lenders that extends through Jan. 20. Such deals occur when a creditor gives up the right to immediate repayment of a loan by a debtor under certain conditions.
Foxwoods, along with Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, underwent expansions just before the economic downturn. But Mohegan Sun, operated by the Mohegan Tribe, has said that the casino is financially healthy.
"For those entities that took on additional debt to fund expansions, that certainly was a factor that contributed to many of the defaults across the gaming industry in the last two years," Parmelee said.
Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun said this week that slot machine revenue dropped about 4 percent in October compared with the same month last year.
Parmelee said he expects the level of declines in slot revenue at casinos to lessen, but he does not expect any meaningful growth next year.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)
Harvard Business profs weigh in on holiday sales
The best retailers will be doing more than trying to maximize sales this holiday season; they'll also be looking for clues about whether the recession has drastically shifted consumer shopping habits, two Harvard Business School professors said.
"After the shock and awe of last year's financial crisis," there is evidence that consumers are retrenching and rethinking values, and one result could be a "new normal," said Nancy F. Koehn, the James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration, in a statement included in a Harvard Business School press release.
The release also included insights from Rajiv Lal, the school's Stanley Roth Sr. Professor of Retailing.
And while newly chastened big spenders could head to Target this holiday season to buy sensible gifts such as pants and coats, retailers should fare better this year than last, thanks in part to a rising stock market and a perception that the worst is behind us, the professors said.
"If we start with the big picture, holiday retail spending in 2009 is likely to be flat or marginally better than last year," Koehn said in her statement. "In 2008, holiday retail sales were $442 billion or about one tenth of total retail sales for the year. While this year is likely to see little or no increase on 2008 holiday sales, the difference, year-over-year, is expected to be much smaller than the 3.4 percent drop in holiday spending last year-relative to 2007 - when consumers pulled back dramatically on all manner of buying in the midst of the financial crisis."
Lal's statement said in part: "I am still betting on the power of Santa Claus. While consumer spending may never reach pre-recession levels, I think it will be much better than expected for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the difference in the psychology of the American consumer. At this time last year, the economy was in a free fall. The stock market was tanking, major Wall Street firms were facing extinction, 401ks were evaporating, and the nation's confidence in our economic system was badly shaken. A 6 percent contraction in the GDP was hardly surprising. Consequently, most consumers spent their money only on essentials. Sales in categories where purchase could be delayed suffered the most - automobiles in particular and apparel to a lesser extent. Thankfully, things have changed for the better." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)
Bank of America's Gifford, Moynihan grilled on Merrill deal
A senior House Democrat says the government didn't force Bank of America to take over Merrill Lynch, but a bank board member said much pressure was applied and Republicans charged that a committee inquiry was covering up the role of an Obama administration official.
"The government pushed us hard to do this deal," Bank of America director Charles "Chad" Gifford said after persistent questioning by lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is focused on the $45 billion federal bailout of Bank of America Corp. and its hastily arranged acquisition of Merrill last December. The hearing examined whether Bank of America executives knew they had little chance of legally being able to back out of the deal to buy Merrill but threatened to do so to pressure the government for more bailout aid.
That is what committee chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., says happened in the tumult of December 2008 with the second-largest U.S. bank.
But the committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, said the panel's work "has become an apparent cover-up of the continuing activities of the Obama administration," especially of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Geithner was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time of the merger in December 2008. Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Williams said Tuesday that Geithner was not involved in any Bank of America decisions after being tapped for the Treasury post last November.
"He was kept apprised of the situation as would be appropriate for any incoming Treasury secretary but he was not involved in the decision making," Williams said.
The $20 billion Merrill deal, forged the same September weekend that Lehman Brothers collapsed, was first questioned after Bank of America disclosed that the investment bank would post 2008 losses of $27.6 billion -- far more than expected. Bank of America, which had already received $25 billion in U.S. bailout aid, then asked for and received an additional $20 billion from the government to help offset those losses.
Criticism of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis mounted after Merrill, with the knowledge of other executives, gave $3.6 billion in bonuses to its employees even as the government was doling out more rescue money. The bonuses, which would normally have been paid in January, were paid out in December ahead of the deal's Jan. 1 completion.
Timothy Mayopoulos, who was general counsel before being abruptly fired last December, said he advised Bank of America executives that the bank couldn't make a case that Merrill's huge losses provided legal grounds for it to back out of the merger deal.
"The government did not elbow its way into this transaction," Towns said. June testimony by Lewis and documents obtained by the panel show it was the bank that forced the merger, he added.
Brian Moynihan, president of consumer and small-business banking, who took over as general counsel after Mayopoulos' firing, testified that "I did not feel pressured at any point by the government."
Moynihan is considered by analysts to be a leading candidate to replace Lewis.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told him: "I don't know who you think we are." It wasn't credible that Moynihan, who hadn't practiced law in years would replace the experienced Mayopoulos unless company management wanted to disregard his advice, Cummings said.
Lewis' earlier testimony, and statements by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, show that "pressure was being applied," Issa said.
But Gifford, the Bank of America director, said what swayed him to vote for the merger was the legal uncertainty of fighting to invoke special circumstances to annul the deal. That would have been "a lose-lose for Bank of America shareholders," he said.
An e-mail sent by Gifford to family members on Jan. 21, released by the committee, shows him telling them: "This was a bad decision and when we realized same, the U.S. government pressured us to stick with it. That's when they agreed to give us more capital and guarantee some of their bad assets."
The flap over the bonuses ultimately cost former Merrill CEO John Thain his job at Bank of America, and the continuing fallout led Lewis to decide to step down at the end of this year.
Another key issue is what legal advice Bank of America received regarding disclosing the amount of the bonuses -- which could have totaled up to $5.8 billion -- to shareholders before their vote on the companies' merger. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Bank of America in August, alleging that it failed to tell shareholders that it had authorized Merrill to pay that amount in 2008 even though the investment bank had suffered the stunning loss.
The terms of the bank's takeover of Merrill, including the bonus payments, were laid out in documents prepared by outside attorneys for the two companies. The attorneys were mainly responsible for drafting Bank of America's disclosure filings to the SEC.
The House panel's scrutiny follows months of legal wrangling over the deal. In September, Cuomo's office subpoenaed five members of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America's board as part of an investigation into the Merrill takeover. Seven directors have resigned from the board since shareholders replaced Lewis as chairman in April.
Bank of America had settled the SEC's separate case over disclosures of the Merrill bonuses in September, but a federal judge said the $33 million settlement accord was unfair and needlessly penalized the bank's shareholders. The judge has ordered the case to go to trial on Feb. 1.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)
New Balance isn't just sensible shoes anymore
New Balance for Nine West is unveiling its seasonal lineup of fashionable sneakers and shoes for women.
Earlier this year, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., the Boston-based company known for athletic footwear, teamed up with shoe retailer Nine West to launch their first joint collection of footwear; the footwear aimed to combine New Balance performance technology with Nine West's sense of fashion and style.
"While the Spring 2009 collection offered bright color combinations, Fall will convey fabrics, prints, and embellishments that reflect key fashion trends of the season including studs and graffiti. New silhouettes are also being introduced with the addition of Velcro-strapped high-tops," New Balance and Nine West said in a press release about the new lineup.
New Balance has long been known for sturdy, no-nonsense sneakers that found favor with middle-age runners. Wild patterns and color schemes were generally not part of the mix. That's not necessarily the case with New Balance for Nine West. In one execution, cheetah-printed suede gets a workout. (The photo at right was provided by New Balance.)
The collection is now available at Nine West stores, ninewest.com, and key New Balance stores, and the shoes will retail from $70 to $100, the press release said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Thomas G. Seitz and Daniel J. O'Shea are new vice presidents at a unit of Sun Life Financial Inc., a financial services company with US headquarters in Wellesley. Seitz has been named vice president of relationship management at Sun Life Financial Distributors, Sun Life's wholesaling and marketing organization, and O'Shea as vice president of individual life sales at the same unit. Most recently, Seitz was senior vice president at Mount Yale Capital Group in Minnesota. Previously, O'Shea worked at Principal Financial, where he led the strategic development, design, execution, and management of the company's life brokerage distribution channel.
Jon McGrath has been named as president and chief operating officer at Neograft Technologies Inc., a medical device company in Newport, R.I. McGrath, a resident of Duxbury, will be responsible for leading Neograft operations as the company prepares for market launch of advanced cardiac technologies for use in heart bypass procedures. His resume includes stints at LumeRx, Biosphere Medical, Harbor Medical, and Boston Scientific.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Grease-monkey downtime will be scarce in 2010
Auto mechanics won't have much leisure time in 2010 if a new report from the NPD Group is any guide.
The recession has made many consumer gun-shy about buying a new car, and one result is that many consumers are holding onto their current vehicles longer, said the NPD Group, a market research firm - and more older cars translate into more oil changes and other maintenance procedures.
Based on its surveys and research, auto maintenance rose from 2008 to 2009, and that trend is projected to continue in 2010, NPD said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
TJX 3Q profit rises 32 pct as shoppers seek deals
TJX Cos. said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 32 percent as shoppers looked for bargains at the off-price retailer's chains.
The Framingham-based operator of stores including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls ,and HomeGoods reported that it earned $347.8 million, or 81 cents per share, in the three-month period ended Oct. 31. That compares with 235.8 million, or 58 cents per share.
Revenues rose 10 percent to $5.24 billion from $4.76 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected 80 cents per share on revenue of $5.25 billion.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)
Holiday shoppers may leave credit cards at home
As the ghost of Christmas Past can tell you, it wasn't all that long ago that credit cards were as common a holiday sight as fruit cakes and mistletoe - when the good times rolled, many consumers bought pricey holiday gifts and didn't worry much about racking up big credit card bills that didn't become due until the new year.
But with the recession inducing a new frugality, this holiday season might see a throwback to the cash-and-carry shopping dynamic of yore. So says the National Retail Federation, or NRF, a trade group of merchants. Based on a survey of 8,692 consumers taken earlier this month, the NRF concluded, "It’s the year for a little more green and a little less plastic."
According to the survey that BIGresearch conducted for the NRF, 24.9 percent of survey respondents said they plan to pay for holiday gifts this year with cash, a 9.1 percent increase from last year’s 22.8 percent. In addition, 42.5 percent of shoppers plan to pay primarily with debit or check cards, a 2.5 percent increase from last year, the NRF said.
"With many holiday shoppers focused on spending within their limits, it’s no surprise that fewer people will be relying on credit cards this year," Tracy Mullin, NRF president and chief executive, said in a statement. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)
SEC won't take enforcement action against iBasis
Burlington's iBasis Inc., a wholesale carrier of international long-distance calls, said that it has been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the SEC agency has terminated its investigation into the company's past stock option grant practices.
According to the iBasis press release, the SEC staff "does not intend to recommend any enforcement action against the company, or any of its current or former officers or directors."
In 2006, iBasis Inc. fired a top executive and said it would restate past financial statements following an investigation into its past stock-option practices, an AP story noted.
IBasis has been in the news of late on other matters. Royal KPN N.V., the Dutch national carrier that owns a controlling stake in iBasis, has been seeking to buy shares in iBasis that it doesn't already own. Claiming that Royal KPN's offer price is inadequate, iBasis is urging its minority shareholders to rebuff Royal KPN's offers. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:28 AM | Comments (0)
Bordeaux pairs well with Hub, wine council says
What's the right wine-pairing for a cheeseburger? Hand a ground-beef fan a three-pound wine list, and he might reply, "All of the above."
But among the best choices may well be a Bordeaux wine. So says the Bordeaux Wine Council, which has just launched a new marketing campaign. According to a wine council press release, one aim of the campaign is to introduce "a new contemporary, but classic look with elegant illustrations and a bold sense of color that puts a modern spin on Bordeaux’s image."
Some of the campaign unfolds www.enjoybordeaux.com, and among the website's features is "Le Wine Buff," which offers guidance on selecting the proper wine for the occasion. Through Dec. 15, "Le Wine Buff" will feature live online chats with "seasoned sommeliers from around the country," the council's press release says. (The photo that appears with this post was taken from the council's website.)
Here's some current "Le Wine Buff" advice now on the website: "You might want to try something that goes with some of your favorite everyday foods like spaghetti and cheeseburgers. For instance, Alios 2006 (Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux), pairs very well with those dishes."
A fine red wine to complement the cheeseburger is all very well and good, your hearty trencherman might say, but where is the local angle on this story?
It turns out the wine council is planning a road trip, and one scheduled stop is the Hub.
Or as the press release says: "A series of online advertisements are running nationally on high traffic lifestyle and epicurean websites along with video spots in New York City taxi cabs and a wallscape advertisement on a building in Manhattan. The Bordeaux Wine Council will also host a series of consumer events in November and December in Boston, New York City, Chicago, and Miami."
And the campaign's mantra? "Life goes better with Bordeaux."
Hard to argue with that. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:57 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Genzyme Corp. yesterday said US regulators are delaying approval of Lumizyme, its drug to treat the rare genetic disorder Pompe disease in adults, until the Cambridge biotechnology company solves persistent problems at its cell culture manufacturing plant in Allston.
Genzyme officials said they are moving aggressively to correct deficiencies that were spelled out by the Food and Drug Administration during a meeting with company officials late Friday. The session came as the FDA wrapped up a five-week inspection at the Allston Landing plant, where Genzyme detected a virus last June.
The company, which decontaminated the plant during a shutdown over the summer, is tightening internal controls and temporarily closing a “fill finishing’’ area of the plant - where its enzyme replacement drugs are put in vials for shipment to patients - to update machinery and parts.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Private equity, public pain
Every politician knows one can’t-miss campaign strategy this year: Run against Wall Street and America’s big banks.
The giants of finance are easy targets, and deservedly so. All the Democrats in the state’s US Senate race have taken the opportunity to smack Wall Street and campaign for greater financial regulation. But none has done it so aggressively or in such detail as Steve Pagliuca, a partner at the Boston private-equity giant Bain Capital.
One of Pagliuca’s television commercials reaches out to people who are “fed up with excess on Wall Street’’ and promises action. “What will Main Street get from Pagliuca?’’ it asks. “The toughest regulations to stop Wall Street abuses.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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All's fare in travel by bus
Even before he took the bus, Northeastern University student Jimmy Okuszka knew he’d like it better than the train. The last time he made a visit to his family in New Jersey, it was on Amtrak, but when he learned the BoltBus service from Boston had free wireless Internet access, he made the switch.
“I kind of got a little bored last time just watching movies [on my laptop] and not being able to go on the Internet,’’ said Okuszka, 18, as he waited in line to board the bus at South Station, on his way to visit a friend at Rutgers University. Never mind that he had to transfer to a train once he got to New York; for most of the trip, he would be able to e-mail friends and check out his favorite websites. It didn’t hurt that he paid only $30 on Bolt for a round-trip ticket to New York, compared with the $100 price tag for the train.
Long-distance bus ridership in the United States is estimated to be up about 10 percent since last year, according to Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, which conducts an annual survey of the bus industry. The number of passengers traveling by air and train, on the other hand, was down about 8 percent for the first eight months of the year, according to numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Amtrak. Bus tickets are more affordable, and many bus companies also offer something that most trains and planes don’t - free wireless Internet access - which is attracting not only business travelers, but a legion of young riders used to having the Web at their fingertips.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Boston team will defend bank in D.C.
Three top Bank of America officials from Massachusetts are expected to defend the company’s acquisition of the investment bank Merrill Lynch at a congressional hearing today.
The company is facing separate investigations from the Securities and Exchange Commission, New York’s attorney general, and the US House Committee on Oversight and Government on whether it misled shareholders and taxpayers during the $50 billion purchase of Merrill in late 2008.
Yesterday, the congressional panel released written testimony submitted by the three bank executives, including Brian Moynihan. He runs Bank of America’s consumer banking division and is the bank’s former general counsel.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Moynihan, in running for Bank of America's top jobs, has experience winning tough fights
Brian T. Moynihan was gifted with speed. At his high school in the Appalachian town of Marietta, Ohio, he was named outstanding male runner his senior year, when his relay team finished 62-1.
But Moynihan also threw himself into three other sports at which he was not a natural, relying on smarts and an unblinking work ethic more than on athletic prowess.
“He was an average athlete, but he was a competitor,’’ said his high school basketball coach, Ed Paxton. “He worked very hard.’’
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2009
Cruiseport Boston sets passenger record
There were 299,736 cruise passengers traveling through the Port of Boston in 2009, an 11 percent increase over last year, the Massachusetts Port Authority said.
During the 2009 season, cruise ships made 105 visits to Cruiseport Boston’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, down from 113 visits in 2008, Massport said.
One reason why the number of passengers increased while the number of cruise ship visits declined is that one cruise line, Norwegian Cruise Line, has had its newer Norwegian Spirit sailing the Boston-Bermuda itinerary this year; the Norwegian Spirit is 14 percent larger than the vessel it replaced on the Boston run, said Massport, which added that other season highlights included the Queen Mary 2 making her first-ever transatlantic voyage from Boston. And during the 2009 season, the Queen Mary 2's sister-ship Queen Victoria made her first-ever Boston visit, Massport said.
Commenting on the numbers in a statement, Massport chief executive and executive director Thomas J. Kinton Jr. said, "This economic downturn has made travelers more selective about how they spend their vacation dollars, and sales in the cruise industry helped spur a 14-percent increase in travelers who began their cruise in Boston, and an 8-percent increase in passengers visiting Boston for the day."
Cruiseport Boston attracted 234,284 passengers in 2007 and 269,911 passengers in 2008, Massport said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:46 PM | Comments (0)
Fidelity, MetLife team up to offer annuity
Fidelity Investments, the Boston mutual funds giants whose portfolio includes retirement savings products, said it is teaming up with the MetLife insurance company to offer "a new deferred variable annuity product designed for individuals who are either retired or transitioning to retirement."
"The MetLife Growth and Guaranteed Income(SM) (MGGI) variable annuity is distributed exclusively through Fidelity and is the only deferred variable annuity with a living benefit sold through the company," Fidelity said in a press release.
The new product "features an insurance guarantee backed by MetLife and the proven money management expertise of Fidelity, which together form a comprehensive, yet simple solution for those seeking retirement income protection as well as upside growth potential and flexibility," Jon J. Skillman, president of Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co., said in a statement. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices fall 3 cents a gallon
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts fell 3 cents in the latest AAA weekly survey, following four straight weeks of increases, AAA Southern New England said.
"AAA’s Nov. 16 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging averaging $2.619 per gallon, 3 cents lower than last week," AAA Southern New England said in a press release. "The current price is 2 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.63. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $2.08, 53 cents lower than today’s average." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
Santa insists on discounts this year, survey says
Holiday shoppers will scrutinize those circulars and do lots of comparison shopping as they hunt for bargains this year, and many will buy only items that are on sale, according to a survey of consumers by the NPD Group, a market research company in Port Washington, N.Y.
According to the survey, 37 percent of respondents agreed with this statement, "I plan to buy all of my holiday gifts on sale."
NPD previously reported that its consumer surveys had 30 percent of respondents saying that they plan to spend less on the holiday this year.
"All of our indications suggest that consumers will shop but be more cautious in their approach," Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief industry analyst, said in a statement. "The study’s results show consumers will be doing their homework a bit more carefully this year." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Soldiers adding high tech to the arsenal
When the largest annual military communications conference in the United States opened at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston last month, the show floor was dominated by large spike-like antennas, vehicle-mounted satellite dishes, and wide-screen computer displays.
But many booths at the event, Milcom 2009, featured technology that seemed to be heading in the other direction: toward small portable devices that can be tucked under helmets, stashed in backpacks, and sewn into uniforms.
A highlight of the General Dynamics C4 Systems display, for example, was a soldier mannequin outfitted with the company’s Land Warrior system, which includes a vest and a backpack stuffed with computing, networking, and navigational technology.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Brightcove expands Web video service
Five years ago, when Jeremy Allaire founded Brightcove Inc., an online video company in Cambridge, he predicted video would someday be as common as text on the Web.
Today, Brightcove is expected to launch a low-priced video service that would build on the belief Allaire’s prediction is getting closer to reality.
The company, which until now has provided its video tools and hosting services mostly to large media companies, including Fox Entertainment Group and A&E Television Networks, will introduce an entry-level edition called Brightcove Express.
To read the full story, please click here.
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In battle to save hemlocks, hope rests on a beetle
Armed with a Wiffle Ball bat and a canvas sheet, entomologist David Mausel is scouring forests across New England for an ally.
That ally - a small jet-black beetle - feasts on the even tinier but voracious hemlock woolly adelgid, which is ravaging the region’s hemlocks. The adelgids latch onto twigs, feeding on the trees until their needles yellow and fall and the trees die.
Mausel has been in cahoots with these beetles since 2007, when he began collecting a small army of them in Idaho and brought them back East to release at specific study sites.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: If you let them, big companies make you small
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation.
The bad side of working for a big company. On the Boston innovation landscape, there are two kinds of people: those who draw a paycheck from small start-up ventures, and those who toil in the salt mines at big companies. The latter often fall prey to Big Company Syndrome. You know you’re suffering from it if:
■You can’t remember the last day you didn’t attend at least one internal meeting.
■Keeping tabs on corporate politics (who’s up and who’s down in the eyes of the CEO or various division heads) occupies at least 20 percent of your mental energy at work.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2009
Airvana to get $39.6m Nortel-related payment
CHELMSFORD - Airvana Inc., which supplies products used by wireless operators, said today it will get a $39.6 million payment for outstanding invoices related to products and services it sold to Nortel Networks Inc. before Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection.
Airvana shares jumped 47 cents, or 7.9 percent, to $6.42 in afternoon trading.
Airvana said it will get the payment from Telefon AB LM Ericssson as that company finishes its purchase of Nortel's CDMA business. Airvana's contract with Nortel will go to Ericsson.
Airvana said $36.4 million of the payment is for product and service bills and $3.2 million is interest.
Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada in January, a day before it was slated to make a $107 million debt payment. Since then, the Toronto-based company has been selling its operations off piece by piece.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
Boston's commercial landlords squeezed by slump
A long-term lease can pay off big for tenants when rental costs start to climb. But when rates drop, as they have in Boston's commercial property market, the bigger pay day often comes from ripping up that lease and finding a better deal.
That's what some Boston companies are doing. Vacancy rates are up for office, retail, industrial, and apartment buildings, and local landlords are struggling to retain firms.
"It's definitely a tenant's market," said David Fitzgerald with commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis.
Several Boston companies have renewed leases early to lock in discounted rents this year. One of the biggest deals involved Bank of New York Mellon, which extended a lease set to expire in 2013 for another five years. Occupying more than 300,000 feet, the bank is the largest tenant of the 41-story One Boston Place tower downtown.
Some firms are negotiating terms that allow them to give up space they might not need and cut their rent. Those that can't swing better deals are trying to sublease unused space. This year, about 3 million square-feet of space, much of it relinquished by tenants, has come back on the market.
That's helped bring down Boston's office rental rates by as much as 30 percent, on average, since 2007, according to Grubb & Ellis.
"The market is definitely not improving," said Steve Brodsky, managing director of Grubb & Ellis' Boston office.
Office vacancy is expected to hit 14.2 percent this year, up from 12.8 percent in 2008, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. That's still shy of the national estimate of 17 percent.
Major office property sales have slowed, though some high-profile buildings changed hands this year.
In September, Credit Suisse edged out more than a dozen other bidders to buy the 330,000 square-foot, Independence Wharf building, which overlooks the site of the Boston Tea Party.
The city's tallest skyscraper, the John Hancock Tower, sold at auction in March for just over $20 million, with the buyers agreeing to take on $640 million in debt.
New office construction has been limited, which has helped keep vacancy rates from surging even higher. Though there are some major projects under way that will add available space to the market next year.
The Fallon Co., a developer, is scheduled to open the 18-story ONE Marina Park Drive building in its waterfront Fan Pier project early next year. When completed, the 3 million square-foot Fan Pier project will also include retail and residential space, and a hotel.
The economy remains a key factor in a turnaround for the office market. As long as companies are shedding jobs, they're less likely to need more office space.
Unemployment in the Boston metro area, which includes Cambridge and Quincy, rose to 8.8 percent in September, the most recent data available. That was up from 5.2 percent a year earlier, but lower than the national rate which hit 10.2 percent in October.
"Boston is in better shape that the national average in terms of the impact of the recession," said Hessam Nadji, Marcus & Millichap's managing director.
That's little consolation to landlords that have lost tenants unable to hang on.
For tenants that continue to thrive, the downturn remains an opportunity to seize rental discounts now that may not be available in a year or two.
Sullivan & Worcester had more than two years remaining on its 10-year lease for five floors in a 41-story high-rise in Boston's financial district when it decided to test the market for a better deal.
The law firm shopped around and considered newly built office towers and subleased space. Ultimately, it elected to sign another decade-long deal in the same building, said Dianne Hertneky, Sullivan & Worcester LLP's chief operating officer.
"Our landlord made a compelling argument for us to stay," Hertneky said, alluding to the rental rate discount and other undisclosed incentives the firm got for staying put.
"A good economic deal in bad economic times makes a lot of sense," she said.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
McCain Foods pensions turn to State Street
State Street Corp., the Boston firm that provides financial services to large investors, said that it has been appointed by the McCain Foods Limited Canadian pension plans to provide custody, accounting, benefit payments, and investment analytics.
Known for such products as frozen french fries, McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian family-owned food processor and marketer with 54 factories located in 14 countries and on all six continents.
The McCain Foods Limited Canadian pension plans currently administer more than $300 million in assets, as measured in Canadian dollars, State Street said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
Green Mountain Coffee buys Timothy's brand
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., the Vermont-based coffee company, said it has has acquired Timothy’s Coffees of the World Inc. from an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc. for a cash purchase price of roughly $157 million in US dollars - Timothy's is headquartered in Toronto.
The acquisition from Sun Capital, a private equity firm, strengthens Green Mountain's position in single-cup brewing throughout North America, said Green Mountain, whose subsidiary Keurig Inc. specializes in brewing systems that make a single cup of coffee. Not only does Green Mountain make so-called K-Cup portion packs for the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System, but so do some other coffee roasters, including Timothy's.
Green Mountain said in a press release that the acquisition includes the Timothy’s World Coffee brand and wholesale business but not Timothy's retail operations and Timothy's will be maintained as a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Green Mountain.
The release included a statement from Lawrence J. Blanford, president and chief executive of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which sometimes refers to itself by its Nasdaq Stock Market symbol, GMCR.
Blanford said of Timothy's: "We have been collaborating together since they became a Keurig licensee and know the company is a great strategic and cultural fit. We believe that Timothy’s, along with our Green Mountain Coffee brand, will contribute meaningfully to our future success in Canada and throughout North America. This acquisition will provide GMCR with a Canadian presence and a coffee roasting facility in Toronto. It will accelerate GMCR’s geographic expansion with a Canadian brand platform that includes manufacturing and distribution synergies. The acquisition includes a five-year coffee supply agreement with the Canadian affiliate of Bruegger’s Bagel restaurants, said Green Mountain, which noted that it already has a supply relationship with Bruegger's restaurants in the United States."
Bruegger's parent company is owned by Sun Capital, the seller in the Timothy's transaction to Green Mountain. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)
Gore-Tex shoes yearn to tramp fashion's runways
The makers of Gore-Tex are no longer content to be prized solely by rugged outdoor types fond of high-performance shoes and dry feet. The makers of the waterproof breathable fabric known as Gore-Tex now also want to be fashion-forward in the casual footwear market.
W.L. Gore & Associates, the Delaware firm responsible for Gore-Tex, recently launched a marketing campaign called, "How Far Can One Pair Go?" Part of the campaign's mission is to alert the world that Gore-Tex-lined footwear is now popping up in the casual shoe collections of such footwear companies as Timberland Co. of Stratham, N.H.; New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. of Boston; and the Clarks Companies, the British cobbler that has its North American headquarters in Newton, W.L. Gore said.
At Clarks, business unit director Glen Arentowicz wants to talk about the Street Lo, his company's brown leather nubuck lined with Gore-Tex. (A photo from the Clarks website is shown at right.) Thanks to the Street Lo, which has a suggested retail price of $150, a consumer no longer needs to make a trade-off between fashion statements and dry feet.
"It's meant for Casual Fridays and bad weather days," Arentowicz said of the Street Lo. "When it snows, you can go to the office and still look good. You don't have to wear clunky three-color boots anymore."
Not that clunky three-color boots are bad business. At a time when the US athletic footwear industry is hurting from the recession, the hiking boot category is particularly strong. (Also holding up: the category for dressy women's shoes. A recent New York Times story noted that one way that women cope with the recession is to go shoe-shopping.)
According to the NPD Group Inc., a market research firm headquartered in Port Washington, N.Y., US sales in the overall athletic footwear category for the 12-month period that ended in August were just under $18.6 billion, down 2.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. One subcategory bucking the trend: hiking boots. Sales in that niche were up nearly 10 percent. Why? Hiking boots are popular with young adults and during a recession, folks are more likely to go on a camping trip or a day-trip hike in the White Mountains than spend big bucks on a fancy vacation, said Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief industry analyst.
But here's the rub for W.L. Gore: The hiking boot niche is comparatively small, accounting for about $857 million in sales for the 12-month period that ended in September. Casual athletic shoes, in contrast, made up a $5.2 billion category for that time frame, NPD said.
"Growth for them has to come outside their sweet spot," Cohen said of W.L. Gore and Gore-Tex. "And the casual shoe category is a logical progression for them."
Something else is at work here. When you're selling casual shoes in the $150 range, you need to give today's consumer a reason to buy a pair when money is so tight. And adding Gore-Tex to a casual shoe can convince consumers that spending some extra money is well worth it.
"In today's world, product enhancements are the main components of growth in this tough economy," Cohen said.
With that in mind, W.L. Gore looks to leverage Gore-Tex's reputation and heritage among consumers may pays off. Years of ground work in performance shoes have left the general impression that Gore-Tex is an ingredient that can transform an ordinary hiking boot into a superb all-terrain vehicle for the feet. As a result, Gore-Tex has the potential to take on the aura of a luxury brand.
"People hear Gore-Tex, and they think, 'Wow, this is a Cadillac,'" Arentowicz said of shoe-shopping consumers.
With its "How Far Can One Pair Go?" campaign, W.L. Gore is certainly seeking to reinforce that impression.
Part of that campaign is a partnership with Soles4Souls, an international shoe charity dedicated to providing shoes to people in need, W.L. Gore said in a press release. The campaign encourages consumers to donate shoes or funds to the charity through the end of the year. The company said it will donate $5 to Soles4Souls for each pair of the new casual shoes with Gore-Tex technology purchased through Gore comapny website during the campaign, up to a maximum total donation of $10,000.
"The question, How Far Can One Pair Go? also underscores the versatility and comfort of casual shoes with a Gore-Tex lining and encourages consumers to see how far they can go in these shoes,” the release added.
If shodding those in need isn't a good enough reason to buy a shoe like the Clarks Street Lo, Arentowicz has one more.
"It's a good travel shoe," he said. "If you're going to Europe; you need to bring only one pair."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:54 AM | Comments (0)
Banish holiday stress with a hotel getaway
"Christmas is that time of year when we leave our loved ones and go home to visit our wives and families," a rogue once remarked, and while everyone may not agree with that sentiment, there is widespread consensus that the holidays can be a stressful time.
In the interest of helping folks to cope with such stress, TripAdvisor, a Newton-based travel review website, has taken it upon itself to disclose a list of "holiday hotel hideouts in 10 major US cities."
"With the craziness of the holiday season nigh, travelers seeking a quiet retreat from the madness need look no further: TripAdvisor site data has revealed undiscovered hotel havens for the holiday season," a TripAdvisor press release said.
TripAdvisor's recommendations for the Hub: The Green Turtle Floating Bed and Breakfast in Charlestown and the Hotel Commonwealth at 500 Commonwealth Ave. To see the full list, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Device makers sustain tax fight
Massachusetts medical device companies continue to battle a proposed federal tax on device makers as lawmakers work to reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of national health care overhaul legislation.
While the bill reported out of the Senate Finance Committee last month would raise $40 billion over 10 years from a tax based on the revenue of device manufacturers, the bill approved by the House last weekend would raise about $20 billion from a 2.5 percent tax on a broader class of medical equipment.
The full Senate is expected to begin floor debate on the national health bill as early as next week, and device companies - supported by members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation - are pressing for an amendment that would eliminate the tax from the Senate legislation.
To read the full story, please click here.
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High-tech firms in high demand in Bay State
Who’s next?
Silicon Valley giants have been shopping for acquisitions in Massachusetts, buying and partnering with key companies from this state’s much-vaunted technology industry. As businesses long known for their local roots join with or are absorbed by ventures from California, the question becomes: What signature companies are left, and are they targets for takeovers?
In October, the world’s top networking firm, Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif., agreed to pay $2.9 billion to buy Starent Networks Corp. of Tewksbury, a maker of data equipment for cellphone systems. Earlier this month, Cisco announced a joint venture with Hopkinton’s EMC Corp., the top maker of high-end data storage gear. And this week, the huge computer company Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would buy Cisco competitor 3Com Corp. of Marlborough for $2.7 billion.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Flu and fears create one feverish market
If you’re looking to launch a business, here are two words any budding entrepreneur should know: hand sanitizer.
In the age of swine flu, the market for this germ-killing goo is white hot. Sales skyrocketed more than 70 percent in the six months ending Oct. 3, compared with the same period a year ago, according to the Nielsen Co.
Dewey Parsons and Mark Montopoli have experienced the demand first hand. The cofounders of Argenius Worldwide LLC in Newton launched their staSAFE hand sanitizer last week at all the Market Basket stores in New England and said they have sold 40,000 of the 2-ounce bottles.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Rising market tide fails to lift some Mass. firms
It’s been hard to lose during the spectacular stock market boom of 2009. Hard, but not impossible.
The stock market hit bottom on March 9 and has been climbing almost nonstop since. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up a whopping 60.5 percent since that low. In Massachusetts, the shares of 212 public companies have gained ground.
“The market rally has encompassed virtually the entire university of equities,’’ says Tom Manning, chief investment officer at Silver Bridge Advisors in Boston. “The old saying about a rising tide lifting all boats certainly proved to be the case.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:06 AM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2009
IRS wants to hear from taxpayers missing refunds
The Internal Revenue Service said it is looking for Massachusetts taxpayers who are missing more than 1,800 refund checks that were returned to the IRS by the US Postal Service due to mailing address errors.
The checks, which average $1,262, have a collective value of roughly $2.3 million, the IRS said.
“We want Massachusetts taxpayers to get this money as soon as possible," IRS spokesperson Peggy Riley said in a statement. "If you think you’re missing a refund, take a few minutes to go to IRS.gov or call the toll free IRS refund hot-line. The website is open 24/7 to help you get your check."
To find out more information from the IRS on this subject, please click here to link to a Web page titled "Where’s My Refund?" Taxpayers can access a telephone version of “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954, the IRS said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)
Atrius expands ties with Beth Israel Deaconess
Atrius Health, a Newton-based alliance of five community medical groups across eastern Massachusetts, today said it is expanding its ties with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston in an effort to establish a new model of health care delivery.
Under the deal, approved by the boards of both medical organizations last night, Atrius plans to broaden its collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess in ensuring hospital care for cardiovascular and oncology patients as well as others with complex needs.
The first step will be internists from three Boston offices of Harvard Vanguard, the largest Atrius physicians organization, sending more patients requiring emergency care or hospitalization to Beth Israel Deaconess. Harvard Vanguard currently refers patients to other hospitals as well and will continue to do so, though more are expected to go to Beth Israel Deaconess under the new arrangement.
Beth Israel Deaconess and Atrius also plan to collaborate in quality improvement and cost efficiency strategies at a time when cost and quality have become goals of health care overhaul in Massachusetts and nationally.
"The goal is to demonstrate that by working together, the two organizations can provide the highest quality, best service, and lowest cost health care in the Commonwealth," Gene Lindsey, the Atrius president, said in a statement.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Welch's launches marketing campaign
Welch's, the Concord-based processing and marketing subsidiary of the National Grape Cooperative Association, said it is launching a marketing campaign with the theme of "Real. Grape. Goodness."
Years ago, Welch's ads portrayed the brand as a "great tasting family favorite." More recently, products have been repositioned to note the health benefits associated with 100 percent grape juice. With Gen X moms as a primary target, new TV, print, and online ads now seek to augment those messages with the "Welch's story."
The Welch's story, as outlined in the new campaign, highlights the family farmers who grow the grapes, and it also notes how the entire Concord grape, including the skins and seeds, are pressed within eight hours of being picked in an effort to "capture the grapes' natural antioxidant power and to ensure a premium quality product," Welch's said in a press release.
Part of the new campaign features TV personality Alton Brown, who is well known among foodies. Brown is show in an ad at right. The ad was provided by Welch's.
The marketing campaign was created by VIA Group LLC, an ad agency in Portland, Maine, Welch's said.
The press release included a statement from Chris Heye, Welch's vice president of marketing.
Of TV ads taped on a vineyard in Upstate New York, Heye said: "Everything you see or hear about Welch's is the real deal. The vineyards are real, the grapes are real, and so are our family-farmers; they're not played by actors." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
JetBlue, Lufthansa team up on Hub service
JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa said they have unveiled a new relationship that links their two networks via Boston and New York.
The so-called code-sharing relationship between JetBlue and Lufthansa "expands the reach of both carriers, giving customers more choice in travel and providing JetBlue customers with new access to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia," the two airlines said in a press release.
Under a code-sharing arrangement, passengers traveling to or from 12 JetBlue cities can book JetBlue and Lufthansa flights on a single ticket, a Lufthansa spokesperson said.
"Worldwide connections to such popular destinations as Bangkok; Barcelona; Dubai; Johannesburg; Mumbai; Paris; Rome; and Tel Aviv are now available daily via Boston and New York/JFK, where customers transfer seamlessly between domestic JetBlue flights and transatlantic services operated by Lufthansa," the release said. "JetBlue and Lufthansa intend to further expand their codeshare in 2010 by adding more JetBlue destinations to the agreement." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
Converts to penny-pinching may stick with Walmart
The recession may be changing shopping habits, and consumers who have flocked to Walmart in recent months - including those with incomes above $100,000 - are likely to remain loyal to the giant discount chain even after the economy improves.
That's one finding of a new survey from L.E.K. Consulting, a global consulting firm with offices in Boston.
In past downturns, many consumers gravitated toward stores with the lowest prices, only to revert to their old ways and head back to their favorite department store and pricier merchants when the good times started to roll. And some economists think that will happen again. Once a recovery is in full swing, folks will flee no-frills Walmarts and seek out stores with premium merchandise and staffs dedicated to making a visit a swell and convenient shopping experience.
But after surveying more than 2,000 households, L.E.K. Consulting concluded that a permanent change in shopping habits may be in the offing as "consumers are proactively striving to maximize value for each dollar."
Such a trend could have long-term benefits for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the Arkansas-based company that operates the Walmart chain, L.E.K. Consulting said. Even though some consumers in the survey expressed some dissatisfaction with the Walmart shopping experience and decried the discounter's lack of selection, many newly converted penny-pinchers expressed a willingness to continue to overlook such issues if one result is perceived savings, L.E.K. Consulting said.
"Walmart continues to gain traction across several key categories and has seen increased penetration among older families and consumers within higher income brackets - particularly among those with annual incomes between $100,000 and $150,000," L.E.K. Consulting said in a press release about its survey. "Respondents believe Walmart offers a perceived savings of eight to 10 percent. As a result, consumers suggest that retailers would have to decrease 'perceived prices' by six to seven percent on average to motivate a return to their stores."
The press release included a statement from Andrew Rees, vice president and head of L.E.K.’s retail and consumer products practice.
"Walmart’s newest customers are demonstrating loyalty to their new-found method of dollar-stretching," Rees said. "That may come as welcome news to the retail giant, but competing retailers could find this bit of post-recession medicine hard to swallow." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:01 AM | Comments (0)
Warming drives off Cape Cod's namesake, other fish
PORTLAND, Maine - Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock, and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England.
A new federal study documenting the warming waters of the North Atlantic confirms that they're right -- and that the typical meal could eventually change to the Atlantic croaker, red hake and summer flounder normally found to the south.
"Fishermen are businessmen, so if they have to go farther and deeper to catch the fish that we like to eat, eventually it won't be economical to do that," said Janet Nye, a fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the lead author of the study.
"It just won't be in your local seafood store, or maybe it'll be more expensive," said Nye, who works at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass. "So I think there'll be a natural, hopefully slow, switch to different seafoods."
For the study, which first appeared Oct. 30 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, Nye and three other NOAA biologists analyzed water temperature trends from North Carolina to the Canadian border off Maine from 1968 to 2007. They then looked at fish survey data collected each spring and assessed where the fish were caught and how abundant they were.
The researchers looked at the familiar New England species. as well as lesser-known fish such as longhorn sculpin and blackbelly rosefish.
Of the 36 stocks studied, the distribution range of 24 of them had changed in unison with the rising water temperatures that have been occurring off the Northeast since the 1970s.
That temperature rise doesn't sound like much -- less than half a degree Fahrenheit, on average -- but it's been enough to cause fish to slowly move to areas with temperatures more to their liking.
The greatest movement was exhibited by the blackbelly rosefish, which moved more than 200 miles to the northeast during the years studied. Among commercial species, movements of more than 100 miles were observed for southern stocks of yellowtail flounder and red hake, as well as American shad and alewives.
Some fish exhibited little movement to the north, but rather moved to deeper waters where temperatures are lower, according to the report.
Small-boat fishermen on Cape Cod caught most of their haddock and flounder, as well as the peninsula's namesake fish, in waters close to shore 20 years ago, said Tom Dempsey, of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association. Nowadays, they have to travel as far 100 miles offshore to find those same fish, he said.
At the same time, he said, Massachusetts fishermen are catching more fish traditionally found in the Middle Atlantic -- Atlantic croaker, in particular, usually caught off Virginia and North Carolina.
"How much of that is directly impacted by climate change is hard to get a handle on," Dempsey said. "There are a number of other factors that have been at play, one being overharvesting in inshore areas and, subsequently, ecological changes as inshore areas have become dominated in a lot of areas by spiny dogfish populations."
The study is one piece of the puzzle in figuring out the factors that influence ocean species, said Jason Link, a NOAA fisheries biologist and a co-author of the study. While the report says climate change is the driving factor, he said, other influences -- such as fishing pressure and long-term natural cycles in ocean temperatures and atmospheric conditions -- play a role.
"We're looking at how much of this movement to colder waters is perhaps related to the environment as opposed to how much is due to fishing," he said. "I don't think this paper totally answers that question."
While the report documents the movement of fish in the Northeast and the Middle Atlantic, there's evidence to suggest that marine organisms in southern U.S. waters are also moving north, said Jay Odell, a marine specialist with The Nature Conservancy in Richmond, Va.
Sea turtles that normally nest on beaches in North Carolina and south have been nesting in Virginia and Maryland in recent years, he said, possibly because of rising water temperatures.
"One of the messages of this paper is that tracking why some fish are doing well and some aren't, and why fish are moving, is a very complicated business," Odell said.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:48 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
3Com to be sold to HP for $2.7 billion
Computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. will buy network equipment maker 3Com Corp. of Marlborough for $2.7 billion in a head-on challenge to Cisco Systems Inc., which dominates the network business. The deal will position HP to attack the heart of Cisco’s market, and it comes only a week after Cisco teamed up with data storage titan EMC Corp. of Hopkinton to invade HP’s stronghold in server computers and storage.
“This is going to rock the networking world,’’ said 3Com’s president, Ronald Sege, adding that HP’s global sales force could quickly expand 3Com’s market share.
3Com is the second major Massachusetts tech company in the past month to be acquired by a Silicon Valley firm, as the tech sector reacts to decreased business spending with a wave of consolidation deals. In October, Cisco said it will pay $2.9 billion to acquire Tewksbury-based Starent Networks, a maker of network gear for cellular telephone systems.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Stimulus funds are slow to arrive
Only a fraction of the federal stimulus money earmarked for Massachusetts has been spent so far, a Globe review of government filings has found.
