Globe Staff

US Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to deliver a report on cable-TV rate changes in Boston and other Bay State communities.

Kerry's request to the FCC comes after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino filed a petition asking the FCC to give the city control over the price of basic cable service in Boston. According to Menino's petition, the majority of the city's cable TV subscribers are "unprotected from Comcast’s market power.’’

Comcast Corp. has 170,000 customers in Boston. Other companies providing TV services in Boston, such as RCN Telecom Services LLC, have far fewer.

The FCC allows communities to regulate basic TV rates if there is little competition to help keep prices low. In 2002, Boston was stripped of the power to regulate basic cable rates after a determination that Boston was a competitive market.

Menino argues that Boston is no longer a competitive market and that the city should again have the authority to regulate basic cable rates.

Comcast counters that its rates are fair and that the Boston market is highly competitive due to the presence of RCN and satellite TV services.

“Comcast’s basic service in Boston continues to be nearly half the cost of any other provider’s entry level service,’’ the company said in a statement that was part of a story on the issue in this morning's Globe.

Kerry chairs a Senate subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

In his letter to the FCC, which his office released today, Kerry wrote, “I hope to ascertain whether rate hikes are specific to Boston or systemic, if the hikes are justified, and what the factors are that can effectively check those rate hikes.”

In its statement, Comcast said: "Comcast faces a highly competitive environment across all its product lines, with significant video competition from numerous providers including satellite, RCN, free broadcast and other types of video options. Comcast's Basic service in Boston continues to be nearly half the cost of any other provider's entry level service - and no other competitor offers a comparable level of service comprised of more than
35 channels of news, information, diversity and public access programming. We believe we continue to offer the most affordable options and best values for consumers. Comcast continues to invest in the City of Boston with next-generation technology for residential customers and businesses alike, and last year alone, invested more than $4.9 million in the City of Boston through foundation grants and in-kind services."

Globe Staff

Boston Scientific Corp., the Natick medical device maker, announced that Ray Elliott will retire as president and chief executive on Dec. 31.

Boston Scientific said in a press release that its board has created a special CEO search committee, on which Elliott will serve as a member, to select the company's next president and chief executive.

elliott.jpgIn June 2009, Boston Scientific announced that Elliott would succeed Jim Tobin after Tobin had served a decade as the head of the company. (Elliott is shown at right in a file photo that the company provided to AP.)

At the time, the company was experiencing sharp declines in its stock prices, and it was widely viewed as as having overpaid in its $28.4 billion takeover of defibrillator maker Guidant Corp. in 2006.

When Boston Scientific announced that Elliott would take the helm of the company, he was 59. He most recently led the orthopedics company Zimmer Holdings Inc. in Warsaw, Ind.

At Boston Scientific, Elliott became one of the best-paid chief executives in America in 2009. Separate national surveys published by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, although incomplete, come up with just one or two large-company CEOs with compensation packages that could outdo Elliott's $33.5 million payday.

Last month, meanwhile, Boston Scientific reported a first-quarter profit a year after withdrawing implantable defibrillators from the market. Net income was $20 million, or 1 cent a share, compared with a net loss of $1.59 billion, or $1.05, a year earlier, when costs from a recall hurt results, the company said. Earnings excluding one-time items were 22 cents a share. Revenue of $1.93 billion was more than the $1.89 billion estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The company had some rough patches.

In early 2010, it disclosed plans to eliminate up to 1,300 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring move. The job cuts, unveiled as the company posted a $1.1 billion fourth-quarter loss, came shortly after Boston Scientific agreed to pay more than $1.7 billion to competitor Johnson & Johnson to resolve three longstanding patent disputes involving competing heart stents, the largest legal settlement in the 30-year history of Boston Scientific.

Today's press release included a statement from Elliott, who said: "We believe we have accomplished a lot during my time here:  a strengthened senior leadership team, a clear and executable strategic plan we call 'POWER,' a basis for success in emerging markets, a solidified balance sheet due to debt paydown and refinancing and much more. And while the company continues to evolve, we expect that much of the turnaround work will be complete by the end of the year.  We believe we are well positioned for future growth.  Therefore, I believe the time is right for someone new to take the reins, complete execution of that plan and take Boston Scientific to the next level and new heights."

