Boston Business Journal articles from January 2001

Boston Business Journal archives from January 2001

Poor prognosis.
January 5, 2001... Community hospital failures spark debate on state's role Recent hospital failures forecast an ominous future for other struggling community hospitals unless the state takes a more active role, experts say. More than 26 hospitals have...

Sycamore Networks needs 'marquee' contracts, analysts say.
January 5, 2001... High-profile Sycamore Networks Inc. of Chelmsford will see some home-grown competition this year as many of the venture-funded start-up companies making optical network technology are expected to actually start selling their products. One such...

Krispy Kreme to rise in Bay State.
January 5, 2001... It's signature, yeast-raised "hot original glazed" doughnut inspires fans to queue up for hours. A doughnut chain that has achieved cult status in the southeastern United States and is gaining momentum across the country finally is headed...

Lawmaker targets Liberty Mutual's new stock plan.
January 5, 2001... As Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. prepares to become the first Massachusetts insurer to form a mutual holding company, a prominent liberal state lawmaker has filed a bill that could put the kibosh on the Boston company's plans. Supporters of...

Limber up your fingers for those 10-digit phone calls.
January 5, 2001... If your New Year's resolutions of getting fit and eating right aren't challenging enough, New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. proposes another: preparing for area code changes scheduled to hit eastern Massachusetts this spring. In a...

A close shave to a Big Dig.
January 5, 2001... If any local Gillette Co. workers are affected by the firm's pending restructuring plans, they may need to look no farther than under their feet for a new job: The state wants them to consider working on the Big Dig. Last month, the...

In the money.
January 5, 2001... How does it feel to receive $28 million? Well, just ask Barry Solomon and Reed Prior about it. The two head Lexington-based Circe Biomedical Inc., which recently received $28 million in venture funding. That's no small pocket change,...

A trainful of wisdom.
January 5, 2001... The holidays are supposed to bring cheer to all, but Blue Line conductor Ed Costello wasn't taking any chances with his train full of weary shoppers on a recent pre-Christmas ride. Known by his northbound commuters for humorous ad libs and...

Engage axes 550 to reduce expenses.
January 5, 2001... ANDOVER--Engage Inc. announced this week it plans to slash its work force by 550 workers, or nearly 50 percent of its employee base, in an effort to reduce expenses. The company, which produces marketing software and interactive media...

Tucker Anthony unveils management changes.
January 5, 2001... Tucker Anthony Sutro has announced a number of management changes at its Boston-based subsidiary Tucker Anthony Inc. Among them is the retirement some time this year of company president Robert H. Yevich. Yevich, who heads up the firm's retail...

Kennedy given the nod to head up getPlastic.
January 5, 2001... BURLINGTON--getPlastic, a provider of e-marketplace services for the plastics industry, named Robert E. Kennedy as president and CEO. Co-founder and former president and CEO Chris Poirier will continue as board chairman and senior vice...

Networking firms eye early 2001 IPOs.
January 5, 2001... Quantum Bridge Communications Inc. is the latest to make a move. The Andover company, which builds hardware and software to manage data traffic, filed its registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month. ...

Great expectations.
January 5, 2001... Bingham Dana LLP's managing partner's vision moves old-line law firm Jay Zimmerman's rise to managing partner of Bingham Dana LLP shortly after his 40th birthday in 1994 surprised the Boston legal community, but since then, outdoing...

Lukowski steps down as president of Eastern.
January 5, 2001... Eastern Bank has shuffled its leadership team. Stanley Lukowski has stepped down as president, a post he held since 1981. Lukowski, 59, said he will retain his role as chairman and chief executive officer of the $3.4 billion Boston-based...

Intel chip deal could open market for Analog Devices.
January 5, 2001... Norwood-based Analog Devices Inc.'s and Intel Corp.'s new digital signal processor, which the companies jointly designed and plan to produce this year, opens new markets for Analog. Intel's knack for making what it does the standard for the...

Chefs English, White eye casino site.
January 5, 2001... Chefs Todd English and Jasper White could be joining former Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan in Connecticut. Both Bay State chefs are in talks to open restaurants at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn. "I can only tell you...

Analysts to Akamai: Get more customers, sales.
January 5, 2001... The pressure is on Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge in the next year to add customers at a faster pace and to start selling existing and new customers more of its services. The Internet content delivery company was swamped in this past...

