News Briefs

Development

Trifero named clerk of works for CitySquare

WORCESTER – Richard Trifero has been appointed as the internal project manager for the CitySquare redevelopment project, effective Jan. 2. Trifero was chosen as clerk of the works from a group of 32 applicants by Worcester City Manager Michael O’Brien. From May to October, Trifero was acting director of code enforcement for the city. Prior to that, he was the chief clerk of the works in the Department of Public Works and Parks. The position doesn’t require a tax-levy appropriation. Trifero will report directly to O’Brien.

Murray assigned to commuter rail

WORCESTER – Lt. Gov.-elect Timothy Murray, a long-time critic of the Romney administration’s inaction on increasing commuter rail service on the Boston-Worcester run, has been charged by Gov.-elect Deval Patrick to address the expansion of the state’s commuter rail service. Murray is focusing on some of the obstacles to increasing commuter train runs on the Boston-Worcester commuter rail line, which now carries 10 round trips to Boston daily. In the last two years, state transportation officials suggested alternatives such as adding side rail lines and new signalization on the Boston-Worcester line, or the possible construction of a parallel track through the Framingham area to increase rail service to Worcester. Murray will also evaluate extension of commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford.

State bond for DCU center modernization goes before Legislature

WORCESTER – The state Senate has approved its version of a $30 million bond bill to fund modernization of the DCU Center. The bill would create a special financing district around the Center to pay for the improvements, dedicating an estimated $1.5 million annually in taxes from food, beverage and rooms for modernization and the creation of a sky bridge linking the Worcester Convention Center, the new Hilton Garden Inn Hotel and the Major Taylor Boulevard parking garage. About $23 million will go to modernizing the arena, $7 million for the sky bridge. The legislation must go to Gov. Mitt Romney for his review and approval.

$19.6M plan to go before Town Council

SOUTHBRIDGE – The Town Council must now vote on approving the recently completed draft of the Redevelopment Authority’s $19.6 million plan for downtown. The proposal, if approved, would then go to the state for further review. The town’s share of the work is about $11.7 million, combined with an urban renewal grant request of $7.9 million. The plan’s goals are to encourage mixed-use development throughout downtown. It would also improve open-space opportunities in conjunction with Riverfront Park and the Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail project. The most expensive component is a $6.6 million, 300-car parking garage that could be constructed in phases over 15 years.

Biomedical

Boston Scientific gets FDA approval for brain stent

NATICK – Boston Scientific Corp. has received U.S. approval the FilterWire embolic protection system used to place stents in the main blood vessels to the brain. The FDA approved the device in 2004 for treatment of veins harvested from the leg for coronary bypass procedures.

The stent captures fatty deposits and other blockages dislodged during stent implantation and keeps them from traveling through blood vessels

Finance

IPO for IPG nets $102m

OXFORD – The IPO for IPG Photonics Corp. netted around $102 million to IPG, which the company will use to repurchase and repay debt and for general corporate purposes. IPG employs around 1,000 and makes fiber lasers and amplifiers. The stock rose 55 percent to on its first day of trading to close at $25.60, up $9.10. With the trading of nearly 10.8 million shares, the company’s market value ended the day at about $1.1 billion.

Double-Take files IPO

SOUTHBORO – Double-Take Software Inc. has filed plans for an IPO offering of 7.5 million shares. The company, which in March moved to Southboro from Hoboken, N.J., expects to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the trading symbol DBTK. The offering price is expected to be between $9 and $11 a share with net proceeds of $43.5 million

Massachusetts is second in U.S. for foreclosure activity

BOSTON – Massachusetts had the second-largest increase in foreclosure activity in the country in November, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, CA-based research firm. Alabama took first place in the rise in total properties that entered some stage of foreclosure. In November, 2,100 Massachusetts properties were in or facing foreclosure, up 299 percent from 526 in November 2005. Alabama’s increased 466 percent during the same period.

ViryaNet faces delisting for 3rd time

SOUTHBORO – Nasdaq has notified ViryaNet Ltd. for the third time this year to that it may delist the company from its exchange for having too little shareholder equity. Viryanet plans to meet with the exchange on January 4 to outline how it will achieve it $2.5 million, minimum equity requirement for continued listing. After the notification, ViryaNet announced plans to convert $500,00 of its debt into Preferred A Shares of the company at a price of $1.53 per share. Jerusalem High-tech Founders Ltd. will receive the 326,797 shares under the proposed plan. The preferred shares can be converted into regular shares on a 1-to-1 basis, the company says.

