News Briefs

Development

Gardner subdivision to go to auction

GARDNER – Cedar Hills, a 99-home subdivision on 117 acres, has been taken by foreclosure, and is scheduled to go up for public auction in March. Kevin Sweeney, developer of the subdivision, located off Keyes Road, has reportedly encountered financial trouble. The subdivision’s preparatory construction is largely done, including underground pipes, roads, and stormwater detention basins. The city has already approved the issuance of 20 building permits for the subdivision. A public auction for the subdivision will be held March 2.

1G changes 40B builders hid$4M in projects

BOSTON – Developers at five affordable housing projects are being charged with concealing nearly $4 million in profits. The state Inspector General alleges in a report that three of the developers, who built projects in Acton, Berkley, and Reading, each exceeded the 20 percent profit limit set in Chapter 40B by inflating their costs and understating revenues. IG Gregory Sullivan is midway through his review of 10 affordable housing projects in Massachusetts. Under the law, developers are exempt from local zoning requirements if they set aside some of their housing units as affordable. But, developers are limited to making no more than 20 percent profits. They’re required to turn over any profits above 20 percent to the local community.

DCU holds off on TiNovo auction

WORCESTER – Restaurant owner Mitchell Terricciano received a stay from Digital Federal Credit Union for the auction of his TiNovo restaurant at 55 Pearl St. Terricciano is working out a financial arrangement with DCU for TiNovo, which has been closed since the beginning of the year. It’s unknown when and if the restaurant will reopen. Terricciano purchased the granite Victorian gothic building at 55 Pearl Street, for $255,000 in August 2005. Renovations pushed the project cost to more than $2 million.

Tri-Community Chamber changes name

STURBRIDGE – The Tri-Community Chamber of Commerce has changed its name to "Central Mass South - The Chamber at the Crossroads of New England", helping to better establish the Chamber’s location and be more representative of its service area. The Central Mass South Chamber includes the towns of Southbridge, Sturbridge, Charlton, Brimfield, the Brookfields, Holland, Spencer, Wales, and Northern Connecticut. It currently has 424 members, and is an affiliate of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Biomedical

ECI Biotech gets SBIR funding

WORCESTER – ECI Biotech has received $299,066 in phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) funding from the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research for its work in preventing and treating periodontal disease. The research will focus on a class of proteins that prevent gingival tissue destruction caused by bacteria that contributes to gingivitis and late stage periodontal disease. The principal investigator on the grant is Dr. Diane Ellis-Busby who has been involved in testing ECI’s therapeutic platforms in wound care, vision, and oral care. ECI anticipates that products incorporating its therapeutic proteins will be used in the dentist’s office as an extended release professional treatment for periodontal disease, and by consumers formulated in toothpaste or dental floss for gingivitis prevention.

Humira to take on psoriasis

WORCESTER – Abbott Laboratories, manufacturer of the anti-rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, says tests show that Humira is almost twice as effective as Enbrel, manufactured by Amgen, in the treatment of psoriasis, which affects up to 7.5 million Americans. Abbott expects to apply for FDA approval of Humira for psoriasis in the first half of this year and hopes to bring it to market in 2008. The company says it expects psoriasis sales of Humira to reach $500 million a year after the FDA gives approval. The psoriasis treatment market is estimated to be worth $3 billion.

Manufacturing

Former Jarden employees to relocate Florida

MILFORD – Jarden Consumer Solutions, which has shuttered its operations on Industgrial Way in Milford, will send 20 of its former Bay State employees to Florida, the Palm Beach Post reports. Jarden will add 100 workers to its Boca Raton operations, with an average pay of $75,000 in the marketing, management, finance, and engineering departments. Out of the 150 Mass. employees who were offered jobs at the company’s Florida site, only 20 agreed to the move. Layoffs began in January. Jarden Corp. laid off 212 employees. The 345,000 square foot site is the former headquarters, warehouse and distribution center for The Holmes Group, which Jarden bought last year. In 1999, Milford awarded The Holmes Group a 12-year tax-increment financing agreement. Jarden designs and sells fans, heaters, humidifiers and other consumer products, manufactured in Asia, to retailers.

Health Care

SBSB gets state health insurance contract

WORCESTER – The Small Business Service Bureau Inc. has won a contract to administer the state’s new health insurance program. The three-year Commonwealth Choice contract awarded by the board of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority is estimated to be worth $930,000 to $1.9 million. It’s expected to enroll 17,500 to 37,500 subscribers in its first year. The SBSB is a national organization that connects its 50,000 members to insurance. SBSB will run a customer service center, verify eligibility for health insurance and handle billing, money collections and payments. The organization was recommended because of its expertise and experience in health insurance, affordability of its services and existing infrastructure and technology. Health insurance options will be available by May 1.