Prime properties still desirable in a softer market.
January 5, 2001... The real estate market may be softening, but desirable properties are still commanding strong interest, as shown by two recent deals brokered by Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc. Boston Capital Institutional Advisors LLC bought 2...

Circe Biomedical seeks liver cure with pig cells.
January 5, 2001... LEXINGTON--If you are a patient with acute liver failure, a pig could soon help save your life. Lexington-based Circe Biomedical Inc. is entering pivotal trials for a therapy derived from pig cells. Company officials believe their...

Co-op strives to push for the use of recycled paper.
January 5, 2001... The decade was the 1980s, a time when computer use was growing in tandem with the environmental movement, and eco-optimists looked forward to the day of the "paperless office." Twenty years later, not only has that vision become as much...

Bill: Change date auto rates are set.
January 5, 2001... Bay State drivers who get their insurance bills this month won't know what they'll actually pay until March or later. That's because Massachusetts auto rates for private-passenger insurance aren't set until Dec. 15, and then insurers are...

This could be the year for Big Dig and Logan runway.
January 5, 2001... When will the Big Dig stop being more than a big pain? Could this be the year that Logan International Airport finally gets its new runway? And might Amtrak's new high-speed Acela train stay out of the repair shed and on track long enough to...

PreVision foresees continuing growth.
January 5, 2001... LINCOLN--A cash infusion from a publicly held marketing agency fueled PreVision Marketing LLC's 70-percent revenue growth last year and will help back at least four more years of growth, according to company principals. PreVision...

Net-focused publication rides West Coast boost.
January 5, 2001... NEEDHAM--It bills itself as the fifth largest U.S. magazine and third largest weekly magazine, having just surpassed TV Guide's circulation. Started as a monthly in November 1998 and launched as a weekly in September 1999, Needham-based...

Coola Inc. helps put web sites onto Palm devices.
January 5, 2001... Firm putting together round of funding that could add up to $15M WOBURN--Coola Inc. is not a web portal, and its management isn't interested in turning it into one. On the afternoon of Christmas day, though, the number of visitors to...

All-business radio to debut as WMEX radio becomes WBIX.
January 5, 2001... WMEX 1060 AM will change its call letters to WBIX Business 1060 and launch an all-business format Jan. 8. The station, which carries the Boston Business Journal AM Edition every weekday morning during drive time, will also add Bloomberg Minutes...

'Terrifying' labor market haunts restaurant owners.
January 5, 2001... 'T is the season for predictions... Here are a few for 2001 from some restaurant insiders: "I think labor is the most terrifying thing for next year (for restaurants)," said Mark Hartzfeld, executive vice president and chief operating...

New post for Calaguire.
January 5, 2001... Frank Calaguire is leaving his general manager's post at the Westin Copley Place in Boston. In mid-January, Calaguire will become senior vice president of sales and marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s North American...

Bedford hotel sold off in Homewood/Hilton deal.
January 5, 2001... A Bedford hotel is one of seven Homewood Suites sold by the publicly traded Hilton Hotels Corp. for approximately $95 million in cash. The newly formed RLJ Development LLC purchased the 147-room Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston/Billerica....

Diner of good and evil opens.
January 5, 2001... A restaurant that says its menu caters to the good and evil sides in diners has opened in Worcester. Jekyll & Hyde's Cafe & Grille is aiming to appeal to both health conscious and not so health conscious eaters. Its "Dr. Jekyll's Menu of...

New store opens in Hingham.
January 5, 2001... Lilly's Closet recently opened at the Pride Building in Hingham Square. Owned by Susan Trachik of Scituate, the new store carries the bright and colorful clothing designs of Lilly Pulitzer of Palm Beach for women, men and children. It also...

WaveSmith Network sells $12M in subordinated debt.
January 5, 2001... WaveSmith Networks, an Acton optical network equipment maker that announced an $11.5 million first round infusion of venture capital in August, is borrowing $12 million more to get the company over the hump until its next round of funding is...

CTC buys fiber links for $18M.
January 5, 2001... CTC Communications Group Inc. of Waltham, a competitive local exchange carrier, spent $18 million to purchase fiber connecting areas of eastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, southern Maine and Rhode Island. CTC Communications sells...

