To ensure you receive your Boston.com e-mails, please add newsletters@boston.com to your address book. If you have trouble reading this e-mail, go to http://www.boston.com/business/ticker_headlines
Daily Business Update Get up-to-the-minute Business Updates More Business News »
Thu. Mar. 08, 2012 Amherst symposium to focus on video game industry A symposium in Amherst next week will focus on such topics as the best ways to build a video-game company outside major urban areas. The symposium takes place at a time when Massachusetts looks to grow its reputation as a hub of the video game industry. The March 15 symposium at Hampshire College is titled “Digital Games: Playing in the Valley.” Besides Hampshire College, the symposium’s organizers are the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute and the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts.	Advertisement
Exinda raises $12m in Series B funding Boston technology company Exinda said Thursday that it has secured $12 million in a Series B funding round. Exinda said participants in the round included existing investor OpenView Venture Partners of Boston and new investor Greenspring Associates. Exinda said the funds will be used as working capital as it looks to continue executing on an “aggressive growth strategy” that includes international expansion.
Employment report: Mass. economy created far fewer jobs in 2011 than first thought The Massachusetts recovery advanced at a far slower pace last year than first thought, with the economy creating just a fraction of the number of jobs initially reported, according to revised data released Thursday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Employment grew by  just over 9,000 jobs in 2011, compared with initial estimates of nearly 41,000, according to the new data. In January, meanwhile, the Massachusetts economy added 6,600 new jobs in January as the state’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.9 percent.
New Cabot Corp. products aim at battery market for electric cars and smartphones For much of its 130-year history, Cabot Corp. has been a specialty materials and chemicals company known for carbon black, a compound used in the making of tires. Now the venerable Boston company sees a big new business opportunity in marketing additives that can prolong the life of batteries used to power electric and hybrid cars as well as smartphones and tablet computers. Just last week, Cabot unveiled two battery additive products that it has high hopes for.
Hospital groups will get bigger, Moody’s predicts Responding to changes in health care, big hospital groups are expected to get even bigger. And some hospitals will join forces with once-unlikely partners, health insurers and for-profit companies, a new report says. The difficult business environment and the changes expected in how hospitals will be paid for delivering care are driving many smaller, stand-alone hospital groups into the arms of larger and better-financed organizations, said Lisa Goldstein of Moody’s Investors Service.
Steward wants power to cut Landmark Medical staff A Boston-based company that wants to merge with Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I., is trying to change the terms of the original agreement to add authority to lay off staff and cut services. Lawyers for the for-profit hospital chain Steward Health Care System are due Friday in Superior Court in efforts to add the new terms and extend the original merger agreement. The agreement approved last May is set to expire Friday.
Ropes & Gray opens office in Seoul Ropes & Gray, a law firm with a offices in Boston, said it is expanding its presence in Asia by opening an office in Seoul. According to the firm, it has done work for such Korean clients as LG, Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai Motors, and Hanjin. Ropes & Gray said it already has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. All told, the firm has more than 1,100 lawyers in offices around the world. Seoul will be its 11th office.
Apple’s iPad still dominates It’s inevitable: At some point, Apple Inc.’s dominance in the tablet computer market will fade, as competitors issue more and more competitive products.
Thomas Construction amends lawsuit against Charles Street AME church A Dorchester construction firm has filed an amended lawsuit against the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church and its lender, OneUnited Bank, over $629,000 in work it says it did on the church’s community center but has gone unpaid. Thomas Construction Co. alleges that it completed 91 percent of the work at the church’s Roxbury Renaissance Center, but that it has not been fully paid due to a dispute between the church and the bank.
Joe Mullany, head of Vanguard Health Systems in New England, to lead Detroit Medical Center Joe Mullany, president of the New England market for Vanguard Health Systems, has been tapped to become president of Vanguard-owned Detroit Medical Center, effective April 2.
Ted Baker London launches womenswear shop at a Chestnut Hill Bloomingdale’s British brand Ted Baker London has launched a womenswear shop at the Bloomingdale’s in Chestnut Hill. The new Ted Baker location features 500 square feet of retail space with custom wall coverings in the brand’s signature purple color and carefully curated furniture and props to encourage shoppers to feel as though they have just stepped into Ted’s home, according to a company press release.
ADVERTISEMENT Looking to catch the next big game in town? Search from a wide range of Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots seats in our exclusive ticket section powered by Ace Ticket. For the best seats to any sporting event in Boston, go to Boston.com Tickets.