By Globe Staff

Akamai Technologies Inc., the Cambridge company that runs a massive worldwide content delivery network, said Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of Verivue, a privately-held Westford company that provides licensed content delivery network infrastructure services. A purchase price has not been disclosed, but Akamai said that it does not expect the acquisition of Verivue to materially impact results of operations in the current quarter. Verivue has about 60 employees.

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

The board of the state pension fund voted Tuesday 5-to-4 to approve a new compensation plan that would raise potential bonuses for investment staff. State treasurer Steve Grossman, who is chairman of the $50 billion pension board, voted against the plan because it lacked a key provision he supported. Grossman had pushed for bonuses to be linked to the fund’s 8 percent annual return goal; in years when the fund doesn’t hit that threshold, the ultimate bill to taxpayers increases.

By Jenn Abelson and Callum Borchers, Globe Staff

Struggling Reebok International Ltd. said Tuesday it is cutting about 65 positions at the athletic apparel maker’s Canton headquarters, just under 7 percent of the workforce there, as part of a global restructuring. Worldwide, Reebok said it will eliminate 150 jobs, including by closing its European office in Amsterdam and its Asia-Pacific office in Hong Kong. In all, it has 8,000 employees. The layoffs come several months after Reebok’s German parent company, Adidas AG, slashed its 2015 sales forecast for Reebok from about $3.9 billion to $2.6 billion.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

New ads for the Museum of Science, Boston seek to remind people of all ages that the museum is a place of lifelong learning, said Allen & Gerritsen, the Boston ad agency that created the ad campaign. The campaign includes print, radio, digital banners, and television ads that feature young adults and children connecting tangible everyday activities, like eating cereal, riding a bike, or doing homework, to abstract science-related elements that they’ve seen before at the Museum of Science.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Casual Male Retail Group, a Canton-based retailer that sells clothing to big and tall men, said that it will change its NASDAQ Global Market ticker symbol to DXLG from CMRG, effective Wednesday. The ticker change will reflect the company’s transition to its Destination XL retail stores and DestinationXL.com e-commerce website as it phases out its Casual Male store name-plate.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Grilled veggie flatbread wraps may not be the first thing a New England Patriots fan thinks about when attending a home game, but the wraps are one reason why Gillette Stadium ranked second on a list of vegetarian friendly stadiums. The list is compiled by PETA, an advocacy group formally known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Among the vegetarian options offered at Gillette Stadium: burgers made from black-beans or grilled portobello mushrooms, along with veggie hot dogs and salads.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

A monthly index that seeks to measure business confidence in Massachusetts fell 4.3 points in November as local employers fretted about the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of steep tax increases and deep budget cuts that will go into effect unless President Obama and Congress can devise an alternative plan. The index, which uses a 100-point scale, posted a reading of 46.8 for November, down 4.3 from a reading of 51.1 in October; the index had a reading of 50.1 in November 2011.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Cynosure Inc., a Westford-based company specializing in laser- and light-based treatments for aesthetic applications, said Tuesday that it has received regulatory clearance to market a laser work station designed for the removal of tattoos and benign pigmented lesions. Getting a 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration clears the way for Cynosure to begin selling its PicoSure laser work stations to aesthetic dermatologists and plastic surgeons in early 2013.

By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist

Google Ventures and Matrix Partners are putting $10 million into Waltham-based Adelphic Mobile, which delivers targeted ads to mobile devices. Adelphic says that its technology can deliver ads not just based on the phone and network you’re using, but as many as 30 other parameters, including time, place, age, and gender. Co-founders Jennifer Lum and Changfeng Wang previously worked at the ad startup Quattro Wireless, which was acquired by Apple to help that company build its mobile ad product, iAds.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Babson College, a private business school located in Wellesley, said that its president Len Schlesinger will step down at the end of this academic year and that a search committee has been formed to look for his successor. In a statement, the 60-year-old Schlesinger said: “It is now time to reorient much of my attention to those in my family who both deserve and require it.  An orderly transition for the president’s role over the coming months will make that possible. “

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

American Airlines passenger service agents are voting to form a union, a process that began two years ago and weathered a bankruptcy filing and several attempts by the airline to stop the organizing effort by the Communication Workers of America. About 9,600 passenger service agents who handle tickets and cargo, work in the VIP lounges, and take customer service calls – including 120 at Logan International Airport – start voting Tuesday to join the Communication Workers of America.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

A Berklee College of Music report takes an updated look at the music industry. Titled “Music Careers in Dollars and Cents,” the report finds the industry faces a number of challenges. The chronic theft of music content has lessened music’s perceived value among many consumers who think that anything online should be free. To succeed in such a tough environment, today’s musician needs to be highly versatile and possess professional skills beyond music making.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

The average price for gas in Massachusetts is $3.549 a gallon in the latest weekly survey by AAA, down 2 cents from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said Monday.