Akara to open Waltham office.
January 5, 2001... Akara, an Ottawa, Ontario, company that pulled in $17 million in venture capital, not to mention a little help from StorageNetworks Inc. of Waltham, will base its sales office in the Watch City. The company has a former executive from EMC Corp....

Feeling the pain.
January 5, 2001... Robotic Vision Systems Inc., the Canton semiconductor inspection systems maker, is feeling the pain of the spending slowdown in the semiconductor industry. The company announced days before the end of 2000 that it was lowering its quarterly...

Bill written for nurses, by nurses, becomes state law.
January 5, 2001... Craven & Ober, Policy Strategists LLC, the new all-nurse government relations firm we first told you about a few months ago, scored its first "W" at the tail-end of the legislative session when Gov. Paul Cellucci signed into law an Act Relative...

HMO trade group seeks new president.
January 5, 2001... This executive search is bound to garner attention. The association representing embattled HMOs in this state will begin the new year looking for a new president. And it has hired a recruitment firm to conduct a national search to find one....

Moves to North Shore.
January 5, 2001... Newton-based HouseWorks LLC is bringing its crew--hammers, nails and all--to the North Shore, where it will make house calls to senior citizens who like living independently. The company will bring seniors to medical appointments, make home...

Is this VC fund aimed at the possible bumpy road ahead?
January 5, 2001... The handwriting for harder times appears to be on the wall: Bay State unemployment last month rose to 2.6 percent, still very low but higher than it's been. Gillette Co., one of the state's leading employers, recently picked the holiday season...

Citizens helps refugees save for future success.
January 5, 2001... Citizens Bank of Massachusetts recently unveiled what it believes is a unique banking program to assist refugees coming to the United States. Working with the International Institute of Boston, Citizens has developed what it calls the...

A look at the sunnier side of State Street Corp.
January 5, 2001... How good are things at State Street Corp.? Well, while some financial institutions struggle to meet profit expectations, State Street said recently it is going to split its stock. Also, State Street, a $6.2 trillion bank holding company...

Merrill Lynch opens office in pricey Kendall Square.
January 5, 2001... Biotech, Internet and software firms may be fleeing Cambridge's high-rent Kendall Square business district for less costly digs, but that hans't deterred Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the investment bank and brokerage house based in New York City,...

Investing 2001: Your guide to the four-ring investment circus.
January 5, 2001... I have a friend--what do you mean you want proof?--who hates circuses. Always has. He says they're noisy, confusing and full of people doing silly stuff just to make a buck. "Just like Wall Street," I says to myself. And bingo, a column is...

Analog Devices Inc.
January 5, 2001... THE BUSINESS Analog Devices Inc. is a semiconductor company that designs, manufactures and markets precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing. Virtually all of ADI's products are...

Going platinum.
January 5, 2001... Magazine publisher says her dream job is a way of life Nash Yacoub didn't know a thing about magazine production when she decided to start her own publication just over two years ago. Nor did she know that while an average of almost 10...

Outreach program greets the tax season.
January 5, 2001... The Massachusetts Department of Revenue is opening the new year, and not coincidentally, the new tax season, with a push to bring its Small Business Outreach Program to more of the state's 179,000 employers in 2001. Although the push is...

Marketing your small business on a shoestring budget.
January 5, 2001... Although we are told not to judge a book by its cover, when a customer is making a substantial financial decision, they often do just that. They critique your company's presentation from the logo design, the professionalism of the...

MASSACHUSETTS STOCK INDEX.
January 5, 2001... MASSACHUSETTS STOCK INDEX Ticker Close Pct. 52-week Company Symbol Price Chg. High Low A. D. Technologies Inc. ...

Area's Largest Computer Dealers.
January 5, 2001... Area's Largest ComputerDealers (ranked by 2000 Mass.Computer and equipment sales) Mass. computer and Company ...

Old scam in the new economy.
January 5, 2001... Analysts say crooks are having a field day by using discarded credit card receipts to rack up huge online bills While many consumers fear that shopping online with credit cards exposes them to possible identity theft by computer hackers,...

