July 23, 2007
Newsbriefs
Real Estate
WBDC out of 339 Main, chamber mulls move
WORCESTER - The Worcester Business Development Corp. is moving from 339 Main St. to other space along the city's restaurant row. The WBDC is moving to 89 Shrewsbury St. above Italian restaurant Via, and is taking along two sub-lessees, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and Cardinal Construction. According to David Forsberg, WBDC president, "the space above Via turned out to be perfect space. It's a new building, with new systems and it keeps us in the heart of downtown." The WBDC has a staff of 10. The new space is a little smaller than the 7,100 square feet the WBDC has been renting for the last seven years or so, Forsberg said. The WBDC lease at 339 Main is set to expire, he said. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce may also move from 339 Main St. While on vacation, Chamber President Richard Kennedy said through Linda Pervier, the chamber's director of administration, that the chamber is "negotiating a lease agreement, and nothing's been finalized yet." Executives familiar with the chamber said the organization is considering a move to the Sovereign Tower.
Office vacancy down, rents up around 495
With little office space available around Route 128, occupancy may continue to grow in "the boroughs," and that growth may have staying power, according to Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. The Boston-based commercial real estate firm released its summer 2007 office market status report recently. It said office landlords have been able to push up rents by between $2 and $5 this quarter. Office space in the boroughs has strung together six consecutive quarters of positive absorption, RBJ said. However, that area did the same thing before it flopped in 2004. But RBJ said the boroughs could continue to fill office space, and that office space may remain occupied if space around Route 128 remains scarce. RBJ said the area around the southern end of I-495 may be the next to see an explosion of office space development. The area currently has only 2.1 million square feet of office space, but there are office developments either in the works, or on the drawing board, RBJ said.
Updates planned for industrial building
WORCESTER - A 10,752-square-foot industrial building on 16 Brooks St. in Worcester has a new owner that plans to renovate. The 16 Brooks Street Realty Trust, which is run by Michael J. O'Hara, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, bought the building from KomTek Realty for $540,000, according to brokers with Worcester commercial real estate firm Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates. The brokers said the new owners plan to "make updates to both the interior and the exterior of the building."
Franklin, Acton facilities bought by Conn. firm
WESTPORT, CONN - A Westport, Conn. real estate investment firm has bought assisted living facilities in Acton and Franklin as part of a four-facility purchase. In addition to the Inn at Forge Hill in Franklin and the Inn at Robbins Brook in Acton, Westport Capital Partners LLC bought the Inn at Fillmore Pond in Bennington, Vt., and the Inn at Spruce Wood in Durham, N.H. Westport Captial worked with the Capital Health Group and Kaplan Development Group on the acquisitions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The facilities total 369 units, 23 percent of which are independent living units. The remainder of the units are assisted living units and Alzheimer's units. All were built between 1999 and 2004.
Health Care
Three to join MetroWest Physicians Services
FRANKLIN - Three primary care physicians have signed on to join MetroWest Physicians Services when it opens its doors at its new facility on King Street in Franklin today. Drs. Tarek A. ElSharkawy, K. Chennapragada and Maria Hope Modesto will all have offices at the new King Street office. In addition to office space, the King Street location, a 7,600-square-foot building designed by Allevato Architects of Franklin and JACA architects of Weymouth, will house state of the art lab technology provided by MetroWest Medical Center.
Professional Services
Training grants for Central Mass. businesses
The state will dip into its workforce training fund for $400,000 in matching grants to train 513 workers at 10 Central Massachusetts small businesses. State Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne M. Bump said the outlay would help train skilled workers, and give them opportunities to advance their careers. The grant is part of a $1.7 million fund meant to train 2,100 workers at 49 Massachusetts businesses. The Central Massachusetts businesses to receive training grants are: A & J Industries in Uxbridge; Curtis Industries of Worcester; Essential Healthcare Ayer Inc. of Ayer; Hybricon Corp. of Ayer; Injectronics Corp. of Clinton; New England Fabricated Metals of Leominster; New England Peptide of Gardner; Rand Whitney Packaging Corp. of Worcester; Savers Bank of Southbridge; and Wirefab of Worcester.