Hanover expands coverage of commercial clients

WORCESTER – The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. has added 96 new classes to its Avenues Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), helping to cover a larger variety of commercial clientele. This latest expansion brings the total number of BOP classes to over 460, giving it coverage equivalent to more than 1,000 industry classes. Among the added classes are several new programs, including the ‘Service’ class offering coverage to ink cartridge refill shops and window treatment installation firms, as well as a ‘Professional’ classification extending coverage to establishments such as pet daycare and hair salons. Last summer, Hanover added 81 new classes to address the needs of its agent partners, said David Firstenberg, president of the Hanover’s commercial lines business, who added that the additional 96 classes will help those partners write more business for Hanover.

Azimuth receives $7.5 million in VC funding

ACTON – Azimuth Systems Inc., a provider of wireless testing equipment, has closed $7.5 million in new venture capital funding, the company announced. Several major vendors rely on Azimuth for testing equipment, including Motorola and T-Mobile. Azimuth customers account for more than 95 percent of the Wi-Fi products shipped worldwide, according to market research firm ABI Research. The firm also announced a leadership change, appointing Jim Iuliano CEO. Iuliano joins the company from E Ink Corp., a startup that grew to having a global presence and strategic alliances with Sony and Lucent. Most recently, Iuliano was an entrepreneur in residence at North Bridge Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital fund.

Marlboro Co-Op, Butler Bank to merge

MARLBORO – Marlborough Co-Operative Bank and Lowell-based Butler Bank will merge without changing their respective names. The merger, financial terms of which were undisclosed, is intended to cut operating costs while continuing customer service at each bank at its current levels. Both banks’ boards approved the merger, which is subject to state and federal regulatory approval and expected to be completed by the end of March. The combined company would have more than $300 million in assets.

High tech

Iron Mountain expands in Asia Pacific

BOSTON – Iron Mountain Inc. has signed a definitive agreement with Transnational Company Pte. Ltd. to create a joint venture that will expand Iron Mountain’s presence in the Asia Pacific region. Iron Mountain will have controlling interest in the joint venture. While terms of the deal were not disclosed the expansion brings Iron Mountain’s operational footprint to six more countries, for a total of 33 across five continents. Transnational Company Pte. Ltd. is headquartered in Singapore and is a provider of information protection and storage services.

DoD taps SeaChange for VOD system

ACTON – The Department of Defense has purchased a turnkey Video-on-Demand system from Acton-based SeaChange International to broadcast television events worldwide for info relevant to the DoD. The system will automatically record live broadcasts and provide instant on-demand viewing capabilities. In addition to the DoD, the Pentagon may use the system to facilitate on-demand training videos and other applications.

Thermo acquires Cohesive

FRANKLIN – Cohesive Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of sample-extraction and liquid chromatography products, has been acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. in Waltham. The purchase prices was not disclosed

WPI offers first robotics course in country

WORCESTER – Worcester Polytechnic Institute will offer the first robotics engineering major in America. "Introduction to Robotics" has already filled its first two classes and there’s a waiting list for the course. The major will be an interdisciplinary program that integrates electrical engineering, computer science and an entrepreneurial model.

Health care

UMass open first MRI breast center

WORCESTER – UMass Memorial Medical Center has opened the Aurora Breast MRI of Central Massachusetts at 67 Belmont St., adjacent to its Memorial Campus. The $1.5 million breast MRI system, is the only MRI system cleared by the FDA that is designed specifically for breast imaging and interventional procedures.

eClinicalWorks tapped by Indiana care provider

WESTBORO – Medical software developer eClinicalWorks was chosen by Indiana-based Hendricks Regional Health Medical Group (HRHMG) to streamline internal operations. HRHMG will use eClinicalWorks’ electronic medical records and practice management software to improve day-to-day processes for its 20 locations. The medical network also hopes to improve communications between its hospital and its satellite locations with the new software. In addition to using eClinicalWorks to improve practice operations, HRHMG is now positioned to join the future Regional Health Information Organization in Indiana. RHIO is a regional collaboration between health care providers in which patient information can be securely stored but is electronically accessible to those involved with providing care for a given patient.

Marlboro firm wins contract to address Avian Flu

MARLBORO – The federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded IQuum Inc. a $3.8 million contract to develop a rapid point-of-care diagnostics for avian influenza. The award represents the first two of five phases of the total development and commercialization project originally announced by the CDC. The 12 month contract calls for IQuum to lead a team of molecular diagnostic and biotechnology experts in the development of nucleic acid tests based on the company’s lab-in-a-tube technology to differentiate influenza A HFN1 from seasonal human influenza viruses. Influenza A H5N1 has been reported in Southeast Asia, Africa and Western Europe, and 153 deaths have resulted from the 258 reported cases. No point-of-care tests currently exist that can distinguish the Avian flu from the seasonal influenza viruses.