Massachusetts organizations have been awarded $3.9 billion in stimulus contracts, loans, and grants. But as of October, Bay State government agencies and companies have received only $622 million and have spent almost all of it, according to data from the government agency charged with tracking stimulus funding. The findings could explain why unemployment continued to climb in the state, hitting 9.3 percent in September.
“Most of the money has not yet been used in a way that could create or save jobs,’’ said Michael Balsam of Onvia Inc., a Seattle company that tracks government contracts. Nationwide, Balsam estimated, only one-quarter of the stimulus money has “actually left Washington, D.C.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Your life story, as data points
Now appearing on Google: The story of my life. And yours.
Not everyone can read it, but the engineers and advertising specialists at Google can. And now users can get a peek, thanks to Google Dashboard, a new service developed at the search giant’s outpost in Zurich. Dashboard lets registered Google users see what the company knows about them. If you’ve got a Google account, just punch up www.google.com/dashboard, and get ready to feel your skin crawl.
Google knows just about everything about me. No deep, dark secrets; just thousands of tiny data points which, when put together, could provide a pretty thorough biography.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Plymouth absorbs news of studio setback
PLYMOUTH - Town officials and residents were taken by surprise yesterday when news broke that developers of a proposed $550 million movie studio on the South Shore had severed ties with their major lender. But some remained supportive of the team of film executives behind Plymouth Rock Studios, who came to town two years ago with the promise to create Hollywood East, bringing much-needed tax dollars and jobs to this coastal community.
Dick Silva, Plymouth Rock’s most enthusiastic local supporter and president of the booster group Yes to the Rock, said he talked to fans who remain upbeat.
“It’s just a step backward in the climb up the hill,’’ Silva said. “I anticipate that someone is going to look at this and decide that funding the project will be a win-win for both Plymouth Rock and its investors.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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MANAGING YOUR MONEY: Congress whiffs on tax credit
It’s official, we have a new tax break for people who don’t need it, with money our government doesn’t have.
In an effort to stimulate the economy, the people who wouldn’t know a balanced budget even if you smacked them in the head with it have extended the excessive first-time homeowner’s credit of $8,000, but also expanded it to include a credit for current, longtime homeowners.
It just pains me to spell out the details of this latest stimulus windfall. But here I am letting you know about the new law, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was signed into law on Nov. 6.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2009
RI expects nearly $200m deficit as economy dives
PROVIDENCE - Economic woes in Rhode Island could drive the state's budget deficit to nearly $200 million, a gap equivalent to about 6 percent of expected state income.
Budget officials for Governor Don Carcieri and lawmakers predicted that the state's income will drop about $130 million during the fiscal year ending in June. Among the biggest drops are an 8 percent decline in the sales tax and a 5 percent drop in the personal income tax. Besides dealing with falling income, the state began the year with a $62 million deficit from the previous year, further aggravating the current budget gap.
Carcieri, a Republican, said in a written statement that state leaders must avoid raising taxes to fix the shortfalls.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
Chamber: Universities fuel innovation engine
Massachusetts ranked first in the nation per capita for the total number of patents produced by higher education institutions - with a rate nearly twice as high as the next closest state, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce said.
That was one headline of Competitiveness Scorecard issued by the chamber. The scorecard aims to be a barometer of cost and competitiveness issues facing the Massachusetts economy and a comparison of how the commonwealth fares against the 49 other states. This iteration of the scorecard focuses on the role that colleges and universities in the state play on promoting and sustaining innovation.
Another scorecard finding: Massachusetts ranked third in the country in the total number of start-up companies created from university research and development; that suggests that the high patent numbers translated into a robust entrepreneurial market for the state, the chamber said.
The recession has hurt local colleges and universities, and a statement from chamber president and chief executive Paul Guzzi stressed the need to take action to protect this all-important engine of local economic growth.
"Massachusetts is clearly an innovation leader, and that strength is a testament to our colleges and universities," Guzzi said. "But the threats to our innovation engine are significant, and we must do everything we can to sustain our advantage." (Guzzi is shown at right in a Globe file photo.)
Among the measures the chamber recommends are sustaining the strong commitment to federally sponsored R&D and not taxing institutional endowments that continue to fuel research; promoting capital in Massachusetts start-ups; and strengthening higher education-business connections for talent development to keep college and university talent in the region. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Walmart donates refrigerator truck to Hub food bank
Walmart, the store nameplate of the giant retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said the company and its foundation will provide $28 million in monetary and in-kind donations to nonprofits across the country this holiday season.
Among the donations is a refrigerator truck for the Greater Boston Food Bank, one of 35 being donated to various food banks across the country, said the company, which added that the Boston food bank would get some additional product donations.
"Valued at $85,000, the new truck and 12 pallets of Great Value-branded products and fresh apples donated by the Walmart Foundation will arrive in Boston in time for Thanksgiving," Walmart said in a press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
And now the Super Mario Brothers overture ...
As classical band monikers go, it's as snazzy as the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields - we're talking the Video Game Orchestra here, and the orchestra is scheduled to return to the Berklee Performance Center on Dec. 5, the orchestra's first show at Berklee since its sold-out performance in March, the center said.
Don't look for "Swan Lake" on this dance card. Instead concert goers can expect to hear such "classic titles" as the sound track from Super Mario Brothers video games. Image at right: An inspiration to maestros everywhere.
(With work like "The Beatles: Rock Band" on its resume, a local game company called Harmonix Music Systems has shown that there is money to be made with music and video games. And the folks at Berklee and other local conservatories have been paying attention. Hence the Video Game Orchestra - or VGO for short.)
According to the press release, the VGO includes a 45-piece orchestra, a choir, and a five-piece rock band, and many of the players are students at Berklee, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, and New England Conservatory.
"The VGO will perform new arrangements of classic titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Final Fantasy, and music from modern hits like God of War, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear Solid," the release said. "Renowned video game music composer Wataru Hokoyama (Afrika, Resident Evil 5) will guest conduct the VGO for his own Afrika Suite, which won numerous awards last year."
As Groucho would say, "Let the violas throb ..." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)
Rose gift will support nurses at Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife said it has received a $1 million gift from Burton and Gloria Rose to support its “career ladder” program that enables certified nursing assistants to become licensed practical nurses.
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a 106-year-old organization committed to maximizing the quality of life of seniors through an integrated network of research and teaching, housing, and health care services, which help more than 5,000 seniors annually in the Greater Boston area.
In recognition of the gift, Hebrew SeniorLife said it will name the program the Burton and Gloria Rose Career Development Program. The Roses made the gift in memory of their mother, Eleanor Epstein, who as a teacher for 60 years was dedicated to education and was a resident of Hebrew Rehabilitation Center before her death in January at age 97. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Stimulus job boost in state is exaggerated, review finds
While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started.
The Globe’s finding is based on the federal government’s just-released accounts of stimulus spending at the end of October. It lists the nearly $4 billion in stimulus awards made to an array of Massachusetts government agencies, universities, hospitals, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations, and notes how many jobs each created or saved.
But in interviews with recipients, the Globe found that several openly acknowledged creating far fewer jobs than they have been credited for.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Outlook darkens on Mass. job picture in 2010
The Massachusetts economy will shed tens of thousands of jobs over the next year, with the unemployment rate peaking near 10 percent in the middle of 2010, according to a forecast released yesterday.
The outlook is darker than just a few months ago, when it appeared that job losses were coming to an end and the state would emerge from the recession earlier than the nation as a whole.
“Now that appears to have been an illusion,’’ said Northeastern University economics professor Alan Clayton-Matthews, who prepared the forecast for the New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit research group.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Court rules against Raytheon in sales-tax case
As it turns out, Raytheon’s toilet paper is not tax-exempt, after all.
The highest court in Massachusetts yesterday ruled that the Waltham-based defense company and other contractors should not get refunds for sales taxes paid on expenses related to work done for the federal government. Courts in other states had allowed such refunds.
The ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court bars Raytheon from collecting about $700,000 plus interest from the state Department of Revenue - taxes the company paid on items bought in Massachusetts in 2001 and 2002 as part of its work for the US government. Among the purchases: printer toner, cellphone service, a jukebox, promotional items such as lapel pins and golf umbrellas, and toilet paper.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Plymouth studios project on hold
Just weeks before its scheduled groundbreaking, Plymouth Rock Studios said yesterday that its construction funding has collapsed, raising serious questions about the future of its plan to bring a major film and television production facility to the woods of Plymouth.
The studio, in a surprise announcement, said it was severing ties with a Florida firm that was to finance its $550 million plan to transform 240 acres of what is now the Waverly Oaks Golf Club into “Hollywood East.’’
News of the financial turnabout comes just a week after the Globe began making inquiries about the background of the studio’s would-be financier, Prosperity International LLC, of Orlando, Fla.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Sanofi-Aventis on hunt for Hub partners
CAMBRIDGE - The top executive of French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA reached out to Boston-area researchers and biotechnology start-ups yesterday, offering “partnerships for innovation’’ that could range from investing in drugs to outright acquisitions.
Speaking to about 200 guests at a Sanofi-Aventis research site here, director general Christopher A. Viehbacher, who is based in Paris, outlined a strategy that is becoming common at pharmaceutical giants whose own research and development efforts have slowed: Team up with smaller and nimbler biotechs.
“We’re starting to learn to work with others, to play nicely together,’’ said the Canadian-born Viehbacher, who indicated he may establish a venture capital fund to invest in promising start-ups. “There are going to be limits to what we can do as a big company.’’
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:25 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2009
Copley Place, Mall at Chestnut Hill unveil new shops
Copley Place, a Boston shopping mall, said some new boutiques are being added added to its line-up of stores.
"Vince, a Los Angeles lifestyle brand that is new to Massachusetts; Bellezza Home & Garden, a boutique specializing in fine Italian ceramics and table linens; and Mila Lilu, a boutique bringing sensible luxury to infants and toddlers; are now open for business at Copley Place," the mall said in a press release. "Giuseppe Zanotti Design will open later this month. "
According to the release, Giuseppe Zanotti Design is a luxury shoe and accessory boutique for women.
The photo that accompanies this post was taken from the Vince website.
Copley Place shares a corporate parent with the Mall at Chestnut Hill; both are operated by the Simon Property Group.
Among new stores at the Mall at Chestnut Hill are the Walking Company, Le Strada, and the Goldsmith, according to Simon; a Hotel Chocolat is also scheduled to open soon. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:48 PM | Comments (0)
Supreme Judicial Court rules against Raytheon
As it turns out, Raytheon's toilet paper is not tax exempt after all.
The state's highest court contradicted rulings in other states that allowed the Waltham-based defense contractor and its competitors to get refunds for sales taxes paid on expenses related to work for the federal government.
The ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court prevents the state Department of Revenue from having to repay Raytheon Co. more than $700,000 plus interest for taxes on items it bought as part of its government work in 2001 and 2002. The list of items included in the refund request was wide-ranging - from printer toner and cell phone service, to toilet paper, a jukebox, and promotional items such as lapel pins and golf umbrellas.
Raytheon had argued those expenses fit an exemption in state law that prevents companies from having to pay taxes on items it buys for resale. The exemption is meant to prevent consumers from paying taxes on the same item twice - once when companies purchase the item and again when they sell it.
But the court found that the items bought by Raytheon were indirectly related to its work for the government and therefore not covered by the exemption.
"The resale of indirect cost items to the United States was incidental to Raytheon's business, facilitative rather than central to it," the court wrote.
A spokesman for Raytheon declined to comment.
If the company had won, the state Department of Revenue would have had to repay it more than $1 million with the interest charges included.
"We're very pleased with the decision," said Robert Bliss, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:13 PM | Comments (0)
Stop & Shop kicks off turkey donation program
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. said it will donate 20,000 Thanksgiving Turkeys to local hunger relief organizations through its annual Turkey Express Program, an initiative designed to combat hunger in the region.
All told, the Quincy-based chain said it expects to deliver roughly 280,000 pounds of turkey to food banks and other hunger relief groups in such places as Boston, Providence, and Worcester. The program officially kicked-off today with Stop & Shop associates loading 10,000 turkeys into two trucks bound for food banks, the chain said.
In addition to its Turkey Express program, Stop & Shop said it is encouraging customers to help raise money for local food banks by participating in its Food for Friends program through in-store donations and a corporate matching program; the hoped-for goal is to raise more than $1 million.
“We want to make it easy for families to share a meal together this Thanksgiving,” Faith Weiner, Stop & Shop's senior director of public affairs, said in a statement. "The need is great, and Turkey Express is a simple way to give back to the communities and families we serve." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)
Hologic swings to 4Q profit, names new CEO
BEDFORD - Hologic Inc., which makes products to detect breast and cervical cancer, posted a profit for its fiscal fourth quarter in contrast to a loss a year ago.
But its sales fell and it offered guidance for the first quarter and fiscal 2010 that was below analysts' expectations.
The company said it continues to be hurt by reduced and delayed hospital spending on equipment amid the economic slump.
Hologic also said president and chief operating officer Robert Cascella was named chief executive last week. He succeeds Jack Cumming, who will remain chairman and a member of the executive management team.
The company said after the markets closed Monday that it earned $34.9 million, or 13 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 26 compared with a loss of $144.4 million, or 56 cents per share, a year ago. The prior-year results included nearly $200 million in charges linked to its acquisition of HPV virus test developer Third Wave.
Excluding one-time items, Hologic would have earned 28 cents per share in the latest period -- a penny a share above what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reueters expected.
Revenue fell 9 percent to $402.8 million from $442.5 million, due to fewer sales of Selenia digital mammogram systems. Analysts expected revenue of $398.3 million, on average.
For the fiscal year, Hologic reported a loss of $2.18 billion, or $8.48 per share, compared with a loss of $385.6 million, or $1.57 per share, a year ago. The sharply wider loss was mainly due to a $2.34 billion impairment chanrge linked to a decline in the company's stock price and market capitalization.
Revenue slipped 2 percent to $1.64 billion from $1.67 billion for the full year.
Looking ahead, Hologic forecast first-quarter adjusted profit of 24 cents to 26 cents per share on revenue of about $400 million to $405 million. The guidance reflects increased surgical and diagnostic sales, offset by lower expected Selenia sales. For fiscal 2010, the company is projecting adjusted profit of $1.15 to $1.19 per share on revenue of about $1.625 billion to $1.65 billion.
The guidance falls below what analysts have been expecting. They expected first-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share and sales of $413.9 million, and full-year profit of $1.24 per share on revenue of $1.69 billion.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:34 AM | Comments (0)
More job losses predicted for Massachusetts
The Massachusetts economy will shed tens of thousands of jobs over the next year with the unemployment rate peaking near 10 percent around summer, according to a forecast released today.
The forecast, by the New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit research group, projects the state will lose more than 60,000 additional jobs before the labor market hits bottom in the third quarter of 2010. That would bring total job losses in this recession to just under 200,000, or 5.9 percent of total employment, slightly better than the 2001-2003 recession when Massachusetts shed 205,000 jobs, or 6.1 percent of employment.
Special section
In the early 1990s, the state lost about 350,000 jobs, or 11 percent of employment,
The jobless rate, now at 9.3 percent, will rise to 9.6 percent before beginning to retreat in the second half of next year, according to the forecast. That would be the highest jobless rate since August 1976.
The outlook is darker than just a few months ago, when it appeared that job losses were coming to an end and the state would emerge from the recession earlier than the nation as a whole. "Now that appears to have been an illusion,'' Northeastern University economics professor Alan Clayton-Matthews said in the forecast.
After losing just 700 jobs in August, the state shed more than 9,000 in September as incomes and consumer spending fell sharply, suggesting a weaker state economy. Clayton-Matthews forecast that job growth in Massachusetts could lag the nation by several months.
The production of goods and services, however, has likely hit bottom and will soon begin to expand , albeit slowly, according to the forecast. Employment typically lags production because businesses hire cautiously until they become confident that the recovery will last.
Meanwhile, a housing recovery is already underway in the state, according to the forecast. Both sales and prices have risen solidly over the past several months after more than three years of steep declines. Homes in Massachusetts are now at their most affordable since the mid-1990s, according to Clayton-Matthews.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)
Uno is bullish on new Uno Express format
Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., a Boston-based chain with roughly 200 company-owned and franchised full-service Uno Chicago Grill restaurants, said that it has opened more than 160 of its new Uno Express locations in sports arenas, airports, tourism centers, universities, and other locations over the past 15 months.
Initially tested at two BJ's Wholesale Club stores in Massachusetts last year, the Uno Express quick-serve concept provides a flexible menu of casual, speedy meals aimed at customers on the go; the concept also gives the company a growth vehicle to augment its full-service restaurants.
"We are now averaging one new UNO Express launch per week," Jamie Strobino, Uno's senior vice president of new concept development, said in a statement. "This concept has legs. We recently opened an Uno Express in the Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotel in Orlando, as well as two additional BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and four 'full-blown' Uno Expresses at the TD Garden in Boston, home of both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.”
The press release included a statement from chief executive Frank W. Guidara.
"It’s clear that people don’t want to sacrifice taste and quality, even when they don’t have a lot of time to eat," Guidara said. "Uno Express lets them enjoy the quality and care that we put into our food with an added level of convenience." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
BioVex raises an additional $30 million
BioVex Inc., a Woburn biotechnology company that raised $40 million in venture capital in March to develop a novel cancer-fighting treatment, today will disclose it has raised another $30 million.
The funding rounds together represent the second-largest venture investment in a US biotechnology company this year, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association. The largest outlay, $145 million, went last May to Clovis Oncology, a Boulder, Colo., start-up.
Unlike the BioVex financing in March, which came from existing investors, the latest round comes from a consortium of new investors, led by a pair of Boston venture capital firms, MVM Life Science Partners and Morningside Venture.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Stocks soar, but not jobs
How long can the stock market and the job market keep heading in opposite directions?
Stocks climbed to their highest levels in more than a year yesterday. A big rally pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 203.52 to 10,226.94, its highest close since Oct. 3 of last year. Stocks have soared more than 60 percent from their dismal lows hit this spring.
US unemployment reached its highest level in 26 years just a few days ago. The nation’s jobless rate, now 10.2 percent, probably isn’t done climbing and would set a post-World War II record if it reaches 11 percent.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Clicking on and off the court
The Boston Celtics want fans to get their green on - online.
With a championship-caliber squad on the floor, the team is stepping up its digital game for devotees who can’t get enough of Pierce, KG, Rondo, and Ray on television and can’t score tickets to TD Garden.
The team recently began distributing exclusive locker room footage on YouTube, and last week launched 3-Point Play, an interactive stats prediction game for fans on the Celtics’ Facebook page. The Celtics are also sending Twitter messages, including quotes from press conferences and team events, to 21,000 followers and using the social networking site to offer seating upgrades at games.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Despite job loss, state is OK with Evergreen loan
Officials at the state-backed economic group MassDevelopment said they have no plans to reconsider a $5 million loan to Evergreen Solar, despite the company’s decision last week to move the assembly of its solar panels from Devens to China next year.
Such a shift may compromise Evergreen’s ability to create 170 “new jobs,’’ as promised in a loan summary distributed to MassDevelopment board members. The board, which voted in September to lend Evergreen money, is scheduled to meet today but an agenda shows members do not intend to discuss the company.
State Senator Mark Montigny expressed outrage, saying taxpayer money shouldn’t be given to a private company.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:30 AM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2009
P&G is transferring Needham jobs to other locations
Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. said it is centralizing some of its research-and-development facilities, and one result is that a Needham facility will be closed in 2012.
The Needham facility's 105 employees will be transferred to other P&G facilities in locations such as South Boston; Bethel, Conn.; Ohio; and Germany, P&G said.
Ohio-based Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette Co. in 2005, and it recently unveiled a $50 million renovation and expansion of Gillette's World Shaving Headquarters in South Boston. The "vast majority" of Needham employees will be transferred to South Boston, a P&G spokesman said.
No layoffs are contemplated among the Needham workers, he added of an initiative that is designed to move R&D operations closer to the businesses they support.
Of the Needham jobs, 12 will transferred to a P&G’ center in Kronberg, Germany, the press release said. "The transitions will start next year and be completed by June 2012."
Other P&G facilities are also affected by the centralization strategy.
To read a Globe story, about renovations at South Boston, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)
Project Bread's Parker is honored
Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread, was named the “2009 Hall of Fame Nonprofit/Professional” by Women’s Business Boston, Project Bread said.
"Parker was recognized for her work reframing the anti-hunger approach beyond emergency relief and transforming Project Bread into a national role model for ending hunger," Project Bread said.
"She is featured in an article in the November issue of Women’s Business Boston."
The photo of Parker that appears with this post was provided by Project Bread. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
Kronos: Retailers are cautious about holiday hiring
Here, alas, is something you probably already know: It's tough to find a job out there. And don't expect retailers to hire en masse this holiday shopping season.
So says the Kronos Retail Labor Index, an index compiled by Kronos Inc., a Chelmsford company that focuses on workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity.
"The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased to 2.58 percent in September 2009, an all-time low for the index," the company said in a press release. "It recovered to 2.90 percent in October, a significant improvement but still below the rate of 3.00 percent reported in August."
Kronos uses a metric that looks to find the percentage of job applications that result in a hiring. A level of 3.00 percent means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred, the company said.
The press release included a statement from Robert Yerex, the company's chief economist.
"September saw a significant dip in the Kronos Retail Labor Index, due in part to an ever-growing pool of applicants," Yerex said. "The increase in the level of applications in September and October outpaced any simultaneous increase in the level of hirings. Early evidence from the winter holiday hiring period indicates that retailers are preparing for another weak sales season and are hiring at accordingly conservative rates." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices rose another penny a gallon
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts rose 1 cent to an average of $2.649 a gallon, AAA Southern New England said today.
It was the fourth week in a row that local gas prices have increased, the association added.
"The current price is 2 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.66," the association said in a press release. "A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $2.28 - 36 cents lower than today’s average." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Bill Knight and Brian Monahan have been promoted at Bruker Corp., a Billerica-based provider of high-performance scientific instruments and solutions for molecular and materials research as well as for industrial and applied analysis. Knight, currently the company's chief financial officer, will become its chief operating officer, effective Feb. 1. On that day, Monahan, now the company's chief accounting officer, will become CFO.
Julie Lekstrom Himes MD is the new chief medical officer and senior vice president for clinical development at TARIS Biomedical, a Lexington company focused on drug-device convergence for targeted therapies. Himes has broad clinical research and operations experience within the biopharmaceutical industry, including Coley Pharmaceuticals and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Michigan is luring Bay State business
Two years ago, Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm visited alternative fuel maker Mascoma in Boston with one goal: to persuade the company to build a factory in her job-hungry state.
“She personally had us on the list to recruit,’’ recalled Mascoma’s chief executive, Bruce Jamerson. “Massachusetts, they knew we were looking to build a plant. It wasn’t a priority for them at the time.’’
But Michigan made Mascoma a priority. Granholm offered the company tax incentives, grants, and promises of federal funding while promoting Michigan’s charms: manufacturing expertise, a workforce loaded with engineering talent, and a population of ready-made clients.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Malaria's deadly leap from chimps to humans
AMHERST - The terrible transfer took only an instant.
One mosquito; one hot-blooded human target; one quick puncture of skin. Most likely, our distant ancestor reacted with no more than a scratch and a shrug.
Thus did malaria leap across the “species divide’’ between chimpanzees and humans, according to new research led by a University of Massachusetts at Amherst scientist.
To read the full story, please click here.
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iPhone app has public transit down "To-A-T"
To-A-T is an application that uses an iPhone’s GPS feature to locate the closest MBTA subway or bus stop, and tell users when next train or bus will arrive.
But state transportation officials also like it for another reason: To-A-T did not cost them any money. Wonderland Development, based in Cambridge, developed the app using publicly available scheduling data the T posted on its website last spring.
“The beauty of releasing the data is it frees us from having to develop the applications ourselves,’’ said Chris Dempsey, an assistant secretary in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. “That’s expensive and something that we’re not very good at.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: Clean energy is a hot topic in the Hub
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation.
The clean tech hub. Copenhagen will be the place to be next month for the world’s policy makers, when the United Nations convenes its Climate Change Conference.
But for the doers who are developing technologies to combat climate change, Boston will be the center of the action this week.
Tomorrow, the nationwide Ignite Clean Energy Competition comes to the Massachusetts State House, with 10 teams of entrepreneurs presenting their business plans and angling for a $35,000 top prize.
Wednesday night, the New England Clean Energy Council holds its second annual Green Tie Gala at the John F. Kennedy Library, with tickets priced at $325 a head. Congressman Ed Markey, who will be traveling to Denmark next month for the UN conference, will be the featured speaker.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2009
Mandarin Oriental is awarded AAA's five diamonds
(Photo provided by the Mandarin Oriental, Boston)
It's official. The Mandarin Oriental, Boston may be as chi-chi and as elegant as you think it is.
The American Automobile Association said it has conferred its highest rating - five diamonds - on the luxury hotel in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood.
Of the 58,000 hotels, lodgings, restaurants, and other properties that AAA surveyed this year for the latest edition of its AAA TourBook travel guides, only 165 earned five diamonds, AAA public relations manager Heather Hunter said.
"It's for service that exceeds expectations," Hunter said of the five diamonds rating.
The only other Boston hotel to earn five diamonds in the AAA's latest ratings is the Four Seasons; this is the Boston Four Seasons hotel's 22nd straight year of earning five diamonds, Hunter said.
Before awarding five diamonds, AAA dispatches a professional inspector to check into a hotel anonymously and submit a report that is factored into the rating process, Hunter said.
"The five diamond award is a direct reflection of the dedication and outstanding service provided by all our employees at Mandarin Oriental, Boston," Mandarin Oriental, Boston general manager Susanne Hatje said in a statement. " This coveted status is a prestigious accolade and speaks volume about the exceptional commitment our hotel has towards ensuring each and every guest receives an exemplary experience. We look forward to celebrating this highly regarded achievement with our guests, colleagues and the city of Boston in the coming year." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
British chocolatier will open Chestnut Hill boutique
(File photo of Newbury St. Hotel Chocolat: Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)
Not content to sell sweets just on Newbury Street, Hotel Chocolat says it will open a second US location at the Mall in Chestnut Hill later this month.
The boutique retailer describes itself as a British luxury chocolatier, and it offers a pronunciation guide to the customers of its gourmet chocolate gifts and personal indulgences. It's "Hotel shok-o-La" for Henry Higgins types who demand perfect enunciation.
A recent Globe story about the company's arrival on Newbury Street noted: "Outside Hotel Chocolat, a bicycle with a British flag beckons consumers inside where employees serve up samples of milk and dark chocolate on silver platters. Hotel Chocolat selected Newbury Street to launch its first US store and showcase the merchant's vast assortment of rich sweets with a 'British sense of humor,' according to Nicki Doggart, Hotel Chocolat's US chief executive. These include chocolates shaped like antique buttons, vintage chocolate bars made from a single estate cocoa harvest, and chocolate pasta." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
State Street increases legal reserve
State Street Corp., a Boston company that provides financial services to large investors, said that it added $250 million as of Sept. 30 to the reserve it established in 2007 to address legal exposure related to losses incurred by investors in certain active fixed-income strategies managed by State Street Global Advisors, or SSgA.
In a press release, State Street said it "believes the adjusted reserve should be sufficient to account for a potential resolution of proceedings by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other governmental authorities, and to address ongoing litigation with respect to this matter." Before recording the $250 million provision for legal exposure, the legal reserve totaled $193 million.
State Street also announced that it recently "entered into a settlement of the purported class action with respect to ERISA participants in the active fixed -income strategies. The proposed settlement of $89.75 million is subject to court approval."
The press release added: "State Street's outlook for the full-year 2009 remains unchanged with operating basis revenue expected to decline about 16 percent from the record level of 2008; operating earnings per share, excluding the impact of the extraordinary loss recorded upon consolidation of the commercial paper conduits in the second quarter of 2009, and the provision for legal exposure announced today, to be between $4.13 and $4.17 and operating return on equity to be between 14 and 17 percent." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:21 AM | Comments (0)
Sapient 3Q profit plummets on charges, sales drop
BOSTON - Technology-services provider Sapient Corp. said Thursday that third-quarter profits plunged by two-thirds, partly due to special charges, and the chief executive said customers were growing more confident in business prospects.
The company said it earned $5.9 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with $18.1 million, or 14 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Excluding items, the company said it would have earned 11 cents per share, down from 18 cents per share a year ago.
The company identified $8.6 million in charges for stock-based compensation, restructuring, amortization of assets it bought, and acquisition-related costs.
Revenue fell to $172.5 million from $184.1 million a year earlier.
Analysts expected the company to earn 7 cents per share, excluding items, on sales of $162 million.
Chief executive Alan J. Herrick said he was pleased with the company's profit "despite the recessionary climate." He said clients were growing more confident about business.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:17 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Credit card firms hurry to raise rates
Credit card companies are rushing to increase interest rates to historic highs of more than 30 percent, cut credit limits, and add new fees, even for customers who pay their bills on time.
Lenders are making the moves in advance of tougher federal regulations for credit cards scheduled to take effect on Feb. 22. The new rules will limit how companies can modify credit card agreements, specifically prohibiting them from retroactively raising interest rates and fees on existing balances.
US Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Financial Services Committee and is a leader in the effort to revamp credit card policies, said banks have “abused’’ the nine-month period granted them to re-tool their practices.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Net widens in Galleon investigation
The biggest hedge fund insider trading case in US history ensnared more Massachusetts companies yesterday as federal investigators brought new charges against 14 people, including a Westwood investor.
Steven Fortuna, a hedge fund manager with a home in Westwood, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to illegally trading shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge. Arthur Cutillo, a New York attorney for Boston law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, was arrested and charged with leaking inside information about a Bain Capital LLC plan to buy 3Com Corp. in Marlborough. Florida hedge fund investor Roomy Khan pleaded guilty to making illicit trades in several stocks, including Kronos Inc. of Chelmsford, netting her about $1.6 million in profits. She is cooperating with authorities.
The charges are related to the case against Galleon Group of New York, a now-defunct hedge fund. Galleon’s cofounder, billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, was one of six people arrested and charged last month in connection with making $25 million from illegal trades in stocks of several companies, including Akamai.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Bank officials to testify Nov. 17
A congressional committee investigating Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch has set a new date for a public hearing at which several prominent bank officials from Massachusetts are scheduled to testify.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will a hold a hearing Nov. 17 at which Bank of America senior executive Brian Moynihan and directors Charles K. Gifford, former chief executive of FleetBoston Financial, and Thomas May, CEO of NStar, have been asked to testify, according to three people briefed on the matter. All three live in the Boston area and are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The hearing is expected to focus on Bank of America’s $50 billion acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Moynihan was the company’s chief legal counsel at the time the deal was completed Jan. 1.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Courting gay travelers
When William Buswell crunched the numbers from his recent fall foliage tours, he was surprised by what he found: The gay-themed trips, which can include visits to drag shows, were 86 percent full, while the other leaf-peeping trips organized by his Vermont-based New England Vacation Tours Inc. were 70 percent full. Last fall, before the recession set in, the occupancy rate for both kinds of tours was the same.
“The gay and lesbian market is a very profitable market to go after,’’ said Buswell, who lately has noticed more marketing directed at gay travelers.
Local tourism agencies are among the groups trying to appeal to these travelers, who represent a small fraction of the overall market but have a median household income of $86,400 and spent $70 billion on travel last year, according to the San Francisco-based market research firm Community Marketing Inc.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New England's 7th Spanish-language paper begins publishing
At a time when the recession is battering newspapers, a group of Latino journalists in Massachusetts has launched New England’s seventh Spanish-language weekly newspaper.
El Tiempo de Boston, or The Boston Times, began publishing last week as a free paper that focuses on communities with large Latino populations. Coverage also includes local immigration, financial consumer stories, and articles about Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
“We saw that there was little coverage and information in other media and we wanted to respond to the needs of the Latino community,’’ said Maximo Torres, 60, founding director of the paper, a native of Peru where he was a journalism professor, and former city editor of Boston’s oldest Spanish-language paper, El Mundo.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:01 AM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2009
Borders to close five Massachusetts stores
Borders Group is shuttering about 200 book stores, including 5 shops in Massachusetts, as part of an effort to turn around the struggling company.
All four Waldenbooks stores in the Commonwealth will be closing in January at the following shopping centers: Westgate Mall in Brockton, Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough, and Eastfield Mall in Springfield. A Borders Express shop also will be shuttering at Emerald Square Mall in North Attleborough.
As long as the stores remain open, they will honor previously purchased gift cards, and gift cards can continue to be used in any Borders or Waldenbooks location or online at Borders.com.
Borders Group chief executive Ron Marshall, in a statement released today, said: "We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities." After the five stores close in Massachusetts, Borders Group will operate 22 book in the state.
Posted by kstringer at 7:12 PM | Comments (0)
Bank of America officials asked to testify
Three Bank of America officials with Boston ties have been asked to testify at a congressional hearing later this month.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked two key board members, former FleetBoston Financial chief executive Charles K. Gifford, NStar chief executive Thomas May, as well as senior bank executive Brian Moynihan to testify at hearing on Nov. 17, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The hearing will focus on Bank of America's controversial $50 billion acquisition of troubled investment bank Merrill Lynch. Moynihan was the company's chief counsel at the time the deal was completed on Jan. 1. Former chief counsel Timothy J. Mayopolous, who Moynihan replaced, is also expected to testify. The hearing was originally slated to be held last month, but was postponed to allow the committee to do additional inquiries.
Bank of America, which received $45 billion in government aid, has been accused of misleading shareholders about the acquisition by failing to disclose the extent of Merrill Lynch's mounting losses and the fact that Bank of America gave Merrill Lynch permission to issue $5.8 billion in bonuses. In addition, committee investigators are trying to determine whether Bank of America threatened to back out of the deal in December in order to pressure the government to give it additional aid.
In addition to the public hearing, committee investigators plan to privately interview Moynihan on Nov. 11. Committee members had originally hoped to interview both Gifford and May before the hearing as well, but do not currently plan to do so.
Moynihan, who now runs the company's sprawling consumer banking units and lives in Wellesley, is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis when Lewis retires at the end of the year.
"Anybody would want this job, it's one of the best jobs in the business," Moynihan told Reuters news service on Wednesday on the sidelines of a speaking appearance in Los Angeles.
But Moynihan also acknowledged the possibility that he may not land the job. Some shareholders, such as Houston investment firm Finger Interests Number One Ltd., have pushed the company to consider an outside candidate.
"This is a great company and I will continue to do a great job for it, no matter what the outcome," Moynihan said.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)
Gibson is named as chair of NH Bankers Assoc.
The New Hampshire Bankers Association, a not-for-profit trade association representing banking institutions in New Hampshire, has named Piscataqua Savings Bank president and chief executive Jay S. Gibson as the new chairman of the association's board.
Gibson had served on the board and in various other capacities for the association over the past three years, and he will serve as chair for one year, Portsmouth, N.H.-based Piscataqua Savings said in a press release.
"There are some very significant issues in community banking at this time and I believe it’s important for community banks to be involved in the process in order to preserve the future of local banking," Gibson said in a statement. "I look forward to representing New Hampshire banks in the year ahead."
While serving as chairman, Gibson will continue in his role as president and chief executive of Piscataqua Savings. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)
Finagle ads support supermarket bagel launch
SJB Bagel Makers of Boston, the new name of the parent company of the local Finagle a Bagel chain, said it has launched an ad campaign to promote the introduction of its frozen bagel line to supermarket chains.
The campaign is made up of a series of TV ads that will air in the Boston area, and the ads introduce viewers to a cast of bagel bakers – Mikey, Ross, Luke, Murph, and Charly – who work at the bagel chain's Newton headquarters, the company said in a press release.
"The commercials play like a sitcom, introducing the characters and developing their personalities over the course of the series," the press release said. In an ad titled "Savant," for example, the baker named Ross "demonstrates his incredible talent for identifying bagels and their imperfections." One tag-line: "Finagle knows bagels."
The release included a statement from SJB Bagel Makers of Boston president Laura Trust.
"These five characters let the viewer in on the labor of love that goes into making each and every Finagle handmade boiled and baked bagel," Trust said.
One spot includes language that "may not be appropriate for younger viewers," the company said. For the moment, that ad will be available for viewing only on the Finagle website, the company said.
In any case, other ads in the campaign are airing on TV as the company is in the process of rolling out a line of line of frozen Finagle a Bagel bagels to grocery stores in New England and in such states as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Delaware.
The ads are currently airing on WCVB-TV (Ellen and Oprah); WFXT-TV (Dr. Oz and Morning News); WHDH-TV (Today and LIVE with Regis & Kelly), among others, the company said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
Globe unveils top Massachusetts workplaces
(An alternate version of the magazine cover. Photo: Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)
The Boston Globe disclosed today its second annual ranking of 100 top local places to work, and number one on the the list is Comcast. (To read a list of 10 top companies, please click here.)
In developing the list, the Globe teamed up with Workplace Dynamics, a research firm, to survey 86,000 employees at 269 companies. The survey measured employers according to such factors as direction, execution, managers, career, conditions, and pay and benefits.
"The Globe 100's Top Places to Work magazine draws a portrait of organizations that found ways, both big and small, to treat their employees right," Globe business editor Shirley Leung said in a statement. "The best employers know that loyalty is forged during difficult times."
Full survey results will be published in a special magazine supplement to the Nov. 8 editions of The Boston Sunday Globe. Information will also be available at www.boston.com/topworkplaces.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:29 AM | Comments (0)
Same-store sales at T.J. Maxx parent up 10 percent
TJX Cos., the Framingham-based operator of such retal chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, said that October sales were $1.7 billion, up a robust 15 percent over the same period last year.
Based on this strong performance, the company said it now expects third-quarter diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be at or slightly above its recently raised range of 77 to 79 cents.
One metric that Wall Street analysts scrutinize closely is same-store sales - sales at stores open at least a year.
TJX said in a press release that October same-store sales rose 10 percent from last year.
During an economic downturn, many cash-strapped consumers gravitate toward stores that are perceived as offering the best value. In this recession, TJX seems to be a beneficiary of this trend.
TJX refers to same-store sales as "consolidated comparable store sales."
TJX president and chief executive Carol Meyrowitz said in a statement: "Our consolidated comparable store sales increase of 10 percent in October reflects the strong momentum of our business. We believe our values and selection of great fashions and great brands continue to get even better and have broad reach across a wide range of customer demographic groups. We are particularly pleased with our 12 percent comp sales increase at the Marmaxx Group (the combination of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls), where customer traffic continued to drive sales throughout the month, boding well for the holiday season." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:47 AM | Comments (0)
BJ's October same-store sales fell 1.1 percent
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the Natick-based chain of wholesale club stores, reported that October sales increased by 3.5 percent to $764.7 million from $738.9 million in October 2008.
A figure that Wall Street analysts look at closely is same-store sales - sales at stores open at least a year. BJ's said that October same-store sales decreased by 1.1 percent, including a negative impact from sales of gasoline worth 4.8 percent.
"Excluding the negative impact from lower gasoline prices and volumes versus last year, merchandise comparable club sales increased by 3.7 percent," BJ's said in a press release.
BJ's refers to same-store sales as comparable club sales.
BJ's press release said: "Departments with the strongest sales increases compared to last year included candy, cereal, chemicals, cigarettes, computers, frozen, health & beauty aids, housewares, juices, paper products, pet food, produce, salty snacks, small appliances, and televisions. Weaker departments versus last year included pre-recorded video, toys, trash bags, and video games."
The company currently operates 184 BJ's Wholesale clubs and 104 gasoline stations in 15 states. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)
CVS Caremark 3q profit jumps 39 percent
CVS Caremark Corp. said today that its third-quarter profit jumped 39 percent to more than $1 billion on a boost from pharmacy benefits services and drugstore sales.
The Woonsocket, R.I., company said profit jumped to $1.02 billion, or 71 cents per share, from $732.5 million, or 50 cents per share, a year prior. Net revenue rose 18 percent to $24.64 billion from $20.86 billion.
Excluding a tax benefit of 11 cents per share, adjusted profit from continuing operations totaled 65 cents per share. Analysts expected 64 cents per share in profit and $24.61 billion in revenue.
Revenue at CVS drugstores rose 17.9 percent, with sales at stores open at least a year rising 5.7 percent. Meanwhile, revenue from Caremark pharmacy benefits management business rose 23.4 percent. The company said pharmacy network claims processed rose 9 percent to 146.5 million during the quarter, while mail choice claims rose 11.4 percent to 16.4 million.
Looking ahead, the company narrowed its adjusted profit forecast to between $2.61 and $2.64 per share from prior guidance of $2.59 to $2.64 per share. Analysts expect profit of $2.62 per share.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)
iParty reports Halloween sales results
iParty Corp., the Dedham-based operator of about 50 party goods stores, said that total company sales were $18.4 million for October, up 5.4 percent from the same month in 2008.
According to iParty, Halloween is its single most important selling season. "The increase in total company sales for the calendar and fiscal months of October 2009 included the impact of four temporary Halloween stores opened in mid-September 2009, compared to two such stores opened in mid-September 2008," the company said in a press release.
At stores open at least a year, a measure that many Wall Street analysts examine closely, October sales increased 0.1 percent from October 2008, iParty said.
Company chairman and chief executive Sal Perisano said in a statement: "While our company is by no means recession proof, we view our steady performance in the critical month of October as more evidence that our customers regard us as their go-to destination for parties, milestones, and seasonal events as we continue to offer inexpensive ways to celebrate occasions and have fun. Going forward, we plan to open additional temporary Halloween stores in 2010, building on the core strength of our base of existing stores and capitalizing on our experiences this year."
The photo that appears with this post was taken from iParty's website. It shows a woman modeling a Halloween costume for an adult. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 6:51 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Evergreen shifts work to China
Little more than a year after cutting the ribbon at a new factory in Devens built with more than $58 million in state aid, Evergreen Solar said yesterday that it will shift its assembly of solar panels from there to China.
About half of the 577 full-time and 230 contract employees at the Devens factory are involved in putting the panels together. Evergreen declined to say how many of those jobs would disappear with the scheduled transfer next year to China, where it is expanding because of lower costs.
Evergreen uses the Devens facility to make the silicon wafers and cells used in the production of solar energy. It also assembles those parts into the solar panels that increasingly adorn rooftops. The wafers and cells will still be manufactured at Devens, but the final assembly of the panels will move to China.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Citizens narrows choices on ad agencies
Citizens Financial Group said yesterday it has selected five finalists in its search for a new ad agency, only one of which is in Boston. The news comes a week after Boston-based Arnold Worldwide said it would not compete for the advertising business that it has handled since 2001.
Citizens Financial, based in Providence and Boston’s second-largest retail banking institution, said that it whittled down a list of 15 companies in its advertising review process to New York agencies Draftfcb, Grey Advertising, Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, and Boston-based Mullen. The review process, which is being overseen by Boston-based management consulting firm Pile and Co., is expected to be completed in December.
Theresa McLaughlin, Citizens’ chief marketing officer, was not immediately available for comment yesterday but said in a statement that the company remains “focused on identifying the right agency to fuel our next phase of growth.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Google touches add value to Droid
I love it when big, rich technology companies start smacking each other around like robots in a Transformers movie, because you’ll generally find some pretty cool gadgets poking out of the wreckage.
Here’s one of them now: the Droid, Motorola’s first phone to use the Android operating system developed by Internet search titan Google Inc. It’s also the first Android phone to be offered by the nation’s largest cellular carrier, Verizon Wireless. The Droid goes on sale tomorrow for $199 after a $100 rebate, and with a two-year Verizon service contract.
No doubt you’ve heard of the Droid from one of its ever-present TV commercials. Most smartphone vendors have tiptoed past direct comparisons with Apple Inc.’s iPhone. But the Droid ads have taken dead aim, flatly declaring that the Droid is better. In some ways, it is.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Bank of America's top lawyer lacked active license
Bank of America, already under investigation for its controversial purchase of failing investment bank Merrill Lynch, is now under fire for a legal technicality involving a high-ranking executive from Wellesley.
