Boston news

• Boston’s sublease market soars in the second quarter

  02-07-2020 12:18 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Companies like Toast and Tripadvisor have contributed to the nearly 900,000 square feet of sublease space put on the market in the second quarter.
  
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• Five things you need to know today, and the fresh, clean breath of my laptop

  02-07-2020 12:09 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Good morning, friends. One day until Hamilton arrives. Here are the five things you need to know in Boston business news today, plus things professionals shouldn't say and why my laptop screen is so minty fresh.Exclusive: Minority suppliers got 'ghosted'A matchmaking program to link minority-owned businesses with local multibillion-dollar companies has missed the mark, with Black business leaders saying the intention of the Greater Boston Chamber’s Pacesetters is good, but that it lacks fo
  
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• The Petri Dish: Two new biotech IPOs and a $450M+ licensing deal

  02-07-2020 11:50 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Drugmakers undertook large-scale fundraising efforts this week, including two biotechs with plans to take advantage of the industry's IPO boom.
  
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• Nursing home ballot question derailed during pandemic

  02-07-2020 00:44 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Massachusetts voters are on track to decide this November whether to embrace ranked-choice voting and expand access to automobile digital repair data, but a proposal to increase funding for nursing homes, which were at the center of the COVID-19 crisis, will not appear on the ballot.
  
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• HR chief for Reebok parent Adidas retires after downplaying racial challenges

  02-07-2020 00:30 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Adidas’ head of global human resources has retired after coming under fire for remarks some workers found racially insensitive.
  Karen Parkin informed the German athletic wear company’s supervisory board she would step down from the executive board and leave after 23 years at Adidas. The board approved the termination, effective immediately.
  Parkin’s departure came after representatives of more than 200 Adidas employees called for her resignation amid weeks of racial tension in
  
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• These Mass. banks are planning to join Fed’s Main Street program

  01-07-2020 23:09 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Some banks are taking a wait-and-see approach to registering as a lender, as the program has seen slow pickup so far among businesses.
  
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• Mass. bar exam goes online, potentially limiting career options for grads

  01-07-2020 20:56 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The switch carries more significance than a change in venue for the test takers.
  
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• LogMeIn is a step closer to going private

  01-07-2020 20:46 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The Department of Justice has given the green light to the FCC for the $4.3 billion sale of LogMeIn Inc. to private equity, clearing the way to one of multiple regulatory approvals that the Boston-based enterprise software company needs to score in its path to becoming a private company.
  
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• Marijuana company’s employees vote to unionize

  01-07-2020 20:40 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Employees of marijuana company New England Treatment Access voted to form a union under the United Food and Commercial Workers, which bills itself as the largest U.S. private-sector union.UFCW Local 1445 said Wednesday that 60 workers at NETA’s cultivation facility in Franklin cast the votes to unionize. The Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations, or another neutral arbiter, must still certify the results.If the results are certified, the union plans to bargain for a contract for the
  
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• Health care heavyweights press for changes to telehealth, PPE supply chain

  01-07-2020 20:33 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Heads of the most prominent hospitals and doctor groups in the state urge lawmakers to help find and distribute personal protective equipment, and to maintain emergency telehealth reimbursements, to prepare for the next surge of coronavirus cases.
  
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• Five things you need to know today, and how to say partnership in Spanish

  29-06-2020 12:00 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Good morning, friends. Goodbye, Segway, and welcome to New England, Cam. Here are the five things you need to know to start your workday and a new partnership we’re proud to be a part of.19 execs launch new $20M racial equity fundNineteen top Black and Brown executives from General Electric Co., State Street Corp. and other major Massachusetts employers are launching a new fundraising operation with $20 million that takes aim at systemic racism in Boston and across the state, Gintautas Dum
  
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• For many Mass. breweries, PPP provided a crucial lifeline

  29-06-2020 11:54 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  “We think PPP bought an additional 60 plus days (of survival) for a ton of breweries,” said Sam Hendler, co-founder of Jack’s Abby in Framingham and president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild. “That might turn out to have been make or break."
  
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• Talia Barrales: From undocumented immigrant to an all-Latina law firm

  29-06-2020 11:22 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Talia Barrales crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a toddler — and an undocumented immigrant. Today, she's a lawyer, fighting on behalf of immigrant workers and families. She spoke with the Business Journal about her work and growing her all-Latina law firm.
  
