Boston Business Journal articles from September 2001

Boston Business Journal archives from September 2001

Tight times.(Boston, Massachusetts, business surveys)
September 7, 2001... Local companies tell us how they're watching their expenses "From feast to famine" is how many view the sudden, and financially chilling, turn in the economy. After years of heady top-line and bottom-line growth, many businesses are...

Hospitals may face more taxing questions.(in-lieu payments)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... At a time when cities and towns are taking a hard look at what tax-exempt institutions pay them in lieu of taxes, hospitals are enjoying the goodwill that generally exists because of the services they provide. But in Boston and nearby...

Brokers, once rejected, wooed back by Harvard Pilgrim execs.(insurance brokers)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... WELLESLEY--After shunning insurance brokers for several years, Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare Inc. is now reaching out to them as a means of expanding its business. The move underscores the competition heating up this year as the state's three...

Staples puts media account up for grabs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... FRAMINGHAM--Staples Inc. is putting its relationship with Natick-based media planning and buying company Pro Media Inc. under the microscope. In a move widely viewed as a quest for cost-cutting options, the Framingham-based office supply...

Peabody Office lays off 16 installers.(Peabody Office Furniture Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... BOSTON--Peabody Office Furniture Corp. this week laid off 16 employees after deciding to outsource its remaining installation business that was handled from its Medford warehouse. According to chief financial officer Mark Anderson, Peabody...

BJ's sales see a boost.(BJ's Wholesale Club Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... NATICK--BJ's Wholesale Club Inc said August sales increased on the strength of air conditioners and summer seasonal merchandise, including outdoor furniture, coolers and grills. Sales increased 6.5 percent to $384 million, compared to $361...

MacroChem shares drop on study findings.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... LEXINGTON--MacroChem Corp. said a study of its experimental Topligan impotence gel showed that the drug sometimes lost its potency sending shares down as much as 41 percent early Thursday. Shares of MacroChem fell as low as $3.61 in trading...

In bear market, Eaton Vance thrives.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Asset manager enjoys 14% income growth; tax-managed products draw investors Wall Street has had to navigate some very choppy waters for more than a year, but for Eaton Vance it's been smooth sailing. The Boston-based asset manager...

TERESA CAVANAGH.(FleetBoston Financial Corp officer)
September 7, 2001... Getting past the boot-strapping Fleet's Cavanagh thrives as a 'voice for women's companies' Late on a Tuesday afternoon in August, Teresa (Teri) Cavanagh paced slowly along one side of a small, round conference table, wrapping a...

CareGroup's tech transfusion.(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 7, 2001... Dr. John Halamka is an emergency room doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), but he also wears several other hats. Most prominently, Halamka serves as chief information officer of BIDMC's parent company, CareGroup Inc. The...

Xchange rescued by $20.5 million funding round.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... A $20.5 million investment will keep Xchange Inc. from running out of money by the end of this year, as company officials warned might happen in July's quarterly report. The financing, which comes from investors who include company founder...

Stripped of 'net voting, e-shareholding bill survives.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... A bill before the state Legislature to allow shareholders to receive proxy and other materials via the Internet has been saved, as a controversial provision supported by businesses that would allow Internet-only annual meetings and shareholder...

Advance Realty buys first asset in Boston area.(Shattuck Office Center)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... With an infusion of funding, a New Jersey-based company expects to acquire and develop upwards of $300 million worth of property a year in the Boston and Washington, D.C., markets, including at least $100 million in Boston over the next 12...

MassHEFA's pool loans prove a boon to nonprofits.(Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... While entrepreneurs plead with venture capitalists for financing, the Massachusetts Health & Educational Facilities Authority bends over backwards to issue loans to nonprofit agencies. MassHEFA loaned nearly $101 million to nonprofits...

Builders: New regs blunt affordable housing law.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... State housing agency's rules upset industry on eve of new legislation Home builders say they are smarting from new state regulations about construction of affordable housing, which they say contradict the spirit of affordable-housing law...

Sweet move: Rosie's Pastries heads to larger facility.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Cambridge-based Rosie's Pastries Inc. will move its production facility of 20-plus years to another location in that city that's more than triple in size. Co-owner Eliot Winograd says the move will allow the company, which operates three...