Globe Staff

Gemvara Inc., the online retailer of customer-designed fine jewelry, said it is relocating its corporate headquarters from Lexington to downtown Boston.

The company said it will begin its move to space in One Financial Center in early June.

"The move comes as Gemvara continues to expand on all areas of its business, including its goal to double the amount of employees by the end of the year," the company said in a press release.

Plans call for Gemvara to look to recruit an additional 40 to 60 employees.

The release added, "Gemvara recently closed a $15 million round of Series C funding led by Balderton Capital, which spurred Gemvara’s need to move to an office that can support its rapid growth plans."

Globe Staff

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., the Canton-based parent of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, said that Neal Yanofsky has been appointed to the newly created position of president, international.

Yanofsky will be responsible for strategically building the Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands outside the United States, Dunkin' Brands said in a press release. He will report directly to Nigel Travis, Dunkin' Brands' chief executive and president Dunkin' Donuts.

Yanofsky joins Dunkin' Brands from Generation Mobile, a venture-backed retailer of wireless products and services where he served as chief executive. His resume also includes stints as president of Panera Bread, a casual dining chain, and as a vice president of of Fidelity Ventures, the private equity arm of Fidelity Investments.

Between Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin' Brands has more than 16,000 restaurants.

Globe Staff

First Marblehead Corp., a Boston company that provides financial services related to student loans, said today that it will correct its financial statement presentation for the prior two quarters of fiscal 2011 to eliminate the use of non-controlling interest accounting.

In a press release, the company said it expects to file restated financial statements no later than May 16.

"It's important to note that these restatements result from changes in our financial statement presentation and do not affect our cash position," Kenneth Klipper, First Marblehead's chief financial officer, said in a statement. "The adjustments are expected to have no impact on our ongoing business operations, and we are committed to providing our stakeholders with the transparency necessary to assess the financial performance of the company."

In its press release, First Marblehead said that it expects that its restated net loss per share will be $0.64, rather than $0.11, for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2010; the restated net loss per share is expected to be $0.33, rather than $0.01, for the fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Globe Staff

The Lemelson-MIT Program said that its $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability will go to Elizabeth Hausler for her engineering accomplishments in developing models for earthquake-resistant housing in the developing world.

Hausler_Image.jpgHausler (shown at right) is the chief executive and founder of Build Change, which seeks to design homes that won't collapse during natural disasters, the Lemelson-MIT Program said in a press release about the Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability.

In a statement, Lemelson-MIT Program executive director Joshua Schuler said: "Dr. Hausler's work proves that the wheel doesn't need to be re-invented. Innovation as a result of smart improvements to existing technologies can be equally effective. Elizabeth is a remarkable example of someone whose work is a catalyst for wide-scale adoption by using a model that is economically and socially sustainable. She realizes that local people will use only what skilled labor and materials are readily available in their communities to build their homes. Leveraging that knowledge, and coupling it with her engineering aptitude and ability to teach, she has transformed the standard donor-driven model of post-earthquake reconstruction."

Jerome H. Lemelson, and his wife, Dorothy, founded the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. The foundation aims to celebrate the "inventive spirit" by supporting projects that "nurture innovators and unleash invention to advance economic, social and environmentally sustainable development."

The photo that appears with this post was provided by the Lemelson-MIT Program. The photo was by Tim Pelling.

Globe Staff

Laboratory sciences supplier Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. of Waltham expressed confidence today "in being able to secure all necessary outstanding regulatory and antitrust approvals" in connection with its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dionex Corp. for $118.50 per share in cash."

In December, Thermo Fisher Scientific disclosed plans to pay about $2.1 billion to buy Dionex, a California maker of chromatography equipment used in everything from drug manufacturing to testing for contaminants in drinking water.

The transaction would expand Thermo Fisher Scientific's business in the Asia-Pacific region and help it do more business in industries such as environmental analysis, water testing, and food safety.