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• Agtech startup Enko exits stealth backed by Gates Foundation

  29-06-2020 03:36 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  This story first appeared on BostInno.A week after a a Medford startup pulled in a whopping $102 million to bring sustainable biopesticides to market, on Friday, a new agtech startup with a similar promise just launched with $66 million in its pocket.Backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Woburn-based Enko Chem is using AI to find new molecular compounds to make pesticides sustainable and safe.The company announced on Friday that it has raised $45 million in Serie
  
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• Top Black and Brown execs launch antiracism fund

  28-06-2020 01:15 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Nineteen top Black and Brown executives from General Electric Co., State Street Corp. and other major Massachusetts employers are launching a new fundraising operation that takes aim systemic racism in Boston and across the state.
  
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• Rhode Island university to close its campuses in Miami, Denver

  27-06-2020 23:36 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The campus will close in summer 2021.
  
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• Cumberland Farms drops beer and wine ballot question

  27-06-2020 15:58 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The proposed ballot question to allow more stores to sell beer and wine will not appear on the ballot this fall and its backers will instead work to put the question before voters in 2022.
  
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• Juma Crawford to exit Lewis Family Foundation

  26-06-2020 20:53 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Juma Crawford, president of the Lewis Family Foundation, is leaving Massachusetts for California this fall.After seven years leading the foundation, which works with young people and families in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan to develop future leaders, and help create pathways to college, jobs and leadership roles, Crawford said in a Friday letter that he is returning to East Oakland, Calif., to be closer to family and build a school community.His last day is Oct. 2.“I never thought that
  
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• Form D Friday: Agritech, AI companies lead this week's $84M total fundraise

  26-06-2020 20:29 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Form D Friday is a Boston Business Journal feature highlighting regulatory filings from Boston-area companies raising capital for new projects or expanding their businesses.
  
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• Microsoft stores in Mass. to permanently close

  26-06-2020 20:24 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Microsoft Corp. is closing its physical retail stores around the world.
  The Redmond, Washington, technology company said Friday it would permanently close all of its stores, with the exception of locations in New York City, London, Sydney and its hometown. Those stores will be reconfigured as “experience centers.”
  Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) lists a total of 72 stores in the United States, with three mall locations in Massachusetts: Boston's Prudential Center, the Burlington Mall and th
  
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• Vertex donates to BU’s new Center for Antiracist Research

  26-06-2020 20:14 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s foundation is donating $1.5 million over three years to help establish Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research.BU recently hired Ibram X. Kendi, one of the nation’s leading scholars on racism and author of “How to Be an Antiracist,” to run the new research center.The Vertex Foundation’s donation is expected to support the center’s research and data collection efforts to identify innovative policies that may reduce
  
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• First-ever drug by Needham biotech gets FDA approval at long last

  26-06-2020 20:10 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Four years after a Needham-based biotech had hoped to launch a drug for the rare hormone disorder that afflicted actor and professional wrestler Andre the Giant, the drug finally got approval on Friday.Needham’s Chiasma Inc. (Nasdaq: CHMA) received FDA approval Friday for the oral treatment, called Mycapssa. The drug will be Chiasma’s first commercial product. Mycapssa is designed to treat a rare hormonal disorder called acromegaly, in which the pituitary gland produces too much
  
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• Citing pandemic, Gov. Baker revamps economic development bill

  26-06-2020 19:57 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  His administration is adding $35 million to the months-old legislative package, with proposed new funding for businesses in low-income communities.
  
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• Restaurant owners present new menu of government reforms

  26-06-2020 19:01 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Boston-area restaurant owners call for relief in rent payments and state taxes, and more minority representation.
  
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• Akouos doubles competitor’s raise with $213M IPO

  26-06-2020 18:31 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Boston gene therapy startup Akouos Inc. surged past its IPO goals Friday, more than doubling the amount raised by a fellow hearing loss startup last year. Akouos (Nasdaq: AKUS) raised $213 million by selling 12.5 million shares at $17 apiece — above its original range of $14 to $16. That share price rose even higher in the first hours of trading, reaching $22 per share as of noon. Akouos is developing gene therapies for multiple causes of hearing loss, including one genetic
  
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• Koya Leadership Partners aims to diversify industry leadership

  26-06-2020 12:36 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Even though she had never worked in the executive-search field, Katie Bouton noticed what she thought was a huge unmet need within the sector, based on her observations as a human-resources manager at both for-profit and non-profit organizations.
  
