Regional Briefs
PLENTY OF ROOM: According to a Richards Barry Joyce & Partners report on industrial properties, warehouse vacancy increased by 0.4 percent to 16.2 percent in greater Boston during the fourth quarter. The Boston-based commercial real estate firm said that during that time, 236,000 more square feet went vacant than became occupied. The vast majority of that newly vacant space was along I-495.
WINDS OF CHANGE: Cape Wind could sign a lease for the country’s first off-shore wind farm within 30 days and expects to be fully permitted by March now that it has received a favorable final environmental impact statement from the U.S. Minerals Management Service. The Cape Wind project is planned for Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound and has faced substantial opposition from nearby landowners.
NO ONE TO BLAME: When good employees quit, top managers may have no one to blame but themselves, according to results of a recent Robert Half International survey. In the survey, top managers at 1,000 large companies were asked what’s most likely to cause good employees to quit their jobs. A full 35 percent said unhappiness with management was the culprit, while 33 percent pointed to limited opportunities for advancement.
CUTTING BACK: Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co., which employs about 600 people at its electronics materials facility in Marlborough announced that the company would cut about 900 jobs (about 5.7 percent of the company’s workforce) and idle or close “underutilized” plants in the face of “widespread market weakness.” The industrial chemicals company said the job cuts would affect “all regions and business” within the company except its salt division.
KEEPING PACE: Natick-based Boston Scientific Corp. has signed a one-year contract to supply the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with pacemakers and defibrillators. The company will supply the VA with its Altrua family of pacemakers and its Teligen implantable defibrillator. The contract carries renewal options for up to four years.
SOLD: Hopkinton-based EMC Corp. and 170 Systems of Bedford have reached an agreement to jointly sell finance-related document software. As part of the agreement, 170 will sell two lines of EMC document management software and EMC will sell 170’s accounts payable software.
CREATIVE CHOICES: The Creative Group, an international staffing agency for the advertising and marketing industry, reported that advertising and marketing companies become more creative when times are tough. The report is based on results from a survey directed to industry executives. Forty percent of respondents said campaigns became more creative, but 26 percent said they noticed no change in creativity when budgets were tight. Twenty-four percent said their firms became less creative.
LEADERSHIP CHANGE: Worcester-based Flagship Bank & Trust Co. officially became a division of Peoples United Bank on Jan. 1, one year after People’s acquired it. In conjunction with the announcement the bank released James Garvey, the former president and CEO of Flagship. People’s spokesman Valerie Carlson said Garvey’s “position was eliminated” for “efficiency purposes.”
DOWNSIZING: Wayland-based Candela Corp. said it plans to cut an undisclosed number of jobs and reduce employee pay worldwide. The company, which makes lasers used in cosmetic and other surgeries, will also close its Israeli operations and pay $3.85 million to settle class action and derivatives lawsuits filed against the company last year. The company pointed to a 19 percent revenue decline and a second quarter net loss more than five times greater than 2007 as the basis for its downsizing.
FIRMLY FUNDED: Acton-based IT security firm eIQnetworks Inc., which makes IT network security systems for large companies and government agencies, closed a $10 million round of private financing intended to quickly expand the company’s marketing, sales and product development efforts. The funding round was led by Venrock, a California-based venture capital fund with an office in Cambridge.
TERMINATOR: More than 12,000 foreclosure deeds were filed in Massachusetts in 2008, a whopping 62 percent increase over the 7,653 foreclosures filed the previous year, according to Boston-based real estate tracker The Warren Group. Foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process, were down 26.3 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, which The Warren Group attributed to a new state law requiring lenders to give delinquent borrowers 90 days to pay off loan defaults before filing for foreclosure.
SICK DAYS: Employees frequently show up to work while sick and their employers only occasionally realize it, according to results of a survey by OfficeTeam. The survey asked workers how frequently they go to work while feeling sick and 45 percent said they do so very frequently. Another 30 percent said they go to work sick somewhat frequently. Only 8 percent said they never to go work sick.
SLOW CLIMB: GTC Biotherapeutics of Framingham has regained compliance with one of the market rules that got the company temporarily suspended from the Nasdaq stock market in the fall. The company said it had raised its market capitalization to above $35 million for 10 consecutive trading days, bringing it back into compliance with a Nasdaq rule that stipulates as much. GTC has until July 20 to regain compliance with the Nasdaq’s minimum $1 bid price rule.
AD-VICE: The office of Attorney General Martha Coakley has reached an agreement with Comcast over allegations that a company promotional campaign misled customers. Coakley had accused the cable company of inaccurately explaining how television viewers could prepare for the U.S. government’s transition to digital television in February 2009. Under the new agreement, Comcast will modify its web site and future mailings and will destroy all copies of existing “Get Ready” mailings intended for distribution in the state.
JOB SEARCH: In the week ending Jan. 17, 589,000 Americans filed claims for unemployment insurance for the first time. That’s an increase of 62,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 527,000. The 4-week moving average was 519,250, unchanged from the previous week.
DUGOUT: Archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority used technology created by Fitchburg-based Headwall Photonics to analyze text found on a shard of 3,000-year-old pottery. The Headwall instruments helped them learn about the text and the inks and material used to produce it. The same technology has been used for years in remote sensing and military applications.
TALL ORDERS: Devens-based American Superconductor Corp. said it has received an order for 100 sets of wind turbine core electrical components from the CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. Ltd. in China. AMSC said the order was a “multi-million-dollar” purchase but did not give specifics.
RAISING EXPECTATIONS: Members of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 369 have ratified a contract extension with NSTAR Electric & Gas, the utility for portions of Central and Eastern Massachusetts. The three-year extension, which takes effect on June 2, calls for cost of living raises of 3.25 percent for the first two years of the contract and 3 percent for the third year, along with the continuation of existing benefits.
AWARD CEREMONIES: The Massachusetts Alliance for International Business (MAIB), affiliated with Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), is seeking nominations for annual awards recognizing creativity in international trade-related activities. The 14th annual MAIB International Trade Achievement Awards will be presented at AIM’s annual meeting on May 8. The deadline is March 13.
SHARP DECLINE: Hopkinton-based EMC Corp.’s fourth quarter profit fell 45 percent, from $526 million to $288 million, on restructuring charges. The data storage giant’s fourth quarter revenue hit $4 billion, an increase of 8 percent over the third quarter and 5 percent over the fourth quarter of 2007. EMC announced recently that it would lay off about 2,400 employees, 600 of them in Massachusetts.
NEW GRANTS: RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Worcester and the University of Massachusetts Medical School will receive one of the first cooperative research grants distributed by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The grant will fund an effort to develop orally delivered RNAi therapeutics to treat inflammatory diseases.
PRODUCT LAUNCH: IPG Photonics of Oxford says it has developed two new types of fiber lasers that will allow it to enter new markets. The new lasers can be used for a variety of functions, including the marketing of transparent materials and entertainment.
CUSTOMER DEMAND: Framingham IT consulting company GlassHouse Technologies has acquired security services consultant CSSG of Chicago for an undisclosed sum. The company said the acquisition is a response to customer demand.
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