Looking for a way to reduce medical errors? Get wired.
January 5, 2001... In this plugged-in, point-and-click age, imagine how jarring it would be to see a bank teller pull a tabloid-sized ledger from a drawer, grab a red pen and begin painstakingly recording the day's transactions. Equally strange would be...

Curing what ails you, tech style.
January 5, 2001... If you have an account with any major bank or other financial institutions these days, you know that you can call an automated number or log onto the Internet and get up-to-the-minute information on your finances at any given time. The...

Switch to the IT track for the right reasons.
January 5, 2001... Whatever you do, don't call them "career changers." Call them "job changers." You know who I'm talking about: those people who want to move out of their current career, er, job, into the lucrative information technology field. ...

The ever-evolving help desk.
January 5, 2001... An Australian farmer notices strange bugs crawling around his wheat and oat fields. After years of working the land, he knows that pests make the rounds, and harvests slump according to their vigor. In years past, the farmer would have crossed...

Inside jobs: Companies must beware of internal IT scofflaws.
January 5, 2001... Cybercrime rules. The media is abuzz with stories about the latest worm virus or some other attack on corporate and personal security via the Internet. It's a dangerous e-world out there. But in the flood of attention, one area of computer...

Just throw away the 'key' when thinking of PDA security.
January 5, 2001... Secure communications involving devices such as handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones and digital music players are becoming an integral part of the new economy. And virtually every enterprise application is moving to...

PERSONNEL FILE.
January 5, 2001... ADVERTISING/COMMUNICATIONS Greco Ethridge Group Inc. in Boston named Dave Kuell vice president, brand reality. Tepperman/Ray Associates Inc. of Andover named Julie Wotjas account manager and James Marshall director of business...

Dickinson Direct.
January 5, 2001... Dickinson Direct of Braintree was awarded a Supplier Appreciation Award from AT&T, which recognized the firm for its contributions and successful partnership efforts.

Milford-Whitinsville Regional Hospital.
January 5, 2001... Milford-Whitinsville Regional Hospital was selected as one of the nation's Top 100 Hospitals by HCIA-Sachs, an Evanston, Ill.-based health care information company. Criteria included "excellence in quality of care, efficiency of operations and...

Tepperman/Ray Associates.
January 5, 2001... Andover-based Tepperman/Ray Associates's 1999 Annual RePortal, which the firm developed and designed for Lightbridge Inc. of Burlington, received several awards in the 1999 Annual Report Competition, sponsored by American Business...

Business Management International.
January 5, 2001... Business Management International, with offices in Framingham, was named a "Technology Pacesetter" by Acounting Today, a national bi-monthly publication.

Axcelis Technologies Inc.
January 5, 2001... Axcelis Technologies Inc. of Beverly, formerly Eaton Semiconductor Equipment Operations, received the Ten Best Vendor Award for 1999 by United Microelectronics Corp. of Taiwan.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions.
January 5, 2001... Watertown-based Bright Horizons Family Solutions was named one of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For in America," in acknowledgement of the company's "flexible work arrangements, innovative work/life supports, training and...

Boston Celtics.
January 5, 2001... Boston Celtics presented the "Heroes Among Us" award to Robin and Caitlin Phelan, co-founders of the Teddy Bear Drive Foundation; an Ipswich-based charitable organization that organizes thousands of people from across the state to bring new...

Seacoast Financial finalizes purchase of Nantucket Bank.
January 5, 2001... New Bedford-based Seacoast Financial Services Corp. completed its acquisition of Nantucket-based Home Port Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Nantucket Bank. The transaction was announced on July 21, 2000, and Home Port shareholders voted to...

Gillette pen unit sold to Newell for $525 million.
January 5, 2001... Freeport, Ill.-based Newell Rubbermaid Inc., which makes office products including Berol pens, paid about $525 million for Boston-based Gillette Co.'s Paper Mate, Parker and Waterman pens business. The price wasn't disclosed when Gillette and...

Digital Broadband files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection.
January 5, 2001... Waltham-based Digital Broadband Communications Inc., a broadband communications provider, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Digital Broadband has retained a small technical and operations staff to support its customers and...

Liberty sells wealth unit to Stein Roe for $40 million.
January 5, 2001... Boston-based Liberty Financial Companies Inc., the financial services arm of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., has completed the sale of Stein, Roe & Farnham Inc. Liberty sold the wealth management firm for $40 million to the Stein Roe management...