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• Trump's immigration order will hurt business, Mass. leaders say

  23-06-2020 20:55 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Local business leaders say new federal restrictions on certain types of visas put in place Monday will strain the available workforce for specific types of jobs in coming months, and curtail the number of new startups over the long run.
  
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• Mass. college leaders scramble to safely house fall semester's students

  23-06-2020 20:32 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  As more Mass. colleges and universities reveal their plans to reopen campuses for the fall semester, one of the questions they face is how will thousands of students living in communal-style dorms, sharing restrooms and common areas, play out as the coronavirus threat lingers?
  
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• Mass. sales tax holiday weekend set for Aug. 29-30

  23-06-2020 18:24 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  This summer's sales tax holiday weekend will take place as retailers regain their footing after weeks of government-forced shutdowns.
  
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• Columbia Gas sentenced for Merrimack Valley explosions

  23-06-2020 18:01 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  This first appeared on MassLive.com.Columbia Gas of Massachusetts was sentenced Tuesday in connection with the gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley region that killed one person, injured many others and damaged homes and businesses.The gas company was ordered to pay a criminal fine of just over $53 million — representing twice the amount of what it earned in profits between 2015 and 2018 from a pipeline infrastructure program called the Gas System Enhancement Plan, the U.S. Attorney&rsqu
  
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• JPMorgan Chase's New England leader to oversee Pennsylvania

  23-06-2020 15:47 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The bank looked inward to find a successor to Michele Lawrence, who has moved into a different role at the mega-bank.
  
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• Emergent BioSolutions to expand Mass. manufacturing work

  23-06-2020 13:35 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Emergent BioSolutions Inc. plans to invest $75 million to expand its contract development and manufacturing organization's work and physical footprint in a moment of tremendous growth for the Maryland company.The Gaithersburg, Md., biotech has acquired property next to its Canton, Mass., manufacturing site to grow the campus where it will make drug material for its smallpox vaccine and other programs. Emergent (NYSE: EBS) expects to have drug-substance development and manufacturing services runn
  
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• Five things you need to know today, and let’s talk about fall classes

  23-06-2020 12:33 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Good morning, friends. Here are the five things you need to know to get your Tuesday off to a smart start, plus what we can learn about this fall's semester.So much for the dormsUMass Boston will forgo on-campus classes this fall, and instead will rely on remote teaching for the upcoming semester, Hilary Burns reports. Its dormitories will be reserved for "a very limited number of students" who would face particular challenges with a remote platform.GE drops KPMG, names Deloitte auditorGeneral&h
  
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• Health care leaders commit to focus on racial disparities

  23-06-2020 12:11 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Protests against police brutality have reinvigorated efforts to address racial disparities, top health care sector leaders say.
  
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• Why Boston businesses are looking at suburban supplemental offices as option for reopening

  23-06-2020 12:00 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  As Massachusetts begins reopening, employers are managing office safeguards especially in urban settings. However, staggered workdays and reduced staff within the workspace will not address crowded common areas found in commercial real estate environments, such as elevators and public transportation.
  Furthermore, if public transport remains restricted as we return to our respective commutes, already congested highways will become even more challenging. Both congested highways and public transpor
  
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• Founder of new VC firm launches Black entrepreneurship program

  23-06-2020 11:53 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Krishna Gupta’s new firm will launch with a new entrepreneur-in-residence program specifically for Black founders.
  