It turns out that the executive, Brian T. Moynihan, was not authorized to practice law when he was named the company’s top lawyer last December. During that time, Bank of America was reviewing numerous legal issues related to its Merrill purchase and request for billions of dollars more in US taxpayer aid to cover Merrill’s losses. Moynihan, who was registered as an inactive attorney in Massachusetts, updated his license to active status in Massachusetts on Dec. 18, eight days after his appointment as general counsel.
It is unclear whether Moynihan’s inactive status will affect any major business decisions or transactions Bank of America made during that eight-day period.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MANAGING YOUR MONEY: Do parents get a say on finances?
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a hovering parent, especially when it comes to the money my children get and spend.
Of course, my offspring are still young. My oldest is 14. But I am constantly giving her advice about the right way to handle her money. Once after a lengthy discussion, I said: “It’s my full-time job to make sure you are a good steward of your money.’’
She replied: “Can you make it your part-time job?’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)
November 4, 2009
Citizens searches for new ad firm
Citizens Financial Group Inc. said today that it has selected five finalists in its search for a new ad agency. The news comes about a week after Boston-based Arnold Worldwide, it's agency since 2001, said it would withdraw from the review process.
The selected firms, which have been notified by CFG, are Draftfcb, Grey, Mullen in Boston, Ogilvy and Y&R.
"Arnold has been a valued partner to Citizens and we appreciate the role they have played in helping to propel our business” said Theresa McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer at Citizens said in a statement. “While we were sorry to see them withdraw from the review, we wish them luck and remain focused on identifying the right agency to fuel our next phase of growth."
One Boston advertising professor said that ad agenices are hungry for new clients and the Citizens would make a great addition to a company's portfolio. "This is a time in the advertising world when advertisers are just beginning to spend again,'' said Geoff Klapisch, a Boston University advertising profsesor. "Citizen has the attention of five major league agencies. What it shows to me that agencies are hungry and that Citizens are taking an active position that they want to be in the marketplace.
Posted by kstringer at 4:11 PM | Comments (0)
State earmarks $1.4m for workplace education
The administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick said today that $1.4 million is being allocated to a program that provides "workplace educational services for low-literacy and low English proficiency adults."
The announcement was made at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester by Suzanne M. Bump, the commonwealth’s Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development.
"At least one-fifth of workers in Massachusetts are immigrants," Bump said in a statement included in a press release issued by her office. “These funds will support not only workers achieving literacy and gains in learning, but also increase their skills to help them move through their career pipeline." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)
Local wage increases outpace national average
Wage, salary, and benefit costs rose faster in Greater Boston over the past year than any other large metropolitan area, growing at nearly three times the national average, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
The 3.2 percent increase in compensation costs, compared with 1.2 percent nationally, was surprising given high unemployment rates that tend to hold down salary and benefits as more workers compete for fewer jobs.
In Greater Boston, the increase was driven by three sectors that have held up relatively well during the recession: health care; education; and professional, scientific and technical services, said Denis McSweeney, regional commissioner of the bureau. These sectors account for about one-third of employment in the region.
Total compensation costs rose in Greater Boston at twice the rate of the next closest metro areas, Philadelphia and Washington, which each saw 1.6 percent increases. Of the 15 large metropolitan areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only two, Minneapolis and Phoenix, saw compensation costs decline from a year ago, the agency said.
The unemployment rate in Greater Boston was 8.8 percent in September, the highest in at least 17 years. The state unemployment rate, 9.3 percent, is the highest since 1976.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:18 PM | Comments (0)
Pay czar will chair JFK Library Foundation
Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Brockton native currently known as President Obama's "pay czar," has been unanimously elected to be the new chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation by the foundation's board.
Feinberg, 64, is founder and managing partner of Feinberg Rozen LLP, a law firm specializing in mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution, the foundation said, and he currently serves as the Obama Administration’s Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation - a.k.a. the “pay czar.” In his capacity of pay czar, Feinberg oversees the compensation of top executives at companies that have received federal bailout assistance.
As the chairman of the JFK Library Foundation, Feinberg succeeds Paul G. Kirk Jr., who resigned as board chairman in September when Governor Deval L. Patrick appointed him interim US Senator from Massachusetts. Feinberg's resume includes a stint as an administrative assistant and chief of staff for Edward M. Kennedy, the late US Senator from Massachusetts.
The Kennedy Library Foundation’s board of directors meets formally three times per year, and Feinberg has served as a foundation board member for four years before being elected chairman. Board members volunteer their services and are not compensated, the foundation said.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization founded in 1984 to provide financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a federal institution under the National Archives. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)
Seafood companies offered loans after water crisis
The state's finance and development authority says it will offer $100,000 in loans to Gloucester seafood companies hurt by the summer's "boil water" order.
Gloucester was under the order for 18 days in August and September after elevated levels of bacteria were found in the water supply.
Seafood processors say they were forced to spend thousands of dollars a day to truck in the clean water needed for their work.
Loans of up to $25,000 per business will be offered by MassDevelopment through the Gloucester Revolving Loan Fund, which normally makes real estate and equipment loans to local businesses. MassDevelopment's loans will be for five years at 4 percent interest.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:18 PM | Comments (0)
NSTAR proposes electricity rate cut
NSTAR said it is proposing a price cut for its nearly 800,000 residential electric customers, thanks to a decrease in prices for oil and natural gas, two fuels used to generate electricity.
According to an NSTAR press release, the company is proposing a "new rate that is 3.7 percent lower than current prices and 30 percent lower than prices one year ago. If approved, the average NSTAR customer will be paying almost $20 less a month beginning Jan. 1 than they did in the first half of 2009. Nearly 800,000 customers in NSTAR's service territory will benefit from these price cuts."
NSTAR's proposed rate change requires state approval.
Headquartered in Boston, NSTAR transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
Comcast 3Q net income up 22%, but growth slows
Comcast Corp., which has a major presence in Eastern Massachusetts, reported a 22 percent increase in third-quarter earnings today after stepping up promotions on its bundled video, phone and Internet plans.
The nation's largest cable TV operator also said it sees signs the economy is stabilizing.
But investors are more anxious to find out how the purchase of a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal would burden Comcast's finances. A deal between Comcast and General Electric Co., which owns 80 percent of NBC Universal, could be announced soon. Comcast is expected to pony up cash and its cable networks and help shoulder NBC Universal's debt in a $30 billion deal that would transform Comcast into one of the world's most powerful media companies.
Its shares rose 14 cents to $14.65 in premarket trading.
In the third quarter, Comcast earned $944 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $771 million, or 26 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue was up 3 percent to $8.8 billion, slightly shy of the $8.85 billion analysts were forecasting, according to Thomson Reuters.
Free cash flow, an important measure of liquidity for the typically debt-laden cable TV industry, was up 20 percent to $1.1 billion.
Comcast, which is based in Philadelphia, said it focused more aggressively on marketing its bundles of Internet, TV and phone services in the quarter and added 1.1 million lines of service, slightly below its total in the same period last year. Lines of service encompass all orders of Internet, cable TV and phone services; a household can have multiple lines of service.
Video customers paid, on average, $66.84 a month -- up 3 percent from last year.
Comcast's video revenue rose slightly to $4.78 billion. Phone revenue rose 20 percent to $829 million while Internet revenue increased by 6 percent to $1.93 billion.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)
RI methane gas burning plants gets $15m boost
JOHNSTON, R.I. - The company building a methane burning power plant at the Rhode Island's Central Landfill has received $15 million in federal stimulus funds from the US Department of Energy.
The grant to Rhode Island LFG Genco will help expand the plant that that generates electricity by burning the methane gas given off by the decomposing garbage.
The proposed 42-megawatt plant was supposed to cost $80 million. Stephen Galowitz, a managing director in charge of development and marketing, tells the Providence Journal that the cost has risen to about $100 million.
Galowitz and Michael O'Connell, executive director of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Authority, the state agency that operates the landfill, said construction should begin this spring.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Julia Huston (right) will join the Foley Hoag LLP law firm as a partner in the firm’s intellectual property department. Huston will chair Foley Hoag’s trademark and copyright practice group while expanding the firm’s focus on providing sophisticated intellectual property counsel to technology companies and research institutions. Huston was previously chair of the trademark practice group at intellectual property boutique Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers in Boston. (Huston's photo was provided by Foley Hoag.)
Mitch Levy is joining Digitas, a digital marketing agency headquartered in Boston. In the firm's Boston office, Levy will be the executive creative director of the account of Procter & Gamble Co., the consumer products company that is one of the firm's largest clients. Digitas provides digital marketing support for such P&G brands as Crest, Tide, Pampers, and OralB. Levy joins Digitas from the Spark Factory, where he developed and executed a proprietary virtual workplace and ideation technologies for clients such as Factory London and Golden Park Beach Resort.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)
UGL Unicco unveils flu preparedness plan
UGL Unicco, a Newton company that provides such outsourced facilities services as janitorial and office cleaning services, has unveiled a "Flu Preparedness and Business Continuity Plan."
In a press release, UGL Unicco described the plan as "a comprehensive set of procedures and cleaning services that are designed to help ensure the health and safety of customers’ personnel, the public, and UGL Unicco employees during flu events, up to and including pandemic events."
Besides defining new procedures and giving additional training to employees, the plan calls for "the implementation of emergency communications procedures that include hotlines, pre-arranged phone conferencing, and pre-developed contact lists for customers, civil authorities, and emergency responders." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:06 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
UK parent will not be selling Citizens Bank
Citizens Financial Group will remain part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the troubled UK bank said yesterday, after concluding intense negotiations with financial regulators that resulted in a fresh capital injection in exchange for agreeing to sell off other parts of the company.
Under its deal with British and European regulators, the Royal Bank will receive nearly $42 billion in additional government funds and agreed to sell off its insurance unit, 318 bank branches in England and Wales, and a commodities venture in San Francisco within four years. The company fought successfully to keep its US banking operation, Providence-based Citizens, the second largest bank in the Boston area, with $153 billion in assets.
“Today’s announcement once again affirms that [Citizens] is a valued part of the RBS Group,’’ Ellen Alemany, chief executive of Citizens Financial and RBS Americas, said in a statement.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Newbury Street is the site of a new British invasion
There are teapots galore, sweets with names like Tiddly Pots and Smiley Licks, and mannequins draped in the red and blue Union Jack.
It’s an English invasion of sorts on Newbury Street, where three new British brands have in recent weeks set up shops in the struggling retail district. Upscale chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, men’s designer Ben Sherman, and fashion boutique Ted Baker have debuted stores within a two block stretch here, taking advantage of lower rents and a weak dollar.
“Newbury Street has a feeling of Europe and merchants abroad are willing to try and test out the market here with the exchange rate and the rents down 15 to 20 percent compared to two years ago,’’ said Tom Brennan of C. Talanian Realty Co. on Newbury Street. “There’s a lot of good spaces available.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Children's Hospital, three health plans push cost-control effort
Children’s Hospital Boston has agreed to limit increases in fees it charges the state’s major health insurers next year as part of a larger push to control the rise in pediatric health care costs.
In exchange, the three health plans - Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Tufts Health Plan - along with the state’s Medicaid program, will contribute a portion of their savings, about $10 million in total, to a fund that will enable Children’s Hospital to accelerate pilot programs aimed at providing better care at lower costs.
One program gives doctors immediate feedback on the success of treatments. Another explores ways to expand the range of services provided by primary care physicians, potentially enabling them to handle ailments like headaches and asthma without having to refer patients to specialists. A third is pioneering new payment models for pediatric care as state lawmakers consider revamping the current payment system.
To read the full story, please click here.
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EMC, Cisco alliance takes on computing giants IBM, HP
In a direct challenge to computer giants IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., data storage firm EMC Corp. of Hopkinton has allied with Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s leading computer networking company.
In a joint venture, EMC, its majority-owned subsidiary VMware Inc., and Cisco will sell prefabricated business computer systems. The new products will be built with computer servers from Cisco, data storage hardware and software from EMC, and server management software from VMware. “Wherever you touch any one of the three of us, we will look like one company,’’ said Cisco chief executive John Chambers.
Cisco, long known for its equipment used in computer networks, this year started making servers, large computers that store and process information. IBM and HP are the industry leaders when it comes to selling computer servers to businesses. By joining forces, EMC and Cisco can expand into that market quickly, offering integrated systems built with technology from both.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:36 AM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2009
RBS won't have to sell Citizens
Citizens Financial Group will remain part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the troubled UK bank announced today, after intense negotiations with financial regulators that resulted in a fresh capital injection and the forced sale of some assets.
Under its deal with British and European regulators, the Royal Bank will receive nearly $42 billion in additional government funds and agreed to sell off its insurance unit, 318 bank branches in England and Wales, and a commodities venture in San Francisco within four years. The company fought successfully to keep its US banking operation, Providence-based Citizens, the second-largest bank in the Boston area, with $153 billion in assets.
“Today’s announcement once again affirms that [Citizens] is a valued part of the RBS Group,” said Ellen Alemany, chairman and chief executive of Citizens Financial and RBS Americas, in a statement. “We will continue to serve the needs of our customers and execute on our long-term strategic plan.”
RBS's chief executive, Stephen Hester, said in a conference call that the agreement was "last major building block for our recovery plan."
The Royal Bank will now be 84 percent owned by the British government as it labors to climb back from the biggest loss in British corporate history and to repay the taxpayers for its bailout.
Hester said the bank agreed to divest the insurance unit and other assets after a "hard push" from regulators. Less revenue will make it harder for the company to grow and meet its goals of repaying the government, he said, noting that, "they are good businesses which we would rather not be divesting." But the Royal Bank had to compromise somewhere, given all the government support it is getting, he said.
Selling Citizens in the current depressed banking market would have been a further blow to the parent company's recovery, analysts and bank executives have said. Citizens lost money in the third quarter and is still struggling with bad loans in its portfolio. And many potential acquirers are still shoring up their capital and dealing with their own losses.
The Royal Bank said it would enter the government's asset-protection scheme, to insure billions of dollars in loans. And under its restructuring, subject to approval by the European Union's College of Commissioners, the bank will sell RBS Insurance, Global Merchant Services, parts of its branch network and corporate business, and its interest in RBS Sempra Commodities.
The bank had previously tried to sell its insurance business, but took it off the market in January when the offers weren't attractive.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)
Pearlstein will head law firm's Hub office
Mark W. Pearlstein will become partner-in-charge of the Boston office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, effective Jan. 1, the law firm said.
He will succeed Susan M. Cooke, "who became partner-in-charge of the Boston office in 2006 and who will focus on her responsibilities as chair of McDermott’s firm-wide OSHA/Environmental practice group," the firm said in a press release.
McDermott Will & Emery said its Boston office has nearly 70 lawyers. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. window maker to close 1 plant, move jobs
Window and door manufacturer Harvey Building Products has announced plans to close its Springfield facility and move about 100 jobs to other locations in New England.
The Waltham-based company says a slowdown in the housing market, along with an upcoming option to renew the lease on the Springfield plant, prompted the decision.
The western Massachusetts workers will be offered jobs at plants in Dartmouth, Mass., and Londonderry, N.H., which plan to add about 45 positions each next year. Harvey officials say the company's most popular products are already made at company-owned plants in those communities.
Company president Alan Marlow called it a difficult but necessary decision. The Springfield facility is slated to close in late January.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Lee R. Brettman M.D. has been appointed to the newly created position of chief medical officer of Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge company that seeks to develop novel protein therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases. Most recently, Brettman was the founder, president, and chief executive of Dynogen Pharmaceuticals.
Monica Noether, Chad Holmes, and Elizabeth Ramos have new jobs at Charles River Associates, a Boston-based provider of management, economic, and financial consulting services. Noether was promoted to chief operating officer, succeeding Paul Maleh, who was recently named president and chief executive, effective in late November. Chad Holmes is being promoted to global leader of corporate development. Ramos joins the firm as global leader of human capital. She comes from Fidelity Private Equity, where she was senior vice president of human capital.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
Arbella gets rating upgrade
Arbella Insurance Group said that A.M. Best Co. has upgraded Arbella’s financial strength rating to A - “excellent” with a “stable” outlook.
Headquartered in Quincy, Arbella has more than a half million insurance customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. At the end of 2008, its assets totaled $1.2 billion.
A.M. Best is a data provider for the insurance industry. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. business confidence edges up
Business confidence rose nine-tenths of a point in October to post a reading of 43.3 on a monthly index maintained by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a trade group of Massachusetts employers.
The index has posted gains in seven of the last eight months and is now 10 points above its all-time low, which was recorded in February, the association said.
There is a "clear upward trend in employers’ assessment of the overall economic climate," Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM's board of economic advisors, said in a statement.
The index uses a 100-point scale in calculating the findings of the organization's regular survey of its member companies. A reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook on the Massachusetts economy; a reading below 50 suggests pessimism.
The October 2009 reading was up 1.9 points from the reading in October 2008, but down 11.9 points over two years, the association said.
The graph that tops this post was included in the association's press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
Holiday Web retail sales will grow, Forrester says
Overall retail holiday sales are expected to be flat to slightly down this year as consumers struggle with the recession, but US online holiday retail sales are projected to rise 8 percent to $44.7 billion, Forrester Research Inc. said.
The National Retail Federation has forecast a 1 percent a one percent decline in overall US holiday retail sales for this year, noted Forrester, a Cambridge-based research. Nevertheless, its recent survey of more than 4,000 US online consumers showed that Web retailers are expected to fare better.
A Forrester press release included a statement from Sucharita Mulpuru, a firm vice president and principal analyst.
"Despite the lingering effects of the recession, the online space remains the retail industry’s growth engine," Mulpuru said. "What’s different this holiday from past years is that online retailers will manage to the bottom line, which will change some of the tactics they have employed in the past." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:23 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Learning to play their cross-cultural cards right
CAMBRIDGE - Keiko Sakurai held up a business card for her audience of 20 biotechnology managers whose company, Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., was sold last year to a Japanese drug maker. How they use their cards, she told them, is key to maintaining a good relationship with their new bosses.
“This is like a personification of you,’’ said Sakurai, a cross-cultural trainer. “If this is bent or it has a fingerprint on it, it’s like having a fingerprint on your face.’’
The ultimate mistake is discarding a business card, Sakurai said, recalling the time a US visitor dropped a client’s card and failed to pick it up. “It’s like stepping on a Japanese person’s face with your foot.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Citizens Financial hangs in the balance
British regulators are pressuring the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to shed portions of the company as it prepares to accept more government bailout assistance, which could lead it to sell its Citizens Financial Group in the United States.
The Scottish banking giant, which would be more than 80 percent owned by the British government according to UK press reports, is expected to announce what it will sell off as soon as today. In a statement, the company said its decisions “will include some divestments not initially contemplated.’’
Citizens Financial, based in Providence, is Boston’s second largest banking institution, with $153 billion in assets and 23,000 employees in 12 northeastern states.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Greylock raises $575 million
Greylock Partners, a pioneer of Boston venture capital firms, has accomplished another feat during the current economic downturn: raising money for new investments.
The 44-year-old firm said yesterday it has raised $575 million for a new investment fund that will primarily focus on early-stage software companies. Greylock also said Reid Hoffman, cofounder of the business networking site LinkedIn, is joining the firm as an investment partner.
“This will be a great platform to invest in good companies,’’ said Hoffman, who will remain executive chairman of LinkedIn. “I think a recession is the right time to start and invest in new companies. You get down to the people who are really committed to making their stuff happen.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Ex-Genzyme official will lead testing firm
Former Genzyme Corp. senior executive Mara Aspinall has taken the helm of a new cancer diagnostics business, On-Q-ity Inc.
The Waltham company, which is working to develop tests to help doctors select the best cancer treatment for patients, also plans to say today it has raised $21 million in venture capital. The round was led by Mohr Davidow Ventures and included Bessemer Ventures, Physic Ventures, and Northgate Capital.
On-Q-ity is part of the growing field of personalized medicine, where companies are trying to tailor treatments to specific types of patients. Many firms are particularly interested in cancer treatments because there are hundreds of types of the disease and a growing number of drugs, but it is not always immediately clear which treatment will work best for each patient.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Windows 7 launch could give economy a boost
Microsoft Corp. says it won’t be the only one to benefit from sales of its new Windows 7 software. The local economy could see a lift, too.
Windows 7, released Oct. 22, is the much-ballyhooed update to the software that runs most personal computers. Microsoft hired research firm IDC Corp. of Framingham to conduct a study of the ripple effect of the Windows 7 launch. It found that American companies could hire an estimated 25,000 additional workers to cope with the Windows 7 launch, including about 2,500 new jobs in Greater Boston, through the end of 2010.
“There is a bounce effect based on the introduction of Windows 7,’’ said Amie White, vice president for global research at IDC.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:41 AM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2009
JetBlue joins Boston College, discounts tickets today
JetBlue Airways Corp. has signed on as the official airline of Boston College Athletics, and is offering a 10 percent discount to celebrate the new partnership on all flights to or from Boston for travel today through Dec. 16. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
JetBlue's sponsorship of the BC Eagles allows the airline to place signs in athletic facilities such as Alumni Stadium, home of Boston College football, and Conte Forum, home of Boston College basketball and hockey. JetBlue will also feature various on-court and on-ice promotions, online marketing on bceagles.com, email promotions, and print advertisements, according to Fenway Sports Group, the sports marketing agency for Boston College.
“We are excited to harness Boston’s passion for its sports teams to increase awareness of our award-winning service,” Lisa Borromeo, JetBlue's manager of national sponsorships, said in a statement.
To receive the 10 percent discount, consumers must book travel today at www.jetblue.com/bc by entering promo code EAGLES09 during checkout. Blackout dates and other restrictions apply. As part of the agreement, JetBlue will partner with the Boston College Alumni Association and offer special rates for BC Reunion Weekend 2010.
“We’re thrilled to welcome JetBlue, the most creative and exciting brand in the airline industry, to the Boston College family as the official airline of Boston College Athletics,” Gene DeFilippo, director of athletics at BC, said in a statement.
The partnership with Boston College comes nearly a year after JetBlue teamed up with the Boston Red Sox.
JetBlue has significantly increased service for Boston area, having recently announced plans to boost daily departures by 30 percent by
summer 2010.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:12 PM | Comments (0)
Harvard U. will buy power from Maine wind farm
Harvard University has entered into a 15-year agreement to buy power and renewable energy certificates from a wind energy farm to be built in Maine.
Harvard officials announced Monday that Stetson Wind II facility near Danforth, Maine, expected to go online in the middle of next year, will eventually provide more than 10 percent of the university's electricity needs. Federal environmental regulators say that will make Harvard the largest purchaser of wind power by a university or college in New England.
Harvard used more than 247 million kilowatt hours of electricity last year.
Drew Faust, Harvard's president, said in a statement the agreement is part of the university's pledge to expand use of green power and reduce waste.
(AP photo)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM
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Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff Photo Fishermen and their supporters protested new fishing rules outside federal fisheries headquarters in Gloucester.October 30, 2009
Fishermen gather in Gloucester to protest rules
Hundreds of fishermen from the Northeast rallied in front of the headquarters of federal fishery managers Friday, demanding changes in the "dysfunctional" management that they say is destroying their industry.
Some fishermen held signs reading "Let Fishermen Fish"; other signs pictured Adolf Hitler with the word "Nazi" replacing the first word in National Marine Fisheries Service.
One group marched toward the New England regional headquarters entrance chanting, "Down with NMFS! Down with NMFS!" while a man roamed the crowd dressed as the grim reaper, with NMFS printed on his scythe.
Speakers addressed the crowd in front of a display of two fishermen at the gallows being hanged by Jane Lubchenco, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has charge over the fisheries service.
"The job you have done is not good enough!" fisherman Jay Driscoll, bullhorn in hand, shouted toward the building.
"The fishermen around me have found the courage to come together to stand up for our rights," said Driscoll, 39, of Rye Harbor, N.H. "Perhaps it's time for NOAA to find the courage to sit down and listen."
Rally organizers said fishermen from Maine to Maryland made the trip to Gloucester, the setting for the book and movie "The Perfect Storm."
The rally comes as fishermen prepare for a switch to a "sector" management system by the May 1 start of the next fishing year. The current system, broadly considered a failure, has tried to stop overfishing by curbing fishing efforts, including steady cuts to fishing days at sea. Some fishermen have as few as 24 a year.
Under the new system, fishermen working together in sectors will divide and manage an allotted catch of individual species. The idea is to increase the autonomy of fishermen, allowing them to increase profits but holding them to strict catch limits that will help stocks recover.
But some fishermen say the new system is paving the way for smaller boats -- the backbone of fishing communities like Gloucester -- to be wiped out by turning fish stocks into a tradable commodity that bigger boats will scarf up. They say managers are wrongly giving sectors paltry catch allocations that many fishermen won't survive.
"If we continue on the path we're on, we won't have this many people to gather here next year because you simply won't be in business," said state Sen. Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican.
Fishermen also attacked the science behind the changes, saying it gives an inaccurately bleak picture of the fishery.
"Every year they keep adding more and more regulations to us, taking our days at sea away, restricting our access to different parts of the ocean, all on faulty science," said Chris Kairns, 40, who fishes out of Point Judith, R.I.
Gloucester fisherman Joe Sava, 74, called fishery management a "joke," gesturing toward the new building where regulators work as fishermen ride out what he says are deliberate attempts to put them under.
"It's a slow death," he said.
Pat Kurkul, NOAA's New England Regional Administrator, said the agency's fishery science is among the world's best and isn't what's causing the industry's pain.
"I think the real issue is that we've just been unable to eliminate overfishing," she said.
The current system has not been effective enough but has survived for years anyway, she said.
"Part of it is that we've got a different situation in New England than we do, really, in the rest of the country, where the fishing industry is such a strong part of the culture and there's been such reluctance to change," Kurkul said.
"What we need to do is take a different approach, take an approach that allows us to have a higher likelihood of success," she said.
As fishermen protested her agency's work below, some bitterly calling for her to show her face, Kurkul said the relationship between regulators and fishermen was at "a difficult point" but not broken. The government isn't trying to ruin fishing businesses, she said, it's trying to save them after decades of overfishing.
"We're working for healthy stocks so you can have a healthy fishing industry," Kurkul said. "But you can't have one without the other."
Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2009
Cabot Creamery gears up for Open Farm Sunday
The Cabot Creamery Cooperative has scheduled an Open Farm Sunday for Nov. 1 as part of an effort to alert locavores that its cheddar cheese and other dairy products have strong New England roots.
"Visitors will experience the family traditions and local flavors that are Cabot Cheese when Cabot Creamery Cooperative farmers 'open their barn doors' for Open Farm Sunday," the cooperative of 1,200 farmers from New England and Upstate New York said in a press release. "Guests of all ages are invited to meet the farmers, see their cows, join in barnyard activities, and, of course, sample Cabot Cheddar Cheese!"
(Be advised. An over-consumption of cheddar can result in an uncontrollable desire to strew your copy with a surfeit of exclamation points!) 
In any case, more information about Open Farm Sunday is available by clicking here, including which Massachusetts farms are participating.
Images that appear with this post were taken from Cabot's website. At right is a beauty shot of "Slow Cooker Cheddar Polenta." According to Cabot, this versatile offering can be topped with grilled sausages, a favorite pasta sauce, or a hearty stew and makes a swell change from such ho-hum side dishes as potatoes or rice. Added benefit: Cheddar polenta's "full-bodied flavor pairs perfectly with a hearty ale or sturdy wine," Cabot says. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)
JetBlue is expanding Logan service
JetBlue Airways said it is expanding its service at Logan International Airport, a move that it said will boost daily departures by 30 percent by the summer.
"With its expanded schedule, JetBlue and its growing base of 1,300 Boston crew members will offer travelers up to 78 daily flights to 33 top destinations," the airline said in a press release.
Among planned changes are two additional daily flights to Chicago/O'Hare, two additional daily flights to Raleigh/Durham, and one additional daily flight to Baltimore/Washington, JetBlue said.
JetBlue's announcement comes less than three months after Southwest Airlines' starting service at Logan.
To read some recent coverage about Southwest and Boston, please click here.
A story in today's Globe noted that US Airways is shutting down its Boston crew base in May as part of a plan to focus on its hub cities. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)
Wall Street Journal will close Boston bureau
The Wall Street Journal is closing its Boston bureau by the end of the year, officials told employees today in a memo.
The bureau, which is in downtown Boston, has 12 reporters and editors. The bureau, which has won two Pulitzers in the last five years, will close Dec. 31, said Bob Christie, a spokesman for the Journal.
Nine employees will be laid off and three will stay with the company, Christie said. No other bureaus will be closed. The laid off employees will be able to apply for other jobs within the paper.
In a memo to employees today, managing editor Robert Thomson wrote: “The economic background to the closure is painfully obvious to us all."
The investigative team, which includes two employees, will remain in Boston. Coverage of the Boston mutual fund industry will switch to the Money and Investing team. And the Journal will create an enhanced New York-based education team.
The news comes after the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported earlier this week that the Wall Street Journal had surpassed USA Today as the country’s largest newspaper. The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp, added 0.6 percent to its daily weekday circulation to 2,024,269 copies in the six months ending in September.
It was the only newspaper of the top five US papers that gained circulation.
Read managing editor Robert Thomson's memo to employees below.
Colleagues,
Today we told our team in Boston that we are closing the bureau in its present form. The economic background to the closure is painfully obvious to us all. An investigative function will remain in Boston, but the core reporting team will be disbanded, though all nine reporters affected will certainly be able to apply for openings elsewhere on the paper. Coverage of the Boston mutual fund industry will switch to the Money and Investing team and we are creating an enhanced New York-based education team.
Any such decision inevitably stirs apprehension and uncertainty, but there are no plans, nascent or otherwise, to close any other US or international bureau. Meanwhile, the Newswires bureau and the MarketWatch team in Boston will remain at their present staffing levels.
That there has been truly great reporting under the generalship of Gary Putka out of Boston over many, many years is not in doubt. But we remain in the midst of a profound downturn in advertising revenue and thus must think the unthinkable.
Robert
Posted by globebusiness at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
Massachusetts economy is shrinking
The Massachusetts economy shrunk for the third consecutive quarter as rising unemployment and weak consumer spending undermined what earlier seemed to a be a recovery in the making, the University of Massachusetts reported today.
The state economy contracted at 1.1 percent annualized rate in the three month period ending September, following declines of 2 percent and 4.4 percent in the second and first quarter respectively, UMass said in its quarterly MassBenchmarks bulletin. The performance was far weaker than the US economy, which grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, the US Commerce Department reported today.
Special section
The US economy was lifted by one-time federal stimulus programs, such as the recently expired "cash-for-clunkers" tax credit for automobile buyers and the $8,000 credit for first time homebuyers, which expires at the end of next month, economists said. These programs disproportionately benefited states with large auto-related manufacturing sectors, and those with severe housing declines, said Michael Goodman, an economic analyst and professor of public policy at the UMass-Dartmouth.
Massachusetts has a tiny auto sector while its housing decline was far less severe than many other states that experienced building booms, such as Florida, Nevada, and California.
"The apparent strong performance of the national economy may be misleading,'' Goodman said. "While it it's clear that the Massachusetts economy continues to fight its way through this difficult recession, today's [national economic] report reflects, among other things, the impact of one-time programs."
The state's economy has likely hit bottom, and will resume growing in the current quarter, expanding weakly as the state's housing market continues to recover and worldwide demand for technology products picks up, UMass projected.
It appeared the state economy had begun a turnaround this summer as job losses steadily diminished and other indicators, such as a pick-up in national and worldwide technology sales, suggested a rebound here. But job losses, which had slipped to 700 statewide in August, accelerated to more than 9,000 in September, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent, the highest level since 1976.
State tax collections also plunged, another indicator of weakening economic activity.
"The state entered the recession later than the US, and so appeared to be performing better than the US through the spring of this year,” said Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor who analyzes a variety of economic data for the UMass report. “However, recently released income and tax revenue data suggest that the state’s economy continued to decline through the third quarter."
Posted by globebusiness at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
Partial settlement reached in Mont. Ponzi scheme
HELENA, Mont. -- A Boston-based investment firm has agreed to pay $1.3 million in restitution to Montana investors for a Ponzi scheme run by an independent broker in Kalispell.
Monica Lindeen, state commissioner of securities and insurance, announced the settlement with LPL Financial Corp. yesterday.
The company will also pay a $150,000 fine to the state for failing to supervise Donald Chouinard.
The state Securities Department accused him of making unauthorized trades on customers' accounts, which cost them money and generated $250,000 in commissions for himself. The agency also accused Chouinard of failing to provide investors with statements or tax documents and misrepresenting the amount of money in investors' accounts.
"Too many hard working Montanans lost their savings due to the actions of Mr. Chouinard, but today we started the process of recovering those losses," Lindeen said in a statement.
Lindeen said LPL does not acknowledge or deny any of the allegations as part of the settlement. An after-hours phone call to LPL was not immediately returned.
In September, the Securities Department issued a cease and desist order against Chouinard and filed a notice of proposed agency action against Chouinard and his companies, DC Wealth Management Inc., and DC Associates Inc.
The order states that Chouinard and his companies committed securities fraud and conducted a Ponzi scheme involving Montana and Idaho residents who invested in what they thought was his day-trading program. The state said earlier investors received proceeds taken from money contributed by new investors.
In one case, the department said Chouinard persuaded one investor to obtain a $100,000 loan and invest the money with him because he could guarantee a 40 percent return in 30 days. Instead of investing the money, Chouinard used $50,000 to pay off a previous investor, deposited $25,000 into his personal checking account and gave the other $25,000 to an attorney.
The state continues to pursue claims against Chouinard and his companies. A home phone listing for Chouinard in Kalispell is disconnected.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
Patriots, Revolution ink sponsorship deal
Quick, name the official insurance broker of the New England Patriots. Hint: The same company is also the official insurance broker of the Red Sox.
As of now, the correct answer is USI New England, an insurance broker headquartered in Woburn.
USI and the Kraft Sports Group just announced a partnership that makes USI the official insurance broker of the Patriots, not to mention the New England Revolution. The Patriots and the Revolution are properties of the Kraft Sports Group, a Foxborough-based division of the Kraft Group.
"The agreement gives USI exclusive use of the Patriots and Revolution logos in its promotional campaigns," USI and the Kraft Sports Group said in a press release. "USI will also benefit from unique hospitality and relationship-building opportunities through its partnership with the Kraft Sports Group." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:01 AM | Comments (0)
Red Sox star plumps free Black Jack tacos
(In 2007, Ellsbury greets some Taco Bell customers. Photo: Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
Trick or treat? Can we expect some Halloween cheer from Jacoby Ellsbury? The Taco Bell fast-food chain has scheduled a World Series/Halloween giveaway for Oct. 31 - and as burrito buffs know, Ellsbury of Red Sox is a Taco Bell spokesperson.
In a press release, the chain said: "Game Three of the 2009 World Series falls on Halloween this year, so in celebration of both events, Taco Bell, the official Quick Service Restaurant of Major League Baseball, announced the free giveaway. Baseball fans, taco fans, and Halloween fans alike can get one free Black Jack Taco by visiting participating Taco Bell restaurants across America between 6 p.m. and midnight (local time) on Oct. 31, 2009."
(At right, Ellsbury wolfs down a non-black taco in a Globe file photo.)
The press release included a statement from the fan favorite and taco pitchman.
"The World Series is baseball’s biggest stage," Ellsbury said. "My first start, first hit, first World Series ring and to top it all off, I had the chance to steal a base that won tacos for America. Winning the World Series was the highlight, but winning tacos for America was pretty cool too. It’s fun that this year we can all celebrate the Fall Classic with a free Black Jack Taco."
To read a Globe story about Ellsbury and Taco Bell, please click here.
That story notes that the Red Sox outfielder stole second base in the fourth inning of the second game of the World Series in 2007 when Taco Bell was running a "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:19 AM | Comments (0)
Cabot reported 4Q loss on restructuring
Specialty chemicals maker Cabot Corp. said Wednesday it posted a fiscal fourth-quarter loss mostly due to costs related to a hefty restructuring.
The Boston company said lower volumes and high inventory costs also cut into profits.
Cabot reported an $11 million loss, or a loss of 17 cents per share. That compares with a profit of $12 million, or 18 cents per share a year ago.
Adjusted to take out one-time items, the company said it earned 30 cents per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who tend to leave out one-time items from their estimates, expected a profit of 13 cents per share.
Revenue sank to $377 million, from $553 million in the fiscal fourth-quarter of 2008.
The company said it is ahead of schedule on its planned restructuring, first announced in January, which included slashing 500 jobs, or 12 percent of its work force.
The stock rose more than 2 percent in aftermarket trading. It lost nearly 6 percent in the regular session to close at $22.65.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:09 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Unionized nurses in Massachusetts are moving toward affiliating with their counterparts in California and more than 20 other states to create the largest nurses union in US history, a 150,000-member powerhouse that would lobby lawmakers for higher staffing levels and an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
The move could give the state’s nurses more bargaining power with hospitals and aid organizing efforts at nonunion health care providers such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. But it is being opposed by some nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and elsewhere who do not want to pay the added dues needed to finance the organization.
Local backers of the new alliance, National Nurses United, contend it would help patients by pushing for state laws mandating more nurses on duty. “This is an opportunity for nurses to work together to be more effective in safeguarding patients,’’ said Donna Kelly-Williams, a Cambridge Hospital nurse who took over this month as president of the 23,000-member Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the vast majority of nurses at Massachusetts hospitals.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Publisher enters new chapter in textbooks
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of the oldest publishers in the United States, plans to unveil today the biggest deal in its history: a $40 million, multiyear contract with Detroit public schools. But this is not the typical agreement to sell a textbook to every student.
Instead, Houghton will be providing a computer-based teaching system it developed with Microsoft Corp. that will connect teachers, students, and administrators. It’s a radical shift away from the classic textbook publishing model and represents an industry transformation, as technology supplants books.
“The textbook is no longer the center of the educational universe,’’ said Wendy Colby, a senior vice president at Houghton, which is based in Boston.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY: MANUFACTURING
Sector cobbles jobless comeback
To cut costs when the economy tumbled, Peerless Precision Inc. invested in computerized equipment, partly to eliminate the use of costly subcontractors. Now that new orders are coming in, the equipment is allowing the Westfield machine shop to expand production without adding to its workforce of about 20.
“The bottom line is that by working with our employees, we’ve improved efficiency,’’ said Larry Maier, the company president. “That’s why we’re still here. That’s why we’re having a good year.’’
Manufacturing in Massachusetts is rebounding from the deep recession, but as Peerless shows, the sector will be slow in recovering the 25,000 jobs it lost over the past two years. Even though production is projected to expand by nearly 5 percent over the next year, manufacturers are still expected to slice another 14,000 jobs before employment levels in the second quarter of 2010, according to forecasts by Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm in West Chester, Pa.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Akamai is launching own inquiry
In his first public comments on the insider trading investigation involving Akamai Technologies Inc. in Cambridge, chief executive Paul Sagan said the scandal had taken the company by surprise.
“We learned about the allegations the same way most of you did, via news reports on Oct. 16,’’ Sagan said during a conference call with financial analysts to announce Akamai’s third-quarter earnings. Sagan added that company officials “have not been notified by any law enforcement entity of any wrongdoing by the company.’’
Sagan’s remarks did not reveal whether Akamai officials know the identity of the “Akamai executive’’ mentioned in two federal criminal complaints.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Music heroism, with a hip-hop spin
Nearly everybody wants to be a rock star. That’s why consumers have spent billions on such video games as Rock Band and Guitar Hero. But who dreams of being a record-spinning disc jockey in a grungy nightclub?
Probably not so many. Which is why Activision Blizzard Inc., maker of the Guitar Hero series, may face a tougher sell for its latest music game.
Designed for Sony’s PlayStation 2 and 3, the Microsoft Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii, DJ Hero, which debuted this week, is a classic “brand extension’’ product, a bid to wring a few million more bucks from a once-fresh product line that’s now as mature as Sean Connery. According to the research firm NPD Group, Americans spent about $900 million on music games in the first eight months of 2008, but just $480 million during the same period this year.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2009
US Airways to eliminate jobs nationwide, affecting workers in Boston
US Airways said today that it is shutting down its Boston crew base May 2, part of its plan to focus on hub cities and eliminate 1,000 jobs nationwide in the first half of next year. The airline will also be reducing some of its five daily nonstop flights from Boston to the Caribbean next winter.
US Airways is the third largest carrier at Logan International Airport and has a crew of 184 flight attendants and 143 pilots that are based in Boston. But it's unclear how many of them, if any, will lose their jobs because they may be transferred to other cities.
"We're not sure if there's going to be any net loss of jobs out of Boston," said airline spokesman Morgan Durrant, adding that Boston crew members may be transferred to a different city.
US Airways crew bases at LaGuardia Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will also be closed as the airline concentrates its resources on hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Phoenix and focus city at Washington D.C.'s National Airport.
US Airways lost $800 million in 2008 and is expecting another large loss in 2009.
Posted by kstringer at 5:26 PM | Comments (0)
Madoff victims get back $534 million, trustee says
More than $534 million has been paid to 1,368 victims of Bernard Madoff through the national fund that insures against failed brokerage firms, according to Irving Picard, the trustee appointed to recover assets for investors with the convicted swindler.
In a call with reporters today, Picard said he has so far identified allowable claims totaling $4.43 billion and is still processing thousands of claims filed by alleged victims. To date, he has identified 2,335 investment accounts with net losses of $21.2 billion with Madoff.
Picard said his staff has found 2,568 investors who withdrew more money from Madoff accounts than they originally invested. Those investors are vulnerable to so-called clawbacks -- demands that they return some of the money they made. Picard said he has recovered $1.4 billion so far and expects to file more lawsuits to force the return money some investors unknowingly made at the expense of others.
"There definitely will be further lawsuits,'' he said. But he said his office would not go after people with serious medical conditions or those at risk of losing their homes. "We're not going to be suing people who don't have money,'' Picard said.
Picard called the death of philanthropist Jeffry Picower -- who suffered a heart attack in swimming his pool over the weekend -- "tragic."
"No one would have expected that," he said. Still, his office plans to press ahead with litigation to reclaim some of the $7.2 billion Picower allegedly withdrew from Madoff accounts. No other investor, possibly even Madoff, profited so much from the Ponzi scheme, Picard said.
The $534 million paid out so far to victims is more than the insurance fund, the Securities Investor Protection Corp., has paid out in all of its 321 prior liquidations combined, according to the corporation's chief executive, Stephen Harbeck. The fund was established by Congress in 1970.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Locals plan to up holiday spending, Deloitte says
(Holiday fruit cake file photo: Jim Scherer for The Boston Globe)
New Englanders plan to shell out 24 percent more on holiday related spending this year than last as their mood brightens over the prospect of the economy moving out of a recession.
That's one conclusion of the 24th annual holiday survey from Deloitte, a global firm that provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services to clients. The survey polled a sample of 10,878 US consumers, and Deloitte further broke out results by regions.
Survey respondents in New England said they expect to spend $1,131 on holiday related purchases. That's a 24 percent increase over last year when New England respondents told Deloitte they planned to spend $910.
Nationally, consumer respondents told Deloitte that they plan to spend, on average, $1,145 on holiday related purchases, up 16 percent from last year when respondents told Deloitte they planned to spend $987 on the holidays.
One shift from last year: New Englanders plan to spend less on gifts and more on socializing, holiday entertaining, and home furnishings.
Most of their gift-giving will be concentrated in gift cards and gift certificates, clothing, and books. Technology-related gift items were shown to be growing in popularity.
Looking at the nation at large, Deloitte said that gift cards will continue to be popular and that many consumers will shift their purchases from department stores to discount chains. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
Intermountain hires State Street
State Street Corp., the Boston company that provides financial services to institutional investors, announced that it has been appointed to provide fund administration services for Intermountain Equity Group's newly launched private equity fund.
"State Street will support IEG's new $400 million private equity real estate fund with a full range of administration services, including custody, accounting, financial reporting, and tax services," State Street said in a press release. "Based in Sun Valley, Idaho, Intermountain Equity Group was established in April 2009 by VP Companies Inc. and Capital Partners LLC." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
UNH franchise index shows gain
Avis Budget Group and lodging firms gained market value while the restaurant sector slipped, according to a third-quarter study that examined the performance of franchise companies.