Massachusetts prices are down 11 cents over the past month, AAA Southern New England added. The current national average for gas is $3.38 a gallon. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $3.28.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Iron Mountain Inc., an information storage and management company headquartered in Boston, said Monday that its board of directors has voted unanimously to appoint William Meaney president and chief executive, effective Jan. 7. Meaney will succeed executive chairman and chief executive Richard Reese, who announced his intention to retire after 31 years at the company, Iron Mountain said. Reese served as chief executive from December 1981 to June 2008 and returned as CEO in April 2011.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that Canadian regulators have given their approval to Kalydeco, a drug designed to treat some patients suffering from cystic fibrosis, a rare and often fatal genetic disease. The news comes roughly 10 months after the Cambridge company received a similar approval for the drug from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Massachusetts foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process rose in October, but foreclosure deeds fell to the lowest monthly total so far this year, the Warren Group reported Monday. A total of 371 foreclosure deeds were recorded in October, down 52 percent drop from the same month a year ago, said the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks local real estate activity. During October, 1,458 foreclosure petitions were started, a 22 percent increase from October 2011.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Bertil Hult, a Swedish entrepreneur who founded EF Education First, is set to receive the 2012 Lucia Trade Award from the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in a Monday ceremony in New York City. A global company with Swedish roots, EF has its North American headquarters in Cambridge. EF is an education company that specializes in language training, international travel, and cultural exchange programs. EF currently has 700 employees based in Massachusetts.

By Associated Press

The federal government plans to sell leases for wind farms off the coasts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia, marking the first time it has sold competitive leases for wind energy on the outer continental shelf, officials said Friday. The leases for the two areas, which total more than 430 square miles, will be sold next year, the Department of Interior and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said. ‘‘Wind energy along the Atlantic holds enormous potential,’’ Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a written statement.

By Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno says the property tax rate he is proposing would lower tax bills for about 86 percent of single-family homeowners in the next fiscal year. Sarno on Friday recommended a residential tax rate of $19.71 per $1,000 valuation, and a rate of $38.91 for commercial and industrial properties. The proposal is expected to be considered by the city council on Monday.

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

Andy Husbands, chef/owner of the South End restaurant Tremont 647 and former “Hell’s Kitchen” contestant, is the latest local visiting chef to be featured at Dine Boston at Logan International Airport.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Nantero Inc., a Woburn nanotechnology company, announced the closing of an over $10 million Series D financing round. The round was led by two new strategic corporate investors currently engaged in strategic development and partnerships with Nantero, the company said. The round also includes existing investors such as Charles River Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Globespan Capital Partners, Stata Venture Partners, and Harris & Harris Group. Nantero is using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor products.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

NeuroMetrix Inc., a Waltham-based medical device company, said it has gotten regulatory clearance to market a device that helps manage chronic pain in the lower leg or foot. The device is called the SENSUS Pain Management System, and it’s a lightweight electrical nerve stimulator that is worn on the upper calf and activated by the press of a button. According to the company’s website, trancutaneous electrical nerve stimulation has been shown to provide pain relief for patients with diabetes. 

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Jumptap Inc., a company specializing in targeted mobile advertising, has completed its relocation from Kendall Square in Cambridge to Boston’s Innovation District, said a broker involved in the transaction. The broker is CB Richard Ellis–N.E. Partners LP, which represented Jumptap in the leasing of 33,000 square feet of space at 155 Seaport Boulevard. Jumptap said its rapid growth necessitated the need for more space.

By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff

Heard of Aflac? Credit the white animated duck. In the 1990s, just one in 10 people in the United States were familiar with the Columbus, Ga., insurance company. But longtime Aflac chief executive Daniel Amos said Thursday in a speech in Boston that all changed in 2000 after Aflac introduced its new mascot, who is famous for quacking the company’s name in television commercials

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Citing a jump in airline tickets bought for the upcoming Christmas-to-New Year’s holiday period, Dunkin’ Donuts wants to alert travelers that it now has stores strategically placed at many airports as well as at many bus and train terminals. The Canton-based coffee-and-baked-goods chain says airport and other “non-traditional locations” continue to be strong growth areas for the company. A chain with 10,000 restaurants around the world says it now has more than 500 Dunkin’ outlets at non-traditional locations.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

TJX Cos., the Framingham-based company that operates such retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, said Thursday that same-store sales rose 3 percent in November when compared to sales in the same month a year ago; that gain was “above plan,” TJX said. But Wall Street analysts were expecting a bit more. Same-store sales --- or sales at stores open at least a year --- are regarded by analysts as a strong indicator of a retailer’s performance.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