Beverly-based Proteome sold to California-based outfit.
January 5, 2001... Palo Alto, Calif.-based Incyte Genomics Inc., which develops and sells databases of genetic information, bought Beverly-based Proteome Inc. for $77 million in cash and stock, expanding its gene and protein information library. The acquisition,...

Pharmasmarket.com snags $14 million in venture funds.
January 5, 2001... North Andover-based Pharmasmarket.com, an independent business-to-business pharmaceutical supply chain marketplace, secured $14 million in its most recent round of venture capital funding. Pharmasmarket.com is focused on delivering a...

Oakmark, Neuberger among nation's best-selling funds.
January 5, 2001... Oakmark Family of Funds and Neuberger Berman Inc., two value-oriented mutual fund outfits, both announced that they posted net cash inflows in November, something neither has done since the second quarter of 1998, a Boston-based consulting firm...

Hospital fatalities.
January 5, 2001... Does Massachusetts want to watch market forces continue to winnow out its community hospitals? Competition seems to be a sensible remedy for a hospital system that is known for its high costs and redundancies. However, the natural effects of...

Searching for meaningful economic indicators.
January 5, 2001... Some of us want to know the future before it arrives, small-time Alan Greenspans in the making, so we restlessly sift through economic indictors like so many tarot cards. Unemployment is steady. Consumer confidence is sagging, no doubt because...

Be a leading provider of e-business solutions.
January 5, 2001... I once had a friend who went to see a psychiatrist saying he was having dreams in which one night he dreamt he was a teepee and the next night he dreamt he was a wigwam. The doctor looked at him and said, "I know your problem, you're two...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
January 5, 2001... Column perpetuates 'myth and stigma' of mental illness To the editor: The opinion column, "Anticipating workplace violence can reduce the threat" by Christopher T. Marquet (Dec. 29-Jan. 4 edition of the Boston Business Journal),...

Off the market.
January 12, 2001... Properties get pulled rather than suffer low bids The price wasn't right, so Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. pulled off the market its 114,000-square-foot office building at 400 Fifth Ave. in Waltham after three months. After...

State Street's Ahern joins White House transition.
January 12, 2001... State Street Corp., long powerful in finance circles, has been asked to advise the incoming administration of George W. Bush on money matters. F. Gregory Ahern, a senior vice president at State Street, recently was drafted to join a Bush...

Teradyne diversifies revenue steam with telecom products.
January 12, 2001... Teradyne Inc., in an effort to provide a hedge against the tumultuous swings of the semiconductor tester market, has been quietly developing a thriving telecommunications connector business. Last year, Teradyne enjoyed tremendous growth in...

Move over, Bambino, there is yet another hex in town.
January 12, 2001... The Curse of the Bambino is the most famous curse to afflict the Boston sports scene. But another hex appears to be emerging: the Stadium Jinx. CMGI Inc has watched as its stock plunged from $37.35 per share on Aug. 14, the day after it...

Let the sales begin.
January 12, 2001... Local public relations gal Meghan Nolan is so good, she can even put a positive spin on the fire that last week claimed a large portion of her wardrobe. The fire, which Boston Fire Department officials have since ruled a case of arson,...

It's that simple.
January 12, 2001... Words of wisdom from Sycamore Networks Inc. founder Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande should not be dismissed lightly, especially when he's talking about raising venture capital. Back when he was first coming up with the idea of intelligent optical...

CORRECTION.
January 12, 2001... Boston law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC, with a 2000 revenue of $215 million, would have ranked No. 58 in the Dec. 15-21 list of the area's Top 100 Private Companies. The BBJ did not receive the firm's numbers by...

Lids Corp. secures needed financial cover.
January 12, 2001... BOSTON--Retail asset-based lender Wells Fargo Retail Finance has provided a$25 million line of credit to the struggling Lids Corp., a Westwoodbased headwear retailer. Lids Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware Federal...

MindEdge announces TakeAclass takeover.
January 12, 2001... WOBUIRN-MindEdge Inc, a nonline learning database and education infrastruture company, has acquired Cambridge-based TakeAclass, a. regional player in the online campus and online education market. Terms of die acquisiton were not immediately...