The study is from the Rosenberg International Center of Franchising at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore School of Business and Economics. The center maintains a Franchise 50 Index, which tracks publicly traded companies in the United States engaged in business format franchising.
The index climbed 9.3 percent in the third quarter of 2009, marking the second consecutive quarterly increase since it began declining in the fourth quarter of 2007, the Rosenberg Center said.
A press release on the index included a statement from Hachemi Aliouche, the center's associate director.
“Economic conditions have continued to improve in the United States and overseas, and it has become generally expected that the end of the current recession is near,” Aliouche said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
A little something for Santa's in-box
This is the time of year when toy retailers offer their suggestions for ideal holiday toy gifts. In keeping with this tradition, the Learning Express of Devens offers up its suggestions.
In a press release, the company breaks down suggested items by age group. Among Learning Express's suggestions.
Gentle Giraffe on the Go by Cloud B, a plush, travel-sized pal with soothing white noise soundtracks. ($24.99)
And for the older lad, there's "The Dangerous Book for Boys Classic Chemistry Kit by Thames and Kosmos. Browse this book and the intrepid 7-year-old can learn how to experiment with compounds, mixtures, solutions and suspensions. ($36.99)
The company's press release included a statement from Learning Express founder and chief executive Sharon DiMinico.
"The great thing about our gift suggestions is that they manage to combine fun and learning," DiMinico said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:12 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Tenants get break in foreclosure plan
The city of Boston plans to purchase foreclosed apartment buildings still occupied by tenants in an effort to stem evictions under a pilot program officials say is the first of its kind in the nation.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino today is expected to unveil the buyback program, which will initially involve 12 apartments in five properties owned by Bank of America Corp. that are located in neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures in recent years.
Menino said that over the next six months he wants to expand the program to include other lenders and buy as many as 100 occupied apartments.
To read the full story, please click here.
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MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY: Financial services sector
Cracked by crisis, a pillar holds up
Over the past decade, Kevin Cuff has watched the region’s mortgage industry go from boom to bust.
A few years ago, thousands of people rushed into the housing market - selling mortgages, appraising homes, brokering deals - with hopes of cashing in on soaring home prices. At the peak in 2005, about 3,200 people jammed the mortgage banking industry’s biggest regional conference. But at the latest annual gathering a few weeks ago in Providence, it was a more sedate affair. Just 900 showed up - similar to attendance in 1999 before the real estate market took off.
“We’re back to square one,’’ said Cuff, executive director of the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Housing gloom in state lifts a bit more
New real estate figures show a housing market slowly mending as sales of single-family homes increased for the third straight month and the rate of price declines tapered off.
Statewide, 3,785 single-family homes were bought in September, 4.5 percent more than during the same period last year, according to Warren Group, a local company that publishes real estate data.
At the same time, the median selling price for single-family homes dipped 1.4 percent to $285,000 in September from the same month last year - the smallest drop in year-over-year prices in about two years, Warren Group said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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McDonald's speaks up for small firms
McDonald’s chief executive Jim Skinner said yesterday that health care overhaul is needed but it cannot be at the expense of small business owners.
Skinner declined to comment on whether McDonald’s supports a government insurance plan to compete with private companies, which has been part of the debate among the nation’s lawmakers about how to best expand health care insurance for Americans. He said the fast food chain, where franchisees make up 80 percent of all restaurants worldwide, would take a wait-and-see attitude before backing a specific overhaul approach.
“We are supportive of health care reform,’’ Skinner said. “It’s really about small business and how much of a burden there will be. Our businesses are small so they will be impacted in that way. But we believe having access to health care is an important issue.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Super 88 chain seeks bankruptcy protection
Super 88 LLC, the parent company of an Asian grocery chain owned by a local father-son business team, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, putting the chain’s potential sale on hold.
According to its filing in the US Bankruptcy Court District of Massachusetts, Super 88 - which operates stores in Allston, Dorchester, and Malden - has at least 200 creditors. The stores will remain open for business during the proceedings.
Super 88 owners Peter Luu and his son, George V.H. Luu, did not respond to requests seeking comment. But Frank D. Kirby, attorney for Super 88, yesterday said the bankruptcy puts a halt to a possible sale of the chain, which is being hashed out in court by three potential buyers that each claim to have deals to buy some or all of its stores.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:30 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2009
Rental car fee at Logan will rise $2 a day
Rental cars at Logan International Airport will cost $2 more a day beginning Dec. 1, a fee hike approved this morning by the Massachusetts Port Authority board to help pay for a consolidated rental car facility.
This brings the customer facility charge to $6 a day to help pay for the $337 million facility that will house the eight rental car companies that serve the airport. A $4 fee has been in effect since last December.
Massport also plans to fund the four-story 1.4-million-square-foot building with a $114 million federal loan. The plan includes a new unified shuttle bus system that will be used by all the rental car companies. Twenty-eight 60-foot-long buses, powered by either compressed natural gas or a hybrid electric/low-sulfur diesel engine, will replace the current fleet of about 100 buses that take passengers to the terminals and MBTA station.
It was also announced at this morning's board meeting that flu shots for the public at the airport will be suspended due to low numbers until the H1N1 vaccination becomes available.
Meanwhile, passenger numbers continue to rise at Logan after falling for more than a year, with a 6 percent increase in September from the previous September. Of the 126,309 additional passengers last month, 86 percent traveled on the airport's four new carriers: Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Sun Country Airlines, and Porter Airlines.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:34 PM | Comments (0)
Super 88 files for bankruptcy
Super 88 LLC, the parent company of an Asian grocery chain owned by a local father-son business team, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, putting the chain's sale on hold.
Several other entities owned by Peter Luu and his son, George V.H. Luu, also filed for bankruptcy yesterday, as well as late last week, court records show.
Super 88 LLC - which operates stores in Allston, Dorchester, and Malden -- has at least 200 creditors, according to its filing in the US Bankrutpcy District Court of Massachusetts. Its assets are listed at from $1 million to $10 million, while its liabilities are listed at $10 million to $50 million.
The stores remain open for business.
"The company obviously needed to have some time to decide what its next step was going to be," said Frank Kirby, the attorney for Super 88. "My advice was for them to file a reorganization plan. So that's where we stand."
Kirby said Super 88's bankruptcy puts a halt to the sale of the chain, which is being hashed out in court by three potential buyers who each said they had deals to buy some or all of the stores in the chain.
This "stays them, absolutely stops them dead," Kirby said. The bankruptcy judge could entertain offers to purchase the chain, he added.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)
Citizens touts Green$ense on its 1st anniversary
Citizens Financial Group, the Providence company that operates Citizens Bank, said that its Green$ense reward program has awarded customers a collective $5.2 million in give-backs in the year since is launch.
According to Citizens, Green$ense rewards customers 10 cents for each electronic payment they make, up to $10 per month and $120 per year.
One of several environmental benefits of the program is saving nearly 90,000 pounds of paper during the program's first year of existence, Citizens said.
In a statement, vice chairman Martin Bischoff said, "The benefits of this program show how small, everyday activities such as reducing paper-based transactions can have a tremendous impact on the environment." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
Macy's books Santa for national tour
As tour buses go, it looks as snazzy as anything that's whisked about Willie Nelson or John Madden. Only this bus is booked for a 25-cities-in-25-days Santa tour, and it includes several stops in New England.
The Santa tour is part of a larger effort by the department store chain Macy's to get folks cranked up for the holidays. The overall campaign reprises the "Believe" theme that Macy's used last year. "Believe" includes an honorary "National Believe Day" (also known as Dec. 11), a TV ad featuring pop chanteuse Queen Latifah, and a letter-writing effort that seeks to evoke the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial of more than a century ago, Macy's said.
Plans also call for CBS to air an "original animated special" on Dec. 11 called “Yes, Virginia” that builds on the story of 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s writing a letter to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897, Macy's said.
Meanwhile, Macy's stores will feature “Believe Stations,” where a kid can drop off a "Dear Santa" letter," with Macy’s making a $1 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for each letter deposited, up to $1 million, the chain said.
The Santa Tour includes New England stops South Portland, Maine; Warwick, R.I., and Hartford, Conn., Macy's said. The photo that appears with this post was provided by Macy's.
As for Boston's Downtown Crossing, Macy's has scheduled a tree-lighting ceremony for 5 p.m. on the day after Thanksgiving; Santa is expected to make an appearance. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
Angel investors cut back, UNH report finds
Angel investors pulled back in the first half of 2009, even as there was a slight increase in the number of investments, according to a report issued by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.
The report is titled “The Angel Investor Market in Q1Q2 2009: A Halt in the Market Contraction,” and it concluded that total investments in the first half of 2009 were $9.1 billion, a drop of 27 percent from the first half of 2008.
All told, 24,500 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in the period, a 6 percent increase from the first half of 2008, the report said.
A press release on the report included a statement from Jeffrey Sohl, director of the UNH Center for Venture Research at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics.
"The significant decline in total dollars, coupled with the small increase in investments, resulted in a smaller deal size for the first and second quarters of 2009," Sohl said. "The decline in deal size of 31 percent from the first half of 2008 indicates that while angels have not significantly decreased their investment activity, they are committing less dollars resulting from lower valuations and a cautious approach to investing." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)
Boston Marriott Copley nears end of $22m upgrade
Officials at the Boston Marriott Copley Place said that a $22 million renovation of the hotel is nearly complete.
The year-long project includes a completely renovated first and second floor, with new front desk area and meeting rooms; a redesigned Champions restaurant and bar; the new Connexion lounge; an expanded Starbucks coffee bar; a relocated business center and upgraded gift shop; and a renovated health club and pool, the hotel said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2009
Employee lawsuit claims discrimination at Fairmont
Seven current and former employees are suing the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston and its parent company for discrimination, alleging that hotel managers treated them unfairly and failed to act when other workers verbally abused and physically threatened them because of their Moroccan descent and Muslim religious beliefs.
‘‘There became a pattern of harassment and after the attacks on Sept. 11, the level of harassment increased,’’ said Rahsaan Hall, an attorney with the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, which filed the complaint against the Fairmont Copley yesterday in US District Court.
A spokeswoman for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Inc., which runs the Fairmont Copley, referred questions about the case to a local representative from the hotel. However, that representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the 71-page court filing, seven employees of Moroccan descent — all of whom are US citizens — repeatedly were disparaged by co-workers who called them ‘‘terrorists’’ and accused them of being members of the Taliban. In one instance, one of the employees was grabbed inappropriately by a hotel doorman. In another, during a meeting with several people, including a human resources director, the hotel’s general manager allegedly said: ‘‘I have two problems: the rats and the Moroccans. I took care of one and I can’t figure out the other.’’
The court filing also claims that the employees named in the case were denied promotions, made to work harder than their peers, and unfairly disciplined. The workes are suing the hotel for violating antidiscrimination laws and creating and tolerating a hostile work environment.
Five of the employees still work at the hotel. Two employees were ‘‘terminated unlawfully,’’ according to the court case. One employee was fired for allegedly making false accusations about another co-worker, even though the suit claims numerous other employees were not let go or disciplined for similar conduct. In another instance, a different employee was fired for allegedly threatening to terrorize the hotel — an accusation that is ‘‘blatantly false,’’ according to the filing.
This is not the first time the Fairmont company has been accused of mistreatment by employees. The company was sued in 2003 by Muslim and Arab-American employees at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, who complained of discrimination following Sept. 11. Fairmont settled the case by paying $525,000 to a dozen workers and agreeing to provide additional anti-discrimination training.
Hall said his clients are hoping to require the hotel to do more training. They are also hoping to collect damages, back pay and future pay, and court costs, according to the court filing.
Material from the Associated Press is used in this report.
Posted by kstringer at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)
Female CEO pay dropped more than men's
It's a tough time, comparatively speaking, to be a chief executive - and it's even harder if you're a woman.
According to a study from the Corporate Library, women chief executives are more likely to pay for poor performance than their male counterparts.
Headquartered in Portland, Maine, the Corporate Library describes itself as an independent research firm providing corporate governance information products, research services, and data to a broad variety of clients including institutional investors, corporations, law firms, accounting firms, and academic institutions and the media. Last month, the firm issued its annual report on chief executive compensation, noting that CEO compensation declined for the first time since the firm began issuing such studies in 2002. The annual reports are based on compensation data from more than 3,300 companies listed on United States stock exchanges.
Today the Corporate Library issued a follow-up report that broke out data on women chief executives.
Among the follow-up report's findings: "On average, female CEOs earned just 58 percent of what males earned in realized compensation (78 percent at the median). On average, male CEOs’ discretionary bonuses were more than 3.5 times larger than female CEOs, and males’ perquisite payments were nearly twice the amount received by females. At the median, female CEOs earned $40,000 more in base salary than male CEOs."
The Corporate Library's press release included a statement from the author of the report, firm research associate Greg Ruel.
"Comparisons between male and female pay can be complicated," Ruel said. "Though the female sample is much smaller than the male sample, there are nonetheless notable differences in the way male and female CEOs are compensated." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:05 PM | Comments (0)
FairPoint phone company files for bankruptcy
PORTLAND, Maine -- FairPoint Communications Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today barely 18 months after becoming northern New England's dominant telecommunications company, fulfilling critics' predictions that the company wasn't up to the task.
The company said it voluntarily filed for bankruptcy after agreeing on a deal with key lenders that will help lower its debt by about 62 percent.
FairPoint, based in Charlotte, N.C., owns and operates phone companies in 18 states with a total of 1.65 million lines. Its largest holdings are in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where it bought Verizon Communications Inc.'s land lines and Internet network for $2.3 billion in 2008.
FairPoint has been struggling under a large debt and falling revenues, as well as customer-service, billing and other problems since switching over to its own computer systems in northern New England nine months ago.
The bankruptcy filing was widely anticipated as the company has negotiated with banks and bondholders to restructure its debt.
The restructuring deal with lenders holding more than half of its outstanding secured debt will allow the company to reduce its debt from $2.7 billion to $1 billion, chief executive David Hauser told The Associated Press.
"What that will do is cause a significant decrease in costs to the company because interest expenses will drop a lot," Hauser said.
The plan is subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Hauser said the bankruptcy filing will not affect the company's day-to-day operations or its efforts to expand its high-speed Internet network in northern New England.
"From a customer point of view, this is a nonevent," he said.
Last week, the governors of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont said they wanted assurances from FairPoint that any debt restructuring by the company wouldn't further erode customer service.
Maine Public Advocate Richard Davies, who represents consumers, said he needs more details to determine how the bankruptcy filing will affect customers.
"The creditors seem to be taken care of, but that doesn't mean the consumers' interests have been protected," Davies said.
Besides negotiating with banks and bondholders to restructure its debt, FairPoint has been asking its nearly 3,000 union employees in the three-state region for pay cuts and other concessions.
Union leaders, meanwhile, have placed the blame squarely on FairPoint, saying its problems were caused by "crushing debt and an organizational chaos," not by its work force.
"We recognized from the start that the business plan was flawed, the debt was too high and they were in over their heads in rolling into their new computer systems," said Pete McLaughlin of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
When FairPoint first proposed buying Verizon's land line and Internet assets in northern New England, opponents said FairPoint was too small to take on such a large network. In making the purchase, FairPoint grew six-fold overnight.
Two events are largely to blame for the company's unraveling, said Davies.
After the purchase was approved by regulators in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, but before the acquisition was completed on April 1, 2008, FairPoint was blindsided by the Wall Street financial crisis, he said. To finance the deal, the company planned to issue bonds paying 8.125 percent but instead was forced to issue bonds that paid 13.125 percent -- causing its interest payments to soar.
When the company switched from Verizon's computer systems to its own network last winter, it was plagued with customer-service, order-fulfillment and billing problems. Those problems caused costs to go up and its customer base to go down.
"Two factors that are major contributors to this weren't known to regulators at the time the deal was approved," he said. "Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if we'd known all these things back then I'm sure there would've been a different decision."
Meredith Hatfield, New Hampshire's consumer advocate, said the challenge now will be advocating for customers' interests and getting FairPoint to follow through on its commitments.
"Obviously ratepayers and customers of FairPoint potentially have a lot to lose," she said.
FairPoint said it has about $46 million of cash on hand and expects to continue to generate positive operating cash flow. It said it received commitments for a $75 million debtor-in-possession revolving credit facility.
Alfred Giammarino, chief financial officer and executive vice president, said the company is pleased with the terms of the agreement with its lenders.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices rose 11 cents a gallon
The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts rose 11 cents to $2.609 in the latest weekly survey from AAA, AAA Southern New England said.
It was the second straight week of increases; in the previous survey, the price was up 6 cents a gallon.
The weekly survey focuses on a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded gas.
The current price is 7 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.67. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $2.63, AAA Southern New England said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)
Newspaper circulation down 10.6 percent
The decline in US newspaper circulation is accelerating as the industry struggles with defections to the Internet and tumbling ad revenue.
Figures released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show that average daily circulation dropped 10.6 percent in the April-September period from the same six-month span in 2008. That was greater than the 7.1 percent decline in the October 2008-March 2009 period and the 4.6 percent drop in the April-September period of 2008.
Sunday circulation fell 7.5 percent in the latest six-month span.
As expected, the Wall Street Journal has surpassed USA Today as the top-selling newspaper in the United States. Although the Journal's average Monday-Friday circulation largely remained unchanged at 2.02 million, USA Today saw its worst circulation decline ever, dropping more than 17 percent to 1.90 million. The newspaper has blamed reductions in travel for much of the circulation shortfall, because many of its single-copy sales come in airports and hotels.
The New York Times stayed in third place at 927,851, down 7.3 percent from the same period of 2008.
(At The Boston Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Co., daily circulation decreased 18.4 percent to 264,105 while Sunday circulation fell 16.9 percent to 418,529. Shortly after the reporting period began, the Globe began implementing price increases. While increases varied by geography, the average increase to Globe subscribers was 40 percent, a Globe spokesman said.
Daily circulation for the Boston Herald was 138,260 at the end of the reporting period, down 17.5 percent from a year ago. A Herald spokeswoman said the Herald had four price increases during the latest reporting period.)
Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Part of this is because newspapers stopped serving harder-to-reach areas and limited circulation to their core regions.
In many cases, people simply aren't buying print copies as much as they used to, given the abundance of free news on the Internet, often from the newspapers themselves. This has prompted newspapers to consider charging fees for Web access, but it could prove difficult to persuade people to pay for something they are used to getting for free.
Newsday, a Long Island daily, said last week it plans to start charging people who don't subscribe to its print edition $5 a week for access to its Web site. Newsday's circulation dropped 5.4 percent in the latest reporting period, to 357,124.
The figures from the circulation bureau compare 379 newspapers that had reported daily average sales for both the current and year-ago periods. The Sunday figure, meanwhile, compares 562 newspapers.
The closures of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and other printed newspapers aren't reflected in the total decline. (And in many cases, subscriptions were transferred to each city's other major newspaper). The total also excludes many smaller newspapers because of rule changes that make direct comparisons impossible.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Jeffrey A. Leerink has been appointed to the board of fellows of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The announcement was made by Leerink Swann, a health-care-focused investment banking firm in Boston. Jeffrey Leerink is chief executive of Leerink Swann.
Jim Rushton has been named senior vice president of corporate partnerships and integrated media for the Miami Dolphins football team. Rushton joins the Dolphins from Entercom Communications, where he has spent the past 16 years, most recently as vice president sports sales and marketing for Entercom and Entercom New England, which operates such radio stations as the WEEI Sports Radio Network. He will report directly to Dolphins chief executive Mike Dee, a former executive with the Boston Red Sox and the Fenway Sports Group.
Wayne Regan has been appointed as senior vice president of Beacon Hospice Inc. in Charlestown. Prior to joining Beacon Hospice, Regan served for eight years as president of Overlook Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice Services, part of the Masonic Health System.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Bay State heads to a jobless recovery
Many of Massachusetts’ key industries have begun to rebound along with the broader economy, increasing sales and production, but hiring only cautiously - if at all.
That caution is contributing to what is almost certain to be another jobless recovery in Massachusetts and elsewhere, a pattern that has marked economic turnarounds since the early 1990s. Even though the economy is expanding, it is not growing fast enough to generate jobs and reduce unemployment in the state, already at its highest level since the 1970s.
Over the next year, economic activity in Massachusetts will increase more than 2 percent, slightly faster than in the nation as a whole, but employers here will still slice 37,000 more jobs, according to forecasts by Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm in West Chester, Pa. That job loss, while significant, is less than the projected rate nationwide.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Tapping the brakes on health sector's growth
The state’s health care and life sciences companies have been counter-cyclical players through the economic downturn, getting bigger and hiring more people while other businesses were forced to cut back.
Now that the Massachusetts economy appears poised for recovery, however, there are signs the steady growth enjoyed by health care, biotechnology, and related industries may be coming to an end.
Cost containment efforts by federal and state governments, and at private insurance companies, are putting fresh pressure on the same state providers that went through a growth spurt two years ago when Massachusetts passed a law improving residents’ access to health care.
To read the full story, please click here.
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People are still evolving, heart study numbers say
Charles Darwin famously studied evolution in the Galapagos Islands. Now a team of scientists has chosen a decidedly less exotic locale to study the subject - Framingham.
Residents of the Boston suburb have long participated in a landmark study of their cardiovascular health, which has shown that smoking and high cholesterol increase risk of heart disease. Now data compiled for the heart study are providing evidence of human evolution in action - and have led researchers from Yale University, Boston University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania to predict that the community’s next generation of women will be slightly chubbier and shorter and have lower cholesterol.
Evolution occurs because organisms with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and pass on those traits to their offspring - a process called natural selection. It is widely believed that modern medicine and technology have brought human evolution to a screeching halt, since most people - and not only the “fittest’’ - can now survive and pass on their genes. But the authors of the new research say their work shows natural selection is still occurring.
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: A personal take on the rise and fall of Digital
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation.
Harlan Anderson turned 80 this month. With Ken Olsen, he started Digital Equipment Corp., which was one of the pillars of the Route 128 era in Massachusetts and at one point was the second-biggest technology company in the world, after IBM. Next month, his memoir (“Learn, Earn & Return: My Life as a Computer Pioneer’’) will be released.
Oh, and he also started blogging recently.
I spoke with Anderson earlier this month to ask him about becoming an author, meeting (and later parting ways with) Olsen, how they raised money for the start-up, and what he views as the Achilles’ heel that undermined DEC.
To read the full story, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:33 AM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2009
Bernanke urges Congress to enact financial reforms
HARWICH—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, acknowledging that failures in oversight contributed to a near-catastrophic financial crisis, today called on Congress to enact comprehensive reforms that would close gaps in regulation, prevent future bailouts, and create a council of top regulators to identify risks to the financial system.
Bernanke, speaking here at the annual conference of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, said the Federal Reserve has already taken a number of steps to improve supervision of banks, expanding its focus from individual institutions to include the stability of the financial system. In addition, it has taken steps to crack down on risky practices, including issuing guidelines for banks to overhaul bonus systems that may encourage employees to take excessive risks. (Bernanke is shown at right in a Reuters file photo.)
Ultimately, however, Congress needs to act, Bernanke said. The nation needs a way to deal with the failure of large, complex financial institutions without putting the entire system at risk or bailing them out with taxpayer money. It needs to bring all financial institutions under rigorous federal oversight. And it needs to coordinate information and action among federal financial regulators to identify and prevent threats to financial stability.
“It remains critical for Congress to close regulatory gaps and provide supervisors with additional tools for anticipating and managing systemic risks,’’ Bernanke said in prepared remarks. “Large, complex financial firms that do not own a bank, but nonetheless pose risks to the overall financial system, must not be permitted to avoid comprehensive and effective supervisory oversight.”
Bernanke was the keynote speaker at a three-day conference sponsored by the Boston Fed. The conference, titled "After the Fall," brought together business and academic economists to explore ways to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that pushed the US and global economies to the brink of a second Great Depression.
Bernanke said the aggressive and coordinated international efforts by central banks and governments had averted a collapse in the global financial and economic systems. Conditions have improved substantially in recent months, he said.
“However, even though we avoided the worst financial and economic outcomes, the fallout from the crisis has nonetheless been very severe,” he said. “Now is the time for policymakers to take action to reduce the probability and severity of future crises.”
Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)
Rockport, Converse talk up sneakers and shoes
Andy Baldwin of “The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman” fame will don its DresSports 2 for the NYC Marathon, the Rockport Co. of Canton said.
"Rockport has taken major steps to update the DresSports collection by making style and comfort the main focus," Rockport said in a press release. "Each DresSports style weighs less than the average running shoe."
Meanwhile, on the basketball front, Converse of North Andover is opening the new hoops season with another Elton Brand signature shoe called the EB2. Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers is shown at right in a photo taken from the Converse website.
"The EB2 is designed for basketball players who specialize in quickness, agility, and versatility," Converse said in a press release.
The release added: The Converse EB2 is available now and retails for $65 in adult sizes and $50 in kid sizes. The EB2 is available exclusively at JCPenney."
Rockport is now part of the Adidas brand portfolio, and Converse is a subsidiary of Nike Inc. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
As they watched a Red Sox playoff game a year ago at Fenway Park, Alan Lewis, chief executive of Grand Circle Travel, turned to his younger brother, Hank, and told him he needed money and he needed it fast.
Within days, Hank Lewis, who runs Vantage Travel in Boston, wired $10 million to his sibling. The brothers also made plans to merge their firms into one of the largest businesses catering to senior travelers. The collaboration would mean big cost savings at a time when the travel industry was in freefall.
The gesture earned Hank a note of thanks from his brother, signed “Love and Peace.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Brigham names its next president
Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and one of the public faces of its parent, the National Institutes of Health, will be the next president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Faulkner Hospital in Boston.
Nabel, 57, is a cardiologist and clinical researcher who graduated from Cornell University Medical College and trained at Brigham and Women’s in the 1980s. She was elected as its president in a unanimous vote Wednesday night by the board of trustees that oversees the hospital and its affiliate, Faulkner Hospital. The hospitals’ employees were told of her appointment yesterday.
She will begin her new job Jan. 1 when the hospitals’ president, Gary Gottlieb, becomes president and chief executive of Partners HealthCare, the parent organization of Brigham and Women’s, Faulkner, Massachusetts General Hospital, and other health care providers. Gottlieb replaces Partners chief James Mongan, who will retire at the end of this year, in a move disclosed last February.
To read the full story, please click here.
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State Street's Logue to step down
State Street Corp. chief executive Ronald E. Logue, 64, announced that he will retire March 1 from the Boston financial services giant he has led through one of the rockiest periods in its history. He will be succeeded by Joseph L. “Jay’’ Hooley, 52, the company’s president and chief operating officer.
The news was a surprise to many, coming just a day after Logue reported positive earnings for the third quarter, in a conference call to Wall Street analysts and investors. He has been chief executive since 2004. He helped expand its reach around the globe, solidifying its place among the largest providers of recordkeeping and accounting services to investment firms. It is also a large money manager.
“The volatility, and the global financial meltdown we’ve experienced over the last few years, certainly has had a tough effect on the company, and it certainly may have taken a toll on Ron as well,’’ said Gerard Cassidy, a longtime banking analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Portland, Maine.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Altruism in prime time
At first, they look like mini-films or extensions of NBC shows.
In one vignette, Anthony Anderson, who stars in “Law and Order,’’ defines personal responsibility. He then introduces his short film, which features costar Jeremy Sisto shooting hoops with a boy. They ask a lonely young boy to join them.
The film shorts are commercials and part of a collaboration between NBC and Liberty Mutual for the insurer’s Responsibility Project campaign, which aims to spark a conversation about the meaning of personal responsibility and how that theme ties in with the insurance company. Directed by five NBC actors, the one-minute ads appeared this month during the network’s prime-time shows such as “Heroes,’’ “Law and Order,’’ and “30 Rock.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Rosengren stresses Fed's role as bank watchdog
HARWICH - Federal Reserve policy makers and bank regulators should work together to promote the stability of the financial system and the economy, sharing data and forecasts to identify risks, Eric Rosengren, president of Boston’s Federal Reserve Bank, said yesterday.
In addition to managing the economy, primarily by raising and lowering interest rates, the Federal Reserve also has regulatory authority over banks. Some financial reform proposals in Congress would strip the Fed of its bank supervision powers and roll them, along with oversight authority held by other financial regulators, into a single agency.
Rosengren, however, said that keeping supervisory and policy-making functions under the Fed would provide benefits. In a paper presented at the Boston Fed’s annual conference here, Rosengren said information gathered by regulators about the health of banks could improve forecasts that the Federal Reserve uses to determine economic policies.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Do the new rules pay off?
The compensation cops are all over the banking industry as you read this.
Government is cracking the whip, or at least talking tough, about pay packages at banks and other companies that have been blamed for so much financial excess dragging down the entire economy.
Part of me wants to say: It’s about time. But the other part, tethered to reality, doubts it will do much good and wonders about the potential unintended consequences.
There is obvious political and populist power behind any cap on compensation for the fat cats who caused so much trouble. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching irresponsible rich guys (and the rare rich woman) get hit where it hurts?
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 5:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2009
NY Times narrows loss on cost cutting
The New York Times Co. reported today that advertising revenue fell nearly 30 percent in the third quarter but the company had narrowed its loss with aggressive cost-cutting and higher newspaper prices.
The Times Co., which owns The Boston Globe, Boston.com, and other media properties, posted a loss of $35.6 million for the quarter. On an operating basis, the company said it had a profit of $80.6 million, excluding a series of special items. That was up 30.2 percent from the same period last year.
The operating earnings per share, excluding severance and special items, were 16 cents, exceeding Wall Street expectations.
Company shares were up $1.76, or 20 percent, to $10.51 a share in mid-afternoon trading.
The company said operating performance had improved largely because of rigorous expense control and a 6.7 percent gain in circulation revenue across the Times Co.
The company’s New England Media Group, which includes the Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, contributed strongly to those gains. Circulation revenues in the unit rose 18.4 percent to $45.9 million, after a sharp increase in subscription and newsstand prices for the Globe.
The Times Co. last week said it was no longer considering selling the Globe, in part because of better financial results. The New England group’s total revenues fell 12.6 percent in the quarter to $109.7 million – marking a far more modest decline than the unit experienced in recent quarters. Advertising revenue fell 27.2 percent in the New England group, in line with industry trends as the recession and Internet continue to batter the news business.
Companywide, operating costs were down 22 percent from a year ago, with the workforce 20 percent smaller than a year ago. The savings are a result of the closure of a retail news distribution business, lower costs for newsprint, the closing of the Globe's Billerica printing plant, and wage and benefit cuts.
Not included in the results is a buyout announced this week aimed at reducing the New York Times newsroom by 100 people, or 8 percent.
Looking ahead, Times Co. chief executive Janet Robinson said, “We have seen encouraging signs of improvement in the overall economy and in discussions with our advertisers.”
The volume of print ads has improved modestly in the early days of the fourth quarter, Robinson said, while digital ads have improved “more significantly.”
Revenues at the About.com unit grew 7.2 percent to $30.8 million in the third quarter. But overall digital revenues from NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and other company websites slid 7.2 percent to $78.9 million.
The Times Co. said it is also moving ahead with efforts to sell its 18 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Red Sox.
The company also has not ruled out a sale of the Telegram & Gazette, which had previously been packaged as part of a potential Globe sale. A group of businessmen led by Ralph D. Crowley Jr., chief executive of Polar Beverages Co., and Harry T. Whitin, the former T&G editor, have expressed interested in buying the Worcester paper.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)
Boston Fed president calls for cooperation
HARWICH – Federal Reserve policy makers and bank regulators should work together to promote the stability of the financial system and the economy, sharing data and forecasts to identify risks, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren said today.
In addition to managing the economy, primarily by raising and lowering interest rates, the Fed also has regulatory authority over banks. Rosengren, in a paper presented at the Boston Fed’s annual conference here, said information gathered by regulators about the health of banks could improve forecasts that the Federal Reserve uses to determine economic policies.
Conversely, the economic forecasts could be used by regulators to determine whether banks are in the position to weather economic shifts.
For example, a bank with a large share of commercial real estate loans would seem healthy when economy is growing, businesses are expanding into more office space, and rents are rising. But the bank could be at risk of failure when the economy turns, businesses cut back, leasing income falls, and borrowers can’t pay back the loans.
In such a case, regulators might require the bank to add to reserves used to cover potential loan losses if forecasts indicate an economic downturn in the future.
“Forward-looking assessments of bank health are particularly valuable if macroeconomic conditions, or even local economic conditions in the case of smaller banks, are likely to change,” Rosengren and his co-authors wrote in the paper. “Bank ratings could be improved if they incorporated the likely future path of the economy when evaluating bank health, serving as an improved early warning system.”
Rosengren presented the paper with his co-authors, Joe Peek, a University of Kentucky economics professor, and Geoffrey Tootell, deputy director of research at the Boston Fed. It was one of a series of papers presented here as conference attendees examine ways to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that pushed the US and global economies to the brink of a second Great Depression.
The relationship between banks, regulation, and economic policy is a topic Rosengren explored as a researcher at the Boston Fed. Peek and Tootell are long-time collaborators of Rosengren.
The Federal Reserve System was founded in large part to insure financial stability, Rosengren said. Policy makers need to consider the health of banks in their outlooks and actions.
For example, Rosengen said, the Fed may not have cut interest rates aggressively early in the financial crisis if it had just relied on traditional indicators, inflation and unemployment. Unemployment was still relatively low and inflation pressures were building at the time. But banks were struggling and tightening credit, creating a drag on the economy.
Unfortunately, Rosengren said, many economic models used in forecasting don’t incorporate much data about the financial system. As a result, many forecasts failed to see the extent and depth of the economic downturn. Including information that regulators collect from banks could help.
“If macroeconomic forecasts can be improved using supervisory data, the central bank will have an advantage in estimating the future path of the economy,” Rosengren’s paper said. “It is clear that the economic outcome would have been much worse had the central bank not had the access to the knowledge about, and the hands on experience with financial institutions.”
Posted by globebusiness at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)
Iselin will head Blue Cross foundation
Sarah Iselin has been selected to be the next president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the foundation said.
Iselin will assume her new duties in January, the foundation said.
Iselin is currently the commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, where she has helped to implement the state’s 2006 health care reform law, the foundation said in a press release.
Jarrett T. Barrios recently left the post of foundation president to become president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
The Blue Cross foundation was founded in 2001 with an initial endowment of $55 million from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and on its website, the foundation says its mission is to "expand access to health care." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)
Baskin-Robbins touts new ice cream cone
Call it an advance in ice cream delivery systems. Baskin-Robbins, the Canton-based chain of ice cream shops, said it is now offering customers a "new Double Header ice cream cone."
"The unique cone is designed to hold a swirl of Soft Serve and a scoop of ice cream in a single cone," the sister chain of Dunkin' Donuts said in a press release. "Customers can now enjoy countless combinations of their favorite hard ice cream flavors along with delicious Vanilla Soft Serve, side by side."
The photo that appears with this post was included in the Baskin-Robbins press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
Farraher is the new president of Acme Printing
Executive vice president George Farraher has been promoted to the post of president of Acme Printing Company LLC, the Wilmington company said.
"He is stepping into this role after the recent death of Fran Canzano, a member of Acme's founding family and the company's long-time president," the company said in a press release.
In his new position, Farraher will report directly to John Gaffney, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the MATLET Group, Acme's parent company.
Acme Printing specializes in commercial sheet fed and Web offset printing, focusing on high-end color-critical work. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
NSTAR reports earnings
NSTAR, a Boston-based energy delivery company with 1.4 million gas and electricity customers in Massachusetts, reported earnings of $87.6 million, or $0.82 per common share, for the third quarter of 2009, compared with $85.8 million, or $0.80 per share reported for the same period in 2008.
"Electric sales declined by 3.5 percent for the quarter as a result of an unseasonably mild summer this year," the company said in a press release. "Cooling degree days for Boston in the third quarter were 11 percent below last year and 14 percent below normal."
The release included a statement from company chairman, president, and chief executive Thomas J. May.
May said: "We remain on track for another good year for our customers and shareholders. This is a tremendous accomplishment given the current economic challenges. We have been very successful in our efforts to reduce costs across the company while maintaining our service quality performance at very high levels."
The company said it is maintaining its earnings guidance of between $2.33 and $2.43 per share for 2009. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)
Locals will work longer, then retire somewhere else
Fewer Massachusetts workers believe they will stop working at the traditional retirement age than their counterparts across the United States because of the higher cost of living in the Bay State, a new report from Sun Life Financial Inc. concludes.
Only 39 percent of Massachusetts workers in the survey said they believe they will be retired at the traditional retirement age of 67 – lower than the national findings of 44 percent, said Sun Life, a financial services company with US headquarters in Wellesley.
In addition, 60 percent of Massachusetts respondents believe they will be working full- or part-time at 67, which is 5 percent more than the national results, according to the company's Unretirement Index.
And when Massachusetts workers do retire, 44 percent said they plan to do it somewhere else, saying that the high cost of living here makes the Bay State a less than ideal venue for retirees, the survey said; that sentiment was even more prevalent in younger workers.
"The nature of work and retirement is transforming rapidly in Massachusetts just as it is across the country," Wes Thompson, president of Sun Life Financial US, said in a statement. "Unretirement is now a reality for Bay State workers, and while we are working longer than our counterparts across the country, personal and lifestyle considerations play a larger part in our retirement choices than it does for other Americans. And while Massachusetts is a great place to work and live, financial costs here are high and could have a long-term negative effect on younger workers' decision to remain here."
To read a Sun Life press release on Massachusetts workers, click here. To read the company's press release on national workers, click here. (Globe Business)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:24 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Bailed-out firms will be ordered to slash pay
WASHINGTON - Responding to the furor over executive pay at companies bailed out with taxpayer money, the Obama administration will order the firms that received the most aid to slash compensation to their highest-paid employees, an official involved in the decision said yesterday.
The plan, for the 25 top earners at seven companies that received exceptional help, will on average cut total compensation by about 50 percent. The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler, and the financing arms of the two automakers. Some executives, like the top traders at AIG, will face tight limits on their pay. In addition, the top-paid employees at all the affected companies will face new limits on their perks.
The plan will also change the form of the pay to align the personal interests of the executives with the longer-term financial health of the companies. For instance, the cash portion of the executives’ salaries will be slashed on average by 90 percent, and the rest will be replaced by stock that cannot be sold for years.
To read the full story, please click here.
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For drug makers, a shot in the arm
For a handful of drug makers, including the Novartis AG vaccine division in Cambridge, the global effort to combat the swine flu is turning out to be good business, bringing them a $7 billion windfall.
The race to produce the H1N1 vaccine, at the urging of the World Health Organization and governments here and abroad, has strained supply chains and forced manufacturers to untangle production snags. That has led to supply shortages and delays in shipping the medicine to clinics and other health care providers.
But the urgency also has taught the companies valuable lessons about handling pandemics; helped them hone emergency response programs; and fueled new research, acquisitions, and investments in vaccines for viruses and infections ranging from hepatitis to meningitis.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Filene's Basement hopes for bounce of the century
Filene’s Basement is launching its biggest advertising campaign in a decade, with network and cable television spots, newspaper ads, and gift card giveaways to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary.
As Filene’s Basement enters its first holiday season after emerging from bankruptcy protection this summer, new owner Marcy Syms wants to make a splash with the historic company that claims to have invented the bargain.
“We want to make sure that we reach as many people as possible to let them know Filene’s Basement is still here and we are stronger than ever,’’ Syms said in a phone interview yesterday. “We are the place where bargains were born and never go out of style.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Tutor Perini moving headquarters to LA
Construction giant Tutor Perini Corp. is switching coasts, trading its longtime Framingham headquarters for digs in Los Angeles, where it has a number of public and private projects.
The company’s Framingham office will remain open. Roughly 200 people work there for subsidiary Perini Management Services, and most will remain, said chief financial officer Kenneth R. Burk. Framingham will lose about 30 jobs; however, some of those will shift to California as part of Tutor Perini’s effort to consolidate its “back office’’ operations, such as information systems and human resources - a move that will slice about $10 million in overhead costs.
Tutor Perini has worked on several high-profile projects in Los Angeles, including a new police headquarters and an airport runway expansion. In part because of that business, company officials believed it had “a reasonable center of gravity already here in the western part of the US,’’ Burk said. The move is expected to create thousands of jobs in California as the construction company grows.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Some may find Microsoft upgrade a chore
Ready to upgrade your old computer to Windows 7, Microsoft Corp.’s new operating system? I wasn’t, and I do this sort of thing for a living.
Windows 7 went on sale today. The upgrade edition costs $119 for the Home Premium version to $219 for the Ultimate edition. Like many tech journalists, I’ve had a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for several months. I’ve used it with great success on late-model laptops, including a low-powered netbook computer from the Taiwanese company Acer. Believe the hype; Windows 7 is a smooth-running, good-looking product. It ought to undo much of the damage to Microsoft’s reputation wrought by its ill-fated ancestor, Vista.
Installing Windows 7 on a newish machine running Vista is just about painless. Slip in the DVD and follow a few simple prompts. The installation doesn’t meddle with the programs and files that are already onboard.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2009
Hand sanitizer could be holiday hit amid flu fears
(This chart was included with Panjiva's press release.)
Shipments of hand sanitizer have more than doubled over concerns about swine flu, and one result is that hand sanitizer could be a holiday hit at a time when the recession has many retailers bracing for a tough season.
So concludes a new report from Panjiva, a company with offices in Cambridge and a technology developed at MIT that it uses to help companies do business in overseas markets.
In the third quarter of 2009, there were 128 waterborne shipments of hand sanitizer to the United States, compared with 56 shipments in the third quarter of 2008, Panjiva said.
The firm's press release added that when those shipments were analyzed by weight, "there was a threefold increase in the amount of hand sanitizer shipped in the third quarter of 2009."
The press release included a statement from Panjiva chief executive Josh Green, who sought to put hand sanitizer shipments in the context of recent shipments of all products. From August to September, for example, there was a 5 percent decline in the number of global manufacturers shipping to markets in the United States, the Panjiva website notes.
“If the September decline in global trade is any indication, US companies aren’t expecting many items to fly off store shelves this holiday season," Green said. "However, it certainly seems that US companies are betting that swine flu will turn hand sanitizer into a holiday hit.” (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)
Bank of America agrees to sell First Republic
Bank of America Corp. said it has agreed to sell First Republic Bank, a private bank it inherited from Merrill Lynch & Co., to a group of investors.
First Republic Bank, which caters to affluent customers, has two Boston branches, one at 772 Boylston St. in the Back Bay and another at 160 Federal St. close to South Station.
The buying group is led by private-equity firms General Atlantic LLC and Colony Capital. As part of the deal, the bank's top management, including founder and chairman James Herbert II, will stay on board.
Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., did not disclose terms of the deal. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the sale would be for more than $1 billion. It cited an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
Bank of America shares fell 10 cents to $16.91 in afternoon trading.
First Republic was purchased by Merrill Lynch for $1.8 billion in September 2007. The New York-based brokerage firm ran First Republic as a separate unit, maintaining its name and management. Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch on Jan. 1.
As of Sept. 30, First Republic has $19 billion in total assets, $16 billion in deposits, and $15 billion in wealth management assets under management.
Questions about First Republic's future have swirled ever since Bank of America agreed in September 2008 to buy Merrill Lynch. Bank of America already had a wealth-management business, U.S. Trust, which was acquired from Charles Schwab.
Bank of America is working to bolster its capital ratios and shed any units that are no longer strategic fits. Last month, it announced plans sell the long-term asset management business of Columbia Management to Ameriprise Financial Inc. for up to $1.2 billion. (Todd Wallack of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:48 PM | Comments (0)
Tutor Perini relocates HQ to Los Angeles
Construction giant Tutor Perini Corp. is switching coasts, trading its long-time Framingham headquarters for Los Angeles, where it is working on several public and private projects.
The company's Framingham office will remain open and continue to employ most of the 200 people who work there as part of Perini Management Services, said chief financial officer Kenneth R. Burk.
