'The Mouse Company' roars

Says Charles River Laboratories CEO Jim Foster: 'We're not betting on any one drug or company. We're helping everyone discover drugs.' (Globe Photo / Sean Dougherty)

But it's more than animals at a transformed Charles River By Naomi Aoki, Globe Staff, 5/21/2002 or more than half a century, Charles River Laboratories has supplied lab animals to virtually every major academic research center and drug maker, earning the moniker "The Mouse Company." But as the cost and challenges of drug discovery mount, the Wilmington firm is transforming into more than an animal company, assembling under its roof a growing array of tests and services for drug research. Continued

Lucchino

At the Globe 100 Breakfast, attended by sponsors and company executives, keynote speaker Larry Lucchino, President and CEO of the Boston Red Sox shared a common concern of all executives - competition. Photos: Globe 100 Breakfast Top 10 companies

OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Profits hard to come by in 2001
For companies that made cut, flexibility was key to survival in chaotic year
By Scott Bernard Nelson, Globe Staff, 5/21/2002
ast year was not a happy time in Massachusetts boardrooms. The biggest and best of the state's publicly traded companies struggled to stem the bleeding during a recession- plagued year made worse by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The collapse of the semiconductor and other technology sectors clobbered the state's leading-edge firms, the recession left few buyers for others, economic troubles overseas crimped import-export companies, and a new emphasis on accounting rules led to the evaporation of phoney-baloney earnings at a handful more companies. Continued

1. Charles River Labs 2. TJX 3. Perini 4. Investors Fin. Svcs. 5. Gillette 6. Staples 7. OneSource 8. Reebok 9. Bright Horizons 10. State Street    The 2002 Globe 100    All the charts HIGHEST SALES R A Y T H E O N   C O . A boost in defense sales helped keep annual revenues flat at $16.87 billion, allowing Lexington-based Raytheon to claim the top spot for the fifth year in a row. Story FASTEST GROWTH C Y T Y C   C O R P . This Boxborough medical device company has captured nearly 65 percent of the market with its ThinPrep Pap test to screen for cervical cancer, and in the process saw its sales grow an average of 65 percent over the last two years and its profits grow almost 50 percent a year. Story BIGGEST STOCK GAIN C L E A N   H A R B O R S   I N C . Post-Sept. 11 cleanup and a pending acquisition helped this Braintree-based hazardous materials disposal company post record revenue and sent its stock soaring 377 percent over the year ended March 31, from $2.44 to $11.64 a share. Story HIGHEST MARKET VALUE F L E E T B O S T O N   F I N A N C I A L   C O R P . Wtih a $36.59 billion stock market value, FleetBoston took the title as the biggest company in the state as of March 31. Story