In a press release today, Thermo Fisher Scientific said: "Thermo Fisher expects to consummate the tender offer promptly after its expiration, scheduled for 7:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, May 13, 2011, subject to receipt of these approvals. Consummation of the tender offer also assumes that at least a majority of the outstanding shares of Dionex common stock, on a fully diluted basis, have been tendered and not withdrawn prior to the expiration of the offer and that other standard closing conditions have been satisfied."

The acquisition of Dionex would be the biggest purchase for Thermo Fisher since the company was formed in 2006, through the $10.6 billion merger of Thermo Electron Corp. and Fisher Scientific International Inc.

Dent Wizard taps MassMutual

May 10, 2011 07:43 AM | Comments ()

Globe Staff

MassMutual said it has been selected by Dent Wizard International as the new retirement plan provider for the company's $38 million 401(k) plan.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Dent Wizard is a specialist in paintless dent removal, which is known in the trade as PDR.

MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has been serving retirement plans for more than 60 years. It serves about 1.3 million participants, and it is part of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Springfield.

Globe Staff

First Wind Holdings Inc., a Boston company focused on utility-scale wind projects, today announced that the construction of the 102 megawatt Milford Wind Corridor Phase II project has been completed and that commercial operations have begun.

The project, based in Millard and Beaver counties in Utah, has the capacity to generate enough energy to power up to 64,000 homes, and it is designed to supply power to Southern California, First Wind said.

Milford II adds to the already significant renewable energy that is being produced and delivered to Los Angeles, Burbank, and Pasadena, Calif., from the Milford I project, First Wind said.

First Wind recently entered an agreement with Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. and Emera Inc. to jointly construct, own, and operate wind energy projects in the Northeast.

The agreement will provide First Wind with capital so it can build more projects, the company said.

Last year, First Wind drew up plans to go public with an initial public stock offering. In October, First Wind suddenly cancelled the planned IPO after investor demand went slack.

Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

The historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace is expected to change hands after a group of New York investors struck a deal with General Growth Properties to buy the lease of the trophy Boston property.

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a private real estate investment firm in Manhattan, had the winning bid estimated at more than $130 million and edged out Genesis Management of Boston, according to local executives briefed on the proposals. Ashkenazy Acquisition has over 13 million square feet of retail, office, and residential properties in their portfolio, including Union Station in Washington D.C. and Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace is owned by the City of Boston, which leases out three of its four buildings — Quincy Market, North Market, and South Market — to General Growth.

The deal, disclosed officially to city officials today, comes more than two years after the Chicago mall operator, struggling with significant debt, first put the shopping center up for sale. The new management could come as a welcome change to merchants and city officials who have battled with General Growth over the direction of the outdoor mall.

"It's an opportunity for a fresh start," said Brenda McKenzie of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

mitcomp.JPG

Left to right: NStar chief executive Tom May; CoolChip members Daniel Vannoni, William Sanchez, and Steven Stoddard; Henry Kelly of the Deptartment of Energy, and MIT president Susan Hockfield. Photo provided by NStar.


Globe Staff

CoolChip Technologies today became the grand prize winner of the MIT Clean Energy Prize for developing a technology that reduces data center cooling needs, said NStar, the local utility that is one of the sponsors of a competition that drew 80 teams from more than 40 universities.

The MIT Clean Energy Prize is a national competition founded in 2008 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the US Department of Energy, and NStar, an electric and gas utility with 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts.

"The goal of the competition is to provide learning opportunities and rewards for student ventures that demonstrate a high potential of successfully making clean energy more affordable, with a positive impact on the environment," the competition says on its website.

Globe Staff

Pepper Hamilton LLP, a national law firm with more than 500 attorneys and Philadelphia roots, said that Todd A. Feinsmith, a corporate restructuring and bankruptcy lawyer, has been named partner in charge of the firm’s 28-lawyer Boston office.

Lawyers in the firm's Boston office focus on patent litigation and other intellectual property matters, corporate and securities, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, tax, and complex corporate and commercial litigation, the firm said.

Before joining Pepper Hamilton in 2009, Feinsmith was a partner at Brown Rudnick LLP in Boston, Pepper Hamilton said.