Economic achievers awarded $25K
Junior Achievement of Central Massachusetts won the MetLife Foundation Entrepreneurial Award for the Community Partnership Model to Maximize Impact for At-Risk Students program the chapter developed. Junior Achievement teaches teenagers about economics and the free enterprise system. According to Junior Achievement Worldwide, the Massachusetts chapter was awarded with $25,000 cash to keep the program for at-risk students going. The program includes employment training, teen parenting training, a financial literacy initiative and other courses. The Central Massachusetts chapter also shared the Junior Achievement Worldwide Collaboration Award with the chapter from Western Massachusetts. The award recognized the chapters' success in making Massachusetts the first state to secure U.S. Department of Education funding for all Junior Achievement programs in the state.
Banking & Finance
Credit union launches site en Espanol
SOUTHBRIDGE - The Southbridge Credit Union has launched a Spanish language version of its web site in an effort to "grow with the communities we serve." The credit union said its Spanish web site, which is accessed from its English language web site, is the first of its kind in the area.
Commonwealth fines Oppenheimer $1 million
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin fined New York City-based Oppenheimer and Co. Inc. $1 million for theft, churning and unauthorized trading today. The company was fined on behalf of one of its agents, Stephen J. Toussaint, who was charged last August with fraud and excessive and unauthorized trading in the accounts of William and Doris Pietra of Fall River, the secretary's office said. Oppenheimer was charged with failure to supervise Toussaint. In addition to the $1 million fine, the national investment boutique was also ordered to return $135,000 in losses from the unlawful conduct to the widowed Doris Pietra, whose husband died in 2005. "Returning funds to aggrieved investors was a top priority in bringing this action for unlawful conduct against the broker-dealer, which has a significant presence in the Commonwealth," said Secretary Galvin. "These agreements send a clear message that companies and their management will be held responsible for making false statements to this office's securities regulators."
Biomedical
Abbott 62 percent net increase on drugs
Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories Inc., which has a pharmaceutical research facility in Worcester, reported a 62 percent increase in net income for the second quarter. The company attributed the earnings jump to strong sales of its anti-inflammatory drug Humira. Second quarter sales increased 16 percent over the same quarter a year ago to $6.37 billion. The company's U.S. pharmaceutical division, its largest division, and the division of which the Worcester facility is part, saw sales of $3.6 billion, a 27 percent increase over the second quarter of 2006.
Neuroptix reaches $1 million milestone
ACTON - Acton-based Neuroptix Corp. has been granted a $1 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. Inc. under a previously announced Alzheimer's Disease diagnostic collaboration. Begun in late 2006, the collaboration calls for Neuroptix to provide Merck with access to its laser eye scanning technologies, which help detect Alzheimer's related proteins. "We are delighted at the progress currently being made in our diagnostic development work with Merck," said Paul Hartung, president and CEO of Neuroptix. "We are looking forward to continued success as we advance the development of our eye test for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, for use in clinical diagnostic settings and for monitoring clinical trials of new Alzheimer's drugs in the pipeline."
Insurance
Number of insured grows
The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority estimates that nearly 15,000 new members enrolled in six major health insurance plans through the connector in May and June. More than 12,000 of those enrolled last month alone, the authority said. New Massachusetts law required residents to have health insurance by July 1. The authority said the number of newly insured residents has been brought up to 155,000 in the past year. Jon Kingsdale, the authority's executive director, said the surge in the number of insured was "another big step in the long march to near-universal health coverage."