Firm's struggle puts MIT project into limbo.(Massachusetts Institute of Technoloty)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... CAMBRIDGE--A Michigan company's financial woes have jeopardized a $90 million research project at MIT. Telecom-equipment maker Nanovation Technologies Inc., which early last year pledged $90 million to a joint program with the Massachusetts...

EMC on 'hold' as data storage firm faces the storm.(Hopkinton, MA EMC Corp)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Even if the company does have layoffs, which two other Wall Street analysts also predicted two weeks ago, the cuts will not help EMC's earnings until the fourth quarter, said Gary Helmig, SoundView's analyst. Gloomy predictions for...

Media 100 shifts gears to 'Pegasus'.(digital-video technology )(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... MARLBOROUGH--A company has ditched part of its software business, selling it for $16 million, to put everything into a digital-video technology it has been developing since 1998, known internally as "Pegasus." Media 100 Inc., which...

As Big Dig winds down, contractors look elsewhere.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking Boston is ground zero for the heavy highway construction industry. A walk around town shows hundreds of workers toiling below ground level, and a quick glance above captures as many bestride...

Retro steakhouse planned for the Radisson Boston.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... New restaurant slated for Independence Wharf; Commonwealth Fish and Beer for sale A Peter Niemitz-designed restaurant is under way at the Radisson Hotel Boston in the Theatre District. The restaurant, to be called Fifty Seven, will take...

VC funds bring Altio from London to Charlestown.(venture capital funds)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... After raising $9.2 million in funding from local venture capital firms, London software company Altio has moved its operations to Charlestown and lured a chief executive officer from another Boston software company. Robert Jewell, the CEO...

Value America exec's book chronicles the 'dot.bomb'.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... A one-time executive with Value America one of the bigger busts of the dot-com thrill ride, chronicled his cyber-adventures in a soon-to-be published book, "dot.bomb." Virginia-based Value America sped quickly ahead of rivals to reinvent...

Sonus Networks creates Japanese subsidiary.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Sonus Networks Inc. is boosting its presence in Asia. The Westford-based company, which makes switches for use on voice networks, has established a Japanese subsidiary. Tokyo-based Nihon Sonus Networks K.K. will aid the company's sales and...

It's a download-a-thon for charity organizations.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Lexington's Ipswitch Inc. is trying something different to get attention for its Internet software. The company is conducting a download-a-thon, in which it. will donate money to charity organizations and non-profit groups based on how...

Ink dries on Inc.'s redesign as entrepreneurs hit stride.(Inc. magazine)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Inc. magazine's redesign debuts this month, and editor in chief George Gendron said the $2 million-plus makeover addresses the dramatic changes taking place since Inc. was founded in 1979 and entrepreneurship was a small, misunderstood niche...

Edgy office furniture softens along with the market.(Office Resources Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Perhaps everyone in the corporate real estate industry who's trying to figure out what direction the economy's headed in should take a seat. There are employment statistics and earnings reports to be combed through, but what about orders for...

Investment group buys Northborough complex.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The I-290 Industrial Park, a 578,000-square-foot, six-building research and development and industrial complex in Northborough, was sold for $30.5 million to RREEF, a real estate investment management group with offices in New York City,...

Converse leases new HQ site.(Converse Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Converse Inc., the athletic-shoe company, has found a new headquarters by leasing 65,800 square feet of space at 1 High St. in North Andover. Paul Simard, chief executive officer of the Codman Co. Inc., a Boston-based real estate firm,...

Ajemian to head NEWIRE.(Marianne Ajemian)(New England Women In Real Estate )(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Marianne Ajemian has assumed the duties of president of New England Women In Real Estate (NEWIRE), which is coming up on its 20th anniversary promoting the advancement of women in the commercial real estate industry. Ajemian, a partner in...

BRA to release citizen's guide.(Boston Redevelopment Authority)(A Citizen's Guide to Development Review Under Article 80,")(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The Boston Redevelopment Authority released "A Citizen's Guide to Development Review Under Article 80," a handbook explaining the city's regulatory process for development projects, this week. The handbook, which is not as unwieldy as its...

Survey finds growing number of unhappy workers.
September 7, 2001... The economic downturn has taken its toll on workers' attitudes toward their employers, according to two recent surveys. A national survey of 1,792 adults conducted by Peter D. Hart Research found that 63 percent trust employers "just some"...