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• On Juneteenth, marijuana regulators seek to bolster equity programs

  19-06-2020 22:56 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Steven Hoffman, the chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, started Friday’s meeting by noting they were gathered remotely on Juneteenth. The day recognizes the official end of slavery in all U.S. states.Hoffman said it was fitting that on Juneteenth, marijuana regulators would be taking a renewed look at some of the agency's own equity programs, which seek to provide benefits to groups disenfranchised by the U.S. war on drugs. “It seems apt that many of our d
  
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• Boston exec: Critical mass demands racial equality, turning tragedy into triumph

  19-06-2020 22:56 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Eight minutes and 46 seconds ... That’s all it took for our nation’s divisions to attain critical mass. Centuries of racial inequality, fused with months of Covid-19 isolation and economic disruption, were ignited by the eight minutes and 46 seconds it took for one life to be perversely, casually ended.
  The collective outrage prompted by this singular action has bridged racial, generational and economic boundaries. It has galvanized a diverse coalition of brave individuals to demand
  
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• JFK's 'Winter White House' sells for $70M

  19-06-2020 22:13 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  A Palm Beach mansion once used by late President John F. Kennedy as the “Winter White House” sold for $70 million.
  TGS Florida LLC, managed by billionaire Jane Goldman of Solil Management in New York, sold the 11,334-square-foot home at 1095 N. Ocean Blvd. to the 1095 North Ocean Trust, with attorney Maura Ziska as trustee. It’s not clear who owns the trust.The price equated to $6,176 per square foot. It was an off-market deal not listed on MLS. The home last traded for $31 mil
  
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• Form D Friday: Pet platform, rowing machine makers and others score $156M

  19-06-2020 20:28 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Form D Friday is a Boston Business Journal feature highlighting regulatory filings from Boston-area companies raising capital for new projects or expanding their businesses.
  
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• Local biotechs Forma, Repare rake in a combined $500M in IPOs

  19-06-2020 19:39 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The two Boston-area local biotechs have raising the most in any local biotech IPOs so far this year.
  
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• Indoor dining at restaurants can begin Monday, Gov. Baker says

  19-06-2020 18:39 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  In addition, offices will be able to fill up to 50% of their maximum capacity on Monday, an increase from the current 25%.
  
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• Mass. jobless rate saw little change in May, as national rate fell

  19-06-2020 17:40 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The unemployment rate in Massachusetts rose slightly in May to 16.3%, even as the national rate fell that month.State officials initially reported the April jobless rate as 15.1%, though on Friday they revised that number to 16.2% after reviewing more information about the job market. That means the state’s unemployment rate increased by just a tenth of a percentage point from April to May, according to a preliminary estimate, even as tens of thousands more residents applied for unemployme
  
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• Let’s clear up the confusion — masks are our best defense against Covid-19

  19-06-2020 16:45 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Here's how they work, which ones work the best, and why your boss should be reading this article.
  
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• Juneteenth: Black leaders in Boston on why they march in 2020

  19-06-2020 14:42 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Today is the celebration of Juneteenth, the date in 1865 that marked the formal end of slavery in the United States. It's a holiday, but also a time to reflect, especially in light of the events and protests over the last several weeks.We've spent the past two weeks reaching out to Black leaders in the Boston community and asking them why they march and what these demonstrations mean to them, personally and professionally. In the stories below are what they told us, along with some of our o
  
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• J. Jill averts path towards potential bankruptcy, for now

  17-06-2020 18:23 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  There is "substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the retailer said, but it's reached a forbearance agreement with lenders through next month.
  
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• Five things you need to know today, and being the best during the toughest of times

  17-06-2020 12:49 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Good morning, friends. The weather this week is as good as it gets. Here are the five things you need to know to start your workday.UMass finds online partner, shifts strategyMore than a year after announcing plans to launch an online program for working adults, the University of Massachusetts president's office has chosen an academic partner for the endeavor, but still hasn't given a timeline for the launch. The move marks a significant shift from the university system's original strategy for&h
  
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• Harvard professor seeks $100M to curb aging

  17-06-2020 12:46 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The company raised $50 million last year at a $500 million valuation.
  
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• 5 minutes with…DraftKings CEO Jason Robins

  17-06-2020 12:39 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  DraftKings CEO Jason Robins spoke with the Boston Business Journal about his company's recent IPO, its survival plans in a world with no live U.S. basketball or baseball, and his favorite niche sports.
  
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• In a shift, UMass pulls away from launching new online college

  17-06-2020 12:35 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  About 15 months ago, UMass officials laid out plans to launch a new online college to serve adult learners. The goal was to launch the new entity by the end of 2019. Now rather than creating its own online college, UMass turning to an existing program.
  
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