Labor

Bay State still losing workers, report finds

BOSTON - The state’s unskilled workforce is growing as the state continues to lose workers, according to a new report from The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, or MassINC. Between 2003 and 2005, Massachusetts was the only state to lose workers for three consecutive years, the report says. While the nation’s workforce grew 3.1 percent, the state’s declined by 1.7 percent. Early indications suggest that 2006 might be the state’s fourth consecutive year of workforce decline, mostly among young, college-educated people in search of affordable housing outside the state.

Sovereign lays off 800 company-wide, 77 in Mass.

WYOMISSING, PA - Sovereign Bank announced it will cut 800 jobs, with 77 of them in Massachusetts, including two Worcester jobs, 64 in Boston, three of the South Shore and nine on Cape Cod. Before the cuts, Sovereign’s Mass. workforce headcount stood at 3,382 people. Sovereign says most of the cuts will be made by yearend, with the remainder through attrition in 2007. Most of the jobs affected are back office and corporate staff functions, and the staff reduction will save about $50 million, according to the bank.

Hanover lays off up to 48 IT personnel

WORCESTER – The Hanover Insurance Group Inc. has notified between 36 and 48 information technology workers, most of them in Worcester, that most will lose their jobs by yearend as it completes some projects and continues with its business restructuring. Affected employees are software engineers and others who maintained the company's IT system. The affected employees are being encouraged to seek other positions at Hanover; those leaving the company will receive severance and outplacement services. Earlier this year, Hanover announced that 275 jobs would be cut by yearend as the result of the sale of its variable annuity and variable life insurance business to The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Staples to ship 175 Mass. workers to SC

FRAMINGHAM – Staples Inc. will move 250 financial support jobs to an office in South Carolina, with 175 of them coming from the Bay State, The Boston Globe reports. This is the first time Staples has ever sent corporate positions outside of Massachusetts. Staples’ new office in Columbia will consolidate operations such as accounts payable and receivable that currently operate out of the firm’s Framingham, Westboro, and Lincolnshire, IL offices. The remaining 75 employees affected by the move are based in Lincolnshire. Staples also announced that it will add at least 175 jobs in Massachusetts in the upcoming year.

Manufacturing

EAW to move manufacturing facilities

NORTHBRIDGE – Eastern Acoustic Works is moving its Whitinsville Mill manufacturing operations to facilities in Asia. The sound system maker’s move was reported in Pro Sound News Europe online. It will keep its prototyping facility in Whitinsville. The company, which was established in 1978, designs and manufactures high-performance professional loudspeaker systems.

Holiday Housewares closing

LEOMINSTER – Plastic maker Holiday Housewares will close its plant next month and lay off about 50 employees. The remaining 50 workers will be transferred to Plastican, a separate company under the same ownership as Holiday Housewares. The company sold 130 its production molds to Aero Housewares in Leominster as part of a strategic alliance that will combine the product lines of both companies.

Latrobe Specialty Steel acquired

MARLBORO – Latrobe Specialty Steel Co., a Pennsylvania-based company with operations in Marlboro, has been acquired by two private equity firms. Hicks Holdings LLC of Dallas, TX and The Watermill Group of Lexington purchased the company for $215 million in cash plus approximately $35 million of assumed liabilities. Said Thomas Hicks, president and CEO of Hicks Holdings: The firm produces and distributes specialty steels

and alloys, and includes divisions specializing in manufacturing and distribution. In 1975, Latrobe was acquired by The Timken Company, and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Timken Company under the name of Timken Latrobe Steel.

Some of the material in the News Briefs and Small Business sections was originally reported by Banker & Tradesman, The Boston Business Journal, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Clinton Courier and Lancaster Times, The Griffin Report of Food Marketing, IndUS Business Journal, Mass High Tech, The MetroWest Daily News, New England Real Estate Journal, Sentinel & Enterprise, Southbridge Evening News, Telegram & Gazette, and/or Worcester Magazine. If you have a news tip, please call 508-755-8004 ext. 256, fax it to 508-755-4734, or e-mail it to coneill@wbjournal.com.

Correction

The list for accounting firms that ran in our December 11 issue should have included P.L. Jones & Assocates PC, 34 Cedar St., Worcester 01609, 508-755-7575. At the time the list was compiled the company had 5 CPAs and 2 partners. It now has 4 CPAs and 2 partners, and two offices. The firm was founded in 1987.