Manufacturing
Polar, others boot benzene from drinks
WORCESTER - Despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found no known health risk associated with the level of benzene found in some soft drinks, Worcester-based Polar Beverages Inc. and four others have agreed in a settlement with consumers to reformulate certain drinks. Also as part of the settlement, the drink companies agreed to replace products purchased prior to the reformulation, according to the plaintiffs and their attorneys. Polar agreed to reformulate its Diet Orange Dry soda. The other products reformulated as part of the settlement include Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, Sunny Delight Citrus Punch, Baja Orange and Baja Berry, Diet Rockstar and Shasta Caffeine Free Regular Orange. The reformulations minimize or eliminate the possibility that the drinks can form benzene. According to the Centers for Disease Control, benzene can be both naturally occurring and man-made. Low levels are found in outdoor air, and higher levels are found in indoor air from products like detergents, glue, furniture wax and paint. It is a natural part of crude oil and gasoline, and has been linked to Leukemia.
Safety star for BlueLinx facility
BELLINGHAM - The BlueLinx Corp.'s Bellingham distribution center has received a new five-year certification as a workplace safety and health "star" from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. BlueLinx is an Atlanta, Ga.-based building products distribution company. OSHA said the certification, a renewal of the company's last five year "star" certification, is a sign of the company's commitment to minimizing workplace hazards. The distribution facility has 77 employees, and first achieved "star" status under the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program in 2004.
Retail
BJ's customers buy TVs, snacks
NATICK - June same-store sales at Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club were up 5.3 percent over the same period last year, the company reported. A 1.4 percent bump from the sale of gasoline helped the sales growth while a 0.4 percent drop due to the absence of pharmacies at BJ's club stores held it back, the company said. Overall June sales for the membership-based shopping club were $886.8 million, a 9.8 percent increase over June of 2006. The company said it sold a lot of snacks and televisions in June. The company runs 174 club stores in 16 states.
TJX sales strong, but hack still nags
FRAMINGHAM - The TJX Cos. Inc., the Framingham-based parent of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Bob's Stores and other retailers, said it expects second-quarter earnings per share of between $0.34 and $0.36. That's an increase of between 17 percent and 24 percent over last year's second quarter earnings, but between $0.02 and $0.03 less than it would be if the company didn't have to pay for computer system intrusions that resulted in the loss of credit card data of millions of customers. TJX reported June sales of $1.7 billion, a 9 percent increase over results from last June.
High Tech
Grid names new director
WESTBOROUGH - Westborough's National Grid appointed Tom King as executive director responsible for the company's electricity distribution and generation businesses. Most recently, King was CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and was part of the executive team that led the company out of bankruptcy, National Grid said.
GlassHouse buys RapidApp
FRAMINGHAM - Framingham-based GlassHouse Technologies Inc. has acquired RapidApp, a Chicago-based server virtualization consulting firm. GlassHouse is an information technology infrastructure consulting and services firm. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. With RapidApp, GlassHouse will expand to more than 450 employees worldwide. Top Rapid App executives have been given executive positions with GlassHouse.
Candela founder dead at 75
WAYLAND - Horace Furumoto, the founder of Wayland-based Candela Corp. has died at 75. The company said Furumoto died June 28 in Wellesley. Furumoto founded Candela, a maker of custom lasers for use in the sciences, in 1970. He led the company into the medical arena in 1981, the company said. Before founding Candela, Furumoto held positions at NASA and Avco. He was president and CEO of Candela until 1990. He then founded Cynosure Inc., where he was president and CEO until he retired in 2003.
MWCC receives HP technology grant
GARDNER - Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner is one of 42 two- and four-year colleges nationwide to receive a 2007 HP Technology for Teaching Grant. The school will use the award to create a teaching and learning classroom and lab space for special computer and math courses that will utilize HP wireless tablet PCs. Tablet PCs are similar to laptop computers, but utilize display technology that allows users to manipulate data with a finger or stylus instead of a keyboard or mouse, allowing for greater mobility and flexibility. MWCC will receive an award package of HP products and a faculty stipend valued at more than $68,000, the school said. "This grant not only allows us to create a model Center for Teaching and Learning, but also to increase the interactivity and engagement between the students and professors," said Daniel Asquino, president of MWCC. "We expect student understanding and retention of course material to rise from using the tablet PCs."
News briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports.
WBDC out of 339 Main, chamber mulls move
WORCESTER - The Worcester Business Development Corp. is moving from 339 Main St. to other space along the city's restaurant row. The WBDC is moving to 89 Shrewsbury St. above Italian restaurant Via, and is taking along two sub-lessees, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and Cardinal Construction. According to David Forsberg, WBDC president, "the space above Via turned out to be perfect space. It's a new building, with new systems and it keeps us in the heart of downtown." The WBDC has a staff of 10. The new space is a little smaller than the 7,100 square feet the WBDC has been renting for the last seven years or so, Forsberg said. The WBDC lease at 339 Main is set to expire, he said. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce may also move from 339 Main St. While on vacation, Chamber President Richard Kennedy said through Linda Pervier, the chamber's director of administration, that the chamber is "negotiating a lease agreement, and nothing's been finalized yet." Executives familiar with the chamber said the organization is considering a move to the Sovereign Tower.
Office vacancy down, rents up around 495
With little office space available around Route 128, occupancy may continue to grow in "the boroughs," and that growth may have staying power, according to Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. The Boston-based commercial real estate firm released its summer 2007 office market status report recently. It said office landlords have been able to push up rents by between $2 and $5 this quarter. Office space in the boroughs has strung together six consecutive quarters of positive absorption, RBJ said. However, that area did the same thing before it flopped in 2004. But RBJ said the boroughs could continue to fill office space, and that office space may remain occupied if space around Route 128 remains scarce. RBJ said the area around the southern end of I-495 may be the next to see an explosion of office space development. The area currently has only 2.1 million square feet of office space, but there are office developments either in the works, or on the drawing board, RBJ said.
Updates planned for industrial building
WORCESTER - A 10,752-square-foot industrial building on 16 Brooks St. in Worcester has a new owner that plans to renovate. The 16 Brooks Street Realty Trust, which is run by Michael J. O'Hara, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, bought the building from KomTek Realty for $540,000, according to brokers with Worcester commercial real estate firm Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates. The brokers said the new owners plan to "make updates to both the interior and the exterior of the building."
Franklin, Acton facilities bought by Conn. firm
WESTPORT, CONN - A Westport, Conn. real estate investment firm has bought assisted living facilities in Acton and Franklin as part of a four-facility purchase. In addition to the Inn at Forge Hill in Franklin and the Inn at Robbins Brook in Acton, Westport Capital Partners LLC bought the Inn at Fillmore Pond in Bennington, Vt., and the Inn at Spruce Wood in Durham, N.H. Westport Captial worked with the Capital Health Group and Kaplan Development Group on the acquisitions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The facilities total 369 units, 23 percent of which are independent living units. The remainder of the units are assisted living units and Alzheimer's units. All were built between 1999 and 2004.
Health Care
Three to join MetroWest Physicians Services
FRANKLIN - Three primary care physicians have signed on to join MetroWest Physicians Services when it opens its doors at its new facility on King Street in Franklin today. Drs. Tarek A. ElSharkawy, K. Chennapragada and Maria Hope Modesto will all have offices at the new King Street office. In addition to office space, the King Street location, a 7,600-square-foot building designed by Allevato Architects of Franklin and JACA architects of Weymouth, will house state of the art lab technology provided by MetroWest Medical Center.
Professional Services
Training grants for Central Mass. businesses
The state will dip into its workforce training fund for $400,000 in matching grants to train 513 workers at 10 Central Massachusetts small businesses. State Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne M. Bump said the outlay would help train skilled workers, and give them opportunities to advance their careers. The grant is part of a $1.7 million fund meant to train 2,100 workers at 49 Massachusetts businesses. The Central Massachusetts businesses to receive training grants are: A & J Industries in Uxbridge; Curtis Industries of Worcester; Essential Healthcare Ayer Inc. of Ayer; Hybricon Corp. of Ayer; Injectronics Corp. of Clinton; New England Fabricated Metals of Leominster; New England Peptide of Gardner; Rand Whitney Packaging Corp. of Worcester; Savers Bank of Southbridge; and Wirefab of Worcester.