Less than halt at employees satisfied with health plans.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... Only 43 percent of workers are satisfied with their health plans, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey of 10,000 employees at 18 companies. The survey also found that only 48 percent trust their employers to design a health plan that...

Chamber: Wage hike bad move during downturn.(U.S. chamber of Commerce)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... No time is a good time to raise the minimum wage, business lobbyists argue, but now is a particularly bad time for an $1.50-an-hour increase, they say. The last time the minimum wage was increased (1997), the unemployment rate for...

Study quantifies cost of workplace regulations.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Workplace regulations cost $91 billion a year; according to a new study by Joseph Johnson, a research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center in Arlington, Va. Johnson's estimate was based on 25 major statutes and executive...

OSHA hopes to double voluntary safety program.(Occupational Safety and Health Administration)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The Occupational Safety and Health Administration hopes to double the number of small businesses that participate in its Voluntary Protection Program over the next three years. Businesses in the program work with OSHA to establish safety...

Prism partnership shakes things up with new ventures.(Prism Venture Partners L.P.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Who says venture capitalists can't start companies? Well, it appears to be the philosophy of Westwood-based Prism Venture Partners that they can do just that. But why? One might think that venture capitalists are happy enough throwing money at...

11 locals named to Fast 50.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Boston's Deloitte & Touche and the law firm Hale and Dorr LLP named several local biotechnology and medical device companies to its 2001 New England Technology Fast 50. Those who made the list include: Woburn-based Arqule Inc.,...

Study backs AHA results: Women face steep heart odds.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... A Boston-based study by New York City-based Pfizer Inc. backs up findings by the American Heart Association that women have a 1-in-2 chance of getting heart disease. The AHA maintains that heart disease is the top killer of women. Of the...

Area's Largest Mailing Service Firms.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Area's Largest Mailing Service Firms (ranked by Mass. 2000 dollar volume) [*] Dollar volume for Mass. Rank Company ...

Area's Largest Heavy/Highway Contractors.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Area's Largest Heavy/Highway Contractors (ranked by 2000 Mass. heavy/highway dollar volume) [*] 2000 dollar volume for Mass. ...

Lowell financial institution can bank on its history.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... If only the statement stuffers banks send us were as colorful as the institution's history, people might actually read about what they're getting charged for. Turns out that Butler Bank in Lowell has an interesting history. The bank, which...

Buon giorno; Boston.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... "Ciao America," an independent film written and directed by Lynn brothers Joseph and Frank Ciota, will be shown as a work in progress at the 17th annual Boston Film Festival next week. It's the second feature film for the Ciota brothers,...

Just the right medicine for medical device conference.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... So, what do a sports columnist and the medical device industry have in common? Not much, admits Tom Sommer, executive director of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMedic). Yet, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy is...

Did you create a business plan or pipe dream?(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... If you are in the throws of launching your business a real s on paper, are you writing business plan or just a "wish list?" Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe they are creating a plan, but most investors quickly recognize the results as little...

His Personal Best.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Entrepreneur turns his 'passion into a career' as he builds a karate studio franchise NORTON--Ten years ago, when he was a cash-strapped student of the martial arts with only $750 in the bank, Christopher Rappold made a bold move. Without...

Try the indirect approach when trying to reach customers.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Current turbulent economic conditions have provided tough times for many small businesses. Many business-to-business customers-and, more recently, retail customers--have been putting purchases on hold while waiting for the economic tide to...

Technology still holds the key to market recovery.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... EDWARD "NED" RILEY If the Red Sox are imploding, it must be September. Oh well, just wait until next year, goes the perennial sigh of resignation. Of course, it's the same with my golf game. And the stock market. The good news is,...

CORPORATE ALBUM.(Aspect Medical Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Aspect Medical Systems Inc. THE BUSINESS The company develops, manufactures and markets an anesthesia-monitoring system called the BIS system. The BIS system enables anesthesia providers to assess and manage a patient's level of...

MASSACHUSETTS STOCK INDEX.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... MASSACHUSETTS STOCK INDEX Ticker Close Pct. 52-week Company Symbol Price Chg. High A. D. Technologies Inc. ADTC 0.50 -- 2.00...

GUARDING YOUR ASSETS.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Businesses are well-advised to balance their online and off-line security Many companies are in virtual panic over the threat that hackers, competitors and even their own employees pose to their intellectual property. And when businesses...