About 30 jobs will shift to California as part of Perini's consolidation of its "back room" operations, such as information systems and human resources - a move that will save it about $10 million.
"We felt that there was a reasonable center of gravity already here in the western part of the US with the businesses that we have," Burke said of the relocation, which is expected to bring thousands of jobs to California as the construction company grows.
Tutor Perini's 12-acre site in Framingham includes 100,000 feet of office space and a storage yard, but most of its operations are based elsewhere, including at seven office facilities and two storage yards in California.
"We don't have much work in Massachusetts - virtually none," Burk said. "That probably would have played a factor [in staying in Massachusetts] - if we had a bigger working presence in the city and the state."
But the company does have deep roots in Massachusetts. Tutor Perini was formed by a September 2008 merger between the century-old Perini Corp., a local construction firm, and Tutor-Saliba, the privately-held California company of Perini chief executive Ron Tutor. Last year, the company generated over $5.6 billion in revenue.
It had about 8,000 employees worldwide, depending on the time of year.
Tutor Perini's relocation likely will not have a large impact on the state's revenue, because the state only taxes its local operations - most of which will remain intact.
When the Globe 100 was published in 2008, Perini Corp. topped the list for the second straight year, joining EMC Corp., the Hopkinton data-base storage giant, as the only companies to repeat as Globe 100 Company of the Year. To read a Globe 100 story about Perini, please click here.)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:04 PM | Comments (0)
Key to bistro success? Garlic and Mexican flair
Meat loaf just doesn't get it done anymore. And Salisbury steak? No way.
A new survey of the casual restaurant industry finds that consumers - and in particular, young men - need exotic flavors to lure them away from home meals and motivate them to dine out.
The study is from Technomic, a food-service industry consultant based in Chicago, and the Technomic study found that 42 percent of consumers, especially males aged 25 to 34, are more likely to visit restaurants that offer new or unique flavors.
Meat loaf might get a young man to salivate at home. But when he's out and about and spending hard-earned cash, the same young man can be transformed into a fussy gourmet who is more likely to choose a restaurant that features exotic dips and marinades than one offering bland and commonplace fare.
So what's a restaurant chef to do? Take a world tour with the spice rack, Technomic suggests, and drench those entrées in unusual marinades.
After studying the best practices of successful restaurateurs, Technomic concluded: "Garlic, pepper, and smoky barbecue flavor profiles dominate entrée menus. Global influences are also prominent, specifically those with a Mexican, Asian, and Italian flair."
Technomic's press release included a statement from Darren Tristano, an executive vice president at the firm.
"Flavor innovation presents a solid competitive advantage for both operators and manufacturers, especially when it comes to dips, sauces, condiments, and marinades,” Tristano said. “The punch of heat and spice and the balance of creaminess or sweetness underscore the uniqueness in the preparation. An unusual flavor profile could be one that drives repeat visits by consumers.” (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Sam Adams uncorks German beer alliance
FREISING, Germany -- Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams, is teaming up with a venerable German brewery to jointly brew a new craft beer to be marketed in Germany and the United States next spring.
Boston Beer chief executive Jim Koch and Josef Schraedler, managing director of Weihenstephan, told the Associated Press that their two companies have been working together for two years on the beer, which they will make and market jointly.
It has yet to be named, but will be marketed in bottles with corks instead of the usual metal caps. It will pack a punch, with 10 percent alcohol.
The Weihenstephan brewery, owned by the state of Bavaria, dates back to 1040 when Benedictine monks began making beer at their cloister outside Munich.
The beer at right is a Globe file photo.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
Green Mountain Coffee plans Hub Fair Trade event
Sea urchin cappuccino, anyone? Or maybe a pork tenderloin drenched in a coffee-sunchoke gravy?
Those are among the options on tap at an "Eat, Drink & Be Fair" festival scheduled for this evening at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter building in Boston, said the event's host, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. of Vermont. (Sorry, folks, this is an invitation-only event. So anyone with a hankering for sea urchin cappuccino will just have to wait for another day.)
The event is designed not only to celebrate Fair Trade Month, but also to "educate guests on the importance of Fair Trade and the impact it can have on people and the planet," Green Mountain said in a press release.
The event's message will also be expressed in culinary form, and to ensure that the culinary message gets out in an eloquent manner, Green Mountain has invited some local uber chefs to dish up examples of Fair Trade chow.
"Each chef will be challenged to create a unique dish featuring Fair Trade Certified ingredients such as honey, sugar, cocoa, coffee, bananas, and more," the release said. They'll be combining creativity, sustainability, and seldom-paired flavors." (The mystery of sea urchin cappuccino revealed.)
Chefs scheduled to participate include Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro at Foxborough's Patriot Place, Jay Silva of Bambara in Cambridge, Will Gilson of Garden at the Cellar (also in Cambridge), and Peter McCarthy of EVOO in Cambridge, Green Mountain said.
Green Mountain's press release included a statement from Sandy Yusen, director of public relations for the company's specialty coffee business unit.
"More consumers want to know where their food comes from and that it was grown in a socially and environmentally responsible way," Yusen said. "Fair Trade provides an opportunity for people to act on these values when choosing foods that are not grown locally - like coffee. Fair Trade encourages economic independence for small-scale farmers by providing a fair price for their products. When you buy Fair Trade, you really are making a difference."
The photo that appears with this post was taken from a Green Mountain website. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)
Feingold looks to retire as head of housing group
Ellen Feingold, president of Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, announced plans to retire in 2010.
Feingold will stay on until a successor has been chosen, and the Boston organization said that it has hired the search firm Witt/Kiefer to help look for the next president.
In a statement, Paul Rosenberg, chair of Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, said, “For 28 years, Ellen has earned the respect of the community, colleagues in the field, and friends in Congress, who recognize her extensive and effective leadership in advocating for affordable housing for seniors.” (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:40 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Mass. banking trio faces queries
A congressional committee investigating Bank of America Corp.’s controversial purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. wants to question three key bank officials from Massachusetts about the deal.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to interview two key board members, former FleetBoston Financial chief executive Charles K. Gifford, NStar chief executive Thomas May, and senior bank executive Brian Moynihan, according to government sources.
The committee originally planned to question May and Gifford about the deal at a public hearing in Washington tomorrow. But committee officials decided yesterday to postpone the hearing, so they could first interview May, Gifford, and Moynihan in private to complete their investigation.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Akamai insider is still a mystery
It only took a few brief phone calls to link an executive at Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge to a massive hedge fund insider trading case. But which executive? His name has not been revealed by legal authorities, and it’s possible that even Akamai officials don’t yet know who he is.
According to criminal complaints, the insider leaked confidential company information that allowed Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group in New York, to make millions of dollars in illicit profits on Akamai stock. Rajaratnam, who is accused of running a network of informants in tech companies nationwide, was arrested with five others Friday in what federal prosecutors call the largest insider trading case involving a hedge fund in US history.
Akamai officials refused to discuss the case at all, declining to say whether federal investigators had told them the name of the “Akamai executive’’ cited in two complaints, or whether any disciplinary action has been taken. Joshua Klein, assistant US attorney for the southern district of New York, where the Galleon complaints were filed, also declined to provide any information about his identity.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Calif. contends State Street fees hid fraud
California’s attorney general yesterday sued State Street Corp., alleging that some of the Boston financial giant’s foreign-exchange traders overcharged that state’s two large public employee pension funds by $56 million over the past eight years.
State Street shares fell 8.4 percent yesterday, to $47.84. It wasn’t the lawsuit that shook investors but rather the company’s earnings outlook: While third-quarter profits were up 8 percent to $516 million, as expected, company executives warned that business is turning out to be slower than anticipated in this second half of 2009.
That said, State Street’s new forecast for 2009 profits is in line with what Wall Street had forecasted - about $4.13 to $4.17 per share, noted longtime banking analyst Nancy Bush. The problem, she said, was a negative delivery of the message by top State Street executives.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Cafe OK'd as 1st step of Hancock Tower plan
Boston officials last night approved a plan to open an 8,000-square-foot restaurant in the John Hancock Tower, part of an effort by new owner Normandy Real Estate Partners to increase public traffic and attract tenants in this sluggish office market.
The restaurant will likely be a cafe-style eatery with a casual atmosphere, according to an executive familiar with the plan. Normandy, part of a joint venture that bought the Hancock at an auction last spring, also won approval to build a 120-space parking garage under the building.
Normandy’s renovation plan is more modest than one the previous owners proposed that would have expanded the tower’s ground floor with a glass-enclosed “winter garden’’ and added restaurants and a cafe. That plan drew objections from neighbors and ultimately died when the prior owner, Broadway Partners of New York, defaulted on its debt and lost the building to foreclosure.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Pastries and finance: a match made in Bellingham
Some cash with your coffee?
Citizens Bank has opened the first ever full-service branch inside a Dunkin’ Donuts shop so consumers can have a one-stop shop for their banking and bakery needs. Located at 815 South Main St. in Bellingham, the branch features three teller windows and a full-service ATM and is open for business seven days a week.
“Citizens Bank is committed to convenience,’’ Martin Bischoff, who heads consumer and business banking at Citizens Financial Group, said in a statement.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2009
California sues State Street
California Attorney General Jerry Brown accused State Street Bank and Trust Co. of "unconscionable fraud" on Tuesday, claiming in a lawsuit the firm had bilked the state's largest pension funds of more than $200 million.
The suit alleges Boston-based State Street overcharged the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System with fees and penalties for handling foreign currency trades.
"For years, State Street, led by a group of its internal 'risk traders,' raided the custodial accounts of California's two largest public pension funds, in a total amount exceeding $56 million, by fraudulently pricing foreign currency trades State Street executed for the pension funds," the state's complaint alleges.
The bank denied the claims.
"We categorically deny any allegations of wrongdoing and will defend ourselves against any litigation," Hannah Grove, a spokeswoman for the bank, said in an e-mail.
Brown launched an independent investigation into the bank after a group of whistleblowers called Associates Against FX Insider Trading raised the claims in a 2008 lawsuit.
"This is just the latest example of how clever financial traders violate laws and rip off the public trust," Brown said.
Brown's office found that State Street charged the highest rates on trades despite being contractually obligated to charge a lower rate, called an interbank rate, by marking them up.
The complaint alleges the bank attempted to conceal its fraudulent pricing practices by entering fake exchange rates into its trading databases, which automatically took money from the funds' accounts.
Posted by jnunes at 2:03 PM | Comments (0)
State Street 3Q profit up, sees weak second half
State Street Corp. said its third-quarter profit rose but warned its business in the second half of 2009 is weaker than previously expected as it is collecting fewer transaction fees.
"We expected our second half of 2009 to be stronger than it now appears to be," chief executive Ronald Logue said in a statement, noting that the slow pace of the economic recovery has forced the firm to revise its expectations.
Boston-based State Street provides financial services to large institutional investors. For the full year, the company is now predicting operating profit of $4.13 to $4.17 per share and a 16 percent decline in operating revenue.
The average analyst estimate for its 2009 earnings was for $4.16 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.
In the third quarter, State Street earned a profit of $516 million, up 8 percent from $477 million a year earlier. However, per-share profit fell to $1.04 from $1.09 since the number of outstanding shares was higher. The per-share profit met expectations of analysts.
Revenue fell 19 percent to $2.24 billion from $2.77 billion. Analysts had expected $2.21 billion.
State Street provides accounting, brokerage, and other services to mutual funds, retirement plans, insurance companies and other customers. Its shares fell $4.23, or 8 percent, to $48.02 in afternoon trading.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)
Toys"R"Us opens temporary stores for the holidays
Toys“R”Us Inc. plans to open a number of temporary stores for the holiday season, including several in Greater Boston.
The New Jersey-based chain said it will operate Toys“R”Us Holiday Express stores at the Natick Collection mall, Square One Mall in Saugus, and Marshall’s Plaza in Newton from roughly now until mid January.
Plans also call for the chain to open Toys"R" Us Holiday Express stores within many of the company's Babies"R" Us stores. In Massachusetts, Toys"R" Us Holiday Express stores are planned for Babies"R"Us stores in Braintree, Peabody, Everett, and Framingham, among other Bay State locations.
In the United States, the company operates 586 year-round Toys"R"Us stores and 262 Babies"R"Us stores. By opening nearly 350 Holiday Express stores during the holidays, the company said it can temporarily expand its existing toy-selling space by nearly an additional 1 million square feet during the holiday selling season.
“We’re aggressively expanding our toy-selling footprint to make Toys"R"Us more accessible than ever for busy shoppers this holiday season,” Toys"R"Us chairman and chief executive Jerry Storch said in a statement. “At the same time, the foot traffic in these popular shopping destinations provides a considerable opportunity to assert our toy authority position, increase our brand penetration, and drive incremental sales during this important time of year.”
The photo of a Holiday Express store that appears with this post was provided by the company. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
Citizens will open bank branch in a Dunkin’ Donuts
In a marriage that unites doughnuts and dollars, Citizens Bank said it is unveiling a first --- its first-ever bank branch inside a Dunkin' Donuts restaurant.
The branch is located at 815 South Main St. in Bellingham, and it "offers customers a one-stop destination for all of their banking, coffee, and bakery needs," Citizens said.
“Citizens Bank is committed to convenience,” said Citizens vice chairman Martin Bischoff said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with Dunkin’ Donuts, one of America’s most well-known and admired brands. This is a natural and exciting partnership for Citizens.”
Citizens is viewing its bank branch in the Bellingham Dunkin' Donuts as a test case. If results warrant, Citizens will consider rolling out bank branches in other Dunkin' locations as well, a Citizens spokesman said.
Dunkin' is a coffee-and-baked goods chain based in Canton.
Last year, a Globe story noted that Stop & Shop would drop Dunkin' Donuts stores from inside 130 supermarkets and likely replace them with Starbucks. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
John Hancock launches a new round of ads
John Hancock Financial Services said it has launched the latest installment in its advertising campaign titled "Cursor."
"Titled 'When We,' the new television, print, and online ad features an online conversation between friends in which they recall a time when they were able to think about retirement as a concrete point in the future," Hancock said in a press release. "However, in the wake of the market volatility of the past two years, they now wonder whether they will be able to retire at all. One of the friends asks how they can move away from asking 'Will We' retire and get back to asking 'When We' retire."
The ad's viewers are then encouraged to visit the new www.findtheanswers.com micro-site, which features third-party content providing answers to frequently asked financial questions, Hancock said. Questions include, "How far has my finish line been pushed out by the recession?"
The campaign was created by Hancock's long-time ad agency, Hill Holliday of Boston.
John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., a large financial services company headquartered in Toronto. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
Want a cheap night out? Lay off drinks and dessert
A recession can drive a man to drink, but a chap looking to achieve incandescence on the cheap would be well advised to stay at home - and it's also recommended that restaurant diners on a budget give the dessert trolley a good leaving-alone.
That's because many restaurants have been quietly raising their bar and dessert prices, and one result is that some unwary consumers could be paying more to dine out, according to a new snapshot of the industry by Intellaprice, a Boston-based pricing intelligence firm.
While consumers are bombarded with TV ads promoting a restaurant chain's discounts on selected entrees, some dining establishments have been quietly upping what they charge for drinks and an array of menu items not mentioned in the splashy ads, Intellaprice said. Desserts may be Exhibit A in this category.
According to the Intellaprice survey, bar beverage prices are up nearly 2 percent, and despite much ballyhooed deals on a few high-profile entrees, overall restaurant food prices are down a mere 0.6 percent. And what about desserts? In that category, prices are up 7 percent, Intellaprice said. For the hearty trencherman in search of good value, a shrewd strategy might be bulking up up on appetizers instead. Appetizer prices are down 2 percent, Intellaprice said.
The Intellaprice press release included some observations from firm president Leslie Kerr.
"We hear a lot about the deals out there because that’s what’s being advertised," Kerr said. "Two for $20 dinner deals and discount entrees are memorable, but the reality is there's a whole portfolio of menu items, and restaurants are strategic about managing prices in key categories."
Added Kerr, "Restaurants feel pressure to take price increases somewhere; it seems as though they're trying to ease sticker shock for more noticeable, popular items, and increasing prices in less noticeable places on the menu." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)
TJX boosts outlook
TJX Cos., the Framingham retailer that operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, said it is raising its outlook for its third quarter and full year performance.
With the recession causing many consumers to cut back on spending, shoppers are gravitating to stores that they see as offering bargains and good value. TJX is a beneficiary of this trend.
"With October sales trending significantly above the company’s expectations, TJX now expects comparable store sales to increase in October by 9 percent to 11 percent," TJX said in a press release. "For the third quarter of fiscal 2010, the company now expects diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $.77 to $.79 compared with $.58 in the prior year."
The release added, "For the full year fiscal 2010, TJX now expects diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $2.46 - $2.54, compared with $2.08 per share last year." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Shoppers willing to pry open their wallets may find a surprise on the shelves this season: not as many brands, a diminished palette of colors, and fewer deep discounts.
At Saks Fifth Avenue, the luxury retailer has slashed its inventory by about 20 percent compared with last year. Department store JCPenney is running nearly 14 percent leaner. And even discounters like Wal-Mart have decreased inventory by about 6 percent.
The cutbacks should be obvious to consumers heading into the holiday season, historically the busiest shopping period when stores are often bursting at the seams with products. This year, retailers are more willing to run low, or even out of stock, rather than face being left with millions of dollars in unwanted merchandise at season’s end. Last year, that resulted in promotions of up to 70 percent that gouged profits.
To read the full story, please click here.
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At Perkins, high-tech is both future and now
Before Ashley Bernard got her new iPod Touch, the Perkins School for the Blind student could not use an MP3 player without help. But thanks in part to school officials, who encouraged Apple Inc. to make an iPod that gives and responds to spoken commands - standard on the latest models - Bernard can listen to her music like any other 16-year-old.
Such technological advances received a major boost last night with a $10 million donation from the Grousbeck Family Foundation, directed locally by Boston Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck. The gift, announced at a private dinner, will be used to build a 17,000-square foot center that will include a high-tech classroom and a lab in which companies like Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. can demonstrate the latest advances to assist blind students.
The 180-year-old Watertown school says the center is at the heart of a newly launched $25 million campaign focused on incorporating more technology into the lives of blind students.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Venture funding inches up
Venture capital investing edged up nationally last quarter for the first time in 18 months, suggesting the funding decline for technology and life sciences start-ups may have bottomed out, according to the quarterly MoneyTree venture report released yesterday.
Financing in New England, the nation’s second-largest magnet for venture capital after California’s Silicon Valley, rose for the second-straight quarter in the three months ended Sept. 30.
“It’s a good sign,’’ said Kevin Shaw, a partner in charge of the Cambridge entrepreneurial center for the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm. “Anything going up in this economy is a good sign.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Merrill saga detailed in e-mails
Bank of America Corp.’s lawyers said the bank had grounds to back out of the Merrill Lynch & Co. deal last year due to the broker’s growing losses, according to newly released e-mails. But the bank went through with the deal because of pressure from federal regulators not to rock the financial system further.
A draft of talking points the lawyers prepared for Bank of America chief executive Kenneth D. Lewis on Dec. 21 suggested that he tell then-Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. there had been a “material adverse change’’ in the deal - or a reason to kill it - because Merrill had a $12.5 billion quarterly loss.
“We are still of the view that there has been a MAC at Merrill - and every day the numbers get worse,’’ according to the talking points prepared by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the bank’s outside law firm.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Showcasing Massachusetts and the military
It’s like many of the technology conferences that come through Boston on a regular basis, with a few crucial differences: Most of the portable devices on display are encased in thick “ruggedized’’ plastic; the dominant color scheme is sand-green and dirt-brown camouflage; and a regular shuttle takes attendees to an undisclosed venue for “classified sessions.’’
Milcom 2009, the largest international conference on military communications, is in Boston through tomorrow, attracting more than 250 companies, and about 3,750 participants, to the World Trade Center and Seaport Hotel on the South Boston waterfront. The four-day event features more than 450 technical presentations, dozens of panel discussions and tutorials, and hundreds of exhibits that feature wearable computers, onboard technologies for military vehicles, and battle-ready portable communications systems.
The annual conference, which was started as a small gathering in a Route 128 hotel in 1981, now rotates among a cluster of cities. But this year’s edition, hosted by General Dynamics C4 Systems, which has a facility in Taunton, and the Mitre Corp. in Bedford, showcases not only the size of the state’s military industry, but its strength in communication and networking.
To read the full story, please click here.
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High-end condos still a tough sell in Boston
The slumping downtown Boston condominium market is showing signs of improvement, but still has not stabilized at the top end.
New data from the third quarter show sales of the city’s high-end, full-service buildings fell 32.3 percent, median sales prices dropped 12.6 percent, and price per square foot was off 20.3 percent, compared with the same period last year.
The downtown condo market in general is faring slightly better than the high-end segment, according to Listing Information Network, a private company that follows the downtown condo market. Sales were down 10.4 percent and median prices down 5.4 percent last quarter, according to the report.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: More red than crimson
How could so many smart people be so dumb with money?
I spent the entire weekend wondering about that and didn’t come up with any great answers. Harvard University’s money management problems have gone from simply lamentable to something much harder to fathom.
The latest twist in Harvard’s sad financial story: The university managed to lose about $1.8 billion in its cash accounts during the past fiscal year. Most people think of cash accounts as safe money kept on hand to pay bills and deal with routine problems as they come up. You don’t gamble with that cash.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:35 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2009
Finagle will sell its bagels in supermarkets
Finagle a Bagel, the Newton-based chain of bagel cafes, said it will offer branded Finagle a Bagel frozen bagels in the freezer section of grocery stores.
Giant Food Stores and Stop & Shop are among the supermarket chains that will carry the product, Finagle a Bagel said in a press release.
The photo that accompanies this post was included in that press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)
JetBlue is expanding service at Boston airport
JetBlue Airways Corp. said today it was expanding its service at Boston's Logan International Airport.
The New York-based carrier said in a statement that five daily nonstop flights from Boston to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport will begin on March 1, 2010.
The airline, on Sept. 9, launched new service to Baltimore with four daily flights to complement its existing six daily flights between Boston and Washington Dulles International Airport.
To read a recent Globe story about airlines competing on the Boston-to-Baltimore route, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)
Princeton Review agrees to buy Penn Foster
The Princeton Review Inc., a Framingham-based provider of test preparation and educational support services, said it has agreed to buy Penn Foster Education Group Inc. for $170 million in cash.
The proposed acquisition seeks to make the Princeton Review one of the largest and most diverse providers of post-secondary education services in the United States, the Princeton Review said in a press release.
Headquartered in Pennsylvania, Penn Foster is an online career education company. Penn Foster is owned by the Wicks Group of Companies, a private equity firm, the Princeton Review said.
The Princeton Review said it has "obtained financing commitments for the deal, comprised of approximately $155 million of debt financing and $30 million of equity financing led by Bain Capital Venture Partners and Falcon Investment Advisors LLC and expects to complete the transaction before the end of the year."
Bain Capital is based in Boston. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
Streambank tapped to sell some S&K assets
Streambank LLC, a Needham advisory firm , said it has been retained to undertake the marketing and sales efforts for the intellectual asset portfolio of S&K Menswear.
The Virginia-based men’s clothing retailer filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in February and subsequently closed its remaining stores, Streambank said in a press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)
Brigham's brings Paul Revere ice cream to the Hub
Brigham’s announced that its newest ice cream flavor, Paul Revere’s Rocky Ride, is now available in freezer cases throughout Greater Boston.
The flavor combination contains chocolate ice cream, thick fudge swirl, and chocolate-covered caramel cups, Brigham's said, and the flavor was the winning entry in its recent flavor naming contest; the flavor was created by D.J. and Judy Mattson of Charlestown.
The photo that accompanies this post was included with the Brigham's press release.
The Brigham's ice cream brand is now part of HP Hood LLC, a Lynnfield-based company that distributes dairy products nationally. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
Massachusetts gas prices jump
Massachusetts gas prices jumped 6 cents to $2.499 per gallon, the first increase in seven weeks, according to the latest AAA weekly survey.
AAA's weekly surveys calculate the average for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gas.
"The current price is 7 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.56," AAA Southern New England said in a press release.
A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $2.83 a gallon. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
Staples extends naming rights for Staples Center
Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, said it has elected to extend its naming rights agreement for the Staples Center sports arena and concert venue in Los Angeles.
Staples and AEG, the sports-and-entertainment company that owns the center, said that Staples has extended its naming rights "in perpetuity." According to a press release from the two companies, this arrangement "creates the first lifetime naming rights extension for a major-market arena."
The press release did not reference the financial details of the transaction. The Staples Center is home to such sports teams as basketball's Los Angeles Lakers and hockey's Los Angeles Kings.
According to a Los Angeles Times story in 2000, Staples agreed in 1997 to pay $116 million over 20 years for the naming rights.
At the time, Staples was looking to expand its retail presence in Southern California.
The press release issued today noted that Staples has owned the naming rights to Staples Center since the arena's opening in 1999; the 10th year of this agreement included an option for a naming rights extension. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)
Athenahealth completes acquisition of Anodyne
Athenahealth Inc., a Watertown company that provides Internet-based business services for doctor practices, said in a press release that it has completed its previously announced $22-million acquisition of Anodyne Health Partners Inc.
Earlier this month, Athenahealth said it planned to buy Anodyne Health, a Georgia company that has more than 14,000 medical providers under contract for its Web-based software platform, an AP story noted.
The deal called for Athenahealth to pay $22.3 million for Anodyne Health and up to $7.7 million more if certain business milestones are reached, the AP story said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)
Quahog Republic Retail Hut opens in Plymouth
In Paris, couturiers draw inspiration from beautiful women. But on Cape Cod and the South Shore, the fashion muse for spiffy togs can sometimes take the form of sea food and shell fish.
And so a local clothing brand called Quahog Republic said it has opened the Quahog Republic Retail Hut at 170 Water St. in Plymouth.
"Only in New England would you find a store and entire clothing line dedicated to the hard shell clam we Yankees affectionately call the 'quahog," the brand said in a press release.
The retail hut, the press release said, showcases Quahog Republic's "signature line of apparel, accessories, and gear dedicated to the meaty marine mollusk. "
The release added: "This is the first stand-alone retail store for the Cape Cod-based Quahog Republic Restaurant, which has developed a legion of fans (affectionately called the official citizens of the Quahog Republic) and seen a rising popularity in its casual clothing line, which sports the logo of 'Live. Give. Relax.'”
The photo that accompanies this post was provided by the company. It shows the owners sporting some Quahog Republic stylings. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:54 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Massachusetts residents believe the economy has begun to rebound, but they remain worried about their jobs and cautious about spending, suggesting a slow and difficult recovery ahead, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
While the poll indicated that nearly two of three respondents think an economic recovery is underway, it also revealed increasing anxiety. Less than one-third of those surveyed expected the economy to get better by the end of the year, a more pessimistic view than reflected in a similar poll conducted in the spring.
Also increasing is the fear of job loss. Forty-four percent of those surveyed last week said they were concerned about keeping their jobs, including 15 percent who were “very concerned,’’ slightly more than in the spring.
To read the full story, please click here
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Age-old woes, new tactic
When MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente started looking for the Fountain of Youth through his microscope more than a decade ago, compatriots were hard to come by.
“Even my own colleagues thought I was nuts,’’ said Guarente, whose studies of the metabolic pathways in yeast cells might lead to drugs that reverse and prevent aging. “But the scientific community has done a complete 180 in the past 20 years.’’
Dramatic advances in the understanding of what causes cells to live and die are making such scientists as Guarente look less like New Age alchemists than the founders of a field of medical research.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Scientists discover a vegetarian spider, upending a longstanding assumption
For years, scientists were confident the world’s 40,000 spider species shared a common trait: All were meat-eaters.
Now, Brandeis University senior lecturer Eric Olson and Villanova University researcher Christopher Meehan have found a vegetarian spider.
The discovery of Bagheera kiplingi (named after the panther in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book) is not simply a eureka discovery about a twist in the biological world. It is a lesson on the importance of keeping an open mind on long-held scientific assumptions about how that world works.
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION: Taking a closer look at women's networking
Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. For the full blog, visit www.boston.com/innovation .
Women who network. While working on a recent column about female entrepreneurs, I compiled a list of five of the local networking organizations for women that had been mentioned most often by people I interviewed. Then I asked blog readers to add others that they had found helpful. More than 30 people helped compile a rather extensive list.
■ Boston Women’s Network. Regular monthly meetings with speakers, focused on helping members achieve their personal and professional goals.
■ Center for Women & Enterprise. Helps women start and grow businesses, with courses on QuickBooks, obtaining bank financing, and selecting a legal entity for the business. Serves Boston, Providence, and Worcester.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:26 AM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2009
RI jobless rate rises to 13 percent in September
Rhode Island's unemployment rate climbed to 13 percent last month as widespread job losses continued in the accommodation and food service industry and other sectors, according to state statistics released today.
The state unemployment rate has leaped 4.5 percentage points since last year and was well above the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. (Massachusetts officials said yesterday that the Bay State's unemployment rate was 9.3 percent. To read a story from today's Globe about unemployment in Massachusetts, please click here.)
About 1,000 jobs were lost during September in the accommodation and food services sectors, in part because of worse-than-normal losses in the restaurant industry. The professional and business service sector lost 700 jobs, while hard-pressed manufacturers cut 600 positions.
Government employers hired 1,100 people, mostly educators, at the start of the school year. But state officials believe many of those workers were laid off over the summer because of school budget deficits, then rehired when conditions improved.
Rhode Island in August ranked third worst in the nation for unemployment, behind Michigan and Nevada. Rhode Island's ranking for September won't be clear until Wednesday, when the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release new numbers.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
Brooks boosts 4q revenue forecast
Brooks Automation Inc., a chip equipment manufacturer, raised its revenue forecast for its fiscal fourth quarter on greater-than-expected demand and sees the gains continuing into its first quarter.
The Chelmsford-based company said it now expects to report revenue of $64 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 45 percent from its third quarter. It previously expected an increase of at least 25 percent.
Robert J. Lepofsky, president and chief executive, said demand "gained momentum as the quarter progressed" and said the upturn in business continues worldwide.
The company expects to post another 45 percent sequential revenue growth for its first quarter ending Dec. 31, which would take it to $92.8 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting revenue of $56.1 million in the fourth quarter and $61.7 million in the first quarter.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:42 AM | Comments (0)
Maleh will head Charles River Associates
Chief operating officer Paul Maleh will be promoted to president and chief executive of Charles River Associates, a Boston firm that provides international economic, financial, and management consulting services.
The firm's board of directors said Maleh will succeed James C. Burrows, who has decided to step down as president, chief executive, and company director and who will become vice chairman at the end of November.
Maleh, 45, joined the firm in 1989 as an associate in the firm's energy practice, a company press release said.
In a statement, company chairman Rowland T. Moriarty said of Burrows: "Jim has been with CRA since 1967, shortly after it began operations. After he became head of the litigation practice in 1987, he led the growth of that practice to become one of the leading practices in the industry. After he took over as CEO in 1995, he transformed a regional, analytical firm into a global leader in economic and management consulting. He has created a legacy that we are immensely proud of and look forward to leveraging as we enter the next phase of CRA's development. We are pleased that Jim has agreed to continue with CRA as vice chairman." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)
Online retailers grow profits despite recession
Fifty-seven percent of online retailers contacted in a new survey said that they were more profitable in 2008 than 2007 despite a progressively deteriorating economic environment, including the worst holiday season in decades.
The survey of 117 retailers was conducted by Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge for Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, a trade group of merchants.
Commenting on the survey, Forrester and Shop.org said that online retailers adjusted to the economy in a variety of different ways. Nine in ten retailers (91 percent) focused on preserving margins, while 88 percent of retailers amplified promotions or increased “value” messaging. Slightly more than half of retailers (53 percent) lowered prices as a result of the economy.
“While online retailers have been able to navigate better than most through the economic downturn, companies should continue to focus on keeping costs low and integrating the online and offline channels in order to be best positioned when the economy bounces back,” Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research principal analyst, said in a statement. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)
Wal-Mart, Amazon.com trade price cuts on books
An online book special offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is turning into a full-fledged price war with Amazon.com.
Wal-Mart got things started yesterday, offering $10 prices on such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County," a cut of 60 percent or more from the regular cost. Wal-Mart will also offer free shipping.
Amazon.com, the largest online bookseller, matched the $10 price, prompting Wal-Mart to take its offer to $9. By this morning, Amazon.com also had priced the books at $9.
The price cuts come at a time when Seattle-based Amazon.com and other sellers have been charging just $9.99 for ebooks, a price that publishers worry is unrealistically low. (E Ink Corp. of Cambridge makes the screens for Amazon's ebook reader, the Kindle, and many other ebook devices. )
The reductions also make it increasingly hard for independent sellers, which can't afford such large discounts, to compete for the most popular books.
The price war also is forboding news to the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., which have been squeezed by Amazon.com's discounting and a decline in their music business.
"At Walmart.com, we remain committed to providing our customers with the lowest prices available online. That commitment extends to the nation's best-selling books, especially during an increasingly challenging year for many of our customers," Raul Vazquez, Walmart.com's CEO, said in a statement.
"Our newest offering -- the Top 10 pre-selling books at just $10, with free home delivery -- is a true reflection of this commitment to better help our customers shop and save money online, just in time for the approaching holiday season."
In a new program called "America's Reading List," Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart also will offer 50 percent off or more on 200 current best-sellers, including Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" and Kathryn Stockett's "The Help."
Booksellers have fought hard to bring in customers for blockbuster releases such as Brown's "Lost Symbol" and the "Harry Potter" stories, offering reductions of 50 percent of higher. But Wal-Mart's announcement suggests a broad, sustained race for customers at prices few can afford to offer.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:59 AM | Comments (0)
GE 3q earnings drop on finance woes
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- GE says the continued woes of its big financial unit fueled a big drop in third-quarter earnings, outweighing signs of improvement in its divisions that make heavy machinery and other industrial equipment.
General Electric Co.'s profit fell 44 percent to $2.4 billion, hurt by much lower profits at its GE Capital arm, which loans money to businesses ranging from credit cards to shopping centers. Overall net earnings per share after preferred dividends were 23 cents.
GE divisions that build dishwashers, sonogram machines, locomotives, and wind turbines posted a modest profit increase.
Despite the better industrial results, GE's overall revenue fell 20 percent, a sign that the conglomerate still faces a long road to recovery. Chief executive Jeffrey Immelt described the current market as a "tough environment."
The results from one of the nation's largest companies illustrate the challenges of an economy trying to recover from the deep recession but still saddled by the effects of the financial collapse.
GE is relying on its industrial side to help it build back profits after a devastating recession. But it has struggled to overcome GE Capital's troubles, which include big losses from loans like credit cards, mortgages in the United Kingdom, and commercial real estate. The unit saw its profit fall 87 percent during the quarter. GE is also reportedly trying to shed NBC Universal through a deal to sell the entertainment division to cable company Comcast Corp.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:11 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Unemployment at 33-year high; insurance fund running dry
Unemployment in Massachusetts has reached its highest level since the 1970s, officials said yesterday as they also disclosed that the state will exhaust a fund that helps laid-off workers pay for health insurance by the end of next month.
State officials said they are considering a number of emergency measures, including imposing higher costs on the unemployed and raising fees on employers, to close a gap that could exceed $50 million by April.
“Every option is on the table,’’ Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Suzanne Bump said in an interview after her staff briefed an advisory board of labor and business leaders yesterday. “Nothing stays the same.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Bay State bankruptcies fall
Bankruptcies, which have steadily climbed in Massachusetts over the past two years, showed an unexpected decline last quarter.
The total number of bankruptcies in the state fell 8 percent in the third quarter to 5,025, down from 5,472 in the previous quarter, according to data collected by Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate and economic data.
Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive of Warren Group, theorized that some Massachusetts residents having financial difficulties may not be as desperate as they once were, because they are optimistic that the economy is recovering. The Dow Jones industrial average surpassed 10,000 Wednesday for the first time in a year, and the housing market has shown signs of improvement in recent months.
To read the full story, please click here.
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LouisBoston heads to Fan Pier
Back Bay fashionista LouisBoston is vacating its historic digs next spring for a spot on the waterfront at Fan Pier, making it the first retailer to sign on to the struggling project and leaving a big hole on Newbury Street for at least a year.
Owner Debi Greenberg, who took over the high-end designer business from her father in 2003, announced plans last year to move Louis from its stately building and create a new, edgier identity away from Newbury Street. She searched the South End and South Boston and settled on the Fan Pier location about five months ago.
“Luxury has been so commercialized, and it needs to be redefined. This new spot will offer customers a change in attitude, a more approachable space,’’ Greenberg said yesterday at an event at Fan Pier to unveil the project. “This new store will set the tone and personality for taking luxury into a new direction.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Times chief optimistic, cautious on Globe
Standing before several hundred Boston Globe employees yesterday, New York Times Co. chief executive Janet Robinson got something she may not have expected a day after deciding not to sell the Globe and six months after threatening to shut the paper down: Applause.
It wasn’t unanimous, but it was a reflection of the relief felt by many among the rank and file after a tumultuous period. Acknowledging that the process of seeking offers for the Globe had been “unnerving for all,’’ Robinson said the paper and its website, Boston.com, would remain a part of the Times Co., thanks to deep cost cuts and new revenue that had improved the finances of New England’s largest newspaper. She warned of more difficult times ahead, including potential layoffs, but declared, “There are many reasons to believe that The Boston Globe has a very strong future ahead of it.’’
Her optimism was a major reversal from early this year, when the Times Co. said the Globe was on track to lose $85 million in 2009. In April, the parent company said it would shutter the Globe if the paper’s unions didn’t agree to give up $20 million in wages and benefits. And even as it won those concessions, the Times Co. hired Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs & Co. to solicit bids on the Globe and another paper it owns, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Harvest time
A funny thing happened just after technology giant Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy up-and-coming Starent Networks Inc. of Tewksbury for $2.9 billion this week.
Trading of stock options related to Akamai Technologies Inc. jumped, presumably sparked by speculation the Cambridge company that helps route heavy traffic along the Internet might be sold.
Does this pattern ring a bell?
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:03 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2009
Mass. AG slams National Grid rate hike plan
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has asked state regulators to turn down National Grid's request for a $111 million rate increase for electric customers in the state.
Coakley said the proposed hike is neither warranted nor justified and she is asking the Department of Public Utilities to instead reduce National Grid's rates by $36.4 million.
The attorney general also asked regulators to order changes in the company's debt structure and reject its efforts to recover nearly $30 million in costs associated with the December 2008 ice storm in Massachusetts.
National Grid said in a statement that it plans to use the rate increase to continue making "critical improvements" in the system.
Coakley is a candidate for the US Senate seat that was held by the late Edward Kennedy.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:55 PM | Comments (0)
Fuld & Co. has opened office in China
Fuld & Co., a Cambridge consulting firm specializing in competitive intelligence and analysis, said it has opened an office in Dalian, China.
Denis Simon, senior advisor for China operations, will guide the office, said Fuld, which provided the photo of Simon that appears with this post.
“Our clients increasingly need on-the-ground analysis of their competitive environment in Asia, and specifically in China,” firm founder Leonard Fuld said in a statement. “With multinationals and national Chinese companies themselves growing in size and influence in the global market, our clients from around the world need this missing piece to their puzzle – and increasingly want this analysis from a single firm. With the opening of our China office, we have the capability of delivering a truly global competitive picture to our clients from North America, Europe, and Asia.” (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. unemployment hits highest rate since 1976
The Massachusetts unemployment rate last month rose to its highest level since the 1970s as employers cut more than 9,000 jobs and work remains scarce.
The jobless rate rose to 9.3 percent in September from 9.1 percent in August, exceeding the percent peak rate of 9.1 percent reached during the deep New England recession of the early 1990s, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said in a press release.
It is the highest rate since 1976, when the state was recovering from a recession spurred by soaring energy prices following the Arab oil embargo and the collapse of traditional manufacturing industries.
Massachusetts unemployment peaked at 12.3 percent in June 1975, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Earlier this month, the US Labor Department reported that the national unemployment rate rose to its highest level since June 1983, increasing to 9.8 percent in September from 9.7 percent in August.
Employers cut 9,200 jobs in September, the most since April, reversing a recent trend of declining job losses. The state shed 700 jobs in August.
While many economists think that the US economy and the Massachusetts economy are pulling out of a recession, the jobless rate often rises early in a recovery because businesses, uncertain of a rebound’s staying power, continue to hire cautiously.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
iBasis panel urges stockholders to reject KPN offer
A special committee of the iBasis Inc. board of directors has deemed an unsolicited tender offer to buy a large stake in the company for $2.25 a share as "grossly inadequate" and is urging stockholders to reject the offer.
Based in Burlington, iBasis is a wholesale carrier of international long-distance calls; in 2007, it merged with the international wholesale voice business of Royal KPN NV, a Dutch telephone company, and today Royal KPN owns roughly 56 percent of iBasis stock.
In July, KPN offered to acquire the stock in iBasis that it didn't already own for $1.55 a share. IBasis called that offer inadequate and in August took legal steps to block it.
On Oct. 5, Royal KPN upped its offer to $2.25 a share. The same day, iBasis said that it would review that higher offer and make a recommendation to iBasis stockholders "in due course."
On Oct. 9, iBasis issued a press release saying that it had received letters from two its largest minority stockholders indicating their intention to reject Royal KPN NV's revised unsolicited tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of iBasis common stock that Royal KPN doesn't already own for $2.25 per share in cash.
Today the special committee of iBasis board charged with reviewing the Royal KPN offer weighed in with its recommendations.
In a press release today, iBasis said "that the special committee of its board of directors has unanimously determined that Royal KPN N.V.'s (AMS: KPN and OTC: KKPNY.PK) ("KPN") revised unsolicited tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of iBasis common stock not owned by KPN and its affiliates at a price of $2.25 per share in cash is grossly inadequate, opportunistic, and not in the best interests of iBasis' minority stockholders. Accordingly, the special committee recommends, on behalf of iBasis, that stockholders reject KPN's offer and not tender their shares pursuant to the revised offer."
"KPN's revised $2.25 per share offer significantly undervalues iBasis' current results and long-term prospects and is grossly inadequate from a financial point of view to iBasis' minority stockholders," the release said. And "the revised offer is clearly timed to take advantage of the company's depressed stock price and is opportunistic, given that the company recently completed the integration of the KPN transaction."
In its release, iBasis also said it has "received a letter from Lloyd I. Miller III, one of the company's largest minority stockholders, indicating his intention not to tender into KPN's revised offer." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)
Bay State Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings soar
Nearly 12,000 Massachusetts residents filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection from January through September, a 35 percent jump from the same period in 2008 and the highest level in four years, said the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks local economic and real estate activity.
Layoffs and pay cuts are a big reason for the jump, the firm said.
During the third quarter of 2009, Chapter 7 filings in Massachusetts totaled 4,098, a 34.1 percent increase from 3,055 in the third quarter of 2008 but 8.7 percent lower than the previous quarter's 4,489 filings, the Warren Group said.
"A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is the most common option for individuals who are seeking relief from their debts and accounted for 82 percent of bankruptcy filings tracked by the Warren Group in Massachusetts during the third quarter of 2009," the firm said in a press release. People seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection can eliminate most debt after non-exempt assets are used to pay off creditors.
For the first three quarters of 2009, there were 11,872 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings in Massachusetts, up 35.3 percent from 8,777 during the same months in 2008.
"The number of filings for the first three quarters surged to the highest level for that nine-month period since 2005," the Warren Group said. "Filings spiked in 2005 shortly before a federal law went into effect that made it tougher and more expensive for consumers to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection."
The firm's press release included a statement from Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group.
"A growing number of people are being forced into bankruptcy because job losses and salary cuts have made it difficult for them to pay their bills," Timothy Warren said. "Some have relied on credit cards to pay for even basic living expenses and now are seeking protection under bankruptcy law as a last resort." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:25 AM | Comments (0)
Converse unveils Weapon Evo basketball shoe
For hoopsters who insist on having broken herringbone traction patterns on their sneakers, there's good news: Converse is launching the Weapon Evo, "an all-new court-ready basketball shoe evolved from the original Weapon, which was worn by superstars during the game's 'Golden Age.'”