Economic achievers awarded $25K
Junior Achievement of Central Massachusetts won the MetLife Foundation Entrepreneurial Award for the Community Partnership Model to Maximize Impact for At-Risk Students program the chapter developed. Junior Achievement teaches teenagers about economics and the free enterprise system. According to Junior Achievement Worldwide, the Massachusetts chapter was awarded with $25,000 cash to keep the program for at-risk students going. The program includes employment training, teen parenting training, a financial literacy initiative and other courses. The Central Massachusetts chapter also shared the Junior Achievement Worldwide Collaboration Award with the chapter from Western Massachusetts. The award recognized the chapters' success in making Massachusetts the first state to secure U.S. Department of Education funding for all Junior Achievement programs in the state.
Banking & Finance
Credit union launches site en Espanol
SOUTHBRIDGE - The Southbridge Credit Union has launched a Spanish language version of its web site in an effort to "grow with the communities we serve." The credit union said its Spanish web site, which is accessed from its English language web site, is the first of its kind in the area.
Commonwealth fines Oppenheimer $1 million
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin fined New York City-based Oppenheimer and Co. Inc. $1 million for theft, churning and unauthorized trading today. The company was fined on behalf of one of its agents, Stephen J. Toussaint, who was charged last August with fraud and excessive and unauthorized trading in the accounts of William and Doris Pietra of Fall River, the secretary's office said. Oppenheimer was charged with failure to supervise Toussaint. In addition to the $1 million fine, the national investment boutique was also ordered to return $135,000 in losses from the unlawful conduct to the widowed Doris Pietra, whose husband died in 2005. "Returning funds to aggrieved investors was a top priority in bringing this action for unlawful conduct against the broker-dealer, which has a significant presence in the Commonwealth," said Secretary Galvin. "These agreements send a clear message that companies and their management will be held responsible for making false statements to this office's securities regulators."
Biomedical
Abbott 62 percent net increase on drugs
Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories Inc., which has a pharmaceutical research facility in Worcester, reported a 62 percent increase in net income for the second quarter. The company attributed the earnings jump to strong sales of its anti-inflammatory drug Humira. Second quarter sales increased 16 percent over the same quarter a year ago to $6.37 billion. The company's U.S. pharmaceutical division, its largest division, and the division of which the Worcester facility is part, saw sales of $3.6 billion, a 27 percent increase over the second quarter of 2006.
Neuroptix reaches $1 million milestone
ACTON - Acton-based Neuroptix Corp. has been granted a $1 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. Inc. under a previously announced Alzheimer's Disease diagnostic collaboration. Begun in late 2006, the collaboration calls for Neuroptix to provide Merck with access to its laser eye scanning technologies, which help detect Alzheimer's related proteins. "We are delighted at the progress currently being made in our diagnostic development work with Merck," said Paul Hartung, president and CEO of Neuroptix. "We are looking forward to continued success as we advance the development of our eye test for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, for use in clinical diagnostic settings and for monitoring clinical trials of new Alzheimer's drugs in the pipeline."
Insurance
Number of insured grows
The Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority estimates that nearly 15,000 new members enrolled in six major health insurance plans through the connector in May and June. More than 12,000 of those enrolled last month alone, the authority said. New Massachusetts law required residents to have health insurance by July 1. The authority said the number of newly insured residents has been brought up to 155,000 in the past year. Jon Kingsdale, the authority's executive director, said the surge in the number of insured was "another big step in the long march to near-universal health coverage."
