Massachusetts news

• Mayor: ‘Economics’ makes $5B in Boston transit fixes a priority. But does it?

  07-03-2017 20:58 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  During the feverish few months where Boston was vying to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Mayor Martin J. Walsh frequently discussed using the games as a deadline to get major infrastructure projects financed and completed.Critics of the Olympics plan asked how Boston’s already-burdened transportation infrastructure — which had ground to a halt following nine feet of snow in a single winter season — could possibly handle the additional weight of an international event. Walsh
  
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• State Street calls bull on boards with few women

  07-03-2017 20:52 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  State Street’s asset management arm will begin taking the gender makeup of a company’s board into account when deciding on whether to vote to approve its board members.State Street Global Advisors announced Tuesday that it may vote against the chair of a board’s nominating or governance committees if a company fails to act to add more women to its board after being put on notice. As one of the largest asset managers in the world, State Street (NYSE: STT) invests in more than 3,
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg will be Harvard's commencement speaker

  07-03-2017 19:59 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Harvard University's second-richest dropout will finally get his degree later this year.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will be the featured speaker at Harvard's commencement speech on May 25, the school announced Tuesday. As is the case for all of Harvard's commencement speakers, Zuckerberg will receive an honorary degree earlier in the day.“Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership has profoundly altered the nature of social engagement worldwide. Few inventions in modern times can rival Facebo
  
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• San Francisco startup brings its fast-dining app to Boston restaurants

  07-03-2017 18:34 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Allset, a San Francisco-based startup that lets diners pre-order and pre-pay for in-restaurant meals, expanded its service to the Boston area today, partnering with about 30 local restaurants.With Allset's app, diners can choose their meal before arriving at one of those partner restaurants. The restaurant can start cooking before the guest even arrives, speeding the whole dine-in process along. The goal is to get hungry people in and out of a restaurant in less than 30 minutes.The service focus
  
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• President of Worcester's Becker College named next chancellor of UMass Dartmouth

  07-03-2017 17:14 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Robert Johnson, the president at Becker College in Worcester, was approved Tuesday as the next chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.Johnson, a member of the state Board of Higher Education and vice chairman of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Board, has been president at Becker since 2010. A Detroit native, Johnson has served in administrative roles at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio; the University of Dayton; Oakland University and Central State Universit
  
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• DOJ requests additional information about GE-Baker Hughes deal

  07-03-2017 16:54 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Boston-based General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) both received requests for additional information from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a megadeal announced last fall.The so-called “second requests” were issued under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and were an expected step, according to a March 6 press release from the companies. The waiting period imposed by the HSR Act has now been extended until 30 days
  
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• State treasurer seeks guidance from feds on recreational marijuana

  07-03-2017 16:51 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  With a $1.1 billion industry on the line, Massachusetts Treasurer Deb Goldberg is asking the federal government to clarify where it stands on recreational marijuana.Goldberg wrote a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying the state was relying on previous federal enforcement guidelines as it creates state regulations for the recreational marijuana industry.“Effective implementation requires a significant investment in staff, equipment and technology,” Goldberg wrote in her l
  
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• House to fund new $2M research initiative at UMass

  07-03-2017 15:54 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Tuesday unveiled a state-backed, $2 million pilot program to support life science and other companies that use labs and equipment at UMass, part of an effort to spur business growth outside Cambridge.The cost-sharing program, which DeLeo revealed during his annual address to the Boston Chamber of Commerce, is part of a joint initiative between the House and the Chamber called the Bay State Business Link, which was launched in March 2016. That initiative is aimed at&
  
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• House to fund new $2M life science initiative at UMass

  07-03-2017 15:54 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Tuesday unveiled a state-backed, $2 million pilot program to support life science companies that use labs and equipment at UMass, part of an effort to spur biotech clusters outside Cambridge.The cost-sharing program, which DeLeo revealed during his annual address to the Boston Chamber of Commerce, is part of a joint initiative between the House and the Chamber called the Bay State Business Link, which was launched in March 2016. That initiative is aimed at boosting&
  
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• Speaker DeLeo proposes using pot revenue to help opioid addiction

  07-03-2017 14:20 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo wants to set aside some of the tax money generated by the sale of recreational marijuana for a fund that will help Bay State residents struggling with opioid addiction.DeLeo is making the proposal in his annual speech before members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning, according to prepared remarks provided to the Business Journal. He did not specify in the speech how much funding would be reserved for the fund.“We have a ra
  
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• Ginger beer brewer Farmer Willie's quadruples production with new space

  07-03-2017 12:25 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Cape Cod-based Farmer Willie’s Craft Ginger Beer says it will start production with Isle Brewers Guild this month, a move that will allow it to more than quadruple its output.Based in Pawtucket, the Guild already brews for Narragansett Beer, Newburyport Brewing Company and Devil’s Purse Brewing Company in its 130,000-square-foot space. Several other brands are slated to join the cooperative in the coming weeks.“It's pretty awesome that we can call The Guild our new home,”
  
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• At ​Boston Scientific, device tax reprieve spurs mostly ex-U.S. job growth

  07-03-2017 12:10 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The state's biggest company focused entirely on medical devices, Boston Scientific, lobbied hard against the medical device tax levied in 2013, arguing the 2.3 percent tax on U.S. revenues would be a jobs killer.But since the temporary suspension of the tax went into effect last year, the Marlboro-based firm has grown its headcount far more quickly outside the U.S. than within our borders.Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) said in its recent annual filing that it ended 2016 with "approximately 27,000
  
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• ​Five things you need to know today, and startups you've never heard of

  07-03-2017 11:31 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Good morning, Boston! Here are the five most important things you need to know to help start your busy business day.DeLeo not a fan of Baker's idea to cap health care costsHouse Speaker Robert DeLeo, who is speaking this morning at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast, told the Business Journal last week that Gov. Charlie Baker’s plans to rein in health care costs by capping hospital reimbursement rates could cost the state jobs.Business group supports modified bill to protect pr
  
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• City maps out $4.7B in transportation goals with 2030 target date

  07-03-2017 11:24 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  The city of Boston on Tuesday will unveil its Go Boston 2030 Vision and Action plan, a document that's been in the works for two years aimed at shaping the city’s transportation agenda for the next decade and a half.The plan outlines 58 separate initiatives, and at minimum, the combined cost of the initiatives would top $4.7 billion, according to the project costs outlined in the Go Boston 2030 plan.The plan outlines three primary goals and targetings: expanding access and make Boston&rsqu
  
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• Ernst & Young makes history with new head of Boston office

  07-03-2017 06:01 via feeds.bizjournals.com
  Ernst & Young has named Jane Steinmetz the next managing principal of its Boston office, making her the first woman to lead one of the so-called Big Four accounting firms in the city.Steinmetz will take over as managing principal and New England markets leader on June 1, the firm announced Tuesday. She is replacing George Neble, who is retiring after leading the office for more than five years.Steinmetz is a relative newcomer to EY, having joined the firm from PricewaterhouseCoopers, another
  
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