Converse, now a North Andover brand for the Nike Inc. athletic shoe portfolio, added that the Weapon Evo "features an ankle support Y-bar and the original 'broken Herringbone' traction pattern that allows increased grip. The iconic Weapon toe and heel overlays, along with bold color blockings, give the shoe a retro look for off-court appeal."
And wait, there's more. "The Weapon Evo also debuts Converse Balls Technology, an all-new cushioning system in the shoe's heel that provides excellent impact protection," Converse said. "The heel of the shoe has several polyurethane balls that rebound and push back when compressed during play."
A Converse press release, which included the image that appears with this post, said that variations of the Weapon Evo collection have a suggested retail price range of $80 to $90 a pair. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:06 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Times Co. takes Globe off market
The New York Times Co. said yesterday that it will not sell The Boston Globe, citing significant improvement in the Globe’s financial standing - a decision that ends months of uncertainty about the future of New England’s largest newspaper.
The Times Co. had been exploring a sale of the Globe and its website, Boston.com, along with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette since at least the spring; final bids were due Friday. Two potential buyers submitted offers, but in a memo to employees late yesterday, the company’s top executives said they had ended their consideration of a Globe sale, and looked forward “to charting our future together.’’ The company did not rule out a sale of the Worcester paper.
“We know this has been a long and painful process,’’ Times Co. chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. and chief executive Janet Robinson said in their memo, adding that they had come to their decision “after careful consideration and analysis.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Companies try to get a jump on swine flu
The Massachusetts Port Authority is training extra workers to operate the 68-foot-long snowplows that clear the runways in case the regular drivers come down with swine flu. The law firm Foley Hoag gave each of its employees a kit with hand sanitizer, tissues, and telephone disinfectant pads. And HarborOne Credit Union has gone so far as to cancel its annual holiday party.
Local employers are gearing up for the H1N1 influenza virus, which the Boston Public Health Commission is cautioning could infect 30 percent of the population this fall and winter. So far this season, the city has not been as hard hit as many other areas across the country, and the commission has urged businesses to update their pandemic plans and take precautions now to prevent the disease from spreading through the workplace.
Many companies are going beyond the usual winter flu precautions of supplying tissues and seasonal flu shots as they try to make sure business doesn’t suffer if a swine flu outbreak occurs. A recent survey of more than 1,000 businesses by the Harvard School of Public Health found that only a third could function without suffering major operational problems if half their workforce were out sick for two weeks.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: A puzzling play by Sony
What was Sony thinking?
That’s what I wondered while testing the new PSP Go handheld video game device from Sony Corp. Like most Sony gadgets, it’s well-engineered and attractive, but not quite right.
It’s as if the PSP Go designers read engineering journals instead of watching what actual people do; on the subway, for instance. Lots of those passengers are playing games. But a growing number aren’t using a PSP, or even rival Nintendo Inc.’s DS game machine. These days, the fastest-selling devices for handheld gaming are the iPhone and iPod Touch music device from Apple Inc.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Ruling upheld on sale of property
The ownership status of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of foreclosed properties in Massachusetts became muddier yesterday after a state Land Court judge reaffirmed his March decision that invalidated the sales of two Springfield homes because of improper paperwork.
In a 27-page ruling, Justice Keith C. Long described a convoluted process in which mortgages for the two homes were transferred multiple times without being properly recorded, as required by state foreclosure law. He said any problems the banks now face to clean up title questions - which could include redoing the foreclosures altogether - are “entirely of their own making.’’
“The issues in this case are not merely problems with paperwork or a matter of dotting i’s and crossing t’s,’’ Long wrote. “Instead, they lie at the heart of the protections given to homeowners and borrowers by the Massachusetts Legislature.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Developer cuts height of planned skyscrapers
Bowing to stiff community opposition, Boston developer Donald J. Chiofaro is proposing to lower the overall height of his proposed office and residential complex near the New England Aquarium, by lopping off a large decorative rectangular bracket and reducing the tallest building by at least 65 feet.
The bracket, or terra-cotta skyframe, would have topped off the development at 780 feet. The revised plan would cut the height of the buildings to no more than 625 feet, a reduction of 20 percent.
Chiofaro also said he wants to add a rooftop public observatory and extend a planned walkway to directly link the aquarium on one side of the development with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway on the other.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:39 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2009
NYT Co. notes to its Boston, Worcester employees
E-mail to Boston employees
The following note from Arthur Sulzberger and Janet Robinson was sent to all Boston employees on Wed. 10/14 at 5 p.m.
After careful consideration and analysis, we wish to tell you that we have terminated the process to explore the sale of The Boston Globe, Boston.com and related businesses, and they will remain within The New York Times Company.
We continue to assess strategic alternatives for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and are determined to reach a conclusion there quickly. We will provide a full update to our colleagues in Worcester as quickly as possible.
We know this has been a long and painful process, and we deeply appreciate the focus and dedication that you have all displayed over the past several months. Janet will be visiting Boston tomorrow for an employee town hall meeting at 11 a.m. She will talk with employees and take your questions.
The Globe has significantly improved its financial footing by following the strategic plan it set out at the beginning of this year. All along, we explicitly recognized that a careful restructuring of the Globe was one possible route and, thanks to your hard work, that is precisely what has been done.
The comprehensive financial strategy you executed incorporated a series of measures to increase revenues and lower costs, including:
• Consolidating printing facilities, expected to save $18 million a year,
• Increasing prices on newsstand and home-delivered copies of the Globe,
• Reducing compensation for the Globe's managers and other nonunion employees,
• Restructuring the Globe’s labor contracts, which we are projecting will save $20 million in annual operating costs.
The great things you have accomplished both on the financial side and the editorial side of the Globe and Boston.com have solidified their positions as the leading media vehicles in the region. With these strategic steps, the Globe is on track to achieve substantial savings and is on a path to a more secure financial future.
For these initiatives to be successful it was necessary for the Globe’s readers, Boston.com’s users and the greater New England community to continue to embrace our products. They have responded with unwavering support of the Globe, its offerings and you.
We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you for your many significant accomplishments under difficult circumstances. We applaud you for all that you have done and look forward to charting our future together.
Arthur & Janet
E-mail to T&G employees
The following note from Arthur Sulzberger and Janet Robinson was sent to all Worcester Telegram & Gazette employees on Wed. 10/14 at 5 p.m.
After careful consideration and analysis, we wish to tell you that we have terminated the process to explore the sale of The Boston Globe, Boston.com and related businesses, and they will remain within The New York Times Company.
We also want you to know that we continue to assess strategic alternatives for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and are determined to reach a conclusion quickly.
We know this has been a long and painful process, and we deeply appreciate the focus and dedication that you have all displayed over the past year. Through it all, the T&G keeps going and continues to provide award-winning, path-breaking journalism to your extraordinarily loyal readers, by constantly revitalizing your print and online offerings, and by placing your business on a more secure financial footing.
You are doing this by redesigning the paper, creating new targeted town weeklies, launching a new Direct Mail vehicle, T&G Direct and asking
customers to pay more for the newspaper. You are also doing this by redesigning your Web site and developing several enhanced community verticals.
All that you have accomplished is a stunning example of perseverance and dedication. You see evidence of this in the strong and consistent support that readers and users regularly express for the T&G throughout your communities. They know from long experience they you care deeply about what is happening in your area on everything from health care and education to economic development and the environment. You demonstrate that every day in your newspaper and Web site.
We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for your many significant accomplishments under difficult circumstances, and we will provide you with a full update as soon as possible.
Arthur & Janet
Posted by bdinardo at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)
Citizens Banks says it sets checking account record
Citizens Financial Group Inc., the Providence company that operates Citizens Bank in Massachusetts and other states, said it set a company record for new checking accounts opened during a one-week period.
Last week, Citizens said it began offering new customers up to $220 for opening a checking account through a promotional offer that ends Nov. 13, and from Oct. 3 through Oct. 9, Citizens said it opened "tens-of-thousands of new checking accounts throughout its 12-state retail footprint, surpassing its previous one-week record in 2007 by nearly 200 percent."
Citizens vice chairman Martin Bischoff said in a statement, “We are committed to simplifying our customers’ busy lives by making banking easier.”
Citizens Financial Group is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc.
Perhaps Citizens could use an influx of new customers. Just over two months ago, the subsidiary that includes most of Citizens’ banking operations, reported a $165 million loss in the second quarter, compared with a $199 million profit in the same period last year, according to a financial report the company filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a Globe story noted. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
Math fans can program Raytheon fun ride at Disney
Raytheon Co., the Waltham defense contractor, said it is helping to unveil a ride at Epcot, part of Walt Disney World in Florida, that requires thrill seekers to make use of their mathematical skills.
Called the "Sum of all Thrills," the ride lets guests custom-design an experience by using math skills, a touch-screen table, and a robotic simulator, and the ride is part of a larger Raytheon effort to encourage students to develop an interest in math and science, Raytheon said in a press release.
That press release said: "Interactive and customizable, Sum of all Thrills lets guests of all ages create their own experience by first choosing a ride theme, including a roller coaster, bobsled, or jet plane. Using multi-touch object recognition tables with instructions available in six languages, guests use math and engineering based tools, such as rulers and speed dials, to design and customize their ride by adding corkscrews, inversions, or steep hills. Guests learn and apply mathematical and engineering principles to determine how much energy is needed for a jet to take off or for a roller coaster or bobsled to make it up its first climb."
Raytheon said it also unveiling a virtual Sum of all Thrills experience online at www.MathMovesU.com. That experience is aimed at middle school students, and it combines the three ride elements of the theme park experience into one multidimensional ride. "Students answer math-related questions to unlock elements that enable them build their own ride on-line," Raytheon said.
Sum of all Thrills joins Raytheon’s other MathMovesU programs, including the “In the Numbers” game, a partnership with the New England Patriots that is on display at the Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon in Foxborough.
Raytheon added that its MathMovesU scholarship and grant program provides more than $1 million in funding to students and teachers each year.
The photo that appears with this post was provided by Raytheon. It shows students from the Chain of Lakes Middle School in Orlando, Fla., custom-designing their own ride on the new Sum of all Thrills ride at Epcot, part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Daniel E. Geffken, John C. Amedio Jr., and W. Roger Rush have joined the executive team of Seaside Therapeutics LLC, a Cambridge company looking to create new drug treatments to correct or improve the course of Fragile X Syndrome, autism, and other disorders of brain development. Geffken is the firm's chief operating officer. Before Seaside Therapeutics, Geffken was senior vice president and chief financial officer of Codon Devices. Amedio is now vice president of manufacturing and process development. He joins Seaside Therapeutics from ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc., where he was vice president of manufacturing and process development. Rush is Seaside Therapeutics vice president of preclinical development. He joins Seaside Therapeutics from Wolfe Laboratories Inc., where he was vice president of preclinical development.
Fritz Morgan and Peter D. Karol are now on board at Joule Biotechnologies Inc., a Cambridge company that is seeking to develop alternative transportation fuels that are both renewable and commercially feasible. Morgan, who is Joule's senior vice president of engineering and manufacturing, was chief technology officer of Color Kinetics. Karol is now Joule's vice president and general counsel. He was previously general counsel at Color Kinetics.
Dinesh Gopinath has joined Mullen, a Boston ad agency, as executive vice president and director of strategic analytics. Gopinath comes to Mullen from ChoiceStream Inc., where he was chief solutions officer.
Posted by globebusiness at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
Bosses overrate workforce morale, survey says
It hardly seems a news flash that a recession could result in lower morale among employees, but a new survey suggests that bosses are having a hard time grasping that concept.
The survey is from the Human Capital Institute and Monster.com, an online career and recruitment company with much of its operations in Maynard.
According to the survey, there is a disconnect between the way that employers and employees view the recession. Case in point: "Employers are vastly overrating the morale of their employees as 84 percent of those surveyed indicated a belief that their workforce is content to simply to have a job while only 58 percent of workers feel that way," the survey said.
The survey also found that 57 percent of workers "believe employers are exploiting the recession to drive longer hours and lower pay from their workforces."
In other words, many bosses think that hard times have so beaten their workforces into submission that employees will do almost anything to hang on to a job. But resentment among the minions is kindling, the survey suggests, and some employees plan to bolt to a new company when the recovery kicks in - we're talking a true recovery here, not a jobless one. In any case, the wily boss would be well advised to throw a puppy treat or two to the help now and then. (Memo to the chief: Free cookies are generally welcome.)
Employers "need to better understand the mindset of their employees," Jesse Harriott, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at Monster, said in a statement. "As the economy rebounds, those workplaces that have not invested in their people could face a mass exodus of employees, potentially crippling the business.”
Monster and the Human Capital Institute said their survey of 700 companies and 5,000 US workers was conducted in May and June.
Monster has relationships with many media organizations including The Boston Globe and Boston.com. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:01 AM | Comments (0)
Coop will return 7.3 percent rebate
The Harvard Cooperative Society - a.k.a. the Coop - said it will rebate $925,000 to its paid-up members, an amount that represents 7.3 percent of purchases made by those members during the Coop's most recent fiscal year.
Sales at the Coop, which has six locations as well as mail order and online catalog operations, fell 3.3 percent to $44 million for the most recent fiscal year, the Coop said in a press release.
"Particularly hard hit were the tourist sensitive businesses and student course materials," the Coop said.
Founded in 1882 by a group of students, the Coop has as its mission to serve the Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology communities by providing quality products and services while also distributing store-earned profits among its members. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:09 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Cisco to pay $2.9b for Starent Networks
The giant data networking company Cisco Systems Inc. will pay $2.9 billion to acquire Starent Networks Corp. of Tewksbury, a fast-growing maker of equipment that lets cellphone companies handle massive amounts of e-mail, music, and video traffic.
“Obviously, they’ve been a great success story here in the Boston area,’’ said Ned Hooper, Cisco’s chief strategy officer, adding that Starent is “a global leader’’ in helping to meet the new demand for wireless data.
Cisco will pay $35 per share for the company, which will become its newly formed mobile Internet technology group under Starent chief executive Ashraf M. Dahod. Cisco, which is based in San Jose, Calif., said it had also signed contracts to retain the rest of Starent’s top managers, and had no plans to reduce the company’s worldwide workforce of about 1,000. The group will remain in Tewksbury.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Using cellphones to change the world
It’s an unlikely medical device: a sleek smartphone more suited to a nightclub than a rural health clinic. But it’s loaded with software that allows health workers in the remote northernmost Philippines province of Batanes to dramatically reduce the time it takes to get X-rays to a radiologist - and to get a diagnosis for a patient being tested for tuberculosis.
The software, created by a nonprofit organization called Moca, is one of nearly two dozen cellphone-based projects that have sprung from NextLab, a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It’s taught by Jhonatan Rotberg, who was sent to MIT by Telmex, one of Latin America’s largest telecommunications companies, to bring cellular technology to the “90 percent of people’’ who fall outside of the marketing plans of most phone companies.
Talking about his Telmex job, Rotberg made a peak with his hands. “We were dealing with the very top of the pyramid,’’ he said as he sat in his office at MIT. “We spent most of our time trying to sell more phones and products to the middle class and the upper middle class.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Investors stuck in Big Dig bonds
Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill has saved taxpayers $20 million in interest costs by allowing a state bond issue to remain in a market limbo, but the decision has come at the expense of some investors, who are furious they can’t get their money back.
The bonds, issued in 2000, raised $400 million to finance Big Dig construction. They were called auction-rate securities, and investors snapped them up because they were safe, paid about 3.5 percent interest, and went to market every week, making them easy to buy and sell.
But everything changed in February 2008, when all trading in the bonds froze as a result of the credit crisis sweeping the global financial markets. Since then, interest rates on the bonds have fallen to almost zero. It’s been a good deal for the state as it struggles with its budget crunch. But for bondholders, it’s been a shock: They are getting almost no return on their investment, and because trading has halted, they can’t sell the bonds to get their money back.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New headquarters about the best Gillette can get
Gillette, the Boston shaving giant, yesterday unveiled its $50 million renovation and expansion of the World Shaving Headquarters in South Boston.
The manufacturing and research complex, totaling more than 1.65 million square feet, will soon accommodate between 400 and 500 employees who previously worked at the Prudential Center corporate headquarters. The 44-acre site features perks including a convenience store, coffee bar, and an “Art of Shaving’’ shop that with an onsite barber.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino toured the renovated building yesterday, admiring the 9,000-square-foot fitness center and exercise bicycles that connect to the Internet.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:33 AM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2009
Starbucks tweaks test of Clover brewing system
Starbucks Corp. said it is withdrawing its Clover Brewed premium coffee offering from seven of its Greater Boston stores as it looks to fine-tune a test program of the Clover system.
Another 26 Starbucks stores in the area will continue to offer Clover brewed coffee, the company said, and the seven Clover systems being removed will be redeployed to other area Starbucks in the coming months, the company said. As of the end of June, Starbucks had 144 stores in Massachusetts.
Last year, Starbucks bought the company that owned the Clover brewing system as part of a larger plan to revitalize the Seattle-based chain by offering coffee aficionados an additional high-end option.
According to published reports, the Clover makes one cup of coffee at time to a customer's specifications. The Clover makes coffee from both traditional Starbucks blends and from blends specially designed for the Clover system. In the opinion of some caffeine buffs, the Clover brewing process can tease out bean subtleties that traditional brewing systems can't match. The result is a superior cup of coffee worthy of a connoisseur, according to Starbucks. (To read a Globe story about the Clover, please click here.)
Part of the Clover experiment has been testing price points as the chain looks to identify the right demographics and the right store sizes to support the Clover program, a Starbucks spokeswoman said. In the Boston area, a 12-ounce cup of Sumatra blend costs about $1.65; made with Clover system, it can cost $1.95.
Greater Boston is one of three markets selected to test Clover; the other two are Seattle and San Francisco.
After initial testing, Starbucks has decided to remove the Clover from seven of the 33 Greater Boston locations where Clover systems were installed. Plans call for the seven Clover systems that will be removed from some stores to be redeployed in other Greater Boston stores over the next few months.
Besides in Boston, Starbucks stores that are scheduled to lose a Clover system include stores in Brookline, Cambridge, and Sudbury, the company said.
"Starbucks remains committed to the Clover Brewed Program, and we look forward to expanding the program to more than 250 Starbucks stores in 2010," the chain said in a statement.
Just over a year ago, Starbucks said it would close about 600 underperforming stores, a Globe story noted. At the end of June 2009, the chain said it had 11,266 stores in the United States and Canada. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:59 PM | Comments (0)
Southwest to increase Boston-Baltimore flights
Southwest Airlines Co., which began service at Boston's Logan International Airport in August, said today it would add two more nonstops from there to Baltimore next spring.
The changes are part of a new schedule for March 14 through May 7 of next year, which went on sale today.
Southwest began service at Logan with 10 daily nonstop flights, five to Chicago and five to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It plans to add flights from Boston to Denver and St. Louis beginning in January.
Lead scheduler Bill Owen said Southwest will also increase Saturday flights to and from vacation destinations in the spring, aiming for leisure travelers. For example, the airline plans to increase departures from Orlando, Fla., to 129 from 104.
Leisure travel has remained fairly strong in recent months, helping airlines like Southwest offset a slump in business travel.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices fall another 2 cents a gallon
Self-serve, regular unleaded gas is averaging $2.439 per gallon, down 2 cents from last week and 21 cents over the last six weeks, AAA Southern New England said in its weekly survey of gas prices.
It was the sixth straight week that the Massachusetts average has fallen, AAA Southern New England said.
"The current price is 4 cents below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.47," AAA Southern New England said in a press release. "A year ago at this time the average price was $3.14." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
Northeast consumers are faring a bit better
Consumers in the Northeast seemed to be doing a little better in October when it came to dealing with the recession than their counterparts in many other parts of the country.
That's one finding of the Trouble Tracker, a monthly index maintained by Consumer Reports. The Trouble Tracker takes into account such consumer difficulties as losing a job or missing a payment on a big bill. Consumer Reports also maintains a Consumer Stress Index and several other metrics that seek to take the temperature of consumers.
"In October, the Trouble Tracker measured a sharp rise to 66.7 from 62.3 in September," Consumer Reports said in a press release.
Consumers in the Northeast "are feeling better about their current financial situation, dealing with less stress, facing fewer negative financial events, and experiencing a steadier employment rate than previous months this year," the report said. "In comparison, the West was the only region to show worsening financial conditions in October, where Stress Index levels in the region were up 13.8 points."
“The economy is in a precarious balance between recovery and further decline," Ed Farrell, director of the Consumer Reports National Research Center, said in a statement. "Without a substantial improvement in the consumer’s condition, it’s doubtful that a meaningful recovery will be mounted this calendar year.” (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:16 AM | Comments (0)
Genesee & Wyoming Sept. traffic falls 2 percent
GREENWICH, Conn. - Regional freight railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. said that September traffic fell about 2 percent as shipments of minerals and stone, pulp and paper, lumber and forest products and other materials declined.
Genesee & Wyoming said it moved 63,607 carloads, a decrease of 1,250 carloads, or 1.9 percent, compared with September 2008. Traffic in the third quarter was 197,087 carloads, a decrease of 4,457 carloads, or 2.2 percent, compared with the third quarter of 2008.
he decline in traffic would have been steeper had it not been for railroad acquisitions by Genesee & Wyoming in the last year. Newly acquired railroads shipped 10,346 carloads in September while Genesee & Wyoming's same-railroad traffic decreased by 11,596 carloads, or 17.9 percent, in September compared with the same month last year.
The photo that appears with this post was taken from Genesee & Wyoming's website.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)
Forget that iPhone. You could get a wallet instead
Scale down those holiday wish lists, folks, because instead of snazzy electronics, you're more likely to get a wallet or a sweater.
So suggests a new survey by the NPD Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, N.Y. Because the recession has many consumers cutting back on spending, this holiday season is likely to see a return to traditional gifts.
According to NPD's survey, 30 percent of consumers ‘plan to spend less’ this holiday, which is a 4-point increase over last year’s results, and the kinds of gifts being bought this year will go back to more traditional holiday gift items, such as sweaters, fragrances, music, books, movies, and wallets.
“That 4 percent increase is certainly a sign of the times" Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief industry analyst, said in a statement. "On the other hand, that 4 percent is not as dramatic as it could have been. I think consumers will be looking for the right gift, rather than the most extravagant or expensive one." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:59 AM | Comments (0)
Rowing group unveils affordable programming
Community Rowing Inc., the Boston nonprofit organization that promotes fitness and the benefits of rowing for all, said it is launching affordable programs that will make the sport of rowing increasingly accessible.
One option from Community Rowing, or CRI, is a supporting membership.
"Starting after Thanksgiving, CRI is re-introducing the 'Supporting Membership' for $95," CRI said in a press release. "The Supporting Membership provides access to indoor training equipment for 12 months of the year whenever CRI is open for programming."
Community Rowing's news comes on the heels of yesterday's announcement that it has started
the public phase of its "The Promise of CRI" campaign to raise $1.5 million.
Thanks to a $750,000 grant by an anonymous donor and more than $1 million already pledged, CRI says it remains optimistic about making its goal despite a tough economic environment for nonprofits.
The fund-raising campaign looks to pay off the remainder of the $900,000 in costs for the Harry Parker Boathouse, the organization's new home, and to augment a $500,000 endowment that will enable CRI to continue to expand its programs to promote rowing as a healthy activity for all, the organization said in a press release.
The photo that appears with this post was taken from the organization's website. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:22 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
MIT alumnus gets Nobel in economics
Oliver E. Williamson, a 1955 graduate of MIT’s Sloan School of Management who went on to do pioneering research on the internal organization of businesses, was one of two recipients of the Nobel Prize for economics yesterday.
Williamson shared the award with another American, Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to receive the economics prize since it was first awarded 40 years ago.
Williamson, 77, is professor emeritus of business, economics, and law at Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He was honored for his work on how differences in organizations can be used to understand the decisions that companies make.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Lyons Group motto: Grow or die
DEDHAM - Sampling the menu recently at his newest venture, Patrick Lyons called the chefs out of the kitchen to tell them the wings were too wet, the potstickers were too dry, and the mound of slaw with the cheeseburger spring rolls was too big.
Attention to detail has served Lyons well in his three decades in the nightlife and restaurant businesses, during which time he has dreamed up a stream of diverse concepts, from Kings bowling alleys to the Axis/Avalon club complex to the Newbury Street celebrity haunt Sonsie.
All told, he is involved in 26 venues, and despite a recession that has others scaling back, Lyons Group opened a pub on Lansdowne Street in the spring and a Kings bowling alley in Dedham last month. It is planning three more restaurants in coming months: a Summer Shack in Hingham, an international bistro in the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston, and a gastro-pub in the Boston area.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Cautious investors cool to venture capital firms
Venture capital fund-raising, the rocket fuel for the nation’s entrepreneurial economy, slid to its lowest level in 15 years in the third quarter, when just 17 venture firms raised $1.5 billion, according to data released yesterday by the Thomson Reuters research firm.
By comparison, 63 venture capital firms raised $8.5 billion in the third quarter of last year, while 27 firms raised $1.9 billion in the second quarter of this year, the firm’s data showed.
In Massachusetts, one of the US centers for venture capital and the high-tech start-ups they back, only two firms raised new funds in the three months ended Sept. 30. The two, Excel Venture Management of Boston and Longworth Venture Partners of Cambridge, pulled in a total of $147.5 million from investors.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Suit alleges Zipcar pulled fast one with excessive fees
Zipcar Inc., the fast-growing Cambridge self-serve car rental company, has been sued for allegedly charging customers excessive or hidden fees.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Boston last week on behalf of Ryan Blay, an Illinois man who has been a Zipcar customer since April 2007, along with other customers who were potentially charged the fees.
The complaint is also a reminder that Zipcar, once a small local start-up, has become an international enterprise - big enough to attract a federal lawsuit by plaintiffs who seek to make it a class-action proceeding.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: The Talbots roller coaster
At this time a year ago, anyone who had the misfortune of owning stock in Talbots Inc. was about to watch that investment go into the kind of nose dive that usually ends with a fiery crash.
Shares of the Hingham-based retailer had already fallen from a peak above $15 to about $10 in less than a month. The plunge to come would drive Talbots stock to a low of $1.19 during Christmas shopping season in early December.
Of course, the entire stock market seemed to be in a free fall late last year. In the midst of the broad market plunge, shares of retailers that depend on a healthy economy were especially punished. Businesses that work in specialty retail niches were hit even harder. Companies that sell clothing to women were among the stock market’s least favored niche retailers, and absolutely no one loved Talbots shares, which traded near the bottom of a very deep barrel.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:43 AM | Comments (0)
October 9, 2009
Verizon lays off 200 local technicians
Verizon Communications laid off about 200 technicians in Massachusetts and Rhode Island today as part of a company-wide effort to cut its workforce by 8,000 workers nationwide.
But officials of the union that represents those employees plan to challenge the layoffs, saying they violate the terms of its contract with Verizon.
"There's plenty of work for these guys, but they chose not to make it available," said Myles Calvey, business manager for Local 2222 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Boston.
Calvey said the union's contract requires Verizon to avoid layoffs by giving jobs performed by outside contractors to union workers who would otherwise be cut, and claimed that Verizon has refused to do so. The union wants an independent arbitrator to settle the matter, according to Calvey. "We're fairly confident that an arbitrator will give us some work back," he said.
Verizon spokesman Phil Santoro denied that his company had violated the union pact. "All of the job reductions are done in accordance with the contracts with union employees," he said.
The union said it was able to strike a bargain with Verizon that prevented a planned layoff of an additional 62 workers.
Verizon began the year with about 235,000 workers nationwide, including 13,000 in Massachusetts and 3,000 in Rhode Island. In July, the company said it would reduce its payroll by 8,000 workers due to falling demand for traditional, landline telephone service.
Verizon's Santoro said that most of the cuts have come from early retirements and attrition, and that only a small number of workers nationwide have been laid off.
Eric Hetrick, business manager of IBEW Local 2322 in Middleborough, said that the great majority of the laid-off workers are technicians who carry out home installations of Verizon's FIOS network. Verizon is aggressively promoting FIOS, which delivers high-definition TV and high-speed Internet access as well as telephone service. Hetrick said that the FIOS technicians had plenty of work to do, but that they were laid off because they had less seniority than other union members.
One such technician, Dan Manning, just lost his job at a Verizon facility in Medway. Manning has a two-year-old child and a baby due in late January, and worries that his company-funded health insurance will expire just as the new baby arrives.
“We had great benefits, due to union negotiations," said Manning. "Now we’re losing all that and we're going to go out into an economy where there’s no work.”
Posted by globebusiness at 3:50 PM | Comments (0)
Halloween flash: Fido goes Star Wars.
(This file photo from LucasFilm/AP shows Luke Skywalker and Yoda.)
Before dressing up the beloved mutt for Halloween, it might be useful for dog owners to know that Yoda outfits have been the most widely searched-for dog costumes on Yahoo.com in recent days.
While vampire costumes drew the most Yahoo Halloween searches in the human category, the Dracula ensemble ranked only 10th in searches for dog costumes, Yahoo said. (What? No faux fangs for the canine?) At first glance, that early evidence suggests that owner and dog won't necessarily be coordinating vampire outfits this year. Apparently, if the human is trick-or-treating as a vampire, then the dog will likely have to dress up as Yoda, the Jedi master of Star Wars, or as something else.
One pooch possibility: A bumblebee. Over the last month, bumblebee outfits have ranked number two as the most searched-for Halloween dog costume on Yahoo, according to a Yahoo publicisit.
And if a human doesn't want to be a vampire, a Michael Jackson ensemble might be just the ticket. In the people category, Yahoo searches for Jackson Halloween costumes ranked second.
And what about Elvis? For good or ill, neither man nor beast seems to want to impersonate the King this Halloween - at least in large numbers. On the Yahoo list, the only place that the pride of Tupelo turns up is on the list for most searched baby costumes.
The Ladybug outfit tops that category, Yahoo said, and Elvis ranks ninth, just nosing out Minnie Mouse in 10th. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)
Staples is involved in forest project
Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, and the advocacy group Dogwood Alliance said in a press release that they are teaming up with other conservation groups, wood products companies, and landowners to unveil a project that aims to protect forests and help develop sources of paper and wood products certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.
According to its website, the Forest Stewardship Council is a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging responsible management of the world's forests. Carbon Canopy's focus is the forests in the Southern United States, a large paper and wood-producing region where 90 percent of the forests are privately owned. Carbon Forest says its "ultimate goal is to create financial incentives for landowners to increase forest conservation."
“This project is a continuation of the important work that we began with Dogwood Alliance years ago to effect change and responsibly preserve and cultivate the forests of the US,” Mark Buckley, Staples vice president of environmental affairs, said in a statement. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:13 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Foreclosure sales in limbo over title issue
A court decision expected as soon as today could negate the validity of sales of thousands of foreclosed homes in Massachusetts, causing havoc for buyers and sellers and further stalling the housing market’s recovery in hard-hit areas.
At issue is proof of ownership at the time of a foreclosure sale. During the housing boom, millions of mortgages were bundled into bonds and sold to investors, a process that resulted in lengthy and twisted paper trails that can obscure ownership. Many lenders believed they could complete foreclosure transactions and later produce formal proof they held the mortgage.
That changed in March when Justice Keith C. Long of Massachusetts Land Court found that two foreclosures in Springfield were invalid because ownership of the mortgages was not clear at the time of the foreclosures.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Microsoft loses tech industry veteran
Two years after being hired by Microsoft Corp. to head a laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts tech industry veteran Reed Sturtevant has left the company, as Microsoft restructures its research operations.
Sturtevant, 52, has held executive posts at nearly a dozen tech companies. At the incubator firm Idealab Inc., he oversaw the development of several new companies, including Picasa, a maker of photo editing software that was acquired by Google Inc. Immediately before joining Microsoft, he had served as chief technology officer at Eons Inc., a Boston-based social networking start-up that targeted baby boomers.
Microsoft hired Sturtevant in 2007 to head its new Startup Lab in Cambridge. He led a team of about 40 researchers working to develop new concepts in Internet search and social networking that might be built into profitable businesses.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Who can fill the CEO seat at Bank of America?
Help wanted: Seasoned executive with experience overseeing a bank or other large financial institution to run nation’s largest bank. Washington experience a plus. Clean record a must.
Bank of America’s chief executive officer, Ken Lewis, startled the financial world and caught his own board of directors off guard last week when he said he would retire at the end of the year.
One leading candidate to succeed him is Brian Moynihan, a fixture in Boston banking circles, recently promoted to run Bank of America’s largest division, the consumer and small business unit. Moynihan, 49, was general counsel at FleetBoston Financial when it was sold to Bank of America five years ago.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Phoenix Media sues Facebook
Phoenix Media/Communications, which owns The Boston Phoenix and other local alternative weeklies and websites, is suing popular social networking site Facebook for allegedly violating a patent related to setting up online personal profile pages.
Tele-Publishing Inc., a division of the Phoenix company that provides multimedia personal and dating services ads to 200 newspapers and broadcasters nationally, including The Washington Post, filed the complaint in US District Court in Boston on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges that Facebook’s “computer network and method of creating and sharing a personal page’’ is covered by one or more claims of a patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office on June 26, 2001, to Tele-Publishing. The patent includes an online template and graphics for building a personal Web page and provides users with a secure way to share personal information with other computer network users, according to the suit. The company doesn’t specify what damages it is seeking.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Energy report card aims to boost conservation
Want to know who is the energy hog or miser in your neighborhood? Some National Grid utility customers in Massachusetts will soon have a hint in the mail.
Starting today, 50,000 National Grid customers in the Boston area will receive a monthly report that compares their energy habits with those of their neighbors. The reports won’t identify individual households in the area, but rather will compare the customer’s electric or gas usage against the average of the nearest 100 households of similar size, and against the 20 most energy-thrifty homes in the area.
The reports will also provide the customer’s last 12 months of gas or electric usage, and offer suggestions on cutting back - such as turning off computers at night, getting a programmable thermostat, or upgrading a heating system. Customers will also be measured against a goal National Grid has set for them: cutting energy consumption by 3 percent each year over the next decade.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Golden time for one ETF
Related news item No. 1: The price of gold jumped to an all-time high for a third consecutive day yesterday.
Related news item No. 2: State Street Corp.’s gold exchange traded fund climbed to become the world’s second-largest ETF by the end of September.
The roaring market for gold futures, which would have cost you $1,062.70 per ounce by the end of yesterday, is driving the value of the SPDR Gold Trust to new highs as well. The metal’s appreciation, along with increased investor demand that results in additional shares, has pushed the value of the fund to $37.1 billion, as of yesterday.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)
October 8, 2009
Newton nonprofit lands $10.8m federal award
Education Development Center Inc., a Newton nonprofit organization that manages education projects, said it has been awarded $10.8 million from the Office of Head Start at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The award means that preschool teachers in four New England states will have a new resource with the opening of service centers staffed by early childhood education experts and managed by Education Development Center, Education Development Center said.
The award includes about $3.6 million for Massachusetts, Education Development Center said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 4:08 PM | Comments (0)
Tedeschi is now renting DVDs
NCR Corp. said it is in the process of installing its BLOCKBUSTER Express-branded DVD-rental kiosks in Tedeschi Food Shops, a Rockland-based convenience store chain with 188 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
"BLOCKBUSTER Express is currently available in 89 Tedeschi Food Shop locations," NCR said in a press release. "By the end of October, it is anticipated that 27 more locations will be deployed, with the remainder of the Tedeschi chain to be installed by the end of 2009."
NCR said its kiosks hold more than 900 DVDs.
"No membership is required to rent a DVD at a BLOCKBUSTER Express kiosk – customers simply swipe their credit card and are charged $1 per night until they return the DVD," NCR said.
NCR included the photo that appears with this post in its press release. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ announces more personnel changes
Dunkin' Brands, the Canton-based parent company of Dunkin' Donuts, announced that retail industry veteran John Costello has been appointed to the newly created position of chief global customer and marketing officer.
The company, which also operates the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, made the announcement a week after it said that Dunkin' Donuts president William Kussell was stepping down and that chief executive Nigel Travis would take over the chain’s day-to-day operations. (To read a Globe story about Kussell, please click here.)
Travis, who once held the top job at Papa John's Inc., succeeded Jon Luther as chief executive in January. (To read a Globe story about Travis, please click here.)
In a press release today, the company said that Costello will join the Dunkin' Brands executive leadership team reporting directly to Travis.
"Mr. Costello will oversee Dunkin' Donuts' strategic worldwide marketing efforts and brand identity, serving as head of the Dunkin' Donuts US marketing team and partnering with the operations team to further drive sales," the press release said. "He will also provide functional direction to the Dunkin' Donuts international marketing team, as well as Baskin-Robbins US and international marketing teams. With John's arrival, Frances Allen, Dunkin' Donuts Brand Marketing Officer, has decided to step down after two years of distinguished leadership."
Costello's resume includes jobs at Home Depot, Sears, and Yahoo, Dunkin' Brands said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)
Frank says banks aren't playing nice
WASHINGTON - US Representative Barney Frank, the tough-talking liberal ushering through a major rewrite of rules governing Wall Street, sounded a warning shot today to big banks: Start playing nice or Congress will make your life even more difficult.
Last spring, Frank helped push a bill through Congress that imposes strict new rules on lenders, including a limitation on when and how banks hike rates. Most of the rules will take effect in mid-February, a date set by Congress to give banks time to prepare for the changes.
But the Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing today that lenders have abused the grace period by using the time to hike rates ahead of the new rules.
"It is very clear that this is the kind of protection that shouldn't wait and we should move forward," Frank said about the new credit card rules.
Frank also said he is open to providing relief to merchants that pay heavy fees to banks in exchange for accepting credit cards from their customers. Today's hearing was focused on legislation by US Representative Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, that would regulate those fees.
The hearing included testimony from Kathy Miller, a grocery store owner in Elmore, Vt., whose voice cracked with emotion as she described the strain put on her business because of the high fees, known as "interchange," levied by credit card companies.
Some lobbyists have speculated that Frank's sudden interest in the bill is a warning to banks to tone down their opposition to his broader effort to impose new consumer protections. The financial industry has launched a multimillion-dollar effort to try to defeat legislation backed by Frank and President Barack Obama that would create a new federal regulator to police the fine print on such products as credit cards and mortgages.
Banks contend that tougher restrictions and the creation of a new federal regulator will hurt the availability of credit. In an effort to counter the backlash in Congress and elsewhere, some banks have announced they will adopt consumer-friendly policies on their own.
This week Bank of America Corp. pledged not to hike credit card interest rates or fees before February.
Frank called Bank of America's promise "welcome" but added that lenders have otherwise abused the grace period given to them by Congress. Further, he said, the bank's pledge was an indication that credit card companies could be forced to comply with the law sooner than planned.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
Bruins have new ad, new sponsor
A new ad for the Boston Bruins has just been released in time for the new National Hockey League season.
The ad debuted during the Bruins home opener on the Jumbotron at TD Garden, said an official at Mullen, the Boston ad agency that creates ads for the Bruins. Mullen provided a link to the ad.
Meanwhile, Ace Ticket, a Boston-based ticket broker selling tickets to sports, concerts, and theater events nationwide, said it has purchased the naming rights to the WBZ Sports Studio, gained a sponsorship deal with the Boston Bruins, and has secured the naming rights to the Boston Bruins post game show.
The WBZ Sports Studio will now be called the AceTicket.com Sports Studio, Ace said in a press release.
And because Ace Ticket is now an official sponsor of Bruins, the Ace Ticket logo will appear on the Bruins website, and Ace Ticket will also be featured on the Jumbotron during Bruins games and on the TD Garden rink's dasher boards. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)
BJ's Wholesale says key Sept. sales measure slips
Warehouse-club operator BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said that sales at stores open more than a year slipped 0.5 percent in September, a smaller decline than Wall Street forecast.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a 1 percent decline.
Sales at stores open at least a year are a key measure of retail performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
The Natick-based company said lower gasoline revenue hurt sales by 6 percent. Total sales for the five weeks ended Oct. 3 rose 4.1 percent to $928 million. Year-to-date, sales at stores open more than a year declined 4.4 percent and total sales declined 1.7 percent to $6.45 billion. Strongest sellers included food, along with books, computers and televisions. The company operates 184 BJ's clubs and 103 gas stations nationwide.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)
TJX Sept. sales significantly exceed its expectations
TJX Cos., the Framingham-based retailer that operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, is raising its outlook for the third and fourth quarters after reporting September sales that "significantly exceeded" its expectations.
TJX attributed cool weather as one factor for bringing shoppers into its stores in search of fall merchandise.
The recession has many consumers cutting back on spending or shopping discounters rather than pricier stores. In this tough economic environment, TJX has consistently outperformed the retail industry as a whole in recent months. (To read a recent Boston Capital column about TJX and its performance, please click here.)
In a press release, the company said today that sales for the five-week period that ended Oct. 3 were $2.0 billion, up 8 percent from a year ago.
One measure that Wall Street analysts watch closely is a retailer's same-store sales, or sales open at stores at least a year.
TJX said its September same-store sales were up an impressive 7 percent.
In a statement, TJX president and chief executive Carol Meyrowitz refers to "consolidated comparable store sales," TJX's phrase for same-store sales.
Said Meyrowitz: “Our consolidated comparable store sales increase of 7 percent significantly exceeded our expectations. We saw strong trends continue in September and customer traffic counts accelerated beyond their already high levels. We believe our great values on great brands are resonating with our loyal customer base and attracting new customers. Seasonably cool temperatures in parts of the US during the month likely helped drive customers to shop for fall merchandise. With above-plan sales in August and September, strong momentum in our business and greater visibility into future trends, we are raising our outlook for the third and fourth quarters. We continue to see an abundance of exciting brands and merchandise in the marketplace, which will enable us to flow fresh, exciting assortments of gift merchandise throughout the holiday season.”
The TJX press release added: "The company now expects third quarter Fiscal 2010 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $.71 to $.74, compared with $.58 in reported earnings per share from continuing operations in the prior year. This range is based upon a raised expectation for October consolidated comparable store sales to an increase of 5 percent to 6 percent. It is important to note that comparisons of projected third quarter results to prior year are impacted by a non-operating item last year and foreign currency exchange rates."
In August, the company forecast third-quarter profit of 62 cents to 68 cents per share, the AP reported.
As for the fourth quarter, TJX said: "The company now expects fourth quarter Fiscal 2010 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $.60 to $.66, compared with $.58 in reported earnings per share from continuing operations in the prior year. This range is based upon a raised expectation for fourth quarter consolidated comparable store sales to an increase of 3 percent to 5 percent. It is important to note that comparisons of projected fourth quarter results to prior year are impacted by the benefit from the extra week in the company’s fiscal 2009 calendar, a non-operating item, and foreign currency exchange rates."
According to the AP, TJX's previous guidance for the quarter was of 55 cents to 61 cents per share. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)
FTC reviewing Global Partners terminal purchase
Petroleum product supplier Global Partners LP said that the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing its planned purchase of three terminals in Newburgh, N.Y. from Warex Terminals Corp.
Waltham-based Global Partners said it has met with FTC staff and has been told that the agency will subpoena information about the acquisition.
The partnership said it will cooperate with the review. It said the $47.5 million transaction won't close until regulatory approval is received. Global Partners shares rose 34 cents to close at $25.41.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:03 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
In the midst of one of the worst economic recessions in decades, Chinatown is experiencing a renaissance.
More than 15 shops have sprung up within the past year, a sign of growth unmatched in the recent history of this small neighborhood. The new businesses are part of a more profound metamorphosis that has seen Chinatown clean up its image as the city’s beloved-if-grimy home of traditional Chinese food. Increasingly, this district is about swept streets and renovated shops that attract a more diverse crowd.
The rebirth has been fueled in part by new customers drawn to the neighborhood by luxury condominiums, including Avana Lofts at the corner of Beach and Washington streets, and the opening of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. But the primary movers are new young businesspeople who, along with some current shop owners, see value in investing in the area and expanding what Chinatown has to offer.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Stephen Taylor: A familiar name, an interrupted record
Second in a two-part series about bidders for The Boston Globe.