Consider I.P. at the beginning of an alliance.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The courtship, marriage and divorce life cycle of many strategic alliances mirrors the life cycle of many romantic relationships. As energetic entrepreneurs leading innovative enterprises--including technology companies--come together to...

Seeing scarlett: copyright's broadness is a bone of contention.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The Wind Done Gone' raises questions about the definition of satire The purpose of copyright protection is to reward the efforts of people who create original works such as books, movies, plays, songs, paintings and sculptures. The...

Law firms shape I.P. areas to meet market demands.(intellectual property)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Worse, there are statistics about lawyers. Consider the firm Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP of Boston. Testa Hurwitz has 76 intellectual-property lawyers, making it one of the largest practices...

Advent of dot-biz prompts criticism over I.P. protection.(intellectual property)
September 7, 2001... Registration process derided by some as patently absurd The evolution of the Internet has created numerous challenges for business owners trying to protect their trademarks, and intellectual-property law has evolved to address those...

Is dot-biz really worth all the fuss?(.bus to arrive on October 1, 2001)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, in Marina del Rey, Calif., is touting the new dot-biz. In a big, big way. "The world's first domain built for business arrives Oct. 1," reads ICANN's web site. "The time to discover it is...

Corporations are tearing into document destruction.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Theft, corporate espionage, Dumpsterdiving and a greater awareness of privacy issues are driving the success of the document-shredding business. As companies become increasingly protective of intellectual property and other...

Hacker headaches: Firms liable in online break-ins.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... A hacker shuts down a commercial web site using your business's network to launch a denial-of-service attack. A bored teenager breaks into your company's database containing credit card verification information and Social Security numbers...

Protecting your property from the future of high technology.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Can you predict the future? Where will the Dow Jones average finish the year? Which movie will win the 2002 Oscar for best picture? Who will take the World Series trophy? OK, that last one may not be too difficult. But true knowledge of...

Boston on the Record.
September 7, 2001... PERSONNEL FILE Compiled by Sean McFadden ADVERTISING/COMMUNICATIONS Rebecca Hancock was named account executive for marketing communications firm Tiffanie Williams & Co. of Quincy. Miller Consulting Group of Boston appointed...

Staples names Sargent to replace outgoing Stemberg.(Ronald Sargent, Thomas Stemberg)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Framingham-based Staples Inc., the nation's second-largest office-supply retailer, has promoted Ronald Sargent, the chief operating officer, to chief executive effective Feb. 3, succeeding chairman and co-founder Thomas Stemberg. Sargent,...

Beth Israel president resigns.(Michael Rosenblatt)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Michael Rosenblatt resigned this week as president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, chairman and interim CEO Robert Melzer announced in a statement. According to the statement, Rosenblatt sent a letter to the center's employees in...

Forrester Research president dies of apparent heart attack.(William M. Bluestein)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
September 7, 2001... William M. Bluestein, president and chief operating officer of Cambridge-based Forrester Research Inc. died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack while on vacation, the company said in a statement. Chief executive officer George F. Colony...

Fleet plans 28 branches, 23 ATMs in Bay State.(FleetBoston Financial, automated teller machines, Massachusetts)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... Boston-based FleetBoston Financial Corp., the seventh-largest U.S. bank by assets, said it will spend $47 million building 28 new branches and installing 23 automatic teller machines in Massachusetts. FleetBoston already added 130 new...

Perini inks power plant deal.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... A division of local construction behemoth Perini Corp. of Framingham and its joint venture partner signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Exelon Nuclear, a division of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Newberg-Perini and Stone Webster Inc., a...

AIM indicator dips in August.(Associated Industries of Massachusetts)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 7, 2001... The Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index lost another 2.5 points in August, dropping the indicator to its lowest level since January 1992. The monthly index has declined seven times in nine months, for a...

Housing: The rule of supply and demand.(in Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The answer to the high cost of housing in the commonwealth is, of course, to build more "affordable housing." Or is it? The political debate on Chapter 40B, or the so-called anti-snob zoning law, zeroes in on the plain fact that the suburbs...

Silent majority listens in on cell-phone nation.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... I had no idea that when I took my seat on the train the other day that I had entered somebody's de facto office. The transformation started after I innocently took out my paper and she, not so innocently, took out her cell phone. Suddenly, the...

Serving adult learners deserves a boost in status.(in New England)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... New England can justifiably boast of its leadership in higher education, nationally and internationally. With a half-million students in Massachusetts, and three-quarters of a million studying throughout New England, this region is truly a...