High tech

EMC to carve out part of VMWare

HOPKINTON – EMC Corp. will sell about 10 percent of its VMware subsidiary through an IPO of VMware stock. EMC says it will retain ownership of the remaining shares of VMware, and does not plan to spin our or divest its ownership interest. VMware will become a publicly traded entity after the completion of the transaction, expected sometime this summer. Pricing details of the offering are not yet available.

Subito gains financing

WORCESTER – Subito Technologies Inc. has received an equity investment from Beechtree Capital LLC of New York for early stage financing. Proceeds will be used to expand sales and marketing, product development and consulting services. Subito, which specializes in workforce scheduling software, will increase investment in product development and expand its global sales and marketing efforts with the proceeds from the investment. Beechtree Capital has provided investments to over 35 start-up and emerging companies, totaling more than $1 billion.

Pamet sells assets

HUDSON – Pamet Systems Inc. is selling its assets to Archonix Systems LLC of Mount Laurel, NJ. The deal will complement Pamet’s two software product categories. One is used by public safety dispatchers for coordinating responses to incidents such as fires and auto accidents. The other is used by police and fire departments to manage their digital records, including incident reports, court appearances, parking tickets and press logs. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed and no layoffs are expected among Pamet’s work force of 15 people.

Finance

Bollus Lynch to merge with Mottle McGrath Braney & Flynn

WORCESTER - Two Worcester CPA firms are merging. Bollus Lynch, LLP and Mottle McGrath Braney & Flynn, P.C. have entered into an agreement and plan of merger effective June 1. The firm will retain the Bollus Lynch Certified Public Accountants and Consultants name and will be located at 10 Mechanic Street. The company will have a total of 19 CPAs. Bollus Lynch was established in 1989 and has offices in Worcester and Portland, and is an independent member of the BDO Seidman Alliance. Mottle McGrath Braney & Flynn, P.C. was established in April 1991 and has offices in Worcester. It has been a member of Polaris International, an International Affiliation of Independent Accounting Firms.

Citizens completes $167m acquisition of GreatBanc

PROVIDENCE – Citizens Financial Group has acquired GreatBanc Inc. for $167 million, making Citizens the fourth largest commercial bank in the Chicago region. Charter One Bank, a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, has acquired GreatBanc’s 10 banking locations and 14 ATMs throughout Cook, McHenry, and Will counties. Beginning February 1, GreatBanc customers can use nearly 3,200 Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank ATMs in 13 states to make cash withdrawals without incurring ATM fees. Citizens Financial Group operates a 13-branch network as Citizens Bank throughout the Northeast, including branches in Shrewsbury, Worcester, and Marlboro, among other locations.

Harleysville Worcester to transfer domicile

WORCESTER – Following approval to move the corporate domicile of Harleysville Worcester Insurance Co. to Pennsylvania, the company has announced that staff increases may occur in the Worcester office at 120 Front St., after previous reports said the company would reduce its staff there. In December, former Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler approved the redomestication of the Worcester office, which is a subsidiary of PA-based Harleysville Insurance Group. Officials requested the transfer in an effort to lower administrative and actuarial costs. Harleysville Worcester will now be examined by the Pennsylvania Insurance Dept. along with seven other subsidiaries owned by the company. The company does not expect the move to affect policyholders or agents, and it may represent an increase in the staff of the Worcester office.

Media

GateHouse closes deal for 7 Mass. papers

FAIRPORT, NY – GateHouse Media Inc. has closed on its purchase of seven Massachusetts papers from Pennsylvania-based Journal Register Co. GateHouse paid $70 million plus $2 million in working capital for the papers. The seven publications include the Fall River Herald News and the Taunton Daily Gazette as well as three weeklies and two shopper publications. GateHouse’s other holdings in Massachusetts include the MetroWest Daily News and the Daily News Transcript in Framingham. JRC said it plans to use proceeds from the deal to pay down debt.

Times Co. reduces its valuation of Globe, T&G

NEW YORK – The New York Times Co has decreased the value of The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette by $814 million. The Times Co. paid $1.1 billion for the Globe in 1993 and $296 million for the T&G in 2000. The company reduced the value of the two newspapers as part of an annual review required under accounting rules. Other newspaper and traditional mass media companies are also struggling with the changes reshaping the industry. Times Co. took a non-cash charge against fourth-quarter earnings to reflect the write-down, resulting in a net loss of $648 million, or $4.50 per share.

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.