Stephen Taylor did not want to sell the newspaper his family had run for more than a century.
At the time of the 1993 sale to The New York Times Co., he was 42 years old and in charge of The Boston Globe’s technology, presses, and buildings. Taylor figured he would be part of a new generation to lead New England’s largest daily paper, with his cousin Benjamin next in line to run the Globe. And he was in the thick of his biggest project yet - launching the paper’s website, Boston.com, at a time when most people in the industry failed to see the Internet’s potential.
Both men lobbied top executives to keep the paper in the family, but to no avail.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Utilities support energy savings
Massachusetts consumers may soon see their electric bills climb by a few dollars a month, with the extra money earmarked for a proposed $1.1 billion conservation effort that would help make more homes and businesses more energy efficient - and, officials say, save ratepayers money in the long run.
The plan moved a big step closer to reality earlier this week when four major electric companies in Massachusetts said they would support it.
Despite some early reservations, representatives for National Grid, NStar, Unitil Corp., and Western Massachusetts Electric backed the proposal, which they helped craft. Approval is still needed from the Department of Public Utilities, which has yet to review the measure.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Flights to region land late
Domestic flights arriving at Boston and Manchester are late 25 percent of the time, one of the worst records in the country, according to a report released today.
The combined on-time performance of Logan International Airport and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport from July 2008 to June 2009 ranked 78th out of 89 metropolitan areas in the nation, according to the report by the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, a division of the Washington, D.C., nonprofit public policy organization that researches ways to improve metro areas.
This year’s performance is a 2 percent improvement from the same time period in 2008, but 4 percent worse than five years ago. The average time for delayed flights was just over an hour, a 20 percent improvement since 2004, according to the study.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Eastern Bank tops rivals for SBA loans
Eastern Bank offered more federal government-backed loans to small businesses than did any other bank in Massachusetts, ousting Citizens Bank from the top spot it has had for the last six years.
Eastern Bank made 156 loans to small businesses, worth $7.3 million - nearly five times the number of loans it made in 2008, according to the US Small Business Administration, which compiled the ranking. The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Citizens Bank made 130 loans to small businesses, although the bank loaned more money overall this year: $7.8 million between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30.
Sovereign Bank ranked third, with 82 loans (worth $7.3 million); and Rockland Bank and Trust fourth, with 44 loans ($6.3 million).
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Nikon is projector and camera in one
My wife takes pictures of everything. Then she immediately shoves her camera under my nose to demand I admire the digital view. Drives me nuts.
So she can forget about getting the new Nikon Coolpix camera for Christmas. According to Nikon, the Coolpix S1000pj is the first camera to include a built-in video projector. Touch a button and the camera will fling your snapshots or videos onto any nearby wall, ceiling, or floor. Now it is easy to show your photos to an entire roomful of viewers as apathetic as I am.
The Coolpix S1000pj is the latest entry in the “pico projector’’ market. These are pocket-sized devices that use lasers or miniature liquid crystal displays to project small, but useful, images onto any handy surface. Pico projectors began showing up a couple of years ago, but are only now coming into their own. They sell for as little as $225, and can be connected to a variety of video storage gadgets, from laptop computers to iPhones.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2009
Google CEO: I'm bullish on the economy
NEW YORK -- If Google's advertising business is a reliable indicator of the state of the nation's economy, "the worst is behind us," Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt said today.
Schmidt spoke with a dozen journalists in New York after joining Google cofounder Sergey Brin at a global sales meeting. "We are clearly seeing aspects of recovery," he said, "And what is notable is we are seeing aspects of recovery not just in the US but also in Europe."
The upbeat indicators have prompted Google to hire more employees and boost its investments, he said.
Schmidt and Brin also vigorously defended recent legal settlements in the dispute over Google Book Search. While they were speaking, a federal judge in Manhattan was holding a hearing on the case, which involves Google's program of scanning millions of books from libraries and universities and making them searchable online. After Google was sued by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, the parties negotiated a settlement in 2008. But the proposed settlement has faced objections from librarians and authors. The US Department of Justice has recommended that the court reviewing the settlement reject it. Today, the judge in the case set a Nov. 9 deadline for Google and its partners to submit a revised settlement.
Brin said that the search giant will continue to aggressively develop Google Books, regardless of how the case is resolved.
"It's in our mission statement, to organize the world's information," Brin told the Globe later. "Books are a big part of that. We want to make more books available online."
A significant part of Google's book operation is based in the company's Cambridge office.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:13 PM | Comments (0)
Uno's menu now includes multi-grain pizza
Uno Chicago Grill, a Boston-based chain of more than 200 restaurants that includes 44 in New England, said it is launching a multi-grain pizza as part of a larger effort to make available to customers a wider range of healthful choices.
The launch is timed to coincide with National Pizza Month, the chain added.
To augment its deep-dish pizzas, UNO said its restaurants have added an "all-natural, five-grain flatbread pizza crust option to any of their flatbread offerings. The new crust has 11 grams of fiber, thanks to the combination of whole wheat, toasted wheat germ, oat bran, sesame seed and ground flax seed."
According to Uno, Americans collectively eat about 100 acres of pizza each day, and by offering a multi-grain crust, the chain is convinced it can gain a bigger share of that 100-acre pie.
The photo that tops this post was provided by Uno. It shows a multi-grain harvest-vegetable flatbread pizza. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 3:11 PM | Comments (0)
Eastern Bank is ranked top SBA lender for Mass.
Eastern Bank, the state's fifth largest bank based on deposits, said it was ranked as the No. 1 Small Business Administration lender in Massachusetts for the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30.
During that time, Eastern Bank said it made 156 SBA loans in Massachusetts totaling $7.3 million.
“Eastern Bank is focused on helping businesses and consumers succeed – that’s our role in the market and it should be the role of every bank,” Eastern Bank chairman and chief executive Richard E. Holbrook said in a statement. “Our focus is especially true when it comes to helping small businesses, which are vital to the local economy.”
Based in Boston, Eastern Bank has almost $7 billion in assets and more than 80 branches serving communities from the Merrimack Valley to Cape Cod. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ opens first stores in Shenzhen, China
Privately held Dunkin' Donuts said it opened its first two stores in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, as part of its expansion plans for the Asian nation.
A third shop in the city is slated to open later this month, with two more following by the end of the year.
Shaanxi Stellerich Restaurant Management Co. Ltd., Dunkin' Donuts' franchise partner in Guangdong, plans to open more than 150 shops in the province over the next 10 years. The company also operates Baskin-Robbins stores in China.
Canton-based Dunkin' Donuts has agreements to open 480 shops in China over the next 10 years. There are nearly 1,800 stores in the Asia Pacific region, including more than 10 in China, 725 in Korea, 600 in the Philippines and 260 in Indonesia.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
Mass. unions push bill requiring paid sick days
Unions are pushing a bill that would require Massachusetts employers offer workers up to seven paid sick days a year.
The sick days could be used for workers to care for themselves or to attend to a sick child, spouse, or parent. They could also be used to visit a doctor or for victims of domestic violence to address psychological, physical, or legal concerns.
Unions say the threat of a swine flu outbreak makes it even more important to encourage workers to stay home when sick.
The sick days could carry over from year to year, but employers wouldn't be required to offer more than seven sick days a year and would not be required to pay out unused sick days. The bill's supporters say an estimated 1.4 million workers in Massachusetts lack paid sick days.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
Moynihan is on Bank of America's CEO short list
Bank of America Corp. has narrowed its search for a new chief executive to two internal candidates, including Brian Moynihan (right), though the bank is still considering an outsider, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
Moynihan has local ties as recent Globe coverage has noted.
He began his banking career as a lawyer on the deal team at Fleet Financial Group as it bought up smaller banks across New England in the early 1990s. He moved up before and after Fleet merged with Bank of Boston Corp., then survived when the combined company was purchased by Bank of America.
After Moynihan took over the job of running Bank of America’s consumer banking business in August, he was widely seen as a possible successor to chief executive Kenneth Lewis in a few years.
But a week ago it was disclosed that Lewis plans to resign by the end of the year, a decision that caught many by surprise.
Lewis's abrupt departure plans had some bank analysts suggesting that Moynihan hasn't had sufficient time in his new job to prove himself as the ideal candidate for Bank of America's next chief executive.
According to the Journal, the other internal CEO candidate that the bank is considering is chief risk officer Gregory Curl, 61. One possible scenario that Curl would hold the job for two years. Moynihan, 49, would be a longer-term choice.
The Journal cited unnamed sources who said that Gregory Fleming, former president and chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch & Co. and a senior research scholar and a lecturer at Yale Law School, is an outsider being considered for the job.
The file photo of Moynihan that appears with this post was taken by Globe staffer Evan Richman. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)
Honey Dew supports breast cancer awareness
Football stars may sport pink sneakers on TV, but Honey Dew Donuts is one of many groups that is also doing its part for Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.
The Plainville-based chain of roughly 150 stores said that during this month, customers can purchase a paper pink ribbon for $1 and write their name or the name of a friend or family member that has been touched by this disease.
"All donated ribbons will be displayed on the shops windows honoring those who have contributed to this cause," Honey Dew Donuts said in a press release. "All proceeds will go directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation."
Honey Dew said it began its partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation in 2007 and to date has donated more than $250,000 to the cause. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:08 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
First in a two-part series about bidders for The Boston Globe. Coming tomorrow: Stephen Taylor.
Mike Donnelly remembers the man only by his moniker: The Godfather.
That was how Platinum Equity referred to the executive it put in charge of Donnelly’s upstate New York software firm, Aptis Inc., in the fall of 2000. Within days of his arrival, 45 people were laid off, nearly half the company’s workforce.
“They came in here to make cuts and return us to profitability, and they didn’t sugarcoat it,’’ said Donnelly, who remains chief operating officer of the firm, now known as CommSoft. Less than six months after taking over, Platinum resold the company for $6.9 million, a 31 percent return on its original investment.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New player in the market for retail property
Commercial real estate powerhouse CB Richard Ellis/New England is launching a venture with one of the region’s largest players in retail leasing, with the two trying to capitalize on an economic rebound that will probably lead to new property redevelopments and store openings over the next few years.
CB Richard Ellis is forming a joint venture with Grossman Commercial Real Estate Group, whose principals have represented Puma, Linens ‘N Things, and CVS drugstores.
The new entity, to be called CBRE/Grossman Retail Advisors, should be a formidable player in the region’s retail market. Principals said the current slowdown presented an unusual opportunity to join forces, allowing them to create new business now and expand as retailers emerge from the doldrums to scout new locations.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Lessons learned on e-mail
Michael Kineavy, chief aide to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, has learned the hard way that simply deleting e-mails does not make them go away. The city is potentially facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses to retrieve e-mail messages he deleted that have been subpoenaed by federal authorities and are the subject of a formal request from the Globe.
The lesson for Kineavy, who said yesterday he was taking an unpaid leave, is that it’s very difficult to wipe out all traces of the e-mails we send. And it’s not just e-mail. Millions of us post personal information on social networking sites like Facebook, display photographs at Flickr, or load videos on YouTube. And once that data has been published online, it’s virtually impossible to erase it.
“There are problems you can’t do anything about. Welcome to one of them,’’ said Bruce Schneier, inventor of a popular data encryption system and author of multiple books about computer security.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Hospital staffers vote yes on union
Nearly 600 workers at Norwood Hospital, ranging from respiratory therapists to housekeepers, will join the Service Employees International Union as the result of an election yesterday.
The vote at Norwood Hospital was 302 to 106, with about 74 percent of the 408 hospital workers who cast ballots opting to join the union. Another 186 eligible workers did not vote in the election.
Norwood became the third hospital in the Caritas Christi Health Care system, based in Boston, to unionize this year. More than 800 employees at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, the flagship of the six-hospital Catholic chain, in April affiliated with the same labor union, Local 1199 of the SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Mass. biotech firms urged to remain independent
It’s time for pulling up the bootstraps.
That was the message delivered to biotechnology start-ups at the 11th annual MassBio Investors Forum yesterday. At a time when major drug makers are consolidating and may be less willing to buy fledgling companies, biotechs have to make it on their own and bring drugs to market themselves.
Industry leaders warned that the old model of forming a biotech company, shepherding a drug through development and years of clinical trials, and then selling the company to a pharmaceutical buyer may be played out.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:36 AM | Comments (0)
October 6, 2009
Better system needed to carry wind power
AUGUSTA, Maine - A wind energy expert says an upgraded power transmission system is needed if Maine is to achieve its goals for generating that renewable energy source.
Larry Flowers of the National Wind Technology Center also told the 350 people attending a conference today on wind energy in Maine that transmission infrastructure is a problem all over the country as wind power develops.
Governor John Baldacci, who opened the daylong conference, said he wants Maine to be the first state to develop offshore wind power. He also agreed that a transmission upgrade is critical to wind power development.
The conference drew about a dozen demonstrators. A leader, Steve Thurston of Roxbury, said erecting all the windmills needed to meet Maine's goals will have a devastating impact on the state's mountains.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:53 PM | Comments (0)
Bless me, father, for I have tweeted on the job
Recreational tweeting is a workplace no-no, and so too is updating that Facebook profile while on the boss's time.
That's the conclusion of a survey of 1,400 chief information officers from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees. The survey was conducted by Robert Half Technology, a unit of Robert Half International, a California-based staffing firm.
The survey asked the executives about their office policies regarding employees visiting social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter while at work.
Of the companies surveyed, only 10 percent permitted social networking activity for any type of personal use, Robert Half Technology said; 54 percent prohibited the practice completely, and another 19 percent permitted social networking only for business purposes.
In a statement, Jack Fellers, regional manager for Robert Half Technology in Boston, said: "Businesses are learning that social networking, when used properly, can be an effective business tool. In fact, many companies are using Facebook for marketing, customer service, and recruitment purposes. But it's easy to lose track of time when socializing via Facebook and similar sites. So it's understandable that some companies would want to limit access in order to ensure maximum employee productivity."
The official conclusion that Robert Half Technology drew from its survey: "Whistle - but don't tweet - while you work." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:02 PM | Comments (0)
State Street shines in Newsweek list of green firms
State Street Corp., the Boston company that provides financial services to institutional investors, said that it has been named one of the top 10 green companies by Newsweek magazine's inaugural "Green Rankings 2009"-a ranking of America's 500 largest publicly-traded companies based on sustainability.
In a press release, State Street said it "ranked number one among financial services companies and sixth overall in the 'Green Rankings 2009,' which assesses companies' resource use, carbon emissions, and its policies and strategies."
The top company on the list was Hewlett-Packard, and others in the top 10 included Dell, IBM, Nike, and Starbucks, according to the Newsweek list. Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, was ranked 20th. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
Dunkin’ busts out pumpkin latte for Halloween
(This photo of the "Boston Scream Donut" was provided by the company.)
Trick-or-treating ghouls and vampires will be glad to know that they can accessorize their Halloween outfits with pumpkin lattes and Boston Scream doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts.
The Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain said it is unveiling some seasonal offerings of "new items and returning favorites" to augment its every-day menu.
Seasonal offerings include the low-fat apple caramel muffin and pumpkin coffee coolatta as well as pumpkin doughnuts, coffee, and latte. (Ah, yes. Pumpkin coffee, a.k.a. jack-o'-lantern joe.)
The seasonal items are available today through Nov. 26 at participating stores, Dunkin' said.
As for the "Boston Scream," it's a traditional "Boston Kreme donut" decorated with orange icing drizzle, the chain said.
To read a story from today's Globe about a donut uber-chef, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. employers begin to regain confidence
(This graphic accompanied AIM's press release.)
An index that seeks to measure business confidence in Massachusetts rose 1.8 points in September to 42.4, the sixth increase in seven months; the September reading is it 9.1 points above the all-time low of 33.3 posted in February.
Since 1991, the monthly index has been compiled by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a group that represents Massachusetts employers. A reading below 50 on the index's 100-point scale generally signifies a pessimistic outlook.
“Although the number is still negative - well below 50 on the 100-point scale - Massachusetts employers are clearly beginning to regain confidence,” Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. “The average monthly reading for the third quarter of 2009 was 41.0, up from 37.5 in the second quarter and 34.5 in the first quarter. The AIM survey points to expectations of further progress over the next six months.”
The September 2009 reading was down 4.1 points from the reading for September 2008, AIM said.
“September 2008 was the month the financial crisis hit with full force, but the worst news came late in the month and was reflected in our October results,” Torto said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:06 AM | Comments (0)
Recession has moms redefining Christmas gift lists
(File photo: Stan Honda/ AFP/ Getty Images)
Kids yearning for iPods and game consoles this holiday season may be out of luck - they may get new clothes instead.
That's because the grinch also known as the recession has moms shying away from discretionary purchases. To win their holiday business this year, merchants must convince women with children that any potential holiday gifts are necessary to their lives.
So concludes a new survey from Watertown ad agency Allen & Gerritsen, which polled 456 mothers and asked them about their holiday shopping plans.
One survey finding: The recession "has prompted moms to step back and take a long, hard look at purchasing decisions," the agency said in a press release. "Their revised criteria boils down to, 'Is this product or service a necessary part of my life?'"
How old a mother is may determine how she answers that question.
"The survey explored generational aspects of spending, finding that Boomer (54 percent) and Generation X (45 percent) moms are more willing to completely eliminate things they feel are unnecessary than their Generation Y (37 percent) counterparts," Allen & Gerritsen said in a press release.
So what's the lesson for retailers bracing for week holiday sales? (Click here to read a story in today's Globe about analysts predicting weak holiday sales.)
"During the holiday season and into 2010, retailers should emphasize the quality and durability of their products rather than just outward style or 'cool' factor," Allen & Gerritsen chief executive Andrew Graff said in a statement. "The more meaningful and long-lasting they can make their product seem, the more moms are apt to buy."
Posted by globebusiness at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
E-mail inquiry yields 2d computer
Boston officials acknowledged yesterday that they have discovered a second computer used by chief mayoral aide Michael J. Kineavy, a hard drive tucked away in a sixth-floor office that may contain the bulk of the e-mail subpoenaed by federal authorities and formally requested by the Globe.
The computer, the officials said, was on Kineavy’s desk until it was replaced in April, after Kineavy complained it had been operating too slowly. The discovery directly contradicts prior assertions by the city that Kineavy’s computer had not been replaced in more than two years.
City corporation counsel William F. Sinnott said in an interview yesterday that he had been relying on what Kineavy had told him and that Kineavy, the mayor’s chief policy aide and key political strategist, still does not remember getting a new computer.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Ex-Astra chief must forfeit pay
Massachusetts’ highest court yesterday ruled that the former chief executive of Westborough pharmaceutical company Astra USA Inc. must forfeit nearly $7 million in salary and bonuses he collected from 1991 through 1996, when he was fired for harassing female employees and misappropriating company funds.
Reversing the decision of a lower court judge, who ruled Astra could not recover compensation paid to Lars Bildman, the Supreme Judicial Court opinion cited the law of New York state, where Astra was incorporated, pertaining to corporate officers who breach their fiduciary duty.
In a 21-page decision, the state’s high court justices said New York’s “faithless servant’’ doctrine allows the company to go after $5.6 million in salary and $1.2 million in bonuses paid to Bildman.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: North vs. South
Bank of America was a famously southern institution when it grew across America’s map like kudzu, known for its “Charlotte mafia’’ of top executives and directors who called all the shots.
As if there wasn’t enough evidence that times have changed, consider this: Three of the six directors who will recommend a new chief to succeed the abruptly retiring Ken Lewis come from New England.
Bank of America chairman emeritus Chad Gifford, CVS Caremark Corp. chief Tom Ryan, and NStar CEO Tom May - all board holdovers from the 2004 acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Group - account for half the steering committee seeking the bank’s next chief executive. Gifford could even emerge as an unlikely interim chief if an emergency fill-in is needed.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Court reinstates Wal-Mart damages
The state Supreme Judicial Court yesterday restored $1 million in punitive damages awarded to a former pharmacist at a Wal-Mart in Pittsfield, who said she was fired after complaining about being paid less than her male colleagues.
The verdict - which also upheld a jury award for more than $700,000 in future wages lost - ends a long battle between Wal-Mart and its onetime employee, Cynthia Haddad, who first sued the retail giant for gender discrimination four years ago.
“Wal-Mart has strong equal employment policies and we foster female leadership,’’ said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Michelle Bradford, who declined to elaborate. “We’re disappointed by the ruling.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Doughnuts the old-fashioned way
WEYMOUTH - By 8:30 a.m., baker Russ Glod is four hours deep into his doughnut dance. As classical music plays in the background, Glod pirouettes through the small kitchen, rolling, frying, and frosting hundreds of these circular concoctions for the busiest Dunkin’ Donuts store in the nation.
Glod is a rarity in the Dunkin’ empire. Only three dozen of the more than 2,100 shops in the Northeast still make doughnuts from scratch in the stores. Most franchisees have their baked goods delivered from a commissary, and the art of making doughnuts on site has nearly disappeared from the chain, famous for its classic 1980s “Time to Make the Donuts’’ tagline.
But the craft lives on in the wee hours at this Weymouth store on the corner of Route 18 and Park Avenue, where bakers cook through the night.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Showcasing the power of alternative energy vehicles
Strolling among the alternative energy vehicles yesterday at the Fifth AltWheels Fleet Day exposition, Staples Inc. fleet equipment manager Michael C. Payette almost immediately started talking trash.
“This may very well be the cleanest refuse truck you’ve seen in your life,’’ Payette said, stopping next to a green and white Peterbilt dump truck.
As Peterbilt district sales manager Bob Moreau explained, the trash hauler uses a “hydraulic launch assist’’ system. It stores pressure when the brakes are applied, then uses that force to propel the truck forward. In a truck that starts and stops constantly - up to 1,200 times a day - that conserves a lot of gas. “You’re saving two brake jobs a year,’’ he said, “and [up to] 25 percent of the fuel.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
October 5, 2009
Cool NE summer softened demand for electricity
New England's power grid operator says unseasonably cool weather and the economic recession drove electricity consumption down nearly six percent in the summer of 2009.
And while reduced demand helped lower wholesale prices, ISO New England warns that the region's heavy dependence on fossil fuels to generate electricity leave it vulnerable to future price volatility, as was the case in 2005 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and again when oil and natural gas prices hit historic highs in 2008.
Holyoke-based ISO said today that gas and oil-powered plants generate about 40 percent of the electricity in the six-state region, about double the national average. ISO says diversifying the mix of energy resources will make New England less vulnerable to spikes in oil and natural gas costs.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)
Internal charges are filed against Globe union head
Formal internal charges were filed today against the president of The Boston Globe's largest union, accusing him of misappropriating money or property, violating the union constitution, and disobeying orders.
The charges against Boston Newspaper Guild President Daniel Totten were filed by the union treasurer, Patrice Sneyd. Totten is accused of recently signing the name of another union officer to his paycheck, which required a countersignature, according to members with knowledge of the matter. Totten could not immediately be reached for comment, but he has denied any financial impropriety.
The charges will be presented tomorrow night to the union's governing board, which includes top officers and delegates elected from departments represented by the Guild; they will determine whether the charges conform to the constitution. If the board makes that determination, then it will begin a process that could include a trial, heard by a jury of seven selected by lottery from the general membership.
Totten, the Guild president since 2005, recently took a medical leave. Scott Steeves, the union vice president, is serving as acting president. The Guild represents more than 600 editorial, advertising, and business office workers.
Totten has come under criticism for his handling of recent negotiations with The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe, and for what some members see as his sporadic communications with members. A group of members recently launched a petition to recall Totten and other union leaders and have gathered more than 200 signatures, according to organizers.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)
State, Suffolk U plan free career seminar
A state agency said it is teaming up with Suffolk University to offer a free career seminar "designed to help job-seekers cope professionally and personally with the realities of a challenging job market."
The agency is the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and it said that the seminar, scheduled for Nov. 6, will include an "overview of employment trends in the Commonwealth from Suzanne M. Bump, secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, as well as workshops conducted by professionals from the fields of employment law, career services, finance, and psychiatry. Sessions will highlight alternatives to traditional job search methods, as well as how to handle stress and manage finances."
The Ashburton Place Career Seminar is set to take place in Room 427/429 of Suffolk University's Sawyer Building at 8 Ashburton Place, Boston.
Advance sign-up is required for the all-day seminar. For more details, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
Court upholds $2m award to Wal-Mart pharmacist
The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld a $2 million jury award to a former pharmacist at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. who claimed she was fired by the retail chain after asking to be paid the same as her male colleagues.
Cynthia Haddad was fired in 2004 after more than 10 years at a Wal-Mart store in Pittsfield. In 2007, a jury found that the company discriminated against Haddad, and awarded her $1 million in compensatory damages and another $1 million in punitive damages. A judge later revoked the $1 million award for punitive damages.
Today the Supreme Judicial Court reinstated the punitive damages and upheld the total $2 million award.
Wal-Mart claimed Haddad was fired because she allowed a technician to use her computer security code to issue prescriptions during her absence.
Posted by globebusiness at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
Mass. gas prices fall 6 cents to $2.459 a gallon
For the fifth straight week, gasoline prices in Massachusetts have fallen, dropping 6 cents a gallon in the latest AAA weekly survey, AAA Southern New England said.
AAA’s Oct. 5 survey of prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.459 per gallon; the average gallon price is down 19 cents over the last five weeks, AAA Southern New England said in a press release.
"The current price is 1 cent below the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.46," AAA Southern New England said. "A year ago at this time the average price was $3.32." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
MKS revises third-quarter guidance
MKS Instruments Inc., an Andover-based provider of technologies that enable advanced processes and improve productivity, said that third-quarter revenues and non-GAAP earnings will exceed the high end of its guidance.
"Third quarter revenue could increase approximately 34 percent sequentially, ranging from $105 million to $107 million, and surpassing the company's high end guidance of $92 million," MKS said in a press release. "The company expects to return to profitability on a non-GAAP basis and could see non-GAAP net income of approximately $0.02 to $0.04 per diluted share, compared to its original guidance of a net loss of ($0.18) to ($0.07) per basic share. GAAP net loss in the third quarter, which includes the effect of a lower effective income tax benefit, could be approximately ($0.14) to ($0.11) per basic share."
The company attributed the increase in its business to higher levels of sales at its semiconductor OEM customers, OEM standing for original equipment manufacturers.
MKS said it will release its third-quarter results on Oct. 22. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:50 AM | Comments (0)
Who, What, Where
Mark Doll has been appointed as executive vice president of products and sales at BackOffice Associates LLC, a Harwich firm focused on SAP data quality, data migration, and data governance solutions. Formerly, Doll was the managing director of Far East business advisory services for Ernst & Young.
Philip B. Taub is the new chair of the Business and Financial Services Department at Nixon Peabody LLP, a law firm with offices in Boston. Most recently, Taub led the firm’s national Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Company Transactions Practice Groups. He succeeds the department’s previous leader, Charles P. Jacobs, who will continue to concentrate his practice on representing sponsors and investors in the formation of investment funds. Jacobs currently leads the firm’s Investment Funds Practice.
Tom Alperin and Howard Cohen have been named as co-chairs of the board of directors of Hebrew SeniorLife, a nonprofit provider of senior housing, health care, research, and teaching that serves more than 5,000 seniors in eight locations throughout Greater Boston. Alperin is president and founding partner of National Development, and Howard Cohen is president and chief executive of Beacon Communities. As co-chairs, Alperin and Cohen will focus on the successful completion of NewBridge on the Charles, a new continuing care retirement community that Hebrew SeniorLife developed in Dedham as well generating philanthropic support of Hebrew SeniorLife's research and educational activities and growing the endowment.
Posted by globebusiness at 7:09 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
The most remarkable feature of the office tower rising at Russia Wharf might never be seen by its occupants or visitors. It lies within the building’s bowels, a network of pipes and valves designed to conserve more than 12.5 millions of gallons of water a year - enough to fill 19 Olympic-size swimming pools.
The system is based on a technique that the developer, Boston Properties, calls “harvesting rain.’’
Company executives said the 31-story building at Atlantic Avenue and Congress Street, scheduled to be completed in 2011, will collect nearly every drop of rain that lands on its roof. But the water won’t be flushed into storm drains - it will be used for air conditioning and irrigating landscaping.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Future MDs will put their DNA to the test
A group of doctors training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center started a unique program last week to learn about genetic tests marketed to consumers, placing them in the vanguard of preparations to guide patients through the dawning Wild West age of personalized medicine.
Part of the instruction will come from having the young physicians test their own DNA in search of genes linked to various illnesses.
Private companies have begun offering a flurry of tests that purport to tell patients their genetic risks, for everything from Parkinson’s disease to obesity. Tests that can be ordered over the Internet need only a simple cheek swab to hunt for gene variations associated with particular diseases.
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: Twitter makes Web company an easier sale
Scott Kirsner is now writing a blog, also named Innovation Economy, that highlights what’s happening in technology, life sciences, start-ups, and venture capital in New England. This column features excerpts from the blog’s posts and comments, which can be found at www.boston.com/innovation .
How Twitter helped sell a company. Frustrated by an unfulfilling gig at a start-up company, programmer Craig Spitzkoff decided to create a website as a side project. JobVent would allow anyone who had a gripe about an employer to share it online.
Spitzkoff started the site in 2004, and by this year it was attracting about 150,000 unique visitors each month, along with thousands of company reviews, and it had been featured on “Good Morning America.’’ But Spitzkoff, now a vice president of development at Raizlabs in Brookline, was also feeling like he had run out of the time and motivation to maintain the site, and he was going through a health crisis.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:34 AM | Comments (0)
October 2, 2009
CVS sees lower Medicare membership, lower profit
CVS Caremark Corp. says it believes its pharmacy benefit management business will not get as many low-income Medicare Part D members in 2010 as it did this year, which will reduce the company's profit.
CVS, which is based in Woonsocket, R.I., said it thinks low-income subsidy membership in its SilverScript and Accendo plans will fall 30 to 35 percent in 2010, which would reduce its profit by 3 to 4 cents per share. The estimate is based on an early review of the Medicare bidding process released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Low-income subsidy members are assigned to providers based on bids that are divided up into regions. CVS said it believes Silverscript and Accendo plans qualified to receive automatically assigned members in 15 regions in 27 states. That compares with 30 regions in 46 states and Washington, D.C., in 2009.
Earlier this year, CVS said that other Medicare Part D regulatory changes would cut its 2010 profit by 5 to 7 cents per share. On average, analysts expect a profit of $3.01 per share for the company, which operates one of the largest pharmacy benefits management businesses in the U.S., along with more than 7,000 drugstores.
In afternoon trading, CVS Caremark shares fell 9 cents to $35.78.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)
Southern Union must pay $18m in RI mercury case
PROVIDENCE - The Southern Union gas company has been ordered to pay $18 million for illegally storing hazardous mercury waste in a rundown building in Rhode Island.
US District Judge William Smith today fined the Texas company $6 million and ordered an additional $12 million in payments. He said the company had committed a "serious crime" and that the fine should deter other corporations from breaking environmental laws.
The company was convicted last year of storing mercury without a permit in an abandoned Pawtucket building. The mercury had been removed from 1960s-era home gas regulators. The mercury was exposed to the public after vandals broke into the building in 2004 and dumped it at a nearby low-income apartment complex.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
Aquarium unveils new phase of Live Blue initiative
The New England Aquarium is launching a new phase of its outreach campaign that urges people to live "blue lifestyles," said Mullen, the Boston ad agency that works on the campaign.
Called the "Live Blue Initiative," the campaign seeks to alert people that their lifestyle choices have an impact on the health of oceans.
"From agreeing to unplug appliances when they aren’t being used to driving hybrid cars to choosing ocean-friendly seafood, visitors to the Aquarium’s Live Blue Initiative (liveblueinitative.org) are publicly committing to living blue lifestyles and are sharing the message with their friends, family, and colleagues," the aquarium said in a press release issued when the campaign kicked off.
The second phase of the campaign focuses more on the animals and the fish, a Mullen spokesman said.
"The Live Blue Initiative is an educational and social networking experience created by Mullen in conjunction with the New England Aquarium," the release said. "The message: When a lot of people do something small, they can have a great impact.
“We hope to engage thousands of people and educate them about the small things they can do every day that will make a big difference in the health of the oceans and the sea and plant life that inhabit," Jane Wolfson, the aquarium's vice president of marketing and communications, said in a statement.
The screen-grab of a page from the Live Blue website was provided by Mullen. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
Staples aims to improve its environmental footprint
Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, said it has signed an agreement with the Rainforest Alliance to analyze and improve the environmental and social footprint of the company's paper supply.
The Rainforest Alliance is a nonprofit conservation organization. To read a Rainforest Alliance press release about the agreement, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
Rosengren: Fed should keep stimulating economy
The Federal Reserve and federal government should maintain policies that stimulate the US economy until unemployment begins to retreat and the threat of a destructive downward cycle of prices known as deflation recedes, Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Band of Boston, said today.
Rosengren, addressing the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said that policy makers risk undermining a fragile recovery if they move too soon to raise interest rates, eliminate Fed lending programs, cut federal spending, or raise taxes to reduce the federal deficit.
After suffering a severe banking crisis and recession in the 1990s, for example, the Japanese government raised taxes to reduce deficits as soon as the first signs of a recovery appeared, Rosengren said. The result was another recession and an extended period of deflation.
Deflation, which marked the Great Depression, occurs when the economy is so weak that there is little demand for goods. Businesses slash prices to attract buyers, who stay on the sidelines waiting for prices to fall further. Inventories build, businesses cut production, and more workers lose jobs. Consumers cut spending more, and the cycle repeats.
"It is important that monetary and fiscal policy continue to support the economy until private sector spending has resumed, and until we are confident that the recovery will continue once the programs that have supported the economy over the past year are removed,'' Rosengren said. "We need to be sure the economy continues on a path that will bring the unemployment rate down."
Following last year's financial crisis and economic free fall, the Fed slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero and pumped more than $1 trillion into the economy through various programs, including the purchase of government and mortgage backed securities. The federal government, meanwhile, is running up $1 trillion-plus deficits to cover the costs of financial bailout and stimulus spending programs.
Many economists have raised concerns that these policies could spark an inflationary cycle if they are kept in place too long. The danger comes if demand starts to grow too quickly and rapidly drive up prices.
Rosengren, however, said falling prices remain a greater danger than rising ones. The economy, while recovering, remains weak. Inflation as measured by the core personal consumption expenditure index, a benchmark preferred by the Fed, is running at 1.3 percent a year, well below policy makers' comfort zone of about 2 percent.
Lending has improved, but not returned to normal, Rosengren said. Falling commercial real estate prices and rising loan delinquencies pose new problems for banks. The unemployment rate, approaching 10 percent, is cutting incomes and holding down wages. US households, meanwhile, have yet to recover from stock market and housing crashes, further restraining consumer spending.
These conditions suggest that policy makers should maintain stimulative policies until the recovery gains traction, Rosengren said.
"Despite the many positive signs, we are seeing in the economy, the financial markets and the real economy need more time to heal,'' Rosengren said. "In particular, we need the economy to grow rapidly enough that unemployment falls substantially and inflation settles at a rate near 2 percent."
(File photo of Rosengren: John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)
Restaurant readies for spinach-eating contest
(Handout file image of a famous spinach connoisseur.)
Does Popeye know about this? A restaurant chain called b.good has scheduled a spinach-eating competition for tomorrow. First prize: A championship belt and free b.good burgers for a year - something Wimpy would love.
The contest is set to take place 3 p.m. tomorrow at Legacy Place, the new shopping complex in Dedham, according to a media advisory from b.good. Folks who want to take part can enter at www.bgood.com. Be advised: "Professional competitive eaters" will be among your rivals, the b.good media alert says.
The holy grail of the casual restaurant business is serving quality fast-food - a culinary oxymoron at many not-so-fine dining establishments. But b.good is undaunted. According to its media alert, dishing up a quick quality burger is its quest. When b.good drags a burger through the garden - restaurant lingo for accessorizing beef patties with lettuce and tomato - avocado and cilantro can be along for the ride, not to mention "garlicky greens," carmelized onions, and buffalo sauce. The b.good mantra for its house-ground, hand-packed choice American beef: Real. Food. Fast. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:18 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Is bank chief's retiring forced?
Ken Lewis’s explanation that he will retire soon from Bank of America Corp. on his own terms continued to be met with skepticism yesterday. Meanwhile, government investigators vowed to keep investigating the company’s controversial acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Lewis’s announcement that he will step down as chief executive at the end of this year was notable for several reasons: He had given no inkling of plans to leave so soon; it came just before New York investigators are expected to bring fraud charges against top bank officials over the Merrill deal; and perhaps most striking, there was no successor in sight, or even a process to choose one.
Peter S. Cohan, a Marlborough management consultant who teaches at Babson College, said it is unusual for a chief executive to resign without lining up a successor first.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Making profits for a purpose
CAMBRIDGE - Backed by a $50 million gift from a self-made billionaire, a young MIT center is betting Third World development will come not from governments but from profit-driven entrepreneurs who use technology to create jobs.
The center’s founder and director, Iqbal Z. Quadir, has set a powerful example for his students to follow. He built Grameenphone in his native Bangladesh from a cellphone start-up in the 1990s into a business serving more than 20 million subscribers. The company’s Village Phone program has set up more than 270,000 rural women in small businesses selling phone calls. Grameenphone, now valued at more than $3 billion, goes public next week with an initial public offering in Bangladesh.
Quadir won’t benefit. He sold his interest five years ago, and plunged into creating his entrepreneurship center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship holds its second annual conference at MIT today with speakers including Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Biotech firms feel funding squeeze
Life-sciences companies face a funding squeeze as pharmaceutical giants consolidate and financial markets cool toward biotechnology start-ups, industry leaders said yesterday.
“The biotechnology industry is a huge consumer of capital,’’ Peter Wirth, executive vice president at Genzyme Corp., the giant Cambridge biotechnology company, told a leadership panel at Suffolk Law School. “It takes a billion dollars to develop a drug. The critical dilemma now is how are we going to continue to pay for innovation.’’
In the past, drug development was funded by venture capital firms and other private investors in biotech and medical technology start-ups, but such backers have become discouraged by increasingly longer development cycles and a dearth of initial public offerings during the economic downturn, executives said.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: It's all about experience
Everyone, even manic TV stockpicker Jim Cramer, seemed to have something to say about Brian Moynihan yesterday.
For the record, Cramer thought Bank of America Corp. directors should give the company’s top job to Moynihan. Decide for yourself if that endorsement is good news or a bad sign for Boston’s favorite candidate to succeed outgoing chief executive Ken Lewis.
All the world knew Lewis was on the way out, sooner or later. But the announcement Wednesday that he had decided to leave at the end of this year threw a wrench into what had looked like sensible succession management.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Money bus offers free tips on saving, spending
There’s a bus full of money parked on City Hall Plaza - figuratively, at least.
There isn’t actual cash on the “Your Money Bus,’’ but Boston is the first stop on the nationwide tour of 25 cities in which local business specialists and financial planners offer free one-on-one financial advice. A certified financial planner can cost $150 to $300 per hour, but during the two-day event that started yesterday and runs through today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., planners by the Government Center MBTA station will give tips on saving money, spending wisely, and getting on the right financial track.
“Basically, we want to point people in the right direction to resolve some of the financial issues they have,’’ said certified financial planner Janice Swenor of Westminster-based Langtree Associates. “There’s not a whole lot we can do in 15 to 20 minutes, but if we can point them to the place to go to really start the process.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)
October 1, 2009
Dunkin' president steps down
Dunkin' Donuts president and chief brand officer William Kussell is stepping down from his post and Dunkin' Brands chief executive Nigel Travis is taking over the day-to-day operations, effective immediately.
Kussell, a key player in helping Dunkin' intensify its focus on coffee, will stay on as a consultant through the end of the year and has not detailed future plans. Travis, in a phone interview today, said he wants Dunkin' Donuts to be more responsive to changing consumer trends and increasing competition.
"You can expect to see us sharpen our stores and be more competitive in terms of price, product, and advertising," Travis said. "We need to be very fast on our feet and using every weapon that we can."
Posted by kstringer at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)
State resolution to boycott Hyatt shot down
Republicans today shot down a Senate resolution by three state Democrats to boycott Hyatt Hotels Corp. The resolution was filed in response to the hotel chain's firing of 98 staff housekeepers from the three Boston-area Hyatts to replace them with lower-paid workers from an outsourcing company.
“It’s like throwing ice water on the economy,” Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei told the State House News Service. “The bottom line is, there are a lot of businesses that are hanging on, just barely hanging on and just barely able to stay in business in this business climate.”
According to the resolution, introduced by Senators Anthony Galluccio, Jack Hart, and Anthony Petruccelli, the Senate would recommend that “state department and agencies, city governments, and elected officials refrain from using the Hyatt’s services until the housekeeping staff employees are restored to their original employment and work conditions.”
Tisei condemned the resolution during an informal Senate session, in which one senator can prevent the Senate from taking action, saying it was "unprecedented" for a state to advocate boycotting a private business. Galluccio said he will reintroduce the resolution at the Senate’s next formal session.
Last week, Gov. Deval Patrick said he would call for state employees to boycott Hyatt facilities while on official business if the housekeepers' jobs aren't restored. The hotel company then offered to place the workers with a staffing firm at their old wages, a proposal a majority of the housekeepers have rejected.
Today at 5:30 p.m., Unite Here Local 26, which has been supporting the nonunionized housekeepers, has organized a picket in front of the Hyatt Regency Boston downtown. The housekeepers will be joined at the Hyatt by workers and community leaders from the Rally for Jobs -- sponsored by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, the Greater Boston Labor Council and Massachusetts Jobs With Justice -- who will be marching from the Verizon offices on Franklin Street to the Hyatt.
Posted by kstringer at 3:22 PM | Comments (0)
Putnam chief calls for new kind of retirement plans
The head of Putnam Investments said in a speech that what's needed is a new generation of workplace savings plans that protect people from economic downturns such as the recession that the country is now enduring.
Putnam, a Boston money management firm, issued a press release that included excerpts from a speech made by Putnam Investments president and chief executive Robert L. Reynolds to the National Investment Company Service Association's East Coast regional meeting in Boston .
According to the press release, Reynolds told his audience, "We need to do more to protect working Americans from the inflation, volatility, and longevity risks that can make lifelong security in retirement so hard to reach."
He added that that 401(k) retirement savings plans should be made much more resistant to market downturns, he added.
"Preserving wealth is an active endeavor," Reynolds said. "Index funds and other passive investments that track benchmarks are guaranteed to lose value when the markets they track sink, as we saw happen to the investments of many workers last year. People in or near retirement are not well served by too-great a concentration of passive investments, thinking they are a protection against a downturn."
Today's speech revisited some points on retirement savings that Reynolds made earlier. To visit pages on Putnam's website that summarize those points, please click here.
To read Putnam press release from today, which outlined some of Reynolds' recommendations, please click here.
File photo of Reynolds was taken by Chitose Suzuki of the AP. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:56 AM | Comments (0)
Teradyne updates guidance
Teradyne Inc. updated guidance for its third quarter and now expects revenue in the $250 million to $260 million range.
The North Reading company, which makes testing equipment for electronics manufacturing, added that net income per share is expected to be $0.10 to $0.13 on a non-GAAP basis and a net loss per share of $0.03 to $0.00 on a GAAP basis.
"Previous guidance for the third quarter, provided on July 29, was for revenue of $190 to $205 million, with a non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.02 to net income per share of $0.02 and a GAAP net loss per share between $0.13 and $0.09," the company said in a press release.
Teradyne will discuss its third quarter results and provide guidance for the fourth quarter on a conference call late at the end of October. The company's third quarter ends Oct. 4.
A recent Globe story noted that one reason why Massachusetts is likely to rebound from the recession sooner than the nation is that many companies in the state are boosted by increasing exports. Teradyne ships about two-thirds of its products overseas. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)
Cybex looks to raise breast cancer awareness
Cybex International Inc., a Medway-based manufacturer of exercise equipment, unveiled its latest effort to support breast cancer research.
