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Fri. Mar. 02, 2012 Survey: Companies are offering employees more incentives to get healthy More companies are offering incentives to their employees to better manage their health by taking such steps as getting flu shots or regular cholesterol screenings, according to a new survey from Boston-based Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health. Companies in the survey said that the average annual value of the health-related incentives they offered to an employee in 2011 was $460, up from $260 in 2009.	Advertisement
Snow day prediction app delivers for local students The new app sNOw School,
Survey: Atlanta and Pittsburgh may out-innovate the Hub A new survey from Zipcar Inc. seeks to measure large cities for such things as sustainability, vibrancy, and innovation. In the innovation category, Boston ranked third behind Atlanta and Pittsburgh, said Zipcar, a car-sharing service based in Cambridge. When all survey metrics were taken into account, San Francisco came out on top, and Boston was ranked fifth.
Thermo Fisher Scientific pledges $1m to expand math-science initiative Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the largest maker of laboratory instruments, plans to announce today a pledge to allocate $1 million toward expanding a program that aims to help “underserved” Massachusetts high school students to improve their math-and-science skills. Waltham-based Thermo Fisher Scientific’s support is going to a program called Massachusetts Math + Science Initiative, which was developed by Mass Insight Education.
TJX February revenue figure rises 9% TJX Cos., the Framingham company that operates such retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods store chains, said that revenue at stores open at least a year rose 9 percent in February, ahead of expectations, as mild weather boosted demand for spring clothes. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected an increase of 7 percent for the month. Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes the impact of recently opened or closed stores.
MIT ranks number two for video game design The college preparation company Princeton Review is out with its latest listings of the nation’s top schools for training in video game design, and Massachusetts colleges are well represented. The Review listed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the nation’s second-best undergraduate program in game design, bested only by the University of Southern California. Worcester’s Becker College was ranked 10th. Northeastern University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute received honorable mentions.
Hospital boards approve merger of Lowell General and Saints Medical Center The boards of Lowell General Hospital and its long-time crosstown rival Saints Medical Center have approved an agreement to merge into a single community hospital. Approval came four months after the 157-bed Saints, a nonprofit Catholic hospital, disclosed that it had pulled out of a deal to be bought by for-profit hospital group Steward Health Care System LLC, and instead planned to merge with Lowell General. Saints and Lowell General said they will be governed by one board of trustees.
Fidelity says likely rule changes would destroy money market funds Fidelity Investments, the largest manager of US money market mutual funds, said reforms contemplated by regulators would “destroy” the industry and were unnecessary following rule changes two years ago. The impact of the 2010 reforms “should be explored and understood more thoroughly” before regulators make additional changes, the Boston-based company said today in a report that accompanied a letter from the firm to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
William Galvin to banks: Offer free basic checking or give up state and local deposits Secretary of State William F. Galvin vowed to press Bank of America and other big banks in Massachusetts to offer free checking accounts to young adults and the elderly, something most community banks already offer. Galvin said he is seeking legislation to bar banks from holding state or local government deposits in Massachusetts unless they offer free basic checking accounts to people under 19 or 65 and older.
Genzyme: New Framingham plant begins shipping Fabrazyme drug Genzyme Corp. said today that it has begun shipping doses of its Fabrazyme drug from its new plant in Framingham. The move follows an announcement in January that federal regulators had given Cambridge-based Genzyme the approval to begin producing Fabrazyme at the company’s new Framingham plant. With the Framingham plan coming on line, patients in the United States are now able to return to full dosing following a shortage. Fabrazyme treats Fabry’s disease, a rare enzyme deficiency.
Big India automaker taps A123 A123 Systems Inc., a Waltham company specializing in lithium ion batteries, said today that it will supply its battery packs to Tata Motors, a large automaker in India. Tata plans to use A123’s battery packs in Tata’s hybrid electric systems for commercial vehicles such as city buses. A123 said that buses equipped with its batteries could be deployed during the second half of the year. Terms of the deal between A123 and Tata were not disclosed.
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