John Hancock Financial said that Sebastian Pariath has been named as the head of John Hancock Operations, a newly created role in which he will lead the company’s information-services department. Pariath, whose appointment is effective Jan. 1, will report to Craig Bromley, president of John Hancock Financial. John Hancock is a Boston-based division of Manulife Financial Corp., a large financial services company headquartered in Toronto.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Acquia Inc., a Burlington company that offers products and services to help customers build websites using an open source publishing platform called Drupal, said it has completed a $30 million financing round, bringing total investment in the company to $68.5 million. Led by new investor Investor Growth Capital, the round includes Goldman Sachs and Accolade Partners, as well as all of Acquia’s current investors, North Bridge Venture Partners, Sigma Partners, and Tenaya Capital.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Bisque buffs and soup lovers may want to be on the lookout in Harvard Square Thursday; that’s when the HP Hood Soup Boutique is scheduled to be on the scene, at the Grafton Street Pub & Grill, dishing up soups that make creative use of Hood cream. This soup boutique is on wheels --- not to put too fine a point on it, the boutique is a food truck officially titled the Soup Boutique, Inspired by Hood Cream.

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff

The New England economy continues to grow, but not as fast as other regions across the nation, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. The report, known as the “Beige Book,” cited a slowdown in several key areas of the New England economy, including home sales and the region’s important technology sector.

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

Bullhorn Inc., a Boston recruiting software company that pioneered the concept of making candidate and client information accessible online, is acquiring two software firms that provide services to staffing and recruiting agencies, Bullhorn announced Wednesday. With the addition of MaxHire Solutions Inc. of Vancouver, Canada, and Sendouts Inc., based in St. Louis, Bullhorn will have 5,000 clients, 250 employees, and a projected $70 million a year in revenues, up from $40 million this year, the company said.

By Michael B. Farrell, Globe Staff

Google Inc. has acquired Cambridge online marketing firm Incentive Targeting Inc., a five-year-old start-up that builds software for retailers to offer customers targeted promotions. Google confirmed the deal Wednesday afternoon, but did not disclose any financial terms. Incentive Targeting had raised nearly $4 million in early-stage funding, largely from area angel investing groups such as Launchpad Venture Group. Christopher Mirabile, co-managing director of LaunchPad, posted a picture on Twitter Tuesday night that appeared to show employees of Incentive Targeting toasting the acquisition.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Joseph V. Morrissey is stepping down as president of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, effective Dec. 31, the hospital’s board of directors said Wednesday. Morrissey will be succeeded on an interim basis by Doris Sinkevich, who currently serves as the hospital’s chief operating officer and chief nursing officer, while a committee appointed by the board conducts a search for a successor.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

National Pancake Day is still two months off, but that isn’t stopping the IHOP restaurant chain from alerting the breakfast public that it will once again be dishing up free flapjacks on this culinary high holy day. California-based IHOP said Wednesday that it plans to pair National Pancake Day on Feb. 5 with a fund-raising effort on behalf of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Plans call for IHOP’s roughly 1,500 restaurants across the country to treat guests to a complimentary stack of IHOP’s buttermilk pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Chestnut Hill Shopping Center, which includes Star Market, Legal Sea Foods, the Container Store, and City Sports, has been renamed “The Street,” said the shopping center’s owner and manager, WS Development. The center opened in 1950. With a wave of new tenants gearing up to open stores, WS Development felt a new name was needed to better reflect the center’s “transformation into a walkable retail destination.”

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

AMSC, a Devens company that provides technology and products to wind energy companies and power grid operators, said Wednesday that it has reduced its workforce by 25 percent, a move that will leave it with a global headcount of 340 employees. A call to the company seeking additional details was not immediately returned. AMSC added that it expects that today’s action will reduce its annualized expenditures by $10 million and will lower its annualized operating expense.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge and its European partner Almirall S.A. said Wednesday that Ironwood’s drug for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation has been approved by European regulators. That same drug is about to go onto the US market, following approval by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year. According to a recent Globe story, irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, afflicts 30 million to 40 million Americans. Given the number of people affected, the drug has the potential to be a blockbuster, ringing up annual sales of $1 billion or more.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

AVEO Oncology, a Cambridge-based cancer therapeutics company, and its Japanese partner Astellas Pharma Inc. said Wednesday that federal regulators have agreed to review its drug candidate for kidney cancer. In a press release, the companies said that the Food and Drug Administration has accepted their new drug application for tivozanib, a treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, or kidney cancer.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Selecta Biosciences Inc., a Watertown biopharmaceutical company specializing in synthetic vaccines and immunotherapies, said Wednesday that it has entered into a strategic global collaboration with Sanofi SA, the French drug maker that recently bought Cambridge-based Genzyme.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

HFF, a provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services, said that it has closed the $106.75 million sale of a portfolio of four office buildings in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston’s Seaport District. HFF said it exclusively represented the seller, Brickman Associates, and procured the buyer, DivcoWest Properties. The portfolio is made up of office buildings at 300 A St., 313 Congress St., 330 Congress St., and 51 Sleeper St.