The company said that hundreds of its CYBEX 750T pink treadmills are deployed in health clubs, YMCA’s, hotels and spas, student recreation centers, corporate employee gyms and other exercise facilities around the country, and Cybex said it will donate 10 cents to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for every mile logged on its pink treadmills throughout the month of October - October is breast cancer awareness month.
The photo that appears with this post was provided by Cybex. For more information on the Cybex campaign, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)
Beancounters to descend on Beantown
Dust off the green eye-shades and recharge those pocket calculators: Boston is scheduled to play host to a convention of accountants next year.
The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has booked its 2010 national expo from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, an association spokeswoman said. The event is expected to draw hundreds of accountants, she added.
According to association president and chief executive David Costello, Boston is the perfect venue for an accountants' convention.
“Boston is a hub of education, finance, and government activities and is a prime location for next year’s event,” Costello said in a statement. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)
Vampires, Halloween, and Michael Jackson. Oh, my!
(AP file photo of actor Bela Lugosi as the vampire Dracula)
Faux fangs and black capes could be must-have accessories this Halloween as vampire costumes promise to be big this year.
According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, vampires, princesses, police officers, and pirates are the inspirations for the most sought-after Halloween costumes in 2009, while Batman and Obama costumes are so last year. And don't even think about dressing up like a politician or a nurse.
"Once again, witches take the top spot for adult costumes (18.1 percent)," the merchants association said in a press release. "Thanks to popular books, movies, and television series, vampire costumes jumped to the number two spot (4.2 percent) from third last year. Hardest hit this year were nurse costumes, which fell from number five to number 13, and political figures, which didn’t even make the list."
Meanwhile, Yahoo! of Yahoo.com fame is conducting its own Halloween research, and early returns suggest that this Halloween could see many Michael Jackson impersonators. (Jackson is shown at right in an AP file photo.)
Who knows? With fangs, spats, and glitter, a moon-walking vampire just might take the cake this year - or at least a big bag full of Halloween candy. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:17 AM | Comments (2)
Today in Globe Business
New day, new fray for labor chief
Janice Loux knows a thing or two about putting up a fight.
The union president was thrown in jail for trying to give workers at the Logan Airport Hilton turkeys one Thanksgiving. She helped a pregnant Haitian worker block a truck at a Roxbury laundry where workers were on strike. And when the Amsterdam restaurant at the Park Plaza Hotel put curtains on the lower windows to block out the union’s 406-day picket line, Loux brought in a stilt walker to keep the protest visible inside.
Now, the head of Unite Here Local 26, which represents hotel workers, is locking horns with Hyatt Hotels Corp. over its firing of 98 nonunion housekeepers - staffers replaced with lower-paid workers from a subcontracting firm. Loux organized pickets and press conferences and meetings between housekeepers and the governor, who threatened a state boycott against Hyatt. And on Monday, Loux vowed to go after the hotel company’s big customers unless it reinstates the workers.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Bank of America sells mutual fund unit
Bank of America Corp. has found a buyer for its Boston-based mutual fund unit, Columbia Management.
The banking giant, which has been peddling Columbia for at least five months, announced a deal yesterday to sell much of the business, including the Columbia name, to Ameriprise Financial Inc. of Minneapolis for as much as $1.2 billion in cash.
Ameriprise, which was spun off from American Express four years ago, agreed to buy Columbia’s flagship stock and bond fund business, which boasts $165 billion in assets. Bank of America is still considering a sale or other options for the rest of Columbia’s business - $170 billion in money market funds.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Lewis to step down as Bank of America CEO
Bank of America Corp. chief executive Kenneth Lewis’s unexpected decision to retire in a few short months appears to complicate Boston banker Brian Moynihan’s efforts to become head of the nation’s largest bank, an industry analyst said yesterday.
Late yesterday, Bank of America announced that Lewis, who had been CEO for eight years and was three years from mandatory retirement age, would step down in three months, at the end of this year.
Lewis had been under fire from politicians and regulators in Washington and New York for how he handled the bank’s $50 billion acquisition of then tottering investment company Merrill Lynch, although in a statement Lewis would only say that “now is the time to begin to transition to the next generation of leadership at Bank of America.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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E Ink's buyer sweetens the deal
The company that agreed in June to buy E Ink Corp. of Cambridge for $215 million in cash said yesterday it is sweetening the deal after some E Ink investors complained that the price undervalued the technology behind the success of Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader.
Prime View International of Taiwan disclosed that it has modified its purchase agreement by offering E Ink shareholders convertible shares of Prime View in addition to the cash in the original agreement. If the market value of Prime View increases, the shares can be converted into common stock in the Taiwanese company.
The amended deal is “a win-win,’’ said Russ Wilcox, chief executive of E Ink. Wilcox said it reflects the fact that Prime View will benefit from the explosive growth E Ink has undergone in the months since the initial deal was signed. Its sales vaulted 250 percent for the first nine months of 2009 compared with last year. At the same time, Wilcox said, E Ink investors now will share in Prime View’s anticipated growth.
To read the full story, please click here.
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For many, price of heat may offset winter woes
Winter’s coming, but breathe easy.
While the average cost of heating oil in the Northeast is expected to rise to $2.73 a gallon this season, that’s only 7 cents higher than last winter - and nowhere near what it was in the summer of 2008, when a gallon of heating oil surged to $4.71, and many worried it would soon go to $5.
The price forecast may ease one fear for bill-conscious consumers who are worried about losing their jobs or making ends meet.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Space viewed as a frontier for business
Rocket ships and outer space conjure up images of shuttle launches, moon landings, and the wonders of the unknown beyond Earth’s atmosphere. But for about 130 attendees of the Space Investment Summit yesterday at the Hynes Convention Center, these things are just business as usual.
The summit, which came to Boston for the first time since it started in 2007, gives entrepreneurs with space-related ideas an opportunity to try to convince prospective investors that their ideas are more than science fiction fantasies, but rather the next big thing.
Paul Eckert, international and commercial strategist with Boeing, had a large role in creating the summit, which has previously been held seven times in cities such as New York and Orlando, Fla.
To read the full story, please click here.
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TECH LAB: Microsoft's free antivirus program changes game
You paid for your antivirus software? Why?
Good free options have been available for years, mainly from no-name companies. Nervous consumers figure they’re better off buying major brands, like Norton security software from Symantec Corp. Well, here’s a major brand for you: Microsoft Corp.
Security Essentials is now available at microsoft.com. It is the successor to the company’s Windows Live OneCare, a $49.95 computer protection suite that included identity theft protection, a firewall program, and a file backup utility along with the malware detector. OneCare never gained traction, perhaps because its early versions received savage reviews from independent testing labs. Microsoft learned its lessons, and this summer, OneCare was ranked second among 16 rivals by one major testing lab.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:37 AM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2009
Channel 5 is set to launch talk show on local politics
With politics commanding the Boston airwaves recently, WCVB-TV (Channel 5) has decided to launch a new weekly show dedicated to political discussions.
This Sunday at 10 a.m., WCVB is set to debut "On The Record,'' or "OTR," which will be hosted by anchor Ed Harding and Janet Wu, the station's State House reporter.
The inaugural show's featured guest is US Representative Michael E. Capuano of Somerville, a candidate in the Democratic primary for the US Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy. Each week, a guest, Harding, and Wu will talk about the latest in the Boston mayoral race, the upcoming senatorial race as well as the gubernatorial race.
“The Bay State is in a unique political position that is perfect for the launch of a forum like 'OTR,'” Harding said in a statement. “Voters today enjoy a wealth of political battles from the Boston mayoral race and the highly competitive special senatorial election to the 2010 gubernatorial contest and congressional races.”
Said Wu, "We plan to open a window on the personalities of our guests so that Massachusetts voters can judge for themselves if these news makers are prepared, believable, and credible.”
A soap box segment on the show will feature WCVB Chronicle reporter Ted Reinsten.
It's not the first time WCVB has had a regular political feature. Before veteran anchor Natalie Jacobson retired in 2007, she regularly profiled nominees in various local and regional races as well as presidential candidates stumping for votes in the New Hampshire primary.
Posted by globebusiness at 3:58 PM | Comments (0)
BofA sells some asset management ops to Ameriprise
Bank of America Corp. said it is selling the long-term asset management business of one of its units to Ameriprise Financial Inc.
Ameriprise, a financial planning services firm based in Minneapolis, will pay between $900 million and $1.2 billion in cash for the long-term asset management business of Columbia Management, a Bank of America unit based in Boston. The division has $165 billion in equity and fixed-income assets under management. The final price will be based on asset flows and investor consents leading up to the closing of the deal.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America has been among the banks hardest hit by the recession and mounting loan losses. The bank has received $45 billion in government bailout money over the past year. It was also required by the government in May to raise an additional $33.9 billion to help protect against potential future losses should the economy struggle to recover.
At that time, analysts predicted Bank of America could shed Columbia Management as part of its capital-raising efforts. However, the bank ended up raising the necessary money through other asset sales, stock offers and debt conversions.
Bank of America said it is still considering what to do with the short-term cash asset management business currently run by Columbia.
Boston-based Columbia Management was acquired by Bank of America in 2004 as part of its acquisition of FleetBoston Financial. Bank of America combined its asset management business with FleetBoston's, keeping the Columbia Management name.
Bank of America decided to sell the long-term asset manager, which includes managing the Columbia family of mutual funds, after completing a review of all its operations this year. The companywide review came after the purchase of investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. in January.
Ameriprise said the acquisition will boost its earnings within one year, excluding integration costs. The financial firm said the acquisition will generate between $130 million and $150 million in annual cost savings, with about half of the savings being realized in the first year after the purchase is completed.
Combined with its current operations, Ameriprise will manage about $400 billion in assets after the deal is completed.
The deal is expected to close in the spring of 2010.
Shares of Bank of America rose 11 cents to $17.27 in morning trading, while Ameriprise shares surged $3.96, or 12.2 percent, to $36.30.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:42 AM | Comments (3)
Who, What, Where
Thomas P. Fay and Brian O’Connor have joined Citizens Financial Group, the Providence holding company that owns Citizens Bank. Fay's title is chief investment officer and director of wealth management services. O’Connor is senior vice president and head of relationship management for Citizens’ newly created premier banking business. Fay and O’Connor report to Mike Millard, president and chief executive of Citizens Wealth Management. Prior to joining Citizens, Fay was managing director at US Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management in Boston. O’Connor also joins Citizens from Bank of America, where he most recently served as Northern New England regional executive of premier banking and investments.
Diane Jorkasky, MD, has been appointed senior vice president, head of development, and chief medical officer at Aileron Therapeutics, a Cambridge biotechnology company. Jorkasky joins Aileron after nearly a decade at Pfizer, where she most recently served as vice president of development, head of worldwide clinical research operations, and leader of the operational excellence board for development.
Nancy Hanright has joined Diversified Project Management as a project manager. Headquartered in Newton, Diversified Project Management is an owner's representative firm that provides such services as project management, construction administration, and move-planning.
Posted by globebusiness at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
Cheapskate Halloween could yield more creativity
Halloween falling on a Saturday, as it does this year, is generally a boon for merchants who sell candy and costumes - Saturday nights puts trick-or-treaters into a partying mood and disposed to down way too much candy corn - but even a Halloween Saturday is unlikely to save retailers from a scary bottom line this year.
In a poll commissioned by the National Retail Federation, respondents say they plan to cut back on Halloween spending this year because of the recession - and to save money, some may even use last year's costumes, a frightening prospect for those who traffick in ghost, ghoul, and vampire outfits.
According to the survey, consumers are expected to spend an average of $56.31 on Halloween, down from $66.54 last year, and total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $4.75 billion.
While acknowledging the gloom and doom of tough times, National Retail Federation president and chief executive Tracy Mullin sought to look for a silver lining; trick-or-treaters on a budget, Mullin reasoned, could result in an outbreak of costume creativity.
“The economy has caught up to Halloween this year,” Mullin said in a statement. “Since retailers know that Americans will be looking to celebrate on a budget, there’s no doubt we will see creative costume and decorating ideas in every price point imaginable.”
The photo of pumpkins at right was included with the federation's press release.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)
Southwest Airlines is offering discount fares
Southwest has sprung a sale for travel through Feb. 11. Sale fares from Logan run as low as $59-$149 each way and reservations must be made before Oct. 16.
This sale, while not offering the kinds of reductions we saw in July, is unusual for a couple of reasons. First, travel dates for these kinds of deals are typically restricted to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, which reflect an attempt by carriers to fill seats on the slowest days for business travel. But this sale is available every day, except Fridays and Sundays.
And many sales in this time period black out days around Thanksgiving and Christmas. For this offer, seats appear to be limited but have not been taken off the table.
"Is this Southwest's best sale ever? No.,'' said Rick Seaney, CEO of Farecompare.com, an airfare comparison shopping site. "But will people pay about $40-$50 less than they would have the day before the sale? Yes.''
Posted by globebusiness at 6:59 AM | Comments (1)
Today in Globe Business
Signs point to recovery in Mass. housing
Massachusetts home sales posted the second consecutive month of year-over-year increases in August as more buyers came off the sidelines and prices continued to rise, the clearest signs yet the housing market is beginning a recovery, analysts said.
Three groups released data measuring various aspects of the housing market yesterday, but the results were consistently positive. Single-family home sales last month rose about a half percent compared with August 2008, following a surge in July, when sales jumped nearly 13 percent from a year earlier, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported.
The Boston real estate tracking firm Warren Group, which analyzes a wider range of transactions than the realtors association, reported even stronger gains in August, with home sales rising 2 percent from August 2008. That followed a 12 percent year-over-year jump in July, according to Warren Group.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Overdraft fees, loan practices targeted
Massachusetts lawmakers will consider new rules today to protect consumers from abuses involving overdraft charges on bank accounts, unsolicited loans from financial institutions, and reverse mortgages.
For instance, State Senator Steven Baddour, a Democrat from Methuen, has filed a bill to require institutions that mail unsolicited loan offers - such as the checks sent out by many credit card companies - to comply with a set of conditions. The companies would be required to allow consumers to return the loan proceeds within 10 days at no cost, and not hold them liable if someone forges a signature to cash in on the loan.
Companies would have to include a prominent warning that the checks constitute a loan that must be repaid, explain the terms of the loan in plain English, and let consumers opt out of receiving future solicitations.
To read the full story, please click here.
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From crumbling to chic
HAVERHILL - On the once-contaminated site of a decaying shoe factory, a thriving neighborhood is growing with the opening of hundreds of chic apartments, part of a renaissance in this Merrimack River mill city, which has seen plenty of hard times.
Longtime residents like Richard Lynch never believed the crumbling brick buildings and trash-filled parking lots near downtown could be recreated as modern housing with exposed brick, wood beams, and even a cyber cafe.
Today, however, developers, residents and government officials - including Governor Deval Patrick - are scheduled to celebrate the official opening of the 305-unit, four-building Hamel Mill Lofts complex, one of several Haverhill developments spurred by state and federal incentives.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Boston Scientific, J&J reach stent acccord
WASHINGTON - Boston Scientific Corp., one of Massachusetts’ largest life-sciences companies, has agreed to pay $716.3 million to Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis unit to end some of the patent litigation over heart devices that has bedeviled the companies for more than a decade.
The agreement concludes more than a dozen lawsuits, the companies said. The suits include one filed in federal court in Wilmington, Del., 12 years ago over the basic architecture of stents, Cordis said.
Boston Scientific, of Natick, Mass., and New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J have been suing each other since 1997 over technology for cardiac stents, which prop open heart arteries after they have been cleared of plaque.
To read the full story, please click here.
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New health plan for immigrants limits network
Many immigrants will no longer be able to get care from three major Boston-area health care networks as of tomorrow, when the state’s new health plan for 31,000 legal immigrants begins.
Executives of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, and Cambridge Health Alliance said last night that they were denied contracts by the insurance company selected by the state to serve the immigrants. That denial, the hospital officials said, will mean that many of their roughly 10,000 patients will face significant disruptions as they are forced to find new physicians in the network of state-subsidized CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts, and their records are transferred to new providers.
‘‘Patients that expect to have a relationship with a certain doctor or hospital are all of a sudden told they can’t have it because an insurance company is intentionally limiting the network’’ for no good reason, said Paul Levy, chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:24 AM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2009
City Council threatens a Hyatt boycott over firings
The City of Boston formally joined the battle against Hyatt today, issuing a resolution condemning the hotel company's "poor treatment of its employees" and stating that the City Council will join the boycott of the company unless the 98 housekeepers fired at the three Boston-area hotels and replaced by lower-paid workers are given their jobs back.
"This is not something that should be happening in our city," said council president Michael Ross, one of several city councilors who have already spoken out publicly against Hyatt. "And if it is happening in our city. We have an obligation and a duty to speak out loudly against it."
How much business that the city does with Hyatt is unclear. "Hyatt does business in the city, and that's the relationship," Ross said, adding that the council is not threatening to take any licensing or permitting away from the hotel company.
The council is scheduled vote on the resolution on Wednesday.
Posted by kstringer at 5:30 PM | Comments (11)
Who, What, Where
Mary Cummins, Ben Hohn, and Kraig Schulz have new jobs as managing directors at Leerink Swann, a Boston-based investment banking firm that focuses on health care companies. The three are joining the firm's management consultant arm, the Strategic Advisory Group. Before joining Leerink Swann, Cummins spent 17 years at the Boston Consulting Group, where she was a partner. Hohn comes from the Monitor Group, where he was a partner. And Schulz was a partner at Marakon Associates.
Cheryl McKinnon is now chief marketing officer at Nuxeo, a provider of open-source enterprise content management software and services. Nuxeo is headquartered in Paris with offices in Boston. Most recently, McKinnon was director of program management and enterprise 2.0 at Open Text. McKinnon's hire is the first of at least 15 new positions announced to accelerate sales, product development, and engineering capacity in both Boston and Paris, Nuxeo said.
Chuck Moran has been promoted to the position of chief marketing officer at Burst Media, a Burlington-based provider of advertising representation, services, and technology to independent Web publishers. Most recently, he served as the company’s vice president of marketing.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Bounce in market provides local surge
With some of the biggest US car makers fighting for survival, it might not seem the best time to buy auto stocks.
Yet among the best performing mutual funds now is Fidelity Investments’ Select Automotive fund, which is up an eye-popping 95 percent since the beginning of the year.
With the Dow Jones industrial average inching up toward the 10,000 barrier, the current stock rally has been a boon for local investment firms such as Fidelity. Many companies have funds that are posting above-average returns, with Putnam Investments and Eaton Vance in particular beating a majority of their competitors. And many firms are now seeing customers increase contributions to their investment accounts.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Boston again lands biggest biotech convention
The world’s largest annual gathering of the biotechnology industry is once again coming to Boston, despite warnings that new state regulations would deter convention organizers from bringing such events back to the state.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts officials passed what was dubbed the “gift ban,’’ regulations that limit the contributions, gratuities, and meals pharmaceutical and medical device firms can give to doctors. At the time, Robert Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, warned that the new rules, which were considered to be the most stringent in the nation, would make event organizers think twice before coming back to Boston.
“Massachusetts is now seen as the most unfriendly state in the nation toward industry,’’ Coughlin said in March. “In these tough economic times, you don’t want to send a chilling message to an industry that’s a growth industry.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Victims don't forget
The worst kind of financial scams are all about violating personal trust. That’s why victims don’t forgive and they don’t forget.
Today’s example: The lingering case of Gerald Issokson and his Dorchester real estate finance Ponzi scheme. Many years after Issokson misappropriated his first dollar, the case is scheduled to be in front of a judge yet again in Suffolk Superior court tomorrow.
The scale of the Issokson scam sounds almost quaint by today’s post-Madoff standards. The losses were measured in millions of dollars, not billions, and the names of the victims could fit on a single piece of paper. But Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley still called it the largest white-collar crime case ever handled by his office when Issokson was sentenced to prison in 2004.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2009
Fired Hyatt housekeepers vote to reject hotel chain's job offer
Seventy-seven of the 98 fired Hyatt housekeepers met for two hours today at the Unite Here Local 26 union office and came to the unanimous decision that they would not accept the Hyatt Hotel Corp.'s offer to place them in jobs with a staffing organization.
"No way Hyatt," the housekeepers chanted at a press conference across the streets from the Hyatt Regency Boston.
"We want our jobs back, nothing else," said Lucine Williams, who worked at that downtown Hyatt for nearly 22 years. "We will not accept temp positions that are designed to put others out of work."
Union president Janice Loux declared an official boycott against the Hyatt, promising to aggressively go after Hyatt's customers and ask them not to do business with the hotel company. The housekeepers did not belong to the union, which represents local hotel workers.
Responding to public pressure over the firings, on Friday Hyatt offered the housekeepers fired at the three Boston-area Hyatts full-time positions with United Service Companies, a Chicago-based staffing organization that the hotel uses for contract labor at hospitals, hotels, and shopping centers. If they accept one of these jobs, the housekeepers will be guaranteed their Hyatt rate of pay through the end of next year and their Hyatt health care benefits through the end of March. Those who don't take the jobs will be offered career assistance and receive their Hyatt wages through the end of March or until they find a permanent job.
The Hyatt's Aug. 31 move to fire the Boston housekeepers, who made about $15 an hour, and replace them with subcontracted workers who make about half as much, sparked an uproar, prompting businesses to cancel conventions and Governor Deval Patrick to threaten a state boycott of the hotel chain if the housekeepers' jobs weren't restored. As of late Monday afternoon, Patrick had not yet called off the planned boycott.
Posted by kstringer at 4:19 PM | Comments (107)
AT&T schedules two Massachusetts job fairs
AT&T said it has scheduled two Massachusetts job fairs for Wednesday to help fill more than 100 open positions across Massachusetts, S0uthern New Hampshire. and Rhode Island.
AT&T, a giant communications company, said it needs more workers because of the continued expansion of its wireless business segment.
Candidates interested in a career with AT&T are invited to attend Wednesday informational sessions that will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at two locations - the Hilton Dedham at 25 Allied Drive in Dedham and at Doubletree Guest Suites at 550 Winter St. in Waltham.
Additional information can be found at www.att.jobs. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)
Bay State Banner plans dialogue on its future
The Bay State Banner, the Boston newspaper focuses on the black community, will have a community meeting this Wednesday to discuss the paper's future.
The meeting, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., will be held at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., in Roxbury.
Newspaper officials will discuss upcoming plans for the paper including a new subscriber club card that gives members discounts at local businesses.
The 44-year-old paper, which temporarily shuttered July 9 for a month, raised its subscription fee from $20 for anyone to $48 a year for Bay State residents and $55 for those out of state. The paper relaunched on Aug. 6 after accepting a $200,000 loan from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning agency.
At Wednesday's meeting, newspaper officials will update the community on the paper's business plan with Next Street Financial LLC, to keep the paper operating in the long term.
"This is our dialogue with the community," said Sandra Casagrand, vice president, marketing and sales director at the Banner. "It's about what our future plans are and how the community can be supportive."
To read some recent Globe coverage of the Banner, please click here.
Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)
QB Ryan will get more close shaves from Gillette
(Matt Ryan shows off a well shaven mug in this Reuters file photo.)
Former Boston College football star Matt Ryan can take heart in a consolation prize of sorts. A day after his Atlanta Falcons were beaten by the New England Patriots, Gillette announced that Ryan, now the Falcons quarterback, will be part of new ads for Gillette's Fusion razor.
No doubt the ads will suggest that the Fusion razor will provide more of comfort zone for young Ryan than Gillette Stadium proved to be for him yesterday.
A Gillette press release said the ads will note that a sleek new look Fusion boasts of a five-blade shaving surface that provides for "unsurpassed comfort and proven performance even on sensitive skin."
More than 40 percent of men claim to have sensitive skin, and Ryan is among them. As a result, he is an ideal spokesman for ads that suggest that the Fusion is the ideal razor for men with sensitive skin, the release said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)
CBS will partner with GlobalPost
(File photo: Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)
GlobalPost.com, an international news website launched by two longtime Boston journalists, landed its biggest partner - CBS News. But whether the Boston-based site will be financially viable is still unclear.
The alliance, announced this morning, does provide GlobalPost a well-known established platform to promote its brand of global news from its 74 correspondents based in 50 countries.
"Think about our correspondent core as a first line of defense of CBS News,'' said Philip S. Balboni, the site's co-founder and a former executive at New England Cable News. "We can feed information back to CBS in the event of something important happening to that country that could take the form of a phone interview that gets cut into a piece that CBS might do, whether its a reporter package or something the anchor does. It builds awareness of GlobalPost and more and more people to come to our site.''
CBS News would use GlobalPost's content for its online and TV broadcast division.
Paul Friedman, executive vice president of CBS News, said in a release, "With this exclusive arrangement in place, CBS News will have unmatched access to first-rate journalists whose expert knowledge of the countries they live in and cover."
The partnership comes as the website is marks its ninth month since inception. Balboni raised $8.2 million last year to start the website with Charles M. Sennott, a former Boston Globe foreign correspondent.
But despite the site's growth - the site has 400,000 unique monthly visitors with a goal of 600,000 a month by year's end - GlobalPost remains unprofitable.
"That is years down the road,'' said Balboni. "Our goal is to be profitable by early 2012."
Balboni and his 16 full-time employees at the site's Boston waterfront offices are working to make that happen.
He noted that the site generates revenue in three ways: display advertising, syndicated news partnerships such as the new one with CBS, and a paid membership service. Subscribers to the site's Passport Service, which allows members to vote on which stories should be covered and listen in on editorial news conferences with reporters, number about 500.
CBS will pay GlobalPost a monthly fee for use of its content. Balboni would not disclose the amount.
The site does have other partnerships for compensation with other news outlets including the New York Daily News.
Despite an advertising slump that has affected traditional media, the site continues to push for more advertising, locally and globally. Among its bigger clients: Bank of America, Tufts University, Singapore Airlines, and Liberty Mutual. Beginning next week, Merrill Lynch will be another advertiser, Balboni added.
"It's been an amazing successful year so far in many respects,'' said Balboni. "I am very encouraged. We've had a great response to what we are doing."
Posted by globebusiness at 1:20 PM | Comments (0)
Revelers rev up for National Coffee Day
No doubt java buffs have tomorrow - National Coffee Day - circled on their calendars.
McDonald's is already in the celebratory mode. At participating locations in Eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, folks can get a free hot cup of Newman's Own Organics all day through the end of the month, and plans call for Nell Newman, president of Newman’s Own Organics: The Second Generation and daughter of actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, to visit the McDonald’s in South Attleboro at 444 Washington St. tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., said Bishoff Communications, the Boston public relations firm for a McDonald's cooperative of local franchisees
McDonald's isn't the only way caught up in National Coffee Day hoopla. At Filterfresh Coffee Service Inc., a Westwood company that provides coffee service to offices and business, a competition is brewing. Coffee has long moved authors to amp up their action verbs, and so Filterfresh is urging aspiring literary types to fully caffeinate their prose and pen an ode to joe.
The company's creative writing contest invites folks to "write a tribute to the celebrated beverage, explaining why 'Coffee is the Greatest Beverage of All Time!'" Filterfresh said in a press release. Submissions are due by Oct. 31, and more information on the contest can be found at www.filterfresh.com/blog, the release added. The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges in November and announced on the company's website on Nov. 30.
Along with possibly enduring fame, the winner will be awarded a home brewer and coffee, the company said.
"Poems, limericks, fairy tales - we'll take them all," company spokeswoman Kim Kelley said.
File photos of coffee beans: iStockphoto. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 1:08 PM | Comments (4)
Mass. gas prices fell 5 cents a gallon
The latest weekly survey of gas prices in Massachusetts found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $2.519 per gallon, down 5 cents from last week's survey, AAA Southern New England said.
It's the fourth straight week that gasoline prices have fallen in Massachusetts, AAA Southern New England said.
The current Massachusetts price is 2 cents above the national average for self serve unleaded of $2.49, and is 96 cents less than the $3.47 found this time a year ago. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
TA Associates completes minority investment
TA Associates, a private equity firm with offices in Boston, said it has completed a minority investment in Dealer Tire LLC, a Cleveland-based provider of logistics and program management services that assist automobile manufacturers and dealers in selling replacement tires and parts to service customers.
Financial details of the investment were not disclosed, TA Associates said. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)
Hard times have workers mulling career changes
A global poll conducted by Monster.com indicated 89 percent of job seekers surveyed across Europe, the United States, and Canada would consider an industry job change in their search for new employment during this present economic climate, the company said.
An Internet job-search company, Monster.com has much of its operations in Maynard. Monster is the flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc.
The company said its Monster Global poll asked 22,444 visitors to its sites "Would you consider a job in another industry?" More details about the poll can be found in a Monster press release.
Monster has relationships with many media companies, including The New York Times Co., parent of the Globe and Boston.com. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)
Two insurance companies announce alliance
Two insurance companies, the Norfolk & Dedham Group and the Rockingham Group, said they are forming an alliance that aims to spread risk and streamline business processes.
"Unlike a traditional merger, this new alliance is an innovative model of how mutual insurance companies can benefit from shared resources while maintaining company autonomy and identity," the companies said in a press release.
Headquartered in Dedham, the Norfolk & Dedham Group consists of Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Dorchester Mutual Insurance Company, and Fitchburg Mutual Insurance Company.
Headquartered in Harrisonburg, Va., the Rockingham Group consists of Rockingham Mutual Insurance Co., Rockingham Casualty Co., and Rockingham Mutual Service Agency Inc.
"The geographic diversity of the alliance’s customer base enables the organization to spread their risk to mitigate the impact of large losses like those associated with weather- related catastrophes," the companies said. "Another primary goal of the alliance is to create a stronger and more diverse organization utilizing efficient and streamlined business processes. Due to the efficiency of both existing organizations, no staff reductions are planned." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:51 AM | Comments (0)
Heating oil prices cool down as winter approaches
Homeowners who heat with oil were feeling sticker shock just over a year ago as prices soared close to $5 a gallon, but they're breathing easier now.
Heating oil prices are barely half what they were in summer 2008. Neil Gamson of the Energy Information Administration says heating oil inventories are above average and hurricane activity hasn't disrupted oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Energy Information Administration projects the average cost of heating oil will go up to $2.71 per gallon this winter. The EIA says about 7 percent of US households are heated primarily by oil. The EIA says heating costs from natural gas, electric heat and propane are all expected to drop. About 103 million households combined are heated by those sources.
Posted by globebusiness at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Hatching a marine breakthrough
BRISTOL, R.I. - The tiny black and silver fish in a 50-gallon vat at Roger Williams University do not look like the aquaculture breakthrough they just may turn out to be.
But the 4-month-old tropical queen triggerfish, which can grow to a foot and a half long with iridescent yellows and blues, are the first triggerfish to be raised in captivity. And if researchers perfect their technique, other marine aquarium fish - including threatened ones like the queen trigger - could be raised in hatcheries instead of taken out of the wild.
“We grew them on the first real try,’’ Andy Rhyne, assistant professor of biology at Roger Williams and a research scientist at New England Aquarium, said as he gazed at the three wriggling fish with a smile. “It’s a springboard.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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N.H. man turns perennial problem into a Big Idea product
Winter after winter, passing snowplows would snap off the markers that outline Arra David’s long driveway. Or he would scrape against them as he pulled in to park, scratching his car. And if he waited too long to install the markers, pounding them into the frozen turf without breaking them became a problem.
Eventually, his frustration inspired a solution: a stainless steel spring at the bottom of a 4-foot fiberglass reflective rod that was flexible enough to survive plow blades. To make it easier to secure them, David added an 8-inch steel spike to the bottom.
He had another thought, too: This thing could sell.
To read the full story, please click here.
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INNOVATION ECONOMY: Firms aim to reinvent business credit checks
Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog highlights what’s happening in technology, life sciences, start-ups, and venture capital in New England. This column features excerpts from the blog’s posts and comments, which can be found at www.boston.com/innovation.
Rethinking ratings: Can more opinions make for better credit ratings?
Cortera, a company in Quincy and Boca Raton, Fla., launched last week at the Demofall Conference in San Diego, aims to be a kind of “wisdom of the crowds’’-driven business credit agency.
Chief executive Jim Swift likes to describe it as “Yelp for business credit.’’ And in the same way that the user-powered review site Yelp has taken on established players like Zagat, Cortera has Dun & Bradstreet in its sights.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:33 AM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2009
Globe union head faces accusations about check
The president of the largest union at The Boston Globe signed the name of another union officer on a check that required a countersignature, according to union members with knowledge of the matter.
That charge against Boston Newspaper Guild president Daniel Totten first came to the attention of union officials last week, prompting the Guild's executive committee to launch an audit of union finances and prepare internal charges against Totten, while canceling his credit card and suspending his check-signing authority.
Totten could not be reached to comment on the allegation that he signed another officer's name on a check. But in an email to members today, Totten said the controversy centered on the countersignature on his own pay check. He described the issue as a "simple matter" that is being manipulated by political opponents unhappy with the outcome of recent negotiations over $10 million in concessions demanded by the Globe's owner, The New York Times Co.
"There are those who are engaging in a political vendetta as a result of the hard feelings that remain in our Union following our contentious contract negotiation," Totten said in the note.
Totten also denied any financial impropriety.
"All union funds remain intact and have always been so," he wrote. "The Boston Newspaper Guild does an excellent job of managing the funds that we are entrusted with, a fact I am certain will be clear to all once the review process is completed."
Yesterday, the union's executive committee said it is drafting specific charges against Totten, who will have the opportunity to answer them before or during a union trial, conducted according to the constitution of the Communications Workers of America, the Newspaper Guild's parent union.
The Guild is the Globe's largest union, representing more than 600 editorial, advertising, and business office workers. Totten, who has served as president since 2005, has come under criticism for his handling of the recent negotiations with the Times Co. and sporadic communications with members. A group of members recently launched a petition to recall Totten and other union leaders, and have gathered more than 200 signatures, according to organizers.
Posted by globebusiness at 2:18 PM | Comments (4)
Maine fishermen to benefit from stimulus funds
STONINGTON, Maine - Maine fishermen are getting some financial help to replace their boats' old diesel engines with new ones.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection says Maine has received $1.7 million in federal stimulus money earmarked for clean energy projects.
Of that amount, $1.2 million will be distributed through the Maine Clean Marine Engine Program. Officials say the money will help the coastal economy and fishing industry while reducing exhaust emissions. The funds will be used to cover some of the costs to replace engines in an estimated 40 vessels, including 30 lobster boats, four groundfishing boats, three ferries and the Sunbeam, a vessel used by the Maine Sea Coast Mission to minister to Maine's island communities.
Posted by globebusiness at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)
The Hanover increases share repurchase program
The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. said that its board of directors has authorized a $100 million increase to the Worcester-based company's existing share repurchase program.
"The program initially was authorized by the board in October 2007, allowing for the repurchase of up to $100 million of its outstanding shares," the Hanover said in a press release. "Since that time, the Hanover has made common stock purchases of approximately $94 million. The increase will provide for aggregate repurchases under the program of up to $200 million of company shares." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
Hyatt protests spread to Chicago; 200 arrested
About 200 union and hospitality workers were arrested yesterday afternoon in Chicago as they demonstrated their support for 98 workers who lost their jobs in Boston-area Hyatt Hotels, the Chicago Tribune reported in a story.
According to the Tribune, about 900 members of Unite Here Local 1, the union that represents hospitality workers in and around Chicago, participated in the demonstration; those arrested sat in the middle of a street as an act of civil disobedience.
Related
In a press release, Unite Here Local 1 identified the housekeeper as Angela Norena.
"Norena was joined by union housekeepers in a delegation of 20 women from a number of Chicago hotels in calling on Pritzker to rehire the Boston group," the union said in its release. "Pritzker refused to listen to Norena’s concerns."
The Chicago protest stemmed from the events of Aug. 31, when the three Boston area Hyatt hotels - Hyatt Harborside, Hyatt Regency Boston, and Hyatt Regency Cambridge -- fired its 98 staff housekeepers, some of whom had been on staff for more than 20 years and made more than $15 an hour; they were replaced with $8-an-hour subcontracted workers from an Atlanta cleaning firm.
Some of the staff housekeepers said they had been asked to train these outsourced employees over the past few years and were assured the new workers would not be replacing them. The cleaning company and the Hyatt deny these claims.
The Hyatt's move has sparked a public outcry against the hotel company, with businesses canceling conventions at the Boston Hyatts and Governor Deval L. Patrick calling for state employees to boycott the hotels unless the company rehires the staff housekeepers.
The Boston Taxi Drivers Association has also threatened to boycott the Hyatt and refuse service to the chain’s Boston locations unless the housekeepers are rehired.
Amid the public pressure, the Hyatt agreed to extend the health benefits of the fired workers and to help each one find a new job but so far has been unwilling to reverse its decision, which it says it made due to challenging economic conditions.
To read previous Globe coverage about the Hyatt, please click here. (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 9:42 AM | Comments (107)
Pizza report stresses differentiation
Pizza chains can weather hard times through "focused positioning," a euphemism presumably for value-menu pizzas, organic fusion pizzas, and slices and pies from all-you-can-eat pizzerias, a new report says.
The report is from Technomic Inc., a Chicago consulting firm that tracks the restaurant industry, and one finding is that "focused positioning" is the key to finding success for pizza chains. The Top 100 pizza chains had US sales of $18.8 billion in 2008, up 2 percent over 2007, the firm added. (The image that accompany this post was taken from Pizza Hut's website. It's a beauty shot of the chain's triple meat Italiano. According to Technomic, Pizza Hut had $5.3 billion in US sales in 2008, up 3.9 percent.)
“Most successful pizza chains have staked out highly-defined market positions that allow them to stand out from the pack,” Technomic executive vice president Darren Tristano said in a statement. “The key to growth in the slow economy will be differentiation. Top players will have to understand the competition, successfully identify emerging trends, and find and execute a strong position in the market.”
Technomic's report may be good news for the Kraft Group, the Foxborough company whose portfolio of holdings includes the New England Patriots. The Kraft Group said it recently invested an undisclosed amount in a New Orleans-based restaurant chain that is promoting a healthful pizza concept with such marketing mantras as "Think before you bite."
The chain's name is NAKEDpizza, and its customers can enjoy their pizza with such toppings as skim milk mozzarella and alligator sausage, according to the chain's online menu.
Alligator sausage on a naked pizza - now that's certainly a point of differentiation.
Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (1)
Simmons entrepreneurship program earns kudos
The Simmons School of Management said that its entrepreneurship program has been named one of the 25 best programs in the nation by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review, which jointly surveyed more than 2,300 schools.
"The Simmons entrepreneurship program was one of only two MBA programs ranked in the top 25 in New England within the graduate program category," Simmons said in a press release. "The ranking will appear in the October issue of Entrepreneur magazine, which is now on sale at newsstands." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:53 AM | Comments (0)
Mullen wins new business - and an award
Mullen, the Boston ad agency, has won an agency review to create ads for the online retailer Zappos, Adweek is reporting.
A Mullen spokesman confirmed that Zappos will be an agency client.
According to Adweek, a trade publication that covers the advertising industry, more than 100 agencies had expressed interest in the Zappos account, which is estimated to have an annual marketing budget of $7 million.
Separately, Mullen said its mediahub unit was honored with an award from Media Magazine for its work with ask.com, a search engine website.
"In the ask.com campaign we programmed branded search queries to pop-up on TV during sports, movie, and other entertainment programming," a Mullen spokesman explained in an e-mail. "The ask.com queries would be completely relevant to the programming that the viewer was watching and would direct them to ask.com to find out more. Seventy percent of the campaign was these pop-ups instead of 30 second (TV) spots." (Globe Staff)
Posted by globebusiness at 7:09 AM | Comments (0)
Today in Globe Business
Medical gear makers howl at push for tax
A plan to tax makers of medical devices to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health care system is raising alarms in Massachusetts, where device companies say the estimated $400 million they would have to pay could force them to cut jobs and reduce research.
The proposed tax is included in the health care bill being debated and amended by the Senate Finance Committee this week. That bill, expected to be the principal vehicle for the final health care overhaul plan that will go before Congress, could be reported out of committee as early as today.
State industry leaders, including heavyweights such as Boston Scientific Corp., of Natick, and Covidien, of Mansfield, have been lobbying to get the tax deleted from the bill introduced by Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, who chairs the finance panel. Manufacturers argue it could cripple innovation in a sector that includes 225 companies with a total of 20,000 employees in Massachusetts.
To read the full story, please click here.
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An entire aisle just for noodles
BURLINGTON - More than 20 kinds of the cabbage dish kimchi. An entire aisle just for noodles. A refrigerated section dedicated to the popular rice snack mochi ball.
The region’s first H Mart Korean supermarket is large enough, at 51,000 square feet, and the grocery store chain has such a dedicated following that town officials worried about the crowds expected for today’s grand opening.
“We just hope that the parking works out on opening weekend,’’ said Burlington planning director D. Anthony Fields, whose office fielded phone calls from several out-of-town fans expressing support for H Mart’s arrival.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Doctors' group drops late-night emergency room visit fees
Facing criticism from a health workers union, a physicians group has decided to drop its late-night surcharge for emergency room patients at five Massachusetts hospitals.
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians said yesterday that it would no longer add $30 to bills for emergency care delivered between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The fee was attacked this week by a health care union that is trying to organize workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, with which the doctors are affiliated.
The other affected hospitals are Beth Israel Deaconess-Needham, Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, and Milton Hospital, which dropped the fee this month.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Firing housekeepers creates PR mess for Hyatt
The firing of 98 housekeepers from Boston-area Hyatt hotels has created a big public relations mess for the hotel chain, one that experts say could take a long time to clean up.
Criticism of the company has swept across chat boards and blogs like The Consumerist, Executive Nomad, and the Harvard Business Review since the story broke on Sept. 17. Union activists have launched a “Save the Hyatt 100’’ site on Facebook. And on Tuesday, Governor Deval Patrick thrust the issue into the national spotlight, taking the unusual step of threatening a government boycott of the hotel chain.
“I’m sure our indignation will temper and pass over time,’’ said Paul Michelman, who wrote that Hyatt had “a nice big black eye’’ on the Harvard Business Review’s blog. “But were I personally planning to spend the night in the Boston area sometime soon, I’d do my best to avoid staying at a Hyatt.’’
To read the full story, please click here.
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Citigroup says it has no plans to leave state
Citigroup Inc. will keep its 31-branch network in the Boston area, it said yesterday, shooting down speculation the troubled bank would pull out of Massachusetts and other areas of the country as part of a companywide consolidation.
An internal memo from company executives yesterday refuted a report in The Wall Street Journal that Citigroup could abandon or scale back its retail banking operations in Boston and several other cities.
“We are in the right places, and while we continuously refine our branch locations, we are not anticipating any dramatic changes to our footprint - despite recent media reports to the contrary,’’ chief executive Vikram Pandit and another Citigroup executive, Terri Dial, said in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Globe.
To read the full story, please click here.
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BOSTON CAPITAL: Ahead of the pack
Scan a list of Massachusetts stocks and you might think we’re in the middle of a Lake Wobegon rally. So many local shares look like above-average performers, climbing higher than the enviable stock market average.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has soared 55 percent since the market’s desperate low of March 9, a powerful rally that many argue has overshot economic reality. But 192 of 230 local stocks tracked in the Bloomberg Massachusetts index - more than four out of every five - have climbed even higher than that.
True, there is an element of smoke and mirrors to that startling fact.
To read the full story, please click here.
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Posted by globebusiness at 6:33 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2009
Taxi drivers to boycott Hyatt over firings
Union officials at the Boston Taxi Drivers Association said they faxed a letter to the Hyatt yesterday saying taxi drivers would boycott the Hyatt, refusing to service the hotel's Boston locations, unless the housekeepers the chain fired last month were rehired.
The union represents 1,700 taxi drivers, according to Arthur Rose, a union representative.
Similarly, the Eastern Sociological Society, a group of sociology professionals and scholars, said it would withdraw its business unless the chain reconsidered its actions.
The moves by the groups are a response to Hyatt's firing of 98 hotel workers -- many 20-plus year employees of the corporation -- earlier on Aug. 31, and replacing them with workers from a Georgia-based staffing company. In a front page story in the Globe on Sept. 17, the housekeepers claimed that they had to train their replacements and told that the staffing agency workers were only vacation re