Manufacturing
Polar, others boot benzene from drinks
WORCESTER - Despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found no known health risk associated with the level of benzene found in some soft drinks, Worcester-based Polar Beverages Inc. and four others have agreed in a settlement with consumers to reformulate certain drinks. Also as part of the settlement, the drink companies agreed to replace products purchased prior to the reformulation, according to the plaintiffs and their attorneys. Polar agreed to reformulate its Diet Orange Dry soda. The other products reformulated as part of the settlement include Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, Sunny Delight Citrus Punch, Baja Orange and Baja Berry, Diet Rockstar and Shasta Caffeine Free Regular Orange. The reformulations minimize or eliminate the possibility that the drinks can form benzene. According to the Centers for Disease Control, benzene can be both naturally occurring and man-made. Low levels are found in outdoor air, and higher levels are found in indoor air from products like detergents, glue, furniture wax and paint. It is a natural part of crude oil and gasoline, and has been linked to Leukemia.
Safety star for BlueLinx facility
BELLINGHAM - The BlueLinx Corp.'s Bellingham distribution center has received a new five-year certification as a workplace safety and health "star" from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. BlueLinx is an Atlanta, Ga.-based building products distribution company. OSHA said the certification, a renewal of the company's last five year "star" certification, is a sign of the company's commitment to minimizing workplace hazards. The distribution facility has 77 employees, and first achieved "star" status under the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program in 2004.
Retail
BJ's customers buy TVs, snacks
NATICK - June same-store sales at Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club were up 5.3 percent over the same period last year, the company reported. A 1.4 percent bump from the sale of gasoline helped the sales growth while a 0.4 percent drop due to the absence of pharmacies at BJ's club stores held it back, the company said. Overall June sales for the membership-based shopping club were $886.8 million, a 9.8 percent increase over June of 2006. The company said it sold a lot of snacks and televisions in June. The company runs 174 club stores in 16 states.
TJX sales strong, but hack still nags
FRAMINGHAM - The TJX Cos. Inc., the Framingham-based parent of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Bob's Stores and other retailers, said it expects second-quarter earnings per share of between $0.34 and $0.36. That's an increase of between 17 percent and 24 percent over last year's second quarter earnings, but between $0.02 and $0.03 less than it would be if the company didn't have to pay for computer system intrusions that resulted in the loss of credit card data of millions of customers. TJX reported June sales of $1.7 billion, a 9 percent increase over results from last June.
High Tech
Grid names new director
WESTBOROUGH - Westborough's National Grid appointed Tom King as executive director responsible for the company's electricity distribution and generation businesses. Most recently, King was CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and was part of the executive team that led the company out of bankruptcy, National Grid said.
GlassHouse buys RapidApp
FRAMINGHAM - Framingham-based GlassHouse Technologies Inc. has acquired RapidApp, a Chicago-based server virtualization consulting firm. GlassHouse is an information technology infrastructure consulting and services firm. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. With RapidApp, GlassHouse will expand to more than 450 employees worldwide. Top Rapid App executives have been given executive positions with GlassHouse.
Candela founder dead at 75
WAYLAND - Horace Furumoto, the founder of Wayland-based Candela Corp. has died at 75. The company said Furumoto died June 28 in Wellesley. Furumoto founded Candela, a maker of custom lasers for use in the sciences, in 1970. He led the company into the medical arena in 1981, the company said. Before founding Candela, Furumoto held positions at NASA and Avco. He was president and CEO of Candela until 1990. He then founded Cynosure Inc., where he was president and CEO until he retired in 2003.
MWCC receives HP technology grant
GARDNER - Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner is one of 42 two- and four-year colleges nationwide to receive a 2007 HP Technology for Teaching Grant. The school will use the award to create a teaching and learning classroom and lab space for special computer and math courses that will utilize HP wireless tablet PCs. Tablet PCs are similar to laptop computers, but utilize display technology that allows users to manipulate data with a finger or stylus instead of a keyboard or mouse, allowing for greater mobility and flexibility. MWCC will receive an award package of HP products and a faculty stipend valued at more than $68,000, the school said. "This grant not only allows us to create a model Center for Teaching and Learning, but also to increase the interactivity and engagement between the students and professors," said Daniel Asquino, president of MWCC. "We expect student understanding and retention of course material to rise from using the tablet PCs."
News briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports.
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