Associated Press

PEABODY -- Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. reported a slightly smaller loss for its fiscal second quarter, as the building materials company saw sales improve versus a year ago.

The company said it lost $6.2 million, or 13 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31. That compares with a loss of $6.5 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Net sales rose 3.8 percent to $296.3 million, up from $285.4 million.

The results fell short of analysts' consensus forecast for a loss of 9 cents a share on sales of $303.2 million, according to FactSet.

Non-residential roofing sales increased by nearly 14 percent, while complementary product sales rose nearly 7 percent. Residential roofing sales fell 11 percent, reflecting ongoing weakness in new home construction.

Paul Isabella, Beacon's president and chief executive, said most of the company's regions saw declines in their residential re-roofing businesses, which included the negative impact of a drop in average shingle prices.

On the bright side, Beacon's gross margin continued to improve during the quarter, versus last year, Isabella noted.

The executive said he expects the company will benefit from an anticipated pick-up in volume and price increases in the second half of Beacon's fiscal year.

Beacon Roofing Supply shares fell 62 cents, or 3 percent, to $20.21 in afternoon trading.

Globe Staff

Hydroid Inc., a Bourne-based manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, said that one of its AUVs was used by the Royal Netherlands Navy in finding a missing World War I German submarine off the Dutch coast.

REMUS 100.JPGThe news comes only a short time after Hydroid's underwater robots helped French investigators retrieve a key component of one of the flight-data recorders from an Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean nearly two years ago. (To read a Globe story about that, please click here.)

Today Hydroid said that its REMUS 100 AUV aided in the discovery of U-106, a submarine that had been missing since October 1917 when it struck a mine. The Dutch navy located the missing submarine off the coast of Terschelling in the Netherlands, Hydroid said.

The REMUS vehicle and Dutch navy divers descended 40 meters explore an area where a brass plate bearing the serial number of the submarine was eventually discovered," the Hydroid press release said. "After further exploration as well as confirmations from the German Ministry of Defense and the families of crew members, the submarine was positively identified as the German U-106."

U-106 is noted for sinking the HMS Contest during the First Battle of the Atlantic, Hydroid said, and also for damaging the City of Lincoln" a 5,867-ton steamer.

The release included a statement from Hydroid president Christopher von Alt, who is also one of the company's cofounders .

“The REMUS 100’s compact size and proven reliability for deployment in shallow waters made it an ideal tool for this mission,” von Alt said. “It was designed for operation in coastal environments up to 100 meters in depth, and it has a proven track record for durability and dependability.”

The photo of the REMUS that appears with this post was provided by Hydroid.

Globe Staff

The average price for gas in Massachusetts remained unchanged at $3.949 a gallon in the latest weekly survey from AAA, AAA Southern New England said today.

That followed seven consecutive weeks of increases in the weekly average, which focuses on self-serve, regular unleaded gas.

The national average for self serve unleaded is $3.96, AAA Southern New England said; a year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $2.87.

Globe Staff

Big Night Entertainment Group, a Boston restaurant company, said it plans to open a "boutique Asian restaurant" called Red Lantern in June.

The 9,000-square-foot restaurant will be located at 39 Stanhope St. in Boston, said Big Night Entertainment, which also operates such restaurants as SHRINE Asian Kitchen Lounge and Nightclub at MGM Grand at Foxwoods; the Scorpion Bar and High Rollers Luxury Lanes and Lounge at Foxwoods Resort Casino; and the Estate in Boston.

Big Night Entertainment Group is led by brothers Ed and Joe Kane and partner Randy Greenstein. The Kanes also own Tosca and Caffé Tosca in Hingham.

“For our culinary debut in Boston, we knew we’d need to create a dining and night-life destination that offers a distinct departure from anything the city has seen, and we’re confident Red Lantern does just that,” Big Night Entertainment Group partner Ed Kane said in a statement.

The release also included a statement from executive chef Kevin Long, who added: “I’ve long been intrigued by the intricate, nuanced approach to Asian cuisine, and the menu at Red Lantern is a reflection of years of study of Asian cooking techniques, combined with my many worldwide travel experiences. We’ve mixed traditional favorites with adventurous and creative flavors inspired by many regions that, when enhanced by the sultry, distinctive atmosphere of Red Lantern, will take guests on a culinary voyage.”

lobster_nation.jpg

This image was taken from D'Angelo's website.