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Massachusetts and Colorado attorneys are planning a series of seminars aimed at helping potential patients and business owners understand Massachusetts’ recently passed medical marijuana law. The attorneys will explain the process of applying for, opening, and running a medical marijuana business, including sharing best practices from Colorado and other states. The first seminar, scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, at Cambridge Community Center, 5 Callender St., Cambridge, will also cover how people with debilitating health conditions can become state-legal medical marijuana patients.

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Upscale women’s clothier Anthropologie is the latest tenant to sign on to the Chestnut Hill Square, a new shopping center under development on Route 9. Anthropologie will join the popular grocery store Wegmans, Equinox Fitness Club, Brio Tuscan Grille, Seasons 52, Century Bank, Francesca’s Collections, Red Mango, and other specialty shops and restaurants at the 340,000 square foot project currently under development. All of those stores and restaurants are scheduled to open in the fall of 2013.

By Laura Finaldi, Globe Correspondent

Local landmark restaurant Locke-Ober may have shut its doors, but on Dec. 7, Bostonians will have the chance to bid on parts of it to keep. The Paul E. Saperstein Co., a full-service auction and appraisal firm that is also known as Pesco, announced this week that it will auction off decor, furniture, restaurant and bar equipment, and fixtures from the cafe, which closed in October after 137 years in business. Everything from china and chandeliers to a wood-carved pool table and antique-style moldings will be auctioned.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Pinehills LLC, which operates the Pinehills master-planned community in Plymouth, said that Mirbeau LLC has purchased six acres on the property to open a 50-room Mirbeau Inn & Spa.

Architecture for the inn will be “reminiscent of an old manor house in the countryside of France complete with Monet-inspired gardens,” Pinehills LLC said. The inn will include a fine-dining restaurant, a wine bar and bistro, a spa, a fitness area, and accommodations for weddings, corporate meetings, and other social functions.

By Globe Staff

Rhythm, a Boston biotechnology company developing peptide therapeutics to treat such metabolic diseases as obesity and diabetes, said it has raised $8 million from Pfizer Venture Intestments, the venture capital arm of the drug company Pfizer and a new investor in Rhythm. That additional $8 million completes a $33 million Series B financing. The round had participation from existing investors MPM Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Third Rock Ventures, and Ipsen. This additional financing brings the total capital raised by Rhythm to $73 million.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

WBUR, a Boston public radio station, said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire the license to broadcast its programming on the 92.7 FM radio signal in Tisbury, a move that should expand WBUR’s geographical reach and bring its programming to listeners on Martha’s Vineyard and most of Cape Cod and Nantucket, as well as Southeastern Massachusetts, by early next year. The seller is Aritaur Communications, which owns WMVY, a commercial FM radio station whose play list includes the likes of Neil Young, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Norah Jones.

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Sales of Massachusetts single-family homes in October rose 21 percent from the same month a year ago, and condo sales increased for the ninth straight month, the Warren Group reported Tuesday. “Home sales for the first 10 months of the year have already surpassed sales in all of 2011,” Warren Group chief executive Timothy M. Warren Jr. said in a statement. “Record low mortgage rates, an improved economy, and growing consumer confidence are boosting the housing market in Massachusetts and around the country.”

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

TransMedics Inc., an Andover-based firm focused on organ preservation technology, announced the closing of a $36 million financing round led by Abrams Capital with the participation of existing investors including Flagship Ventures, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. According to the company, its portable preservation technology maintains donor organs in a near-physiologic and functioning condition from donor to transplant recipient. 

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

Following an eight month review, state utility regulators Monday approved NStar’s 15-yea contract to buy power from Cape Wind, a deal expected to only moderately increase the average residential customer’s monthly electric bill. The Boston-based utility will purchase 27.5 percent of the power generated by the offshore renewable energy project for a starting price of 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2013. The cost paid by the utility will then rise by 3.5 percent each year.

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

The Massachusetts Port Authority on Monday opened a $23.5 million bypass road for commercial traffic at Logan International Airport. The two-lane road, between Logan and Chelsea Street, near the Chelsea Street Bridge, will take thousands of vehicles off residential streets every year, according to Massport. The road is named for Martin A. Coughlin, an East Boston community organizer who advocated for a bypass road four decades ago.