Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Daily Business Update

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Daily Business Update


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Tue. Apr. 24, 2012

Samuel Adams is going national with its ‘Brewing the American Dream’ program

The Boston Beer Co., which is best known for its Samuel Adams brand, is going national with an initiative that started out by seeking to help local small businesses. In 2008, Boston Beer debuted what it calls the “Brewing the American Dream” program, which works with microlender Accion in looking to help small businesses with mentoring support as well as with loans that generally run in the range of $1,000 to $20,000. In its early years, the program was limited to small businesses in New England.

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Carney gets new president

Steward Health Care System, parent company of Carney Hospital in Dorchester, named a new president for the hospital Tuesday: Andrew Davis, the former chief executive of the Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, N.C. Davis will start at Carney on May 7.

SeraCare completes merger, gets new CEO

SeraCare Life Sciences Inc., a Milford company that delivers blood-based products that are used to develop diagnostic tests, said Tuesday that it has completed its previously announced merger with affiliates of Linden Capital Partners following a vote by SeraCare shareholders. SeraCare also announced that industry veteran Charlie Mamrak has joined the company as its new chief executive. Previously, he was a chief executive of PML Microbiologicals, a provider of prepared culture media, stains, reagents, quality control organisms, sterility products, and collection systems.

Bruins’ Tim Thomas plugs Arbella message: Don’t text while driving

Bruins star goalie Tim Thomas puts in an appearance in a public service announcement from the Arbella Insurance Group that seeks to discourage motorists from texting while driving. The announcement comes as Quincy-based Arbella kicks off third year of its Distractology 101 tour, which features a 36-foot-long, neon-yellow mobile classroom outfitted with high-tech driving simulators. The simulators are designed to give new drivers the chance to experience the perils of distracted driving, including texting while driving.

Terascala closes on $14m funding round

Terascala Inc., an Avon company focusing on data storage software and systems, said Tuesday that it has closed a $14 million Series B funding round. Strategic partners close to the company invested approximately 50 percent of the round, with Ascent Venture Partners, an early backer of the company, contributing the rest. Ascent Venture Partners is based in Boston. Terascala plans to use the funding for such things as expanding research and development, boosting marketing and customer support, and fueling international expansion.

TA Associates invests in Answers, renews Hub lease

TA Associates, a private equity firm with offices in Boston, has made a minority investment in Answers, a company that provides answers to users’ questions through Web, mobile, and social channels. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Answers previously raised capital from Summit Partners, which maintains an ownership stake in the company. Separately, TA has completed a lease extension for its Boston offices at John Hancock Tower, according to McCall & Almy, a Boston-based commercial real estate brokerage.

Warren Group: Mass. single-family home sales rose nearly 20 percent last month

The sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts rose nearly 20 percent last month when compared to sales in March 2011, but the median price for single-family homes fell for the sixth straight month, the Warren Group reported Tuesday morning. Sales for condos and condo prices both posted solid gains last month. After a tough 2011, the local housing market showed signs of gathering momentum in the first three months of 2012.

Commission endorses review of state tax breaks

The state’s Tax Expenditure Commission, assembled to review a $26 billion budget of tax breaks, deductions, and expenditures, unanimously approved recommendations on Monday calling for periodic reviews to assess the effectiveness of current tax expenditures and for certain breaks to sunset every five years. If the report’s recommendations are embraced by the Legislature and Governor Deval Patrick, state officials would work on a one-time review to identify specific policy purposes for each of the more than 200 tax expenditures now on the books.

Ray Tomlinson is inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame for inventing networked e-mail

Raymond Tomlinson, now a principal engineer at a unit of Raytheon Co., is among technology pioneers being inducted to the Internet Hall of Fame, which has just been established by the nonprofit Internet Society. In a statement, the Internet Society said it thinks “it’s important to recognize innovators such as Ray Tomlinson for expanding the reach of the Internet by inventing networked e-mail. Forty years later, his contribution still plays a critical role in the way we communicate in our digital age.”

HFF arranges $48m loan for hotel near Fenway Park

HFF, a provider of commercial real estate services, said Monday that it has arranged a $48 million construction loan for the development of a 175-room Residence Inn by Marriott near Fenway Park. HFF said it worked on behalf of Boylston Properties Co., the project’s developer, to secure construction financing through US Bank. Boylston Properties recently started construction of the $60 million hotel on Brookline Avenue. The hotel is scheduled to open in the summer of 2013.

Boston Scientific’s Cognis defibrillator may have flaw, analyst says

Boston Scientific Corp.’s Cognis/Teligen defibrillator, used to shock a stopped heart back into a normal rhythm, may have a flaw that can cause the device to heat up and has been linked to one death, said Rick Wise, an analyst with Leerink Swann & Co. An electrical transformer has shown a “pattern of malfunction,” Wise said in a note to clients, citing Boston Scientific’s Product Performance Report.

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