Globe Staff

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches said it is bringing back its popular lobster sandwich offerings and adding the Lobster Club to its line-up.

The Dedham-based chain describes the lobster club as "loads of lobster served with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and D’Angelo’s special 'Bistro' sauce on sliced country white bread."

The lobster club will complement a line-up that also features such offerings as the Surf & Turf, a lobster roll coupled with a 4-inch steak-and-cheese sandwich, D'Angelo's said.

The locals love their lobsters, apparently. Despite a sluggish economy, the chain said said it posted record lobster sandwich sales last year.

This reprise of lobster offerings will be supported by a "Lobster Nation" marketing campaign that will include print, television and radio advertising as well as well as billboard ads, D'Angelo's said.

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is a sister chain of Papa Gino's, which has a focus on pizza. Combined, the two chains operate more than 370 company-owned and franchised restaurants.

Globe Staff

Alkermes Inc. of Waltham and Irish drug maker Elan Corp. said that Waltham-based Alkermes will merge with an Elan unit called Elan Drug Technologies in a cash and stock transaction currently valued at $960 million.

Alkermes and Elan Drug Technologies will be combined under a new holding company incorporated in Ireland and named Alkermes plc, the two companies said in a press release.

As part of the proposed agreement, Elan Corp. will receive $500 million in cash and a 25 percent equity stake in Alkermes plc, the release said; the transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of calendar 2011.

Alkermes has a total headcount of 600 employees, spilt about equally between corporate offices in Waltham and a manufacturing facility in Ohio. No layoffs are anticipated, and those employees will remain in place in Waltham and Ohio, an Alkermes spokeswoman said.

The company's management team will split its time between Waltham and Dublin, she also said.

Today's press release on the merger between Alkermes and Elan added: "Richard Pops, currently chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Alkermes, will serve as Alkermes plc's chairman and chief executive officer, and Shane Cooke, currently executive vice president and head of EDT (Elan Drug Technologies), will join Alkermes plc as president."

The combined company is expected to have growing product, royalty, and manufacturing revenues in excess of $450 million annually, the release said.

Elan Corp. may be best known in Greater Boston for its work with Biogen Idec of Weston. The two companies sell a multiple sclerosis drug called Tysabri through a partnership.

Globe Staff

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge and PharmaEngine Inc. of Taiwan said they have signed an agreement that gives Merrimack the rights to develop and commercialize a drug candidate in Europe and Asia.

The drug candidate is MM-398, and it is believed to have the potential to treat some forms of cancer, the two companies said in a press release.

Under the agreement, PharmaEngine will receive a $10 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to an additional $210 million upon achievement of certain development, regulatory, and sales milestones as well as tiered royalties on sales of MM-398 in Europe and Asia, the release said.  

Previously, the development and commercialization rights to MM-398 in Europe and Asia had been licensed to PharmaEngine, the release said.

newbalumps.JPG

Photo included with New Balance press release. Photo credit: Getty Images Sport.


Globe Staff

It's no surprise that many Major League Baseball players wear tony sneakers --- but the umpires?

Maybe tax collectors and dentists are more reviled than umps, but that hasn't deterred New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. from signing on to become the official on-field footwear provider of Major League Baseball Umpires.

Through a multi-year agreement, Boston-based New Balance said it will supply all turf shoes, plate shoes and other athletic footwear used on-field. New Balance added that it will also support “Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities,” or RBI, with a $50,000 product donation.

The RBI program aims to work with young people to increase participation in baseball and softball, while also promoting academic achievement, the New Balance press release noted.

The release included a statement from Mark Cavanaugh, general manager of sports marketing at New Balance.

Commenting on the company's relationship with Major League umpires, Cavanaugh said, “We are proud to showcase our innovative and technical product on a premier stage and look forward to providing comfortable, protective footwear to officials at all levels to ensure they can perform at their best.”

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