What's in a name? The cost of history and memory.(business names on events and buildings)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... The Ritz-Carlton Jumper Classic. The Fleet Jumper Classic. The Fidelity Jumper Classic. Blah. Blah. Blah. These days names of events, prestigious buildings, stadiums, yes, even subway stops are all up for sale. How's this? Copley...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.
September 7, 2001... Jazz and business: The only true American art forms To the Editor: Marcene Marcoux's take on the lessons that the life of Miles Davis can offer to business people ("Why business should let Miles Davis call the tune," in the Aug....

CORPORATE NOTES.(miscellaneous brief articles)(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... Barrett Communications completed a series of five direct mail articles for MathSoft Inc. of Boston's Mathcad 2001, a mathematics-based technical calculation product. Corey McPherson Nash of Watertown completed two pro-bono assignments for...

So little time.(Brief Article)
September 7, 2001... There's bound to be a certain amount of disruption during office renovations, and the Boston Business Journal is no exception. That's why no one was surprised, during the recent enlargement of the paper's newsroom, to find a few telephones...

Near escapes.(employees from Boston firms narrowly escape terrorist attacks on World Trade Center)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... At least two Boston-area private-equity firms had near brushes with catastrophe. Dana Callow, managing general partner with Boston Millennia Partners, said one of the firm's portfolio companies was meeting on the 68th floor of the World...

Local financial community paralyzed by devastation.(financial services industry, Boston, Massachusetts, in wake of terrorist attack on World Trade Center)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... The terrorist attack that leveled the World Trade Center in New York and paralyzed the nation's financial capital also may have inflicted deep wounds on Boston's business community. Although many professionals here were touched by the...

Local banks send relief.(Sovereign Bank New England, FleetBoston Financial Corp. and Citizens Bank raise funds for efforts in wake of terrorist attacks)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Sovereign Bank New England, FleetBoston Financial Corp. and Citizens Bank have launched a regionwide fund-raising campaign to support relief efforts by the American Red Cross following this week's terrorist attacks. Sovereign Bank will be...

Nursing homes bankrupt.(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Four Bay State nursing homes have sought Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston, six weeks after their owner filed similar petitions. The homes are Meadowbrook Nursing Home Inc. of Canton, Forestview Nursing Home Inc....

British Telecom leases Braintree office space.(British Telecommunications PLC, Boston, Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... British Telecommunications has leased 20,370 square feet of first-class office space at 25 Braintree Hill Park, a four-story, 163,000-square-foot structure. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The building is part of the Braintree...

Layoffs hit agencies as economy fizzles.(layoffs at public relations firms)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 14, 2001... With ranks thinned by more layoffs this quarter, local public relations, firms continue to suffer in silence, preferring to lick their wounds in private. Boston-based Brodeur Worldwide, a division of New York city-based Omnicom Group Inc.,...

Favorite landlord.(profile of executive at Equity Office Properties Trust)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Under Suydam's guidance, Equity tries not to act like an absentee owner Maryann Gilligan Suydam says she clearly wasn't cut out for small-business ownership. Or for the field of mathematics, her undergraduate major, for that matter. ...

Law firms find gilt-edged profits in fund management.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 14, 2001... Law firms are banking on their prestige and long-standing relationships to make inroads into the lucrative world of investment management for high-net-worth clients. Firms have crept into the domains of accountants, consultants and...

Waiting for word from Morgan Stanley, others.(Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Co., and other firms await word about employees in wake of terrorist attacks on World Trade Center)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Workers at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'s local office filed out of International Place Tuesday with more than a little concern for the victims of the World Trade Center tragedies. Employees left work won dering about 3,700 of their...

Hotel mayhem, restaurant blues.(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Cancellations of rooms, meetings and restaurant reservations were streaming into Le Meridien, a hotel in the heart of Boston's Financial District, late Tuesday morning. "It's obviously pretty frantic here with people going home, trying to...

More like Israel?(Israeli businessman living in Boston discusses response of Israelis to acts of terrorism)(Brief Article)
September 14, 2001... Shimon Alon, chairman of the Boston-based Israel New England Chamber of Commerce, described the Israeli business community's response to terrorist acts. Alon, speaking from California on Tuesday, is chief executive officer of Westwood-based...